LORAIN
COUNTY
Page 118
Lorain County was
formed December 26, 1822, from Huron, Cuyahoga and Medina. The surface is level, and
the soil
fertile and generally clayey.
Parallel with the lake shore are three sand ridges, which
vary from 40
to 150 rods in width; they are respectively about 3, 7 and 9 miles from
the
lake, and are fertile. Area
about
500 square miles. In
1887 the acres
cultivated were 110,032; in pasture, 106,403; woodland, 37,191; lying
waste,
2,817; produced in wheat, 324,480 bushels; rye, 1,346; buckwheat, 104;
oats,
763,875; barley, 6,405; corn, 423,270; broom-corn, 500 lbs. brush;
meadow hay,
47,843 tons; clover hay, 2, 434; flax 34,100 lbs. fibre; potatoes,
115,446
bushels; butter, 843,460 lbs.; cheese, 3,233,589 (the greatest in the
State);
sorghum, 1,433 gallons; maple sugar, 54,786 lbs.; honey, 5,020 lbs.;
eggs,
422,855 dozen; grapes, 1,259,200 lbs.; wine, 334 gallons; sweet
potatoes, 1,009
bushels; apples, 72,312; peaches, 14,308; pears, 833; wool, 121,809
lbs.; milch
cows owned, 15,171, next to Ashtabula County, largest in the state. School census, 1888,
11,418; teachers,
345. Miles of
railroad track, 179.
Township And Census |
1840 |
1880 |
|
Township And Census |
1840 |
1880 |
Amherst, |
1,186 |
3,259 |
|
Huntington, |
743 |
767 |
Avon, |
1,211 |
2,067 |
|
La Grange, |
991 |
1,429 |
Black River, |
668 |
1,937 |
|
Penfield, |
405 |
735 |
Brighton, |
999 |
517 |
|
Pittsfield, |
704 |
976 |
Brownhelm, |
934 |
1,497 |
|
Ridgeville, |
818 |
1,660 |
Camden, |
504 |
968 |
|
Rochester, |
487 |
733 |
Carlisle, |
1,094 |
1,329 |
|
Russia, |
1,302 |
4,376 |
Columbia, |
876 |
906 |
|
Sheffield, |
521 |
1,046 |
Eaton, |
764 |
1,161 |
|
Sullivan, |
782 |
|
Elyria, |
1,636 |
5,648 |
|
Troy, |
289 |
|
Grafton, |
713 |
1,237 |
|
Wellington, |
781 |
2,384 |
Henrietta, |
743 |
894 |
|
|
|
|
Population of
Lorain in 1830, 5,696; 1840, 18,451; 1860, 29,744; 1880, 35,526, of
whom 22,448
were born in Ohio; 2,717 York; 668 Pennsylvania; 225 Virginia; 115
Indiana; 99
Kentucky; 2,819 in German Empire; 1,759 England and Wales; 767 Ireland;
458
British America; 172 Scotland; 76 France, and 33 Sweden and Norway. Census, 1890, 40,295.
There was found in
this county, a few years since, a curious ancient relic, which is best
described in the Lorain Republican,
of June 7, 1843:
"In
connection with our friend, Mr. L. M. Parsons, we have procured to
views of
sketches of the engravings upon a stone column or idol, found upon the
farm of
Mr. Alfred Lamb, in Brighton, in this county, in 1838.
The following is a side view of the
pillar or column.
"It was found
about three-fourths of a mile from Mr. Lamb's house, covered with a
thick coat
of moss. Upon three
different
places are engraved the figures 1533.
The horns represented are now broken off, but their place
is easily
defined. A flat
stone, eight inches
in diameter and one and a half inches thick, was found beneath this
column, on
removing it from its erect position, upon which the figures 1533 were
discovered also engraved. Another
stone was found about ten feet distant, of like quality. It was about six inches
long and three
in diameter (6 sided), supported by three pillars about three inches
long, of
pyramidal form. No
marks or tools
were upon it. Upon
the top part of
the first mentioned pillars,
Page 119
above shown, was an engraving of a vessel
under full sail, in form, as near as now can be ascertained, as herein. The engraving was most
unfortunately
nearly obliterated by the boys cracking hickory-nuts upon it. These are about all the
facts connected
with these curious relics which have come to our knowledge."
Early History.
Moravian
mission.
- The first actual settlement in Lorain county was made by the
Moravian missionaries who came from Detroit in 1786, with the design of
going
to their old home on the Tuscarawas, the scene of the massacre of 1782. They had reached a point
on Cuyahoga, as
far as Independence township, known as "Pilgrim's Rest," when they
received such information that they were fearful of proceeding farther
inland. After
remaining about a
year, they journeyed westward until they arrived at the mouth of Black
river,
where they designed to make a permanent settlement.
A few days only elapsed, when a chief of
the Delawares sent them a message warning them to depart. They then settled on the
Huron river,
two miles north of Milan, remained five or six years, were persecuted
and
driven away, and found a permanent asylum on the river Thames, in
Canada.
A
trading-post was
established in 1807 by Nathan PERRY at the mouth of Black river. Actual clearers of the
woods, said to
have been from Vermont, planted themselves at that point in 1810. In 1808, Columbia received
her first
settlers; Ridgeville, Amherst, and Eaton in 1810, all mostly from
Waterbury,
Conn. Very few
settlers came into
the county until the close of the war in 1812.
The first settlement made in Elyria was
in 1816, and by a Mr. Beach,
with
his family, who settled in the western part near the site of the
present Haag's
mill.
Col.
James SMITH,
who was taken prisoner by the Indians in 1755 in Pennsylvania, in the
narrative of his captivity, gives some of his experiences in this
county which
are quite interesting. He
speaks of
the Canesadooharie, the Indian name for Black river, which a party he
was with
struck near its source, and finally followed south until they came near
the
East Falls, now within the corporate limits of Elyria, where they
buried their
canoe and erected a winter cabin, which is supposed to have been
located on
Evergreen Point. The
narrative then
says:
"Indian
hunting. - 'It was some time,' writes SMITH, 'in December
when we finished our winter cabin; but then another difficulty arose -
we had
nothing to eat. While
the hunters
were all out exerting their utmost ability, the squaws and boys (in
which class
I was) were scattered in the bottom, hunting red haws and hickory-nuts. We did not succeed in
getting many haws,
but had tolerable success in scratching up hickory-nuts from under a
light
snow. The hunters
returned with
only 2 small turkeys, which were but little among 8 hunters and 13
squaws, boys
and children. But
they were divided
equally. The next
day the hunters
turned out again, and succeeded in killing one deer and three bears. One of the bears was
remarkably large
and fat. All hands
turned out the
next morning to bring in the meet.
" 'During the winter a
party of four went out to the borders of Pennsylvania to procure horses
and
scalps, leaving the same number in camp to provide meat for the women
and
children. They
returned towards
spring with 2 scalps and 4 horses.
After the departure of the warriors we had hard times, and
though not
out of provisions, we were brought to short allowance.
At length TONTILEAUGO had fair success,
and brought into camp sufficient to last ten days.
The TONTILEAUGO then took me with him in
order to encamp some distance from the winter cabin.
We steered south up the creek ten or
twelve miles and went into camp.' "
Elyria
founded.
- In the spring of 1817
Page 120
Heman ELY, of West Springfield,
Mass., being the
possessor of 12,500 acres of land lying around the falls of Black
river,
originally the property of the Connecticut Land Company, came out to
make
preparations for settlement. He
had
built a dam and erected a grist and saw-mill on the east branch, near
the foot
of the present Broad street, Elyria.
He also had built a log-house where were boarded the men
engaged in the
construction of the mills.
Returning home, he sent,
about the 1st of January, from Massachusetts, three men with axes in
their
hands, to commence clearing land.
They made the entire distance, 600 miles, on foot, and
before Mr. ELY
arrived in March, they made quite a hole in the woods.
The township of Elyria was
organized in 1819, and included the present township of Carlisle, and
named by
adding to Mr. Ely's named the sole "ria," suggested by the great
Greek name Illyria. It
was wrongly
stated in our first edition that this termination was from that of the
name of
his first wife, Maria, an error both in application and in fact, as her
name
was Celia. In the
winter of 1821-2
Mr. ELY visited Columbus to secure an act for the organization of the
county. He became
lost in the woods
the first day from home; he finally made his way out, returned home,
and on
another day made a successful effort.
The county took its name from Lorraine, in France, in
which province Mr.
ELY spent some time while in Europe.
The village of Elyria was incorporated in 1833. The township was slow in
settling. Mr. ELY
was eminently just as a landed
proprietor: He usually sold his land on four years' time. He was a thorough
businessman; was for a
while a member of the State Board of Equalization, and also Associate
Judge of
the county.
Early in life he was a
shipping merchant in New York, during which period it was he was in
France.
Elyria in 1846. - Elyria, the county seat, is seven miles
from Lake Erie, twenty-four west of Cleveland, and 130 northeast of
Columbus. The first
settler in the
town and township was Mr. Heman ELY, from West Springfield, Mass., who
came out
here in March, 1817, and built a cabin about twelve rods southeast of
his
present residence. He
brought with
him some hired men, to make improvements on his land, a large tract of
which he
had purchased at this place and vicinity.
The village was soon laid out, and sometime in the
succeeding year Mr.
ELY moved into his present residence, the first frame house erected in
the
township. Upon
organization of the
county, the old court-house was built, which was used as a church by
the
Presbyterians, until they built a house of worship, the first erected
in the
village. Elyria is
a beautiful and
thriving village; in its centre is a handsome public square, shown in
the engraving;
the large building in front is the court-house; beyond, on the right,
is the
public square, on which are seen, facing "Beebe's block," the
"Mansion House" and the "brick block."
The Gothic structure on the left is the
Presbyterian church, designed by R. A. SHELDON, of New York, and
erected in
1846-7 by H. J. & S. C. BROOKS, of Elyria; it is one of the
most elegant
churches in Ohio, built of sandstone, and finished throughout in a
tasteful and
substantial manner, at an expense of about $8,000.
The village stands
on a peninsula, formed by the forks of Black river, on which, near the
town,
are two beautiful falls, of forty feet perpendicular descent, highly
valuable
for manufacturing purposes. At
the
falls on the west fork the scenery is wild and picturesque; the rocks
are lofty
and overhang the valley for, perhaps, some thirty feet.
At that point is a large cavern, of a
semi circular form, about seventy-five feet deep, 100 feet broad at the
entrance, with a level floor, and wall from five to nine feet high,
forming a
cool and romantic retreat from the heats of summer.
The sandstone bounding the valley is of
an excellent quality, and is much used for building purposes. Elyria contains one
Episcopal, one
Methodist, one Baptist, one Disciples, and one or two Congregational
churches;
one classical academy, six dry-goods, three grocery and three
drug-stores; one
newspaper printing-office, one woolen, one axe, and sash and blind
factory; one
furnace, one machine shop, three flouring mills and 1,500 inhabitants.
- Old Edition.
Elyria, county seat of Lorain, twenty-six miles
southwest of Cleveland, 110 miles northeast of Columbus, on the C. L.
& W.
and L. S. & M. S. Railroads, is the centre of an agricultural
district,
dairying being the special feature.
County officers, 1888: Auditor, Oscar HERRICK; Clerk,
Henry J. LEWIS;
Commissioners, Alfred FAUVER, David WALLACE, Tasso D. PHELON; Coroner
Ranson E.
BRAMAN;
Page 121
Infirmary Directors, Albert FOSTER, Isaac S.
STRAW, Daniel M. Hall; Probate Judge, Edgar H. HINMAN; Prosecuting
Attorney,
Amos R. WEBBER; Recorder,
William
E. CAHOON; Sheriff, Melville A. POUNDS; Surveyor, Clement H. SNOW;
Treasurers,
Everett E. WILLIAMS, Judson E. WILLIARD.
City officers, 1888: N. B. GATES, Mayor; L. C. KELSEY,
Clerk; T. M.
BRUSH, Treasurer; C. H. SNOW, Civil Engineer; N. A. REDMOND, Marshall;
Daniel
EASON, Street Commissioner.
Newspapers: Democrat,
Democratic, F. S. REEFY, editor and publisher; Republican,
Republican, George WASHBURN, editor and publisher.
Churches: one Episcopalian, one German
Reformed, one German Lutheran, one Catholic, one Baptist, one
Congregational
and one Methodist. Banks:
National
of Elyria, Herman E. ELY, president, John W. HULBERT, cashier; Savings
Deposit,
T. L. NELSON, president, J. C. HILL, cashier.
Manufacturers and
Employees. - Ohio
Co-operative Shear Co., shears, 60
hands; Henry COPAS, road machines, etc., 4; C. W. PLOTCHER Bottling
Co.,
bottling works, 6; Thomas ARMSTRONG, general machinery, 3; the TOPLIFF
&
ELY Co., carriage hardware, etc., 44; C. PARSCH, planing-mill, 18; J.
W. HART,
planing-mill, 17; Elyria Canning Co., canned goods, 147; Western
Automatic
Machine Screw Co., machine screws, 78; G. REUBLIN, flour and feed, 3;
ROSS
& INGERSOLL, general machinery, 8. - State
Report, 1888. Population,
1880,
4,777. School
census, 1888, 1,621;
School Superintendent, H. M. Parker.
Census, 1890, 5,611.
TRAVELLING NOTES.
Elyria, in a
certain sense, may be regarded as a sort of suburb of Cleveland, it
being a
ride by cars of only about forty minutes between the two places, and
the
communication frequent. Hence,
many
doing business in that city have their homes in Elyria.
The situation, on a plain in and around the
forks of Black river, is very pleasant.
As the depot is but two minutes' walk from the public
square, no time is
lost by excess of pedestrianism at either end, as the cars at the
Cleveland end
also stop near its business centre, at the Superior-street station.
The public square at Elyria
is an oblong of about four acres.
Around or near it are the principal churches, the hotels
and business
blocks. Upon it is
an elegant
court-house, the floors of which are laid with the noted Zanesville
encaustic
tile, equal to the English tile. It
cost about $175,000, but this does not fully give an idea of its real
value, as
its material is a home production, the beautiful sandstone on which the
town
rests. It is this
possession that
has enabled Elyria to lay down many miles of sandstone pavement with
slabs of
the full width of the sidewalk - in this respect having a valued
distinction
above most towns in Ohio.
The public square has upon
it a soldiers' monument; a fine growth of maples is ornamented with a
pretty
fountain, flower-beds, rustics seats and board placards, "Keep off the
grass." A library
of 10,000
volumes, open to the public, is close by, founded by the late Charles
Arthur
ELY, who lived to do good to mankind; and for a term of years, up to
the war
period, Elyria had a flourishing Natural History Society; under its
auspices
free lectures were weekly given by various and gentlemen, residents of
Elyria,
and their educating influence was very great upon the citizens.
At Elyria are located the
works of the Western Automatic Screw Company, employing about 125 hands. It makes screws of various
sizes;
some-watch screws-so small that 200 can be put into a lady's thimble. The machine is more than
human in its
work, as the screws are simply perfect.
Mussey's
Quarry.
- The northern part of Lorain and the western part of Cuyahoga counties
are
underlaid with sandstone. Mr.
Eugene K. MUSSEY took me to see the grindstone quarries of H. E. MUSSEY
&
Co., on the west fork of Black river, about a mile west of the town. As we neared the place, he
told me that
a stranger pedestrian, on his way thither, said he discovered he was
close by,
"for," said he, "I took out my knife, and was enabled to sharpen
it on a fence board, and so found it was grit."
On our way thither we passed along the
margin of the river. In
places it
was shallow, and in others there was no water; but everywhere instead
of earth,
its bed was a sandstone floor. The
quarries produce some building-stone, but are almost exclusively used
in the
manufacture of grindstones, varying from twelve pounds to 700 pounds in
weight,
which are shipped to all parts of this country and Canada.
The sandstone deposit in this
vicinity is very deep, being now worked to a depth of
Page 122
Top
Picture
Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.
PUBLIC
SQUARE, ELYRIA.
Bottom
Picture
PUBLIC
SQUARE, ELYRIA.
Page 123
about seventy-five feet, while
drilling shows the
deposit to be one hundred and seventy two feet deep.
The largest quarry was,
perhaps, one hundred feet square, a huge boxlike hole, and seventy-five
feet
deep. Standing on
the margin and
looking down the workman seemed dwindled and size.
The huge blocks were being cut to be
hoisted out by derricks and deposited in railcars, to be taken to the
buildings
to be modeled by machinery into the requisite form.
It was pleasant to look upon the smooth
sides and floors of the quarries.
The work could not have looked smoother if the material
had been cheese
instead of rock.
Falls
and Caves of Black River. - The forks of the Black river,
which unite at
Elyria, just north of the centre, have each a perpendicular fall of
forty
feet. Below the
falls the river
gorge is seventy or eighty feet deep, with a very wild picturesque
scenery, in
places dense woods with aged hemlocks springing up, their roots finding
nurture
through the fissures in the rocks.
Mr. George E. WASHBURN took me down into the gorge at the
foot of the
falls on the west branch to show me a noted cave.
It is formed by a shelving rock.
It is in the form of a semicircle, with
a cord of about one hundred and twenty feet: in front, about fourteen
feet
high, and then the wall, which is massive and arched, gradually sinks
until at
a distance of about ninety feet it terminates, the rear wall being only
three
or four feet high. The
floor was
rocky, cleared of incumbrances and the place would hold a multitude. It was evidently much
visited. Public
meetings could be held there, but
no speaking had, owing to the roar of the cataract, close upon which it
intrudes.
Upon the wall above the
cave numerous names have been painted, which to inscribe must have
required
ladders. There,
about twenty feet
high, is painted as below:
Q.
A. GILMORE, 1844.
This is the mark of General
GILMORE, the distinguished engineer officer, who at that date was a
pupil of
the high school in Elyria. His
name, as well as others, were in black paint; and it stood from the
surface in
bas-relief. The oil
in the paint
had preserved the stone from the influence of water, sun and air upon
the
general surface of the rock, which where exposed had worn away.
There was a time when the
forks had united to the north of their present junction, which is now a
hundred
yards to the east of the west falls.
The
Black River Basin. - The ancient place of union of
the forks was a
locality called, the "Basin," a wide expansion of the river into
which the East fork poured directly by its cataract, and the West fork
after
having reached the level of the basin by its then cataract a short
distance
only above. This
basin covers about
an acre or two. Below
it is an
island covered with majestic woods, provided with rustic seats. Pic-nic parties assemble
here and enjoy
the wild and beautiful scenery of the basin, which is indescribably
grand;
rocks are piled on rocks in endless confusion.
Black
River writes its history like Niagara as it works its way
into the
interior. As we
returned to the
town my companion pointed to me a huge rock in the bottom of the gorge,
just
below the east falls. This
had been
a shelving rock until a few years ago.
A fissure had been discovered at its rear.
It gradually widened, and as a
precaution a path in front which led to the mill was fenced, as it
seemed but a
work of time when it would fall.
A Rock
Fall.
- About six o'clock, Tuesday morning, July 23, 1872, the whole town was
aroused
by a deep dull sound, followed by the rattling of windows and causing
many to
rush from their houses as though it had been an earthquake. It was the fall of this
rock I saw,
which fell about forty feet. Its
dimensions taken at the time were as follows: length, 90 feet; breadth,
25
feet; height, 30 feet; estimated weight, 4,500 tons; and with the
detached
portions about 6,500 tons.
The
freezing of water in rock fissures in time will split
the strongest
stone. Mr.
WASHBURN, after pointing
out this rock, said: "My father, a New Hampshire farmer, split granite
rocks in his mica quarry by drilling deep holes, then filling them with
water,
which upon freezing split the largest rocks asunder.
The more modern rocks were frequently
split by drilling channels and driving in pine wedges, which being
expanded by
either frost or water would separate the rock.
A
Secluded Retreat.
- I know of no town anywhere that has such a secluded retreat within
two minutes walk of its very center as has Elyria in Washington avenue. It lies north of the town
in a loop of
the East fork, on a spot which only a few years ago was an ancient and
magnificent forest of pine, oak, ash and maple.
The avenue was laid out one hundred feet
broad, on ground level as a floor.
It is entered by an iron bridge, one hundred and eighty
five feet long
across the stream, just above the falls, and not over six hundred feet
in a
direct line from the public square.
The residences there are fine
home lots, large, without fences and everyplace backs upon the stream,
while
around are the grand old woods. Mr.
David C. BALDWIN is especially favored in his home, as he can look down
from
the forest retreat, which he has provided with rustic seats, upon the
falls of
Black river and listen to their unceasing roar.
They call the spot the
"Nixen-Wald", the water-spirits' wood.
Nothing can be more wild than the gorge
at that spot, with its falling waters, overhanging cliffs, dark solemn
woods,
where hemlocks spring from out of the crevices of the everlasting rocks
and
cast their somber shades. As
I left
there in the gathering shadows of a summer evening, a bird sent forth
from his
seclusion one solitary, delicious note.
"What is that?" I inquired,
Page 124
"That," replied Mrs. B., "is the
wood-robin, Audubon's favorite bird." I thought, as she told me, to us
men
it enhances the pleasure of hearing a pleasant thing when it comes from
the
lips of a woman.
Old
Men's Croquet Club. - Near the brink of the East
Falls, at this spot,
the old gentleman of Elyria have put up a building devoted to the game
of
croquet. They often
go early in the
day and play and talk into the night.
It is in charge of a janitor, and in winter is heated and
lighted. Here
gather men from 60 to 80 years of
age, who have mostly finished the active business of life, and engage
in the
game with the zeal and hilarity of so many boys.
It is not probable there is another just
such a club anywhere; but its influence upon the health, spirits and
social
welfare make it an excellent example for those "in the sere and yellow
leaf" everywhere, for it fortifies the limbs against rheumatic twinges
and
takes the mind from graveyard contemplations.
In his
"Antiquity of Man" the late Col. Charles WHITTLESEY published an
account
of what he calls the "Elyria Sheltered
Cave," and therein states
that it was "on the west bank of Black river, a short distance below the forks at Elyria, in a romantic
gorge through which the river flows."
It was examined by him in April, 1851, in company with
Prof. E. W.
HUBBARD and Prof. J. BRAINERD.
This shelter rock is still there, and also another on the
same side of
the river, but higher up above the junction on the west fork, where
many Indian
relics have been found. We
did not
visit either of them. Below
is Mr.
WHITTLESEY'S description:
This is one of numerous
instances where the "grindstone grit" of Northern Ohio, resting upon
soft shale, presents a projecting ledge, forming a grotto capable of
sheltering
a large number of persons, being about fifty feet in length by fifteen
feet
broad. This and
others in the
vicinity which have not been explored correspond to the European
"shelter
cavern" where human remains are always found.
These retreats constituted the domicils
of our race while in their rudest condition.
We dug to the depth of four feet
on the floor of this cave,
composed of charcoal, ashes and bones of the wolf, bear, deer, rabbit,
squirrel, fishes, snakes and birds, all of which existed in this region
when it
became known to the whites.
The place was thoroughly
protected against rains. At
the
bottom, lying extended upon clean yellow sand, their heads to the rear
and feet
outwards, or parts of three human
skeletons; two of them nearly entire.
Two of them were preserved by Prof. BRAINERD. They were
decided to belong to the
North American race of redmen by those who had an opportunity to
examine
them.
The skulls were exhibited
at the Cincinnati meeting of the American Association, in 1851, but
were
afterwards destroyed by a mob, together with the entire museum of the
Homeopathic College at Cleveland.
The position of the skeletons indicated that they were
crushed by a
large slab of the overhanging sandstone falling off upon the party
while they
were asleep at the back of the grotto. One of the skulls was that of an
old
woman, the other of a young man.
Flint arrowheads, such as the Indians once used, were
scattered
throughout this mass of animal remains.
Judging from the appearance of the bones, and the depth of
the
accumulations over them, two thousand years may have elapsed since the
human
skeletons were laid on the floor of this cave.
The most
noteworthy event, perhaps, in the history of education in Ohio was the
establishing of Oberlin. In
its
early days it was regarded by many well-meaning people as a sort of
monstrosity, but time has demonstrated the strength of its foundation
ideas,
and today is a highly prospering institution with an imperishable
history. In 1883
was held its semi-centennial
anniversary, since which five new buildings have been added, built of
the
beautiful brown sandstone quarried in the neighborhood.
What it was on the issue of our first
edition is here told.
Oberlin in 1846. - Eight miles southwest of Elyria is the
village of Oberlin, so named from Rev. John Frederick OBERLIN, pastor
of
Waldbach, Switzerland, who was remarkable for his great benevolence of
character. He was
born in
Strasbourg, in 1740, and died at Waldbach, in 1826.
The town is situated on a beautiful and
level plan, girted around by the original forest in its primitive
majesty. The
dwellings at Oberlin are
usually two stories in height, built of wood, and painted white, after
the manner
of the villages of New England, to which this has a striking
resemblance. Oberlin
contains 3 dry-goods and 1
bookstore, a Presbyterian Church, the collegiate buildings, and about
150
dwellings.
Page 125
The Oberlin
Evangelist, which has a circulation of 5,000, and the Oberlin Quarterly Review are published
here. The engraving
shows, on the right, the
Presbyterian Church, a substantial brick building, neatly finished
externally
and internally, and capable of holding a congregation of 3,000 persons;
beyond
it, on a green of about 12 acres, stands Tappan Hall; and facing the
green,
commencing on the left, are seen Oberlin Hall, Ladies' Hall and
Colonial Hall,
all of which buildings belong to the Institute.
By the annual catalog of 1846-7
there were at Oberlin 492 pupils, viz.: in the theological department,
25;
college, 106; teachers' department, 16; shorter course, 4; male
preparatory,
174; young ladies' course, 140; and ladie's preparatory, 28. Of these there were males,
314; and
females, 178.
The annexed sketch
of Oberlin was written by Jay A. HARRIS, editor of the Cleveland
Herald, and published in that print in 1845:
The Oberlin Collegiate
Institute is emphatically the people's college, and although some of
its
leading characteristics are peculiar to the institution, and are at
variance
with the general public opinion and prejudices, the college exerts a
wide and
healthy influence. It
places a
useful and thoroughly practical education within the reach of indigent
and
industrious young men and women as well as those in affluent
circumstances; and
many in all ranks of life avail themselves of the rare advantages
enjoyed at
Oberlin. The
average number of
students the last five years is five twenty-eight, and this, too, be it
remembered, in an institution that has sprung up in what was a dense
wilderness
but a dozen years ago. To
remove
all incredulity, we will give a concise history of its origin and
progress.
The Rev. John J. SHIPHERD
was a prominent founder of Oberlin.
His enterprising spirit led in the devising and incipient
steps. Without any
fund in the start, in August,
1832, he rode over the ground for inspection, where the village of
Oberlin now
stands. It was then
a dense, heavy,
unbroken forest, the land level and wet, almost inaccessible by roads,
and the
prospects for a settlement forbidding in the extreme.
In November, 1832, Mr. Shipherd, in
company with a few others,
selected the site. Five
hundred
acres of land were conditionally pledged by Mssrs. STREET and HUGHES,
of New
Haven, Conn., on which the college buildings now stand.
A voluntary board of trustees held their
first meeting in the winter of 1832, in a small Indian opening on the
site. The
legislature of 1833-4
granted a charter with university privileges.
Improvements were commenced, a log-house
or two were erected, people began to locate in the colony, and in 1834
the
board of trustees resolved to open the school for the reception of
colored
persons of both sexes, to be regarded as on an equality with others. In January, 1835, Mssrs.
MAHAN, FINNEY
and MORGAN were appointed as teachers, and in May of that year Mr.
MAHAN
commenced housekeeping in a small log-dwelling.
Such was the beginning - and the present
result is a striking exemplification of what obstacles can be overcome
and what
good can be accomplished under our free institutions by the indomitable
energy,
ernest zeal, and unfaltering perseverance of a few men, when they
engage heart
and soul in a great philanthropic enterprise.
Oberlin is now a pleasant,
thriving village of about two thousand souls, with necessary stores and
mechanics' shops, the largest church in the state, and a good
temperance
hotel. It is a
community of
teetotalers from the highest to lowest, the sale of ardent spirits
never having
been permitted within its borders.
The college buildings number seven commodious edifices. Rev. A. MAHAN is president
of the
College Institute, assisted by fifteen able professors and teachers. Endowments - eight
professorships are
supported in part by pledges; 500 acres of land at Oberlin, and 10,000
acres in
West Virginia.
Objects
of the Institution.
1.
To educate youths of both sexes, so as
to secure the development of a strong mind in a sound body connected
with a
permanent, vigorous, progressive piety - all to be aided by a judicious
system
of manual labor.
2.
To beget and to confirm in the process
of education the habit of self-denial, patient endurance, a chastened
and moral
courage, and a devout consecration of the whole being to God, in
seeking the
best good of man.
3.
To establish universal liberty by the
abolition of every form of sin.
4.
To avoid the debasing association of the
heathen classics, and make the Bible a textbook in all the departments
of
education.
5.
To raise up a church and ministers who
shall be known and read of all men in deep sympathy with Christ, in
Holy
Living, and in efficient action against all of which God forbids.
6.
To furnish a seminary, affording a
thorough instruction in all the branches of an education for both
sexes, and in
which colored persons, of both sexes, shall be freely admitted, and on
the
terms of equality and brotherhood.
We confess that much of our
prejudice against the Oberlin College has been removed by a visit to
the
institution. The
course of training
and studies pursued there appear admirably calculated to rear up a
class of
healthy,
Page 126
useful, self educated and
self-relying men and women -
a class which the poor man's son and daughter may enter on equal terms
with
others, with an opportunity to outstrip in the race, as they often do. It is the only college in
the United
States were females enjoy the privileges of males in acquiring an
education,
and where degrees are conferred on ladies; and this peculiar feature of
the
institution has proved highly useful.
By combining manual labor with study, the physical system
keeps pace
with the mind in strength and development, and the result in most cases
is
"sound minds in healthy bodies."
Labor and attention to household duties are made familiar
and honorable,
and pleased as we were to note the intelligent and healthful
countenances of
the young ladies seated at the boarding-house dinner table, the
gratification
was heightened shortly after by observing the same graceful forms clad
in tidy,
long aprons, and busily engaged in putting the dining hall in order. And the literary exercises
of the same
ladies proved that the labor of the hands in the institution had been
no
hindrance in the acquisition of knowledge.
Young in years as is
Oberlin, the institution has sent abroad many well qualified and
diligent
laborers in the great moral field of the world.
Her graduates may be found in nearly
every missionary clim, and her scholars are active co-workers in many
of the
philanthropic movements that distinguish the age.
It is the people's college, and long may
it prove an increasing blessing to the people. - Old
Edition.
Oberlin is nine
miles southwest of Elyria, on the L. S. & M. S. Railroad. It is the seat of Oberlin
College and
Oberlin Conservatory of Music. City
officers, 1888; C. A. METCALF, Mayor; W. P. M. GILBERT, Clerk; H. H.
BARNUM,
Treasurer; I. L. NEWTON, Marshall; D. G. PROBERT, Street Commissioner. Newspapers: Lorain
County Exponent, Prohibitionist, L. WEBSTER, editor; News, Republican, William H. PIERCE,
editor and publisher; Review,
Colored, Union Library Association, editors and publishers; Faith Missionary, Evangelist, O. M.
BROWN, editor and publisher; Bibliotheca
Sacra, Congregationalist, G. Frederick WRIGHT, W. G.
BALLENTINE and Frank
H. FOSTER, editors. Churches:
two
Congregationalist, two Methodist, one Baptist, one Episcopal. Bank: Citizens' National,
Montraville
STONE, president; Charles H. RANDALL, cashier.
Population, 1880, 3,242.
School census, 1888, 1,260; George W.
WAITE, school superintendent.
The founders of
Oberlin were not originally abolitionists, but rather favored the
colonization
scheme. They were
Whigs in
politics. About the
year 1835 it
received a great impulse from accessions from Lane Seminary, which
institution
was for the time broken up because the students there had been
forbidden by the
trustees to discuss the subject of slavery.
Four-fifths of the Lane students in
consequence left, and most of them, with Professor MORGAN and Rev. Asa
MAHAN,
also Rev. Mr. Finney, of New York city, came to Oberlin. Here was then established
for their
wants a theological department, and, by their suggestion, a rule
adopted that
all persons in respect of color should be admitted into the seminary. This, with large donations
from Arthur Tappan, of New York, and other abolitionists, enabled
them to put up the
necessary buildings, and placed the institution on a lasting foundation. At Oberlin the subject of
immediate
abolition was then freely discussed, with the result of converting the
Oberlin
people to the views of the seceders of Lane, so that Oberlin soon
became a hive
from which swarmed fourth lecturers under the auspices of the American
Anti-Slavery Society. Through
the
influence largely of Oberlin, Northern Ohio became strongly leavened
with
anti-slavery sentiment, finding devoted friends, bitter enemies and
encountering ferocious mobs.
Oberlin was not designed as
an institution for blacks. But
its
founders, taking the teachings of Christ as their guide, could not find
any
reason for their exclusion, and so they were admitted.
Of the 20,000 different pupils from the
beginning, 19,000 have been white.
Of both sexes only sixty colored persons, thirty-two males
and
twenty-eight females, have completed a course.
Oberlin has always been a
temperance community. Tobacco
is
prohibited. If used
by a student,
he is required to resign. No
monitorial
system is adopted; no rating of scholarship and no distribution of
honors. For the
first 25 years a majority of the
graduates supported themselves by school-teaching and manual labor, and
many
now do the same. At
the beginning
seventy-five cents a week was paid for board in the hall, if the
students and
dispensed with meat; twenty-five cents was added for meat twice a day. Then the entire expense of
living, aside
from clothing,
Top
Picture
SLAB
HALL. OBERLIN
Bottom
Picture
Drawn
by Henry Howe in
1846.
COLLEGE
BUILDINGS, OBERLIN.
The
building with a tower on
the right was the only one standing in 1886.
Page 128
ranged
from fifty-eight to eighty-nine dollars during the forty weeks of term time. Now board can be had for
three dollars
per week. The
average annual
expense of a student, outside of clothing, etc., is about two hundred
and fifty
dollars.
The teaching of music, more
especially sacred music, is now a prominent feature here. The number of teachers
Oberlin has sent
forth, as well as missionaries to foreign lands, is extraordinary,
probably
unequaled anywhere.
The central idea of Oberlin
was as a missionary center. In
this
idea not education, but religion.
Christianity, as comprehensive, active, aggressive and
progressive, is
supreme. The
Oberlin philosophy as
defined by Mr. Finney was that "the foundation of moral obligation is
the
good of being, and that true virtue or righteousness consists in
willing this
good of being, including one's own, so that the whole life will be
devoted to
its promotion. This
is the love
enjoined in the Scriptures, the fulfilling of the law."
In other words, the true end of life is
found in doing good, and that was the principle on which Oberlin was
founded. The
education of youth had
that as its sole aim.
Oberlin was an
important station on the underground railroad, and of the multitudes of
fugitives who came, not one was ever finally taken back to bondage. Every device was resorted
to for their
concealment and safe embarkation to Canada.
Says President Fairchild in his work,
"Oberlin, the Colony and the College:"
"Not to deliver to his
master the servant that had escaped from his master, seemed to the
people of
Oberlin a solemn and pressing duty.
This attitude exposed the College and the community to
much reproach,
and sometimes apparently to serious danger.
Threats came from abroad that the
college buildings should be burned.
A Democratic Legislature at different times agitated the
question of
repealing the college charter. The
fourth and last attempt was made in 1843, when the bill for repeal was
indefinitely postponed in the House by a vote of sixty-six to
twenty-nine.
"The people in the
neighboring towns were, at the outset, not in sympathy with Oberlin in
its
anti-slavery position. They
agreed
with the rest of the world in regarding it as an unmitigated fanaticism. The feeling was often
bitter and
intense, and an Oberlin man going out from home in any direction was
liable to
be assailed with bitter words; and if he ventured to lecture upon the
unpopular
theme, he was fortunate if he encountered words only.
Of course the self-respectful part of
the community would take no part in such abuse, but fellows of the
baser sort
felt themselves sustained by the common feeling.
On the Middle Ridge road, six miles
north of Oberlin, a guide-board put by the authorities stood for years,
pointing the way to Oberlin, not by the ordinary index finger, but by
the full
length figure out of a fugitive running with all his might to reach the
place. The tavern
sign, four miles
east, was ornamented on its Oberlin face with the representation of the
fugitive slave pursued by a tiger.
Where the general feeling yielded such result, not much
could be
expected in the way of sympathy for fugitives.
But even among these people the
slave-catcher had little favor.
They would thwart his pursuit in every way, and shelter
the fugitive if
they could. Only
the meanest and
most mercenary could be hired to betray the victim.
Now and then an official felt called
upon to extend aid and comfort to the slave-hunter who claimed his
service, but
he could expect no toleration from his neighbors in such a course. A whole neighborhood would
suddenly find
themselves abolitionists upon the appearance of a slave-hunter among
them, and
by repeated occurrences of this kind, as much as by any other means,
Lorain
county and all of Northern Ohio became, at length, intensely
anti-slavery in
feeling and action.
It was on a
Saturday afternoon in July that I approached Oberlin in the cars; the
tall
spires loomed up on a perfectly level country half a mile from the
depot. On alighting
I was accosted by an old
lady, perhaps 60 years old, with a basket of fresh newspapers which she
was
selling. She had a
refined face,
and the incongruity of her vocation, with her evident cultivation, was
striking
as she presented a countenance aglow with its best selling-smile. I was told she had a
greenhouse nearby
and cultivated flowers, and this was a diversion.
Eccentricities are to be
expected in such a place as Oberlin, with its extraordinary history,
which
began fifty years ago, outraging popular ideas of that day on the
questions of
the equal claims of all men, irrespective of race, and the co-education
of the
sexes; and with the result of winning a topmost position in regards of
the
regardful. I
believe Oberlin has sent
forth more female teachers to our own country, and more missionaries to
foreign
lands, than any other spot anywhere.
Oberlin is well spread out
for the uses of its peculiar population, whose business is the capture
of
knowledge, and not for learning’s sake, but for its use in the
amelioration of human woe. The
walk
to the centre was through a fine avenue of homes, homes largely without
fences,
open to view; some with luxuriant arbor vitae hedges.
Their odor was fragrant, and grateful
was the site of plump-bodied robins hopping on the lawns.
Arrived at the centre and I
found a surprising
Page 129
change.
The newness, the crudity of the old time had vanished; but
one of the
buildings shown in the view of 1846 is standing.
The square is an open space of some
twelve acres, the college buildings mainly detached, and in scattered
spots
around it. These
are noble
structures of Amherst and LaGrange sandstone; no material can be more
elegant
or more substantial; the old signs of a poor and struggling institution
had
vanished.
A handsome soldiers'
monument is there to test the heroism of the sons of Oberlin. The foundation idea of
Oberlin had
conquered. Through
agony, through
blood, the great question, "Am I not a man, and a brother?" has been
answered in the affirmative.
As I left this unique place
to resume my seat in the cars, I passed a young woman of regular
features,
refined and thoughtful expression, although a full black complexion,. She was one of the
transformations of
Oberlin. Its
founders had got the
best they could find from a very old book and applied it direct in the
line of
humanity, and lo! - songs of gladness for the clank of chains.
North Amherst is
six miles northwest from Elyria, on the L. S. & M. S. Railroad. Newspaper: Reporter,
Independent, H. K. CLOCK, editor and publisher.
Churches: one Baptist, one Catholic, one
Congregational, one Evangelical, one Evangelical Reformed, one Lutheran. Population in 1880, 1,542.
One of the most
important quarry districts in the United States mainly lies in the
counties of
Lorain, Cuyahoga and Erie. The
sandstone goes under the general name of Berea grit.
These quarries are now mainly under the
control of the Cleveland Stone Company.
(See pages 525-6.) North
Amherst has grown almost entirely from the development of its own
industry. "The
whole northern
and western part of the township, and extending in Brownhelm, may be
said to
fairly bristle with heavy, iron-rigged derricks, which, worked by
powerful
engines, swing ponderous blocks of stone from the deep, rugged-walled
caverns,
to the ground above, and deposit them upon railroad cars or swing them
to the
saw-mill and turning-lathe.
Hundreds of men, assisted by the giant slave - steam - are
toiling in
the ledges and pits, taking out the rough stone to be modeled into
shapes of
grace, beauty and strength, to lend majesty to the buildings in the
great
markets of the world."
Vast amounts of stone have
been taken out of these quarries at Amherst, Brownhelm and vicinity. The material obtained goes
under the
general name of the Amherst building stone, and is regarded as the best
building stone upon the earth. The
supply is practically inexhaustible.
Estimating the thickness of the stone at an average of
fifty feet - and good
authorities say it must be nearer 100 - the number of cubic feet in an
acre
would be over 2,000,000, which to quarry out would take 100 men ten
years. The stone
lies almost entirely above the
ground, and above the drainage level, and the huge blocks sent to all
parts of
the United States and Canada, and even South America, are quarried
without any
of the obstructions found in other parts of the country. The close proximity of the
great
railroads gives another great advantage for transportation.
The texture of the stone is
fine and homogenous, usually without iron and with very few flaws or
breaks. Its
strength is equal to
10,000 pounds to the square inch, four times that of the best brick,
and much
stronger than the best marble or granite, and, as was illustrated in
the great
Chicago fire, it will resist the action of fire where limestone, marble
and
granite are entirely destroyed. Its
durability is greater than any other sedimentary rock; being nearly
pure silex
but it resists the erosive action of the atmosphere to wonderful
degree,
equaling the very best Scotch granite.
The foregoing facts are
from J. TERRELL'S articles in WILLIAMS' "County History." ORTON'S
Geological Report" supplies the remainder.
The Amherst quarries, in
Lorain county, are located in a series of ledges, which were once the
shore
cliffs of Lake Erie. The
elevated
position of these is a very great advantage, since the light and
uniform color
is due to the fact that this elevation produces a free drainage, and
the stones
have been traversed by atmospheric waters to such a degree that all
processes
of oxidation which are possible have been nearly completed.
An idea of the arrangement
of the strata in quarries can be obtained from the following section,
which is
exhibited in the HOLDERMAN quarry at Amherst:
Drift material
1 to 3 feet. Worthless shell rock
6 " 10 " Soft rock, for grindstones only
12 ". Building stone
3 ". Bridgestone
2 ". Grind stone
2 ". Building stone or grindstone
10 ". Building stone
4 "
7 ". Building stone or grindstone
12 ". |
The floor of the quarry, moreover,
consists of good
stone, which has been drilled for twelve feet, indicating a still
greater thickness
of stone which could be extracted.
The other quarries of the region
exhibit a
Page 130
Top
Picture
J. N. Bradford, del., Ohio State
University.
CENTRAL
VIEW IN WELLINGTON.
From
a picture in
possession of Col. Frank C. Loveland, U. S. Pension Agent, New York
Bottom
Picture
SCENE
IN THE AMERST QUARRIES.
Page 131
similar diversity of material,
although the
arrangement is not often the same.
As regards color, the stones may be divided into two
classes, called
buff and blue. The
buff stone is
above the line of perfect drainage, and in the section above given,
this
extends as far down as the two feet of bridge stone, forming a total
depth
twenty-three to twenty-seven feet.
In most of the Amherst quarries the relative amount of
buff stone is
greater.
As will be noted from this
section, the different strata are not applicable alike to the same
purposes,
and the uses for which the different grades of material can be employed
depend
principally upon the texture and the hardness of the stone. The softest and most
uniform in texture
is a special especially applicable for certain kinds of grinding, and
is used
for grindstones only, and production of these forms an important part
of the
quarry industry.
The stone which is
especially applicable for purposes of construction is also variable;
that which
is of medium hardness and of uniform texture is used for building
purposes or
for grindstones; some is too hard or not sufficiently uniform in
texture for
grindstones, and is used for building purposes only; and the material,
sometimes found, which is difficult to quarry and to dress, is used for
bridge
building purposes only.
As regards appearances,
there is much diversity in the material produced in this region. There are differences due
to the
diversity of textures, of colors, and of methods of stratification; yet
these
are seldom recognized by the casual observer.
Differences in color give rise to the
terms "Blue" and "buff," previously referred to, and differences
in methods of stratification give rise to the terms "split-rock,"
"spider-web," and "liver-rock." The
regularly and evenly stratified
stone is classified as split-rock; that in which the stratification is
irregular and marked by fine, transverse and wavy lines is classified
as
spider-web; the homogenous stone, which exhibits little or no
stratification,
is classified as liver-rock.
When first taken from the
quarry it contains several per cent. of water, and as long as this is
retained
the stones cut easily; upon its loss they harden.
The stone is extracted during only eight
months of the year, since it is injured by being quarried in the winter
and
subjected to hard freezing while containing this quarry water. The winter months are,
therefore,
occupied in stripping and channeling.
Many very fine buildings,
both in the United States and Canada, have been built of the so-called
Amherst
stone, among which may be mentioned the Canadian Parliament buildings,
and most
of the public buildings in Toronto; and there is no city in the Union
in which
stone is extensively used where examples cannot be found in which the
stone is
used for trimmings and ornamental work.
Wellington is thirty-six miles southwest from
Cleveland, fifteen miles southwest of Elyria, on the C. C. C. &
I. & L.
E. & W. R. R. City
officers,
1888: W. R. WEAN, Mayor; R. GOODWIN, Clerk; Wm. CUSHING, Jr.,
Treasurer; Edward
HACKETT, Marshall. Newspaper:
Enterprise, Republican, J. B. SMITH,
editor and publisher. Churches:
one
Methodist, one Baptist, one Catholic, one Congregational. Bank: First National, S.
S. WARNER,
president; R. A. HORR, Cashier.
Population, 1880, 1,811.
School census, 1888, 592; R. W. KINNISON, school
superintendent.
This county is the
greatest cheese producing county in Ohio.
Its annual production about enough for a pound to every
man, woman and
child in the State, while Wellington bears with Little Falls, New York,
the
reputation of being one of the two greatest cheese producing places in
the
Union.
The greatest event
in the history of Wellington is that widely known as
The Oberlin-Wellington
Rescue Case.
About the last
attempt to recover a fugitive in Northern Ohio, under the fugitive
slave law of
1850, occurred September 13, 1858.
John PRICE, a fugitive slave from Kentucky, had been some
time in
Oberlin, when by a ruse he was seized by United States Marshall LOWE
and his
Deputy, Samuel DAVIS, of Columbus, accompanied by two Kentuckians
Mssrs.
MITCHELL and JENNINGS, and driven over to Wellington, eight miles, to
Wadsworth’s Hotel, with the design of taking him south by the first
train.
There was a large
crowd in Wellington, drawn by the occurrence of a fire, and soon word
was
received of the fact, and being joined by a large body from Oberlin,
they
surrounded the hotel and rescued a fugitive.
The grand jury of the United
States District Court found bills of indictment against thirteen
persons in
Wellington and twenty-four in Oberlin, leading citizens, for aiding
Page 132
in the rescue, and arrested them. On April 5 their cases
were called at
Cleveland before the United States Court, when the Wellington
defendants, with
a single exception (Matthew GILLET), entered a plea of nolle
contendre, were fined each twenty dollars and costs and sent
to jail for twenty-four hours.
They were, Matthew GILLET,
Matthew DE WOLFE, Loring WADSWORTH, Ely BOYCE, John MANDEVILLE, Henry
NILES,
Walter SOULES, Lewis HINES said, William SIPLES, and Abner LOVELAND: a
son of
the latter is Col. Frank C. LOVELAND, successor of General SIGEL in the
highly
responsible position of United States Pension Agent in New York.
Two of the Oberlin men,
Simeon BUSHNELL and Charles H. LANGSTON, where convicted and sentenced:
BUSHNELL to sixty days imprisonment and a fine of six hundred dollars; Langston, a
colored man, who made a
strong speech for his course, was fined one hundred dollars and
sentenced for
twenty days. Twelve of the Oberlin men remained in the jail in
Cleveland.
The prisoners on the whole
had a rather enjoyable time. On
the
24th of May an immense mass meeting was held at Cleveland, attended by
people
from all parts of Northern Ohio, to express their intense hatred of the
fugitive slave law. There
was great
enthusiasm; an immense procession with banners marched through the
streets and
gathered in front of the jail. They
were addressed by Joshua R. GIDDINGS, Gov. CHASE and others. The first was bold and
defiant, Mr.
CHASE wary and circumspect; but the resolutions were decided and
radical, savoring
strongly of "State rights."
Visitors came in throngs to see the prisoners, and letters
of sympathy
and funds to meet expenses poured in upon them.
Mr. Fitch, of
Oberlin, one of the prisoners, had been
superintendent of the Sabbath-school there for sixteen years. The children, now
numbering four
hundred, came over in a body to visit him by invitation, and as guests
of the
Sabbath-school children of Plymouth Church, Cleveland.
Then they filed into the jail, filling
all its corridors and open spaces, when brief addresses, interspersed
with
music, were given.
When the prisoners were
released, after an imprisonment of months, it was a day of jubilee. They were escorted from
the prison to
the train by several hundred citizens, headed by HECKER'S band playing
"Home, Sweet Home," and the firing of a hundred guns on the public
square.
On their arrival at Oberlin
they were escorted to the great church where, until midnight, the
pent-up
feelings of the people found expression in song and prayer and familiar
talk
over the experiences of the preceding weeks.
A Cleveland administration paper that
evening said: "So the government, at last, has been beaten, with law,
justice and facts all on its side, and Oberlin with its rebellious
higher law
creed triumphant."
President James H.
FAIRCHILD, of Oberlin, describes an attempt to obtain relief during
this
imprisonment, by an appeal to the State Courts.
Its possible consequences are of
great historic interest:
"A writ of habeas
corpus was granted by one of the judges of the Supreme Court,
commanding the
sheriff to bring BUSHNELL and LANGSTON before that court, that the
reason of
their imprisonment might be considered.
The case was ably argued before the full bench, at
Columbus, for a week;
but the court, three to two, declined to grant a release. This was a severe blow to
the men in
jail. They had
counted with much
confidence upon relief from that quarter.
It is idle to speculate upon the possible results if a
single judge had
held a different opinion. Salmon
P.
CHASE was governor at that time, and it was well understood that he
would
sustain a decision releasing the prisoners by all the power at his
command; and
the United States government was as fully committed to the execution of
the
fugitive-slave law. This
would have
placed Ohio in conflict with the general government in defense of state
rights,
and if the party of freedom throughout the North had rallied, as seemed
probable, the war might have come in 1859, instead of 1861, with a
secession of
the North instead of the Southern states.
A single vote apparently turned the scale, and after a
little delay the
party of freedom took possession of the government, and the party of
slavery
became the seceders."
There was no sufficient
proof of title to John as his slave, in the claimant who issued the
power of
attorney, and on the 6th of July the prisoners were all released. The four men who had
seized him had been
indicted on the charge of kidnapping in Lorain County, became alarmed,
and so,
by mutual consent, all further proceedings on both sides were stopped.
Lost in
the Woods.
The county history gives
several instances of persons being lost in the woods at an early day. One, the case of Mrs.
Carroll TILLOTSON,
who came in 1810 with her husband and three children from Waterbury,
Conn. Mr. Tillotson
put up the first cabin in Ridgeville. One morning Mrs. Tillotson
went to a spring some thirty rods from her cabin to
get a pail of water, and then concluded to go a little farther to see
how her
husband was progressing with a new cabin he was building. She started, as she
supposed, in the
right direction, but soon became bewildered and lost in the dense
woods, and
could find neither husband nor home where she had left little children. After wandering about in
the woods
nearly all day through brush and over logs, she came by chance upon the
Indian
trail which led to the mouth of Black river.
This she took and finally arrived at
home in a wretched and terribly worn condition.
Mr. David BEEBE, a neighbor
of Mrs. TILLOTSON, which lost in the fall of 1811, and passed four days
and
three nights in the woods.
Page 133
Early in the morning he went in
search of his horses,
and the day being cloudy he became lost and wandered about all day
without the
least idea of where he was or in the direction he was going. Night overtaking, he crept
into a hollow
tree, and there passed a sleepless night.
The next day he moved about unceasingly to discover some
object he knew,
but in vain, when to his great amazement in looking for a lodging place
he
discovered the same hollow tree in which he had passed the preceding
night.
Convinced by this that he
had been traveling in a circle, he adopted the plan the following day
of selecting
three or more trees in a range, and in this way was enabled to travel
in a
direct course. Another
night was
spent in the woods, making his bed under one of the trees selected in
line. On the
forenoon of the fourth day he
reached the lake shore in Avon, and, making his way westward, reached
the cabin
of John S. REED at the mouth of Black river.
While in the woods he had subsisted on a
few hickory nuts he had carried in his pockets; but he was in a weak
and almost
famished condition. Every
possible effort
had been made to find the unfortunate man, men from adjoining towns
assisting
neighbors in the search. It
was
common then when parties gathered to search for the lost to go with
horns to
blast and give notice to the bewildered one.
To illustrate the often lonely condition
of the first settlers, when the Beebe
family emigrated to Ohio Mrs. Beebe
was the first white woman that Mrs. Terrell had seen in three months. They had been neighbors in
Connecticut,
and were so overcome at meeting that neither could for some time speak
a
word.
The sensation of being lost
in the woods is most graphically described by Colonel Charles
WHITTLESEY in his
essay, "Two Months in the Copper Region," in 1845.
He had himself twice experienced that.
He says it is a species of
delirium. It
oppresses and injures
every faculty like any other intense and overwhelming emotion. Even the most experienced
woodsman,
Indians and Indian guides, frequently become subjected to it, become
bewildered, miscalculate their position, make false reckoning of
distances,
lose courage and abandon themselves to despair and to tears. He thus details the
sensation:
"With the mind in a
state of perplexity, the fatigue of traveling is greater than usual,
and
excessive fatigue in time weakens not only the power of exertion but of
resolution also. The
wanderer is
finally overtaken with an indescribable sensation - one that must be
experienced to be understood - that of lost-ness.
"At a moment when all
his faculties, instincts and perceptions are in full demand, he finds
them all
confused, irregular and weak. When
every physical power is required to carry him forward, his limbs seem
to be yielding
to the disorders of his mind. He
is
filled with an oppressive sense of his inefficiency, with an indefinite
idea of
alarm, apprehension and dismay. He
reasons, but trusts to no conclusions.
He decides upon the preponderance of reason and fact, and
is sure to be
decided wrong."
"If he stumble into a
trail he has passed before, even within a few hours, he does not
recognize it,
or if he should at last, and conclude to follow it, a fatal lunacy impels him to take the wrong
end. His own tracks
are the prints
or the feet of some other man, and if the sun should at last penetrate
the fog
and clouds that envelop his path, the world for a time seems to be
turned and
for end. The sun is
out of place:
perhaps to his addled brain far in the north coursing around to the
south, or
in the west moving towards the east.
At length, like a dream, the delusion wears away, objects
put on their
natural address, the sun takes up its usual track, streams run towards
their
mouths, the compass points to the northward; dejection and weakness
give place
to confidence and elasticity of mind."
Sand
Ridges
A very interesting feature
of the lake counties are the beautiful sand ridges which run through
this
country nearly parallel with the lake east and west.
Upon these ridges of the pioneer built
his first cabin; upon them ran the first roads, and these were the
first places
cultivated, because of their light sandy soil and easy cultivation. There are three continuous
sand ridges
running through the county beside several local ones, and the belief is
by some
geologists that they are old beach lines left by the receding waters in
their
successive stages of rest. They
vary from forty to one hundred fifty rods in width, and are
respectively three,
seven and nine miles from the lake, the highest - Butternut ridge - the
one
farther inland, being the first formed.
It has an altitude of two hundred and four feet above the
lake, while
North ridge, the one nearest to it and parallel, has an altitude of
only from
ninety to one hundred feet. Centre
ridge, which formed a continuous ridge nearly if not the entire length
of the
lake, has an altitude of one hundred and sixty-two feet. This ridge was used as the
first wagon
road in the county, and was the Old Stage Road between Buffalo and
Detroit. J. TERRELL
says: "The
ridges were formed from the sand that was worn from the rocks by the
action of
water; hence these ridges are only found within the limits of the
horizon of
sandrock exposure. . .
. The
main ridges all
run parallel with the lake, and hence presented a natural barrier to
the
drainage of the land. The
water
coming down from the higher lands south settled in behind these ridges,
forming
ponds or small lakes which, as vegetation slowly accumulated, finally
became
swamps. Hence are
found swamps on
the north side of all the ridges."
In the July number of Silliman's Journal, 1850, Colonel
WHITTLESEY says: "My opinion has been for a number of years that the ridges are not 'ancient beaches' of the
lake, although some of the terraces maybe.
It is indispensable to a beach that its foot or water line
should
Page 134
be perfectly horizontal. The lake ridges are not
so; and this
fact, taken in connection with the external form which they assume,
clearly
gives them the character of sub-marine deposits.
"
There are points on this
coast where there are four ridges rising in succession from the lake,
as in the
town of Ridgeville, Lorain county.
In other places there are three, as from Geneva to
Ashtabula; from
Euclid through Painesville to Geneva, 2; and from Cleveland to Euclid,
1. There are places
where it is difficult
to trace any; and in others, as in the city of Cleveland, where there
are two
branches or divisions of one ridge for short distances, all about the
same level
and liable to terminate suddenly.
The ridges are sometimes on the crest of a terrace, and
sometimes lie
like a highway of water washed sand, on the gently inclined surface of
a plane
that descends toward the lake. From
a regular and beautiful elevated roadway the ridge occasionally breaks
into sand
knolls, as at Avon Centre, Lorain county; at Ohio City, near Cleveland,
and at
Painesville, Lake county.
Biography.
Quincy Adams GILMORE was born in Black River (now
Lorain), Lorain county, O., February 25, 1825, and died in Brooklyn, N.
Y.,
April 11, 1888. His
early life was
passed on a farm. In
1849 he
graduated at West Point at the head of his class.
His first great
distinction was achieved in the siege and capture of Fort Pulaski,
Georgia,
February 19 to April 11, 1862. As
commander of the forces engaged in this siege, he boldly discarded the
traditions of attack upon fortified places, and planting his breeching
batteries at distances never thought of before, succeeded in less than
2 days
of bombardment in rendering untenable a work which the most eminent
engineers
had, in view of its peculiar situation, pronounced impregnable.
In fact, General Gilmore's cannonade and capture of Fort Pulaski
revolutionized the naval
gunnery of the world, and extended his fame throughout Europe as well
as
America.
For this service he
received the brevet of lieutenant-colonel, and was made a
brigadier-general of
volunteers, April 28, 1862.
General Q. A. GILMORE.
His next notable success was with
the noted
"Swamp Angel," a gun used in the siege of Charleston.
The gun was apparently planted in the
edge of the sea, but really in the shallow marsh between Morris and
James
islands. There a
firm foundation
was laid, a low breastwork put up in a circle around the gun, and
one-hundred-pound shells were "dropped" into Charleston. But it was only fired
thirty-six times,
exploding at the last discharge.
Other guns soon after did as effective work, but the
"Swamp
Angel" is remembered because it first proved the practical ability of
the
method.
Later, with his (Tenth)
corps, he took part in the final operations of the army on the James
river. He received
brevets of
brigadier-general and major-general for services before Charleston,
resigning
his volunteer commission as major-general in December, 1865.
After the war he was
engaged upon important engineering works, and his name is most
intimately
associated with the improvement of the harbors at Charleston and
Savannah, with
other like works along the Atlantic coast, and as president of the
Mississippi
River Commission with the great works which have been projected for the
rectification of that important waterway.
Outside of his military record, General GILMORE gained a
high reputation
by his published studies in cements and mortars, concrete and building
stone,
and road-making and paving, and his treatises on these subjects are
regarded as
of the highest authority.
Asa MAHAN was born in Vernon, N.Y.,
November 9,
1800. Graduated at
Hamilton
Page 135
College in 1824, and at Andover
Theological Seminary
in 1827. In 1831 he
was pastor of
the Presbyterian church at Cincinnati, and four years later accepted
the
presidency of Oberlin College, which he held for fifteen years. After leaving Oberlin he
was president
of Cleveland University, and later, Adrian College, Michigan. He received the degrees of
D. D. and LL.
D., and after 1871 resided in England.
He is the author of a number of theological works.
Charles
Grandison
FINNEY was born in Warren, Conn.,
August 29, 1792, and died at Oberlin, Ohio, August 16, 1875. As a young man he began
the study of
law, but having been converted in 1821, was licensed to preach in the
Presbyterian church. He
was a very
successful evangelist. In
1835 he
accepted the professorship of theology at Oberlin.
From 1851 to 1866 he was president of
Oberlin, during which period he spent three years as a revivalist in
England,
and gained a very great reputation for eloquence.
His "Lectures on Revivals" was
translated into several foreign languages.
John
Mercer
LANGSTON was born in Louisa,
Summit county, Va., December 14, 1829.
At the age of six he was emancipated from slavery. Appleton's "Cyclopedia of
American
Biography" says of him: "He was graduated at Oberlin in 1849, and at
the theological department in 1853.
After studying law he was admitted to the bar of Ohio in
1854, and
practiced his profession there until 1869, during which time he was
clerk of
several townships in Ohio, being the first colored man elected to an
office of
any sort by popular vote. He
was
also a member of the Board of Education of Oberlin.
In 1869 he was called to a professorship
of law in Howard University, Washington, D. C., and became dean of the
faculty
of the law department, and active in its organization, remaining there
seven
years. He was
appointed by
President Grant a member of the Board of Health of the District of
Columbia,
and was elected its secretary in 1875.
In 1877-85 he was United States Minister and
Consul-General in
Hayti. On his
return to this
country he was appointed president of the Virginia Normal and
Collegiate
Institute in Petersburg, which office he now (1887) holds. In addition to various
addresses and
papers on political, biographical, literary and scientific subjects,
Mr.
LANGSTON is the author of a volume of select addresses entitled
'Freedom and
Citizenship,' Washington, 1883."
Charles
Carroll
PARSONS was born in Elyria in
1838; graduated at West Point in 1861.
In the war he took command of the battery, "Parson's
battery," which was famous
in both Union and Confederate armies, and many stories are told of his
courage
and daring. In one
instance he
remained with his guns until dragged from them by the order of General
McCOOK.
After the war he was chief
of artillery in Gen. HANCOCK'S Indian expedition.
Later he took orders in the Protestant
Episcopal church. He
died September
7, 1878, at Memphis, during the yellow-fever epidemic, from overwork in
his
heroic ministrations as nurse and clergymen.
Stevenson BURKE, so eminent as a lawyer,
jurist, president of
many railways and other corporations, passed his early youth and
manhood in
this country, where he was admitted to the bar in 1848, and is now
residing in
Cleveland. From
penury he fought
his way to such success that few great cases have been tried in
Northern Ohio
within the last 25 years in which he has not been engaged. He possesses untiring
powers of
application, executive capacity, with genial, winning ways.
Lorain is on Lake
Erie, at the mouth of the Black river, on the N. Y. C. & St. L.
and C. L.
& W. Railroads. It
is eight
miles from the Elyria, thirty miles from Sandusky, and twenty-eight
from
Cleveland. City
officers: Mayor,
Otto BRAUN; Clerk, John STACK; Treasurer, T. F. DANIELS; Marshall, H.
OSGOOD;
Street Commissioner, James WHITE.
Newspaper: Lorain Times,
Independent, Thomas G. CHAPMAN, editor.
Churches: one Methodist, won Congregational, one
Disciples, one German
Evangelical, one German Lutheran, one Catholic, and one Baptist. Bank: First National,
David WALLACE,
president, T. F. DANIELS, cashier.
Manufacturers and
Employees. - The
United Brass Co., brass goods, 310
hands; Lorain Iron Foundry, castings, 6; C. L. & W. R. R.
Shops, railroad
cars, 36; C. L. & W. R. R. Repair Shop, railroad repairs, 90;
Lorain Lumber
and Manufacturing Co., planing mill, 5; WILLIAMS, BARROWS &
Co., flour,
etc., 6. - State Reports, 1887. Population, 1880, 1,595. School census, 1888, 1,059. Capital invested in
manufactures,
$105,000. Value of
annual product,
$130,000. - Ohio Labor Statistics, 1888.
Lorain, as a
village, is comparatively new; but, being at the mouth of Black river,
the
point has long been an important one.
The harbor here is one of the best on the lake. For over three miles the
stream exceeds
a width of 200 feet, with an average depth of about fifteen feet,
sufficient
for the largest craft on the lake.
It has long been an important point for shipbuilding. In 1836 was formed here an
association
called the "Black River Steamboat Association." Up
Page 136
to 1876 the number of steamboats, brigs,
schooners, barks and sloops built here had
aggregated 125, besides many scows - beginning with the
"General
Huntington," built in 1819.
The place was first called Black River.
In 1836 the village was incorporated as
Charleston, and was growing into importance as a shipping point for
grain, when
the Cleveland & Toledo and other railroads diverted its trade,
and the
place of fell into ruin. In
1874 it
was reincorporated under its present name, having obtained railroad
connections
and giving evidence of a returning life.
Grafton is about eight miles southeast of Elyria, on
the C. C. C. & I. and C. L. & W. Railroads. It has churches: one
Presbyterian, one
Methodist, and one Catholic, and about 700 population.
La Grange is on the C. C. C. & I. Railroad, seven
miles easterly from Wellington, and has about 500 inhabitants. School census, 1888, 156.