USA > Ohio > Hardin County > A twentieth century history of Hardin County, Ohio : a narrative account of its historical progress its people and principal interests, Vol. I > Part 26
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In 1890 William Witeraft and Alex Wallace formed a partnership in the banking business, under the name of the Mount Victory Bank. Shortly afterward Henry E. Dickinson obtained an interest and was made cashier. This bank continued until the year 1904, when it was incorporated under the name of The Mount Victory Bank. The incor- porators were William Witcraft, C. W. Korns, II. E. Dickinson, J. N. Richardson and J. A. Korns. William Witcraft was made president,
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and II. E. Diekinson, eashier. J. A. Korns was made assistant cashier. The present officers are J. N. Richardson, president ; H. E. Dickinson, vice president ; J. A. Korns, cashier. The eapital stock of this bank is $30,000, with a surplus fund of $10,000. This bank eontinues to do a prosperous business.
The Mount Victory Savings Bank is a private institution, and begun business in 1906. The partnership consisted of G. F. Moniger, president, and M. B. Boone, cashier.
The Ridgeway Banking Company was incorporated in June, 1903, with an authorized capital stock of $25,000, with 50 per eent paid in. The first board of directors were B. F. Fisher, Frank Adams, John McAlister, John Brungard, Marshal Stewart, John Levalley, Ed. Fish- born, J. A. Rumer and H. M. Grear. The first officers were John Brungard, president; Marshal Stewart, vice president; O. E. Perry, eashier. The present board of directors are N. G. Vassar, B. O. Elliott, Elza Limes, II. M. Grear, John W. Levalley, J. O. Jenkins, O. D. Brun- gard and O. E. Perry. The offieers are N. G. Vassar, president; B. O. Elliott, vice president ; O. E. Perry, eashier, and Avis Gantt, assistant cashier. This bank has a surplus and undivided profits amounting to $2,300. They have done a prosperous business and enjoy the confidenee of the community.
John Woodruff, Sr., located in Dunkirk in 1869, and entered the general merchandise business. In 1875 Mr. Woodruff begun doing a banking business under the name of Woodruff's Bank, of which Mr. Woodruff was the sole owner. He continued this business until the year 1903.
On April 7, 1903, the Woodruff National Bank begun business with a capital stock of $25,000, fully paid, and took over the business of Woodruff's Bank. The bank was organized on February 13, 1903, by John Woodruff, Sr., Frank Pore, Judson Mahon, John Woodruff, Jr., R. A. Woodruff, Irvin Woodruff, L. D. Longsworth, who beeame the first board of directors. John Woodruff, Sr., was elected president; Frank C. Pore, vice president ; Irvin Woodruff, eashier, and Miss Ida M. Ludwig, assistant cashier, all of whom still occupy the same positions. This bank transaets a prosperous business, enjoying the confidence of Dunkirk's business men, and now has a surplus and undivided profits of $6,500.
The First National Bank of Dunkirk was organized on February 14, 1903, and begun business Mareh 7, 1903. The incorporators were Andrew Diermeyer, B. L. Larimer, S. A. IIagerman, M. A. Boyer, R. R. Lease, who with Chase R. Robinson and A. J. Solomon beeame the first board of directors. S. A. Hagerman was elected president, which position he now oeeupies. B. L. Larimer was elected viee president, who with Samuel Taylor, C. M. Jones, H. W. Diermeyer, S. G. Smith constitute the present board of directors. M. A. Boyer beeame the
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first cashier of this bank, which position he occupied for about one year, when Chas. L. Fulks, the present cashier, was elected to succeed him. O. H. Keller is the assistant cashier. This bank has a capital stock of $25,000 with a surplus and undivided profits of $5,600. This bank has been prosperous and enjoys the confidence and patronage of the community.
On June 1, 1872, William and Edmund Carey of Kenton, and Peter and Nathan Ahlefeld opened the Bank of Ada for business. In 1874 the Careys retired.
After the retirement of the Careys from the Bank of Ada, its name was changed to The Citizens Bank, with Peter and Nathan Ahlefeld as its owners. In 1877 Nathan Ahlefeld retired from the firm and Peter Ahlefeld became the sole owner and continued the business until the failure of the bank on July 17, 1893. Mr. Ahlefeld's assets covered all his indebtedness and all creditors were fully paid.
Ada Savings Bank was organized in October, 1893, with Justin Brewer as its president and James Bastable as cashier, who together with J. T. Cunningham, John C. Schuster, P. C. Robinson, John Sharp, William Guyton, formed the first board of directors. In October, 1897, Mr. Bastable retired from the position of cashier, and was succeeded by Clyde Sharp, who had been assistant cashier. This bank continued business until July 1, 1900, when it was reorganized into a national bank.
On July 1, 1900, the First National Bank of Ada was organized and begun business with a capital stock of $25,000, succeeding to the business of the Ada Savings Bank. The first board of directors were Justin Brewer, Henry Young, Clyde Sharp, James Bastable, J. T. Cunningham, P. C. Robinson and John Sharp. Justin Brewer was elected president, which office he still holds. Henry Young was elected vice president ; Clyde Sharp, cashier, and Charles Meyer, assistant cashier. The present board of directors are Justin Brewer, Clyde Sharp, John Sharp, P. C. Robinson and Henry Young. This bank now lias a surplus and undivided profits of $23,000. The men conducting this institution are all business men of known ability and the bank has been prosperous, enjoying the confidence and patronage of Ada's citizens.
In 1872 William L. Reese and I. McJunkin, Mr. McJunkin being from Lima, begun a banking business (under the name Exchange Bank) in the old Reese warehouse at Ada, and in 1874 removed to the new brick building on the west side of Main street. Soon after this Mr. McJunkin retired from the bank, and on August 14, 1883, this bank failed.
In 1884 E. E. Bauman, who had been a successful business man in Ada, opened a banking business in the room formerly occupied by the Exchange Bank, and continued until June, 1885, when he closed this business because it had not proven profitable. The concern was known as Bauman's Bank.
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The Liberty Bank of Ada was organized under the laws of Ohio and begun business on March 27, 1902, with a capital stock of $30,000, fully paid. Mr. William Guyton was elected president, and N. R. Park, cashier, with E. J. Carey as assistant. The first board of directors were Alex Carmen, J. H. Shanks, E. E. MeCoppen, Walter Sousley, J. G. Park, S. D. Hazlett, M. E. Cunningham, William Guyton and II. S. Lelir. In 1906 Mr. Park resigned as cashier and was sueceeded by Mr. Carey and Lloyd MeElroy was chosen assistant eashier. In September, 1909, Mr. Carey resigned the position of cashier, having been previously elected to the office of county auditor. Mr. MeElroy succeeded him as cashier. At this time Paul L. Hill was elected assistant cashier. The present board of directors are William Guyton, John H. Shanks, Charles W. Runser, S. D. Hazlett, E. E. MeCoppen, John Park, M. E. Cunning- ham, L. F. Anspach and E. J. Carey. In 1906 N. R. Park who had been vice president of the bank, succeeded William Guyton as president, and remained in this position one year, when he was succeeded by Mr. Guyton, who is the president at this time. The business of this bank has been prosperous from the beginning, and in addition to the payment of regular dividends to stockholders, it has now a surplus and undivided profits of $5,100. The men connected with this bank are among Ada's best business men and enjoy to the fullest extent the confidence of the people in this community.
On October 23, 1906, the Alger Savings Bank was organized under the laws of Ohio, with a capital stock of $25,000, with $15,000 paid in. The first board of directors were Alex Carmen, J. B. Seymour, John Dunlap, W. P. Dempster, James L. Moore, James Goslee, P. M. Crow, R. F. Coppess and A. G. Ahlefeld. Mr. Carmen was elected president, which position he still occupies. E. G. Harriman was elected viee pres- ident, but has since been succeeded by John A. Ewing. M. D. McCoubrey was elected eashier. The present board of directors are Alex Carmen, John A. Ewing, M. D. McCoubrey, James Goslee, James L. Moore, W. P. Dempster, L. A. Ansley, John Dunlap and P. M. Crow. This bank has done a prosperous business and enjoys the confidence and patronage of the people of Alger and vicinity.
The banking business of the county is conducted by six National banks, with a capital of $200,000; surplus and profits of $114,000, and seven state banks, with a capital (paid in) of $247,500; surplus and profits of $120,500, and aggregate deposits amounting to $2,200,000 at their last published statements. The taxes charged against the banks of the county according to the tax duplicate for 1909 amounts to $16,162.90. The stock of the various banks is held by 382 stockholders and the management is intrusted to ninety-one direetors, composed of many of the most substantial eitizens, business men and farmers. The
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banks of Hardin county, with the exception of one private bank, all have a capital stock and surplus and are subject to legal supervision and in- spection. No failure has ever occurred to any incorporated bank in the county, and their successful management for thirty-five years has brought satisfaction to borrowers, honor and praise to the directors and officers, and profit to the stockholders.
CHAPTER IV.
KENTON, THE COUNTY SEAT.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS-PIONEER HISTORY-ADVENT OF SETTLERS- PRESENT BUSINESS FIRMS-PUBLIC BUILDINGS-VARIOUS COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES-CHURCHES OF KENTON.
The city of Kenton, named after Simon Kenton, was laid out in 1833 on the north bank of the Scioto river under the direction of the commissioners appointed for that purpose by the state legislature, then in session at Columbus. Hardin was separated from Logan county in that year and Ira Page, Abner Snoddy and Edward L. Morgan named as the committee to select the site for the county seat of the new organ- ization. Passing by the little center of civilization at Ft. McArthur a few miles west of the present city, and the already planned village of Peru a few miles north of the fort, the commissioners located the town on lands donated by Lemuel Wilmoth, George H. and Jacob H. Houser- in all, forty acres of Congress lands. The original plat of the city in- eludes the public square and lots adjacent for several squares. The village was laid out by Charles W. Stevenson and William Furney, and the plat sent to Columbus for record in May or June, 1833. The sale of donated lands for village lots did not take place till October 15 and 16 of the same year, though many of the early settlers had their locations all picked out and rude homes constructed by that time.
Although at the time of the location of the county seat there was some dissatisfaction, time has shown the wisdom of the commissioners. While the river never furnished water power sufficient to be of much use and can not be used for traffic, it furnishes an excellent means of draining the city and carrying off the sewage, which, together with the pure water piped from the Calhoun park, just south of Kenton, accounts for the fact that the city has never had an epidemic of any sort. There have been occasionally cases of contagious diseases, but never in the history of the town were all the schools and churches closed on account of an epidemic. Lying, as it does, on the great water shed of the state, Kenton is well drained and healthful, and is located so that all the
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residents of the county may conveniently reach it. In the light of the present it was an ideal location, and the eitizens owe a debt of gratitude to the men who selected it.
At the time the town was laid out, there were only three or four cabins here, and nothing in the way of a village. The Public Square was covered with trees and here and there were low, swampy spots which were hot beds of malaria. George and Jacob Houser had taken up land near the river, and so had Lemuel Wilmoth and William Wil- moth. John and William Dinwiddie had brought their mother and sis- ters from Virginia a year or two before the town was laid out, and lived near Pioneer cemetery, while over on the other side of the river were a few hunters and trappers in shacks whose names have not been preserved. A very old man now living in South Kenton, Frazier Summers, was probably located there before the town was very old, as he came to hunt and trap from Virginia, when deer and wild animals were plentiful. However, he can not tell exactly how old he is nor the year he came to the county. The descendants of the early settlers re- member hearing their grandfathers tell of shooting deer and wolves, and even bears on or near the Public Square, and the first settlers who camped here before erecting their cabins were much annoyed by all sorts of wild animals, large and small. The only thing to eat except the supplies brought with them, was meat, and often the families of William Furney, the Housers and other pioneers had nothing but corn bread and four or five kinds of game day after day. There was no cleared land in the vieinity of Kenton, as at Grassy Point, so the little patches of corn and vegetables among the green stumps had to furnish the daily fare along with the abundant meat. A deer skin in those days was worth more than the meat, and many a poor animal was left in the forest for the wolves to devour after it was skinned. During one winter nearly two thousand coon skins were sold in Kenton, and hundreds of deer skins with an occasional bear hide. Wolves were not skinned, but simply scalped, or the heads taken to the proper officer to claim the bounty.
As soon as it was definitely settled that Kenton was to be the county seat, everything began to assume a more settled look. John W. Williams set up a tavern near the southwest corner of the square in a eabin, and while not the first settler after the town was organized, he was a very useful citizen. William Furney settled first after the location of the eounty seat was deeided on land near the present Weaver House, and the story goes that his wife dug up the first root taken from the square. They celebrated the Fourth of July, 1833, by moving into their new cabin, having previously lived in a tent, and had a house warming of the old fashioned character. The neighbors for miles around helped raise the first cabins in Kenton, and when finished a general celebration was held, at which corn bread and game were served.
Along with the business of keeping tavern. for which privilege Mr. Vol. I-17
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Williams paid five dollars per year, a general store was kept at which powder and lead, gun eaps, salt, flour and some goods, such as blankets and shoes were kept. The supply depended upon the condition of the roads, for during some seasons it was impossible to send to larger places for heavy articles, and people often had to do without the necessities of life while waiting for good weather. Nobody went hungry, and it was always possible to have clothes made of homespun and shoes man- ufactured of hides, but people grew tired of the everlasting corn bread and hominy, and longed for the luxury of white flour. At this tavern skins were also bought and sold, the fur agents coming at certain periods for the skins brought from all parts of the county to this station. Meals were six and one-fourth cents each, and a night's lodging about the same, but store goods were very expensive, frequently flour running as high at ten dollars per barrel, and salt sometimes higher than that. Court was held in the old tavern until the court house was built, and it was the center of all commercial and social life for several years afterward.
In 1835 David Goodin, who came from Perry county with his wife, Sarah, familiarly known to Kenton people for many years as "Aunt Sally Goodin," bought the tavern, and the present Goodin block stands on the site of the popular old tavern. A bar was always kept up in con- nection with the house, and for many years it was the principal tavern in the new town. Here the men boarded who built the court house, and here were entertained the public speakers who early came to address political meetings and here were held many important meetings until the erection of the brick courthouse on the east side of the square in 1835. The building was begun in 1834 in May and required more than a year to finish. The jail, which was a hewed log affair, stood where the court house now stands, and was finished in 1833. It was eighteen by twenty-four feet in size and was large enough to accomodate the law breakers for many years.
Shortly after this cabins began to spring up everywhere in Kenton and before 1840 all but twenty of the original 154 lots in the city had been sold. Also four new additions to the town had been laid out, Jacob H. Houser platting the Eastern Addition to the town on October 11, 1833; George H. Houser the Western Addition October 11, 1833; John Goodin the Goodin Addition, June 28, 1836, and Jacob HI. Houser another addition, known as the Jacob H. Houser Addition, June 4, 1836. Since that time the town has grown in every direction, but the first few years after its organization saw a wonderful increase in population. A cemetery was laid out just west of the present Antonia Hospital, (the first interment being a little daughter of Robert MeCloud) but the town grew so rapidly that it was not thought wise to bury there, a plot of ground in the east part of town where Carrol and Columbus streets unite, a long narrow strip of high land, was taken for that purpose. However that had to be abandoned in a few years for the Pioneer Park
.
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Cemetery, and in turn that gave way as the city grew to the beautiful Grove Cemetery just east of town. Stores began to multiply, a school- house was built on lot 150 on the corner of Wayne and Ohio streets.
The first wedding was that of Joseph McEntyre and Rebecca Pine by Squire George Houser. The guests were William Fnrney and wife, Wil- liam Cary, Judge Thompson and daughter Janette. The Lutheran, Metho- dist and Presbyterian people of the new town had services in cabins and occasionally a Catholic missionary from an older settlement cele- brated mass in the home of a parishoner. The court house was open for business, the post office was moved from Ft. McArthur; court was was discontinued at the old fort and held in the county seat; the settlers no longer had to travel to Jonathan Carter's cabin in Roundhead for the privilege of casting their ballots, and in every way prosperity seemed to smile on the growing village.
Among the pioneer business men of Kenton were many whose names are still represented in the community. Luther Damon set up a cabinet shop, where all sorts of furniture could be ordered as early as 1835, in his cabin on north Main street. His son Warren Damon continued the business after the death of the father moving to a better location on the square, and afterward Frank L. Damon took charge of the busi- ness which has greatly enlarged as the years went by. The Danion residence now stands on the location of the little old shop, and the pres- ent owner of the furniture store represents the third generation in the business. William Cary came to Kenton from Marseilles in October, 1833 and commenced store keeping in a log cabin near where the ice plant now stands. Afterward he moved to a cabin back of where the Weaver house now stands and then to a location on the west side of the square. He went back to Marseilles for a few years but returned to
Kenton some years later. His aged wife still lives on North Detroit street, and can tell many interesting stories of pioneer store-keeping. William Furney also kept store in connection with his tavern and John Wheeler had a small store on the corner of the square where Born's shoe store now stands. Samuel Mentzer started a general store in 1836, on Detroit street, and Robert Truman about the same time opened a boot and shoe store on Franklin street between Detroit and Market. John Kaiser located in Kenton in 1837, and for many years made hats for the pioneers, and Hugh Letson opened a tailor shop next the eourt- house in 1837 also. Samuel Campbell made shoes in his eabin on east Franklin street, just east of Wayne, and Andrew Barnes also sold shoes and general merchandise, together with his trade in men's clothes at his little shop on the corner of Main and Carrol. The carpenters were Josiah Robey, Ezra Williams, Wright Ferguson, Robert Smith, James Johnson, James Moffat, James Scott, William Heckathorn, John C. Dille, Samuel Badley and others, most of whom had a hand in building the courthouse and the earlier business houses of the city. Jacob Pine and
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Boston Shawver made brieks, and a number of the pioneers worked in the brick yard which was located where the Dugan House now stands, while not engaged in other tasks. There were several small tan yards in Kenton at an early date, the one belonging to Daniel Barron, one of the early sheriffs of the county, being where Southard's livery barn now stands and another owned by a Mr. Walker east of Main street near the river. Emi P. IIurd was the village blacksmith and Joseph Williams did all sorts of odd jobs the short time he remained in Kenton.
The first postmaster after the office was moved from Ft. MeArthur was Alexander Thompson who took charge of the mails March 6, 1834, and the first postoffice of which there is any record was in a cabin on Ohio Street close to Main. It was in the home of Eri Strong who was deputy pastmaster, and whose son, Kenton Strong, was the first child born in Kenton. At that time Kenton was on a mail route running through Huntersville and Marseilles, both of which were more import- ant towns than Kenton, and afterward a carrier on horseback rode through the woods from Bellefontaine to Findlay, thus giving the vil- lage two means of communication with the outside world. The first school teachers were Eri Strong, Elizabeth Strong, Dr. Clark, Mary Clark, Stewart Conner, James Drumm, John Lawrence and Harper Ross who either taught in the little old eabin on Ohio street or had "select" schools
maintained by subscription. The first church services were held in George Houser's cabin in 1832 by Rev. Thomas Thompson, a missionary from the Wyandot Reservation at Upper Sandusky, and what afterwards became the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Kenton was organized with eight members. The members were George H. and Jacob H. Hou- ser, William and Lemuel Wilmoth and their wives with George Houser as class leader. The First Presbyterian church was organized November, 1836, by Rev. Joseph Stevenson, with Eri and Elizabeth Strong, Read- ing and Susan Hineline, James and Mary Scott, and Mary Anderson as the first members. Eri Strong and Reading Hineline were chosen Ruling Elders of the little church which, like the other religious bodies of the town, did not have a settled place of worship till some years later. In 1838 the Lutherans began holding occasional services in the old court- house under the leadership of Rev. Fuhrmann, and in 1840 the St. John's Evangelical church was organized, and ever since has enjoyed a prosperous life.
Dr. Clark who with his wife is mentioned as one of the first school teachers in the village of Kenton, was also located here to doctor the pioneers. Although there was much ague and milk sickness the pioneers were prone to trust to home remedies, money being searee, and the doctor could combine his duties without being overworked. A Dr. Blodgett also located here about 1834, but soon moved away. Dr. Usher Parsons Leighton is the best remembered of the pioneer doctors, as the long and useful life he spent in the community endeared him to all hearts.
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Dr. Samuel Watt, Dr. Koontz and Dr. W. W. Durbin also did much good among the early settlers, and later on came a number of skilled physicians as the town grew in size. The hardships endured by these pioneer physicians as they rode through the woods to minister to the wants of the sick can never be known. As the circuit rider picked his way through the boggy forests to minister to the souls of the scattered settlers, so the pioneer doctor held himself ready at all hours to minister to their bodies, and the country owes a debt to both that never can be paid.
Most of the pioneers were peaceable, law abiding citizens, but still the first courts were not idle. During the time court was held at Ft. McArthur, which was the first three or four years of the county's exist- ence there were no attorneys in Hardin county, but lawyers from Belle- fontaine, Findlay, Bucyrus and Marion came when court was in session. Afterward the seat of justice was at the Williams tavern in Kenton, and then in the court house. The best remembered of the lawyers who lived in Kenton prior to 1840 were John Lawrence, Andrew Dodds and Edwin Fisher. For a number of years visiting attorneys from other counties, who had many friends during the early days when court was held in the cabins, continued to come to court for many years, but gradually the resident attorneys absorbed all the practice.
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