USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 97
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CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
least half of this number dwelt in the town and this would give the town a population of 1,228. Interesting to state, the population of Springfield in 1830 was only 1,080 and it was not until 1840 that Springfield approached Urbana in size.
In the Urbana Citizen and Gazette of February 22, 1856, there appears a report of the census of the city as taken on the first of September, 1832. The editor offers no explanation as to how he came in touch with the census figures, which are reproduced in this connection in the form in which they were published in the paper.
Free White Persons.
Males.
Females.
Under 5 years of age
118
90
5 years and under 10
69
76
10 years and under 15
83
66
15 years and under 20
104
60
20 years and under 30
112
106
30 years and under 40
65
76
40 years and under 50
49
31
50 years and under 60
23
15
60 years and under 70
2
9
70 years and under 80
I
2
626
521
Total
1,147
Free Colored Persons.
Males.
Females.
Under 10 years of age
23
15
10 years and under 24
15
13
24 years and under 36
4
6
36 years and under 55
9
I
100 years and upwards
O
I
51
41
Total
92
Grand totals-Whites
1,147
Colored
92
1,239
1 1
1
1
1
1
1
1
I
1
1
I
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
980
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
It is interesting to note that the enumerator, whoever he may have been, reported that there were only three persons sick in the town. He also reports two foreigners who are not naturalized. Urbana ranked with the leading towns in the central part of Ohio until 1840, being exceeded in size only by Columbus.
URBANA FROM 1830 TO 1848.
Following 1816, and carrying the history of the town up to 1848, there are a few outstanding events to be chronicled. During this time ( 1816-48) there were two court houses built, the brick court house in the square and the front part of the present court house at the corner of North Main and Court streets. A jail was built on the present site in 1830. Churches arose during this period and many brick business houses and dwellings made their appear- ance. A study of the pen picture of Urbana drawn by Henry Howe in 1846 shows that a number of the buildings he described in that year are still stand- ing in 1917. In fact most of the brick buildings around the public square were erected before the Civil War, and likewise those on either side of North Main street up to Court street.
The present Ganson building across from the court house occupies the site of a building erected by John Hamilton and occupied by him for years as a hotel. It was his hoast that he never served a drop of intoxicating liquor at his hotel and his advertisements in the local papers informed the public that he served nothing but water as a beverage. The three other hotels continually referred to in the local papers during the early history of the county were the Weaver Tavern, now the Douglas Inn; the Ohio House. which stood where the present Odd Fellow building stands on South Main street. and the Sowles Hotel, later known as the Exchange Hotel and now known as the American House. The latter hotel boasts of a history dating back to 1811 and when the building was remodeled in 1888 a banquet was held and the post-prandial part of the banquet was largely concerned with the speakers recalling the former glories of this ancient caravansary. It was there that William Henry Harrison dined in 18440; in that hotel it is claimed that every governor of Ohio up to the accession of William Mckinley had been dined and wined. The building now occupied by the Urbana Broom Company was formerly the Washington Hotel.
CHURCH LIFE OF THE CITY.
The church history of the city is adequately treated in another chapter, but certain aspects of the religious history of the town may be noticed in this
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CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
connection. The earliest churches have been mentioned in the entertaining article of Judge Patrick. It was the custom for years, in fact, for nearly a hundred years, to have religious services in the summer in the open. The campmeetings of former years in Champaign county were famous all over this section of the state and are referred to in other places in this volume. The housing facilities of the few churches during the first few decades were insufficient to accomodate the people. In the winter it was difficult to heat the churches and for this reason the residences of the well-to-do were fre- quently used for religious gatherings. The court house also was utilized as a house of worship for many years, and there are references in the minutes of the county commissioners as late as the seventies to this use of the court room.
The Methodists erected the first large church building in the village, a hewed-log structure on in-lot No. 207, and it was in use until about 1817, when they erected a brick building on East Court street on lot 176. The old log building was later converted into an oil-mill, and was being so used when it was destroyed by the tornado of 1830.
The Methodists and the Presbyterians had the religious field to them- selves until the latter part of the thirties, although there were frequent services in the court house by ministers of other denominations, and they continue the leading denominations down to the present time. Religious controversies furnished one of the chief modes of entertainment in the thirties and forties and people attended debates on religious questions with the same zeal that they now display in attending moving-picture shows. They liked to hear discussed such abstruse questions as to how many angels could dance on the point of a cambric needle, or whether a man could be "saved" if he was not dipped completely under the water. The two branches of the Christian church ( New Light and Campbellite) frequently argued questions of doc- trine, while the Universalists were engaged in constant controversies with all the other Protestant denominations.
The colored people from the early history of the town had religious meetings of their own and in the course of time built a church, first a Meth- odist and afterwards, a Baptist, and both denominations have flourished down to the present day. The Baptists were early in the field and soon became strong enough to erect a building. Other churches entered the field from time to time and the year 1917 finds the city blessed with three Methodist churches, two Baptists churches, one Lutheran, Presbyterian, Swedenborgian, Episcopal. Church of the Nazarene, Christian Science and St. Mary's Cath-
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olic church. The churches have always been active in all reform work and during the one hundred years of the town's continuous history have always been found on the right side of good municipal government.
THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD.
A turning point in the history of the town is marked by the coming of the railroad in 1848. Up to that time the only way to get grain shipped out of the county was to haul it out in wagons; most of the live stock was driven on foot and Champaign county live stock before 1848 trod the roads north to Toledo, east to the Atlantic coast, and south to Cincinnati. There were stock buyers early in the history of Urbana, but their troubles had only begun when they had their stock collected in Urbana. But with the coming of the railroad all was changed.
The day the first train pulled into Urbana may truly be called a red- letter day in the history of the town. No longer was the town isolated from the rest of the country. It had direct connection with Sandusky on the north and with Cincinnati on the south. Before that time it took at least two weeks to drive hogs to Sandusky, but even the old wood-fired engine could make the trip with a trainload of hogs in two days. As a result business boomed in Urbana, and from that day the city has had daily communication with the markets of the world.
The benefit of the railroads to the city can not be overestimated. It affected every line of industry ; it quickened the life of the churches and the schools; the whistle of the locomotive was like a tonic, and its reverberating echoes up and down the Mad river valley put new life into the whole county. There was no longer need to haul the grain to Cincinnati or Sandusky by wagon and the patient pig was transported in a palace car. Grain houses and elevators arose along the tracks of this first railroad and stockyards were to be found at every station. The first railroad, the Big Four, was soon followed with a second road. now the Pennsylvania, while the Frie reached the city about the time of the close of the Civil War.
Early grain buyers, after the railroads came, were A. & I .. H. Magrew and Erastus Sheldon. The Magrew firm was composed of three brothers- Mathew, Lemuel and Merrill. S. B. Payne later joined the Magrews and in 1868 the firm became Eicholtz, Payne & Magrew and this firm continued in business for nearly thirty years. The Sheldon elevator later passed into the hands of John A. Mosgrove, William Wiley and F. A. Winslow and after the death of Winslow the firm continued as Mosgrove & Wiley. The next owners of this elevator were Irving Blose and John Edmonson, but the new owners were not successful and the Woodcock Company took over the ele-
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vator a year later, and subsequently E. T. Woodcock became the sole owner. The elevators have changed hands from time to time and in 1917 they are in the hands, respectively, of Blose Brothers, the T. G. Powers Company and the Urbana City Mills.
In the latter part of the sixties an elevator was established along the Pennsylvania road in Urbana, to which was attached the first regular stock- yards, commonly called at that time the "cattle-yards." The elevator part of the concern was the work of E. M. Bennett & Company, later changed to Ross, Bennett & Company and still later to Blose, Bennett & Company. This elevator subsequently fell into the hands of E. M. Bennett.
Two other events of importance marked the decade from 1850 to 1860. One was the establishment of the University of Urbana by the Church of the New Jerusalem and the other was the beginning of Oak Dale cemetery.
URBANA IN 1858.
There are still in existence a few copies of a map of Champaign county which made its appearance in 1858. This was a wall map, showing the town- ships in color, together with the villages, railroads and other features usually found on such maps, as well as plats of the different towns of the county and a directory of the business and professional interests of each town. In the case of Urbana there is given an interesting tabulation of county officials, churches and ministers of the town, physicians, attorneys, bankers, etc., all of which is given in the appended table. In many cases the addresses of business and professional men are given and they are included. The com- plete list of officials, business men, etc., as it appears on the Champaign county map of 1858 follows:
County Officers-Probate judge, Samuel V. Baldwin, East Scioto street ; clerk of the court, John Russel, 97 Scloto street ; sheriff, John Clark, Jr., 157 Scioto street : auditor, S. P. Talbott, 166 Locust street ; treasurer, James B. Armstrong, 9 Court street : recorder. D. M. Fisher. 496 Phrlar street ; prosecuting attorney, John 8. Leedom, south- west corner Reynolds and Walnut streets; surveyor, C. W. L .. Taylor, 138 Scioto street : commissioners, Archibald Stewart (Salem township), Philip Comer (Concord township), and John W. Davis, Mad River township; coroner (City Marshal). Jacob Zumbro, 178 Court street ; infirmary directors, W. H. Fyffe, J. H. Patrick, William Sampson.
Churches and Ministers-First Presbyterian, West Court, L. H. Long, 38 Church street ; First Methodist Episcopal, 24 North Main, M. Dustin, 25 Church street; Second Methodist Episcopal, 136 Water. I. C. Kingsley, 175 Court street : Baptist, 165 Court. [no minister given] ; United Presbyterian, Market street, C. T. McCoughan. Female Seminary ; New Jerusalem, corner South Main and Reynolds, J. R. Stuart. College Way. University Grounds; Evangelical Lutheran, 11 Court, M. B. Little; Roman Catholic. John street. A. F. Grogham ; Episcopal, 160 Scioto, [no minister given] ; African Method- ist Episcopal, 133 Market, [no minister given].
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Physicians-E. P. Fyffe, office 40 Miami, home 60 Market street; Adam Mosgrove, office Miami, home 40 Miami street ; J. M. Mosgrove, office Miami, home 40 Miami street; J. B. Stansbury, west side Public Square, home 150 Market street; J. C. Brown, 2 North Main street (upstairs), home Scioto street ; J. S. Carter, southeast corner Public Square, home Scioto street.
Attorneys-J. H. Young, 9 East Court street, home High street: Ichabod Corwin, North Main street, home 77 Water street; J. H. James, 881 Main street, home High street ; L Gelger, Cundiff block, 163 North Main; J. D. Burnett, Cundiff block. 163 North Main ; J. Deuel, 96 Scioto street, home 186 Church street; W. F. Mosgrove, home Church street : James Taylor, 9 Court street, home 32 North Main street.
Banks and Bankers-Champaign County Bank, southeast corner Public Square, H. P. Espy, cashier ; Farmers Bank, 163 North Main street, J. S. Clark, cashier; Glenn's Bank, 8' North Main street, E. Glenn, cashier.
Merchants-Moore & Ambrose, 2 North Main street; Alfred Brown, Cundiff block. 163 North Main street ; McDonald, Read & Company, North Main street ; Ross & Hitt, 3 Public Square; Brand & Sons, 8 North Main street: Simeon Weaver, northeast corner Public Square.
Hardware Dealers-J. H. Patrick, 2 North Main street; W. M. Young, 154 Scioto street.
Grain and Cradle Makers-J. M. Gardner, 12 Court street.
Agriculture and Seed Store-Jamison & Zumbro, North Main street.
Produce Merchanta-I .. H. & M. Magrew, Miami street, at railrond; Mosgrove, Wiley & Winslow, pork packers, Miami street.
Gardners and Nurserymen-C. H. & P. H. Murphy, Oakland street.
Flouring Mill-Bowers & Igou, corner Russel and Church streets.
Merchant Tailors and Clothing Storca-Griffith Ellis & Co., 2 North Main street ; Robert Given, 48 Public Square; Moses Stadler & Company, wholesale and retail, 2 Miaml street : Henry A. Schloss, southwest corner Miami and Public Square.
Dealers in Improred Copper Lightning Roda-C. H. Ward, South Main street.
Grocery and Provision Dealers-Frank Houston, wholesale and retail, south side Public Square; Thomas H. Berry, northeast corner Public Square; J. M. Brown, north- east corner Public Square; H. Crabill, corner North Main and Ward streets; Anton Kauss, saloon, northwest corner Public square: George Moore, wholesale and retail, 2 Miami street.
Drugs and Medicines-Dr. J. B. Stansbury & Son, northwest corner Public Square; Carter & Anderson, southeast corner Public Square: Kauffman & Nelson, 2 Public Square.
Books and Stationery-Deuel & Ruth, 163 North Main street; E. S. Richards, south- east corner Public Square.
Newspaper and Job Offices-Citizen and Gazette, southeast corner Public Square, J. Saxton, editor; Free Press, corner South Main and Public Square, Happersett & Sampson, editors.
Hats, Caps and Furs-Decatur Talbott, northwest corner Public Square.
Clocks. Watches and Jewelry-E. D. Johnson, southeast corner Public Square.
Barber Shops-Joseph W. Hendley, 1 North Main street ; Peter Josse, 8 North Main street.
Cabinet Warerooms-R. R. & C. F. Caldwell, corner Court and High streets.
Undertakers-W. C. Stevenson, 71 South Main street ; E. B. & W. R. Patrick, 8 North Main street.
Stores, Copper and Tinware-Helmick & Strothers, 1 North Main street.
Bakers and Confectioners-S. K. McCord & Company, 8 South Main street.
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CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
China, Glass and Queensicare-Stansbury & Baldwin, southwest corner Public Square.
Carriage and Wagon Factories-G. W. & R. M. Hunt, end Court street; Warren & Gaumer, 198 Church street; J. S. McClellan, 103 Scloto street ; Patrick Farquhar, South Main street ; Henry Funk, 196 Church street.
Blacksmitha-John Hurd, 183 and 184 North Main street; Nathan Reese, Locust ; John 8. McClellan, 103 Locust street.
Patent and Enamel Leather Manufactory-Winslow & Beach, 118-120 Market street. Saddle and Harness Manufactory-C. B. Coulter, 163 Miami street.
Boots, Shoes and Leather-M. Staley, southwest corner Public Square; W. V. Col- well, lot 55, South Main street ; J. B. & I. B. Happersett, north corner of the Public Square.
Justice of the Peace-E. L. Small, 8 North Main street; M. Rhodes, 8 North Main street.
Hotels-Fuller House, W. T. Fuller, Scioto street ; Oblo House, Parry Grove, South Main street ; S. D. & O. A. R. Eating House, J. H. Hubbell.
Soup, Glue and Candle Manufactories-Ambrose & Hovey, one mile west of Urbana. Meat Markets-Samuel Ward, stall In market house.
Livery Stables-W. F. Jenkins, 9 Scioto street ; W. H. Ganson, 16 Court street.
Ambrotype Artists-M. L. Albright, Cundiff block; G. W. Collins, 154 Seloto street.
Dentists-B. A. Rose, 154 Scioto street ; F. M. Lee, 1 North Main street.
Insurance Agents-James S. Clark, Farmer block ; L. Geiger, Cundiff block.
Carpenters and Joiners-Peter Beam, pumpmaker, 105 Scioto street; W. Stover, 214 Walnut street.
Flour Store-W. Hamilton, 2 North Main street.
Express Office-W. Hamilton, 2 North Main street.
Stone and Brick Mason-H. M. Chew, South Main street.
Brickmakers-D. H. Hovey, Scioto street : II. C. Hovey, Miami street.
Lunar Oil and Lamp Store-I .. Hunter & Company, southeast corner Public Square.
Miscellaneous-Armstrong, James B., civil engineer; Baldwin, W., 206 Ward street ; Barchus, L. H., 65 Market street ; Beach, R., South Main street ; Bowe, W., 5 Russell street ; Boyd, Alfred, 289 Church street ; Brown, J. H., agent C. P. & I. R. R .: Bryan. J. H., 36 Church street; Deuel, A. C., superintendent Urbana schools; Fithian. M., 154 Scioto street ; French, S., 4 North Main street ; Goodrich, B. F., auctioneer ; Gump, John, 31 Church street ; Guthrie, J. V., Main street ; Happersett, I. B., 101 Scioto street ; Hill, J., Jr., civil engineer ; Hill, Joseph H., miller at depot ; Hitt, John W., northwest of town; Hitt, S. W., 21 Court street ; Hunter. James, 208 North Main street ; Hunter, Louis, south- west part of town ; Johnson, Isaac, 10-11 Court street ; Johnson, J. A., North Main street ; Kanaga, F. C., northeast part of town; Marsh, L. L., tailor, 1 South Main street ; Matthews, S. N., 203 North Main street : Moore, W. B., South Main street; Mosgrove, J. A., corner Miami and High streets; McDonald, D., 14 Court street ; MeDonald. H. D., 1 North Main street : McDonald, W., 10 Court street : McCullah, W., 4-5 Ward street ; Poffenbarger, J., 40 North Main street ; Powell, J. H., stock dealer ; Read, Thomas, Scioto street ; Roof. C. W., 177 Court street ; Ross, T. B., Water street ; Ryan, Christopher, North Main street ; Stansbury, E., 206 Ward street; Stansbury. James R., Miami street ; Steward, J. P., carriage-trimmer, 30 Church street : Stuart, Alexander, machinist, 15 Ward street: Smith, G. E., 35 South Main street ; Sowles, D. W., 144 South Main street; Ward, James, 207 Church street ; Warnock Rev. Davis, Light street ; Wallace, S. H. tencher: Weaver, Lemuel, Scloto street : Williams, M. G., professor Urbana University ; Wiley, E. G., teller Champaign County Bank ; Wiley, W., 35 Church street ; Winslow. 8. H., 39 Church street ; Wood, Alvin, University ground; Wright, F. M., state auditor.
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CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
TWO DECADES, 1848-68.
The two decades from 1848 to 1868 carry the story of Urbana through the Civil War and up to the time that it became a city. This period witnessed the erection of most of the brick business blocks in the city and the beginning of real industrial life. The manufacturing industries established during that period are referred to in the latter part of this chapter. None of them is operating in the city today, with the exception of the broom-corn factories and flouring-mill. All the foundries and the plants established for the manu- facture of reapers, plows, drills and the like have long since disappeared. The Civil War did not make any appreciable difference in the growth of the town; at least, not more than was experienced by all other towns in the state. A few hundred men, nearly all young men, enlisted from the town, but the most of them returned at the close of the war. It cannot be said that the war had any serious effect on the growth of the city.
BANKS OF URBANA.
Another feature of the two decades from 1848 to 1868 was the rise of the modern system of banking. There had been a bank of some kind in the town since its early days. In 1816 John Reynolds and others established a financial institution of some kind, which operated under the name of the Urbana Banking Company and it seemed to have continued on down through the years until some time in the forties. About that time an insurance com- pany appeared in the town which combined insurance and banking in a way which did not prove very successful along either line. The forties and fifties witnessed some high finance on the part of Col. John H. James which finally resulted in disaster. The records are not explicit as to what happened in the fifties in connection with James and the local financial situation, but the final result is fairly well defined. A glance at the plat of Urbana as it looks today will show a wide stretch of lots labeled "Depositors Addition". This addi- tion represents a part of the salvage of the people of Urbana who had money in the James bank. Just how much money was lost by the people of the county will never be known, but some of his depositors were partly placated by getting at least a town lot as a reminder that they had had money in his bank.
But there were successful banks which arose during this period. James B. Armstrong started a private bank which later became a national bank, and one of the Glenn brothers started another private bank. The 1851 con-
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CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
stitution of the state provided for a new kind of bank under state supervision and one of these state-controlled banks appeared in Urbana, only to become a national bank in after years. It might be said that banking in Urbana has been generally free from the disasters which have befallen some banks in so many other cities.
URBANA AS A CITY, 1868-1890.
The civic development of the city has been noticed. It is certain that the city did not have the five thousand people credited to it in 1868, and it was not until several years later that the population really reached that number. The city has now completed nearly fifty years of history, and will be half a century old in 1918. For the purpose of the present discussion this period is divided into two parts: From 1868 to 1890, and from 1890 down to the present time. The year 1890 is taken as a dividing line for several reasons, but chiefly for the reason that it marks the time when the city began to engage in city expansion. It also marks the time when the city began the introduc- tion of the several public utilities which it now enjoys. All the public util- ities which the city now has, with the exception of the waterworks, have been introduced since 1890. The city did not have its ten-year siege with the waterworks plant until after 1890.
The years from 1868 to 1890 saw a large number of new industries started in the city, but several which had been previously in operation were closed. The largest concern of this period was the Urbana Machine Works which made its appearance about 1870. Later the plant was started which developed into the Illinois Car Company. A multiplicity of iron and steel plants of one kind and another tried to get started during this period, but they failed one by one-all except the car shops. It may be said that all of the present indus- trial plants of the city in 1917, with the exception of the car shops, the broom factories and flouring-mill. are developments of the past two decades.
This period ( 1868-1890) saw the rise of one more bank-the Third National Bank. It also saw the beginning of all the building and loan asso- ciations which are now in the city. Three such organizations are still in existence and they are among the strongest institutions of their kind in the state. Reference should be made here to a local insurance company-the Western Mutual-which has been in continuous and successful operation since 1846. The city now has three banks, three building and loan associations and one local insurance company. It may thus be seen that the city is well provided with financial institutions. The good which has been done by the
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local building and loan associations is incalculable ; they have made it possible for hundreds of families to own their own homes who would otherwise never have been able to have acquired them.
URBANA IN 1878.
There is nothing romantic about an ordinary city directory, but it really has great historical value, and especially after a lapse of years. Fortunately there has been preserved a complete business and professional directory of the city as it appeared in 1878. To those who were living in Urbana at that time this should prove very interesting. It will be noticed that very few industrial establishments then in existence are in the city in 1917. There are many names which are familiar today, but in different lines of activity. Many professions and industrial establishments found in the city forty years ago are no longer to be found, while several now existing were unknown in the seventies. The saloon, the tannery, the soap and glue industry, etc., are gone forever, but the 1917 city directory lists osteopaths, building and loan associations, garages, paper and straw board factories, etc., all of which were unknown to the people of 1878. The complete list follows :
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