A Remarkable Photograph

A Remarkable Photograph

2026 | Historic facts, Music

By Paul Hobe

Wouldn’t it be remarkable if there were a photograph of one of the first noteworthy performances of the Alliance City Band in existence? In essence there is. These seminal historical events are revealed in two newspaper reports and one telling photograph.

It is generally well-known in the Alliance community of the involvement of the J. Ridgeway Haines family, the Underground Railroad and the Civil War. Antislavery meetings were often held at the Haines farm. One such event was for young people on a warm August 13, 1859. These gatherings included nationally-known activists, entertainments and music. An article in the Antislavery Bugle states that “a tune from the band” followed a talk: “We know no law for Slavery” by J. J. Freeman.

Another meeting occurred in Alliance in August 1860. At that meeting the “friends of freedom” met at the town hall and then formed a procession “with the Alliance Brass Band in front followed by ladies and gentlemen, two-by-two and then buggies and carriages brought up the rear.” After parading around the principal streets of Alliance they ended up at the “Haynes” Grove. It is recorded that the band played as part of the program. However, we will just have to picture that event in our minds.

But a real photo does exist and it came as a surprise to me!

The story of Abraham Lincoln stopping for lunch at the Sourbeck House on his journey from Pittsburgh through Alliance to Cleveland and then to Washington D.C for his inauguration also is acclaimed in Alliance. Might the band have been part of the welcome for Lincoln at this event?

There is no press record of an Alliance band playing at the event. However, support for the Alliance Band playing at the Lincoln visit comes from an article: “An Old Photograph” published in The Alliance Review in 1919. That article states: “S. W. Seacrist is exhibiting a photograph in the latter part of February 1861, showing the Alliance Cornet Band as it appeared upon the occasion of Abraham Lincoln passing through Alliance enroute to Washington to be inaugurated president of the United States.” It mentions that “the picture shows the band men standing in one of T. F. Stanley’s livery wagons.”

It turned out that I had a modern glossy black and white print of that photograph in some items I had been given years earlier.

That short article also lists three men who were in the picture and still living then (1919). They are “Tump” Haines of Detroit, David Johnson of Mount Union, and Mr. Seacrist of Alliance. The only person I can identify in that photo is Haines, third to the left of the bass drummer but in the back row. He stands just behind the bass horn player and has a mustache. Remember that face; you will see it in the next blog. The keen observer will notice that the bass drum has the words “Haines Cornet Band” painted on it. What do you suppose those bandsmen were thinking, having just seen or anticipating seeing Lincoln, when the shutter was clicked?

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

2026 | Historic facts, Music

By Paul Hobe

Pictures, photographs actually, bridge the time between the instant the shutter was pressed until the moment it is noticed my someone at a later time. I was that someone. The five or six framed photographs of the Alliance City Band were displayed on the wall of the front room in the band’s rehearsal hall in the early 1960s. The band has a history the senior members of the group, some going back to the 1920s, related to me. It was the oldest continuous musical organization in the state of Ohio. The band had played when President-elect Abraham Lincoln stopped in Alliance on his way to his inauguration in Washington DC in February 1861. That was impressive to a young mind.

In 1988. the Alliance City Band performed at the Memorial Day/Decoration Day observances as it had traditionally done for eleven decades. Regrettably, that was the last performance of the Alliance City Band after a run of 129 years. In 1992. the organization officially ceased to exist and the assets were transferred to the Alliance Symphony Association.

I had thought that the story of the Alliance City Band should be told. Nineteen years had passed since the official demise; many of the older members had passed away and none of us were getting any younger. One of those who had left us was Al Nash. Several weeks later his daughter, Sue Grove, mentioned to me that they found several old framed photographs of the Alliance City Band in his effects. Knowing that I was interested in its history she asked what she should do with the pictures. I suggested she loan them to me and I would copy or record them for reference and then give them to the Alliance Historical Society.

The winter of 2010-2011 found me at Rodman Public Library searching through microfilm copies of The Alliance Review for any mention of the Alliance City Band. This and other sources resulted in A Band of Music, the Alliance City Band Story, 1859 – 1992. The title reflects the way bands were referred to in the era media. It can be found online at: http://www.ibew.org.uk. Copies can be found at Rodman Public Library and the Music Library at the University of Mount Union. It includes a list of directors, community involvement, financing, and stories about the band and some of its people. A feature of A Band of Music is a year-by-year description of significant band performances and activities from 1866 through 1992. It is illustrated with 20 pictures of the Alliance City Band. Please note that Figure 20 is mislabeled and should be the “cement slab” concert site. Readers may wish to refer to A Band of Music . . . along with this blog for additional information.

This blog will reflect the people, activities, financing, and demise of the Alliance City Band. This is an adjunct to the Alliance City Band Reenactment Concert compiled and directed by Joseph N. Rubin, scheduled for July 4, 2026, at Alliance’s Silver Park as part of the Alliance Historical Society celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary. Serendipitously, it turns out that this concert is another anniversary as it is exactly one hundred years, to-the-week, of the Alliance City Band’s first concert at Silver Park in 1926.

William Campbell – “The Original Fireless Cooker Man”

William Campbell – “The Original Fireless Cooker Man”

2023 | Historic facts

by Dave McMahon

A Magazine Ad | Who Was William Campbell? | Our New Stove

Alliance has a rich history of products that were manufactured and sold throughout the world. Anyone with a basic knowledge of Alliance could name off some of the major players from Alliance manufacturing history. Every now and then, some very interesting but obscure Alliance-made products that were sold throughout the world will pop up.

William Campbell stove adThe Historical Society recently received one of those products and added it to our collection. In many ways, the story behind its creator and his marketing of it outshines the item itself.

A Magazine Ad

It all started for me a few years back when I happened to acquire a February 1928 Better Homes and Gardens magazine. In flipping through the pages, I came across an ad for a product I had never hear of. It was “Campbell’s Automatic Electric Fireless Cooker Range” manufactured by William Campbell Company of Alliance, Ohio. Beside the picture of this strange looking thing was the phrase “You Will Love It On Sight.” Along with part of the copy that said “the most wonderful electric range we have ever offered,” was the fact that they were sold “direct from factory to user.” So I start thinking where was this factory located and for just how many years did they offer these products?

At that time I had not started any research into this company. I also figured that odds were we would never even see one of these things. Then in September 2022, came an e-mail to the Historical Society from someone in Michigan who had one of these ranges and they wanted to donate it to us. Our President Karen Perone asked me if I knew anything about them, and I just happened to remember the ad from the old magazine.

Who Was William Campbell?

William Campbell Stove ad

The Alliance Review. (Alliance, Ohio), 1925-01-12 p. 2

So now I started digging into just who or what was the William Campbell Company. The best way to describe Mr. Campbell would be to refer to him as the Ron Popeil of his day. For those of you who remember Mr. Direct Marketing man Ron Popeil and all of his amazing Ronco products, you will get a picture of what I mean. Mr. Campbell sold various “fireless” cooking apparatuses during the 1910s and 1920s. He chose to cut out the middle man and sell his products directly to the consumer. With no television to pitch his products on, he advertised in all of the major national publications of the day. His copy was filled with all of the wonderful amazing things his fireless apparatuses could do. Time saving, money saving, healthy foods were realized from his light, space savings products. Even cookbooks with chef-created recipes were available for his products.

An advertising letter from 1926 to a customer pitched the wonders of these ranges. If the customer acted before April 15, they could purchase one of these amazing ranges at a “bargain price” of just $74.85 from the regular price of $90. In today’s dollars, that is between $1,197 and $1,440.

It appears that Mr. Campbell started his company in Detroit, Michigan. At some point he chose to move from the big city to re-establish himself in Alliance. As for the location of his factory, I have not nailed that down yet. However, from looking at the ads during his Alliance years, I came up with 5 different addresses all listed on Union Avenue.

Our New Stove

The range itself is a tiny little thing weighing about 78 lbs. It is small enough to fit in a box and be shipped to us via UPS. The wheels that are on it, and are visible in their ads, are about the size between a nickel and a quarter. The two little burners that attached to the top of the stove with little clips are the only major item missing from this range.

William Campbell Stove William Campbell StoveOne of the big advertised features for these ranges was that it could be plugged into any regular household 110 outlet. If you picture how many people were living in small apartments of say just a few rooms in the 1920s, possibly up flights of steps, such a small light little cooking device would have been perfect for many. Question is, who living under those circumstances could have afforded the purchase price? Oh that’s right, the company offered easy payments of just $10 dollars a month. Just like the infomericals of today.

So now we know that at one time the self-described “The Original Fireless Cooker Man” lived and marketed his products to the world from Alliance, Ohio.=”left”

Alliance’s Deadliest Train Accident

Alliance’s Deadliest Train Accident

2022 | Events, Historic facts

Background | What Happened | After the Crash | The Victims | Who Was to Blame

Alliance’s deadliest train accident occurred on December 8, 1856, at the crossing. Eight people were killed and many others were severely injured, when two railroad trains collided. Newspapers across the country and the journal Scientific American shared the gruesome details of the aftermath of that fateful night.

Background

A passenger train consisting of an engine, tinderbox, baggage car, and four passenger cars, left the Pittsburgh depot at 3:00 p.m. and arrived in Alliance at 6:38 p.m. for a supper break at the Sourbeck Hotel. The train traveled west from Pittsburgh on the Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad. E. A. Leavitt was the conductor of the train.

The second train approached from the south on the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad track. W. C. Cleland was the conductor and his engineer was William Cherry.

The crossing is where the village of Alliance got its name, since the two railroads crossed there and there was an “alliance” of the two railroads. On the northeast side of the crossing sat the Sourbeck Hotel. The building stretched alongside both railroad tracks and was a frequent stopping place for trains and their passengers.

What Happened?

A well-known rule of the railroads instructed all trains must come to a full and complete stop at any railroad crossing, whether there was any other train in sight or not. A flagman would get off the train and check for traffic before the conductor would cross the other tracks.

As the supper break concluded and the passengers climbed aboard the Pittsburgh train at about 7:00 p.m., conductor Leavitt began to cross the Cleveland and Pittsburgh tracks. The entire train had not crossed the intersection when the headlight of the Cleveland train was seen about a half mile away. The flagman failed to slow the speeding train, which showed no signs of slowing down and did not sound its whistle. The speed of the train was estimated from 25-35 mph.

The Cleveland train struck between the third and fourth passenger cars of the Pittsburgh train. The two cars were tossed from the tracks. The fourth car landed in the lobby of the Sourbeck and the third car crashed into the crowd of people who were standing on the platform. Strangely, none of the passengers riding in the cars were killed, but many were severely wounded. The only people killed were standing on the platform outside the hotel or near the tracks.

After the Crash

After the crash occurred, William Cherry, the engineer of the runaway train jumped off and ran away from the scene, fearing that he would be lynched for the accident. When the wreckage was cleared, it was determined that eight people had lost their lives. They were found under the train cars and some were dismembered as well as totally disfigured.

The Victims

Those killed included Alliance resident Jacob Rudie, flagman for the railroad; Dr. P. B. Smith and his wife Sarah B. Smith, residents of Alliance, a newly married couple with a promising future ahead of them. John Brooks resided in New Jersey and was on his way to Limaville to be married. Nicholas G. Taylor, a resident of Philadelphia, was on a business trip to Chicago. John C. McIntyre lived in Alliance and had a wife and two young children. He is buried in the Williamsport Cemetery. He, along with Pierson Otterhalt and King Watson were carpenters. Atterholt and Ritchey resided in New Garden, Ohio.

Who Was to Blame?

Who was to blame for the slaughter? Leavitt had left the supper stop four minutes later than he should have, at just the time that the Cleveland train was to arrive. It was unclear whether Cleland’s engineer, William Cherry, had sounded his whistle or not. If he had pulled the brakes and reversed the engine as the train approached the crossing, was there a coating of frost on the tracks that prevented the train from slowing and stopping as it was required to do? If he had tried to stop the train, why did he jump off and run away? Engineer Cherry turned himself in to authorities in Cleveland several days after the incident. On January 1, 1857, he appeared before a magistrate in Alliance to tell his side of the story.

Cherry swore in his statement that he had whistled down the brakes, reversed the engine, and tried to stop his train before reaching the crossing. He noted that the wheels slid on the tracks and he was sure that the train was going no faster than twelve miles per hour. He stated that when he did see the lights of the Pittsburgh train and those on the station platform, the track was clear. He tried several times to slow the train, but it did not stop.

The judicial inquiry into the incident formed quickly with the verdict coming just nine days later. The Summit County Beacon reported the findings on December 17, 1856, as follows: “After having heard evidence extensively and examined the bodies, we do find that the deceased came to their death by violence … inflicted and caused by the passenger train on the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad crossing of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad at Alliance … the Jury find caused the immediate death of said persons whose bodies were found as aforesaid. And we, the jury, do further find that one John Cherry, the Engineer on the engine of said train on said Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad running north, was concerned in the perpetration of said outrage, violence and death, as principal.”

Learn about local history

Learn about local history

2022 | Historic facts, Index, Rodman Library

Learn About Local History Through Rodman Public Library

by Jack Weber

A library is full of resources to help its patrons connect with its community’s past.

Rodman Public Library is no different, but what you may not know is that residents of the greater Alliance area have access to historical data, records and artifacts right at their fingertips through the library and the Alliance Historical Society.

Website Links to Many Resources

On Rodman Library’s website, rodmanlibrary.com, there is a wealth of local history — much of it provided through the Historical Society — just waiting to be discovered and explored, including, but not limited to, old maps of Alliance through the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps produced between 1867 and 1970, city of Alliance ordinances and the minutes from public meetings held between 1854 and 1924, and full recordings of Carnation Festival parades for select years between 1983 and 2002.  The Alliance Review Collection includes searchable digitized copies of The Alliance Review — nearly every edition produced between 1905 and 1925 — is available through Ohio Memory. The Recreational News, a weekly Alliance newspaper published from 1925-1927 that aimed to supply reliable information for every recreational activity in the interests of healthy sports and athletics, clean amusements, better homes and civic improvement is also available as are select copies of The Red and Blue, the student newspaper of Alliance High School.

Alliance Memory Offers Over 6,000 Images

One of the popular local history offerings found on rodmanlibrary.com is alliancememory.org, Featuring sights, sounds, and recollections of the Alliance community, Alliance Memory offers more than 6,000 images, documents and interviews (both written and digitally recorded) through the Alliance Oral Histories Project. A full list of available oral histories is available on the library’s website.

Full digitized editions of the Alliance High School yearbook, The Chronicle, from 1910 through 2017 can also be searched and browsed.

But Wait, There’s More!

To access the full local history resources available online, visit rodmanlibrary.com and click on the Genealogy and History tab in the blue navigation bar.

Of course, patrons are always welcome to visit the Main Library at 215 E. Broadway Street to explore physical materials such as books and microfilm.

Those wishing to talk to a librarian concerning historical and genealogical research, or those who need help accessing online material, should call 330-821-2665, ext. 217.

Reprinted with permission from Rodman Public Library’s Buzz newsletter, February 2022.

Alliance’s Worst Disaster – The Orr Block Explosion

2021 | Events, Historic facts, Obituaries

Orr Explosion headline

Headline from The Alliance Weekly Review, February 6, 1884 detailing Alliance’s worst disaster

At 4 o’clock in the afternoon of February 1, 1884, Alliance’s worst disaster occurred. Seven people lost their lives and at least 15 others were seriously injured as the fumes from a gasoline spill inside the Orr Block ignited, causing the three-story building to explode.

The victims

Frank M. Orr, age 46, owned the stove and tin ware store, located on the south side of Main Street near 5th Street (now known as Seneca) in downtown Alliance. On the second floor of the building, lived Mr. Orr’s 24-year-old daughter and son-in-law, Homer and Allie Highland, along with their 2-year-old son, Vernon Highland. The Highlands had been married three years. On the third floor lived Frank Evans, his wife Ida, and their two small children, ages 2 years and 4 months. Frank Orr’s son, Elmer, age 21, worked in the store with his father. He was friendly and showed a good talent for business.

How the disaster happened

It was a typical Friday afternoon at the store with a few persons shopping. The building, completed in the fall of 1883, was considered one of the finest in the city. Its exterior consisted of pressed bricks and French plate glass windows. Businesses in the adjoining buildings included a three-story dry goods building, owned by Mr. Miller, to the east, a single-story millinery store to the east of that, and a two-story grocery store to the west of the Orr Block. Noted in the newspaper reports of the day, about seven or eight people were shopping at the grocer’s store at the time of the explosion and a few people were working in the Miller building. Frank Orr was a staunch believer in the Temperance movement and had offered his store to the local WCTU for a meeting on the afternoon of February 1, 1884, but “some trifling matter” caused them to postpone their meeting for another time.

Mrs. Highland and her son Vernon were visiting with her father, Frank, and brother, Elmer, in the tin shop when young Vernon opened the spigot of the gasoline tank. Frank Orr kept gasoline in an airtight galvanized iron tank inside his store for his customers. About a gallon of the liquid spilled out onto the floor of the shop and the fumes began to disperse into the air. Elmer Orr began to mop up the gasoline when the fumes reached a fire-burning stove and caused the great explosion.

The explosion

Two men from Duprez & Benedict’s Minstrels, standing in the doorway into the shop at the time of the explosion, were hurled through the plate glass window to the opposite side of the street. A team of horses on the opposite side of the street, thrown down by the violent explosion, scrambled to their feet. Eyewitnesses remarked that the building appeared to be lifted up before crashing to the ground. The sound of the explosion, heard several blocks away, caused many to think there had been an earthquake. The neighboring three-story building collapsed and thin glass windows within two blocks of the explosion shattered. Property damage estimates were $50,000 and there was little insurance coverage.

Frank and Elmer Orr along with Allie Orr Highland and her young son Vernon all perished in the subsequent fire and building collapse. Frank Evans had just put his 4-month old baby into her crib when the explosion occurred. Their third floor apartment collapsed, trapping the family beneath the ceiling beams and bricks as the fire spread. Evans was able to pull himself out from the wreckage but could not reach his wife, Ida, or either of their children and they perished in the disaster.

News of the disaster

News of the explosion traveled quickly to neighboring Canton and an estimated 4,000 people arrived by train by the next morning to see what had happened. Spectators scooped up pieces of broken glass as souvenirs. Coverage of the disaster appeared in newspapers across the country from The New York Times to Missouri and beyond. The Business Men’s Association constructed a memorial arch on the site of the former Orr Block as a sign of respect for one of their members, Frank Orr.

The funerals

Frank Evans worked at The Hammer Works. Nearly 2,000 people attended the funeral of his wife and children, held at the home of John R. Morgan on Market Street. The funeral service for the Orr family, held in the First Methodist Episcopal Church, included a detail of special police stationed to prevent overcrowding at the service. At the cemetery service for the Orr family, the crowd of spectators and sympathizers, estimated at five to six thousand, attended. The burial service included full Odd Fellows rites since Frank Orr was a member.

All seven victims of the Orr Block explosion are buried at Alliance City Cemetery. Their names:

  • Frank M. Orr, age 46
  • Elmer Orr, age 21, son of Frank Orr
  • Allie Orr Highland, age 24, daughter of Frank Orr
  • Charles Vernon Highland, age 2, son of Allie Highland
  • Ida Evans, and her two small children, ages 2 years and 4 months

Carnation Festival rooted in Chautauqua Movement

2021 | Alliance Review, Events, Historic facts

by Jack Weber

Long before there was a festival celebrating Alliance as the Carnation City, there was the annual weeklong Chautauqua.

The Alliance Review, August 20, 1917

The Alliance Review, August 20, 1917

Usually held in late July or early August in the early part of the 20th century, residents from throughout the area would flock to the khaki-colored big top on the grounds between Ramsey Court and Shadyside Court for all kinds of entertainment, ranging from musical concerts to dramas to impersonations and lectures from educators, humorists, authors, and clergymen.

Today, little is remembered of those yearly events sponsored by the Daughters of Veterans that would draw capacity crowds. A short road off of Shadyside Court is designated as Chautauqua Court, not far from where the Redpath Chautauqua would set up its stage and deliver a lineup of some of the greatest talent of its day during the 1910s and 1920s.

It’s only fitting that a “circuit Chautauqua” would visit the Alliance area every year as the entire Chautauqua movement was co-founded by a longtime trustee of Mount Union who was inspired by the summer school sessions held annually at the institution.

The Beginning of the Chautauqua

The Alliance Review, August 19, 1921

The Alliance Review, August 19, 1921

The Chautauqua Institution, an education and social movement that provided entertainment and culture for an entire community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, showmen, preachers, and specialists of the day, got its start when Akron industrialist Lewis Miller and Methodist minister John Heyl Vincent purchased land on the shores of Lake Chautauqua near Jamestown, New York, and set up a camp.

Two years earlier, Vincent, editor of The Sunday School Journal, had begun to train Sunday school teachers in an outdoor summer school format. Meanwhile, Miller, manufacturer of agricultural implements, served as a trustee of Mount Union from 1865 to 1899 and was president of the board for most of those years. He was inspired by summer school sessions that had been held at Mount Union starting in 1870, making it one of the first institutions of higher learning to offer a summer term.

In 1944, Mrs. Mina Miller Edison, daughter of Miller and the widow of famed inventor Thomas Alva Edison, received an honorary doctor of human letters from Mount Union. In an interview with The Alliance Review, Mrs. Edison spoke about both her husband and her father who later became superintendent of the Akron Methodist Church and was an inventor himself, holding approximately 200 patents. As far as Chautauqua was concerned, she confirmed that her father and Vincent patterned the project from summer schools established at Mount Union.

Mount Union’s Connection

According to “A Select School,” the history of Mount Union written by Newell Yost Osborne, Vincent also credited Mount Union as being one of of a variety of sources out of which the Chautauqua movement had grown.

Osborne also noted that in a public memorial service to Miller after his death, Mount Union President Tamerlane Pliney Marsh stated that, “[Miller] thought the Chautauua movement was somewhat indebted to the conjoint experience and service of [Vincent] and himself in pushing the interests of Mount Union College.”

Both Miller and Vincent, who later served as a bishop, are remembered on and around the Mount Union campus with streets named in their honor. Miller is also the namesake of Miller Hall, one of the oldest buildings on campus.

Out of the Chautauqua that Miller and Vincent had created in New York grew the circuit Chautauquas, highly popular from the early 1900s to the mid 1920s, that would travel from town to town, stopping for a week at a time, much like a carnival or circus. Based on the earlier lyceum movement, the purpose of the tent chautauquas was self-improvement through lectures and discussions on literary, scientific, and moral topics. The goal was to deliver educational, spiritual, and cultural stimulation to rural and small-town America.

Very popular in their day, U.S President Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying that Chautauqua was “the most American thing in America.”

Chautauqua in Alliance, 1921

The Alliance Review, Augusut 15, 1921

The Alliance Review, August 15, 1921

In 1921, the Chautauqua visited Alliance in mid August. The cost of a season pass to attend all seven days was $2.75 for adults and $1.38 for children, which included war tax. The opening acts on the first day included the Euterpean Artists, a six-woman musical group led by saxophonist and pianist Beatrice Baughman, who also delighted the large crowd with several character impersonations. Later in the day, Edwin Whitney, who gave his optimistic American comedy titled “In Walked Jimmie.” Besides many other musical groups, the Gilbert and Sullivan opera “Pinafore” was one of the main attractions for the week. Among the lectures given were “The Fountain of Psyche,” given by Hilton I. Jones, and “Traitors to Justice” by Judge Marcus A. Kavanaugh.

Although the tent chautauquas are a thing of the past, Ohio Humanities sponsors an Ohio Chautauqua tour across the state that features re-enactors who portray historical figures telling their  stories.

And the story behind the Chautauqua began in Alliance.

Alliance Municipal Court Mural

2021 | Historic facts

The Alliance Municipal Court Mural, located in the stairwell of the Alliance Courthouse features images of local landmarks found throughout the court district. The Alliance Municipal Court serves approximately 50,000 people in Eastern Stark County. The Court District includes the townships of Butler (Alliance), Lexington, Paris, Marlboro, and Washington. Images of local landmarks sketched by students from Alliance, Marlington, and Minerva highlight the landmarks. Commissioned by the Alliance Auto Club, Jack T. Hamilton of Brushworks Custom Painting worked his artistic magic to create the mural in 2003, commemorating the National Auto Club’s 100th Anniversary.

Alliance Municipal Court Mural Landmarks

Pictured in the mural counterclockwise from the top left:

  • The Chapel in Marlboro located on SR619, the church began with 21 parishioners in 1976 to one of the area’s largest churches today.
  • Pegasus Farm is a non-profit, charitable organization. The 120-acre therapeutic horseback riding farm, at SR44 and SR619 in Marlboro Township, serves people with disabilities.
  • Marlington Local School District
  • Science Hill School, a one-room schoolhouse active from 1884 to 1956 and located at the corner of Beeson Street and McCallum Avenue in Lexington Township, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Restored in 1992, the school serves area teachers and school children as a “living history” classroom.
  • Walborn and Deer Creek Reservoirs in Lexington Township supply water to the City of Alliance, and provides fishing, water skiing, and sailing opportunities.
  • Robertsville Grange, located in Paris Township, is one of Ohio’s most active granges with meetings and social activities held there.
  • Family Farm representative of the contributions of the court district’s agricultural community, to the food supply of our nation and the world.
  • Minerva Local School District
  • Minerva Clock is one of the finest restored clocks in the United States. Located in downtown Minerva, the clock chimes every 15 minutes during the day.
  • Minerva Railroad Station and Caboose
  • Glamorgan Castle built in the early 1900s as the home of Alliance industrialist Col. William Henry Morgan. Today, it is part of the Alliance City School District. [Marking Time video]
  • Freedom Veterans’ Memorial Plaza honors the dead from Alliance who served in all wars and conflicts. The central monument features Abraham Lincoln. [Marking Time video, pt. 1] [Marking Time video, pt. 2]
  • Alliance City School District
  • Mount Union Stadium, home to the championship Mount Union Purple Raiders football team, college track and soccer teams, and the Alliance High School football team. Built in 1915, it is the oldest NCAA football stadium in the State of Ohio and is now known as Kehres Stadium. [Marking Time video]
  • Chapman Hall, constructed in 1864, it was the first facility built on the Mount Union campus. Named after a founding faculty member, it reminds us of University of Mount Union’s rich tradition and history. [Marking Time video]
  • Haines House, built in 1830, it is known as a major station on the Underground Railroad. Owned and operated by the Alliance Area Preservation Society, it is located at W. Market Street and Haines Avenue in Alliance.
  • Mabel Hartzell Historical Home, a fully restored 1867 Victorian home on North Park Avenue and E. Vine Street in Alliance, is named for Mabel Hartzell, a prominent educator and civic leader.

T. R. Morgan, Sr. put Alliance on industrial map

T. R. Morgan, Sr. put Alliance on industrial map

2021 | Glamorgan, Historic facts

by Jack Weber

Col. William H. Morgan

Col. William Henry Morgan is known for building Alliance’s iconic landmark — Glamorgan Castle.

However, years before that magnificent structure was erected, its was W.H. Morgan’s father —  Thomas Rees Morgan, Sr. — who built Morgan Engineering, invented the overhead traveling crane and sparked an industrial revolution.

And it all happened from his chosen home in Alliance — a town he helped build after locating here in August 1871.

And by all accounts T.R. Morgan was beloved not only for his genius in business, but for his generosity as an employer and as a booster to the city.

THE EARLY YEARS

Thomas Rees Morgan, Sr.

T. R. Morgan, Sr.

Born March 31, 1834, in Penydarren, Merthyr Tydvil, Glamorgan, Wales, Thomas Rees Morgan was the youngest of six children and began working in a coal mine at age 8.

At age 11, he was run over by a number of loaded coal wagons, which resulted in the loss of his left leg at the knee.

Following the accident, he was sent to school for three years before taking an apprenticeship in the Penydarren Iron Works. He later worked in some of the largest industrial plants in Wales, including the Dowlais Iron Works, where he worked for some time with Sir Henry Bessemer, whose steelmaking process became the most important technique for nearly a century. It was Bessemer who encouraged Morgan to go to the United States.

Morgan eventually left Wales with his wife, Elizabeth, and their three children in 1865, arriving in New York City on April 15, the day after President Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated. The family first settled in Pittston, Pennsylvania, where William was born. They later went to Johnstown and then to Pittsburgh, where T.R. Morgan was superintendent of the Allegheny Valley Railroad shops, the Atlas Iron Works and Smith & Porter’s.

T.R. Morgan was successful in his posts, but he wanted something more. In 1868 he laid the foundation for a successful industrial empire when he began manufacturing steam hammers and other special machinery in Pittsburgh.

He carried that on for three years, but eventually needed more space.

COMING TO ALLIANCE

T.R. Morgan, who was partnered with investor Charles Marchand, started putting out the word that he was looking for a new home for his plant.

At the same time, Alliance’s Levi Lamborn was looking to sell some land along the Mahoning River right near some railroad tracks — two things that Morgan would need to run his shops.

Morgan contacted Lamborn and inquired about a program the railroads had that provided free land for industry that agreed to build facilities along the right of ways.

Knowing he had the perfect spot for Morgan, Lamborn traveled to Pittsburgh and convinced Morgan to come see the property for himself.

It turned out to be a significant turning point in the history of Alliance.

Once they arrived in Alliance, Elizabeth Morgan fell in love with it and in August 1871, Marchand & Morgan was in business along Mahoning Avenue, building steam hammers, punching and shearing machines, rail carts, gun and mortar carriages, cranes and other specialized heavy equipment.

BUILDING A TOWN

At the time Morgan came to the city, Alliance could have been considered the farm implement capital of the U.S. with such companies as A.W. Coates & Co., the B.F. Mercer Pump Company and Keystone Spike — but those industries were slowing down as the country continued to expand westward.

While growing the Morgan Engineering empire, which started with around 20 employees in 1871 and had an estimated 600 trained workers by the time of his death in 1897, Thomas Morgan was also taking an interest in other endeavors.

Morgan started the Solid Steel Company, among others, invested in and became partners in several other companies and was a member of several company boards, civic boards and was a Mount Union College trustee. He also established a Welsh Church near the plant.

With a broad sense of community, Morgan provided a living wage, knowing it would encourage merchants to locate to the town. He encouraged his workers to own their own homes because he knew that would bring in workers in the building trades. He knew it would help grow the community.

Morgan Engineering 1918

Architectural bird’s eye view of Morgan Engineering Company, 1918

BUILDING A NATION

In 1877, Marchand retired and a new partnership was formed with Silas J. Williams, who would later hook up with Frank Transue of Keystone Spike to form Transue and Williams. Morgan’s arrangement with Williams lasted only about seven years, but one of the most notable milestones in company history took place just after the operation was named Morgan-Williams & Company — T.R. Morgan Sr.’s invention of the overhead traveling crane.

Prior to the traveling overhead crane, which was later improved upon by W.H. Morgan, a cart would be pulled underneath a pot of molten steel, which would be released into a chamber that would then be pulled along a line by a gang of men who would then pour it into ingots.

Using the overhead traveling crane, it took maybe one man to operate it and another to guide it. One could go down a line with two people where before it took 10 or 15. Then one could remove the pot and pick up the ingots and stack them with the crane — all with two people. It reduced labor and time.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Morgan Engineering had several other notable achievements during the lifetime of T.R. Morgan Sr., including the first electric overhead traveling crane in the world (1881), the first electric overhead traveling crane installed in a steel mill (13 cranes of 10-ton capacity for Homestead Steel Works in 1893) and a 25-ton double trolley overhead crane exhibited at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, earning the company a Diploma of Achievement.

T.R. Morgan also started a long association with the U.S. Ordnance Department, constructing the Gordon 10-inch Disappearing Gun Carriage in 1894. Designed for coast defense, it weighed more than 300 tons.

BELOVED LEADER

T.R. Morgan Sr., who made his home at the corner of Liberty Avenue and Oxford Street where a portion Thompson-Snodgrass Park is now located, died suddenly on Sept. 6, 1897.

According to some historical accounts, the city shut down for his funeral as a crowd packed the town square near the Sharer undertaking rooms to pay their last respects. It is said that when the funeral procession reached Alliance City Cemetery more than a mile away, there were still people waiting to step off in the funeral procession.

It was said that Thomas Morgan was a man who loved his community, and in return, the community loved him back.

STILL WATCHING

Approaching 125 years after his death, the eyes of Thomas Rees Morgan Sr. still casts a steady gaze over Alliance.

Motorists and pedestrians traveling along Union Avenue pass through his view every day, and don’t even realize it.

Morgan Monument

Morgan Monument on Morgan Engineering property

Of course, those eyes are set in bronze in a monument dedicated to Morgan, the founder of Morgan Engineering and inventor of the overhead traveling crane, that sits in front of Glamorgan Castle.

The 15-foot, 13-ton structure stood for more than 80 years at the Morgan Engineering plant after being unveiled Oct. 31, 1899, a little more than two years after the death of T.R. Morgan, Sr.

The statue, commissioned by the officers of the company, is a fitting testament to T.R. Morgan Sr.

Designed and constructed by well-known Cleveland sculptor Joseph Carrabelli, who owned the Lake View Granite and Monument Company, the top of the front of the monument is adorned with three reliefs, including a circular portrait of T.R. Morgan in the center.

To the left is a brief sketch of his life that, in part, states he “was an example of what in this great country may be obtained by honesty, skill, energy and perseverance.”

To the right is a eulogy delivered by President William McKinley from a special train passing through Alliance on Nov. 1, 1897, about two months after Morgan’s death.

It reads, in part, “I will never be able to look into the faces of an Alliance audience again without thinking of that tried and true friend of mine, your friend and fellow citizen of Alliance, Thomas R. Morgan. A man so noble, with much integrity and charity. Let us all try to emulate the example set before us by him. … I shall always remember him as one of the staunchest and best friends I had. Such friends cannot be replaced. If ever a man deserved an immortal crown, Thomas R. Morgan Sr. deserved one.”

Two bronze angels, one on each side of the circular relief, also are on the monument. One holds an engineer’s square and a set of drawings, while the other holds a hammer, both representing his profession as an engineer.

The front facing center panel has one of the Morgan steam hammers sculpted on it. The columns hold sculptures depicting events in Morgan’s life, such as a miner’s pick, shovel, pry bar and rope, reminding viewers he got his start in mining; a T-square and triangle, representing his engineering skill; and other engineering symbols and gear.

At the top portion of the backside is a depiction of the overhead traveling crane Morgan patented in 1881, along with additional reliefs of various Morgan Engineering products.

The monument, which consists of seven pieces, was moved in front of the Glamorgan Castle grounds on Aug. 28, 1984, according to a Review article.

It had stood at the Morgan Engineering entrance gate of East Broadway at the time the company was acquired by AMCA International.

According to the article, that company, which closed the plant in 1984 and sold the manufacturing facility that had been a prominent employer since 1871, donated the monument to the Alliance City Schools to place at its administrative facilities on the Glamorgan Castle grounds so it could be shared with the community as a reminder of its rich history.

The earliest Alliance telephone book

The earliest Alliance telephone book

2021 | Glamorgan, Historic facts

The earliest Alliance telephone book owned by Rodman Public Library is the October 1923 edition. In addition to Alliance, listings for Atwater, Marlboro, and Sebring are also included. As the cover declares, “Station-to-station service with low evening and night rates has brought Long Distance within reach of everyone.” Mabel (whose name is mispelled Mable) Hartzell’s phone number was 7992 and Col. Morgan had two listings, one for his garage and one for his home (Glamorgan Castle):

  •     Morgan W H gar 203 Glamorgan Av – 2257
  •     Morgan W H Col r 1025 S Union Av – 3107

The first rotary dial telephones were implemented in 1919 but not put into service by the Bell Telephone Company until 1923. Previous to that, one had to connect with an operator to place a call.

Since telephones in the home were still a novelty, the information in the 1923 phone book includes this advice to novice telephone dialers:

  • How to Dial: To dial any digit, place your finger firmly into the hole of the dial through which that digit is seen. Pull the dial around to the right until your finger strikes the finger stop. Remove your finger and without touching dial, allow it to return to rest.
  • Dialing Cautions: Be sure to keep the receiver off the hook while dialing.

It’s hard to imagine today, but the original telephones didn’t have dials or number buttons on them. One would place a call by turning a crank or clicking the reciver cradle to reach an operator who would then connect your call.

Telephone books included phone numbers and advertisements and were published for Alliance by the telephone companies Ohio Bell through 1986, Ameritech/Ohio Bell from 1986-2000, Ameritech/SBC from 2001-2005, and AT&T from 2006-present. Although phone books are still produced, they may disappear someday with the proliferation of online services offering a simple tap on a number to dial it on your cell phone.