USA > Ohio > Allen County > A standard history of Allen county, Ohio : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development > Part 34
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COUNTY SURVEYOR: The surveyor of Allen County establishes all lines and boundaries. He usually marks corners by stones and records the surveys. The incumbents of the office are: John Jackson, 1831; Hamilton Davis, 1837; Michael Leatherman, 1842; William Dowling, 1844; John P. Haller, 1850; D. W. Littlefield, 1859; S. J. Brand, 1861; David D. Nicholas, 1867; Johnzy Keeth, 1879; James S. Pillars, 1885; John C. Cronley, 1891; George Taylor, 1894; J. C. Cronley, 1898; Charles E. Craig, 1904; J. F. Cripp, 1908; Jonathan K. Brice, 1912; Walter R. Toy, 1914; E. A. Miller, 1916 and Walter R. Toy, 1920. It is understood that James W. Riley, who came into Ohio with Anthony Wayne as a scout, was a surveyor, and that he established the boundaries of the group of counties coming into existence simulta- neously, February 12, 1820, and all bearing the names of Revolutionary patriots. It has been intimated that he surveyed the public square in Lima, giving it the appearance of a military defense. Some of the other counties in the group have similar public squares. No doubt the same public surveyor planned them.
COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: The office of school superin- tendent was created by Act of the Ohio Assembly in revising the school code, and it became effective August 1, 1914. The requirements are that the superintendent act as clerk of the board of education, have charge of the public schools, formulate the course of study and conduct teachers' institutes, etc. He is elected by the presidents of the various villages and rural district boards of education. In Allen County he is not responsible for the Lima and Delphos public schools. From the beginning, the county superintendent has been Prof. C. A. Argen- bright.
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DISTRICT HEALTH COMMISSIONER: The latest acquisition to the offi- cial roster of Allen County is district health commissioner, the juris- diction including the entire area outside of Lima and Delphos. The office was opened at the beginning of 1920 and the one incumbent is Dr. J. H. Sutter. All county offices are in the Allen County courthouse except the superintendent of schools and the health commissioner ; they are in the Memorial Hall.
OHIO ASSEMBLY: In its various district combinations Allen County has been represented in the Senate by James Johnson, John E. Hunt, Jacob Clark, Alfred P. Edgerton, Sabirt Scott, James Cunningham, John Taylor, Ed M. Phelps, Edward Foster, Charles C. Marshall, Meredith R. Willett, Thomas J. Godfrey, W. Carter, Charles Boesel, P. W. Hardesty, William Sheridan Jr., G. W. Andrews, C. M. Saltz- gaber, Thomas J. Godfrey, Elmer White, Robert Mehaffey, J. P. Schmie- der, Robert Mehaffey, M. D. Shaw, John L. Geyer, Henry J. Lawlor, James D. Johnson, William F. Conley, William G. Brorein, William E. Decker, S. D. Crites, Thomas M. Berry, W. M. Denman and William Boehne. Some of the foregoing are recognized as residents of Allen County, while all of them have received the official support of Allen County voters. The Senate representation began December 2, 1833, while the House has had representation since December 4, 1837, as follows : James Cook, R. I. Skinner, Edwin Fisher, George B. May, J. F. Hinkle, John W. Walters, James B. Steedman, G. C. Mudgett, S. S. Sprague, Isaac Spear, Michael Leatherman, P. J. Hines, Cyrenus Elliott, Samuel R. Mott, Henry Lipps, William Blackburn, Lester Bliss, Charles Crites, Charles Post, Charles C. Marshall, Thomas K. Jacobs, John Monroe, Dr. R. E. Jones, William Armstrong, Isaiah Pillars, Thomas M. Robb, M. L. Baker, W. H. Mccullough, G. W. Hull, Wil- liam E. Watkins, D. C. Cunningham, William Rusler, C. H. Adkins, John W. Manges, Howard W. Pears, R. R. Kennedy, A. H. Herr and J. C. Cochran. When a man once enters politics-places himself in the hands of his friends-he bobs up for office frequently. When he once gets his feet wet he wades in, and many whose names appear in the Ohio Assembly list have had local preferment. Some of them have served Allen County in several different capacities.
U. S. CONGRESS: Allen County has been represented in the U. S. Congress by Senator Calvin S. Brice, Mathias H. Nicholas, Charles N. Lamison, S. S. Yoder, B. F. Welty and John L. Cable.
Because of the fact that the salaries of county officials are based upon the population, and there has been an increase since the last cen- sus, those elected to office A. D. 1920 will have an advance in their income, the increase automatically becoming effective as the newly elected officials begin their terms of service. The recorder and sheriff, who were re-elected, benefit from this increase when their new terms begin, the salary being computed on the population. While there are some chronic jurymen and officeholders, the voters are inclined to keep tab on such ambitions. Men are frequently re-elected and some have held the same office more than two consecutive terms.
James Nicholas, who was the first Welshman honored with any political office in Allen County, was elected a justice of the peace in 1834, and he held the office continuously fifty-seven years. Citizens of Bluffton establish the claim that Richland Township has furnished the man for every office in the Allen County Courthouse. While there always has been more democrats than republicians in office in Allen County, the result of the 1920 political landslide will be apparent to the courthouse visitor.
CHAPTER XXII
THE URBAN SIDE OF ALLEN COUNTY
It was William Cowper who declared that God made the country, while admitting the town to be the handiwork of man. Sometimes art has improved upon nature and there are some attractive community centers in Allen County. Like the cities of the plain, however, some of the early hamlets are known now only in history.
An old account speaks of Auglaize City, but today the local geog- raphers have no trace of it. While it was only on paper, Auglaize City was once the dream of Judge W. L. Helfenstein. Like the Fort Amanda pioneers, Judge Helfenstein also hailed from Dayton. He acquired land along the Auglaize River, and there was a blueprint made of Auglaize City. In this paper city there were stately avenues and magnificent squares, and while it put to blush all other nearby Ohio towns because of its ambitions, its princely avenues continued indef- initely to be shaded by the primeval forests. It was inhabited only by the wild life of the frontier-the American Indian, frogs and mosquitoes.
While there are other crossroads towns that serve as community trading centers, the points mentioned in the last census report are : Beaver Dam, Bluffton, Delphos, Elida, Harrod, Lafayette, Lima, Spen- cerville and West Cairo. While Allentown, Gomer, Landeck and Westminster are attractive villages, they are under township organiza- tion. While "Goldsmith's Deserted Village" does not exactly describe Allentown today, the younger generation will marvel that it was one time ambitious to be the seat of government in Allen County. There are still a few landmarks of the past in Allentown.
When the Allentown visitor quoted the line "Under a spreading chestnut tree the village smithy stands," William F. Bolender, the vil- lage blacksmith, continued the poen which seemed so descriptive of the community. He is one of the half dozen residents who have always lived in Allentown. The automobile has annihilated distance, and Mr. Bolender and others find employment in Lima. His talk was not exactly an "Anvil Chorus," but a simple review of changed economic conditions in the community-Allentown and the rest of the world. The garage has supplanted the blacksmith shop, once such an integral part of every community. The special horseshoer of today is different from the all-round blacksmith of yesterday. Time was when people had things mended by the blacksmith, but today they visit the ten-cent stores. Mr. Bolender has not mended a fire shovel or a pair of tongs in "many a day." When asking her for food, a tramp explained to a woman that price readjustments had put him on the road, and changed community conditions have eleminated the old-time blacksmith. While there were once blacksmith shops all over the country, the "chariot of fire" has changed it all.
It was Gen. William Blackburn who really promoted the hope of the future in the breasts of the citizens of Allentown. When he came into Allen County as a government land agent he thought to locate the county seat in Allentown. It is perched high and dry on the Ottawa and when Lima sewage is properly disposed of, Allentown will become a suburban residence community. While fish only survive near the mouth of the contributing streams, Honey Run and Turkey Run, people seeking suburban property will not appreciate such an investment. It
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is said the vapor gas from the water discolors the houses in Allentown and there is not much incentive to improvement. The Blackburn house was a landmark there from 1850, until one summer night in 1904, when it went up in flames, and the loss of the solid walnut finish was the loss of quite a fortune. When the residents of a community are seized by the spirit of progress, nuisances may be abated and the hope of Allentown lies in the purification of the water in the Ottawa.
The far-seeing citizen-the man with a vision-is the hope of any community. As a rule, the pioneers had breadth of vision-a glimpse of the future, and they were community builders. There are three kinds of citizens in every community-those who cuss, discuss and those who do things. Beaver Dam has its ambition and Bluffton points out its advantages to the world. It draws its patronage from three counties and six townships, saying nothing about the transient feature. As a business center Bluffton serves every need of the community.
The population of Delphos places it among the cities of the first class, and in the past the canal was what made the community. Its appeal for patronage changed with the changing conditions, and Delphos is a voice in the commercial world today. The name occurs frequently in the many-sided developments of Allen County history. The com- munity building spirit has been in evidence there since the coming of Father John Otto Bredeick, when the community was part of Putnam County. It is only by a turn in the wheel of fortune that Delphos is in Allen County. Section Ten was a Putnam County village.
As a villiage of homes, Elida offers varied attractions and the retired farmers located in Gomer would not change their environment. Har- rod and Lafayette have all the advantages, while the old saying runs
"One foot up and one foot down, We're on the way to Limatown."
"Kaleidoscopic Lima! Watch her grow!" There are plenty of industrial sites-Lima, Delphos, Bluffton, Spencerville-some good industries in all of the towns. The full dinner pail is the index to prosperity in any community. Aside from the railroad industry, there are 8,000 industrial workers in the towns of Allen County.
There are favorable living conditions-no apparent congestion-and houses are built as there is need for them. The building and loan associations have relieved the situation and workmen are acquiring their own homes. It is estimated that three-fourths of the. houses in Lima are owned by the occupants, and the percentage is higher in other towns. Despite the foregoing statement, one female property owner in Lima declared she had enough unpaid rent due her to enable her to make the journey around the world, showing that landlords are not altogether heartless in their dealings with tenants.
While the rent hog has had little opportunity, some of the factories own houses and shelter those employed by them. In this way they are able to hold them-make them comfortable. The element of prof- iteering does not enter into the consideration-mutual helpfulness. In many instances factory men have built the bungalow type of houses and have door yards that are an attraction. While there are apart- ments, in the industrial communities the single house prevails. At booster meetings all unite in singing :
"L-L-L-Lima, beautiful Lima, you're the only p-p-p-place in the world for me,
N-N-N-Nobody shirking and everyone working, we will put across the C-C-C-C of C,"
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the slogan that united the forces on the 1920 Chamber of Commerce community effort. "East or west, home is best," and all who wander away come back in time to Lima.
Just like the rest of the world, there comes a time in Allen County when no matter how tenderly reared and carefully sheltered, sentiment plays its part : "The little house says stay, but the little road says go," and the youngster quits the environment of his childhood. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Lima has had steady growth. Big industries have been added, and the slogan "Lima leads," like the murmurings of many waters, expresses local enthusiasm. "Lima never failed" had to be reconstructed "Allen County never failed," when there was wartime need of countywide concerted effort. The following stoicism seems to be universal :
"Lima is a very good village to live in, To lend and to spend and to give in, But to beg or to borrow, or get what's your own, 'T is the veriest town that ever was known."
It is said that the people of one generation stone their prophets in order that the next generation may raise up monuments to them, and whatever the community attitude toward them while they are living, in the annals of the past the names of the Hon. Calvin S. Brice, Dr. Samuel A. Baxter and Benjamin C. Faurot have been coupled together as communty builders. In their day and generation they had their share in developing many public enterprises, and their names will always be intimately associated with the history of Allen County. Theodore E. Cunningham of Lima was a member of the Ohio State Constitutional Convention, and Richard Metheany and many others were active in upbuilding Lima, but the names Brice, Baxter and Faurot are inseparable-only Doctor Baxter being perpetuated in the next generation in the community. It is said of all men: "The places that know us now will soon know us no more forever." While Baxter place still shelters the family, the Brice and Faurot homesteads have gone to strangers.
It is said that when love-making stretches over a period of ten or fifteen years, it becomes a fixed habit and the future happiness rests in security. While social life may have a par status, there was a romance in Lima as early as 1833, when beautiful young women were rare in the new country. When a covered wagon stopped a young woman who parted the curtain and inquired about food and shelter attracted the attention of a young man standing there. He was an Irish- man and quick of perception, and as a result of the incident the Hon. N. W. Cunningham of Bluffton is the youngest in a family of eleven children born to these persons whose future was passed together. While the early marriage permits were granted in Celina, the marriage of James Saxon and Nancy Jones in 1843 is said to be the first wed- ding ceremony performed in Lima. While Cupid has been busy, there has also been business in the divorce courts since the tying of that first nuptial knot. The simple life-there was no grist mill in Lima and the settlers would go to the mills along the Auglaize at Wapo- keneta. The story is told of the man who walked to Wapokeneta with his bag of grain, and when he returned with the flour he distributed it among the families, giving three pounds to each settler. Think of the neighborly spirit in the community.
There was a time when the woman who went out to housework by the day never wanted the money for her service. She needed com-
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modities that were not then on the market-were not sold in stores. She needed soft soap or bacon. When a woman had finished a family washing and the housewife had supplied her with soap for her own laundering at home, she said the Lord had heard and answered her prayers-simple faith, not much in evidence at the time of this story. When a pioneer woman who knew the art of weaving had the first carpet on the floor in the community, the neighbor children who saw it informed their mother that the woman had laid down a quilt and she was walking on it. When she was raising her bread in the old- fashioned dough tray, the neighbor children told their mother she was using the cradle for it.
Some interested residents of Lima have asked to have Buckeye Island restored to its pristine condition if only on the pages of his- tory, because many citizens of today never heard about it. R. H. Gamble, who has been a city engineer and mapmaker since 1879, admitted that Buckeye Island was new to him, but he immediately located it on an ancient map of Lima-the Ottawa River circling around, although not wholly enclosing it. When the stream was straightened and the loop was taken out there was no island, although at one time the stream followed the foothills along Circular street, and Blue Bird Hill-once the Cunningham homestead-overlooked Buckeye Island, occupied by the Ehrich property and the Rissier property adjoining it. These two properties were benefited from straighten- ing the Ottawa River through Lima. They were then on the mar- ket as sites for residences, and near the center of things. While there were asheries and tan yards there, many own homes there today who do not know the island story.
It is said the owner of the Ehrich land thus surrounded had suffi- cient vision to offer his service in straightening the Ottawa River for the privilege of using the dirt in filling the channel, and pedestrians along Elizabeth Street today do not know it was once an island. When the loop was taken out of the river there was no island. It was desig- nated as Buckeye Island because of the buckeye trees covering it. No other community boasts of more bridges than span the Ottawa in Lima today. Mr. Gamble has copies of all the old maps of Allen County, and he has made a number of maps of Lima himself. He has mounted some of the old maps on cloth in order to better preserve them. He has established more cornerstones and laid out more additions than any other engineer in Allen County. Mr. Gamble completed a real estate map of Lima in 1920 that is found in the realty offices, banks and building and loan offices, but the price was prohibitive and only those having need of it in their business ordered copies of it.
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When one lists the early industries of Allen County-asheries, tan- neries, limekilns and sawmills, and then examines the survey of the industries of today as found in the office of the Lima Chamber of Com- . merce, he has some understanding of the progress made by the whole county in its first century of existence. The survey shows the need of improved sidewalks in the downtown section, and the attention of the merchants is called to them. When there were board walks in the busi- ness district, a merchant always knew when a customer was coming or he had warning of impending danger, but today, where are the board walks or the logs for the lumber? Since the city is liable for damages should a pedestrian be injured on the walks. There is a campaign for better improvements, expenses to be charged to property owners who do not look after their own improvements. The City of Lima has
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recently paid $110,000 into the country road fund and the commissioners are considering the question of returning it.
The cost of removing the snow from 110 miles of streets in Lima on a recent storm occasion was $400 and the city needs its money. There are sixty-four miles of combined storm and sanitary sewers serv- ing all the developed districts, and the system is being extended as rap- idly as there are funds for it. When sewer connection was being made at the Lima House, workmen encountered a tree trunk in good state of preservation several feet from the surface. While the public square is now paved with brick, there was a time when it was a mud hole and two horses had a load when drawing an empty wagon through it. This tree may have fallen there in the beginning of community history, or it may have been part of the corduroy system in traveling on the sur- face. While the Ottawa River, Hog Creek or Swinonia has served as a sewer for Lima, a disposal plant is in prospect and many are confident of the future.
While the Lima public square once had two graded streets inter- secting it-Main and Market-there were four mud holes in either cor- ner, and wagons loaded with wood or hay sometimes mired there. It was once a wood and hay market-a clearing house for farmers-but those commodities are seldom seen today. It was the original plan that Market Street should become the business center and Main Street the residence section of Lima, but the founders did not accurately forecast its future. Conditions reversed themselves and Main became the busi- ness street, while Market is noted today as a residence community. The order was changed in the 80's when the courthouse was located on North Main Street, and the removal of the Y. M. C. A. Building from the site of the Bleum Store and Trinity M. E. Church from the site of the Savings Building on Market at Elizabeth Street, opened up that· side of Market Street for the extension of business territory. While Main is no longer a residence street for several blocks either way from the public square, business is steadily advancing along Market Street in either
direction. While the Ottawa River and the Pennsylvania Railway effectually check the trend of business along Main Street, who will prophesy the trend of future developments ?
It is said the red light district is always the forerunner of business development. When a residence section has been cast in the shadow the property becomes cheaper and business reaches out in that direction. An unsavory population always reduces realty values, and Lima is rapidly extending its business territory. As the personnel of the community changes the more palatial residences are built on the outskirts of the city. The public square parked with automobiles and electric cars pass- ing through it presents a different prospect today from the time when Main and Market streets were dirt roads intersecting the muster ground of the past-the community center where Dobbin used to do his bit, drawing the family carriage or bringing in the wood and hay wagons. But all that is changed today. The loaded wagons were all pried out of the mud, and instead of the hay there are filling stations, the auto- mobile, truck and tractor having supplanted the horse and some time the motor bus may emancipate the cars.
GOVERNMENTS OF LIMA AND DELPHOS
The larger the community the more complex the problems confront- ing it and because of their charters Lima and Delphos govern them- selves. While the report of the city auditor in Delphos only mentions
TORESTANT
MAIN STREET NORTH FROM SQUARE
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Mayor B. L. Jauman, the most recent report in Lima enumerates the mayors from the beginning, Lima having been incorporated as a city in 1842, and its first mayor was H. D. V. Williams. Henry De Villiers Williams was a unique character. He wore buckskin breeches with a loose flannel shirt and a fur cap. He was a generous-hearted, reckless, easy-going man. Mayor Williams would divide his last mouthful of food with the man who was in need; he had a penchant for hunting, swapping horses, firearms or any other property. He would sit for hours relating hairbreadth escapes from wild animals and from the Indians. As raconteur none have since excelled him. He and Daniel Musser were bosom friends and both were hunters who boasted of their prowess. They used to kill deer in the streets of Lima. They were sportsmen par excellence.
Mayor Williams once killed a deer that had thirteen prongs on its antlers, and in writing of the period someone says : "Hunting con- sumed much valuable time, but the law of compensation was as active then as now and the balsamic odors of the woods, the clear blue of the sky, the beautiful verdure of the meadows could not have failed to have a salutary effect upon the huntsman," and since there were no profiteers hunting claimed the attention of Lima's first mayor. It is related that in 1835 Mayor Williams brought his family from Toledo to Allen County. One time when Mayor Williams and his friend Daniel Musser were in Kenton together, Mayor Williams admired and bought a dog. While bringing the animal home it bit him on the hand and, December 19, 1846, he died with all the horrors attendant upon hydrophobia.
Since the days of Mayor Williams his successors have been: H. F. Hubbard, John P. Fay, Thomas Dalzell, A. N. Smith, James Cunning- ham, Thomas Dalzell, Thomas Milligan, Samuel A. Baxter, James E. Harriott, John Melhorn, James A. Newell, John L. Hughes, E. G. Ham- ilton, John R. Hughes, Isaac T. Hickman, John Collett, Thomas M. Robb, G. W. Overmyer, Richard Metheany, John C. Dunlevy, James B. Townsend, Frank E. Mead, H. S. Prophet, William McComb Jr., Ira R. Longworth, William McComb Jr., James V. Smiley, Samuel A. Bax- ter, H. S. Prophet, William McComb Jr., L. H. Rogers, Theodore D. Robb, T. D. Robb, Fred C. Becker, George Dyer, C. N. Shook, Theo- dore D. Robb, who died and his term was finished by Miles Standish ; B. H. Simpson, B. H. Simpson and F. A. Burkhardt. The mayor and members of City Council have hitherto served two years, but under its next reorganization Lima adopts the commission form of government. For four-score years Lima has been ruled by a mayor.
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