USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 84
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FARMERS AND MERCHANTS BANKING COMPANY OF CHRISTIANSBURG.
The Farmers and Merchants Banking Company, of Christiansburg, was organized in March, 1907. and was opened for business on the first of the following April, with J. T. R. Wilson as president and C. B. Lair, cashier. Mr. Wilson continued as president, but Mr. Lair has been succeeded by Roy Z. Powers. as cashier. Bert Richeson is bookkeeper. The bank was incor- porated with a capital stock of $15,000 and during the ten years of its exist- ence has built up a surplus fund of $3,500. Its deposits have been averaging about $150,000 during the past year. The bank owns its own building and has comfortable and convenient quarters for carrying on a general banking business.
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CENTRAL BANK OF MECHANICSBURG.
The Central Bank of Mechanicsburg was organized on January 6, 1890, and was opened for business on the first of the following March. The first officers were Chandler Mitchell, president; C. R. Hunter, vice-president; P. J. Burnham, cashier. At the death of Mitchell on September 24, 1892, C. R. Hunter was elected president and J. H. Burnham, vice-president. At the death of J. H. Burnham, January 17, 1910, J. F. Kimball was elected vice- president.
The bank has been unusually prosperous, a fact which is strikingly shown by the fact that when the estate of J. H. Burnham was probated his one thousand dollars worth of stock in the bank was valued at seven thousand dollars and was sold on that basis. P. J. Burnham has been cashier of the bank since it started. E. W. Johnson has been assistant cashier during all of these years, and within the past few years two other assistant cashiers have been added, John P. Burnham, son of the cashier, and Robert Mitchell, son of C. M. Mitchell, one of the directors.
This is a private bank, unincorporated, but it is doubtful whether there is a stronger bank in the county. Its last report showed assets of about a million dollars. Its stockholders own between nine and ten thousand acres of the best land in Madison and Champaign counties and every acre is held for the liability of the bank. While the bank is one of the youngest in the county it is at the same time one which is looked upon as a leader. It is a member of the Private Bankers Association, Ohio Bankers Association and American Bankers Association, P. J. Burnham, the cashier, holding an appointive office in two of these associations. The bank is a depository for township, county and state funds: its business extends over many miles in every direction and its credit is growing stronger with each succeeding year.
FARMERS BANK OF MECHANICSBURG.
The Farmers Bank of Mechanicsburg, Ohio, was organized first as a private bank in 1865. by R. D. Williams and Thomas Davis. In 1884 it was decided to extend the business of the bank by incorporating it as a state bank. In that year it was so chartered with one hundred thousand dollars, cash capital. The following composed the board of directors: R. D. Williams, Thomas Davis, V. Hunter, Walter A. Dun, and J. N. Shane. The officers were R. D. Williams, president, and Thomas Davis, cashier. These men retained their positions until 1894, when both died. Dr. J. H. Clark was then elected president and remained in that capacity until his death in 1901.
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J. C. Sceva then became president and still (1917) serves the bank in that capacity. On the death of Thomas Davis in 1894. F. M. Clemans was elected cashier, and has since held that office. The bank's board of directors in 1917 are: F. M. Clemans, W. HI. Hodge, J. C. Sceva, William Saxbe, Glen Rutan, B. F. Hull and A. G. Hopkins.
The bank has experienced a steady and substantial growth, it being designated as a depository for state funds in 1905. It now has seventy-eight stockholders who are owners of more than twenty thousand acres of land in the vicinity of Mechanicsburg: a condition which places the bank on a solid and permanent foundation. At present its depositors number eleven hun- dred. The condition of the bank in August, 1917, is set forth in the follow- ing statement :
RESOURCES.
C'nsb and exchange
$145.000.00
Municipal bonds
22.000.00
Loans and discounts
302,500.00
Fixtures
1,000,00
Total
$470,500,00
LIABILITIES.
Capital
$100.000.00
Deposits
325,000.00
Surplus
40,000.00
Undistributed profits
4.000,00
Current earnings
1,500,00
Total
$470,500.00
PEOPLES BANK OF WOODSTOCK.
The Peoples Bank, a private bank of Woodstock, is one of the more recently organized financial institutions of Champaign county. It was organ- ized in May, 1906, and since that time has had a successful career. The bank, which owns its own building, began business with a ten-thousand-dollar capitalization, which has not been increased.
When the bank was first organized. D. R. Kimball was president ; W. C. Fullington. vice-president : S. F. Burnham, cashier, and W. C. Kimball, C. P. Kimball, F. G. Fullington, O. M. Clark and George Hahn, directors. Since the bank opened its doors for business a few changes have taken place in the personnel of its officers and directors. At present, D. R. Kimball is presi- dent; W. C. Fullington, vice-president ; A. R. Connor, cashier, and F. G. Fullington, W. C. Kimball, C. P. Kimball, Henry Westfall, and George Hahn, directors. Since the bank was organized, it has had but one president, D. R.
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Kimball: and two cashiers, S. F. Burnham ( May, 1906, to August 1, 1913), and A. R. Connor, from August 1, 1913. to the present.
THE WOODSTOCK BANK.
On April 4, 1877, the Woodstock Bank was organized with A. P. How- ard as president and George Riddle as cashier. In 1880 Moulton & Riddle became the owners of the bank. On October 1, 1883, True Martin assumed control of the concern and organized the present bank, of which he ever since has been cashier. At the time of that reorganization E. P. Black was elected president of the bank. He was succeeded by D. W. Sharp, upon whose death H. D. Martin, present incumbent, was elected president. The Woodstock Bank has a capital of $15.000: surplus and profits, $10,000, and deposits, $50,000.
The first banking institution in Woodstock was a building and loan asso- ciation organized by L. C. Herrick, A. P. Howard and George Riddle, about 1870. This institution voluntarily suspended business about three years later and the village was thereafter without banking facilities until the organiza- tion of the Woodstock Bank in 1877.
CENTRAL NATIONAL BANK OF ST. PARIS.
The Central National Bank of St. Paris was organized in 1906 with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. The first officers of the bank were: David McMorran, president ; G. L. Smith, vice-president, and B. A. Taylor, cashier. The only change in the officials has been in the vice-presidency, J. F. Printz having succeeded G. I .. Smith in this office on September 6, 1916. As the bank's business increased in volume, it became necessary to employ an assistant cashier and G. G. Jones was elected to that position on January 18, 1911. The directors include the officials and J. H. Batdorf, Charles Heck, R. M. Kite, and Cephas Atkinson. The strong financial backing and the excellent business ability of the directors and officers has been a large fac- tor in the success which the bank has achieved.
The Central National Bank is one of the most recently organized banks in the county and its prosperous course thus far promises for it a long career of usefulness to the community. It owns the building in which it conducts business, which is always carried on with its patrons with the marked court- esy consistent with sound business and good banking practice. From its last bank statement, which follows, a conception of its stability as a financial insti- tution can be gained.
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RESOURCES.
Loans and dsicounts
$228,908.14
Overdrafts
921.20
U. S. and other bonds.
67.914.33
Bonds to secure [. 8. deposits.
3,000.00
Banking house
12,800.00
Cash and due from banks
58.715.08
5% redemption fund
2,500.00
Total resources
$374,759.44
LIABILITIES.
Capital stock
$ 50,000.00
Surplus and undivided profits
20,985.44
Circulation
50,000.00
Dividends unpaid
36.00
Deposits
273.339.11
U. S. deposits
398.89
Total liabilities
$3374,759.44
BANK OF NORTH LEWISBURG.
The Bank of North Lewisburg was organized on May 1, 1872, by Hud- son Haines, who was elected president : James Carder, cashier; E. S. Cal- lender, and J. I. Callender. These men conducted the business until May 15. 1876, when the company was reorganized and increased by adding fifteen directors, all residents of the county.After the reorganization, the officers were: W. D. Sibley, president ; S. Clark, vice-president ; and E. S. Callender, cashier. The presidents of the bank who have served it since its organization are Hudson Haines, W. D. Sibley and S. Clark. The officers of the bank at present are S. Clark, president, and J. C. Thompson, cashier.
In 1881, the bank was doing an excellent business with a paid-up stock of $25,000 and assets, $500,000. Later the operations of the bank were extended by adding to the capital stock which is now $30,000. At present the bank owns the building in which it conducts its business. Its stability as a financial institution is well known throughout the county.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF ST. PARIS.
The First National Bank of St. Paris was organized on July 15, 1880, with a paid-up stock of $52,100. The charter bears the date August 2, 1880. and the bank opened its doors for business on November 8, of that
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year, in a handsome new building on Springfield street. The first officers of the bank were: Lambert Pond, president; E. V. Rhoads, cashier; Henry Sayler, vice-president. The following men composed the board of directors : John Poorman, G. W. Kite. William Michael, H. Sayler and Lambert Pond.
The following are the names of the presidents, in order, with the dates of their service: Lambert Pond, from the date of organization to January 10. 1884: John Poorman from January 10, 1884, to January 16, 1885; D. J. Brubaker. January 16, 1885, to April 4, 1906, and I. P. Kizer, from May I, 1905 to the present. At this time ( 1917) the following men serve the bank in official capacity : I. P. Kizer, president: Fred Black, vice-president; W. L. Hunt. cashier, and J. T. Middleton, assistant cashier.
Since the bank was launched upon its career in the latter part of 1880, it has enjoyed a steady growth and wholesome prosperity. In the thirty- seven years of its existence it has served the interests of the public with courtesy consistent with good business and sound banking. Its stability as a financial institution, which is well-known throughout the county, is set forth in the following condensed report of its condition at the close of business on May 1, 1917, as rendered to the comptroller of currency :
RESOURCES.
Loans and discounts
$325.296.20
Overdrafts
2,140,52
U. S. bonds for circulation
52,100.00
U. S. certificates.
5,000.00
Bonds and securities
57.354.03
Banking house and fixtures
6.000.00
Federal reserve bank stock.
3.150.00
Cash on hands and due from banks.
131,275.77
Redemption fund
2,605,00
$584,921.52
LIABILITIES.
Capital stock
$ 52.100.00
Surplus fund
52.100.00
Undivided profits
31.700.73
$135,000.73
Circulation
52.100.00
Dividends unpaid
1,802.00
Demand deposits
$339.174.78
Time deposits
55,854.01
305,028.79
$584,921.52
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CHAPTER XXXI.
TRANSPORTATION : HIGHWAYS, STEAM AND ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.
One of the first problems confronting the early settlers of Champaign county was the building of roads. With the settlement of the county there arose the need for some means of communication between the different com- munities, and this need was met by the local authorities as fast as possible. It was natural for the first settlers to locate along the rivers and navigable streams, or along some of the many Indian trails which were to be found scattered at irregular intervals over the county. Otherwise they would have had no means of communication with the outside world.
The construction of roads and bridges has been in the hands of the county commissioners since the beginning of the county, although during the last few years the Legislature has provided a state highway department which, however, is more or less under the general direction of the county commis- sioners. An explanation of the present status of highways is given later on in the chapter.
A perusal of the records of the county commissioners from the organ- ization of the county in 1805 down to the present time shows that more than half of their deliberations have had to do with the construction of highways and bridges. Many of the sessions of the board are wholly taken up with the consideration of new roads, the alteration of roads already established, the building of bridges, hearing of claimants for damages on account of new roads, overflowing streams or faulty bridges. As might be expected the roads in the county for many years after it was organized were little more than trails through the forest, over the hills, around the swamps and across the prairies. Most of the earliest roads simply followed the old Indian trails and were seldom wider than would accommodate the passage of one wagon, it being necessary in the thickly wooded parts to cut out here and there a wider place in the trail in order to allow two wagons to pass each other.
HEAVY EXPENSE FOR BRIDGES.
There are many factors to be taken into consideration in the building of roads and certainly Champaign county had a number of them to contend
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with in its early history. The fact that practically the entire county was densely forested made it very expensive and at the same time difficult to hew a road out. Again the county is crossed by a number of rivers and streams of considerable size, and their bridging has entailed a heavy expense on the county. The presence of a river the size of the Mad river costs the county thousands of dollars, not only to keep it bridged, but also to keep it free from obstructions. The commissioners' records throughout the whole history of the county refer constantly to Mad river and every reference means the expenditure of money. At the present time there are eleven bridges across the river, averaging about one hundred feet in length, and costing from eight hundred to twelve hundred dollars each. The date of the construction of the first bridge across Mad river has not been ascertained, but it was probably in the latter part of the forties. It is estimated that there are now at least three thousand bridges and culverts in the county, and a total road mileage of eight hundred miles.
Another factor which confronts the road builder in Champaign county is the county's topography, the county being decidedly rolling in many places and as decidedly swampy in many others. For this reason there are many of the roads of the county which still follow the same general direction of the old Indian trails which they superseded. The Indians made their traces on the principle of following the path of least resistance, and the first settlers of the county followed in their footsteps-and in many cases the automo- biles of 1917 are coursing down the same path trod by the Indian centuries ago. The trail used by the Indian was "corduroyed" by the county commis- sioners in the forties and macadamized only within the past few years.
STATE ROADS.
From the beginning of the history of the county there were what were known as "state" roads and "county" roads, the former being those which extended beyond the limits of the county and the latter those within the county. Within the first decade (1805-1815) there were a number of so-called state roads, no fewer than ten being provided for prior to 1815. The descriptions of these roads as set forth in the commissioners' records are characterized by an ambiguity which must have left the settlers in a maze. The first description of a state road on record reads as follows:
STATE ROAD FROM DAYTON TO FRANKLINTON
State road leading from Dayton to Franklinton through Champaign county com meneing at the county line between Greene and Champaign at the 22 Mile running N
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161% E 4 mile to the 26 mile tree thence East 15 mile through Springfield on the Hill East of the town then Commencing on the line between Franklin and Champaign county 24 Chains at the 30 Mile tree from Franklinton in Franklin county South 80 W 1 mile thence 8 62 W 2 mlle thence west 1 mille thence $ $2 W 6 miles thence 8 34 West 2 mile thence 8 82 W 2 mile thence 8 71 west 1 mile thence 8 71% mile to the Hill on the east of Springfield.
This is the first road described in the records and is reproduced verbatim, with all its ambiguities and uncertainties. It will be noticed that no men- tion is made of the width of the road or any other particular other than its general direction. The Franklinton thus named is none other than the pres- ent city of Columbus. The road as above defined does not cross the present route of Champaign county, but passes through that part of Clark county which was a part of Champaign county until the former was organized in 1818. This road is given as definite a delineation as any of the early roads in the county and gives a good idea of the haphazard methods of the sur- veyors who laid out the roads a century ago.
Another description of an early road which is of peculiar interest to Champaign county is taken from the records at Columbus. This record is reproduced here as it was transcribed on the records at Wilmington, Ohio.
THE KENTON TRACE.
The Kenton Trace-This trace commences on the bank of the Ohio river, opposite Maysville, and terminated at Urbana, Ohio. It was laid ont by Gen. Simon Kenton, and passed through Williamsburg. New Market, Morgantown, Wilmington, Washington (C. H.) and thence to Urbana.
This road is given even less definite location than the road previously described. But, indefinite as these early surveyed roads appear on the records, they were actually laid out although there is no way of telling how the makers of the road were able to follow the directions of the surveyor. Evidently they must have combined clairvoyance with a knowledge of surveyors' notes.
In 1917 every road which is repaired, altered or newly ordered, is sur- veyed with an exactness which accounts for every fractional foot of its length; and not only is it set forth in writing, but a plat of the road is made a part of the official record. There has been as much improvement in meth- ods of surveying as in any other line of public work and the time has long since passed when all the surveyor needed a bottle of whiskey, a compass and a rod pole.
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AN EARLY ROAD.
The beginning of the present fine Urbana-Piqua highway dates from an act of the Legislature in 1847. This act authorized the Urbana-Piqua Turn- pike Company to build a gravel road between the two towns and it was actually completed two years later. The eleven miles in Champaign county cost three thousand six hundred dollars and the money for its construction was raised by selling shares of stock at one hundred dollars per share. Laborers on the road received sixty cents a day ; teams were paid one dollar and a quarter. The Maddens constructed most of the road in Champaign county. The gravel came largely from the creek beds nearest the road. In 1873 the com- missioners of Champaign county bought from Joseph Wooley, that section of the road lying in this county, paying him three thousand three hundred dollars for the entire eleven miles. The company charged toll from the time the road was built until it passed into the hands of the county : three cents a mile for four-horse teams: two cents for two-horse teams; one cent for singles; three-fourths of a cent a head for all stock driven over it. This was the usual rate for all the toll roads in the county.
No history of the highways of the state would be complete without men- tion of the toll roads which once were found through the length and breadth of the state. It is not certain when the first toll road appeared in history, but it is recorded that Edward III of England was instrumental in establishing such a road as early as 1346. Toll roads later were established throughout the British Isles, and it was from the mother country that the idea was brought to America. A toll road was in operation in Pennsylvania in 1792 and the first one appeared in Ohio in Trumbull county in 1809. It is not cer- tain when the first toll road made its appearance in Champaign county, but they were in operation in the thirties. During that decade the Legislature provided that county commissioners might assist in the building of turnpikes by purchasing stock in private companies. People were anxious to get roads and were willing to take advantage of any legislation which would enable them to secure better communication with the outside world. At one time Champaign county was a network of toll roads, and it cost as much to travel these pay-as-you-drive roads as it does to travel in the best steam or electric trains in the state today. Turnpike companies were authorized by law until in the eighties, during which decade the construction of toll roads was dis- continued. Laws were passed providing for their absorption by the county and as late as 1910 a law was enacted which made it mandatory for all
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counties to take over all toll roads within their limits, and, if necessary, issue bonds to effect the purchase. As a matter of fact there are a number of counties in the state in 1917 that are paying interest on bonds which have been issued for the sole purpose of buying toll roads, and in some counties these bonds extend until after 1930.
SOMETHING ABOUT ROAD LAWS.
The building of public highways in Ohio is hedged about with a multi- plicity of enactments. From the earliest days of the state down to 1915 the road laws of the state were a miscellaneous patchwork of legislative acts, the result of more than a century of legislation. Prior to 1915 those interested in good roads had been demanding that the state revise its road laws, but it was impossible to get the legislative sanction necessary to bring this about. It is fruitless to follow the vagaries of highway legislation since the first act was passed on August 1, 1792, by the Legislature of the old Northwest Territory. Subsequent road laws were passed by the same body on October 28, 1799, December 13. 1799, and January 23, 1802. This latter act was in force when the first state constitution was adopted in 1802, and consequently was the first road law in the state of Ohio.
TRANSPORTATION.
During the period of the old constitution ( 1802-51) there were hun- dreds of road laws placed on the statute books of the state, but most of these were of local application only and not concerned with highways at large. After the adoption of the 1851 constitution there was a considerable change in the management of highways, but the law until 1912 still permitted road taxes to be worked out by those against whom they were assessed. In 1892 an effort was made to provide a highway committee, or rather a commission, which was to investigate general road conditions in the state and make such recommendations to the Legislature as they might see fit. It is interesting to note that this commission of 1892 reported that public highways were matters of purely local concern, and that their maintenance was a matter which should be left in the hands of the local authorities. It is this idea that has been responsible for the backward condition of the roads of the state. Not until 1904 did Ohio awaken to the necessity of establishing a centralized highway department.
With the legislative act of 1904 the state started on a new era of road
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making. Between 1851 and 1904 the state made no appropriation for roads, but on the other hand contributed freely of legislative acts to assist the local authorities. The act of 1904, supplemented by acts passed up until 1915, placed road construction in the state on a new basis altogether. The most revolutionary change was brought about by an amendment to the constitution in 1912 which abolished the principle of working out the road tax. This antiquated system is fast disappearing all over the United States, and Ohio was one of the last states to rid itself of this obnoxious system.
THE CASS HIGHWAY ACT.
The present system of highway construction is based on the legis- lative act of 1915, known as the Cass highway act, a comprehensive act covering ninety-two pages of the Laws of Ohio, ( 105-106, pp. 574-666). The act, according to its title, is "To provide a system of highway laws for the state of Ohio, and to repeal all sections of the General Code, and acts inconsistent herewith." It is not possible to go into detail to set forth the various provisions of this act, but its general provisions may be briefly summed up as follows :
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