USA > Ohio > Fairfield County > Lancaster > Centennial history of Lancaster, Ohio, and Lancaster people : 1898, the one hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the spot where Lancaster stands > Part 24
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CAPTAIN WM. F. FERGUSON
Captain Ferguson was a bricklayer and worked for many years in Lancaster. He was at one time captain of one of the military companies of the town. In 1849 he went to California, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was always a popular character, and his name is often mentioned by old citizens. He was the captain of the second company that went from Lan- caster to the Mexican War. He did the brickwork of the Collins block, now the Mumaugh, Kirn, & Martens block.
ABRAHAM PITCHER
Mr. Pitcher came with his father, Abraham Pitcher, to Lancaster in 1801 or 1802. He married Elizabeth Cassel, sister of Wm. Cassel, the carpenter.
Pitcher was not engaged in any regular business, but often acted as an auctioneer. By some means he raised the money and built a frame house on the north- east corner of High and Main Streets, since owned and occupied successively by R. M. Ainsworth and P. B. Ewing. Maccracken's house is now on the lot. In the thirties he deserted his wife, and she returned to her old home in Perry County. Pitcher went to New York and 'tis said got into trouble and finally into the State Prison. In 1856 he sent to General George San- derson an oak cane made of the wood taken from the
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house once used by General George Washington as his headquarters at Newburgh, N. Y. This is the last heard of him.
DR. MICHAEL BUECHLER
Dr. Michael Buechler was born, educated and prac- ticed medicine in Germany. He came to Lancaster, an old man, in the year 1840 and died at an advanced age in 1866.
PERRY STEINMAN
Perry Steinman, son of G. Steinman, was born in Lancaster in 1821. In the year 1844 he was a con- fectioner's clerk in Lexington, Ky. In 1845 he was elected constable of Hocking Township. In 1847 he was made second lieutenant of a company and enlisted for the Mexican War. He returned to Lancaster in 1848, and again was elected constable. In 1849 he went to California, where he remained about ten years. There he accumulated some capital. Returning to Lancaster, he opened a livery-stable, which he carried on until his death. He married the daughter of Robt. Fielding.
ALVAH PERRY
Alvah Perry came with his father to Ohio and set- tled at Lithopolis. He came to Lancaster in 1844, as deputy sheriff, and was deputy postmaster under John C. Cassel. In 1846 he enlisted in the Second Ohio Regiment for the Mexican War and was made second lieutenant. Returning to Lancaster, he dealt in stock. In 1862 he enlisted in the 90th Ohio and served during the war, being elected captain of his company. In 1866 he was deputy U. S. marshal. Later he was sergeant-at-arms of the Ohio senate. His wife was the daughter of Samuel Foster, a pioneer citizen and brother-in-law of Judge Graybill. Samuel
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Foster was a son of the Rev. Foster, the first Lutheran missionary to preach in Lancaster. He was the father of Colonel Sam. Foster, late of Columbus, Ohio, and of George W. Foster, of Cincinnati, Ohio.
OLD BILLY PETERS
When Robert and Daniel Smith left Virginia in 1810, they purchased Billy and his wife, Hannah, and brought them to Fairfield County, where they set up for themselves. They were industrious and frugal, and very popular. Billy's business was quarrying stone, in which he lost his life, a stone crushing one of his feet. Nearly every business man in Lancaster attended his funeral. He was held in high esteem.
REV. CHARLES PETERS
Peters was born in Virginia in or near Winchester. He was sexton of a church there when Rev. Abram Reck was the pastor. Long years afterwards they met in Lancaster. Rev. Peters was the first colored man to cast a vote in Lancaster. The colored people assembled at the polls and agreed that he should cast the first vote. He was a good old man, honest, sincere, and a zealous Christian. Rev. Reck once said that Father Peters was a sensible man and had a very clear comprehension of the plan of salvation, and that he had great faith and confidence in him.
JOHN AMPY JONES
John Ampy Jones was a well-known colored man of the period of 1840 and 1850. He was an honest, faith- ful man, industrious, and always a man of his word. He had the respect and confidence of all who knew him and his friends were legion. His principal busi-
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ness was digging and cleaning wells, in which occu- pation he lost his life at an age when there seemed to be many years of usefulness before him. He was a courteous. unassuming man and led a quiet, peaceful life.
Like most of the early colored residents of Lan- caster, he had been a Virginia slave. His youth was clouded by this "relic of barbarism," but the air of freedom made him a man, and he walked the earth, not as a chattel, but as one proud of his manhood.
COLONEL WILLIAM HAMILTON
Colonel William Hamilton came to Lancaster as county surveyor in 1855. He had up to that time been a prominent farmer in Clear Creek Township. Colonel Hamilton was a man of fine ability and one whose influence was felt in the community in which he lived. He was a good mathematician and made a very capable surveyor. His daughter, Mary, was for many years a very competent teacher in the public schools. She is now the wife of S. J. Wolfe.
SALEM WOLFE
Salem Wolfe was for many years a substantial and prosperous farmer of Madison Township. As a cit- izen he was highly esteemed. He was one of the successful farmers of the famous Clear Creek Valley. He came to Lancaster or, more properly, to the Judge Irvin farm near town, late in life. This he sold in a few years and moved to town. Here he spent his old age quietly and peacefully, respected and honored by his neighbors. His youngest daughter was the first wife of H. W. Griswold. His son, John, is the present competent city engineer.
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DOUGLASS CLUB
June 30, 1860, a Douglass Club was formed in Lan- caster. At a meeting called for that purpose a com- mittee of five was appointed to report officers, viz .: W. T. Wise, J. W. Stinchcomb, A. Brennaman, E. C. Kreider and Tall Slough. They reported as follows: G. J. Wygum, president; John O'Hare, vice-president; Hugh Cannon, treasurer; W. H. Pugh, secretary; executive committee: A. McVeigh, K. Fritter, Wm. Fismer, J. Plout, J. M. Connell, Newton Schleich, Pat. Powers, Adam Guseman.
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
The second public library in the history of Lan- caster was established in the year 1878. The funds necessary to purchase three thousand volumes were raised by public subscription. F. C. Whiley solicited the greater portion of the subscription and was ably seconded by Prof. Andrews, Judge Wright and Kin- nis Fritter, his associate members of the board of trus- tees. The control of the library was vested in the city council, and a tax has been annually levied for its support. The president of the council and the pres- ident of the school board are ex-officio members of the board of trustees.
Professor E. B. Andrews, a scholarly man, was a warm friend and supporter of the library from its organization to the day of his death.
The present trustees are E. B. Cartmell, George W. Welsh, John G. Reeves and H. C. Drinkle.
The library will soon occupy its new quarters, a commodious, handsome and well-lighted room in the city hall.
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HISTORY OF NATURAL GAS PLANT
Mr. G. W. Trimble, Superintendent of the Natural Gas Plant owned by the city of Lancaster, Ohio, gives the following brief history of same:
In the spring of 1886 a number of the citizens or- ganized a company to drill for natural gas. The first well was located south of the C. & M. V. Ry., near Maple Street. The well was drilled to a depth of two thousand feet and gas was found in the Clinton sand rock. The well produced about one hundred thou- sand cubic feet every twenty-four hours. They con- tinued to drill until they reached a depth of two thou- sand five hundred feet, but found no more gas. Soon after that time, two other companies of our citizens were formed to sink two more wells. One was located north and one east of the city, which when drilled in produced one million cubic feet every twenty-four hours.
During the winter of 1887 and 1888 the three com- panies consolidated and laid pipes over a small por- tion of the city and furnished gas to a few citizens. In April, 1888, the city proposed to put in its own plant. The question of issuing bonds to the amount of $50,000.00 for the construction of such a plant was submitted to the voters, and out of about two thou- sand votes there were but twenty-five votes against the proposition. The bonds were issued and the orig- inal plant constructed by the citizens' company was purchased, for which the city paid $23,559.47.
On the 18th day of July, 1888, the Council ap- pointed three Trustees to manage said plant, viz .: Messrs. Samuel Whiley, Henry Sieber and Samuel W. Rainey. The balance of the money after purchasing
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the original plant amounting to $26,440.53 was used in constructing a first-class plant, including the drill- ing of two new wells. In June, 1889, the City Coun- cil issued an additional $25,000 of bonds for natural gas purposes and there were but $20,000 of them sold, making a total bond issue of $70,000.
The plant was kept in first-class condition at all times out of the earnings of the same, and in Sep- tember, 1891, the Board began to pay off the $70,000 natural gas bonds out of the surplus accumulated from the sale of gas, paying as much as $22,500 in one year, and on December 19th, 1895, the last bond was paid off. They also paid the interest on the bonds, which amounted to $20,000. Since the natural gas bonds were paid, the Trustees have paid all of the city's bonds and interest as fast as they matured, including Water Works bonds and interest. We have five thousand two hundred fires on the line. The income of the plant at the present time amounts to about $50,000 per annum. The expenses for maintaining the plant is $20,000 per annum, a net profit to the city of $30,000 per annum. We have single wells that will produce ten million cubic feet every twenty-four hours, with a rock pressure when shut in, of seven hundred and eighty pounds to the square inch.
The present Board: Messrs. Samuel Whiley, Ed. A. Dodson and Captain Albert Getz, and G. W. Trimble, Superintendent, have had the management of the plant for the past six years, with Captain J. M. Sutphen, Clerk.
Lancaster, Ohio, February 22, 1897.
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HOCKING VALLEY HOP COMPANY
The Hop Company was organized November 9, 1865, by T. W. Tallmadge, Dr. O. E. Davis, Dr. H. L. Crider, Rev. P. D. Schory and General Joab A. Stafford. The Stambaugh farm was purchased and fifty-two acres planted in hops. Drying and packing houses of approved pattern were erected and all placed under the direction of General Stafford.
The business did not prove profitable and in a few years it was abandoned and the land laid off in lots, and what is now known as the hop-yard addition to Lancaster, was added to the town. This new addition was made by T. W. Tallmadge.
Tallmadge was born in Maysville, Ky., and came with his parents to Lancaster when a small boy. He studied law with John T. Brasee, married his eldest daughter, and for two or three years was his partner. From Lancaster he moved to Columbus, where he was largely engaged in real estate deals. From there he moved to Washington, D. C.
Mr. Tallmadge has always been a busy, enterpris- ing man full of energy. Two of his sons are well- known business men of Columbus.
A BRIEF REVIEW
Lancaster has always been a lovely place of resi- dence. Inhabited by an intelligent and industrious people, the society has always been good, cultured and refined, numbering among its members profes- sional men of great ability and distinction, merchants of high character and full of enterprise, bankers of financial ability and of wide reputation. But it has never been a place for the accumulation of large for- tunes. Men of all classes have been good livers and
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in comfortable circumstances during their lives. Many of the merchants accumulated handsome fortunes, but unfortunate speculations or business ventures, or en- dorsing for friends swept the bulk of their fortunes away. John Reber was the only merchant who died leaving his family an estate worth over one hundred thousand dollars. We cannot name another whose fortune reached that amount at the time of his death, and there is but one now living whose fortune is rated higher. Theodore Mithoff was not a merchant, but an enterprising manufacturer and banker, and he is the only one of this class whose fortune at the time of his death exceeded one hundred thousand dollars. John T. Brasee left the largest estate of any profes- sional man. Henry Stanbery made investments that brought his family a fortune after his death. When he was attorney-general he purchased a lot on High Street, Columbus, for three thousand dollars, which recently sold for seventy thousand dollars. Jacob Keller, the Lancaster grocer and miller, is considered a wealthy man.
The late Noah S. Gregg and Samuel Rogers, dis- tinguished citizens of Circleville, were old-time busi- ness men of Lancaster. The widow of Richard Ains- worth became the second wife of Mr. Rogers. She was the mother of Mrs. Joseph C. Kinkead.
Thomas B. Cox was for nearly half a century a well- known and wealthy citizen of the suburbs and the owner of beautiful Mt. Pleasant. His fine grove near his dwelling was the favorite place for political meet- ings. He was a strong Democrat, but he was liberal with his Whig friends, and always gave them the use of his grounds. He was a familiar figure upon the streets of Lancaster.
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E. B. Cartmell succeeded Theodore Mithoff as pres- ident of the Hocking Valley Manufacturing Company. It is a fine plant, well equipped and well managed. E. B. Cartmell is his own successful salesman.
The German element has always been prominent in the history of Lancaster. The fact that the first news- paper was printed in the German language, is abund- ant evidence of its prominence as early as 1807. The German language has been in use in one or more of our churches throughout their history.
Christian Rokohl, Ed. Shaeffer, J. D. Deitrick, Jacob F. Beck, and.John Herman were pioneer Ger- mans, and intelligent, honorable men.
Fred. A. Shaeffer, John U. Giesy, F. A. Steck, M. Leonard, Charles Bauman, Mr. Witte, Mr. Gromme, F. J. Boving, Dr. Saxe, G. Steinman, L. Lobenthal, Rev. John Wagenhals, Jacob Wetzel, Rev. Steck, Rev. Charles Spielman, Joseph Reinmund, Augustus and Theodore Mithoff, E. Becker and W. Binninger were all good business men, honorable in their dealings and in all respects first-class citizens. Their influence has been felt in all circles and in all measures calculated to improve and benefit our city.
The income and expenses of the town of Lancaster for the year 1827, taken as a sample of that period were as follows:
Amount of income from taxes and licenses, $888.14; total disbursements, $932.88. Benjamin Connell, treasurer, and Gottlieb Steinman, recorder, certify to this statement. The population was then less than 2000. At this time there were no free schools, teachers being employed and paid by private subscriptions.
In the year 1876 the total income of the city from taxes and licenses, other than the school fund, was
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$30,718.93; the total expenses for same year in round numbers was $26,610.04. In addition to this, $25,- 569.29 was the levy for school purposes. The popu- lation of the city had in fifty years increased to seven thousand, and the increase in disbursements was $51,300 in round numbers.
In the last twenty years the streets of the city have been improved and the main ones paved with brick, which causes an additional levy each year. The city is lighted with electricity at an expense of about $6000 per annum. These improvements have added greatly to the convenience and beauty of the city, to which the city hall, when completed, will add its full share.
With all this increase, the tax rate is less than two and one-quarter cents for a city of eight thousand inhabitants. But one city in the state of Ohio has a lower rate.
There are a good number of manufacturing estab- lishments that have been in successful operation for a number of years, the Hocking Valley Manufacturing Company, Eagle Machine Company, Orman Bros., Becker Brewing Company and Delancy & Son, to which have recently been added The A. Getz Shoe Factory, The Lancaster or Godman Shoe Factory, W. B. Henry's Brick and Tile Works, Geo. Cowden's Brick and Tile Works, Alten's Machine Shop, Glass Works and Denton Shoe Company.
No town is more favorably situated for manufac- turing - near to coal and plenty of natural gas, with ample facilities for transportation.
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CALIFORNIA ADVENTURERS
Lancaster furnished her full quota of men who braved the dangers of the deep or the privations of the plains and made their way to California in 1849, 1850 and 1851.
Many of them achieved distinction in business and in various pursuits. Those remembered were Philip Kraner, John H. Tennant, Jesse B. Hart, John C. Fall, Samuel Crim, Daniel Sifford, Thomas Sturgeon, Tom Lockhart, Fred Shaeffer, Levi Anderson, David Rokohl, John H. Kinkead, and later, R. M. Clarke and Henry Orman, Jr. Thomas Sturgeon returned to Lancaster in a year or two, as did Daniel Sifford. Samuel Crim and John C. Fall amassed fortunes and died in San Francisco. John H. Kinkead became Governor of Nevada, and R. M. Clarke, attorney-gen- eral of same state. Mary Creed, granddaughter of John Creed, the banker, became the wife of Governor Lowe of California. General Thomas Ewing was chief justice of Kansas. Miss Kendall, daughter of Ben Kendall, became the wife of Governor Sherman of Iowa. C. C. Nourse was common pleas judge in Iowa.
DISTINGUISHED VISITORS
Perhaps Lancaster has been more highly honored than any city in the state, save Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland, by the visits of distinguished men of national and world-wide reputation. The Duke of Saxe Weimar visited here in 1825, and carved his name upon the rocks of historic Mt. Pleasant, the "Standing Stone" of the aborigines. Governor De- Witt Clinton, whose name will always be remembered in history as the father of the canal system of the
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United States, visited Lancaster in 1825, and was the guest of Judge Sherman, then one of the foremost men of the state of Ohio. Daniel Webster spent two weeks in Lancaster in 1833, the guest of Thomas. Ewing, then senator from Ohio. While here, with Mr. Ewing, he called upon Colonel Worthington, liv- ing three miles south of town, and upon Nathaniel Wilson, living three miles west of town at the historic Locust Grove. During this visit, Mr. Webster and Mr. Ewing drove to Chillicothe. On the way they entered a considerable forest and found their way blocked by a fallen tree. Mr. Ewing procured an axe, with the use of which he was familiar, and soon cut off a log of the proper length, and he and Webster rolled it off the road. Dr. Waddell, late of Chillicothe, is the authority for this incident. Mr. Ewing always had a warm spot in his heart for Chillicothe, and when the great fire of 1852 devastated that city, he made a very handsome contribution for the relief of the sufferers.
Henry Clay was entertained by the citizens of Lan- caster with an elaborate dinner in the year 1825. Fred- erick A. Shaeffer was always proud of the fact that he once conveyed Henry Clay in his carriage to Wheeling, West Virginia.
General Jackson was more than once a guest at Lancaster hotels.
General Wm. H. Harrison was the guest of Lan- caster in 1836, and again in 1840. In 1836 he was. entertained at the country residence of David Rokohl on the Columbus road.
James G. Blaine spent the summer of 1840 as the guest of Thomas Ewing's family in Lancaster, and was here on two or three occasions during his public
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career, the guest of Judge P. B. Ewing. His last mem- orable visit was made when a candidate for the pres- idency.
Thomas Corwin, Governor Metcalf, General Leslie Combs and Cassius M. Clay have been guests of Lan- caster.
Later, President Garfield, General Sheridan, Colum- bus Delano, Governor Mckinley and W. J. Bryan honored Lancaster with their presence.
Perhaps no city in Ohio, with the possible excep- tion of Cincinnati, has been the native place or resi- dence of more men who have attained to honorable and responsible public positions - many of them achieving a national reputation - than the city of Lancaster.
General Beecher was for ten years a member of congress; Robert F. Slaughter, legislator and com- mon pleas judge; W. W. Irvin, member of congress and judge of supreme court; and Charles R. Sherman, father of John and General W. T. Sherman, was elected judge of the supreme court in 1823; Thomas Ewing was twice a senator of the United States, secretary of the treasury under General Harrison, and secre- tary of the interior, which department he organized under General Taylor; John Brough was a member of the Ohio legislature in 1838, and one of Ohio's war governors; Wm. Medill, a member of congress and governor of Ohio; Dr. Tom O. Edwards, a mem- ber of congress; H. C. Whitman, judge of the court of common pleas; C. D. Martin, a member of con- gress and judge of the supreme court; John S. Brasee, a member of the commission for codifying the laws of Ohio; John Sherman was, and is to-day, a senator of the United States, and was secretary of the treasury
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under President Hayes; John W. Noble was secretary of the interior under President Harrison; and that eminent lawyer and courtly gentleman, Henry Stan- bery, was attorney-general of the state of Ohio, and attorney-general of the United States under President Johnson; P. B. Ewing was common pleas judge; H. H. Hunter was elected judge of the supreme court of Ohio, but for business reasons did not serve; Colonel Moore was governor of Washington Territory; Charles T. Sherman, for a brief term, United States district judge for northern Ohio; General Hugh Ewing, United States minister to The Hague; Ed. F. Hunter, common pleas judge, state of Washington; and John Hunter, chief justice of Utah Territory. A daughter of Judge Sherman became the wife of Governor Thomas W. Bartley; a granddaughter married Sen- ator Don Cameron of Pennsylvania; another, General Nelson A. Miles, U. S. A .; another, Judge Samuel Reber of St. Louis, an old Lancaster man; another, Judge Granger of Zanesville, Ohio; and another, T. Ewing Miller of Columbus, Ohio.
George Sanderson was a major-general of the Ohio Militia, and W. J. Reese, a brigadier-general; and General Samuel F. Maccracken obtained his title as a militia man.
Tall Slough is the present common pleas judge.
Wm. T. Sherman was general of the United States Army; Thomas Ewing and Hugh Ewing were major- generals of volunteers; Charles Ewing was a brigadier- general of volunteers; Joab Stafford, brigadier-general by brevet; N. Schleich, J. M. Connell and C. F. Steele rose to the rank of colonel; Willis Clarke and H. H. Giesy, to the rank of major.
H. B. Reese was paymaster with the rank of colonel,
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and L. M. Dayton, Sherman's adjutant with the rank of colonel. Colonel Granville Moody was for a few years a resident of Lancaster.
To this might be added a long list of minor officers and privates, as gallant and brave men as ever shoul- dered a musket, whose names are recorded in the ar- chives of the office of the adjutant-general of Ohio, and upon the imperishable ROLL OF FAME. Many of them sleep their last sleep.
"On fame's eternal camping ground, Their silent tents are spread."
Bishops Merrill, Foster, and Morris, of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and also Bishop Young, of the Catholic Church, all eminent men in their churches and of wide reputation, were once residents of Lan- caster.
The trustees of the Ohio University at Athens, Ohio, have been the most distinguished men of southern Ohio, able men from every walk of life.
Lancaster had the honor of furnishing nine mem- bers of that board. The honorable men thus distin- guished, were, Henry Abrams, father-in-law of Gen- eral Sanderson, Judge Samuel Carpenter, Judge Chas. R. Sherman, Hon. Thomas Ewing, General Samuel F. Maccracken, Hon. Wm. Medill, Dr. M. Z. Kreider, General Thomas Ewing, and F. C. Whiley.
Hon. Thomas Ewing was the second graduate of the University. Hon. John T. Brasee was one of the graduates.
Wm. Latta and Patrick Effinger were graduates. Theodore Tallmadge and E. C. Kreider were students there; and doubtless others unknown to the author.
The people of Lancaster are justly proud of their
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