DOCTOR ELIAKIM CROSBY, to
whom Akron is more largely indebted for its manufacturing
existence than to any other one man, was born in Litchfield,
Conn., March 2, 1779. He was educated and for some time engaged in
teaching in and about Litchfield. In 1806, he went to Buffalo,
where he read medicine with a Dr. Chapin, allopathic, though in
the early forties he embraced, and for a while practiced, the
homeopathic system of medicine. About 1808 or 1809 he went to
Simcoe, Canada, where he was married to Miss Marcia Beemer in
1810. In the war of 1812, Dr. Crosby entered the service of the
United States as a surgeon in the army, in consequence of which
leis property in Canada was confiscated by that government. In
1820 he removed with his family to Ohio, locating in the then
enterprising village of Middlebury. Though giving some attention
to the practice of medicine, he soon became interested in the
various enterprises of the time, in connection with Mr. Henry
Chittenden taking a contract upon the canal, between Bethlehem and
Zoar, and for furnishing 16,000 bushels of water-lime for the
construction of locks ill 1826-7. Previous to the completion of
these contracts, Dr. Crosby purchased of Mr. Ralph Plum the
Cuyahoga Furnace property, originally erected by Aaron Norton and
Wm. Laird in 1817, on the present site of the Seiberling flouring
mill. This purchase included the property on the opposite side of
the Canton road, for many years past known as the "Aunt Betsy
Stewart homestead," the doctor removing his family into the small
frame house erected by Mr. Plum, and now doing service as a horse
barn and carriage house.
This furnace, originally
devoted to the smelting of such iron ores as were found in the
vicinity, was, by Dr. Crosby, largely devoted to the manufacture
of plows and sundry other agricultural and household articles ill
demand at that time. The furnace was at this time run by water
power from a dam across the Little Cuyahoga river, near the
present woolen and felt works. A year or two later Dr. Crosby sold
the furnace property, including his dwelling house, to the Stewart
brothers, Arnold, Isaac and Daniel B. The Doctor then bought the
sawmill property, near the dam, and by securing the control of the
river above, built a dam three-fourths of a mile further up, and
by race and flume, secured a better head of water, both for the
furnace property- his saw mill and the large two-story grist mill
which he erected where the felt works now stand; building for
himself, in the meantime, a new dwelling house on or near the
present site of the Kent school house. After running these mills a
year or two Dr. Crosby sold his mill property to the late Increase
Sumner, who also opened a store in the business portion of the
village, both of which, finding himself financially embarrassed,
Mr. Sumner transferred to his two brothers, Edward and Charles, in
1832.
The Doctor now got his
practical eye upon "bigger game," and by his mysterious maneuvers
led certain property owners to believe that he was endeavoring to
divert the business of the town to a point further down the
stream, towards or below the Old Forge, and a combination was
entered into by which it was sought to dam the river at, or near,
what is now known as the White Grocery," and from thence conduct
the water through Blue Pond to a point near where the Akron Sewer
Pipe works now stand, thus creating a water power that would
overshadow anything that the Doctor could command lower down the
stream. That eminent hydraulic engineer,
Col. Sebried
Dodge, (afterwards owning and living upon, until his death,
what is known as the "Dodge farm," three miles southwest of Akron)
was employed by the syndicate to make the surveys, and both loud
and frequent were the boasts made to the Doctor that they would
head him off, to all of which the Doctor would pleasantly; but
significantly reply: " Gentlemen, your scheme won't work, but mine
will; and what's more, it will cause the grass to grow in your
streets, and make a goose pasture of your town."
Thus time passed on.
Engineer Dodge found that very little, if any, additional power
could be obtained by the plan proposed than by following the
natural course of the stream to the point designated, and that
scheme was abandoned. In the meantime the Doctor pursued the even
tenor of his way, quietly obtaining control of the river bed and
all the lands upon either side, as far west as the lands of Gen.
Perkins, through which the Ohio Canal had been constructed, when,
suddenly, like a peal of thunder from a clear sky, it burst upon
the astonished intellects of the Middleburghers, that an
arrangement had been made between the Doctor and Gen. Perkins to
conduct the entire waters of the river, by means of a race, to be
immediately constructed, from the north part of that village to a
point near Lock Five on the Ohio Canal, from whence they could be
used over and over again, as far as Lock Seventeen, for milling
and manufacturing purposes.
This was in 1831. The
surveys being completed, a large force of men was at once set to
work constructing the race, a considerable portion of which, from
about opposite the present Fair grounds to Summit street, had to
be quarried from the solid rock. The next year, 1832, the building
then, and ever since known as the "Stone Mill," at Lock Five was
begun; both the race and the mill being completed and running
early in 1833. The lands purchased by Dr. Crosby were consolidated
with the 300 acre tract, so-called, belonging to Gen. Perkins, and
by those gentlemen, and judge
Leicester King,
of Warren, who had in the meantime purchased a one-third interest
in the enterprise, had been platted into streets, lots, etc., and
quite a good many lots sold and improved, though the plat was not
put to record until the 10th day of August, 1833 ; the new plat
covering the territory between North street, on the north, and the
"gore," so called, (Quarry, Bowery and West Center streets) on the
south, and Summit street upon the east, and Oak and Walnut streets
upon the west. It was said, with how much truth the writer cannot
say, though with a strong shade of probability, that to prevent
observation and the miscarriage of his designs, the Doctor did
much of his surveying and the running of his levels for his
contemplated race, by moonlight, as all of his movements had to be
made on the sly, until after the control of the river bed had been
secured by the purchase of contiguous lands on either side.
As a sample of some of
the difficulties encountered and over come, some 15 acres off from
the north end of the 45 acre tract deeded by Gen. Perkins to Mr.
Charles W. Brown, as before stated, being needed for the race, and
the control of the waters of the river, and suspecting that the
Doctor's designs were deeper that was apparent upon their surface,
Mr. Brown drove so sharp a bargain with him that 57 acres of much
better land, immediately adjoining him upon the east, was obtained
from the Doctor for the smaller parcel needed. Also upon the north
side of the Little Cuyahoga River was a 300 acre farm belonging to
Mr. William Phelps, a small corner of which ran down into the bed
of the stream, and which had to be secured before the waters could
be diverted from their natural channel. This acre or two Mr.
Phelps would not sell at any price, unless they would take the
entire farm at the exorbitant price, for those days, of $14,000 in
gold. An option for a certain number of days having been obtained
by judge King, late in the afternoon of the last day of the option
the judge appeared at the Phelps mansion with the coin. On
inquiring for Mr. Phelps, the judge was informed that he was away
from home, but could get no information as to where he had gone
nor how soon he would be back. " Very well," said the judge, "
I'll wait for him," and wait he did until near midnight, when he
took the bag of gold from his pocket and began counting it out and
piling it upon the table, and then and there made a tender of the
sum agreed upon to Mrs. Phelps, as the representative of her
husband. After the midnight hour had passed Phelps came forth from
his hiding; but refused to receive the money, claiming that the
time of the option was up; thinking perhaps, that by holding off
he could extort from them still higher figures. Finally a day or
two later, on the advice of Mr. Brown, he executed a deed to Judge
King, and took his money, a portion of which he invested in
farming lands in Wadsworth, Medina County.
THE NEW VILLAGE OF “CASCADE."
As indicated by the name
given to Dr. Crosby's "ditch "-- the "Cascade Mill Race,"- the
embryo rival to the ancient village of Middlebury and the original
town of Akron, was at first called "Cascade," though it was
finally platted under the name of Akron. Hence the first store on
the site now occupied by Hall's block, corner of Market and Howard
streets, erected by Mr. Seth Iredell (father of our present fellow
citizen, Robert S. Iredell) in 1832, was called the "Cascade
Store," while the first hotel, erected the same year, by James
Baldwin (father of Capt. Aaron P. Baldwin) and Lewis Kilbourn
(father of William W. Kilbourn, of 212 East Exchange street), was
called the "Cascade House;" and for several years, both at home
and abroad, the snappy and prosperous new village was known as
"Cascade," rather than by its platted and ultimately
well-established cognomen of Akron.
About simultaneously
with the building of the race and the Stone Mill, two blast
furnaces had been erected at the North End -the "AEtna," near Lock
Twelve, by Parsons DuBois & Co., (T, Parsons, Robert K. DuBois and
William Slater) succeeded early in 1833 by Hart, DuBois & Co.,
(William J. Hart, Robert K. DuBois and David J. Garrett) and the
"Portage," on the present site of Dr. J. H. Peterson's Assembly
Hall, by Fenn & Howard, (Jonathan F. Fenn and Charles W. Howard),
the blast of the former run by the waters of the Cascade Mill
race, and that of the latter by the waters of Wilcox run (the
cemetery brook) brought in a race and wooden flume from a little
above the cemetery lodge and crossing West Market street, at its
present junction with Cherry street. About the same time, also,
Messrs. David and Jesse Allen and Col. Reuben McMillan, under the
firm name of Allens & McMillan erected a three-story frame
building, a little southwest of what is now known as the Allen
Mills, where they entered largely into the manufacture of carding
and spinning machines, for which there was quite a demand in those
early days. This factory was, a few years later, converted into a
flouring mill by Messrs. Joseph A. Beebe (our late City Librarian)
and William E. Wright, (late of Rome, N. Y.,) and was called the
"Center Mill," and though it long years [sic] ago gave place to
the Allen Mills, the most excellent brand of flour, called "Center
Mills," is still a favorite with many of our citizens.
