History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 59

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 59

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

George Lauck came in 1826, and soon after he started a tavern on the northwest corner of Sandusky and Mary, which he ran until elected county treasurer in 1837.

Samuel Picking started a tavern north of the Square, which was called the Spread Eagle, in front being a tall pole on top of which was the signboard with an eagle painted with wings outspread, and it was popularly dubbed " The Buzzard." This was a resort of the prominent local citizens, and with Lauck's were the taverns of the village. Neither would sell liquor to the Indians, running strictly law abid- ing places, the Indian custom going to the Rogers tavern.

In 1828 Abraham Hahn came to Bucyrus, and he bought the lot on which the Deal House now stands for $100; on this he erected a brick hotel of two stories with a gable front. The building was about 40 feet on the Square and nearly the same frontage on Sandusky avenue. It was completed in 1831, and the expense of its building must have been beyond his means as he adorned it with a mortgage of $1,000, which he borrowed of Samuel Lud- wig. The hotel was called the Pennsylvania Coat of Arms, and on the corner was the post on top of which was the sign on which was painted the coat of arms of the State of Penn- sylvania. A few years later Samuel Picking took charge of the hotel and changed the name to the National, paying $750 as rent from 1847 to 1850, $250 per year. When McCoy took charge in 1854 it became the McCoy House; two years later the Johnson House. Under Mr. Johnson it was enlarged to three stories and the addition built on the east. Since first transformed from vacant ground into a build- ing, this corner has always been a hotel.

The next proprietor was John J. Boeman, who had a son-in-law who had always been a great admirer of the ladies and parted both his hair and his name in the middle. Mr.

Boeman was a very slow and methodical man, very neat, and the last man in the world to get excited over anything. He made his son- in-law manager of the hotel, and he was as successful a failure at that, as he had been at everything else, so Mr. Boeman quietly sold the hotel to John Sims without consulting his son- in-law. When the young man learned of the sale, he rushed across the street to his father- in-law's bakery and inquired if it was correct that he had sold the hotel. " Yes," said Mr. Boeman, " Mr. Sims offered me a good price, and I thought it best to let it go." The young man reached back in his hip-pocket, and draw- ing a revolver, heroically remarked, " Well, I guess there's nothing left for me to do now except blow out my brains." Mr. Boeman looked calmly at his son-in-law, and slowly drawled out : "All right, Pierce, but don't do it here ; go out in the barn; I don't want my clean store all littered up," and he turned coolly around and went on dusting off the shelves. Mr. Sims ran the hotel for several years, call- ing it the Sims House; for a while it was Sapp's Exchange, and finally it was bought by Horace M. Deal and L. W. Hull, and became the Deal House, a name it has since retained under sev- eral proprietors.

About 1829 Abraham Holm built the brick house still standing on the northeast corner of Sandusky and Charles. The brick were made in the Holm brick yard which was across the street, the next lot to the Wingert property. It was run as a hotel called the Oregon House; later passed into the hands of George Mader, and although the words "Oregon House" were seen painted on the building for half a century it became known as Mader's tavern, and under him was gradually discontinued as a hotel.

In 1822 Samuel Norton sold to Russell Peck the lot on the northwest corner of Sandusky and Warren for $25, and here the owner had a little blacksmith shop, and also his residence. In 1828 the property was bought by Zalmon Rowse for $300. He lived there a short time and then concluded to build. The log house was removed to his land, the old Wm. Mon- nett farm on the south side of the Galion road; later this house was hauled to town, placed on the northeast corner of Rensselaer and East street, where the logs were covered with

382

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

weather-boarding, and it was used as a resi- dence until it was torn down to make room for the present home of Frank P. Donnenwirth.

On the west side of Sandusky, across War- ren street, was a brick yard in which Mr. Rowse had an interest and here the brick were made for the new building. While it was build- ing Miss Emily Rowse taught school in the room which afterward became the hotel office. In 1836, Mr. Rowse sold the building and the lot north to Messrs. Stone & Osborn for $2,- 500, but in 1838 it came into the possession of James Anderson, who named it the American House. He was a strong abolitionist, and in 1839 when the Rev. Mr. Streeter, a Protestant Methodist minister, was delivering an anti- slavery address, a shower of stones came through the window, and the rougher element rushed in, broke up the meeting, and in the confusion the minister made liis escape. In 1842 Jacob Poundstone went into partnership with Anderson, and under them the hotel reached its highest prosperity. It was the stop- ping place for the stages from Columbus to Sandusky and also the line that ran from Wooster to Bucyrus. Anderson built a small shop just north of the hotel and in this he ran a tin shop, and here one night about a dozen of the Abolitionists gathered to listen to a runaway slave give an account of his experi- ences in his flight for freedom. The meeting was unmolested. Anderson sold the hotel to Thacker and went into the stock business, but later met with reverses, and rebought the hotel which he ran until he sold it to Jacob Pound- stone and moved to Illinois.

In 1847 Poundstone leased the hotel to Abram Seitz of Seneca county, and started a boarding house in the building which stood where the Journal-Telegraph block now stands, which was so well patronized he used as an annex the frame building still standing on the north. He built a stable at the rear of the lot and ran a livery. The Mexican War was then in progress and the house was called the Vera Cruz, after the battle of that name. Among his boarders was a young law student in Josiah Scott's office. He wrote a poem about the house, one stanza reading :

He who in comfort here would snooze, Within the walls of Vera Cruz,

Or dine at Jake's luxurious table, Or have a horse in his new stable, Must with the early dawn arise, And sweep the cob-webs from his eyes.

The young law student was N. C. McFarlan; and later he went to Kansas, and in spite of his "poem" became Commissioner of the Land Office of the United States.

Seitz sold the American to Henry Warner of Marion, and as that gentleinan had three daughters it became a strong rival of the Vera Cruz for parties and dances, and in 1853 Isaac Russell leased it, and he was followed by Major Diller, who ran it awhile and in 1855 Poundstone sold it to John Sims for $3,000 and in 1856 he sold the hotel part of the lot to J. C. and H. Anthony for $1,000. When the Anthonys took control they built an addition at the rear in which they started a brewery, which they ran until it was destroyed by fire June 17, 1857. Mr. Sims rebought the hotel in 1860, ran it for a year as the Sims House, and then sold to L. D. Johnson and it became the John- son House ; it went through varions hands, was reduced to a tenement house, and in 1875 under sheriff's sale it went to Benjamin Sears for $3,002. It was refitted and William R. Shaw took possession and ran a hotel restoring the old name of American. But its days as a hotel were over; N. Steen and Thomas Jones tried it, and under the latter it was discontinued. Old age and previous neglect had done its work and it again became a tenement house not worth repair, and on the night of April 13, 1883, the casings of the stone arch over the front door fell in. There was danger of the old building falling, and Mr. Sears ordered it torn down, and at that time its principal tenant was Sing Lee with a Chinese laundry. So passed away the last of the old stage taverns in Bucyrus, which in its palmy days had its old fashioned sign post on top of which its creaking sign swayed slowly in the breeze; its covered porch in front, where in chairs, tilted back, idly dis- cussing the politics of the Nation, the village loungers would sit for hours, chewing tobacco and drowsily passing away the long summer days, with nothing in sight but the deserted and dusty road, with its grass-grown borders and sidewalks made of hewn logs; the life- lessness of the street only disturbed by the

383

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

cackling of the busy bustling hens or the hogs wandering lazily to their favorite spot where they could grunt their complaints of the heat in some comfortable mud hole, of which there was no lack; and the cows quietly chewing the cud under the shade of some neighboring tree. And when the cool of evening came, and the tavern loungers were brightened up by the dropping in of the Squire and the school mas- ter and the prominent men of the village, they could see far down the road a cloud of dust, and heads looked out from doors and windows along the street; the landlord appears, as the stage dashes up the street at topinost speed, and the skillful driver throws the horses back on their haunches, and stops the coach immedi- ately in front of the hotel entrance to the ad- miration of all. If the old American House could have left its written history behind, what a tale it could tell of the political conclaves within its walls, of anxious citizens waiting for the latest news of an important election, when day succeeded day and week followed week, before down the silent street comes a dashing rider, and as his horse goes by at full gallop, shouting the news that "Harrison is elected," and continues on in his wild race an- nouncing the result of a presidential election.

Three-score years have worked wonders in the town. The lot that Russell Peck once bought for $25 is worth today more than ten times over what Samuel Norton paid for the entire city. Grass-grown graves in many states now cover nearly all of those who knew the house in its youth and in its pride, and when it was torn down its tenant was a native of that race to whom a hundred years are as nothing ; a race of which probably neither the builder of the block nor any inhabitant of the village had ever seen one of its members, and whose country with its four hundred millions of people was to them a fabled land .:

John Moderwell built for himself a shop and residence on the west side of the Square in 1833, the Hotel Royal corner, which he sold to Benjamin Meeker. In 1835 it was bought by Peter Miller and his son William W. Miller and they ran a general store and a hotel called the Western House which was burned down in 1848. Later it was rebuilt by Jonathan Kiss- inger, and Frederick Feiring ran a hotel there called the Western House; a large two story

porch occupied the front; the hotel passed into several hands and under the Alcorns became the Alcorn House; finally it became the prop- erty of John Stoll, who built the present brick addition and the name was changed to the Stoll House and later to the Hotel Royal. In 1840 William W. Miller dug the sulphur pump, in front of the building.

The pike road was completed about 1834, but stage coaches had been running for several years previous between Columbus and San- dusky. Samuel Norton had built a large frame residence on West Perry street and Kilbourne suggested that he go into the hotel business. So Mr. Norton built a two story brick in 1834, the building still standing, and now a part of the Main street mills. This was opened with a house-warming, Col. Kilbourne being pres- ent to assist his old friend at the opening. It was called the Union Hotel. Here Franklin Adams stopped when he first came to the town in 1837; here also Gen. William Henry Har- rison stopped when he spent the night when he was a candidate for President in 1840; here also was Col Kilbourne's headquarters when he was in the city. When it was first started it was the headquarters for the Columbus and Sandusky Stage line, but they were later taken to the American. The latter hotel was the Whig headquarters while the National Hotel on the Square was the Democratic headquar- ters. After a few years Mr. Norton tired of the hotel business and discontinued it. About 1838 one of his guests one night was Nicholas Longworth, the then wealthy Cincinnati mer- chant who was going through northern Ohio on a collecting tour. He and Mr. Norton were standing on the front steps of the hotel, where on the left could be seen the pretty river ( for it was pretty in those days), and on the right the little street, and Mr. Longworth compli- mentarily said, "What a pretty site for a town." "Yes," said Mr. Norton, and he looked up the street with a sigh, and said slowly, "Yes, but it spoiled a good farm."

In the early days many of the pioneers brewed a mild beer which they kept for their own use. Besides this, cider was barreled an- nually for winter use. The first establishment for the manufacture of liquor in Bucyrus was a small distillery, started by McMichael and Rogers on the land of the former, where the Electric Light Works are now located. This

384

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

only ran a year or two when it was discon- tinued.

About 1850 a brewery was started on the Annapolis road by John Marcks, just west of where Lane street enters that road. Henry Anthony also had a small brewery at the rear of his hotel, the American, on the northwest corner of Sandusky and Warren. About 3 o'clock on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 28, 1857, the brewery on the Annapolis road, owned by John Marcks, caught fire, and all efforts to save it were useless. The building and contents were consumed. The fire started from a defect in the furnace. A part of the loss was $2,000 in grain. The loss to the owner was too heavy, and the demand for beer too light in those days to make it profitable to rebuild. It was a bad year for breweries for on the night of Wednesday evening, June 24 of the same year, the Anthony brewery at the rear of the American House caught fire, and the build- ing was destroyed with a loss of $1,500. This brewery was owned by the Anthony Brothers. After the fire one of the brothers saw no profit in the business, and declined to invest further in breweries. But Henry Anthony determined to continue, and bought of the Norton heirs the lot where the present brewery now stands. Here he erected a small building. He under- stood the brewing business, but he lacked cap- ital. He had with him as clerk at the Amer- ican, a young man, George Donnenwirth, who had come from New Washington and was his chief assistant at the hotel and brewery. An- thony suggested they go into partnership, and the offer was accepted, Anthony to put in his experience and Donnenwirth the money, which consisted of $180 which he had saved. The two young men went to work, sleeping at the brewery and putting in about 20 hours a day to make experience and $180 run a brewery. Mr. Anthony made the beer and Mr. Donnen- wirth sold it, delivered it, and made the col- lections, was the purchasing agent, and paid the bills, sometimes in cash but when possible with notes and promises.

With their limited capital, bills could not be met, on the small output, and it was necessary to increase the plant or close down. In this emergency Anthony sold his half interest to George Donnenwirth, the father of his part- ner, for $500, and the firm became George

Donnenwirth & Son. One fault with Anthony was his extravagance, and making no provision for the future, buying freely on time. The new firm were careful and provident, and kept within their means, extending the plant as their increased business justified it, and they soon had it on a paying basis. In 1882 the senior partner sold out to his son Frank P. Donnen- wirth and the plant became G. Donnenwirtth & Brother. The new partner had had three years' experience in a St. Louis brewery, and took entire charge of the brewing. The firm con- tinued to prosper and in 1894 they sold out to Frank Dick. The new proprietor further in- creased the plant, added an ice plant, and in 1906 sold to the Dostal Brothers for $120,000.

The two-story brick, very low, still stands as originally built by the George Donnenwirth & Son, covered with vines from top to bottom, while around it and added to it are many large buildings and offices, made necessary by the increasing business each year.

About 1830 Cornelius Gilmore built the brick on the northeast corner of Sandusky and War- ren, which he used as a residence, and for years he had the handsomest home in the village. Later this building was used by Thomas Gilles- pie who was the registrar of the land office. Mr. Gillespie lived at the northwest corner of Sandusky and Charles in a two story frame built by him; he was the father of Mrs. Willis Merriman, and when the house was built the Jones and the Yost brothers assisted at the raising. Gillespie bought the land of Abra- ham Myers, the father of Gen. Samuel Myers, who lived in a small frame which he had erected on the lot. The little brick, now occu- pied by the Miller bakery, was built by Mrs. Martha Hetich in 1838. She was the mother of Charles and Paul I. Hetich, and Mrs. George Sweney.

Thomas Shawke built the brick, the old Trimble house, in 1838, on the southeast cor- ner of Mansfield and Walnut, where the Voll- rath Opera House now stands. He had his blacksmith shop on the same lot; later the shop was moved across the street, a few doors east of East alley, and in this shop did the black- smithing for the Ohio and Indiana road. When Mr. Shawke built his brick in 1838, Hugh McCracken lived on the corner where the Library now is and there were but three

385

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

buildings east of him on Mansfield street; the Methodist church nearly opposite; George Lauck's residence near where the T. & O. C. crosses the street, and Samuel Ludwig's resi- dence east of Whetstone street. South of him on Walnut street were two houses, one the northeast corner of Charles street, occupied by Thomas Hagerman, and the other the house and blacksmith shop of John Rexroth, near Middletown street, where Mrs. L. C. Doll now lives. The old Merriman corner, now owned by the Eagles, was built by R. T. Johnston in 1840 for Dr. Willis Merriman. The brick now occupied by Berk & Hales was built as a residence by J. P. Bowman in the early '40s. It was two stories and remained as the Bow- man residence for many years when it became the property of the First National Bank and was converted into business rooms, and re- cently came into the possession of P. J. Car- roll, who remodeled it, and built the third story.

The south end of the Deal House was orig- inally a two story brick built about 1850 by Jerry Yost and used as a harness shop. Under John Sims it became a part of the Deal House and was made three stories. The present Rowse Block was built in 1858. Ten years previous a severe fire had swept away the buildings in this section, and the lot had re- mained vacant until the present building was erected. Not only were the brick made in Bucyrus but the iron pillars and cornices were made at the Kelly & Widgeon foundry, now the American Clay Company.

The five eastern rooms of the Quinby Block were built in 1858 by George Quinby and the three western rooms in 1859, and at the time of its completion was one of the finest busi- ness blocks in northern Ohio. The iron cor- nices and pillars were made at the Wingert foundry which was at the northeast corner of Poplar and Charles streets. When the block was completed its first occupants were, No. I, the Exchange Bank; No. 2, Hall & Juilliard, dry goods; No. 3, Graham & Trauger, dry goods; No. 4, Fulton & Clark, drugs; No. 5, Zwisler & Howbert, dry goods; No. 6, Jones & Co., stoves and tinware; No. 7, Cuyken- dall & Weber, groceries ; No. 8, Potter & Craig, hardware. No. I was the west room, and No. 8 the east.

The little three-story brick north of the Bu- cyrus City Bank was built by C. D. Ward about 1848; in the low third story was the en- tertainment hall, where traveling troops gave entertainment to not over-critical citizens. The other hall was on the southwest corner of the Square, called the McCoy Hall; here the entrance was on the outside stairway, the same as it is today, and here as many as a hundred people could be accommodated. When the Rowse Block was completed the entire third story was Concert Hall, where all the prin- cipal entertainments were held until the build- ing of the Vollrath Opera House, when Rowse Hall was given over to secret societies. In the centre of the Quinby Block was a large hall which was used for festivals and meeting pur- poses, religious, social and political.

Sometime in the '3os the first public library was started in Bucyrus. The library was in the tailor shop of Peter Worst, which was in a little frame where the Schaber Block now stands. This library was a joint stock insti- tution and was known as the Washington Library. It was started by books donated by the members. On Tuesday evening, Nov. 2, 1869, a meeting was held at the Lutheran Church and a Y. M. C. A. organized, with William M. Reid as president. They met in the Birk frame, southeast corner of Sandusky and Rensselaer, until they secured permanent headquarters in the west room, second floor of the Quinby Block, now occupied by Leu- thold, McCarren and Leuthold law office. A library was started and eventually reached a thousand volumes, mostly donated by the mem- bers. Daily papers and magazines were kept, and such mild games as chess, checkers, and dominoes allowed. Later the reading room and library were moved to the second story of the Birk Block and after three years was dis- banded.

A permanent Y. M. C. A. was established when Mrs. E. R. Kearsley gave the building which had been known as the Deal residence. Subscriptions were liberally donated, and the building fitted up. In 1810, $17,000 was raised by the citizens and an addition made extending to the alley; the building now has a fine gym- nasium, sleeping and bath rooms, and is on a scale equal to many larger cities.

The ladies of Bucyrus started a movement

386

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

for a public library, and several thousand dol- lars were secured by them. The matter was brought to Mr. Carnegie's attention and he donated $15,000 for the building. The city do- nated the lot, and the present structure was erected.

As the village grew the necessity of better fire protection was apparent. In case of fire people all responded, every available bucket was secured and a line formed to the nearest well where pumpers filled the buckets and they were passed along the line and thrown on the fire, another line returning the empty buckets to the well. The citizens deemed it best that there should be an organized company, so they held a meeting at which J. H. Hutcinson pre- sided, with Jacob Scroggs as secretary, and they selected J. E. Jewett, an attorney, as cap- tain of the company ; so on Aug. 11, 1848, the first fire department in Bucyrus was organized. The people breathed easier, and as for the new company they were pining for a fire. It came on the night of October 26, 1848, when the cabinet shop of Howenstein & Sheckler at the southeast corner of Sandusky and Galen was discovered to be in flames. The people turned out, and under the leadership of Capt. Jewett the people were shown what an organ- ized company could do. Unfortunately be- fore the fire was extinguished several other buildings were destroyed. More would prob- ably have gone but there were no others within reach. However, the People's Forum, the only paper then in the village, demonstrated its loy- alty to the town, and to the new fire company, by giving an account of the fire, and closing with the highly complimentary remark : "Much credit is due the firemen and other citizens for their exertions to stop the progress of the flames." This read very nicely, but the citizens privately must have been aware that some bet- ter protection than "exertions" was needed. so a hand engine was bought, which was called "Rescue No. I." In case of a fire, lines where still formed and the water poured into the lit- tle engine and then a crank was turned and the water forced through the hose on the fire. This was much better protection, and the little en- gine gave fairly good service, but something better was needed and in March, 1858, the town council purchased the Water Cloud for $1,282.50, and built a large cistern on the

Square, and several others in the most impor- tant parts of the town. The officers of the Water Cloud Company were F. W. Butterfield, foreman; G. M. Lindsay, assistant foreman; M. Buchman, secretary, and J. G. Birk, treas- urer. The Water Cloud had long handles on each side; in case of fire the engine was sta- tioned at one of the cisterns ; a long heavy hose extended from the rear of the engine into the water; the hose was attached in front, and with a dozen strong men pumping on the handles on each side the water could be thrown to the top of the largest buildings. On July 4, 1860, the engine threw water a distance of 19912 feet. With the addition of this machine the Rescue No. I was turned over to the young men, with Gaius C. Worst as the foreman; it was rechristened the "Let 'er Rip," as once filled with water, you let 'er rip. A hose cart and hook and ladder were added and it now became necessary to have a chief of the fire department, and E. R. Kearsley was the first man selected for that position.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 59

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