USA > Ohio > Allen County > History of Allen County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part One > Part 18
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In 1858 Rev. F. Westerholt succeeded Father Bredeick. He was later called to Cleveland and until the appointment of Rev. Aloysius I. Hoeffel, Father Maesfranc of Lan- deck officiated, Father Hoeffel taking charge February 2, 1868.
In 1867-68 a residence for the Sisters of St. Francis was built at a cost of $7,000. Be-
tween 1869 and 1872 a new residence for the Sisters and a three-story brick school were built. The church and these barely escaped destruction in the conflagration of 1872.
In the year 1878 the project of building a new Catholic Church took shape and an edifice- which ranks with the greatest church buildings in the Union was the result. On June 15, 1879, the corner-stone was laid by Bishop Gil- more, assisted by Revs. A. I. Hoeffel, J. F. Lang and other ecclesiastics. The building was completed in 1880 and dedicated January 16, 1881, at a cost of $60,000 and the gratui- tous labor and material, which amounted to something like $40,000. The length of the structure is 192 feet; width of nave, 78 feet ; width of transept, 100 feet; height to apex of roof, 84 feet ; height of tower, 222 feet ; height of middle arch, 58 feet. The roof is divided into over 100 arches, after the pure Gothic style. The seating capacity is 1,600. The tower clock cost about $2,000.
In 1894 the three bells now in use were pre- sented to the church by Father Hoeffel. These bells bear the names of the three priests who have given earnest service to this church- Fathers Breideick, Westerholt and Hoeffel.
In 1889 a new Sisters' school was built at a cost of $11,000. The church, which has now a membership of 400 families, continues to be in charge of Father Hoeffel, under whose guid- ance for the past 37 years its material and spir- itual growth has been remarkable.
The Presbyterian Chuch was organized in May, 1851, by Rev. Graham. The meeting was held in a building that fronted on the canal just south of the middle bridge, where the Commercial Bank now stands. They organ- ized at the same time a Union Sunday-school. One year later Rev. Elcock was sent here to preach, and was paid partly by the presbytery and partly by the congregation. The places of worship in early days were various. There are some who can remember going to school and attending church in a small one-story brick building on the lot now owned and occu- pied by Dr. Mauk as a residence. The upper story of the old woolen mill just west of the Courant office was used for the same purpose.
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Prayer meetings were held at the residence of different members. Mr. Forver, the surveyor of the canal, presented the Presbyterian con- gregation with the lot now occupied by the Redisbo family, directly west of Dr. Mauk's residence on Fourth street; this lot with the original one donated by Father Bredeick was sold and the proceeds applied to the purchase of the present lot. The Presbyterian Church was dedicated February 8, 1869. Rev. A. O. Raber is the present pastor.
Methodist Episcopal services were held first in the cabin of R. M. Pitticord on the west side of the canal. There were present five mem- bers, the minister officiating was Rev. Gra- ham. A Sunday-school was organized and John Miller elected superintendent. This was in 1846. The services were continued from time to time at the home of John Miller, cor- ner of Main and Third streets, and later at a cooper shop owned by Amos Metcalf, and lo- cated on the rear part of the lot now known as the Deubler property, on East Third street. In 1848 E. N. Martin moved to Section Ten from Piqua. He was an ordained minister, and this with his means and liberality gave the organization the position of a church. Steps were soon taken to build a church, and until this was accomplished, services were held in the upper room of a building erected by Mr. Martin as a woolen mill. In 1848 Rev. Har- mount was sent as preacher in charge of the circuit. In 1850 the foundation was laid for a church on a lot donated by Samuel Pettit, of Piqua, and completed in 1851. The present church was commenced in August, 1879, and completed in ISSo. The present membership of this church is 400. The congregation is united and prosperous, owing largely to the untiring efforts of their talented young pastor, Rev. Ascham, who was given leave of absence in September, 1905, to pursue his studies at Harvard. Rev. J. B. Gottschall was appointed to fill Rev. Ascham's pulpit.
The United Brethren Church has Rev. W. H. Kindel as pastor; the German Reformed Church, Rev. J. J. Neiss.
Railroads .-- In 1854 the Ohio & Indiana Railroad, now called the Pittsburg, Fort
Wayne & Chicago, was opened from Crestline to Fort Wayne. The first railroad engine used On this line was named "Lima" and was brought from Toledo to Delphos on a canal- boat by Casper Smith and put on the track here for construction work. Woolson & McCune took the contract for bringing the iron to Del- phos. Captain Fisher, Sr., bought a boat in Toledo named "Seneca Chief" and McClure owned a boat named "Damsel," and these two boats brought the iron to Delphos. Captain Fisher took the contract to build a basin just west of Mills' elevator for the purpose of an- choring these boats while they unloaded the railroad supplies. On July 4, 1875, the formal opening of the Toledo, Delphos & Burlington took place. In 1876 was the big excursion to Dupont, and in 1878 the Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railway was completed. The Cleveland, Delphos & St. Louis (now the Northern Ohio) was built in 1881.
The Press .-- The first newspaper was issued in 1849 by the late Judge Ben Metcalf and called the Section Ten Budget. It existed about one year. This was followed by the Delphos Oracle edited by Noah Huber, who was succeeded by O. H. Perry, then by Bell, who published it until 1854, when it expired. In the same year came the Northwestern Re- publican, S. E. Brown, editor. This lived a little more than a year. From this date until 1869 there was no paper. Then the Herald made its appearance with D. H. Tolan as edi- tor and later with his son, C. M. Tolan. At present Gasson & Sevitz are publishing the paper with a circulation of 800 copies. The Courant was established in 1877 with E. B. Walkup as editor and is still owned and pub- lished by him with a circulation of 1,400 a week.
The Kleeblatt, published by C. Jettinghoff, the only German newspaper published in Del- phos, was established in December, 1889, and has a circulation of more than 1,000 copies.
Schools .- The Delphos schools up to 1859 had been kept up in each county divided by the canal, and separate schools were sustained and examinations given on the same principle as all country schools. On January 29th. after
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HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY
legal notice. the voters of these two districts met at the little old frame schoolhouse on the Allen County side and voted to organize the Delphos Union School District, under the gen- eral law governing village districts, the first Board of Education under the law consisting of Charles C. Marshall, F. J. Lye, H. Weible, Lester Bliss, M. Brickner and S. F. Conklin. Charles C. Marshall was the first president of the board. At the time of this organization of the Delphos Union School District, C. P. Washburn was teaching the highest grade of the public schools. On April 8, 1868, the dis- trict voted to levy a tax and issue bonds for the erection of a new schoolhouse. The schools remained in this scattered condition until August 5, 1869, when W. H. Wolfe was elected superintendent and schools were organ- ized and graded in the new building. In 1870 J. F. Jones was elected to the superintendency and in 1871 W. H. Wolfe was reelected. In 1873 E. W. Hastings was employed and held the position for 25 years, until 1898, when he resigned on account of ill health and died the following year. In 1877 C. P. Washburn was elected clerk of the Board of Education and held the position for 22 years.
Mr. Hastings was loved and revered by the entire population. He was succeeded by G. W. Lewis, who after two years' work was followed by T. W. Shimp.
The teachers in the Delphos Union School District (Allen and Van Wert counties) in 1904-05 were: T. W. Shimp, superintendent ; J. E. Fast, J. T. Omlor, J. I. Miller, Anna Welsh, Ella Peltier, Carrie Anderson, Mary Walkup, Rose T. Lindemann, Callie Huysman, Bertha Weiss, Mellie McMahon, Margie Mc- Mahon, Ethel Hart, Lulu Walkup, Wilma Clay, Grace Boardman, Ameda Davis, Doris Eysenbach, Amedius Laudick and Inez Blad- win.
Hotels .- The first hotel called "Trav- eler's Rest" was opened in 1845 and was kept by a man named Savage. It stood on the corne of Canal and Second streets where the Opera House now stands. Jo- seph Ostendorf came to Delphos in April, 1847, coming by ,boat from Minster and
landing here about 3 o'clock in the morning. After the boat moved out, he looked around liim for some place to lodge. The weather was cold and it was intensely dark, so dark that he was afraid to step off the platform for fear of getting lost in the mud. Not being able to see a ray of light in any direction, he concluded to walk the platform until daybreak. At dawn he saw a high bridge on the south and started for it, keeping to the heel-path. After crossing the bridge, the "Traveler's Rest" came into view, and here just half a century ago he took his first breakfast in Section Ten.
The second hotel was built in 1845 and was called the "Ohio House." In 1846 the American House was built on the corner of Main and Fourth where the Shaffer Block now stands. The Union or Hecker House, as it was called later, was built in 1848. The Com- mercial House was built in 1847 and kept by C. Ross and later by W. D. Jones, who is now running the New Aveline in Fort Wayne. The Burnett was built in 1855 by Henry Brown, familiarly called "Uncle Henry" Brown. The first proprietor was Col. Amos Evans, who was succeeded by Oliver P. Brown. Brown sold out to T. Webb, who was succeeded by John Roby, who had charge of it until 1880 when he went into the Phelan House. The Phelan House is now the best hotel in Delphos.
Postoffice. - In 1847 the first postoffice in Section Ten was established in a small room built on the platform of the lock, between the gates, on the Van Wert County side, with Mr. Clutter as postmaster. At that time there were no postage stamps, the postage being paid either by the sender and the letter marked "Paid," or the letter was marked "Due" and the receiver paid the postage. In 1849 Lynn succeeded Clutter, holding the office for three years, and then began a postoffice war and in May, 1853, Winchton Risley was appointed postmaster. He held the office (removing it to Allen County) until his death in September, 1854, after which Mrs. Mary Risley was ap- pointed and held the office for 25 consecutive years. Then followed Cowdin. Shenk, Baxter, Washburn and Weger, the present incumbent.
The pioneer physicians were Osborne, Met-
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calf, Conklin, Butler, Pennington and H. P. Wagner, who came in 1847; and C. A. Evans, Davenport, Burkholder and Ruel, who came in 1850. Joseph Hunt was for a number of years called "Doctor" Hunt. He was a leading chemist and druggist and also a prominent cit- izen. In 1855 when business was suffering from stagnation, Mr. Hunt conceived the idea that he might aid the pioneers of the wilderness and add to his own trade by offering to pur- chase the bark from slippery elm trees which were abundant in the swamps. The supply soon reached hundreds of cords of cured bark and brought him quite a revenue.
Early Industries .- The ashery was an- other branch of industry, established in 1849, extensively carried on in the early days. Wrocklage & Esch were the first proprietors, and later Wrocklage & Stallkamp. Every par- ticle of ashes was carefully horded by the set- tlers and sold for 10 cents a bushel to the ash- ery, where it was converted into pearl ash and shipped to all parts of the country. It was sold in a crude state to be used in the manufacture ·of baking soda.
Delphos was the possessor of a dry dock in 1846, built by Father Bredeick. It was handled by John Daub and B. Nate. They built the boat "M. King," but found it too heavy for the canal and converted it into a barge to be used on the Ohio River.
The First Undertaker .- David Minnig, the first undertaker, came to Delphos in 1851, started the business in partnership with Mr. Garfield in 1852 in the old Lytle warehouse, corner Main and Third streets, where the Com- mercial Bank now stands. Garfield died in 1854 and Minnig carried on the business until 1866. The first hearse was a common spring wagon with curtains hung on the sides. The first regular hearse was built in 1854. In 1866 this was put away and a more modern conveyance presented to the people of Delphos. Mrs. Thomas Chambers made the majority of shrouds for the dead for at least 10 years. Not only making them, indeed, but dressing and laying out the persons for whom they were made.
Industries .- Delphos is splendidly located
industrially. It is on four lines of steam rail- ways-the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago, the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton, the To- ledo, St. Louis & Kansas City and Northern Ohio, besides being on one of the best traction lines in the country .-- The Fort Wayne, Van Wert & Lima. The most important industrial plant in Delphos is the Delphos Can Company, manufacturing the non-overflow pump can which is sold all over the United States, Can- ada and South America. This company was organized with Delphos capital in 1898 but, owing to infringements of patents of other manufacturing concerns, business was at a standstill till H. L. Leilich became manager. At a cost of $14,000 he prosecuted infringe- ments of patents in the United States courts and gained favorable decisions. Under the same management, the plant has since expand- ed, now employing 125 hands and having a monthly output valued at $22,000. A large addition is contemplated as the supply has never equaled the demand. The George F. Lang Milling Company, with a capacity of 125 barrels per day, and the Delphos Roller Mills, owned by Dalby & Morton, with a capacity of 100 barrels, are giving employment to a large number of men. The latter mill was estab- lished in 1846, the first mill in this section of Ohio and was the market for wheat from a section of country extending to Findlay and St. Marys. The following are some of the indus- tries contributing to the wealth of Delphos ; Delphos Paper Mill, the furniture manufactory of Ricker & Sons, Gun Novelty Company, Felix Steinle Brewing Company, the cement block works of Eger & Enslen and of A. L. Fisher and the lumber-yards of Ricker & Sons and J. F. Horine & Sons.
The stores are especially good for a town of its size. The drug-store of King Brothers is one of the finest drug-stores in the State of Ohio. F. H. King is a member of the Ohio State Pharmacy Board. Among the new proj- ects is the Delphos Foundry Company, which has erected an immense building and fitted it with new machinery for the manufacture of furnaces, stoves and registers.
Physicians, Dentists and Attorneys .- The
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HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY
town has 13 physicians. The oldest doctor in Delphos in point of continued service is Dr. Charles C. Bliss, who graduated from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1874. He prac- ticed medicine in Delphos until two years ago when he gave up his practice for the office of mayor to which he was elected. Dr. H. C. Bradshaw has practiced in Delphos about four years. He graduated from the Eclectic Medi- cal Institute of Chicago in 1895. Dr. E. N. Brundage graduated from the Fort Wayne Medical College in 1892 and has been located in Delphos ever since. Dr. E. R. Burnett took his medical degree at the Ohio Medical Uni- sity in 1893 and has practiced in Delphos about four years. Dr. E. Edwards has practiced in Delphos since 1894, in which year he gradu- ated from Jefferson Medical College. Dr. L. J. Eger graduated from Starling Medical Col- lege in 1893 and has been located in Delphos for seven years past, making a specialty of the eye, ear and throat. He has been to New York six different times and taken post-graduate courses. Dr. John B. Egts has been long estab- lished in Delphos. He graduated from the Chicago Homeopathic College in 1885 and has since practiced here. Dr. H. M. Hixson, who graduated from the Cincinnati Medical Col- lege in 1876, has been at Delphos about four years; he was formerly at Continental and Du- pont. Dr. L. P. Jackson, who graduated from Starling Medical College in 1898, has prac- ticed in Delphos nearly three years. Dr. E. B. Mauk, who graduated from the Western Re- serve Medical College in 1881, has been lo- cated in Delphos about 14 years. He came here from Malinta, Ohio, where he practiced subsequent to taking his degree. Dr. H. G. Steman graduated from the Fort Wayne Med- ical College in 1878. He has practiced in sev- eral different places and returned to Delphos five months ago. Dr. George S. Weger has been located in Delphos since 1898 in which year he took his medical degree at the Balti- more Medical College. Dr. L. C. Tillitson graduated from the medical department of the State University of Ohio in 1904 and has been located at Delphos about one year. All the above mentioned doctors are regular practi-
tioners with the exception of Dr. Egts, who is a homeopath and Dr. Bradshaw, who is an eclectic.
Dr. G. G. McCoy, a graduate of the Uni- versity of Michigan, class of 1891, and Dr. M. H. Viel, a graduate of the same institution, class of 1898, are the dental practitioners of Delphos.
The attorneys in Delphos include John F. Lindeman, George Leasure and J. B. Brotherton.
MONROE TOWNSHIP
Was organized in Putnam County in 1835 and. not until 1848 was this township added to Allen County. The first township officers were : John Peters, Peter Harpster and An- thony Early, trustees ; Benjamin Parker, clerk, and Luke Tipton, justice of the peace. N. G. Kidd served as township clerk for many years.
A large number of streams rise in Monroe township and numerous springs are found. The soil varies in different parts of the town- ship from light sand and gravel to heavy clay .. The streams furnish good natural drainage. The farms are good and well tilled. On Sugar Creek, in an early day, there was a horse-mill owned by Luke Tipton. Some families did their milling at Wapakoneta, some at St. Marys and some went as far as Sidney. The first justice of the peace, after the township. had been added to Allen County, was Hugh VanMeter.
Monroe township in 1904 had a property valuation of $843,940, with a tax rate of 20.6- mills. Cairo Special School District in 1904 had a property valuation of $92,069, with a tax rate of 20.1 mills. Cairo corporation in 1904 had a property valuation of $77,900 with a tax rate of 34 mills.
Villages .- West Cairo was laid out by Jacob Miller in 1848. The original town lies mainly west of the Perrysburg road at the intersection of the Bucyrus road. Cairo village was organ- ized April 12, 1875. on petition of the follow- ing named persons: George Harpster. W. W. Reeder, E. Lawrence, A. B. Harpster. John A. Brogan, D. Hartzog, E. G. Waltz, C. Shock.
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D. W. Trice, Peter Coleman, Michael Sluce, P. C. Rathbun, P. A. Lawrence, Lewis Law- rence, John Knott, S. Lawrence, Amos Rath- bun, J. Warren, Benjamin Parker, L. M. Hick- erson, J. Sherer, J. S. Clippenger and A. Hick- erson. The Methodist Episcopal Church at West Cairo has Rev. M. C. Wisely as pastor ; he is also in charge of the Bethel Grove Metho- dist Episcopal Church, of Monroe township.
Rockport is a small village in the north- eastern part of Monroe township near Richland township line. The postoffice is known as Cranberry. It is in section 13 and was platted in 1836 by Samuel Rockhill. The Presbyte- rian Church at Rockport was organized in 1850 and belongs to the Bluffton charge. The only other church is a Methodist Episcopal Church, which belongs to the Beaver Dam cir- cuit and has for its pastor Rev. Harley Hodge.
Pioneers .- The early settlers in Monroe township were: James Adams, Jacob Alstaet- ter, Peter Alstaetter, Alexander Allison, Jere- miah Ayres, C. H. Bliss. O. Beardsley, Peter Broughton, Jacob Broughton, Enos Beamer, Isaac Beamer, Ellis Bowers, M. Beasel, James Beatty, J. M. Beamer, A. Buckmaster, Isaac Buckmaster, J. M. Berryhill, Samuel Berry- hill, S. W. Bentley, Adam Borlander, John Bowsher, M. Bonham, Daniel Braddigan, W. T. Blackburn, Frederick Beitler, Charles Bur- nett, Stephen Cook, J. Crain, John Cupp, John Close, Johnston Crawford, James Cunning- ham, J. Cook, Daniel Custard, J. C. Curtis, Leonard Curtis, J. Craig, George Craig, H. Downing, Elias Decker, Elijah Drew, R. C. Doman, Sam Daniels, Robert Downing, Isaac Downing, G. L. Dennis, Abe Everett, Jacob Everett, J. D. Everett, Robert Edgecomb, Wil- liam Fleming, Timothy Fidler and A. Fensler.
Schools .- The first school of Monroe township was opened in 1833 by N. G. Kidd and the old schoolhouse in section 14 was built in 1834, round logs being used in its construc- tion. At present the school property of the township outside of West Cairo is valued at $15,000, and in West Cairo it is valued at $2.500. In the township there are 364 pupils enrolled and in the special district there are 114. The schools of the township are under
township supervision, F. R. Mason superin- tending the schools of Monroe township in con- nection with those of Bath. The teachers in West Cairo village in 1904-05 were: Charles W. Westbay, superintendent; James F. Snod- grass, Nora Kidd and Bertha Stotts (1906). The teachers in Monroe township in 1904-05 were : Mary E. Pittenger, Frank Beery, Clara M. Greding, F. R. Mason, L. L. Weaver, F. B. Stockler, Mabel Cotner, J. F. Snodgrass, Maggie Campbell, J. T. Cotner and Clarice Ulery.
OTTAWA TOWNSHIP
Was formed from Bath, German, Shawnee and Perry in May, 1857, and was organized on May 27th that year, with Thomas K. Jacobs, Thomas Clayton and Slemans Lisle, trustees. It has an area of 3,360 acres, of which 1,600 acres belonged originally to Bath; 1,040 acres to German; 560 acres to Perry and 160 acres to Shawnee. Ottawa township is not recog- nized officially save by the justices of the peace, the constables and the Infirmary Board. The justices of the peace at the present time are John W. Mowen and Edmund G. Dempster ; the constables, Daniel Miller and Frank Dal- zell. The area of Ottawa township is coex- tensive with the city of Lima, hence the city of Lima .takes the place of the township of Ot- tawa. In 1834 the tax duplicate of Lima was $6,108; in 1904. $10,085,889 with a tax rate of 36.8 mills.
List of Original Entries .- The following names and dates refer to the original entries in that part of Ottawa township originally in- cluded in Bath, comprising parts of sections 29 and 32 and all of sections 30 and 31 :
Section 29 .- Edward Rigdon, 1829: Eli- jah Bates, 1830: Abraham Clark and John Woodruff. 1831 : Rudolph Boose, 1832.
Section 30 .- David N. Saxton, 1830: John Woodruff. 1831 : Laussen B. Maulsby, 1832; Henry R. Moore. 1833 : Richard Grimes, 1838.
Section 31 .- James S. Daniels, 1828: Henry Lippincott. Samuel B. Lippincott. Jo- seph Edwards, John P. Mitchell, Thomas B. Van Horn and Thomas E. English, 1832.
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HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY
(The northwest quarter of section 31 was sold to the county by the State for $200, and se- lected as the site for the county seat. )
Section 32 .- Henry Lippincott and Elijah Standiford, 1830; John Woodruff, Richard Shaw, Sarah Crosby and Hulda Crosby, 1831 ; John Lippincott, 1833.
Before the formation of Ottawa township in 1857, the following named persons entered land in that part of German township that is now included in Ottawa, comprising portions of sections 25 and 35 and all of section 36.
Section 25 .- John P. Mitchell, 1831; Mor- gan Hatfield, John Hatfield, Adriel Hursey, Evan Jenkins and James Vaughn, 1832; J. H. James and John H. Kennedy, 1833.
Section 35 .- Enos Terry, 1832; John Sea- man, Otho Evans, John N. C. Schenck and John Keve, 1833.
Section 36 .- James McDonell, 1828; John Terry and James S. Daniels, 1829; John F. Cole, 1831; Absalom Brown and Alfred Hat- field, 1832.
The following are the original entries in that portion of Perry township that was made a part of Ottawa in 1857, comprising a portion of section 5 and the north half of section 6:
Section 5. - Joseph Lippincott, 1830; George Hawthorn, Thomas Hawthorn and John Ridenour, 1831; George Dugan and George Swinehart, 1832; William Lippincott, James H. Daniels, James Chenoweth and Mat- thew Dobbins, 1833.
Section 6 .- Abraham Bowers and Thomas Franklin, 1831; Jacob Rudy and Joseph Hover, 1832; John Carlisle and James Frank- lin, 1833; Charles H. Adgate, 1834.
The entries in section 1, Shawnee town- ship, the northeast quarter of which section now belongs to Ottawa, were: William Chaf- fee, John Campbell, Joseph Hover and John H. Porter, all in 1832.
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