History of Crawford County and Ohio, Part 42

Author: Perrin, William Henry, [from old catalog] comp; Battle, J. H., [from old catalog] comp; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852- [from old catalog] comp; Baskin & Battey, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Ohio > Crawford County > History of Crawford County and Ohio > Part 42

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).

But the main road of Crawford County is the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Railroad, passing from east to west almost through the center of the county. From the most reliable facts to be obtained, the history of this road

may be thus briefly given : In February, 1848, the Legislature of Ohio passed an act incorpo- rating the "Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad Company." On the 11th of April of the same year, the Legislature of Pennsylvania passed a similar act, making the company a corporation of that State. The act of incorporation of the Ohio Legislature gave the company power to construct a railroad from Mansfield, in Rich- land County, eastward by way of Wooster, Massillon and Canton, to some point on the east line of the State, within the county of Columbiana, and thence to the city of Pitts- burgh ; and from Mansfield westwardly by way of Bucyrus to the west line of the State. The work on this road was commenced in July, 1849, and the entire track was laid and the road was opened for travel from Pittsburgh to Crestline on the 11th of April, 1853. The Board of Directors had determined in 1850 to make Crestline the terminus of the Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad. This made further action necessary by the citizens of Crawford County and of the people west in order to se- cure a continuation of the line through Bucy- rus westward. The subject was warmly dis- cussed for some time, and efforts in this direc- tion were finally successful.

On the 20th of March, 1851, the Ohio Legis- lature granted a charter to the "Ohio & In- diana Railroad Company," for the purpose of making a road from a point on the Cleveland & Columbus Railroad, through Bucyrus and Upper Sandusky to the west line of the State, and thence to Fort Wayne, in Indiana. Liberal subscriptions were made to the stock of this company by the citizens of Crawford County, and the County Commissioners, after a vote by the people, which determined their authority to act, took, in the name of the county. $100,000 of the stock. The organization of the com- pany was completed at Bucyrus on the 4th of July, by electing a board of Directors, which met soon after and selected Dr. Willis Merriman

270

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

President. On the 10th of the same month, J. R. Straughn was elected Chief Engineer, who at once commenced making the necessary surveys for the location of the road. In Sep- tember following, the Directors fixed the east- ern terminus of the road at Crestline, and in January, 1852, awarded the contract to William Mitchel & Co., for building the entire road from Crestline to Fort Wayne, a distance of 131 miles, the company to furnish the rails.

The contractors prosecuted the work with energy, and had it ready for passing trains over the whole road on the 1st of November, 1854; the contractors receiving in part payment for work, stock in the road. Stock was also paid for in wild lands. farms, town lots, right of way and farm products ; but little cash was paid into the treasury by the stockholders. The people in the counties between Fort Wayne and Chicago, determined to make a strong effort to build the last link in the chain between Phila- delphia and Chicago. A convention was called at Warsaw, Ind., in September, 1852, for devis- ing ways and means for accomplishing the object. This meeting was largely attended by those interested in the enterprise, and the ob- ject in view proved successful; inasmuch as that in 1856, the work was so nearly completed on this new line, that, by using a portion of the Cincinnati. Peru & Chicago Railroad, a continuous line was opened on the 10th of November, 1856, from Pittsburgh to Chicago. On the 1st of August, 1856, the three corpora- tions were consolidated under the name and title of the " Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad," by which name it has ever since been known. Such is the history. in brief, of this great railroad thoroughfare, one of the best roads in the United States. It belongs to the Pennsylvania system, and is the direct source of its communication with the great West. Says a local historian of the county : "Where was an isolated wilderness is now a thriving garden, connected with all parts of

the continent. Less than a generation ago, the necessary supplies of life could be secured only by tedious journeys through almost trackless forests; now we take the cars and speed away to the best markets in the world in less time than the pioneers went forty miles to mill on horseback, with a bushel of grain divided be- tween the two ends of the sack."

The Atlantic & Lake Erie Railway, a road now known as the Ohio Central, is one in which the people of Crawford County have taken an active interest from the first inception of the enterprise, up to the completion of the road. This project was agitated as early as 1868-69, and meetings held in the different counties and towns through which the road was designed to pass. At these meetings, the idea of a railroad through the county, running from northwest to southeast, was discussed, and in the summer of 1869, the route from Toledo to Pomeroy, began to assume a tangible form. A number of meet- ings were held in towns along the proposed line, and much enthusiasm manifested for a road that had already been incorporated as the Atlantic & Lake Erie Railway. In the fall of 1869, a survey of the route was commenced, and the county papers announced the fact " that the work had actually commenced ; that a corps of engineers had been employed at each end of the route ; one corps leading south from Chaun- cey, and the other north from Newark to Toledo, and onr citizens will know within sixty days, weather permitting, where the road will run." The Columbus Journal, in May, 1870, pub- lished the following : "Our local columns yes- terday morning. contained a notice of the letting of a contract for the construction of 118 miles of the Atlantic & Lake Erie Railway, being so much of the line as lies north of Trimble Town- ship, Athens County, and south of Bucyrus, Crawford County, passing through or near Millerstown, Oakfield, New Lexington, Reho- both and Mount Perry, in Perry County ; New- ark, Greenville, Alexandria, Johnstown and

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

271

Hartford, in Licking County ; Sparta and Mount Gilead, in Morrow County, and Bucyrus and other points, in Crawford County." A contract was made with A. M. Huston & Co. for the construction of that part of the road lying be- tween the Athens line and Bucyrus. By this contract the road was to be finished, and ready for trains from Newark to Bucyrus by April 1873.

In February, 1872, a contract was let to Michael Moran and W. V. & A. M. McCracken, of Bucyrus, to grade the road from the latter place to Toledo. A contract was awarded in July of the same year, to B. B. McDonald & Co., of Bucyrus, to put iron on two sections of the road from Pomeroy north. A contract was made about the same time for the bridge across the river at Bucyrus. With varying progress, the work on the road moved along through the summer and fall. The following extract is from a letter written by the President to a gen- tleman in Toledo, under date of December 6, 1872 : " A carefully revised estimate of the cost of construction, made with more than one- half of the road-bed between Toledo and Ferrara, in the very heart of the 'Great Vein' coal-field completed, shows an excess of reliable stock subscription, applicable to that portion of the work, of more than $200,000 over-esti- mated cost. That stock subscriptions have not been more rapidly collected, and the work vigorously prosecuted during the past summer, is the result of a well-considered conclusion, arrived at in the early part of the season, that, with the prevailing price of iron and equipment, the interest of the company would not be sub- served thereby. It has now been determined by the board, to collect the subscriptions and push forward the work as fast as possible, with a view to its completion the coming sum- mer."

But with all the favorable circumstances at- tending the enterprise, the first year or two after it was inaugurated, it dragged along

rather slowly, and in September, 1875, a meet- ing was held at Bucyrus, when the following points in the history of the road were brought to light : " That the road was in imminent danger ; that it had been proposed to sell portions of it, and this would virtually sacrifice Wyandot, Crawford and other counties ; that this propo- sition was defeated in the board, for the pres- ent ; that the road was in debt, and that, if something was not done in thirty days, the project would have to be abandoned." In view of this, it was proposed to organize a new com- pany to finish the road upon terms similar, though not quite so favorable, to those secured by the Ohio Construction Company ; that this Company be formed by a subscription of $450,- 000, to be apportioned among the counties along the line ; the sum allotted to Crawford being $50,000. The terms of the subscription were, that it was to be paid in installments of ten per cent a month, and no installment pay- able until $400,000 of reliable subscriptions should be made.

In March, 1876. the county papers mention the fact that two locomotives have been bought and arrangements made for the third, for "our new railroad." Fifty miles of the road was to be completed and the cars to be running over it by June. The 1st of September it was an- nounced that fifteen cars were being painted and finished at the Bucyrus Machine Works, to be used for the purpose of delivering rails on the road, and that the rails for the division from Moxahala to New Lexington would all be delivered in two weeks. With all these cheer- ing prospects, however, it was not until the latter part of the summer of 1880 that trains ran through Crawford County on this road. During the winter of 1879-80, it took a new lease of life, after a Rip Van Winkle sleep of a couple of years, and during the spring and sum- mer was prosecuted to completion.

In March, 1878, the road was sold, and hid off for $106,668, in trust for certain bond-

272

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

holders. A short time previous to its sale, the name and title of the road had been changed from " Atlantic & Lake Erie Railway," to the "Ohio Central Railroad." This change of name was made for the purpose of selling the bonds to better advantage than could be done under the old name. In the Ohio Central, Crawford County has another outlet, which will prove of incalculable benefit to the county seat and the county generally. It gives direct com- munication with the vast coal-fields of South- eastern Ohio, and with the city of Toledo, one of the best markets in the State.

The Mansfield, Coldwater & Lake Michigan Railroad. or, as now known, the " Northwestern Ohio Railway." also passes through a corner of Crawford County. but is of no special benefit except to the northeastern part of the county. The first efforts made toward building the Mansfield & Coldwater road were about the year 1867. Parties in Toledo, acting in con- junction with the citizens of New Washington and vicinity, made strong endeavors to engi neer the project through, and have the road to run directly from Toledo to Crestline, passing through New Washington and Annapolis. This was the original intention of the parties inter- ested, and of the two towns, Annapolis and New Washington, the one subscribing the larg- est amount of stock, was to have the depot. Annapolis won the depot by the most liberal subscription, but the road was not built through the town. on account of the indifference to the matter of the citizens of Crestline declining to take sufficient interest or stock to obtain it through their town. The citizens of New Washington then conferred with the interested parties in Toledo and Mansfield, and finally suc- ceeded in getting the road from Toledo to Mans- field, under the name and title of " Mansfield, Coldwater & Lake Michigan Railroad." Work commenced on the road in the spring of 1872, and, by October of the same year,enough of the track was laid to allow construction trains to

pass back and forth between Toledo and New Washington. On the 1st of May, 1873, regu- lar trains first began running over the road.

In June, 1878, through some financial trouble or embarrassment, the road passed into the control of the Pennsylvania Company, and its name was changed to "Northwestern Ohio Railway." It now forms an important division of that company. The road merely touches the northeastern part of the county, passing through two townships, and having two stations in the county, viz .: New Washington, in Cran- berry Township, and DeKalb, in Auburn Town- ship. There was about $30,000 of stock sub- scribed to the road in the two townships named above. Shares were $50 each, so as to enable any farmer in ordinary circumstances to take a share or two. The amount was made up by subscriptions of from one to five shares. The road is now completed, and, as stated in the beginning of this sketch, is of no particular benefit to the county at large, but merely to a very small corner of it.

The Atlantic & Great Western Railway has one station in Crawford County. Galion is the headquarters of the third and fourth divisions of this road. The Atlantic & Great Western was put through the county, or a little corner of it, in the summer of 1863, and, in June, 1864, the last rail was laid at Dayton, with consider- able ceremony. Shortly after its completion, the shops of the third and fourth divisions were built at Galion. In 1874, the large brick shops were erected, which added greatly to the pros- perity of the town. Galion is also the eastern terminus of the Indiana Division of the Cleve- land, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railroad, and its junction with the main line. This requires shops also of this company at Gal- ion. These two roads, with their immense shops and hundreds of employes, constitute the life and vitality of the place. It is estimated that at least 65 per cent. of the population of Galion is railroad men and their families.

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

273

From the foregoing pages, it will be seen that Crawford County is well supplied with railroads and lacks neither modes of travel or transpor-

tation, but is in direct and easy communica- tion with all the best markets both East and West.

CHAPTER VI.

THE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM -EXTENT OF CLEARINGS-STYLE OF CULTIVATION-GRASS CROP- GRAINS-MINOR PRODUCTS-STOCK-RAISING-AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.

"THE great resource of a country in its early history, and the true secret of its independ- ence in its later years, is found in its agriculture. Here are found the elements that make up the distinctive characteristics of the national life- the secret enginery that carries on the nation to its appointed destiny. Upon this the national policy is based, and whatever there may be of manufactures, of science or of art, finds its alma mater in the productive labor of the farmer. No historical survey, therefore, can be complete that neglects to trace the rise and progress of the agricultural system, and to none of the great factors of a nation's progress can intelli- gent effort be placed to greater advantage than when applied to this root of all industries.

In a recent address to an assembly of busi- ness men, one of Ohio's greatest leaders said : " You are living illustrations of the first chil- dren of the pioneers who planted Ohio. When your fathers were born, Ohio was unknown, ex- cept as a trackless wilderness, and yet, where the smoke from not a dozen white men's cabins ascended to the sky in all this territory, now three and a quarter millions of happy people, prosperous, honorable and successful, are living and guiding the destinies of a people as great in numbers and wealth, as all who inhabited the thirteen colonies when our fathers won their independence. What a spectacle is that ! And all this prosperity was won by the simple, plain. straightforward process of downright hard work -that is what did it-labor first laid out on the raw material that God made, and then capital,

which is only another name for crystallized labor, saved up, protected and saved by the strong arm of equal and just and honest law. Now this is Ohio."

In a restricted sense, it might be just as truly said, " This is Crawford County."

Authentic data by which to determine the earlier practices of the farmers, and their re- sults, are difficult to obtain, and the letters of Flint, an English traveler, written from the Miami, Scioto and Maumee Valleys in 1818, may give, perhaps, as correct a picture of that interesting period of agriculture as can be ob- tained. He says: "I saw some people threshing buckwheat ; they had dug a hollow in a field, about twenty feet in diameter, and six or eight inches in depth. In this the grain was threshed by the flail, and the straw thrown aside in the field to rot. The wheat is cleared of the chaff by two persons fanning it with a sheet, while a third lets it fall before the wind." On his way to Chillicothe, he stopped some days at a cabin, and writes of his host, a farmer, as follows: "He told us that Indian corn sells for 25 cents per bushel, and that he could procure twenty-thousand bushels of it within three miles of his house. This appeared to be some- what surprising, on considering that the cleared grounds form only small detached parcels when compared with the intervening woods. Wheat sells at 75 cents per bushel. This sort of crop is at present more profitable than Indian corn, as in most cases it yields more than a third part by measure ; it does not require to

274

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

be cleared of weeds, and is more easily carried to market. The predominance of crops of In- dian corn is occasioned by the ease with which it is disposed of in feeding hogs and other stock, and, perhaps in some degree, by prejudice. Farming establishments are small. Most cul- tivators do everything for themselves, even to the fabrication of their agricultural implements. Few hire others permanently, it being difficult and expensive to keep laborers for any great length of time. They are not servants, all are hired hands. Females are averse to menial employments. The daughters of the most numerous families continue with their parents. *

There is only one way of removing them.

The utensils used in agriculture are not numerous. The plow is short, clumsy, and not calculated to make either deep or neat fur- rows ; the harrow is triangular, and is yoked with one of its angles forward, that it may be less apt to take hold of the stumps of trees in its way ; light articles are carried on horseback, heavy ones by a coarse sledge, by a cart or by a wagon. The smaller implements are the ax, the pick-ax, and the cradle, scythe-by far the most commendable of backwoods apparatus. The lands of Ohio are understood to be more fertile than those of Pennsylvania. With good culture, from 60 to 100 bushels of maize per acre are produced. On an acre of land near the mouth of the little Miami, one of the first settlers raised the extraordinary quantity of 114 bushels. The advanced state of population in the southern part of the State. has withdrawn the most choice tracts of ground from the land office ; good lots, however, may still be bought from private individuals at a moderate price. The higher country, lying nearly equidistant from the River Ohio and Lake Erie, is under- stood to be healthy, fertile, abounding in springs of water, and possessing a good navigation downward in wet seasons of the year, by means of the Rivers Muskingum, Scioto and Miamis. The northern part of the State is described as

having many large prairies, of a rich quality, but unhealthy." This picture, though of gen- eral application, presents in vivid colors the crude beginnings of sixty years ago, in Craw- ford County , as truly as of the spot where he wrote. The experience of every agricultural community in the State passed through all these stages, but, before even such advancement could be noted, there was a work to be done, of which the curious Englishman could give but little account.

The first white settlers here found, for the most part, a country thickly covered with a heavy growth of timber, and the land shielded from the piercing rays of the sun by the dense for- est foliage, saturated with the moisture which the character of the country favored. To erect here a home and render the land subject to an annual tribute for the sustenance of his family, tasked the powers of the pioneer to their ut- most. It was an even-handed struggle for subsistence, and anything accomplished might safely be set down as an improvement. This was practically true of the first twenty years in the history of a settlement. An average of five years were consumed before the frontier could be relied upon to furnish a support, and, in the meanwhile, the fare supplied by the abun- dance of game and wild fruits was eked out with economical purchases of corn from the older settlements. After erecting a cabin with the aid of hospitable neighbors, from five to ten acres were felled. It was then "chopped over," i. e., the trees cut into suitable lengths for rolling into piles for burning. After the universal bee for rolling, came the burning, which was not the least exacting of the fron- tier farmer's labor. When the amount of labor performed, and the dearth of labor-sav- ing conveniences are considered, it will appear that, in accomplishing so much. labor was not less effectively applied than now, but in such a consideration the methods must not be lost sight of. On a single claim, this much was

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

275

frequently done in three months, and a small crop of corn harvested in the first year, but the average results were not so favorable. The point to be gained was to get in readiness for the " bee " as early as possible, for when the " rolling season " began, there was an uninter- rupted demand upon the settler for from six to eight months in the fields of his neighbors. Many were called upon when they could least afford the time, but, from the necessities of the situation, there was no refusal possible, and, large as this demand appears, it will not be considered exorbitant when it is remembered that neighborhoods covered an area of from ten to fifteen miles square. Under such cir- cumstances, the prevailing tendency is to un- derrate the value of timber, and to carry the work of clearing to the very verge of denud- ing the land of this important aid to agricult- ure. This tendency has not been so marked in Crawford County as in many of the older counties of Northern and Northeastern Ohio. While the clearing has been carried to the far- thest extent consistent with ordinary prudence in some parts, there are other parts, especially in the western portions of the county, where the proportion of timber lands is considered by the farmers too large, and the timber is marketed very freely. Another fact which has a tendency to bring up the proportion of wood- land is found in the prairie districts of the county. Here, forty years ago, the timber was kept back by the frequent burnings of the Indians ; but, since the land has fallen into the hands of the whites, this timber has grown to a serviceable size, and almost obliterated the dis- tinctive characteristics of the plains. Wood is still the principal article in use for fuel, selling at moderate prices save where the bad roads of spring and winter make its delivery more ex- pensive than the timber itself. Coal found its way into the larger villages of the county as fuel but comparatively a few years ago, and is even now used as much on account of its con-

venience as because a cheaper material than wood. Its introduction was not marked, per- haps, until 1868, and it has not yet found its way into the public buildings of the county.

The prevailing system of agriculture in Craw- ford County may properly be termed that of mixed husbandry. Specialties find little favor with the farmers. The practice is to cultivate the various kinds of grain and grasses, and to raise, keep and fatten stock, the latter business being the leading pursuit of about one-tenth* of the farmers. The mode of cultivating the farm- ing lands has not been of the highest. Provided with a rich and varied soil, the average farmer has not felt the need of studying the principles of such branches of learning as relate to agri- culture, and has frequently hesitated to receive, ,or rejected, the teachings of science. A few persons, however, were found at a comparatively early day who brought to the business of farm- ing that amount of patient investigation which the greatest industry of this country demands. Farmers are becoming less and less unwilling to learn from others, and the husbandry of the county is attaining a commendable thorough- ness, and is improving in every respect.

Owing to the productiveness of the soil, the subject of fertilizers has not received the atten- tion which it has obtained in many other parts of the State. Phosphates and plaster are sel- dom used, and many have scarcely exercised the customary care in preserving the ordinary accumulations of the barnyard, much less to add to this store by artificial means. Barn- yards are arranged to carry off the drainage of the stables, rather than retain it for use on lands, and straw and other feeding refuse is left to the disposal of stock, without a consideration as to the best means of converting it into the best medium for restoring the vitality of the crop lands. There are many fields to be found in the county that have been cropped with wheat or corn for years without renewing or

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 and Ohio, Part 42

Author: Perrin, William Henry, [from old catalog] comp; Battle, J. H., [from old catalog] comp; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852- [from old catalog] comp; Baskin & Battey, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Perrin, William Henry, [from old catalog] comp; Battle, J. H., [from old catalog] comp; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852- [from old catalog] comp; Baskin & Battey, Chicago, pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1034