History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 15

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302

USA > Ohio > Crawford County > History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 15

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It was in this old court room that Gen. Wil- liam Henry Harrison spoke in 1840, when he was campaigning for the presidency. He was accompanied at Bucyrus by Robert C. Schenck, a rising young attorney of Dayton, and a brilliant orator, who later became a General in the Civil War, a member of Con- gress, and minister to England. During his stay at Bucyrus Gen. Harrison stopped at the hotel kept by Samuel Norton, where the Zeigler Mill now stands on North Sandusky avenue. Richard M. Johnson, the Democratic candidate for Vice President, spoke at Bucyrus during the same campaign. He was accom- panied by Senator William Allen and Gov. Wilson Shannon. When they left here for the meeting at Mansfield, they were accom- panied by George Sweney, the Congressman from this district. The difficulties of cam- paigning in those days may be judged from the fact that the Vice Presidential candidate spoke at Bucyrus on Friday, and in company with Allen, Shannon and Sweney drove to the home of William Patterson this side of Mans- field where they rested on Sunday for the Mansfield meeting of Monday. A vice presi-

dential candidate traveling only 26 miles and filling two dates in four days!

Although the court house was commenced in 1830, it was 1834 before it was completed to the satisfaction of the commissioners, and ac- cepted by them. It is certain that the con- tractors were as slow then as they sometimes are today, as it was during the erection of the jail in 1839 the commissioner's journal con- tained the following terse entry :

"Commissioners met today to see if the new jail was done, and of course it wasn't done. On motion adjourned."

In these days of long drawn out reports, one turns with pure joy to an entry which in three lines expresses the exact state of affairs with a side swipe at the dilatory contractors thrown in.

The old log jail erected in 1827 was de- stroyed by fire in 1831, burned up by Andrew Hesser, who was being confined there as a lunatic. Its destruction involved also that of the records of the county commissioners, for it was in this building that that body held their meetings. After the fire, in searching among the ruins, bones were found, and the officials being satisfied that the unfortunate Hesser had lost his own life in the burning of the jail, the bones were carefully gathered up and given Christian burial. Some time later the citizens were astonished when an officer arrived from Wooster, bringing with him the identical Andy supposed to have been burned up, and whose remains were known to have been decently buried. It appears Andy had been discovered at Wooster sitting on a store box, and as his talk and actions showed he was of unsound mind, he was taken in charge, and learning from him that he was from Bucyrus they brought him home. Andy was quite amused at the astonishment of the citizens, and told them: "Well, you folks call Andy crazy; but what are you? A set of men who find a lot of old sheep bones, and say they belong to Andy, and all the time Andy is in the grove behind a tree laughing at you." When Andy died and where he was finally buried is not known, but for many years the place in the graveyard over the river where the sheep bones were mouldering to decay was humor- ously pointed out as the grave of Andy Hesser.

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

At the time of the burning of the jail in October, 1831, the new court house was in proc- ess of erection, and the county could not af- ford to erect a permanent structure at that time, so another temporary jail was erected on the adjoining lot a few feet south of the burned building. It was built as cheaply as it was hurriedly, and appears to have had two uses ; first as a place in which to confine per- sons when arrested, and second, as a source of complaint to the various grand juries on ac- count of its insecurity and condition. Its first use was not a success, as its construction was such that it was optional with the prisoner as to how long he remained within its enclosures, and the frequent departure, a few days be- fore the trial, of those criminals who were certain to be convicted kept the court and jury busy with their complaints as to its condition. Finally, in 1838, a proposition was submitted to the people for a new jail, and it carried, and on Feb. 4, 1839, the contract was awarded to Zalmon Rowse. It was built of brick on the lot donated by Norton for that purpose, just north of the present Carnegie Memorial Li- brary, the brick being made at the brick-yard on Mansfield street, just east of the present Kearsley residence. The building was two low stories in height. Below in front were two rooms for the sheriff and his family, and at the rear were two rooms for the imprison- ment of debtors. Above in front were two more rooms for the sheriff, and at the rear were two cells for the prisoners, one in the northeast and the other in the southeast cor- ner of the building. Both were without win- dows, and they were separated by a corridor, running east and west, and at each end of this corridor was a small window, so the only light the prisoner had was that which came through the little east window, and found its way to his cell through the gratings of the cell door. Later, a solid board fence, eight feet high, was built around the lot at a cost of $58, with a massive gate which was locked at night.

The first log jail was burned when John Miller was sheriff. He was the second sheriff of the county, succeeding Hugh McCracken, who was elected to that office in October, 1826. The pioneer traditions handed down are to the effect that when the commissioners met in May, 1826, they appointed Hugh McCracken

as the first sheriff. He had only recently arrived in the town, but was a man of prom- inence and integrity, and was promptly ap- pointed by them. There was little to do, and he did it satisfactorily, but being sheriff he naturally pined for a jail, as the citizens prob- ably did also. So Samuel Norton, of course, donated the lot, and equally, of course, Zal- mon Rowse was given the contract for its building. When it was burned it was no spe- cial financial loss, and in a very short time Zalmon had the second log structure ready for use.

The little brick jail did duty for nearly twenty years. In these good old days when a man was unable to pay his debts all his cred- itor had to do was to bring suit before a jus- tice of the peace, and unless the bill was paid, or satisfactorily secured, the unfortunate debtor was unceremoniously arrested and locked up until the amount was paid, or until his creditor relented and let him. out. One feature of the law was that if he could give bond in double the amount of the debt that he would not run away, he was allowed "debtor's limits," which was freedom to go anywhere within 400 yards of his prison. This limit was allowed not so much for the debtor, but for the creditor, as the man might then earn enough to pay the debt.

During the building of the little brick jail, James Harper was sheriff, and he occupied as his residence a house that stood on South San- dusky avenue, where now is the residence of Dr. Yeoman, and while awaiting the comple- tion of the new jail, minor prisoners were kept in the court house, and the more serious of- fenders were lodged in the Marion jail. The principal events of the new brick jail all cen- tered in the northeast cell, up stairs. A man was locked up there, believed to be crazy, and he determined to commit suicide. He was very persevering in his job, for all he had to hang himself to was a bed-post, two and a half feet high, but he succeeded, and when the sheriff opened the cell one morning he found the prisoner dead.

In 1849 James Clements was sheriff. A man had been arrested charged with incendia- rism. Several fires had recently occurred in Bucyrus, among others the furniture shop of Peter Howenstein on East Mansfield street,

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and a building on the rear of the lot at the northwest corner of Warren and Poplar streets. At the trial one of the strong points of the prosecution was that there were foot- prints on the soft ground, and the prisoner's shoes just fitted these marks. He was found guilty, the jury probably believing that he ought to be guilty if he wasn't. Judge Bowen, of Marion, who was presiding, mildly cen- sured the jury for their verdict. The judge, however, sentenced him to six years. The prisoner stoutly declared his innocence, and insisted he would never go to the penitentiary. During his confinement in the jail he was a quiet prisoner, giving no trouble, and making friends of the sheriff's children, especially the sheriff's little daughter who used to sit in front of his cell while he interested her with fairy tales.

The sheriff had arranged to take his pris- oner to Columbus the following morning, and had selected Jacob Scroggs to accompany him. During the day the prisoner entertained the sheriff's little daughter with more entrancing fairy stories than usual, and succeeded in get- ting her to give him the keys to his cell. That night, after everything was quiet, he unlocked his cell door, and started down the stairs on his way to freedom. The sheriff was in the room in front of the cell, and hearing the noise, jumped from his bed, and without stop- ping to dress started after the prisoner. There was no light, but by the sound he followed him to the room below, and although unarmed, he rushed on the prisoner, who, although a much stronger man, he managed to force up stairs, and into his cell. The next morning, when the sheriff came to look after his pris- oner, he was dead, having cut his throat from ear to ear. He had found freedom at last. He left a note claiming his innocence, and among other things was the terse statement: "A poor man has no more chance in this world than a flea in a hot boiler."

In 1830 when the court house was built Crawford county had a population of 4,778 people; this had increased in 1850 to 18,177. A new Constitution had been adopted by the State in 1851, and this Constitution had added a new office to the list of county officials, that of probate judge. At the election in October, 1851, Harvey Eaton was elected as the first

probate judge, and commenced his first term in February, 1852, but his only duty at the start was to draw his salary, as it was some time before the Legislature had passed the necessary laws relating to probate judges. There were but four rooms in the court house, and these were already occupied, so there was no place for the new official. The commis- sioners therefore rented a room of Andrew Failor to be used by Judge Eaton as his office. It was the room opposite the court house, now occupied by Mader & Crawford as a saloon. For this room the commissioners paid $36 a year. They started the new judge in busi- ness by making an appropriation of $12 to buy the necessary book in which to keep his rec- ords, and another appropriation of $10 to buy a seal. They furnished the office by buying a set of chairs of Abe Yost for $5.25, and this appropriation included a set of rulers; they bought a table for $4, a stove of Daniel Pick- ing for $10.97, and closed with an appropria- tion of $5 for wood.

In 1850 the Cleveland, Columbus and Cin- cinnati Railroad had been built through the eastern part of the county, and in 1853 the Ohio and Indiana railroad was also in opera- tion through the county. The increase of busi- ness and of population made the little court house too small for the transaction of the pub- lic business, and a new one became every day more and more of a necessity.

When the county lines were changed in 1845 Auburn, Vernon and Jackson townships, and the eastern part of Polk and Jefferson were transferred from Richland county to Craw- ford. Isaac Hetrick, the member of the Legis- lature from Richland county at that time, se- cured the passage of a resolution exempting the people of that part of Richland county which had been transferred to Crawford from being taxed for the erection of public build- ings "for all time." The claim was that Rich- land county had new and modern public build- ings, for which the Richland part of Crawford had already been taxed, while the Crawford public buildings were small and insufficient, and while there was much that was just in the resolution, the exemption "for all time" showed that Legislatures were just as careless and as thoughtless in the passage of laws in those days as they are today. Many other

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complications had arisen in the formation of the present Crawford county. An attempt was made to have the Legislature make Galion the county seat of the new county, but this propo- sition was defeated through the work of Craw- ford's representative, Samuel S. Caldwell. Another proposition was submitted to the Legislature to exempt that part of Marion county recently attached to Crawford from the payment of any taxes for the erection of pub- lic buildings, of course with the beautiful rider, "for all time." Mr. Caldwell promptly killed this by calling attention to the fact that no one from this attached section had asked for the passage of any such act, and until they did present a petition the Legislature had no business to meddle in the matter.

To obviate matters like this subscriptions were made by a number of citizens of the new county to pay off the debt, and start the new county free of all incumbrance. A number subscribed, but it was soon seen that the pay- ing off of the debt would not harmonize the difficulties that had arisen, so George Sweney refused to pay his subscription, and a test case was brought against him by the commissioners. The Common Pleas Court decided he must pay, but when the case reached the Supreme Court the county was beaten. So the com- missioners allowed Josiah S. Plants $50 and Cooper K. Watson $25 for conducting the case for the county, and ordered the Treasurer to refund all installments that had been paid by parties subscribing. The money refunded ought to indicate some of the "boosters" in those days, so their names are given: Andrew Brookmiller $1, Joseph S. Morris $2, John Black $2, George Hurr $2, Michael Ruehl $2, George Buehl $2, Dutchman $1, Henry Beck $2, Lewis Heinlen $5, John Boyer $8, John Gibson $2.50, Abraham Shull $2, Abraham Yost $5, John Boeman $2.

The county commissioners also had to bal- ance the finances of the different counties. Wyandot county had no public buildings, but had been taxed for the erection of those in Crawford, and asked a refunding, and on June 24, 1845, the commissioners of Craw- ford and Wyandot met in joint session and it was found the debt of Crawford county was $2,220.97, exclusive of public buildings ; there was cash on hand of $1,886.52, so Crawford

owed Wyandot nothing. In the road fund Wyandot was found to be entitled to $145,71, and an order was issued to pay Wyandot the money. Wyandot demanded a refund of the money that had been paid by the Wyandot tax payers in the building of the new jail, but it was refused.

When the rearrangement of the new Craw- ford county was made Richland county was the second most populous county in the State, being exceeded only by Hamilton county. It had fine public buildings, so Crawford made demands on Richland for any balance that might be due Crawford from Richland. On Aug. 28, 1845, the commissioners of the two counties met, the accounts were gone over, and it was found the debt of Richland county ex- ceeded the cash in the treasury, so Crawford received nothing.

In 1854 the proposition was submitted to the voters of Crawford county for a new court house and the proposition carried. O. S. Kin- ney was the architect, and the contract was let to Ault & Miller of Mt. Gilead, and the build- ing was completed in 1856 at a cost of $18,- 000. During the erection of the building the county officials occupied rooms in various parts of the village, the court room being the second story of the frame building still stand- ing at the southeast corner of Sandusky and Warren. This court house is easily remem- bered by many of the present citizens of Bucy- rus, as the present structure is the same build- ing with additions. It had two stories and an unused basement. In front were wide steps leading up to the entrance where was a portico supported by large wooden columns. The in- terior was the same as at present, with a cor- ridor running down the centre and the offices on each side. On the right of the entrance was the auditor, and in the northeast corner the recorder, while cramped between this office and the auditor was a small room for the treas- urer. On the left of the entrance was the clerk, with the surveyor in the northwest room and the probabte judge in the centre. The court room occupied the centre of the second floor, the judge's bench was on the north side of the room, and above and back of it was a balcony; underneath the balcony on each side of the bench were the jury rooms. At the south end was another similar balcony, and

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underneath this on the west was the sheriff's office and the east room was used by the prose- cutor, the commissioners, the judge, a wait- ing room for the witnesses and a consultation room.

The new court house was dedicated on Fri- day evening, April 24, 1857, and it was a veritable house warming. The town was full of people, every township in the county being represented. The court room and the two galleries were crowded with citizens to listen to the music furnished by Kronenberger's Sax Horn Band and the Bucyrus Quartette Club. At 10 o'clock supper was served at all three of the hotels, the McCoy, the Western and the American House, and while the people were doing full justice to the supper, the court room was cleared and dancing commenced which continued until early in the morning. A fence was erected around the entire yard; it was of iron pickets, set in stone, the founda- tion being nearly two feet high. While there was no attempt at ornamentation the fence was attractive, appropriate and expensive. Many years ago this court house became too small for the increased business of the county and the increased force of officials necessary to handle that business.

For half a century this $18,000 structure had filled its mission, and the officials were cramped, the records scattered, in any incon- venient place temporarily that could be found. It was a known fact that any proposition sub- mitted to the voters of the county would fail to carry, so the commissioners took advantage of that provision of the law which allows them to make improvements on public buildings. They improved the court house, and when it was completed the improvement had cost about double that of the original building, and gave an added floor space as large as the original structure. The improvement consisted of the addition built at the rear as it exists today. When completed the first floor of the addition on the east was used as the recorder's office with private room and vault. The west room was the probate judge's office with private room and vault. On the second floor the east room was the clerk's office, with private room and vault and a room for the judge or prose- cuting attorney. The west end was occu-

pied by the sheriff and surveyor. The third floor had a room for the examination of teach- ers, and other meetings, and also rooms for the use of any of the various county boards. The offices and rooms were all large and commodi- ous, and fitted with all modern improvements, and the basement was cemented and walled in a modern way so as to make an available room for the Agricultural Society or the Board of Elections, with several large storage rooms. There were severe criticisms of the commissioners over the extensive nature of the improvements at the time they were made, but as the time passed the wisdom of the commis- sioners in providing the additional room so greatly needed was generally approved. The new addition left the original building occu- pied by the auditor and commissioners on the east and the treasurer on the west.

The court house now, with its fairly spa- cious offices and many vaults had ample room for the transaction of the business of the county and the safe storage of all the records. But another element now made its attack on the half century old court house, and this was time, from whose ravages there is no protec- tion. The wooden pillars supporting the por- tico were showing signs of weakness and de- cay; the wooden tower containing the heavy bell became unsafe, and notwithstanding an intense public feeling against a new court house the commissioners were compelled to submit the matter to the voters for funds to repair the building, and at the election on Nov. 6, 1906, the expected verdict against was ren- dered by the people. It carried the city of Bucyrus by a majority of 866, lost Galion by 405 and Crestline by 163. In the country it carried but two townships, Auburn by 5 votes and Lykins 4. It lost the other 14 townships, Liberty heading the country opposition with 170 majority against. The total vote was Yes-2,979, No-3,494, majority against 515. This settled the matter as far as the commis- sioners were concerned, but Father Time de- clined to abide by the vote, and matters ran on until a part of the ceiling fell in the court room, an area of over 100 square feet, of plastering, caused by the weight of the tower on the weakened roof. A thorough examination was made of the tower and it was reported unsafe.

THE T. & O. C. RAILROAD SHOPS, BUCYRUS, O.

PLANT OF THE AMERICAN CLAY MACHINERY CO., BUCYRUS, O.

PLANT OF THE BUCYRUS STEEL CASTINGS CO.

THE C. ROEHR & CO. PLANT, BUCYRUS, O.

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The heavy bell might at any time make a pass- ing visit through the court room on its way to the basement below.

This being the condition, Judge Babst de- clined to hold court in the building, so quarters were secured at the Memorial Library. The matter was now taken up by the commission- ers in conjunction with the citizens, and a committee of four were appointed to act on a suggestion made that the people be consulted directly on the matter and the responsibility thrown upon them. Following this view the committee reported the names of two prom- inent citizens in each voting precinct, and these men were requested by the commission- ers to meet at Bucyrus to examine the court house and advise as to what should be done. Of the 80 advisers selected nearly every one responded, and they examined the court house from basement to tower, and then met in the office of the probate judge to render their deci- sion. The commissioners, preparing for the emergency, for the past two years had made a small levy for building purposes ; this now amounted to about $40,000, with perhaps $10,000 available from other sources. Harlan F. Jones, a Mansfield architect, had submitted plans by which the old part of the court house could be remodeled for $90,000. It was easily seen that the majority of those present recog- nized the necessity that something should be done. The first suggestion of a new court house met with overwhelming defeat. The first motion was for a one mill levy for four years, a one mill levy bringing in about $20,- 000. This was very unfavorably received; a one mill levy for three years was defeated by a small majority, and the final vote of one mill for two years, which would raise the building fund to the $90,000 estimated for the improvement was carried almost unanim- ously. The question then came before the voters again at the election on Nov. 5, 1907, and it was carried by a vote of 3,665 yes and 2,784 no. Bucyrus again led with 1, 176 major- ity for the proposition, while Galion gave 263 majority against and Crestline 134. In the country ten townships favored the proposi- tion, and six returned an adverse majority, leaving the country vote for it by a majority of 102.

The county commissioners at this time were

Louis Gearhart of Holmes, Frank P. Dick of Dallas, and Hugh M. Dobbins of Bucyrus. Judge Babst appointed as a building commis- sion to act in conjunction with the commis- sioners, Frank P. Donnenwirth and John Q. Shunk of Bucyrus, W. I. Goshorn of Galion, and Jacob Babst of Crestline. The only impor- tant change made in the plans was the plac- ing of a stone covering over the entire build- ing. A. E. Hancock of Mansfield was the con- tractor, and the new structure was completed within the estimated cost with enough left over to build and equip the electric light plant of the court house. During the con- struction of the front of the building the offices were continued in the court house, with the exception of that of the treasurer. who for a time had the office at the Farm- ers and Citizens Bank, the county treasurer, George W. Miller, being president of that in- stitution, and court was held in the Memorial Library. The foundation stone was laid by the Grand Lodge of Masons assisted by Trin- ity Lodge, No. 556 of Bucyrus, on Aug. 17, 1908. At the completion of the building there was no house warming or celebration. In the new court room the judge's bench was placed in the east. On the left of the en- trance to the building in a niche was placed a life-sized statue of Col. Crawford, while in the basement were placed two waiting rooms.

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History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 15

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850- Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1302

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302