CHAPTER VI.
THE
PORTAGE CANAL AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OR THE "CHUCKERY "
ENTERPRISE -- A MAMMOTH SCHEME -- SUPERIOR SAGACITY AND
ENGINEERING SKILL OF AKRON'S GREAT BENEFACTOR, DR. ELIAKIM CROSBY
- -"SUMMIT CITY" FIFTEEN MINUTES A COUNTY SEAT---RISE, PROGRESS
AND COLLAPSE-- MISMANAGEMENT AND RASCALITY -- PROTRACTED
LITIGATION -- RUIN ALL
AROUND -- BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOCTOR CROSBY AND FAMILY –
TARDY JUSTICE TO HIS MEMORY.
TRULY A MAMMOTH SCHEME.
AFTER the consummation of the
Cascade Mill race scheme, by which the waters of the Little
Cuyahoga river had been turned from their course, at Middlebury,
and brought to North Akron, thus constituting the extensive
water-power now owned by the Akron Hydraulic Company, and which
has, in reality, made Akron what it is, Doctor Eliakim Crosby
conceived the idea of securing as an adjunct to that then potent
element of manufacturing growth and prosperity, the entire volume
of the waters of the Big Cuyahoga river, also. Quietly, but
carefully, making his surveys, the Doctor satisfied himself that,
if the right of way, and the requisite territory, together with an
adequate construction fund, could be secured, a water-power second
in magnitude and accessibility to no other in the Western country
could be created, and a large manufacturing town, rivaling even
the most prosperous in New York and New England could be built up.
The village of Cuyahoga
Falls was already largely using the waters of the river for
manufacturing purposes, but the peculiar formation of the land and
the stream below the village, with its deep and almost
inaccessible gorge, rendered the availability of its waters, for
manufacturing purposes, both difficult and extremely inconvenient,
if not wholly impracticable.
In the furtherance of
this project, Doctor Crosby, having sold his one-third interest in
the Cascade Mill race and contiguous lands in North Akron, to his
associates in that enterprise,
General Simon Perkins and
Judge Leicester King, with the avails thereof quietly, through
Mr. Eleazer C. Sackett (for many years past, until his death, July
10, 1889, at the age or 88, a resident of Wyandotte, Kansas), in
1836 secured, by purchase, all the lands abutting on the
river, on both sides, from a
point a little below the "High Bridge," in what is now known as
the "Glens," to its junction with the little Cuyahoga, a short
distance below Lock Twenty-one upon the Ohio Canal.
Of the large tract of
land thus purchased, nearly four square miles, or something over
2,500 acres, about 200 acres were nicely platted, and a large and
handsomely engraved and printed map of " Summit City" was placed
on exhibition in the principal business centers of the country,
particularly in the East, and capitalists were invited to invest
in the choice manufacturing sites and eligible building lots for
business blocks and private residences displayed thereon.
To those familiar with
the territory comprising what is now generally known as the
"Chuckery" (so named from the facetious remark of that inveterate
joker and punster, the late Col. John Nash, of Middlebury, in
reply to the inquiry of a stranger as to the population of Summit
City, that as near as he could judge it was about 10,000, "that
is," he said, with that peculiar leer of his, "one man and nine
thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine woodchucks”) it will be
readily seen that the location was remarkably favorable for the
success of the contemplated scheme. The large plateau, now
designated as "North Hill," embracing the Wise farm, and
contiguous lands north to the river, and east to the old
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, were admirably adapted to private
residences, public buildings, parks, etc., while the next lower
plateau, embracing Cuyahoga street, was to be the business
mercantile portion of the city; the contemplated mammoth mil and
manufacturing establishments to be located on the side of the
bluffs, the lower plateau, and along the bottom lands of the
Little Cuyahoga, from a short distance west of the deep cut of the
Howard street extension, around the brow of the hill westerly and
northerly, to the junction of the two rivers.
On the 27th day of
February, 1837, a charter was granted to Simon Perkins, Eliakim
Crosby, Frederick Wadsworth, Eleaz C. Sackett, Edmund W.
Crittenden, Peter Eicher and their associates and successors,
under name and style of the Portage Canal and Manufacturing
Company, with an authorized capital of $500,000, and with power to
issue bonds for the purpose of raising finds for building its dam
and canal, and defraying the other necessary expenses of the
corporation, and with authority to mortgage its entire lands and
franchises to secure the payment of such bonds
The first series of
bonds was issued with the view of being negotiated in London,
through the United States Bank of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, to
which institution, as trustee, the company executed a mortgage
upon all its lands and franchised on the 19th day of April, 1839,
to secure the payment of said bond The total amount of bonds thus
authorized was £20,000 sterling in forty bonds of £500 each. These
bonds, as prepared, we nicely engraved, with a handsome vignette,
representing both moving canal boat and a railroad train, fine
marginal design with 24 interest coupons attached to each, and
were nicely printed on a fine quality of bank note paper. The body
of the bonds read as follows:
STATE OF WHO, U. S. A.
500 £ .St's;. (Canal
Boat, etc.] £ .St's 500.
THE PORTAGE CANAL AND MANUFACTURING
COMPANY, (Incorporated by the State of Ohio, February, 27th,
A.D. 1837), promise to pay to the bearer of this Bond, FIVE
HUNDRED POUNDS STERLING, on the first clay of January, one
thousand, eight hundred
and ………………, - with interest thereon at the
rate of Six per cent. per annum from the date hereof. The said
interest to he paid semi-annually, on the first clays of January
and July, on presenting the proper warrant for the same at
……………………...., where the principal will also be paid on the
surrender of this certificate at its maturity.
Witness the Feat of snid
Corporation, with the signatures of the President
[SEAL] and Treasurer, at
Akron, Ohio, the…………day of …………,A. D. 18…
.. .. . ... .... .... .. ..
.. .. .. .. Treasurer. .... .... .. .. . ... .. .. .. ..
.... President.
With the exception of some
four or five of these bonds, negotiated with Joseph S. Lake, a
Wooster Banker, and a stockholder in the company, it was found
impracticable to carry out this scheme, because of the alleged
stringency of the money market in London, and because of the
discovery that, being a corporation, the United States Bank of
Pennsylvania, under the laws of that State, could not legally act
as a trustee for their negotiation. An arrangement was therefore
made by the company with Mr. Lake to give him, in exchange for the
bonds he had thus purchased, a like amount in a new series of
bonds to be issued, and the mortgage given, as above stated, to
the U. S. Bank, was duly cancelled on the 30th day of March, 1811.
On the succeeding day, March 31, 1841, a mortgage was executed in
favor of John J. Palmer, of New York, as trustee, to secure the
payment of bonds to be issued by the company, to the amount of
$100,000, in sums of $500 each, to be negotiated by him, which
bonds, similar in style and execution to the others, as appears by
a specimen in the hands of the writer, were as follows:
[Loan of 100,000 Dollars.]
[Real Estate Pledged
By Deed of Trust.]
STATE OF OHIO, U. S. A.
$500. [Canal
Boat, etc.] $500.
THE PORTAGE CANAL AND MANUFACTURING
COMPANY, (Incorporated by the State of Ohio, February 27,1837),
promise to pay the bearer of this Bond ,FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS,
on the first day of January, One Thousand, Eight Hundred and
Fifty-Six, with interest thereon at the rate of Six per cent.
per annum from the date hereof; the said interest to be paid
semi-annually, on the first day of January and July, on
presenting the proper warrant for the same, at THE MERCHANTS'
BANK IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, at which INSTITUTION, the
principal will also he paid on the surrender of this Certificate
at maturity.
Witness the Seal of said
Corporation, with the Signatures of the President and
{SEAL.] Treasurer,
at Akron, Ohio, the thirty-first day of March, A. D. 1841.
DAY, Treasurer.
ELIAKIM CROSBY, President.
[Instituted March 31, 1841.]
[Appraised at five times the amount of the Loan.]
Some time previous to
the issue of the bonds described, the original proprietors of the
lands and water power, Messrs. Crosby, Eicher, Sackett and
Crittenden, transferred the entire property to the company, after
it had become duly organized, being credited therefor, upon the
books of the company, the sum of $500,000, stipulating to erect
the dam, construct the canal and cause to be surveyed and laid out
into suitable sized lots for the purposes designed, 100 acres or
more of said lands. Of the $500,000 thus credited to them, the
original proprietors set apart the sum of $118,000, for the
execution of the work they had stipulated to perform.
Subsequently, said original proprietors contracted with Mr. E. C.
Sackett to build the canal or race for the sum of $90,000, Mr.
Sackett entered vigorously into the work, its progress, from the
nature of the route to be traversed, being necessarily very slow,
however, and after he had expended about $50,000 the company,
reimbursing him in that amount, purchased his contract, binding
itself to complete the work as stipulated therein. Afterwards the
company contracted with Dr. Crosby, for the sum of $30,000, to
complete the dam and race, excepting the unfinished work upon the
latter begun by Mr. Sackett; but for some reason not now fully
ascertainable, this arrangement fell through, and the company
itself, under the superintendency of Dr. Crosby, proceeded to
complete the work.
ASPIRING FOR COUNTY SEAT HONORS.
The means for the
earlier prosecution of the work were mostly procured from the sale
of shares of stock, lots, etc. For this purpose, Dr. E. W.
Crittenden, as general agent of the company, and James W. Phillips
as special agent, visited New York, Philadelphia, and other
Eastern cities, in the interest of the corporation. Money being a
decidedly "cash article," in those days-the panic of 1837 then
being full head on-large blocks of stock in Eastern railroads and
other corporations, real estate and all kinds of merchandise, were
taken in exchange for both stock shares and building lots in the
prospective city; a store being opened, about 1840, in the corner
room of the historical old stone block-where the M. W. Henry block
now stands, corner Howard and Market streets - by E. Darwin
Crosby; son of Dr. Eliakim Crosby, the large double-faced gilt
sign, bearing his name, on either side, as above given, made by
the writer, now doing service as a shelf for canned fruit in his
[the writer's] cellar, at 510 West Market street.
Later on, in 1842, the
late John T. Balch (father of Mr. Theodoric A. Balch, of 136 Balch
street), as agent for John R. Hudson, of New York, contracted to
furnish goods upon the orders of the company, at retail prices, to
the amount of $30,000, on a year's credit, the company to provide
two store rooms for the sale of said goods, rent free. The main
store under the taking title "The New York Store," was established
in room No. 3, of the store block, and filled with a large and
well-selected stock of general merchandise, for sale to the public
at large, as well as upon the order of the company; a smaller but
pretty full assortment of goods all being kept in a store erected
by the company in, Summit City on the southwest corner of Cuyahoga
street and Tallmadge avenue. The same building, then occupied as a
dwelling by Mr. Seth Sackett, was destroyed by fire on the night
of February 11, 1844, with all its contents, the family, in their
night clothes, barely escaping with their lives; the New York
Store closing business the 25th day of April, the same year.
FOR
FIFTEEN MINUTES A COUNTY SEAT
Elsewhere will be found,
in detail, the history of the erection of Summit County, and the
protracted and bitter struggle over the location of the county
seat. For the purposes of this chapter it will be sufficient to
say that, in 1840, the "Chuckery" appeared upon the tapis as a
compromise candidate for county-seat honors, against Akron and
Cuyahoga Falls, between which towns a fierce rivalry existed.
Akron claimed it as being the larger, in point of manufactures,
general business and population, and because of its more
convenient access from a large proportion of the territory
included in the new county; while Cuyahoga Falls claimed it
because of its more central geographical location, its alleged
superior water power; its more favorable topographical advantages,
and above all for its unsurpassed salubrity and healthfulness; the
"Chuckery's" claim being that by means of its gigantic hydraulic
operations, then rapidly progressing, Summit City would speedily
outgrow either of the other claimants, both in the magnitude of
its manufactures and general business, and in population, while
its accessibility, as well as its beauty of location, would be
generally satisfactory to the people of the entire county, and
allay the bitter animosities that were being engendered in the
controversy then being waged between its two rivals.
So promising were the
prospects of the company at this time, and so plausible were the
arguments presented by Drs. Crosby and Crittenden before the
reviewing commissioners, at an all day's meeting held by them in
the Universalist (late Baptist) Church, in 1841, to hear the
question discussed, that two of the three commissioners actually
decided in its favor, and proceeded to "stick the stakes" for the
public buildings on the first level above the valley of the Little
Cuyahoga, a little east of the house now owned by Mr. R. A.
Grimwood, on Glenwood avenue, built and formerly occupied by Mr.
E. C. Sackett, one of the most prominent and active promoters of
the "Chuckery" scheme.
It is possible that this
selection would have prevailed, the disasters of the company have
been averted and the project have proved a triumphant success, but
for the “moving” remark of bluff old Dr. Daniel Upson, of
Tallmadge, while the measurements were being made and the stakes
driven, who said to the bystanders, loud enough to be heard by the
commissioners, that "nobody but fools or knaves would think of
locating county buildings on such a spot as that." This so
incensed the commissioners who, having conversed with the Doctor
the day before, knew that though his residence was nearer the
Falls, he was favorable to Akron, that they immediately pulled up
their stakes, and proceeded to locate the county seat at Cuyahoga
Falls as elsewhere stated, resulting finally in a submission of
the question to a vote of the people, in 1842, and a confirmation
of the judgment of the original commissioners in favor of Akron.
To those familiar with
the topography of the section traversed by the canal, the
engineering difficulties to be overcome, with the crude and
limited appliances then in vogue, to say nothing of the serious
financial embarrassments by which the company and the contractors
were beset, the wonder is that the really gigantic work in
question could then have been accomplished as soon as it was,
while in these modern days of improved labor-saying expedients,
and comparatively easy finances, it could have been done in
one-fourth the time, though probably at double the cost; common
laborers upon the job then receiving but $13 per month, $2 only of
which was in money, and the remaining $11 in orders upon the
company's stores. For the information of those who have never been
over the ground, I will attempt to convey what, at best, will be
but a faint idea of the magnitude of the work.
In the first place, a
dam, some 20 feet in height, was required to be thrown across the
river, from whence to draw the water thereof at a sufficient
elevation to properly flow through the contemplated canal and
discharge itself, on reaching its intended outlet at the other
end, a distance of nearly four miles. This dam, nearly 100 feet
below the general surface of the surrounding country, was
constructed of heavy timbers, anchored to the bed rock, at the
bottom of the narrow gorge where it was located, with the ends of
the upward arching superstructure resting against the solid rocky
walls of the river bank, upon either side. Though meeting with
several disasters and many hindrances, by reason of frequent
floods, during the progress of the work, the dam was finally
successfully completed sometime in the year 1843.
For two miles from the
dam, the canal had to be cut from the solid rock of the
overhanging cliff, or built up from the bed of the stream with
substantial masonry and curbing, and filled in with earth
difficult of access. On emerging from the gorge of the rivet a
mile or so above the present covered bridge; the course of the
canal, southward, was through a succession of large spurs of the
high bluffs on the northwestern verge of the upper plateau of the
company's domain, and at an elevation of fully one hundred feet
above the bed of the river.
These bluffs, composed
chiefly of sand, had been corrugated and worn into deep ravines,
by the action of the surface water from the upper plateau in its
flow towards the river. These numerous high ridges required to be
cut down, while the intervening gullies had to be elevated to the
proper level for the bed of the canal then being built. To have
done this by the usual modes of excavation then in vogue, the
shovel, the barrow, the scraper and the cart, would have required
an immense number of men and teams, and an immense expenditure of
time, muscle and money.
But the engineering and
hydraulic skill of Dr. Crosby were equal to the emergency.
Procuring a permit from the managers of the Pennsylvania and Ohio
Canal, that canal was tapped upon the eastern verge of the
company's lands, and in a shallow ditch, formed mainly by its own
current, the water was conducted across the nearly level plain,
about a mile and a half, to the western edge of the plateau,
where, in troughs and properly directed sluice-ways, it was made
to wash the parts to be cut down into the parts to be filled up;
the latter being fortified at the bottom with suitable breastworks
of logs, brush, etc., to catch the moving sand, which were from
time to time added to, as the cavities filled up.
In this way, not only
were the depressions in the bluffs brought up to the required
level, but thousands and perhaps millions of cubic yards of earth
were deposited upon the flats below; the bottoms, between the
river and bluffs, being in places raised from twenty-five to
thirty feet; trees of quite large growth, being almost completely
buried thereby.
The south end of the
canal, along the base of the upper plateau, for a mile or more,
was constructed in the usual way, with shovels, barrows, scrapers,
carts, etc., and though the work had several times been suspended,
by the exigencies of the times, and the many unavoidable obstacles
it had encountered, the great project was at length so far
consummated, that on the 27th day of May, 1844, the water was
turned into the canal at the dam, and, running its entire length,
nearly four miles, was permitted to flow, for a short time, over
the edge of the lower bluffs into the valley of the Little
Cuyahoga, at a point about midway between Cuyahoga street and
Howard street extension.
The news that the water
was to be let into the "Chuckery" canal, at a given hour of the
day named, attracted to the spot a large crowd of interested
people, from both "Summit City," Akron and the surrounding
country. Of this event, Hiram Bowen, Esq., founder and editor of
the BEACON, in the issue of May 29, 1844, said:
"On Monday morning last
the water of the Great Cuyahoga river was turned into the race,
which has been for several years in process of construction by the
Portage Canal and Manufacturing Company, for the purpose of
conducting it to the brow of the hill, just north of the village,
to be used for hydraulic purposes. The water flowed freely through
the rocky channel which has been made at incredible labor and
expense along the precipitous banks of the Cuyahoga, for more than
two miles, when it passed into that portion of the race made
through the sand bank, where it makes a southerly course towards
the village of Akron, and leaves the river. Here, in consequence
of the porous nature of the soil, the water made but slow
progress, but it crept slowly and securely on towards its destined
termination, the distance through, from the commencement of the
sand bank, being about two miles. Long before the water came in
sight a crowd of spectators from the neighboring villages, had
gathered to witness the interesting spectacle.
"About 4 o'clock P. M.
the water was descried from the point where it was to flow over
the hill into the valley of the Little Cuyahoga river, when the
`Baby Walker' of the Summit Guards, stationed on a neighboring
hill, awakened the echoes that skirt the vallies of the two
rivers, by repeated discharges, done in fine style. This was
answered by the hearty cheers of the multitude, and the ringing of
the bells from the town. Then came a pause, and all were on
tip-toe to see the final consummation of this great work - the
fall of the water at the end of the race into the valley below.
The water came slowly on, as if it had lost its way, and was loth
to leave the foamy bed of the ancient river, and check its
headlong career to be subject to the control of man. But art and
enterprise had triumphed - the great work, which had so long been
held in doubt, was accomplished, for soon the water was seen to
emerge from the termination of the canal, and flow over the hill
into the valley below. This was greeted with three cheers from the
people and the firing of cannon. Ithiel Mills, Esq., then proposed
the following sentiment, to which the people responded with a
right good will, and then retired to their homes:
"'DR. E.. CROSBY: The
noble projector and efficient executive of the great enterprise
this day successfully accomplished, of introducing the waters of
the Great Cuyahoga river to Akron by land. Of his noble and
persevering spirit of enterprise, his fellow citizens are justly
proud."'
It was to be expected, of
course, that there would be more or less defects in the bed of the
canal, particularly in the sandy portion of it, that would need to
be puddled and otherwise remedied, and there being as yet no
proper gates and sluices for safely conducting the water into the
Little Cuyahoga river, the water was turned off at the dam until
these things could be provided, and, as the sequel proved, never
to be again turned on.
The causes that led to
the final overthrow of this gigantic project, which lead cost so
much time, labor and money, and so great a degree of intrepidity,
skill and perseverance of its projector and his associates, it is
difficult at this remote day to definitely determine. But from the
legal and other sources of information available, it seems to have
largely resulted from want of harmony among the stockholders, and
the importunity of the numerous creditors of the company, and
perhaps, to a certain extent, from the cupidity, if not downright
rascality, of certain parties who had - been trusted with the sale
of bonds, stocks, lots, etc., and the purchase of merchandise and
other property in exchange therefor, the court records showing
that about fifty suits at law, and in chancery, were instituted
against the company and parties connected therewith, between the
time its embarrassments and complications became manifest, until
the final closing up of its affairs.
Finding itself unable to
restore harmony among its members, or regain the confidence of
capitalists, in September, 1845, Joseph S. Lake, of Wooster, was
appointed a trustee, and all of the lands and franchises of the
company were conveyed to him, in fee simple, for the purpose, as
he expressed it in his advertisement announcing his appointment,
"of enabling him to payoff the debts of the company, and to secure
a good title to the purchasers;" and to more speedily accomplish
that object, he associated with himself, W. S. C. Otis, Esq., to
arrange and settle claims, and receive pay for lands sold; and Mr.
E. C. Sackett to make sales of lands, rent property, etc.
Finding that but little,
if any, headway was being made by Trustee Lake, towards adjusting
the affairs of the company, and placing it upon its feet again, on
the 20th day of June, 1845, John J. Palmer, of New York, mortgagee
of all the company's property in trust to secure the payment of
its bonds negotiated through him filed a bill in chancery, in the
Court of Common Pleas of Summit County, for the foreclosure of
said mortgage, in which suit, besides the corporation itself, some
45 or 50 more or less interested private individuals were made
parties. What with answers, replications, demurrers, amendments,
references, continuances, etc., this suit was prolonged until the
October term of the court, 1849, at which time a judgment was
rendered against the company for $127,832.18 and costs $289.81,
and a decree entered for the sale of the mortgaged property, by
Daniel R. Tilden, Esq., as Special Master Commissioner; E. C.
Sackett having been appointed by the court, receiver of rents,
etc., pending said litigation.
Having been duly
advertised, said property was sold by Master Commissioner Tilden,
on the 15th day of June, 1850; a few of the smaller portions, city
lots, etc., being sold to parties to whom they had previously been
sold or contracted, by the company, and who had made improvements
thereon; but the bulk of the property, including its water-power,
hydraulic improvements, franchises, etc., being sold to W. S. C.
Otis, Esq., attorney for the bondholders for the sum of $38,172,
the entire sales aggregating a little over $42,000, for what,
exclusive of the large outlay on the dam and race, had originally
cost the company nearly or quite $300,000.
In speaking of this
sale, John Teesdale, Esq., then editor of the BEACON, said: "Its
present shape renders it available for the execution of the
original design, and the conviction seems to be general that with
the requisite enterprise and energy, the new purchasers may
realize from their investment what even the most sanguine of the
stockholders dared hope for."
But the prediction of
Mr. Teesdale was destined never to be verified. The rapidly
increasing use of steam, as a machinery propelling power, and the
constantly diminishing volume of water in the Cuyahoga river, by
reason of the wanton denudation of adjacent timber lands,
rendering hydraulic privileges less desirable, the entire project
was finally abandoned, and the territory included in the original
scheme, embracing about 2,500 acres - with the small exceptions
noted -was sold as occasion offered, to private parties, mostly
for agricultural purposes; though at this time a considerable
portion thereof is rapidly assuming a city aspect, preparatory to
annexation as the Seventh Ward of the exceptionally prosperous and
growing city of Akron; while the dismantled canal through the
gorge of the Cuyahoga river - now largely overgrown with bushes
and trees - only serves as an object of curious interest and
wonderment to the thousands of pleasure seekers who annually visit
that now celebrated Summer resort, "The Glens;" that portion south
of the river being rapidly obliterated by the action of the
elements upon its sandy embankments, and the plowshare of the
husbandman.
DR. CROSBY'S LATER LIFE, DEATH, ETC.
Fifty years ago the
Crosby family were not only the very elite, but the very
life and soul of Akron society, first and foremost in -very good
work and social enterprise, the second and third daughters Louisa
and Mary, being very fine singers-the latter occupying about the
same position in musical circles that Mrs. Henry Perkins holds
among us to-day.
What I have said of Dr.
Eliakim Crosby, in this and former chapters, conveys but a faint
idea of his services to the people of Akron, a meager recognition
of which has been tardily accorded in the naming of the new street
running parallel with West Market street, from Maple to Balch
streets; and also in giving his name to the Third Ward school
building, corner of Smith and West streets.
It is proper, in closing
this chapter, and as supplemental to matters pertaining to the
same subject contained in the first chapter of these papers, to
add the following in regard to Doctor Crosby and his family: In
1830, the Doctor buried his wife, Mrs. Marcia Beemer Crosby, who
died October 13, at the age of 38 years, having borne him seven
children, four sons and three daughters. In about 1832 he moved
his family to his projected new village of "Cascade," building for
himself the house which is still standing on the back part of the
lot on the corner of North Howard and Beach streets, and for many,
years known as the "Wheeler House." A year or two later this
property was exchanged, with Mr. Reuben Downing, for the present
lot occupied by the St. Vincent De Paul Church and parsonage,
corner of West Market and Maple streets, and in the plain
story-and-a-half frame house thereon he continuously resided until
removing from the town in 1853.
August 15, 1832, Doctor
Crosby married for his second wife Elizabeth Brackett, who died
January 3, 1834, an infant daughter remaining to him as the fruit
of this marriage. May 8, 1834, he married for his third wife, Mrs.
Ann Hamlin West (widow of Dr. Wareham West, who died in
Middlebury, December 9, 1821, at the age of 30 years), her only
daughter, Mary West, - then being added to the lively family
circle.
After the disastrous
failure of the great enterprise of his life, and the termination
of the perplexing litigation connected therewith, shattered in
fortune and spirits, Dr. Crosby, in 1853, removed with his wife
and youngest daughter, to Suamico, near Green Bay, Wisconsin,
where his youngest son, Benjamin Franklin Crosby, was then engaged
in the lumber trade; his two other sons, Henry Clay, arid E.
Darwin, soon after going thither also. Dr. Crosby died at Suamico,
September 2, 1854, aged 75 years and 6 months, his widow, Mrs. Ann
Hamlin Crosby, dying at the same place December 11, 1857, aged 64
years.
Dr. Crosby's eldest son,
John B., died in Akron, September 23, 1832, aged 20 years. His
second son, Henry Clay, married Mary West, (daughter of his last
step-mother), and soon after the death of his parents removed to
Chicago, near which city, in the pleasant village of Winnetka, he
died May 27, 1886, in the 71st year of his age; his wife and one
son, Wareham West Crosby, surviving him. The next younger son, E.
Darwin, recently died in Chicago, where the youngest son,
Benjamin. Franklin, now lives.
Of Doctor Crosby’s four
daughters, Calista M., when quite young was married to Charles W.
Howard, one of Akron's pioneer merchants, and for whom Howard
street was named, and in 1853 was again married to Judge Leicester
King, of Warren, who died in, 1856. She is still living, dividing
her time among her brothers, sisters and other friends at Chicago,
Colorado Springs, Akron and other places; her only son, Charles O.
Howard, having died in Nebraska in 1876. The second daughter,
Louisa, married William Harrison Dewey, (brother of the late Mrs.
Dr Joseph Cole of Akron), also one of early Akron's enterprising
business men, who died in Chicago in 1863, leaving to the care of
his widow five daughters; the eldest, Jennie, died in 1870; the
second, Ione, marrying Gen. J. P Bradlev of the United States Army
now retired; the third, Helen, marrying Capt. Rogers, of the U. S.
Army; the fourth, Louisa, marrying Samuel Colyer, son of Rev. Dr.
Robert Colyer, now living in Portland, Oregon; the fifth,
Charlotte, unmarried, still living with her mother. Dr. Crosby's
third daughter, Mary, married Hon. Henry W. King, brother of our
present well-known citizen, David L. King, Esq., the two brothers
forming the law firm of King & King, in this city, from 1849 to
1851; Mr. Henry W. King also holding the office of Secretary of
State and Commissioner of Public Schools, from 1850 to 1852, dying
in Akron, November 20, 1857, at the age of 42 years and one month,
leaving two children, Harry C. and Julia H. The former died in
Washington in August, 1864, while serving as one of Summit
County's 100day men in the war of the rebellion. The daughter,
Julia H:, is married to Homer Dewey Fisher, son of the late Dr.
Alexander Fisher, of Chicago, (formerly of Akron), who is now
manager of the Colorado Midland Railway, with headquarters at
Colorado Springs, and with whom Mrs. King now resides. Dr.
Crosby's youngest daughter, (by his second wife), Elizabeth
Brackett Crosby, married Charles N. White, paymaster of the N. Y.
L. E. &. W. R. R., with headquarters at Nyack, N. Y., where she
died in December, 1885.
