Oliver Transue

2026 | Hall of Fame

Oliver Transue
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Oliver F. Transue (1865-1925)

Class of 2026 – Industrialist

Oliver F. Transue was born December 10, 1865, the son of local industrialist Frank Transue.  He and his father contributed  much to the development of Alliance.   Oliver Transue grew up in Alliance and attended the local schools.  In 1895 he joined his father and Silas J. and Joe Williams in organizing the Transue & Williams Company, which specialized in drop forgings. The company was originally housed on North Union Avenue near the site that would become Alliance Rubber.  Before breaking ground on its West Ely Street plant in 1898, the company also operated for a time in the old Nixon shop, near the corner of Freedom and Patterson.  The company grew to become one of the most well-known enterprises in Alliance under his tenure as president and general manager. 

Transue & Williams Company played a key part in Henry Ford’s success story.  In order to bring his dream of affordable automobiles to the masses, Ford needed a lighter car, and he was searching for a steel that would be light but strong.  In 1906 Ford was looking for a company that would work with vanadium steel.  Transue was already making forgings for Ford, and he put Ford in touch with Joseph Flannery of Pittsburgh and Harry Ross Jones of United Steel Co. of Canton.  After some trial and error, the vanadium experiments were a success.  Stark County historian Edward Thornton Heald in 1949 calls this the “greatest single event in Stark County history, making Stark County the greatest center of electric-furnace alloy steel production in the world.”  It was all Transue & Williams could do to keep up with the forging orders.  Under Oliver Transue’s leadership, the company expanded into the metal stamping business in the early 1920s.

Transue also became president of the Buckeye Jack Manufacturing Company and the Buckeye Twist Drill Company.  He served as a director of the McCaskey Register Company and the Republic Stamping & Enameling Company, as well as Alliance First National Bank and the Midland Bank Company of Cleveland. 

Transue married Grace Fisher in 1887, and they were the parents of two daughters, Ruth Transue (1889-1978) and Margaret Transue (1891-1918).  The Transue’s beautiful home was built in 1904 at 1251 South Union Avenue, just south of Glamorgan Castle.

Oliver Transue was considered a generous man and much beloved by his associates.  He died at the age of 59 on October 19, 1925 at Lakeside Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio after a three-week illness.  His wife died in 1947, and they are both entombed in the Transue Mausoleum in Alliance City Cemetery.

 

(Sources: 1928 Blue; Heald, vol. II)

Daniel Sourbeck

2026 | Hall of Fame

Sourbeck House
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Daniel Sourbeck (1812-1883)

Class of 2026 – Business

Daniel E. Sourbeck was born in Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1812, and he spent most of his life doing hotel work.  He was the son of John and Lydia Sourbeck.  He married Louiza (Eliza) Jack in 1836 in New Brighton, Pennsylvania.  They had two children: James Power (1848-1887) and Sophia (1865-1890).

Sourbeck received training in carpentry and various trades in his youth, and he worked at bridge building and on the Erie Canal for a time.  In 1837 he established a Sourbeck House in New Brighton, which he personally ran until 1852. 

In May 1852 Daniel Sourbeck came to Alliance, Ohio at the request of the railroad company.  He took over operation of the hotel in the original station erected by the Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad, later known as the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Railroad.  The hotel soon became noted far and wide for its superior meals.  Even though he accepted the position in Alliance, he continued in ownership of the hotel in New Brighton.  It is said that the name recognition of Alliance across the country had much to do with the excellent reputation of the Sourbeck House.  In the fall of 1852, the railroad erected a neat frame depot on the north side of the track and this move only added to the appeal of Sourbeck’s establishment. 

In 1855 Sourbeck survived a deadly train crash traveling from Philadelphia.  Reports indicate that dozens were killed as a result of the crash and derailment, and Sourbeck was badly injured but was lucky to be alive.

A tragic train accident at the Alliance depot on December 8, 1856 resulted in substantial damage to the station, but no harm to its proprietor.  Eight people were killed and others injured.   One of the passenger cars was thrown into the rotunda of the depot, and another into the sitting room of the Sourbeck Hotel.   This building burned down in 1864, forcing Sourbeck to briefly do business again in his original building until the magnificent new and expanded brick structure on the south side of the track was completed in 1866.

On February 15, 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary stopped in Alliance on their way to Washington, D.C. for his inauguration.  Because of the Sourbeck House’s reputation for fine dining, Lincoln’s party stopped to eat there, and Lincoln delivered a very brief address to a gathered crowd.

Daniel Sourbeck was connected with the Ohio militia, having been a lieutenant in the Alliance Light Guard, and while in Pennsylvania he was captain of a cavalry company known as Beaver Co. Light Horse. He is often referred to as Colonel Sourbeck, although this title could be honorary.  He was affiliated with both the Masons and the Odd Fellows.

Sourbeck died Nov. 19, 1883 in New Brighton, Pennsylvania after retiring from the hotel business.  He and his wife, who died in 1884, are buried in Grove Cemetery in New Brighton.

(Sources: Perrin 1881, 745; Sourbeck Children online; Ancestry; 1868 McKee;)

 

Philip Sharer

2026 | Hall of Fame

Philip Sharer
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Philip Sharer (ca 1811-1889)

Class of 2026 – Business

Philip Sharer, founder of the Sharer family in the old village of Freedom, was a native of Germany.  Born about 1811 and orphaned at age 5, he migrated to America in 1837 at the age of 27.  He landed at New York after a sea voyage of 68 days.  He sought employment for 4 weeks after arrival, but New York was much affected by the Panic of 1837.  He left his trunk as security for a board bill and started on foot for Pittsburgh.  For 6 weeks he begged his way through NJ and PA.  Finally at Adamsburg in Westmoreland County, PA he got carpenter’s work at 37.5 cents per day, working 14 to 16 hours a day.  He worked there 4 years, marrying Mary Magdalene Hoffman in 1841.  Sharer then started out on foot again, this time accompanied by his wife and bringing tools and a few household pieces on a small one horse wagon.  On Oct. 1, 1841, he reached the village of Freedom, now part of the city of Alliance, and he started a cabinet shop.  He continued in that business, adding furniture and undertaking, until 1882 when he retired.  The oldest continuously operating business in the city is now known as Sharer-Stirling-Skivolocke Funeral Home.

Mr. and Mrs. Sharer had ten children: John H. (1842-1908), William Sharer (1844-?), Sophia (1847-?), Elizabeth (1848-1935), Mary (1851-?), Frances (?-?), George (1855-1940), Emma (1858-?), Frank F. (1861-1934), and Hallie (1864-1931).  Sharer died in 1889.

[Sources: Heald, Magrath, newspaper obits, SSS website]

 

George Russell

2026 | Hall of Fame

George W. Russell
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George W. Russell (1841-1906)

Class of 2026 – Veteran

George W. Russell, who also went by the name George Williams, was born into slavery near Fulton, Callaway County, Missouri about 1841.  He did not know the month or day of his birth, and so he chose Lincoln’s birthday as his own. 

During the Civil War, he went south with his master Robert Rankin Russell, the latter serving as a Confederate officer.  During the battle of Vicksburg in 1863, Russell was picked up between the lines by Union soldiers.  He was captured by Harding A. “Hard” Buckman of Company A of the 32nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI).  Buckman, as well as many other soldiers in this unit, had direct ties to Alliance, Ohio.  Russell was then sworn into service and officially joined Company A of the 32nd OVI.  He was an “Under-Cook,” responsible for officers’ meals, a position authorized by the Enrollment Act of March 3, 1863.  This act provided a way for African Americans to legitimately serve in Union military units apart from the United States Colored Troops.  Duties of Under-Cooks included cooking and distributing rations.  They also sometimes served as nurses or stretcher-bearers on the battlefield. 

After the war, Russell was brought back to Alliance by Mr. Buckman and a Mr. James Gilmore Hogue. In Alliance he was first employed by Linus Ely, and then by John C. “Jack” Sutton.  He worked at a number of jobs over his years in Alliance, but he took most pride in being the trusted custodian of a number of local banks.  Russell was honest and loyal and grateful to be in Alliance, delivered from slavery.

George Russell was a proud member of the Fremont Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR).  He served as the flag bearer during parades and ceremonies, and also as the post’s chaplain. 

Russell enjoyed playing croquet and taught the game to many local children.  He also was well known as a caterer for local events.

George Russell married Annie Thompson in 1874.  Annie was a former slave who was born in 1850 and who worked in a hotel in nearby Salem, Ohio.  George and Annie were beloved members of the First Presbyterian Church.  George was the custodian of the old church on Prospect Street for many years.  When he died in 1906, many business offices in Alliance closed in honor of him.

 

Levi Lamborn

2026 | Hall of Fame

Dr. Levi Leslie Lamborn
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Dr. Levi Leslie Lamborn (1827-1910)

Class of 2026 – Founder

Dr. Levi Leslie Lamborn was born Oct. 10, 1827 in Chester County PA, the son of Townsend Lamborn and Ann Clayton Lamborn.  He was the youngest son in a family of 11 children.  Some of the Lamborns came to live in Salem, OH about 1836.  In 1842 young Levi began studying medicine with Dr. Solomon Shreve in Damascus.  After graduating from Western Reserve Medical College in 1848, he began practicing medicine in the village of Mount Union. That same year he married Maria Grant, daughter of Stacy Grant and Jemima Rockhill Grant.  The Lamborns had 7 children:  Lessetta Lydia (1852-1920), LeRoy Leslie (1856-1931), Lindley Lewellen (1858-1882), Lawrence Lee (1866-1866), LoRa Ludington (1867-1955), Lannie Loreston (1869-1915), and Leebert Lloyd (1874-1956).  The Lamborn home was on the NW corner of Main Street and Union Avenue.  During the Civil War, Dr. Lamborn took sick soldiers into his home, converting the north wing into an emergency hospital–possibly the first hospital in Stark County.  After the war, Lamborn retired from medicine and shifted his interest to the economic development of Alliance and the propagation of the carnation flower. 

Dr. Lamborn was a man with many interests and talents.  In 1854 he edited and published the first newspaper in Alliance, the Alliance Ledger.  He wrote and spoke on a variety of subjects.  In the 1860s, he and several associates formed the Teeters, Lamborn & Co. which expanded Alliance by 990 lots, the largest real estate development in Stark County at the time.  The group was responsible for securing the division headquarters for the Alliance & Pennsylvania Railroad in Alliance (1863), and also the relocation of the Marchand & Morgan Steam Hammer Works from Pittsburgh to Alliance (1871).  Lamborn had an ongoing interest in politics, and most famously ran against William McKinley as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress, 17th district, in 1876.  Lamborn lost the election, but the carnation flower that he would present to McKinley before their debates became a favorite of the future president, and McKinley considered it a good luck charm.  The Scarlet Carnation, developed by Lamborn, would become Ohio’s state flower in 1904, in memory of the late President McKinley.  In 1959, Alliance was named the “Carnation City,” as home of the state flower.  Dr. Lamborn died in Alliance on June 14, 1910.

 

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.”

Black History Resources

Black History Resources

2022 | Index, Rodman Library

Black History Resources at Rodman Public Library

by Jack Weber

Rodman Public Library offers several resources for those interested in learning about Black History, including transcripts of local residents recorded by the Alliance Historical Society as part of an oral histories project that began in the 1950s. The material is available for checkout or can be heard online at rodmanlibrary.com/oralhistories or on alliancememory.org.

Here is a listing of those that have been done to date:

Mary L. Thompson
Audio: http://local.rodmanlibrary.com/audio/thompson.mp3
Transcript: http://local.rodmanlibrary.com/transcripts/thompson.pdf

Rev. Willie C. Teague
Audio:  http://local.rodmanlibrary.com/audio/teague.mp3
Transcript: http://local.rodmanlibrary.com/transcripts/teague.pdf

Elliott and Lillian Young
Audio: http://local.rodmanlibrary.com/audio/young.mp3
Transcript: http://local.rodmanlibrary.com/transcripts/young.pdf

Gloria Malone
Video: http://local.rodmanlibrary.com/video/malone.mp4

Phil Stewart
Video: http://local.rodmanlibrary.com/video/stewart.mp4

All the recorded oral histories are listed on the library’s website and photographs of the audio recorded individuals can be found on Alliance Memory in the Voices of Alliance Collection.

Researching Black History Beyond Alliance

Those studying Black history, especially those interested in genealogy, may also be interested in African American Heritage, a database from ProQuest that provides detailed records for African Americans. Records include federal census, marriage and cohabitation records, military draft and service records, registers of slaves and free persons of color, and more.

Visit  rodmanlibrary.com/dbases and search the genealogy and history category or alphabetically to access African American Heritage.

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

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.

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.

Alliance’s Freedom Trail Walk

2021 | Events

Take a walk on the Stark Parks Iron Horse Trail from Rodman Public Library through the former village of Freedom to the Mabel Hartzell Historical Home and learn about the businesses that were located here. Walk at your own pace along the 1 mile path. The path is paved and flat so all may enjoy the walk.

The self-guided tour for the trail explains the highlights of Main Street, Mechanic, and the former village of Freedom and can be found using your smart phone. Listen to descriptions of various points of interest and see photos of how things used to look along the trail. The tour map and description are available from https://theclio.com/tour/1522. We encourage you to download the free app Clio for iOS or Android to benefit fully of the walk.

The tour will take approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes for the round trip walk.

Freedom Trail map