Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 150

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006

USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I > Part 150

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gation, announced the change of votes, and before the secretaries had time to foot up and announce the result, whereupon a deafening roar of applause arose from the immense multitude, such as had never been equalled on the American continent, nor since the day that the walls of Jericho were blown down."

Mr. Enos, being a quick accountant, had kept a tally of the vote, and discovered be- fore any one else that Mr. Lincoln lacked but 2} votes ; whereupon he disclosed his know !- edge to the three others, and at his request they joined him in the vote for Mr. Lincoln.

Dr. Enos left a wife, three sons and two daughters. One son in California died in 1889 ; another, Henry, is of the prominent Wall street banking firm of H. K. Enos & Co.

The original settlers of this county were mainly from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia ; also among them were some Swiss Germans.

940

HOLMES COUNTY.

" In the eastern part is an extensive settlement of Dunkards, who originated from eastern Pennsylvania, and speak the German language. They are excellent farmers, and live in a good, substantial style. The men wear long beards and shad- bellied coats, and use hooks and eyes instead of buttons. The females are attired in petticoats and short gowns, caps without frills, and when doing out-door labor, instead of bonnets, wear broad-brimmed hats."-Old Edition.

The Pennsylvania emigratiou to Ohio was the greatest from any State ; and this particularly applies to Holmes and all the central part, the great wheat belt, of the State. And we think Washington county, Pa., more than from any other single county, anywhere, helped to populate Ohio. As late as 1846-47 about one-quarter of the members of the Ohio Legislature were natives of Pennsylvania, exceeding the members born in any other State, or all the New England States combined, or were born in Ohio itself. Pennsylvania strongly gave its impress upon the judicial history of Ohio.

On Tuesday, August 31, 1880, was held at "Ingles Sugar Grove," near Millersburg, what was termed the PENNSYLVANIA PIC- NIC. It consisted of all persons born in Pennsylvania then residents of the town and vicinity ; these, with their families, attended to the number of about 200. The counties strongest represented were Washington, Cumberland, Allegheny and Somerset ; then Beaver, Lancaster and Lebanon. In all six- teen counties were represented. The day was given up to social pleasure and enjoy- ment. The Normal School String Band sup- plied the music. At noon all partook of a sumptuous basket-dinner in "regular old- fashioned Pennsylvania style." We annex a list of the Keystone State representatives, mostly heads of families :

Elias Klopp and wife, Lucinda H. Robin- son, Mary G. Barton, Mrs. Frances Long, Robert Long, John Brown, James Hebron, Mrs. E. A. Hebron, John Patterson, Robert Justice, Catherine Justice, R. K. Enos, Mrs. T. B. Cunningham, Mrs. H. M. Cunningham,

Miss Caddie Shattuck, Fred. Shattuck, Mrs. W. K. Duer, Mrs. E. J. Duer, Aaron Uhler, Mrs. Mary Bowman, J. M. Bowman, Mrs. B. C. Shoup, Wm. C. McDowell, Hosack Reed, Mrs. Susan B. Ingles, Mrs. Leah Hites, Andrew Ingles, Aaron Devore, E. H. Hull, Mrs. Elizabeth Ackamire, A. B. Rudy, John Coffee, James Haines, Thomas J. Ar- nold, James Hull, Mrs. Thomas P. Uhl, Robert Parkinson, John I. Spencer, Richard Hultz, A. J. Kerr, James Tidball, James T. Forgey, Mrs. C. E. Voorhees, John F. Hud- son, Mrs. Harvey Taylor, Mrs. Martba Doug- las, Mrs. David McDonald, Mrs. A. B. Mc- Donald, Mrs. Ann Maria Nedrow, Harry Davis, Mrs. Eliza Hanna, Mrs. Jane McMur- ray, Mrs. Margaret Hultz, John Hanna, George Hanna, Mrs. Frank Martin, Mrs. De- lila Haines, Mrs. Elizabeth Uhl, Mrs. Har- riet Parkinson, Mrs. Malvina Wolgamot, Mrs. E. Lemmon, Mrs. Jane Kirby, Mrs. William Walkup, Mrs. Mary Donald, Mrs. Maria E. Crump, Mrs. Rachel Spencer, Mrs. R. K. Enos.

This county has a good military record, and in front of the court-house is a handsome soldiers' monument, shown in our engraving. Among her early settlers were soldiers of the Revolution and the war of 1812, and in the civil war she supplied her full quota. The good name of the county has suffered by an occur- rence called "The Holmes County Rebellion," the theatre of which was in Rich- land, the southwest corner township, a region of hills. It arose in June, 1863, from difficulties met with by the enrolling officer preparatory to a draft for the army. It was reported to Governor Tod that the malcontents were in large force, were in a regular fortified camp, with pickets, entrenchments and cannon. He accordingly issued a proclamation for them to disperse, and sent 420 soldiers, mainly from Camp Chase, with a section of a battery, under Colonel Wallace. On June 17th they landed at Lake Station, in the western part of the county, remained a few days and then returned. A few arrests were made and a few persons in- dicted for resisting the United States authorities; but with a single exception the indictments were all nolled. It was a time of intense excitement, just at the opening of the Vallandigham campaign. The air was full of rumors and it was nearly impossible even at that time to obtain correct details ; what we possess is so contradictory that we conclude that any further investigation would yield no satisfaction.

KILLBUCK is six miles southwest of Millersburg, on the C. A. & C. R. R. It has 1 Methodist Episcopal and 1 Disciples' church. School census, 1888, 142.

941

HOLMES COUNTY.

WINESBURGH is fourteen miles northeast of Millersburg. It has 1 German Lutheran Reformed church. School census, 1888, 163.

HOLMESVILLE, six miles north of Millersburg, on C. & A. R. R.

BERLIN, seven miles east of Millersburg, has 1 Methodist Episcopal and 1 Presbyterian church. Population about 250.

BLACK CREEK, on C. A. & C. R. R., twelve miles west of Millersburg. Population about 250.

NASHVILLE is eleven miles northwest of Millersburg. Population about 300. Lakeville Station, P. (). Plimpton, Farmerstown, New Carlisle P. O., Walnut Creek, are small villages.

HURON.

HURON COUNTY was formed February 7, 1809, and organized 1815. It originally constituted the whole of "the fire-lands." The name, Huron, was given by the French to the Wyandot tribe : its signification is probably unknown. The surface is mostly level, some parts slightly undulating ; soil mostly sandy mixed with clay, forming a loam. In the northwest part are some prairies, and in the northern part are the sand ridges which run on the southern side of Lake Erie, and vary in width from a few rods to more than a mile. Huron was much reduced in 1838, in population and area, by the formation of Erie county. Area about 450 square miles. In 1887 the acres cultivated were 139,956; in pasture, 79,944; woodland, 36,032 ; lying waste, 2,697; produced in wheat, 495,057 bushels ; rye, 5,123; buckwheat, 929 ; oats, 1,035,918 ; barley, 5,167; corn, 698,536 ; broom corn, 200 lbs. brush; meadow hay, 34,880 tons; clover hay, 6,837 ; flax, 20,300 1bs. fibre; potatoes, 108,166 bushels ; butter, 982,978 lbs. ; cheese, 347,037 ; sorghum, 2,218 gallons ; maple sugar, 23,087 lbs. ; honey, 11,672; eggs, 493,179 dozen ; grapes, 3,579 lbs .; sweet potatoes, 89 bushels; apples, 35,552 ; peaches, 4,052 ; pears, 923; wool, 539,534 lbs .; milch cows owned, 7,756. School census, 1888, 9,929 ; teachers, 353. Miles of railroad track, 138.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880.

Bronson,

1,291

1,092

Norwich,

676

1,157

Clarksfield,

1,473

1,042

Norwalk,

2,613

7,078

Fairfield,

1,067

1,359

Peru,

1,998

1,194

Fitchville,

1,294

822

Richmond,

306

1,014

Greenfield,

1,460

900

Ridgefield,

1,599

2,359

Greenwich,

1,067

1,376

Ripley,

804

1,038

Hartland,

925

954

Ruggles,

1,244

Lyme,

1,318

2,575

Sherman,

692

1,223

New Haven,

1,270

1,807

Townsend,

868

1,405

New London,

1,218

1,764

Wakeman,

702

1,450

Population of Huron in 1820 was 6,677; in 1830, 13,340; in 1840, 23,934 ; 1860, 29,616 ; 1880, 31,608, of whom 21,728 were born in Ohio; 3,142 New York; 963 Pennsylvania; 124 Indiana ; 76 Virginia; 54 Kentucky ; 1,783 German Empire; 800 England and Wales; 684 Ireland ; 201 British America ;

942

HURON COUNTY.

103 France; 69 Scotland, and 3 Sweden and Norway. Census of 1890 was 31,949.

NORWALK IN 1846 .- Norwalk, the county-seat, named from Norwalk, Ct., is 110 miles north of Columbus and 16 from Sandusky City. It lies principally on a single street, extending nearly 2 miles and beautifully shaded by maple trees. Much taste is evinced in the private dwellings and churches, and in adorning the grounds around them with shrubbery. As a whole, the town is one of the most neat and pleasant in Ohio. The view given represents a small portion of the principal street; on the right is shown the court-house and jail, with a part of the public square, and in the distance is seen the tower of the Norwalk institute. Norwalk contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist and 1 Catholic Church, 9 dry goods, 1 book and 4 grocery stores, 1 bank, 2 newspaper printing offices, 1 flouring mill, 2 foundries, and about 1,800 inhabitants. The Norwalk institute is an incorporated academy, under the patronage of the Baptists : a large and substantial brick building, three stories in height, is devoted to its purposes ; the institution is flourishing, and numbers over 100 pupils, including both sexes. A female seminary has recently been com- menced under auspicious circumstances, and a handsome building erected in the form of a Grecian temple. About a mile west of the village are some ancient fortifications.

The site of Norwalk was first visited with a view to the founding of a town, by the Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, Platt Benedict, and one or two others, in October, 1815. The place was then in the wilderness, and there were but a few settlers in the county. The examination being satisfactory, the town plat was laid out in the spring following, by Almon Ruggles [see page 583], and lots offered for sale at from $60 to $100 each. In the fall of 1817 Platt Benedict built a log- house with the intention of removing his family, but in his absence it was destroyed by fire. He reconstructed his dwelling shortly after, and thus com- menced the foundation of the village. In the May after, Norwalk was made the county-seat, and the public buildings subsequently erected. The year after, a census was taken, and the population had reached 109. In the first few years of the settlement, the different denominations appearing to have forgotten their peculiar doctrines, were accustomed to meet at the old court-house for sacred worship, at the second blowing of the horn. In 1820 the Methodists organized a class, and in 1821 the Episcopal society was constituted. From that time to the present the village has grown with the progressive increase of the county.

In 1819 two Indians were tried and executed at Norwalk for murder. Their names were Ne-go-sheck and Ne-gon-a-ba, the last of which is said to signify " one who walks far." The circumstances of their crime and execution we take from the MSS. history of the " fire-lands," by the late C. B. Squier, Esq.

In the spring of 1816 John Wood, of Venice, and George Bishop, of Danbury, were trapping for muskrats on the west side of Danbury, in the vicinity of the "two harbors," so called ; and having collected a few skins had lain down for the night in their temporary hut. Three straggling Ottawa Indians came, in the course of the night, upon their camp and discovered them sleep- ing. To obtain their little pittance of furs, etc., they were induced to plan their destruc- tion. After completing their arrangements the two eldestarmed themselves with clubs, singled out their victims, and each, with a well-directed blow upon their heads, despatched them in an instant. They then forced their youngest companion, Negasow, who had been untis then merely a spectator, to beat the bodies with a club, that he might be made to feel

that he was a participator in the murder and so refrain from exposing their crime. After securing whatever was then in the camp that they desired, they took up their line of march for the Maumee, avoiding, as far as possible, the Indian settlements on their course.

Wood left a wife to mourn his untimely fate, but Bishop was a single man. Their bodies were found in a day or two by the whites under such circumstances that evinced that they had been murdered by Indians, and a pursuit was forthwith commenced. The Indians living about the mouth of Portage river had seen these straggling Indians pass- ing eastward, now suspected them of the crime, and joined the whites in the pursuit. They were overtaken in the neighborhood of the Maumee river, brought back and

Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.

VIEW IN MAIN STREET, NORWALK. In front is shown the Court-House, and in the far distance the tower of the Academy.

Geo. W. Edmondson, Photo., Norwalk, 1886.

MAIN STREET, NORWALK. The view is in the resident part of the street.

944

HURON COUNTY.

examined before a magistrate. They con- fessed their crime and were committed to jail. At the trial the two principals were sentenced to be hung in June, 1819: the younger one was discharged. The county of Huron had at this time no secure jail, and they were closely watched by an armed guard. They nevertheless escaped one dark night. The guard fired and wounded one of them severely in the body, but he continued to run

for several miles, till, tired and faint with the loss of blood, he laid down, telling his com- panion he should die, and urging him to continue on. The wounded man was found after the lapse of two or three days, some- where in Penn township, in a dangerous con- dition, but he soon recovered. The other was recaptured near the Maumee by the Indians, and brought to Norwalk, where they were both hanged according to sentence.

In this transaction the various Indian tribes evinced a commendable willing- ness that the laws of the whites should be carried out. Many of them attended the execution, and only requested that the bodies of their comrades should not be disturbed in their graves .- Old Edition.

The larger part of the Indians that settled on the Firelands were tribes of the powerful Iroquois nation. Some of them, considering their environment, were noble characters, and years after, when all hostilities had ceased, and as the country began to fill up, were even disposed to hold not only peaceable but friendly relations with the whites.

- The Senecas, who were in the habit of passing through the southern part of Huron county, on their way to eastern hunting- grounds, were particularly fierce in appear- ance, bedecked in their barbaric garb of feathers and skins, but nevertheless were specially friendly.

On these hunting trips they would trade baskets, trinkets and game with the settlers in exchange for bread, meal or flour. Strong and disinterested friendships sprung up be- tween some of them and the whites. Their appearance was so frequent, and their actions

so decorous and kindly, that even the chil- dren became attached to them, and in some instances strong affections were formed. Seneca John, the famous chief, used to carry the children of Caleb Palmer, the pioneer settler of New Haven, upon his shoulders. So strong was their affection for him, that when they saw a band of Indians coming they would rush forward with cries of delight, and when the tall, stalwart form of Seneca John greeted their eyes, they would run to him, climb to his shoulders and ride thereon to and from school. The children of the whites and Indians intermingled in their games, and each were on as friendly terms with the others as they were with their own kind. Mrs. Platt Benedict, in her last years, said : "We gained the friendship of those denizens of the forest, and they brought us many, many presents in their own rude way.'

NORWALK, the county-seat of Huron, is a beautiful city of the second class, fifty-six miles west of Cleveland, about ninety-five miles north of Columbus, and fifty-seven miles east of Toledo; is on the L. S. & M. S., W. & L. E., and S. M. & N. Railroads. It is on what are known as the " Firelands," in the Western Reserve. On account of its fine streets being well shaded by beautiful trees of that species, it is called the " Maple City." It is surrounded by a rich farming conntry, has a fine commercial trade, and considerable manufacturing interests. Connty Officers : Auditor, Jonathan S. White; Clerk, Albert M. Beattie; Com- missioners, Commodore O. H. Perry, James A. Fancher, George Bargus ; Coroner, Frank E. Weeks ; Infirmary Directors, James D. Easton, Uriah S. Laylin, Jon- athan W. Huestis ; Probate Judge, Henry L. Kennan ; Prosecuting Attorney, Theron H. Kellogg; Recorder, Robert A. Bloomer; Sheriff, Alfred Noecker ; Surveyor, Luther B. Mesnard; Treasurers, Orin S. Griffin, Amos O. Jump. Newspapers : Chronicle, Republican, F. R. Loomis, editor ; Germania, German, George J. Lenz, editor and publisher ; Journal, Couch & Beckwith, editors and publishers ; Reflector, Republican, C. Wickham and James C. Gibbs, editors ; Experiment and News, Democratic, H. L. Stewart, editor. Churches : one Epis- copalian, three Catholic, one Congregational, two Methodist Episcopal, one Bap- tist, one Universalist, one Presbyterian, one Lutheran. Banks : First National, Theodore Williams, president, George M. Cleveland, cashier ; Huron County Banking Company, D. H. Fox, president, Pitt Curtiss, cashier ; Norwalk Na- tional Bank, John Gardiner, president, Charles W. Millen, cashier.

Manufactures and Employees .- G. M. Cleveland & Co., flonr, etc., 6 hands ; W. B. Lyke, general machinery, 5; B. C. Cartwright, fanning mills, idle ; E. S.

945

HURON COUNTY.

Tuttle, grain elevator, 2; C. HI. Gove & Co., iron foundry, 3; Stewart Dowel Pin Works, Dowel pins, 17; The A. B. Chase Company, pianos and organs, 160; L. S. & M. S. R. R. Shops, railroad repairs, 80; W. & L. E. R. R. Shops, rail- road repairs, 99 ; Norwalk Machine Works, general machinery, 9; C. H. Fuller, carriages, 9; N. H. Pebbles, carriages, 5 ; The Laning Printing Company, print- ing, 26; Norwalk Electric Light and Power Company, electric light, 3; S. E. Crawford, pumps, 3; Theodore Williams & Son, flour, etc., 10; D. E. More- house, planing mill, 5; C. W. Smith, planing mill, 10; Smith & Himberger, doors, sash, etc., 8; F. B. Case, tobaccos, 23; Sprague & French, advertising novelties, 225; The Hexagon Postal Box Manufacturing Company, post-office furniture, 20; William Schubert, planing mill, 6; Bostwick & Burgess Manu- facturing Company, carpet sweepers, etc., 53 .- State Reports, 1888. Population in 1880, 5,704. School census, 1888, 2,338 ; W. R. Comings, school superin- tendent. Capital invested in industrial establishments, $354,250. Value of annual product, $575,000 .- Ohio Labor Statistics, 1887. U. S. census, 1890, 7,195.

Up to 1852, the era of railroads, Norwalk was an academy town. It was the seat of the famous Norwalk Academy, having been the largest and most famous institution of the kind in all the West, and almost as well known to the pioneers as Yale or Harvard. The society of the town comprised mostly the teachers and their families, together with the few families who moved here while educating their children. Charles H. Stewart, Esq., in an address delivered March 27, 1883, at the farewell reunion of the High School alumni, said :

"Everybody kept boarders ; in fact, that was the main occupation of about nine-tenths of our able-bodied citizens during that period. Board was very reasonable in those days, too. A young man could get the best room and nicest board in town for from $1 to $1.50 per week. Mutton sold for two cents a pound, and as everybody kept cows and pigs and hens, which all ran free in the streets, milk and eggs and pork were almost given away. These rooms were divided up into a large number of smaller ones, where many young men roomed.

"Our late President, R. B. Hayes, and present Governor, Charles Foster, and several of our Congressmen, were dormitory boys, as they used to call them, who cooked and ate and devised mischief there. The boys had their bread baked, did the rest of their cook-

ing, and used to live here nicely for forty cents a week, including room rent, which was $1 a term. In the fall of the year (as can be guessed), the boys used to live on the fat of the land. Ou almost any night, along to- ward midnight's witching hour, mysterious figures could be seen, surreptitiously gliding into the old school-building, with large, mys- terious bags on their shoulders. If you would glide up behind one of them, you would see the contents of those bags disgorged in the ruddy glow of the firelight which lit up the laughing faces of half a score of future sena- tors, congressmen, governors, judges, or- must we say it ?- preachers. There were big watermelons and roasting-ears, and sweet po- tatoes, apples, now and then a plump pullet from some neighboring roost, and there was a banquet for the gods."

BIOGRAPHY.

PLATT BENEDICT, the founder of the town, was born in Danbury, Conn., in 1775, and was a four-year-old boy when the British red-coats came to his native town to do mischief, having burned Norwalk, Conn., on their way. Perhaps it was this incident that indirectly paved the way to his founding an Ohio Norwalk. When he came out here in 1817, he was seven weeks on the journey coming out, with his family and household goods, the latter stowed away in a wagon drawn by oxen. He was one of the most sturdy of that strong body of men-the Western pioneers ; a man of many virtues. He lived to the grand old age of 91 years, 7 months and 7 days, which he reached October 25, 1866.

GEORGE KENNAN, the Siberian traveller, was born in Norwalk, February 16, 1845. His father, now 87 years of age, is probably the oldest living telegrapher in the United States, and taught his son the profession. He was educated in the public schools of Norwalk, and at the Columbus High School while working as

946

HURON COUNTY.

PLATT BENEDICT-An Ohio Pioneer.

ELECTRO LIG

GEO. KENNAN-The Siberian Traveller.

night operator in that city. In 1864, while working as assistant chief operator in the Western Union office at Cincinnati, he made application for an appointment on the projected overland line from America to Europe, via Alaska, Behring's Straits and Siberia. One night a message came over the wires from General Stager, as follows : "Can you get ready to start for Alaska in two weeks?" " Yes, I can get ready to start in two hours," was the reply. " You may go," replied General Stager.

As a leader of one of the Russo-American Telegraph Company's exploring parties, he spent nearly three years in constant travel in the interior of northeastern Siberia. The manner in which, in the summer of 1867, he received the first notice of the abandonment of the enterprise in which he was engaged, illustrates the complete isolation from civil- ization of his party.

One day he with some others boarded a vessel in the Okhotsk Sea and approached the captain with the remark : "Good day, sir. What is the name of your vessel ?"

The astonished captain of the bark Sea Breeze, from New Bedford, Mass., replied : "Good Lord ! Has the universal Yankee got up here ? Where did you come from ? How did you get here ? What are you doing ?"

Having silenced his interrogation battery, the captain gave them a lot of old San Fran- cisco newspapers, in which they learned that the enterprise upon which they were engaged had been abandoned, on account of the suc- cessful laying of the second Atlantic cable ; but it was not until the following September that they received official notification and or- ders to return to America.

In 1870 Mr. Kennan again went to Russia to explore the mountains of the Eastern Cau- casus, returning to this country in 1871.

In 1885 he was engaged by the publishers of the "Century Magazine " to visit Russia for the purpose of investigating the Russian exile system. He in company with Mr. Frost, the artist, spent sixteen months on this work, during which they suffered many hardships. Extreme cold, fatigue and sick- ness were but small trials when compared with the constant fear of discovery of their mission by the Russian government, and the heart sickness caused by sympathy for the horrible misery of the exiles. It required wonderful tact and skill to evade the watch- fulness of the Russian emissaries.

They travelled 1,500 miles through northern Russia and Siberia, visited all the convict prisons and mines between the Ural mountains and the head-waters of the Amur river, and explored the wildest part of the Rus- sian Altai. The publication in the "Century Magazine" of the results of these investi- gations filled the whole civilized world with horror and indignation at the inhumanity of the Russian government in its treatment of political and other offenders.

Mr. Kennan is the author of "Tent Life in Siberia, and Adventures among the Koraks and other Tribes in Kamchatka and Northern Asia." (New York, 1870.)

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 150

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 1006

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006