Century history of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Ohio, and representative citizens, 20th, Part 30

Author: Sanderson, Thomas W., comp
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1074

USA > Ohio > Mahoning County > Youngstown > Century history of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Ohio, and representative citizens, 20th > Part 30

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SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP

Springfield is one of the oldest townships in the county, having been organized for civil purposes in 1803. It was attached to Ma- honing County in 1846.

The township was originally well wooded

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HISTORY OF MAHONING COUNTY

and a fair quantity of timber of the common varieties still remains. The surface is slightly hilly, with intervening lowlands and valleys. Coal was formerly obtained in workable quan- tities, though that industry is now practically at a standstill, as it is throughout the county generally. Building stone is found in several localities and is quarried to some extent.

The soil of Springfield, varying from a sandy loam to a heavy clay, is generally fer- tile and well adapted to most kinds of agri- culture. The township is well watered by Honey creek and Yellow creek, which run through southeast and northwest quarters re- spectively, together with other streams and tributaries, with numerous springs.

SETTLEMENT.

Springfield was early settled, the original pioneer having been from all accounts Peter Musser, who came from York County, Penn- sylvania, and purchased four sections in the southeast corner of the township. Here he made a number of improvements and built a sawmill and grist mill. At his death in 1808 he left a family of four sons and two daugh- ters. He was proprietor of the village site and founder of Petersburg.

Peter Musser was accompanied to Spring- field by Israel Warner, who married one of his daughters. Another daughter of his became the wife of Jacob Rudisill.

Soon after came James Wallace, who went into business as a merchant, but being elected judge of Mahoning County, after its organiza- tion, he removed to Canfield.

Other early settlers were John Pontius, Daniel Miller, who settled on section 18; C. Seidner, C. Mentzer, Jacob Shafer, George Macklin, Jacob Christ and others who settled in the same locality; Adam Hohn, who settled in 1801 on section 6 and soon after built a sawmill there; John Shoemaker, Henry Myers, Henry and Peter Raub and Peter Ben- edict. The neighborhood of New Middleton was settled before 1810 by the Gray, Cublin, Schillinger, Kuhn and Burky families. · Be-

tween 1805 and 1815 a large immigration set in, and parts of the township soon became thickly settled.

VILLAGES.

The village of Petersburg, which, as we have seen, was founded by Peter Musser, was also named in his honor. The original name of the postoffice was Musser's Mill, and in 18II he was the first postmaster. The first regular store was opened by James Wallace in or about 1815. He also kept a hotel in the first frame house built in Petersburg, it after- wards becoming the residence of J. P. Swisher. W. C. Dunlap also kept an early store in Pe- tersburg. Later merchants were J. G. Leslie, James Matthews, Robert Forbus, O. H. P. Swisher, Ernst & Hahn and others. A foun- dry and two tanneries were in operation in the early 80's, as was previously a steam flouring mill, which was erected by Maurer & Elder Brothers.

The principal industrial enterprises of the present day are as follows: A creamery com- pany, of which William Johnson is president ; William McCalla, secretary, and John Hope, treasurer; Excelsior Mill, William Stewart, proprietor; Crum Mill, operated by Samuel Crum; Miller & Taylor, bent wood and saw- mill; Winter Brothers' carriage shop; Knesal Brothers, hardware, also slate roofers; J. Zei- ger, general merchandise; J. H. Schiller, drugs, tobacco and cigars; L. L. Geiger, mer- chant tailor; Kiser & Shingledecker, horse shoers and blacksmiths.

Petersburg is a special school district, with a three-room school-primary, intermediate and advanced. Prof. J. J. Pfouts assumed charge as principal September 1I, 1906. The school building, which is frame, was erected between 1870 and 1876.

The Knights of Pythias are represented in Petersburg by Starlight Lodge, No. 224, of which the present officers are, O. O. Dressel, chancellor commander; L. W. Scholl, keeper of record and seal; A. C. Grise, D. G. C., and Dr. C. H. Beight, Ira Hoffmaster and H. C. Warner, trustees.

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NEW SPRINGFIELD.

This village was laid out previous to 1825 by Abraham Christ, whose original plat of twenty-eight lots was largely added to by sub- sequent proprietors. Joseph Davis kept the first store, and was soon followed by Thomas Knight, who built a store in 1828, which he carried on for some twenty years thereafter. Among early mill operators were Christian Seidner, John May, and Solomon Crouse. The first distiller was Joseph Davis. There was formerly a tannery, conducted by Conrad & Shawacre, and a foundry, of which William May and Adam Seidner were proprietors ; be- sides several other industries. At the present time manufacturing enterprise is represented by the Andrew Rush and the William May sawmill and basket works.

There are three churches-Emmanuel Lu- theran, pastor, Rev. Elmore Kahl; Evangeli- cal, pastor, Rev. Wingard, and St. Peter's, Rev. M. L. Eich.

Other churches in the township are as fol- lows: Presbyterian, Petersburg, was organ- ized June 29, 1872, by Rev. A. S. McMaster, D. D., and Rev. Y. P. Johnson. The present building, erected in 1873, is a wooden struc- ture, 40x60 feet, with gallery. Its pastors have been, Rev. R. S. Morton, 1873-1881; Rev. D. H. Laverty, 1881-1882; Rev. A. A. Mealy, 1882-1887; Rev. E. O. Sawhill, to July 8, 1893; Rev. B. M. Swan, March, 1895, to February, 1896; Rev. F. A. Cozad, August, 1898, to December, 1905; December, 1905, to May, 1906, supply ; May 1, 1906, to May, 1907, Rev. D. H. Johnson.

Methodist Episcopal Church, Petersburg .- This society was organized about 1830 and the present building commenced in the same year. The latter, a frame building with slate roof and steeple, has since been greatly remodeled and improved. The present membership of the church is 120. The Rev. J. P. Wisman assumed pastoral charge in September, 1906. Previous pastors were J. B. Wright, W. H. Swartz, S. R. Paden, F. R. Peters, J. C. Gil- lette, John A. Laveley, G. S. W. Phillips, W. S. Holland, L. W. Elkins, M. B. Riley, W. J. Small, Joseph Gledhill, C. C. Chain and G. T. 13

Morris. The Sunday school superintendent is Mr. H. E. Miller. The Epworth League and Ladies' Aid societies render good and faithful service in connection with the work of the church.

Other churches are, St. John's Evangelical Lutheran, Rev. Oelslager; Reformed (Old Springfield), Rev. Geier; Lutheran (Old Springfield) and Shroy congregations, Rev. M. L. Eich.

NEW MIDDLETON.

A thriving little village-New Middleton -located on section 10, was laid out before 1825 by Samuel Moore. The first frame house was erected by David Shearer. Joshua Dixon opened a store about 1830 in a house that was later occupied by D. Metz. Subse- quent merchants were Adam Powers, David Shearer, Brungard & Davison, Henry Miller, Tobias Hahn and John F. Smith. The first public house was kept by Samuel Moore pre- vious to 1830, and at one time the village had four taverns. Adam Powers, John B. Miller, David Johnson and William Forbus were among the old-time hotel keepers. A number of saw and grist mills have been erected since the early settlement of the township. Adam Hahn operating a sawmill on Yellow creek be- fore 1805. A steam sawmill was built by Walker & Brungard in 1849. In 1841 Walk- er, Pease & Company put up a carding mill, which was operated by horse power. Other attempts at manufacturingg have been made at different times, but the modern tendency toward the consolidation of capital into large plants has discouraged most small enterprises of that kind, and the village, like most others of its size, contains only such mechanic shops as are required in a chiefly agricultural com- munity.

TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS.

Springfield township contains nine schools with ten rooms and ten teachers. The total number of scholars is 324; the cost of mainte- nance $3,740 per year. Some of these schools have been erected lately and all are in good condition. They are all brick buildings ex- cept No. 6, which is frame.

CHAPTER XVII

TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL

Introductory-Railroad Era-Erie Railroad-Pennsylvania Lines-Lake Shore & Mich- igan Southern Railway-Pittsburg & Lake Erie Railroad-Baltimore & Ohio Railroad -Youngstown & Southern Railway.

INTRODUCTORY.

The various stages of progress in meth- · ods of transportation through which most civ- ilized American communities have passed may be grouped somewhat in the following order : The Indian trail, the blazed path, the bridle path, the crooked wagon road (crooked to avoid obstacles), the worked wagon road, the post road, with its era of post boys and stage coaches, and contemporaneously, the flat boat, then the era of canals, and steamboat naviga- tion, and lastly steam and electric railroads.

In 1798, Judge Turhand Kirtland, who, as agent of the Connecticut Land Company, visited New Connecticut in the years 1798, 1799 and 1800, in the ful- fillment of his duty as agent, laid out and opened a road through the wilderness from the Grand river, near Lake Erie, to Youngstown. He arrived at the last named place with a corps of surveyors on the 3d of August and assisted Judge Young in run- ning out the town. The above mentioned road followed the old Indian and salt maker's trail as far as Weathersfield, in which place there was a salt spring. From it branch roads were constructed leading to Kinsman and Hubbard,

and one connecting with the "Girdled Road" in Ashtabula County, which ran from the Penn- sylvania line to Cleveland and was the first road surveyed on the Reserve. It is so called on account of the timber being girdled for a width of thirty-three feet all the way along the route.

In 1801, through the influence of General Wadsworth, a mail route was established from Pittsburg to Warren via Canfield and Youngstown. It was followed, in 1815, by a route from Erie to Cleveland through Ash- tabula, and three years later a stage coach ser- vice was established on this route. In 1819, another important public improvement, the Ashtabula and Trumbull turnpike, was con- structed, connecting the lake at Ashtabula with the Ohio at Wellsville, by a substantial wagon road.

A stage coach line from Erie, Pennsylva- nia, to Cleveland, Ohio, was originated at an early date by Aaron Whitney, a wagon maker of Conneaut, whose coaches were built in part by Charles Barr, afterwards a citizen of Youngstown. Whitney later formed one of a company who established a coach line in 1824 from Conneaut to Poland, the other members of this company being John Kins-

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man, Caleb Blodgett, Seth Hayes, General Martin Smith, Samuel Helvering and Philip Kimmel.

Under the constitution, congress was given authority to establish postoffices and post roads, and national roads were built accord- ingly in every direction between the principal centers of population. The stage coach that dashed along the post roads night and day, changing horses every ten or twelve miles, was looked upon in its day as a prodigy of rapid transit, and for a time it served its pur- pose. But a change was soon to come. It is said that great inventions are always produced when necessary for the further advancement of the human race, just as great crises in the world's history produce great leaders. The changes wrought by the locomo- tive were all described by a former Youngs- town citizen, the late Walter L. Campbell, in words spoken more than thirty years ago, and which are in most respects still more ap- plicable today. At the pioneer reunion held in Youngstown in 1875, he said in part :

"All along its shining way can be traced the course of a national material development that knows no parallel. Not half a century has passed since first the feasibility of steam trans- portation by land was demonstrated, and yet within this comparatively short period what a vast empire has been won from savagery to civilization, from waste to use. The locomo- tive has crushed the frail wigwams of the In- dian village and driven the lazy inhabitants to find new lairs in lava beds and mountain fastnesses, where they still continue to lie and steal and scalp with that same delightful in- difference to honor and manhood that has al- ways given to their race such an exquisite charm. Hunting grounds have been trans- formed into productive fields, and pastures, where but now roamed the untamed bison, fat- ten the flocks and herds of civilized man ; where but yesterday a few thousand roamed, and bar- barians eked out a scant existence by fishing and hunting, millions of population today by industry and commerce thrive and live. Held by rigorous natural requirements, civilization in this country must long have clung to sea

coast, lake shore, or river bank, had not a new servant come to its aid. The railroad gave it wings that released it from the dependence on navigable waters, lifted it over mountain bar- riers, and with rapid flight carried it inland far away from its original seat. The lan- guage of the most extragavant hyperbole would see commonplace when applied to the wonders the railroad has wrought. Why, it touches deep marshes and they become firm foundations for magnificent cities. It enters uninhabited prairies, and powerful states, im- perial in wealth and population, are born in a day. It pushes across plains which but now were supposed to be arid wastes, and they are at once covered with the ranches of herdsmen. It climbs the heights and penetrates the can- yons of the Rocky Monutains, and there coal and iron and silver and gold tell of glories soon to be. A tithe of the praise it deserves has not yet been told. Patriotism claims it as a powerful and almost indispensable ally ; without the facilities of intercourse afforded by steam locomotion, a very great duration of the Republic could hardly be hoped. The jar- ring interests, the sectional prejudices and an- tipathies, the diversity of language and cus- tom and tradition obtaining among the people composed of many different nationalities, liv- ing in regions widely separated from each other, unless counteracted, must surely have produced in time disintegration. Steam is an- nihilating distance, overcoming local jeal- ousies and hereditary national hates, and sounding the deep hidden harmonies of seem- ingly discordant interests; under its benign in- fluence sources of weakness are converted into elements of national strength. Extent of ter- ritory no longer excites those gloomy fore- bodings which saw states far removed from the political center, and consequently little sensible of dependence upon it, under one pre- text of another, ever ripe for revolution.

"The diversity of industries, the variety of products, the countless sources of wealth which can only be found with territorial great- ness, we can therefore enjoy without encoun- tering the centrifugal tendencies hitherto neces- sarily connected with it. Under the enlarging

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culture and constant contact from travel, pe- culiarities arising from birth are yielding the symmetry produced by association, thus are we developing a national character, not the less strong on account of being the fusion of many elements, nor the less rich becaused composed of many different national peculiarities.

"The power that has been the author of all prosperity that has built these cities, peo- pled these plains, discovered and developed the riches of mountain and valley, that has given to our Union an assured hope of permanence and to our people a unity, strength and richness of character, that has scattered with lavish hand blessings wherever it has gone, this rail- road power, with all due respect to our pioneer forefathers, I extoll above the stage coach, or horseback, or afoot."

RAILROAD ERA.

The railroad era in the Mahoning Valley was foreshadowed as early as 1827, when a number of persons formed a plan for connect- ing the Ohio river with Lake Erie by a rail- road, and obtaining a charter fixed the capital of the company at $1,000,000. It was stipu- lated in the charter that the road should run from some point on Lake Erie between Lake and Ashtabula counties, and terminate at some point on the Ohio river in Columbiana county. The project failed owing to the inability of the company to raise the required capital, the con- servative business men of that day having much more confidence in a pike road or a canal as a means of transportation than in any such wild, visionary scheme as a railroad.

Another attempt at railroad construction was made eleven years after by the Ashtabula, Warren and East Liverpool Company, cap- italized at $1,500,000, which, however, was brought to a speedy and permanent stop by the panic of 1836-37.

The construction of the Ohio and Pennsyl- vania canal, which was completed from Beaver, Pennsylvania, to Warren, Ohio, in 1839, and opened with great rejoicings, also had the ef- fect of delaying railroad enterprises. The part this canal played in the development of the

Mahoning valley was well described by a writer in the History of Trumbull and Mahon- ing Counties (1882). He says :

"The Ohio and Pennsylvania Canal was a work of inestimable importance to Warren, Youngstown, and Cleveland, by creating a market for coal, iron, and produce. Inade- quate and unsatisfactory as it was, it demon- strated the possibilities of the region, and its few boats were the inception of an immense carrying trade. In a sense the canal may be considered the foundation of a railroad system which penetrates every valley and reaches to every coal, iron, and limestone bed, but it is a foundation which the superstructure has pressed out of existence, leaving only a dry bed, and an occasional wrecked hull as sou- venirs of its existence. Even the bed in many places has become the track of locomotives.

ERIE RAILROAD.

The Erie Railroad was organized Novem- ber 13, 1895, to take over the property of the New York, Lake Erie & Western R. R. Co., which was sold under foreclosure, together with the leasehold of the New York, Pennsyl- vania & Ohio R. R., and the ownership of the Chicago & Erie R. R., November 6, 1895. It was decided to vest the company, so far as was practicable, with the direct ownership of the various properties comprised in the sys- tem, including its principal leased lines. It is unnecessary here to go into all the details of the various mergers, purchases, and consol- idations, by which this was effected, or to give any description of those parts of the system not directly concerned with the transportation facilities of the Mahoning valley.

The Mahoning division of the Erie road embraces the Cleveland & Mahoning R. R., the Niles & New Lisbon R. R., the Liberty & Vienna R. R., the New Castle & Chenango Valley R. R., the Sharon R. R., the Wester- man R. R., also, formerly the Youngstown & Austintown R. R.

The Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad, the first successful railroad enterprise in the Ma- honing Valley, was inaugurated at Warren,

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Ohio, the charter being granted February 22, 1848, and work commenced in 1853. The board of directors was composed of Warren, Youngstown, and Painesville citizens. A por- tion of the stock was subscribed by Eastern capitalists. The company was for some years in financial straits, and at one time it became necessary for the directors to pledge their own personal estates as security for mortgage loans. Under the able management of President Per- kins, however, the enormous debt of the road was gradually reduced, and at the time of his death in January, 1859, success, though not quite attained, was assured. The road was paying a satisfactory dividend when, in 1863, it was leased to the Atlantic & Great Western Rail- road Company, (see New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railway Company), for the term of ninety-nine years.

The Liberty & Vienna Railroad was built under charter in 1868. In 1870 its capital was increased to $300,000, and the road extended through Girard to Youngstown. This exten- sion was sold in 1871 to the Ashtabula, Youngstown & Pittsburg Company, the re- mainder of the line being retained by the Lib- erty & Vienna Company. A consolidation was ·effected in 1872 of the Cleveland & Mahoning, the Niles & New Lisbon, and the Liberty & Vienna Railroads under the name of the Cleve- land & Mahoning Valley Railroad Company ; the different branches retained their old names. In 1880 they were leased to the lessee of the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad, the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Co., for the unex- pired term of 1863. Under the lease of 1880 all the lines of the Cleveland & Mahoning Val- ley Railroad Company came under the con- trol of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Co., and in 1895 under that of the Erie Rail- road Co., as above stated.

The Sharon Railroad comprised the line from Sharon, Pennsylvania, to Pymatuning, Pennsylvania, 7.93 miles; the Middlesex. ex- tension from Ferrona to West Middlesex, 8.86 miles, and the Sharpsville extension, from Boyce, Pennsylvania, to Sharpsville, Pennsyl- vania, 1.55 miles, a total of 10.12 miles. It was chartered July 16, 1873, and opened

in August, 1876. It was leased to the Erie Railroad Co., till April 30, 1882, at a rental amounting to the interest on the bonds, six per cent on the stock, and the expenses of organization.

The New Castle & Chenango Valley Rail- road extends from West Middlesex to New Castle, Pennsylvania, a distance of 16.73 miles. It was chartered May 3, 1887, with a capital stock of $292,450, and opened in 1889. It was leased to the Erie Railroad till April 30, 1982, at an annual rental of 32 per cent. of the gross earnings, with a minimum rental equal to the bond interest. The cost of construction was $541,093.

The Youngstown & Austintown Railway, now no longer in existence, extended from Youngstown, Ohio, to Leadville mines, with a branch at Mahoning and Tippecanoe shafts, a total length of 10.18 miles. It was built in 1871-1872, to haul coal from the mines for transportation over other roads. The road was operated by the company until May I, 1883, when it was leased to the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio R. R. Co. for a term of ninety-nine years. The lease was assumed by the Erie Railroad Co. under the terms of re- organization, the entire capital stock, $10,500, being owned by the Erie Railroad Co. under said terms.

The Westerman Railroad is a leased line operated under trackage contracts. It runs from Sharon, Pennsylvania, to a point three- quarters of a miles west of the Pennsylvania- Ohio State line. It is owned by Christian H. Buhl, of Detroit, Michigan, and was leased, January 1, 1886, to the New York, Pennsyl- vania & Ohio Railroad Co. at a rental of $4,000 per annum, the lease to expire May 1, 1982. The lease was assumed by the Erie Railroad Company.

The New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railway Company ( Erie Railroad). In 1851 a charter was granted to the Franklin & Warren Railroad Company to construct a railroad from Franklin, Portage County, via Warren, to the State line, with power to con- tinue the same from the place of beginning in a westerly or southwesterly direction to con-

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nect with any other railroads within this State, which the directors might deem advisable. Under this authority a line 246 miles in length, was constructed from Dayton to the State line. crossing the Cleveland & Mahoning at Leav- ittsburg. The name had been changed in the meanwhile (in 1855) to The Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company. In 1857 the Meadville Railroad Company was chartered in Pennsylvania, and purchased of the Pitts- burg & Erie Company (chartered in 1846), its property, rights, and franchises in Mercer and Crawford counties, embracing the proposed line of the Meadville company therein. The name of the Meadville Railroad Company was changed in 1858 to the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company of Pennsylvania.

The Erie & New York City Railroad Com- pany, chartered in 1852, failing to complete its proposed line, in 1860 sold 38 miles of its road from Salamanca to the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company in New York, chartered in 1859.

The Buffalo extension of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company was char- tered in 1864, and in 1865 the four companies consolidated under the name of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company, and in that name operated the through line from Dayton to Salamanca, and the branch from Jamestown to Buffalo. In consequence of suits brought for foreclosure the property of the consolidated company was turned over to a receiver, April I, 1867, General R. B. Potter receiving the appointment. After passing through several receiverships and being leased as often, it was finally sold at foreclosure sale in January, 1880, an association of mortgage bondholders being the purchasers. In March the same year it was conveyed to five corporations, in consid- eration of $45,000,000 capital stock, and $87,- 500,000 mortgage bonds. They organized the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railway Company, taking out charters in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The road was originally con- structed with a width of six feet gauge, but a few months after it had passed under the above named management was reduced to what is known as the standard gauge. In 1895, as

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Century history of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Ohio, and representative citizens, 20th, Part 30

Author: Sanderson, Thomas W., comp Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1074

Author: Sanderson, Thomas W., comp
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1074