Francis A. Brodbeck

Newton Chalker - Born 12 September 1842 in Southington, OH. The third son and child of James Chalker, Jr. and Eliza Hyde. His grandfather, James Chalker, Sr. was one of the first settlers to arrive in the area from Litchfield, CT in June 1805. At an early age his father purchased a scholarship for him at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA for his future education. As a child, he attended the local schools and worked on his father's farm. In the Fall of 1856, he enrolled himself in The Western Reserve Academy in Farmington, OH. He traded room and board for work on local farm's while attending each semester and on the weekends he would walk home, a distance of seven miles, and walk back to school on Monday. In 1859, he began teaching in some of the local school districts and continued his own studies. When the Civil War started in 1861, he joined a Company of home infantry militia and trained during the summer. in 1862, against his father's wishes, he and several of his classmates joined Company B of the 87th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His military career did not last long and in the Spring of 1863 he went to Meadville, PA to take advantage of the scholarship that his father had purchased. The college closed after his first term because of the war and he went to Michigan with a cousin to seek employment as a teacher and to further his education.

Dr. Eliakim Crosby - Born in Litchfield, CT on 2 March 1779. The city of Akron is indebted to him more than any one man for its manufacturing existence. He was educated and for some time engaged in teaching in and around Litchfield. In 1806, he went to Buffalo, NY where he studied medicine with a Dr. Chapin. About 1808 or 1809, he went to Simcoe, Canada and by 1810 had married Miss Marcia Beemer. In the War of 1812, Dr. Crosby entered the service of the United States as a surgeon in the Army and as a consequence his property in Canada was confiscated by that government. In 1820 he moved his family to Ohio and settled in the village of Middlebury and quickly became interested in the various business opportunities of the area. Until 1836, he engaged in several enterprises of which the most important was the "Cascade Mill Race" in what is now downtown Akron. At this time, he sold his one-third interest in the Race (his partners were General Simon Perkins and Judge Leicester King) and began work on a project that would create a large manufacturing town using the water power fom the Big Cuyahoga River. This manufacturing center would rival even the most prosperous in New York and New England. North Hill figured prominently in his plans. Dr. Crosby began purchasing land along the Cuyahoga River beginning near what is now the Prospect Street Observation Bridge in Cuyahoga Falls, through the land now occupied by the old Ohio Edison Power Plant, along what is now the Highbridge Trail to the High Level Bridge, and then around the hill behind the Diplomat Apartments. His purchases included most of North Hill from these areas eastward to the old Portage Township line near Bettes Corners.  Along with several partners; including Simon Perkins, Frederick Wadsworth, and Eleazer Sackett, Dr. Crosby formed the Portage Canal and Manufacturing Company on 27 February 1837. Simply stated. the company was formed to construct a dam and a waterway that would bring water power along the path mentioned above and then parallel to and above Cuyahoga Street. This waterway became known as the "Chuckery Race".  After several financial delays and years of construction, water was allowed into the race on 27 May 1844. Technical and more financial problems doomed the project and the water never flowed again. The failure of the race also brought an end to Dr. Crosby's vision of a manufacturing center around the intersection of Cuyahoga Street and Tallmadge Avenue and the residential lots above surrounding Tallmadge collectively know as Summit City. Dr. Crosby stayed in Akron until 1853 when he moved to Suamico, WI near Green Bay and he remained there until his death on 2 September 1854. During his years in Akron, Dr. Crosby's wife died and he married Elizabeth Brackett in 1832 and Ann Hamlin West in 1834. He had seven children by his first wife, one by his second, and stepdaughter by his third. For many years he lived in a one and a half story home in the lot now occupied by St. Vincent's Church at W Market and Maple Streets. 

Andrew Jackson -

John McCausland - Born in the town of Balmoney, County Antrium, Ulster Ireland on 26 June 1824. Came to America and settled in Akron in 1848. On Christmas day in 1853, he married Mary Ann McQuillan at St. Vincent's Church. She was a household employee of Simon Perkins, son of the man who founded the city of Akron in 1825. After his marriage, John rented and farmed the Simon Perkins farm for about six years and then he purchased 76 acres of land on Tallmadge Avenue that was part of the Phelps farm. Additional purchases increased his holdings to 180 acres. His land consisted of the property between Glenwood Avenue and a line just north of Cuyahoga Falls Avenue, and Columbia Avenue and Home Avenue. Once established in Akron he sent for his parents, brothers, and sisters. to join him. They all came and he built houses for all of them. His mother and father lived in a log cabin on Oxford which was then in the middle of a field. Beginning in 1871, John built and operated a brick factory. The factory employed 25 men and at its peak was producing 4 million brick per year but was only operational for six months of the year. The factory had 10 buildings, a huge brick smoke stack, and a water tower and was located on part of the land now occupied by North High School. McCausland brick was used to build the entrance to Harvard University and in some of the buildings of the St. Vincent's Church complex. The first home that John built on his property was at 613 Tallmadge Ave. This home was owned by members of his family until the early 1940's. Shortly thereafter, the home was demolished to make way for a commercial building. Construction of a second brick home began in 1884 at 475 Tallmadge Ave. This house still stands and is still owned by a member of the McCausland family. John died before work on this home was completed. His two sons, John and James, took over the brick business and moved into the home with their mother. The brick factory eventually closed down and by the end of the Depression, most of the McCausland land had been sold off. The original portion of the high school was built in 1931. John is buried at St. Vincent's Cemetery in Akron.

Monsignor John A. Mckeever  - 

Judge Stephen H. Pitkin - Born 5 October 1810 in Old Milford, CT. Moved to Charlestown, OH with his parents at the age of 7 and in 1827 the family moved to Hudson, OH. His father, Reverend Caleb Pitkin was one of the founders of Western Reserve College.

William T. Sawyer - Born 3 December 1862 in Springfield Township in Summit County. Attended Akron Public Schools and graduated from Buchtel College in June 1887. He was a charter member of the Lone Star Fraternity. Admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1890 he practiced law for several years thereafter. Active in politics, he held various political offices and in November 1907 he was elected mayor of Akron and was re-elected in 1909. A major achievement of his second term was his direction of the purchase of land and water rights along the Cuyahoga River to a point north of Kent where the construction of Lake Rockwell began to give the city of Akron an ample and sanitary water system. He dealt extensively in real estate and laid out and developed over forty subdivisions in the city. Two of those subdivions were on North Hill: Collinwood and Sawyerwood, both between Cuyahoga Falls Avenue and the Cuyahoga River. One of the streets in the subdivision still bears his name.