History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 66

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 66

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Much credit is due to the early German settlers in and around Galion for the part they took in building up the community. Most of them came to this locality direct from Ger- many, and came with money to buy their land. There was, indeed, little else to buy at the time, but they settled down to hard work, and today many of their descendants, inheriting the sturdy virtues and thrift of their fathers and grandfathers, are among the most prosperous and respected residents of the city and its en- virons Among them may be mentioned the Rensches, the Sebers, the Eichorns, the Zim- mermans, the Cronenwetts, the Bohls, the Krafts, the Rickers, and others. Most of these Germans arrived from 1832 to 1835. Daniel Eichorn, a widower, with four sons and three daughters, arrived in 1835. He possessed considerable wealth and bought a farm south of Galion.

John Kraft, Sr., came to the country in 1833, landing at Baltimore,where he worked at his trade of cooper until the next year, when he walked to Ohio, working a short time at Gam- bier, and then came to Galion. He erected a one-room log cabin, the present site of the city building, which he used as a residence and cooper shop. He made buckets, tubs, barrels,

butter-tubs, etc. One of his receipts shows prices in those days :

"Sept. 3, 1835-Received of John Kraft "Six wooden buckets at 621/2c. $3 75

Two wooden buckets at 50c. I 00

$4 75

"To be sold or returned & paid for when sold. "MICHAEL RUHL."

In 1836, John Kraft married Margarethe Eichorn, and from this union there were eight children, and of these the five older were born on what is now the city hall lot, the others on the southwest corner of Columbus and Main. It is a singular fact that four of these children are still living,, all daughters: Mrs. Sophia Remy, Fremont, aged 74. Mrs. Catherine Euler, Washington, D. C., 73; Mrs. Lena Hof- stetter, Galion, 72; Mrs. Mary Franks, Mans- field, 70. In 1837 Kraft erected a larger shop on the same lot, and in 1845 he bought a tav- ern from Jacob Bryfogle, which was on the southeast corner of Main and Columbus streets. This he conducted until he erected a brewery on east Main street, where later was the block owned by Henry Row. In 1852 he started a brickyard on his farm just west of Galion, and here made the brick from which the pres- ent brewery was erected, the old part of which is still standing, with the new addition added. Here also was made the brick for the old "Bee Line" round house and shops, and he shipped the bricks for the shops at Marion. He con- tinued in the brewery business until 1868, when he retired living on Church street, Galion, where he died in February, 1888, in his 80th year, his wife dying February 13, 1891.

In 1840 Galion had a population of nearly 200 people. A line of stages passed through the city, and they had two taverns, three stores and several small shops, and the enterprising citizens decided they were large enough to become a village. Iu 1840 they elected Joel Todd as mayor, and he was succeeded by George Downer in 1845, Daniel Hoover in 1847, Andrew Poe in 1858, W. C. Parsons in 1860, Charles Quigley in 1864, Peter Cress in 1866, M. V. Crane in 1868, O. T. Hart in 1870, M. Burns in 1872, who resigned and was suc- ceeded by Samuel Myers; Jacob Meuser in 1874, who resigned, having been elected to the

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legislature, and was succeeded by Wilson Arm- strong; Abraham Underwood in 1878.

The town had grown and was now on the high road to prosperity; railroads and manu- factories had added to the population. The little village of less than 200 under its first mayor was about 400 when William C. Par- sons became its fourth mayor, and then came the first railroad, and it was followed by an- other, and in 1860 it was a busy place with a population of 1,966 people; another road and still more factories followed, and in 1870 it had nearly doubled its population, and had 3,523, passing Bucyrus, and becoming the larg- est place in the county, a position it held for forty years. After 1870 its marvelous growth continued, and by 1878 the citizens decided that they had the 5,000 people necessary to incorporate as a city. A census was taken, showing more than the requisite number, and the city of Galion was incorporated, divided into four wards, and in 1879 James R. Homer was elected the first mayor; he was followed by Abraham Underwood, 1881; Robert W. Johnston, 1883; Charles B. Shumaker, 1885; Hugh Ross, 1887; A. C. Squier, 1889; Albe Moe, 1893 ; C. H. Briggs, 1895; J. R. Homer, 1899; D. O. Castle, 1903; W. J. Geer, 1906; W. H. Hartman, 1908 and 1910. The United States census in 1880 showed Galion was a city, as it gave the population as 5,635; in 1890 this was increased to 6,326, and in 1900 to 7,282. The next census was taken in May of 1910, and was not reported until the follow- ing January; it gave Galion a population of 7,214. This return was so apparently erro- neous that a new enumeration was requested by Galion, but the request was not granted. It was difficult to locate the error until the enumeration by wards was published later, when it was found the serious error had oc- curred in the first ward, where only 985 names had been returned, the ward having over 1,500 people. The city council in the spring of 1911 ordered an enumeration of the entire city, and the official report to the council showed a pop- ulation of 8,175, an enumeration officially rec- ognized by the state but not by the government census. The first ward, as anticipated, showed that errors had occurred somewhere or some- how amounting to over 500.

In 1873 it was agreed by the authorities of

Polk township and those of the corporation of Galion to erect a building for a court room and other public offices, and, after much discussion in regard to the location, lot 48 of Michael and Jacob Ruhl's second addition to Galion was selected. The building was to be 66 x 75 feet in ground dimensions, three stories in height, and to be built of brick and stone. In 1875 the contract was awarded to George Wimmie and in the following year the building was com- pleted. The lower story contained one store- room, two election rooms (one for city and one for township), one room for Star steamer and hose-cart and one jail room. The second story had six rooms, among them being the mayor's and justice's court room, the council room, fireman's room, and a room to be used temporarily as an infirmary. In the third story was the opera hall, with stage and other acces- sories. It was arranged that the township should receive two-thirds from opera house and one-third from the rents below. The site of the building cost $3,500 and the cost of the building was $26,336.22, which was generally considered a reasonable price.

Many of the citizens, however, remained dissatisfied with the location, especially with that of the opera house, and about 1880 Dr. H. R. Kelly, Davis Stout and John Riblet fitted up for stage purposes the hall in the up- per story of the Sponhauer block, enlarging the stage and providing new scenery.

The first theatrical performance given in public in Galion was about 1840 by a barn- storming company in the dining-room of the old tavern run by John Kraft. The dining-room was cleared, and planks resting at the ends and middle on chairs, were used for seats. The children had to sit on the floor in front, owing to the scarcity of seats. The play given was "The Babes in the Wood."

The City Hall Opera House was the prin- cipal place for entertainments and public meet- ings for thirty years, when the opera hall was condemned by the state board, so that now the building is used exclusively for city purposes. and for the township offices.

The first religious services of which there is any record in Galion, were held at the cabin of Benjamin Leveridge, on Sunday, September 20. 1820. Asa and Horace Hosford had come from Norwalk the day before to see about lo-

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cating in that section, and there being no hotel, Mr. Leveridge's was the stopping place for all travelers. The Leveridge cabin was the larg- est of the three or four that had been built, and on the Sunday morning the Hosfords were there ten or twelve men and a few women came to the cabin and took their seats, and Asa Hosford talked with them concerning the local- ity and advisability of locating in that section. Finally a tall, raw-boned man appeared, sun- browned and hardy in appearance. He was dressed in a linsey-woolsey shirt, wore a belt, and leather pantaloons, had moccasins on his feet, and over his shoulder a powder horn and bullet pouch. In the belt around his waist was a large hunting knife, while across his arm he carried a rifle. The tall man entered and with- out a word or nod of recognition to anybody, deposited his accoutrements in one corner and took a seat. All sat silent for a few moments, when the hunter arose and sang an old hymn, the audience joining in. Then he knelt and prayed, all kneeling with him. After the prayer he talked for over half an hour, deliv- ered a sermon and the servives were over. Then he talked with those present and they soon departed for their homes, the man re- maining to dinner. This preacher was Benja- min Sharrock, who lived about a mile or two southwest, where he later ran a saw-mill, and this was the first meeting between Asa Hos- ford and Benjamin Sharrock, both of whom did so much for the developing of that sec- tion, Sharrock in the country and Hosford in the city. He was a Methodist but not an ordained minister, but in the early days ex- pounded the gospel to his neighbors.

As settlers arrived services were held in the cabins whenever any traveling missionary passed that way. A year or two after the Hosfords arrived, George Wood and Asa Hosford built a frame barn near the Corners and this, being the largest building, was fre- quently used as the place for holding services. One of the early traveling preachers here was Russell Bigelow, who traveled this circuit for the Methodists, and for a time was located on a farm near Galion ; also Mr. Matthews, a Pres- byterian, who was the first man to receive any pay for his services, the Presbyterians in that section raising a subscription of fifteen dollars a year to reimburse him for his expenses in

making Galion one of the points on his rounds. Rev. John Rhinehard came in 1822 and also preached in the barn. Later a log school house was built on West Main street and here serv- ices were held, and in other barns when they were first erected. These buildings were used until the settlement was large enough to erect churches. In summer services were frequently held in the open air, the principal places being the grove northwest of the square and also an- other grove south of the square. Here, in the open air, camp meetings were held, and at one of these Bishop Harris, when a young man, was in attendance and became converted. He later became a professor at Delaware Univer- sity an ordained minister, and eventually the celebrated and prominent Bishop Harris, of the M. E. church.

For fifty years Rev. F. J. Ruth was one of the prominent ministers of the Lutheran church, not only in Galion but all over the county. He was licensed to preach by the Lutheran Synod of Maryland in 1830, and came to Galion in 1831 ; in 1835 he organized the church at Bucyrus, caring for charges at Sulphur Springs and Galion at the same time. In 1831 he left Mansfield, and reaching Shelby inquired the way to Galion, but no one there knew of any such place. He continued his journey south and at West Liberty was in- formed the place they thought he wished to reach was, called Horse Shoe. He continued his trip through Leesville and eventually reached the Corners. It was late and he put up at a hotel, which was then on the north side of Main street about two blocks west of the square. Here he found a rough crowd, who gave him to understand there was no opening for a German Lutheran minister in that section, and the next morning, discour- aged, he returned to Mansfield. A few days later the Ruhls heard that a German Lutheran minister had been in the village and they went to Mansfield to hear him preach and prevailed upon him to return to Galion. The Ruhls were zealous and earnest Lutherans and the first church of that faith was on land donated by Jacob Ruhl. The first Sunday-school was started by Mrs. Sarah Ruhl and Mrs. Dr. Johnson. Revs. John Stough, Francis Clymer, Ludwig Gerth and John Smith were active in early religious work.

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

The Evangelical Lutheran church of Galion was organized by Rev. John Stough in 1831, and the early meetings were held in the cabins of the settlers and in the school houses. Short- ly after the church was organized the Sunday- school was started by Mrs. Sarah Ruhl and Mrs. Dr. Johnson, but it was undenominational and largely attended. It was held in the old schoolhouse on North Market street. In 1840 a brick church was built at the corner of Union and Church streets, being very prettily located in a handsome grove. The corner stone was laid by Rev. F. J. Ruth, and Rev. John Stough was the first pastor. Both English and German Lutherans used the church at the start, but the Germans withdrew in 1843. They were so strong numerically that their withdrawal weakened the English part of the congrega- tion, but under Mr. Ruth and others they finally prospered. In 1867 they moved to their pres- ent site on South Market street.

The German Evangelical Lutherans were much strengthened by the arrival of so many of their denomination among the Germans, and although they assisted in building the first Lutheran church, in 1843, they sold their in- terest to the English-speaking members, and united with the German Reform in building a church on South Market street, where services were held in their own language. There was no union of the two churches. It was a joint ownership of the building, both denominations using it and both adhering strictly to their own doctrines. The Lutherans finally bought out the Reformers and in 1874 enlarged the church by erecting a handsome new addition at the front.

The German Reformed church started prior to 1840 with services in the houses, and in 1843 united with the German Lutherans in the build- ing of a brick church which was used in com- mon, until in 1858 the Lutherans bought out their interests, and they in turn bought an acre of ground on West Main street, just west of the old burying ground, and here they remained until 1868, when they removed further west on Main near Boston street. One of their minis- ters was Rev. Abraham Keller, who died of cholera in Bucyrus in 1852.

About 1827 Galion was placed on the Meth- odist circuit, and Rev. Russell Bigelow was

the first minister to visit the Methodists, Serv- ices were held in whatever new barn had been erected, and in the cabins. Their first building was a small frame on West Main street and donated by Jonathan Fellows. It was land originally owned by Benjamin Leveridge, the. first settler in Galion. Here they remained until in 1859 they moved to their present lo- cation on the corner of Walnut and Columbus.

Prior to 1840, Christian Nast, later one of the most prominent men in the German M. E. "church, visited Galion and sowed the seed for a German church. He preached in the old log school house, and later Rev. Nuh- fer, who followed Mr. Nast, organized the church, and the first regular minister was Rev. John Bier. They held meetings in the school house and in the other churches, and when the English Methodist church was built in 1860 they held services in the basement of that church and finally bought the old frame build- ing erected by the Methodists, and here they remained until 1873, when they sold the build- ing, and it was transformed into a residence, and they erected a fine large brick at the corner of Atwood and Market.

It was in 1851, at the time of the coming of the railroad, that the first steps were taken to- ward the organization of a Presbyterian church at Galion. For several years meetings and occasional services were held at the home of John McClelland, and occasional services in one of the sister churches, and in 1860 a site was secured on South Market street, but the breaking out of the war, and the weakness nu- merically of the members made the building of the church very slow, but it was finally fin- ished in 1863, and the congregation heavily in debt, after many discouragements, but ever faithful and hopeful, had the satisfaction of wiping out the debt, and placing the church on a solid foundation.

The Baptist church was organized in Jan- uary, 1859. In the spring of 1862 they began the erection of their building on Walnut street, west of Market, and in its erection Elder J. B. Sutton, the pastor, as soon as the foundation was laid, worked as a mason in the laying of the brick until the walls were completed. The building was dedicated August 3, 1862, by Rev. J. W. Osborn, of Mansfield. For two

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years the Rev. Mr. Sutton filled the pulpit of the church his own hands had assisted in erect- ing.

The United Brethren in Christ commenced the holding of services early in the 40s, the first sermon being preached by the Rev. Fran- cis Clymer in the German Lutheran church at the corner of Union and Church streets. Other early preachers were Rev. W. R. Rhinehart and Rev. Peter Flack. This church held sev- eral camp meetings in which there were many conversions. The church was finally organized in 1852, and their church erected on the cor- ner of Walnut and Market streets, and this was the first church erected after the completion of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati road, and was then on the edge of town.

The coming of the railroad brought with it a number of Catholics, and in 1854 they were organized into a congregation by Rev. Matthias Kreusch. Services were first held in the home of Mr. Rudiger, near the C. C. & C. depot, and in 1855 they built a small frame on Main street, east of the railroad track. This they used until they bought the property and erected a church north of the Union School building in 1865, and at the same time started a parochial school. The priest in charge at the time was Rev. John P. Pitts and a part of his parochial duties was the teaching of the school. The membership of the congregation was Ger- man and Irish and in 1867 the two separated and both had parochial schools. In 1873 St. Patrick's church was erected at the corner of Washington street and Payne avenue and in 1877 St. Joseph church bought three lots on the corner of Liberty and Church streets. On these lots was the first brick school house built in Galion, and this was remodeled and used by the church until they built their present struct- ure.

In 1869 Rev. George S. Davis visited Galion for the purpose of forming an Episcopal church, and in December of that year an or- ganization was perfected, known as Grace Episcopal church. Mr. Davis remained with the church about six months and was followed by other ministers, efforts being made to have services at least as often as every alternate Sunday, the Baptist church being used. But the church was not yet strong enough and al- though the organization was kept up services

were discontinued. In 1873 the work was re- sumed by Rev. Mr. Hilyar, and the hall of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers secured for their meetings. In 1874 they pur- chased a site on South Union street. Here a very neat chapel was built and the first ser- mon was delivered in it on December 19, 1875. The congregation was in debt $1,100, but $800 was paid through the work of the ladies of the church and the other $300 was assumed by T. A. Phillips, division superintendent of the A. & G. W., and the church was dedicated on Ascension Day, May 25, 1876. Among those who filled the pulpit in Grace church was Rev. William M. Brown, who after leaving Galion served as archdeacon at Cleveland, and later became the Rt. Rev. Bishop Brown of Arkan- sas. He has written several valuable works on the history of the church.

The Church of Christ first held services in the old frame church on West Main street, and later bought their present site on East Payne avenue, where they erected their present church about 1901.

The Christian Scientist church are organized and hold regular services at their rooms in the First National Bank building.

The Free Methodists have established a church and hold services in the extreme eastern part of the city on Second avenue.

The first schoolhouse erected in Galion was in 1822. George Wood was the carpenter, and on the day selected the settlers all attended and united in the erection of the building. It was of round logs with a clapboard roof. This roof and the sides of the building were stuffed with moss and plastered with clay to keep out the rain. It was built on West Main street, where the Crim residence now stands. It was a well lighted building for those days as three windows were placed in it, and Wood being a carpenter and desiring to show what he really could do, when the logs were cut out for the windows, placed window frames in the build- ing. The seats were split logs with the flat sides up, and were made by the settlers them- selves. David Gill was the first school teacher. Other early teachers in Galion were Phares Jackson, John Morrison, Joel Todd and James Dunlap. In the early days schools were taught by subscription, the teacher securing what pupils he could at a certain amount per month.

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

Of course, the more pupils he secured the high- er his wages, but it was seldom in those sparsely settled regions a teacher could secure enough pupils to make his salary more than eight or ten dollars a month. Many settlers had large families, so large in fact that only one or two of the children could be sent to school, the parents being unable to pay the tuition fees for all. It occasionally happened that some child who was attending school was sick, or detained at home for some cause. This matter was easily adjusted as the parents sent one of the other children to take the absentee's place. The rule was he had paid for a certain number of days' schooling and he was entitled to that number of days for whatever children he might send and sometimes each child was given a week alternately. It was not until 1847 that a regular school system was intro- duced in Galion. Preparing for this new sys- tem the officers of school district No. 9, which was the Galion district, made some improve- ments in their schoolhouse. The contract was with George Rensch, and he was to make 15 seats and 15 desks four feet long. The desks were to be 18 inches wide and the seats ten inches broad. He was to make a double desk and two seats eight feet long. He was to build a platform four feet square, raised six inches from the floor, with a desk on it four feet long and 18 inches wide, and build a seat behind the desk. He was also to build a door, put glass in the windows, patch the plastering and fur- nish all the material. The contract was made on October 20, 1846, and the work was to be completed in a good and workmanlike manner by November 15, and for all this work he was to receive 20 dollars.

The old grave-yard was selected as the site of the second schoolhouse. but this building was destroyed by fire in 1834 and was never rebuilt. The third schoolhouse was built of liewn logs on the east side of Market street, the first block north of the square. It was pro- vided with slab seats and "Tim" Mason was one of the teachers. W. C. Parsons taught a school in a room of the Bickler house. across the street from the above schoolhouse. Ludwig Gerth also taught German school in the old log building on the site of St. Joseph's church. It was used as a primary department after the first brick building was erected. School was

also held in the United Brethren church on Walnut street, also in the old M. E. church frame building on West Main street.

The first brick school was erected in 1847 on the corner of Church and Liberty, and was used as a school house until the erection of the large central building in 1868, when it was used as a woolen mill, and in 1877 purchased by St. Joseph church, who remodeled it and used it as a church, and today it is the parochial school. It was in this brick public schools were first taught. At the start the tax levy failed to keep the schools running more than a few months, and subscriptions were made to continue the schools the balance of the year. There were four schools in the building, No. I, the pri- mary, was so crowded that it had two teachers, Mrs Crim and Mrs. Hackadorn; No. 2 was taught by Hugh Williams; No. 3 by John R. Clymer, who afterward became county clerk and editor of the Bucyrus Forum; No. 4 by David Kerr, who was the first superintendent of the Galion schools.

Between 1830 and 1840 a wave swept over the state for the laying out of towns. A gen- eration had passed and another wave swept the state, which was the erection of large, hand- some, central school houses. Galion was not behind her sister towns, and in 1867 it was de- cided to build a spacious and commodious cen- tral building. Prof. J. C. Hartzler was super- intendent of the schools, and the Board of Ed- ucation was composed of P. W. Weber, presi- dent; F. A. Keen, secretary; Samuel Shunk; treasurer ; Dr. N. E. Hackedorn, Jacob Riblet and Charles Quigley. The site selected was the north half of the block that extended from Walnut to Atwood, and from Union to Boston streets. It contained four full lots, and cost $9,000. The architect was J. W. Thomas, and the principal contractors were Bird & Woodward, of Mt. Gilead, whose bid was $31,- 000. The cornerstone was laid on June 19, 1868, but the building was slow in completion, owing to many changes made in the original plans as it progressed, and also the lack of funds. More bonds had to be issued, until finally an investigation was demanded on Tanu- ary, 1872, and J. G. Meuser and S. G. Cum- mings were appointed to investigate and report. They found that up to that time the cost had reached $87.571. The building has a frontage

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History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 66

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