USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th > Part 16
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DELAWARE COUNTY COURT HOUSE (Showing part of Jail in lower left-hand corner.)
PRESIDENT HAYES'S BIRTHPLACE, DELAWARE (President Hayes was born in the old wooden structure serving as an L. The brick building in front was erected afterwards )
E 991
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DELAWARE COUNTY JAIL
TEHPLI
MOORE'S MASONIC TEMPLE, DELAWARE
SANDUSKY STREET, LOOKING SOUTH, DELAWARE
DELAWARE CITY HALL
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part of an address delivered by Cyrus Platt, for years one of the prominent citizens of the town, at a meeting of the Delaware Pioneer Association, August 25. 1898: "That old brick house at the southwest corner of William and Union Streets was built and occupied by Dr. Reuben Lamb as his residence about the year 18ro. He was one of the first settlers of the town. * It seemed to be the intention of the original proprietors and early pioneers of the town to make William Street the principal street of the town, both for busi- ness and residences. Nearly all the buildings put up on William Street, east of Sandusky Street, were substantial brick houses, generally two stories high, with front door in the middle, opening into the hall where the stairs were lo- cated. The original Byxbe residence was built in this style, as many of you may remember. A short distance east of this Byxbe house. fronting on the street, was a small, brick building, say about 20 feet square, used by Mr. Byxbe, Sr .. for his office. * In
this office building the first post-office was opened and continued there for several years. Henry Street, north of William, was not then opened, and an apple orchard extended from the Byxbe residence clear down to the river bank, north side of William Street.
"Dr. Lamb owned considerable ground ad- joining his residence on the west side, extend- ing south to the run. Directly south of his residence he put up a frame building near the run in which he and Mr. Hayes, the father of the late Ex-President R. B. Hayes, conducted the business of distilling whiskey, an article which, at that time, was considered one of the necessities of life, if used in moderation. The taverns all kept it in their bars for the speci il accommodation of travelers.
"1 do not know just when the exodus of residents on William Street to Sandusky Street commenced. As new settlers came in who wanted to engage in business they gave the preference to Sandusky Street. Mr. Wil- liam Little built a one-story brick house on the southwest corner of Sandusky and Winter Streets and opened a store thiere. * * * Joseph L. Webb rented a room on the north-
east corner of William and Sandusky Streets, opened his goods and commenced business there. In the year 1821 Mr. Webb put up a two-story frame building that combined store- room and residence, where S. P. Shur's store now is, and opened his stock of goods in this store-room, and his family occupied the resi- dence. The ground between this building of Mr. Webb's and Mr. William Little's one- story brick store on the corner above, was vacant and used by Mr. Webb as a garden. and was enclosed by a high board fence ex- tending from the corner of Mr. Little's store down to Mr. Webb's house. The only other structure on the west side of Sandusky Street between Winter and William, were Thomas Butler's saddle shop and residence, on the ground now occupied by Templar Hall build- ing, and a two-story frame near the corner of William Street, built and occupied by Dr. James H. Hills with his family, who were among the early settlers here.
"The only buildings on the east side of Sandusky Street, between Winter and William. were a frame on the corner where the Hotel Donavin is now located, in which Pardon Sprague kept tavern; the residence of Mr. William Little, a large two-story brick, stand- ing on a large lot, some twenty feet back front the street, on ground now occupied by the First National Bank, and the large buikdling ad- joining it on the south. The residence and cabinet shop of Mr. William Mansur were about where the 'Gazette' office is now located. Mr. Hezekiah Kilbourne, an eastern man, bought the ground extending from Winter Street north on the west side of Sandusky Street to the alley, and built a one-story brick store room on the corner of Sandusky and Winter and opened a general stock of goods in it. I think it was he who built the large two-story brick residence that was owned and occupied for several years by Mrs. Kil- bourne, widow of Alexander Kilbourne, de- ceased. that stood on the ground now occupied by the Steeves Block and the Hill's Bros. wholesale grocery store.
"In due course of time Dr. Lamb bought the Kilbourne corner store, and all the ground
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
adjoining, of Mrs. Kilbourne, and added to the building on the west end, fronting on Winter Street, and on the north side fronting on Sandusky Street, with a wide porch on that side, carrying the building up two full stories, thus making of it a commodious and pleasant residence. When the work of re- modeling this house was completed Dr. Lamb's family left the William Street house and moved into their new house which soon be- came noted for hospitality by entertaining visitors from neighboring towns and social evening gatherings of neighbors. When Bishop Chase and other clergy came here to hold service in St. Peter's Church, they were enter- tained usually at the Lamb mansion, as I learn by mother's diary. -X- There were no houses south of the run, no 'South Delaware' in those early days. That part of town was all open commons and used for pasture. Cows would be turned loose in the morning and allowed to roam where they pleased in search of pasture, and we would have to hunt them up and drive them home in the evening."
One of the most historie mansions in Dela- ware, built in the early day, and which, by rea- son of its being later the birthplace of Presi- dent Hayes, ought to receive mention here, is what was known as the Messenger House on East William Street. When it was first built it was regarded as the finest residence here although it has long since fallen from its for- mer glory, so far as appearances are con- cerned. It is thus described by one of the older citizens who has long been a resident of the town: "It was a small brick house, two stories high, with a pitched roof, one side facing William Street. The front door was in the middle of this side, with a room on each side. There were four frame windows in the lower story, two on each side of the door and five in the upper. The roof was shingled and a log L added to the back side. The brick part was about 20 by 30 feet, and the log part 10 by 15 feet. The log part has since been rebuilt and a frame addition takes its place. With this and a few other slight changes the house remains the same as it did three-quarters of century ago." It was in
this house that one of the first schools in the place was established. For a time it did duty as a store room, but for a number of years now it has again been doing service as a dwelling.
GROWTH OF POPULATION.
For a number of years after the War of 1812 the growth of Delaware was slow. The lands of the "New Purchase" coming into the market, sadly arrested the prosperity of the town and interfered greatly with its expan- sion. In 1836 Judge T. W. Powell and Samuel Rheems platted a tract of land just south of the original boundaries of the town between Sandusky and Liberty Streets, and a little later M. D. Pettibone made another ad- dition just south of that of Powell and Rheems. The unsold Baldwin lands just north of the town limits were also platted about the same time, and there were then no further ad- ditions made until 1843. Since then the town has gradually expanded in various directions, new additions being made as its growth in population would seem to warrant.
The village, as incorporated in 1816, in- cluded the tract originally platted by Baldwin and Byxbe in laying out the town on the west side of the river. As new additions were made, however, from time to time, the town outgrew its original boundaries, and it was but natural that an agitation should arise for an extension of the corporation limits. It was not until 1852. however, that any measures were taken with this end in view. In that year the question of extending the corporation limits across the river was submitted to a vote of the people and was carried by a vote of 270 to 12. The territory taken in at this time included the larger part of the present limits of the corpora- tion on the east side of the Olentangy, extend- ing as far south as Vine Street, and including a part of the fair grounds. In 1868 there was a general extension of the corporation limits on all sides, bringing the dimensions of the town pretty near to what they are at the present time. There have been several extensions since then, however. In 1874 a tract was added on
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the north which fixed the northern boundary of the town where it is at present. In the next year Lot 13 on the east side of the river was added. There was no further enlarge- ment of the corporation boundaries then until 1893 when the west portions of lots 18 anl 19 were brought within the corporation limits and the western boundary of the town estab- lished as it is today. The only extension since then has consisted of a small tract just north- east of the bend in the Olentangy River in the north part of the town. The corporation boundaries, as thus established, embrace an area of nearly four square miles, extending approximately two and one-third miles both from north to south and from east to west in its most extended portions.
The growth in the population of the town is a matter of equal interest with the extension of her physical boundaries. "In the fall of 1808 thirty-two votes were polled, and, adopt- ing the ordinary rule of counting five persons for each vote, the number of inhabitants for the whole township would reach 150. But. without invalidating this rule it will be ob- served that the circumstances of the early set- tlement of Delaware were unusual, and that this number is an overestimate. A number of voters are known to have been men with- out families, or whose families were not in the township ( the law in this latter respect not being then in vogue, or not enforced as now) ; others, as Dr. Lamb and Jacob Drake, had very small families ; and other families were so grown to maturity as to have more than their proportion of voters, as in case of the Byxbe family. These conditions were unusually prominent, and it is probable that there were not over 100 inhabitants in the whole town- ship. In the winter of 1816 a wood chopper standing on the hill where Monnett Hall now stands, on one of those clear frosty mornings when the smoke goes straight up into the air, looked over the valley and counted the evi- (lences of thirty-two houses in the little town. In 1820 we meet with an estimate that places the number of houses at fifty and another, by actual count, places the number near sixty in 1823. Adopting the ordinary rule of five to a dwelling, we find the number of inhabitants
in the town in 1816, 150; in 1820, about 250; and in 1823 nearly 300." The census of 1830 gives the city a population of 532: of 1840. 898; of 1850, 2,074; of 1860, 3,889; of 1870, 6,000; of 188, 6,894; of 1890. 8,224; 1900, 7,940. It would seem from this that, just as in the case of the entire county, there has been an actual decrease in the city's popu- lation in the preceding decade. Many, how- ever, were inclined to doubt the correctness of the census of 1900, as there is every indication that the population of the city has been con- stantly increasing. At the present time. from a careful enumeration made in the interest of the Sunday schools of the city, during the past year, it is a conservative estimate to place the number of inhabitants at 10,000.
INCORPORATION.
Delaware was first incorporated in 1816. a special act for that purpose having been passed by the Legislature. The powers granted to the village do not seem to have been very extensive and many of the various functions necessary for its government were still per- formed by the township officers. The general management of the affairs of the village was placed in the hands of a Board of Trustees, elected by the people. This form of govern- ment continued until 1849, when, through M. D. Pettibone, who was the member of the Legislature from the county at the time. an- other act was secured from the Legislature providing for a Town Council consisting of eight members, with powers considerably greater than those which had theretofore been given to the Board of Trustees. This new Council chose from their number a mayor, recorder, treasurer and assessor. They also elected a marshal, though from outside of their number, together with a street committee of three men, two of whom were not members of the council. In 1841 the people again sought a change in their government, and again an act was passed conferring still larger powers upon the Council.
CITY GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED.
It was not until 1873 that Delaware rose from being a village to the dignity of a city.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
In that year. after a petition had been pre- sented to the Council, the matter was submitted to the people at the spring election and decided in favor of the change. In the following July the city was divided off into three wards. In 1875 it was re-apportioned into five. This di- vision continued until 1891 when there was d re-division of the city into six wards. Again in 1899 there was a change in the boundaries. though not in the number of the wards. A few years ago came the decision of the Su- preme Court rendering void all of the Special Acts passed from time to time for the gov- ernment of the various municipalities through- out the commonwealth and making necessary the enactment of a code which should apply to all alike. Under this act, passed in 1902, the city of Delaware was again re-organized. in common with every other municipality in Ohio, and has continued on the basis then established to the present day. Under the former regime, after the village had been merged into the city. the officers consisted of a mayor, marshal, solicitor, street commissioner, two members of the Council from each ward. a clerk of the Council and a city engineer. the two latter, together with the police, being ap- pointed by the Council, while all the others were elective. The county treasurer served also as the treasurer of the municipality. The changes made by the code in the various mu- nicipal offices, inasmuch as they are common to every municipality of the same class in the State. need not be enumerated here. We give herewith, however, a complete list of the per- sons who have filled the various offices in the municipality since it rose to the rank of a city in 1873. Although the chief of police has not been an elective officer since the enactment of the code. vet we include him with the other officers since he is the direct successor of the mershal, who was elective under the okt regime :
1872-Mayor. John D. Van Deman ; clerk. Edward A. Pratt : marshal. C. V. Owston: So- licitor, Jackson Hipple ; street commissioner, William Owston.
1874-Mayor. W. O. Semans: clerk. Ed- ward .A. Pratt : marshal, J. A. Anderson : so-
licitor. Jackson Hipple: street commissioner, W. H. Adams.
1876-Mayor. J. A. Barnes; clerk, Ed- ward A. Pratt: marshal, C. V. Owston; so- licitor, G. G. Banker; street commissioner, William Hollenbangh.
1878-Mayor, C. H. McElroy : clerk. Ed- ward A. Pratt: marshal, C. V. 'Owston; so- licitor, G. G. Banker: street commissioner. George Clark.
1880-Mayor, F. M. Joy: clerk, Edward . A. Pratt : marshal. W. J. Davis: solicitor, G. G. Banker; street commissioner. George Clark.
1882-Mayor, H. L. Baker; clerk, George Clark; marshal. W. J. Davis: solicitor. G. G. Banker; street commissioner. Peter F. En- gard.
1884-Mayor, H. L. Baker: clerk. Matt. H. Wagner; marshal, Chas. F. Miller : solici- tor. Frank A. Kauffman : street commissioner, Geo. Dennis.
1886-Mayor, Henri E. Buck : clerk, Matt. H. Wagner; marshal, Chas. F. Miller: solici- tor. N. F. Overturf (resigned as solicitor March 5. 1888. and H. H. Beecher was ap- pointed to fill out his unexpired term) : street commissioner, Peter T. Engard.
1888-Mayor. James K. Newcomer ; clerk. Matt. H. Wagner : marshal. P. S. English : so- licitor, H. H. Beecher : street commissioner. Peter T. Engard.
1800-Mayor. Henry S. Culver: clerk, John T. Evans: marshal, P. S. English: so- licitor. H. H. Beecher: street commissioner. P. T. Engard.
1892-Mayor. H. S. Culver : clerk. Abner Geiner: marshal. P. S. English; solicitor, H. 11. Beecher: street commissioner, Richard O'Keefe.
1894-Mayor. H. L. Paker : clerk. Abner Genier ( succeeded before expiration of term by W. H. Altrock ) : marshal, P. S. English : solicitor, Clarence Jones: street commissioner. Richard O'Keefe.
1896-Mayor. W. R. Carpenter : clerk, E. E. Naylor: marshal. H. W. Vogt: solicitor. Clarence Jones; street commissioner, Julius Bobo.
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1898-Mayor, John McClure : clerk, E. E. Naylor; marshal, P. W. Keefe: solicitor, Charles W. Knight ; street commissioner, Ju- lius Bobo.
1900-Mayor, John McClure : clerk, E. E. Naylor : marshal, William Matthews ; solicitor, Chas. W. Knight ; street commissioner, W. W. Williams.
1902-Mayor, H. C. Clippinger ; clerk, E. E. Naylor; marshal, William Matthews; so- licitor, B. W. Hough; street commissioner, W. W. Williams.
1903-Mayor. H. C. Clippinger ; president of council, E. I. Pollock ; auditor. F. D. King : treasurer, H. L. Clark ; solicitor, B. W. Hough ; Board of Public Service, F. T. Evans, E. S. Mendenhall, John Shindoler ; chief of police. William Matthews.
1905-Mayor, H. H. Beecher ; president of council, E. I. Pollock ; auditor, F. D. King ; treasurer, H. L. Clark ; solicitor, E. S. Owen ; Board of Public Service, Prof. Richard Per- sons, W. B. Campbell, J. C. Swickheimer ; chief of police, William Matthews.
Delaware officials elected or appointed to serve during 1908-09-Mayor, W. E. Ilaas; president of the Council and vice-mayor, J. R. Selover; auditor, F. D. King: solicitor, E. S. Owen; treasurer. H. L. Clark. Mem- bers of Council: J. R. Selover, president ; F. D. King, clerk; Ist Ward, F. J. Klee ; 2nd Ward, Victor Hardin; 3rd Ward, W. J. Davis; 4th Ward, J. F. Gaynor; Members- at-large, Dr. J. H. Miller, Adam Siegfried. A. J. Arehart. Board of Public Service : Prof. Richard Parsons, W. B. Campbell, Chris Potter ; clerk, F. D. King ; superintend- ent of streets, Frank Rutter; superintendent of cemeteries and parks, D. Grinton : city en- gineer and superintendent of sewers. George Irwin. Board of Public Service: Dr. A. J. Willey, Edward R. Thompson. Board of Education : Dr. A. J. Pounds, W. F. Dodge, Dr. E. M. Semans ; superintendent of schools, W. McK. Vance ; truant officer, T. M. Baily. City Examining Board : William McK. Vance, Henry T. Main: clerk, John Shoe- maker. Board of Library Trustees: D. H. Battenfield, V. D. Stayman, H. T. Main. Board of Health: E. C. Hudspeth. Dr. J. K.
James, J. W. Pfiffner, J. J. McGough and Mayor Haas. Chief of police, James W. Spaulding.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
For a number of years the government of the village and city was administered from the old building on West Winter Street, erected in 1824, for use as a Methodist Church. Late: it had done service as a school building ; and when the corporation came into possession of it in 1860 it was fitted up as a market-house, council-room and lock-up. Court was, for a time. held in the council chamber, and the lower part of the building was used as an engine house. Its usefulness, however, was inevitably bound to diminish sooner or later, as the constantly enlarging city required more extensive and commodious quarters for the maintenance and government of its various interests, and for which the facilities afforded by the old church building were wholly inade- quate. Consequently. in the latter part of the seventies, there began to be an agitation look- ing towards the erection of a building which should meet the needs of the city. In March of the year 1879 a committee which had been appointed by the Council for that purpose, re- ported favorably on a project to erect an en- gine-house, council-room, mayor's office, etc., calling attention to the fact that the time was especially opportune, inasmuch as the entire indebtedness of the city, $16,000, would be cancelled within the next two years, and recom- mending that the Legislature be asked to au- thorize a bond issue of $6.000. Later the plans seem to have undergone an enlargement in the public mind and in the spring election of the year 1879, the people voted. by a ma- jority of 449, to build a City Hall. The Council, soon after, took steps to secure a bond issue of $35,000, advertised for plans for the construction of the building, and appointed a building committee, consisting of C. B. Adams, W. T. Watson and F. Bonneman, members of the Council. The plan submitted by Mr. F. F. Schnitzer was accepted and the Shoub property at the southeast corner of William
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and Sandusky Streets was chosen as the site for the new building, and purchased at a cost of $10,000. The work on the building was done, at first, under the direct supervision of the Council, through their committee, but later a contract was let for its completion. It was finished in the year 1882, having cost some- thing over a hundred thousand dollars, and is now one of the most commodious and ser- viceable structures of its kind to be found in any city of the size of Delaware, providing as it does, aside from its beautiful auditorium, a place for the administration of all the various departments of the city government.
WATER WORKS.
An improvement which meant much to the city was the introduction of a system of water works. In 1888, The Delaware Water Com- pany was incorporated by eastern capitalists. The same year the City Council granted the company a franchise for the use of the streets, and the following year the mains were laid. machinery was installed and the plant was completed. The water was turned on and the system was accepted and approved by the city on October 30. 1889. Up to the present time about 221/2 miles of water-mains have been laid, and 256 fire hydrants have been placed. The water was originally taken from wells ia the gravel flats near the Olentangy, about three miles north of the city. Later, four wells, each 225 feet deep. were bored through the solid rock. Three of these are eight inches and one is six inches in diameter. Sev- enty-five or eighty per cent. of all the water served to the people of Delaware comes from these wells, and it is claimed that not a case of typoid fever in this city has ever been traced to this water supply. The plant consists of two pumping-engines having a daily capacity of 2,000,000 gallons each. and an air com- pressor for foreing water from the deep wells to the surface. One new 150-horsepower boiler was installed about a year ago, and be- sides this there are two 75-horsepower boilers. The steam and pumping outfit is in duplicate. one set being always idle, which insures a
never-failing supply of water. About 9,000 people are served with water. There are about 1,550 individual services, fifty per cent. of the water being measured through meters. Hon. F. M. Marriott has been president of the company for a number of years, and Capt. C. W. Wiles has been secretary and superin- tendent since 1892.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
No department of the city is characterized by greater efficiency than that of the fire de- partment. evolved from the self-constituted or- ganization of pioneer days. In the infantile days of Delaware, the fire alarm was a signal for every able-bodied citizen to rush forth, bucket in hand, and do his utmost to put out the fire, and this continued to be the method of fighting fires until the middle thirties. In 1834 two engines were purchased by the Council, small affairs described as "small rec- tangular boxes, with a pump worked by levers, at which four men, by crowding could find room to work." In October, 1834, the Coun- cil took the first steps in the organization of a fire department, laying out the city in two dis- triets, No. I, of which Henry Moore was made Captain, including all that part north of Win- ter Street, and No. 2, captained by Edward Potter, all south of that street. In each a company was organized to include a captain. one or two subordinate officers and twenty- five men. the director of operations at the fires being the captain whose engine first arrived at the scene of action. In 1838 two small engine houses were erected, one on the south- west corner of William and Sandusky Streets, and the other on the Court House lot. In 1846 a large hand-engine of the Hunneman pattern was purchased for $675. and other necessary apparatus brought the expenditure at the time up to $978.50. The Council also purchased a hose-reel and hook and ladder truck for $147.58, and these additions to the departmental equipment necessitating more room. the west end of the William Street mar- ket-house was fitted up as a fire station. A fire association was next formed, consisting
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