Cuyahoga River Fire

From The Ohio Historical Society

On June 22, 1969, an oil slick and debris in the Cuyahoga River caught fire in Cleveland, Ohio, drawing national attention to environmental problems in Ohio and elsewhere in the United States.

This Cuyahoga River fire lasted just thirty minutes, but it did approximately fifty thousand dollars in damage — principally to some railroad bridges spanning the river. It is unclear what caused the fire, but most people believe sparks from a passing train ignited an oil slick in the Cuyahoga River. This was not the first time that the river had caught on fire. Fires occurred on the Cuyahoga River in 1868, 1883, 1887, 1912, 1922, 1936, 1941, 1948, and in 1952. The 1952 fire caused over 1.5 million dollars in damage.

On August 1, 1969, Time magazine reported on the fire and on the condition of the Cuyahoga River. The magazine stated,

Some River! Chocolate-brown, oily, bubbling with subsurface gases, it oozes rather than flows. “Anyone who falls into the Cuyahoga does not drown,” Cleveland’s citizens joke grimly. “He decays”. . . The Federal Water Pollution Control Administration dryly notes: “The lower Cuyahoga has no visible signs of life, not even low forms such as leeches and sludge worms that usually thrive on wastes.” It is also — literally — a fire hazard.

Because of this fire, Cleveland businesses became infamous for their pollution, a legacy of the city’s booming manufacturing days during the late 1800s and the early 1900s, when limited government controls existed to protect the environment. Even following World War II, Cleveland businesses, especially steel mills, routinely polluted the river. Cleveland and its residents also became the butt of jokes across the United States, despite the fact that city officials had authorized 100 million dollars to improve the Cuyahoga River’s water before the fire occurred. The fire also brought attention to other environmental problems across the country, helped spur the Environmental Movement, and helped lead to the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972.

George Cox

From the Ohio Historical Journal

George Cox was born in 1853 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father was an English immigrant, struggling to support his family. When Cox was only eight years old, his father died, forcing Cox to leave school to help support his family. He worked numerous different jobs, including newsboy, bootblack, steamboat cabin boy, grocery deliveryman, butcher boy and bartender, all before Cox turned eighteen years of age.

By the early 1870s, Cox had saved enough money to purchase a bar in Cincinnati. It was located in a notorious part of the city, famous for its unsolved murders, called “Dead Man’s Corner.” Cox also became involved in politics during this time period, drumming up illegal voters for candidates that he favored. He also won election to the Cincinnati City Council in 1879. Cox’s reason for seeking office was because of the numerous raids Cincinnati police officers made against his bar. At this time, the Democratic Party controlled the Cincinnati city government. Cox ran as a Republican. He held office for two terms. Interestingly, upon assuming office, the police raids against Cox’s bar immediately stopped.

Cox emerged as the most powerful member of the Republican Party in Cincinnati by the mid 1880s. He chaired the Hamilton County Republican Committee. While Cox never held political office after his second term as city councilman, he virtually ran the Cincinnati city government by becoming a city boss. Like other city bosses, Cox used gifts and money to build support for himself among the working class in Cincinnati. During elections, Cox would then have his followers vote for the candidate that he supported. As Cox once stated: “The people do the voting. I simply see that the right candidates are selected.” By the late 1800s, if a person sought a political office in Cincinnati, he had to receive Cox’s endorsement to win the office. Cox also required the people that he placed in office to appoint loyal Cox followers to other government positions. These positions included police officers, firefighters, street cleaners, secretarial positions, and numerous other occupations.

By 1905, Cox had managed to provide nearly every Republican ward chairman a city office. To build support among the Democratic Party, Cox also appointed members of this party to forty percent of the city offices. To show their appreciation to Cox, these appointees had to turn over 2.5 percent of their salary to the Hamilton County Republican Committee. Cox then used this money to buy votes during elections. In particularly close elections, Cox paid residents of nearby states to come to Cincinnati to vote illegally. He also had no problem with some voters casting more than one ballot under assumed names — as long as the person voted for Cox’s candidate.

City bosses established virtual dictatorships over their cities, using illegal means to do so. Cox was no different. City bosses, however, did make some improvements in city life during the late 1800s and the early 1900s. As industrialization occurred and thousands of Americans moved to cities seeking employment, city governments had tremendous difficulty providing the necessary services to the city’s residents. City bosses commonly filled that void by having streets cleaned, by enforcing laws (at least the ones they chose to enforce), and by providing other services. While Cox allowed gambling and prostitution to occur to award his loyal supporters, he also greatly reduced the availability of these items by only allowing a small number of his followers to engage in these activities.

By 1905, Cox’s dominance of Cincinnati government began to fall apart. Over the next several years, Cox encouraged his supporters in the city government to annex surrounding communities. Many of the people in these neighborhoods were middle-class residents. They opposed Cox’s political corruption. Many of these people were supporters of the Progressive Movement and sought to return Americans to traditional and more moral values. With this influx of new voters — voters that Cox could not control — the city boss failed to have his candidate elected mayor of Cincinnati in 1911. City bosses maintained their power by guaranteeing that they could fulfill their promises to candidates. Cox failed to do this in 1911, and his supporters quickly deserted him. Cox immediately retired from politics, although some of his underlings continued to try to control the city unsuccessfully over the next decade.

Cox suffered a stroke in 1916, and he died that same year on May 20.

 

 

Cleveland Clinic Fire 1929

1. Chapter on the 1929 Cleveland Clinic Fire from “To Act as a Unit” The Story of the Cleveland Clinic

The link is here

 

2. From the Ohio Historical Society

A catastrophic fire at the Cleveland Clinic in 1929 impacted fire-fighting practices and hospital procedures in Ohio and across the United States.

On May 15, 1929, the main building of the Cleveland Clinic caught fire. The fire began when an exposed light bulb was too close to some nitro-cellulose x-ray film, igniting the film. In the end, 123 people lost their lives. Eighty of the dead were either patients or visitors at the clinic, and the rest were employees. One of the Cleveland Clinic’s founders, Dr. John Phillips, was among the dead. Most of the victims died from inhaling poisonous gases produced by the burning x-ray film.

Investigators found that the clinic was not to blame for the tragedy, but the Cleveland Clinic fire influenced major changes at both the local and national levels. The city of Cleveland decided that fire departments should receive gas masks as part of their equipment and advocated creating an ambulance service for the city. Nationally, medical facilities established new standards for storing hazardous materials such as x-ray film.

 

Harold Burton from the Ohio Historical Society

From the Ohio Historical Society

Harold Hitz Burton was born on June 22, 1888, in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. In 1909, he received his undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College, where he had quarterbacked the football team. He then pursued a doctorate in law from Harvard University, graduating in 1912. He began to practice law in Cleveland, Ohio, that same year.

Burton remained in Cleveland for only a brief time, becoming an attorney for a power company in Utah in 1914 and then for another one in Idaho in 1916. With World War I’s outbreak, Burton enlisted in the military. Upon being discharged, he returned to Cleveland and resumed his legal career. He also taught classes at Western Reserve University from 1923 to 1925.

Following World War I, Burton embarked upon a career in politics, serving on the East Cleveland Board of Education in 1928 and 1929. In 1929, he became a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. He held this position for less than a year, because he became the law director of Cleveland in 1929. He remained in this position until 1932. After a brief respite from public life, Burton won election as Cleveland’s mayor, an office he held from 1935 to 1940. As mayor, Burton battled against organized crime and sought to improve employment opportunities for the city’s residents. Known for his piety and honesty, Burton became known as the “Boy Scout Mayor.” In 1940, Ohio voters elected Burton to the United States Senate. His greatest accomplishment as senator was his sponsorship of the “B2H2 Resolution,” which called for the United States to join an international peace organization following World War II. Burton served in the Senate from 1941 until 1945, when he resigned this office to become an associate justice on the United States Supreme Court. Although Burton was a member of the Republican Party, President Harry Truman, a member of the Democratic Party, still appointed him to the United States Supreme Court.

In comparison to some other justices, Burton’s career on the court was a short one. He became a justice on September 30, 1945, and remained on the Supreme Court until his retirement on October 13, 1958. During his tenure, Burton became well known for his support of desegregation and also for limiting government influence over businesses. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1957, Burton retired the next year.

Upon retiring from the Supreme Court, Burton returned to Cleveland. He accepted an appointment to the District of Columbia Circuit Court in 1960, a position he held until his death on October 28, 1964.

Alfred Kelley biography

from Ohio Historical Society

Alfred Kelley was born in Middlefield, Connecticut, on November 7, 1789, and then moved with his family to Lowville, New York, at the age of ten. He trained as a lawyer under New York Supreme Court justice Jonas Platt beginning in 1807.

Kelley’s family was connected to the earliest settlers in the Connecticut Western Reserve. His mother’s brother, Joshua Stow, was one of the first members of the Connecticut Land Company and had traveled with Moses Cleaveland in 1796 to establish the settlement of Cleveland. Kelley moved to Cleveland in 1810, becoming a member of the Ohio bar and the community’s first attorney. He quickly became involved in local politics, serving as prosecuting attorney from 1810 to 1822 and becoming Cleveland’s first mayor in 1815. (The election was unanimous, with Kelley receiving all twelve votes.)

Kelley also became involved in state politics, elected to the Ohio House of Representatives for the first time in 1814 and serving in state politics in some capacity for the rest of his life. In 1814, Kelley was the youngest member of the House. When he retired from the Ohio Senate in 1857, he was then the oldest member of the state legislature. During the intervening years, Kelley was an instrumental figure in a number of important state issues. He introduced a bill to end the policy of imprisoning people who could not pay off their debts and helped to create the office of state superintendent of schools. He authored an important banking reform bill in 1845 and the state’s first general property tax law the following year. In addition, Kelley served as chairman of Ohio’s Whig Party commission and helped William Henry Harrison become President of the United States in 1840.

What Kelley was probably most known for, however, was his passionate support for canal construction. In fact, he became known as “the father of the Ohio canal system.” In addition to persuading the state legislature to finance the building of canals, Kelley also devoted much of his time to supervising construction, first in Akron and then in Columbus. In spite of the fact that the canal went significantly over budget, Kelley’s reputation for honesty and integrity insured that the legislature did not withdraw funding for the project.

By the 1840s and 1850s, Kelley realized that canals were being surpassed by a new form of transportation, the railroad. With his urging, the city of Cleveland began a long-term project to connect the community to Cincinnati. By 1851, the railroad already reached from Cleveland to Columbus. Kelley also served as president both of the Columbus and Xenia Railroad and the Cleveland, Painesville, and Ashtabula Railroad.

Kelley died in Columbus on December 2, 1859. During his years of public service, the state of Ohio and the city of Cleveland had grown tremendously and, because of his support of transportation and financial reforms, Kelley had played an important role in their transformation.

Battle of Lake Erie

(from Ohio Historical Society)

The Battle of Lake Erie was a pivotal naval engagement between British and American forces during the War of 1812.

At the beginning of the War of 1812, the United States sent Oliver Hazard Perry to command the American forces on Lake Erie. When he arrived in Presque Isle (modern-day Erie, Pennsylvania), Perry commissioned several carpenters to build a fleet of ships. Within a year, he had nine ships. However, only two, the Lawrence and the Niagara, were fit for battle. Perry had also assembled a force of about five hundred men to serve under him, and after several months of drilling, they were a capable naval unit.

In September 1813, Perry set sail for Put-In Bay to meet the British fleet, which was under the command of Robert Heriot Barclay. Like the Americans, the English had begun constructing a fleet at the war’s beginning to secure control of Lake Erie. The British were anticipating an easy victory over Perry’s force. On September 10, 1813, the Battle of Lake Erie took place. The Americans had nine ships, while the British had six. Early in the battle, the British were taking a heavy toll on the American ships, principally because the British cannons were much more accurate at long distances. When the British destroyed the Lawrence, Perry took the ship’s flag and transferred to the Niagara. After Perry moved to the Niagara, the battle began to turn for the Americans. Before Perry’s arrival on the Niagara, this ship had hardly engaged the British fleet. Now, the Niagara and Perry inflicted heavy cannon fire on the British ships. The commander of every British ship was killed or wounded, leaving the British ships under the command of junior officers with limited experience. Perry took advantage of this situation. The Niagararammed the British lead ship while the sailors fired rifles at the British seamen. By nightfall, the British had lowered their flag and surrendered to Perry, who was only twenty-seven years old.

Perry sent a dispatch to General William Henry Harrison, recounting the details of the battle. In the dispatch, he wrote, “We have met the enemy, and they are ours.”

The American victory at the Battle of Lake Erie cut off the British supply lines and forced them to abandon Detroit. It also paved the way for General Harrison’s attack on the British and Indian forces at the Battle of the Thames.

Oliver Hazard Perry Bio

(from Ohio Historical Society)

Oliver Hazard Perry was born in Rhode Island in 1785. Oliver was the oldest of five boys born to Christopher and Sarah Perry. Perry’s ancestors on both sides were accomplished naval men. His mother taught her boys to read and write and made sure that they attended church.

By the age of twelve, Perry had sailed with his father to the West Indies. By the age of fourteen, Perry was a commissioned midshipman on his father’s ship. In 1807, he became a commissioned lieutenant in the United States army. He used his time in the army to refine his naval skills.

At the beginning of the War of 1812, the United States sent Perry to command the American forces on Lake Erie. When he arrived in Presque Isle (modern-day Erie, Pennsylvania), Perry commissioned several carpenters to build a fleet of ships. Within a year, he had nine ships. However, only two, the Lawrence and the Niagara, were fit for battle. Perry had also assembled a force of about five hundred men to serve under him, and after several months of drilling, they were a capable naval unit.

In September 1813, Perry set sail for Put-In Bay to meet the British fleet. The English were anticipating an easy victory. On September 10, 1813, the Battle of Lake Erie took place. Early in the battle, the British were taking a heavy toll on the American ships. TheLawrence was destroyed. Perry took the ship’s flag and sailed for the Niagara. The battle began to turn for the Americans. The British ships had taken heavy cannon fire and were unable to effectively fight the Niagara. The Niagara rammed the British lead ship while the sailors fired rifles at the British seamen. By nightfall, the British had lowered their flag and surrendered to Perry, who was only twenty-seven years old.

Perry sent a dispatch to General William Henry Harrison, recounting the details of the battle. In the dispatch, he wrote, “We have met the enemy, and they are ours.”

Perry also took part in the Battle of the Thames, contributing to the American victory. After the War of 1812, Perry received a medal of honor from Congress. The United States also promoted him to the rank of captain.

He continued to serve the United States army, commanding ships in the Mediterranean and the West Indies. While in the West Indies, he contracted yellow fever and died in 1819.

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