History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 56

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818

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making a trip through the West, came with a large suite on horseback from Sandusky. The Presi- dent stopped with Dunbar over Sunday, and went to the old court house to hear Rev. Joseph Hughs preach. Mr. Hughs was greatly embarrassed by his distinguished auditors, and found, as he after- ward declared, great difficulty in opening the serv- ices. He lost his embarrassment, however, io preaching, and the President, learning of his feel- ing, sent a very complimentary message to him in regard to his discourse. The visit of a President was quite as important an event then as now, and the hotel was crowded with sight-seers. One, au old German, had but a very imperfect idea of what a President was. He had seen animal shows at the taverns, and, thinking it was something of that sort, asked Mr. Dunbar to show him the President. Willing to humor the old man, he was introduced, but, when he got out, he took Dunbar aside and asked if that was all the folks were making such a fuss about. On being an- swered in the affirmative, he expressed his disgust and dissatisfaction, and left town instanter. The rest of the town were evidently of another mind, and, desirous of showing their hospitality, made up a purse and paid the expenses of the President and his suite while in the town. The death of Mr. Dunbar's wife soon after forced him to retire from the business, and, in 1818, Gen. Sidney Moore and Pardon Sprague bought him out. Mr. Moore was married on Sunday, February 1, 1818, and the following day, the new couple took possession of their new business.

In 1822, Mr. Griswold moved from the build- ing he first occupied as a hotel and printing office, into a brick building ereeted by Jacob Drake, on the southwest corner of North and Sandusky streets, where he continued the double business for many years. But the business of tavern-keep- ing, though taking on a vigorous' growth very early, did, not absorb all the business energy of the community. Taverns were the natural out- growth of the stimulated immigration, and were more prominently apparent, but other enterprises early took root and achieved a healthy growth, if less rapid. Col. Byxbe was alive to the necessities of the place, and early set about erecting a saw- mill and .a grist-mill within the precincts of the town. A wooden dam was placed across the river, where the present one is, and a race constructed from that point followed the river to North street, where it rejoined the stream. The latter was the work of Erastus Bowe, and remains a creditable

monument to his faithful workmanship. The saw-mill was placed at the dam, and was one of those pioneer affairs that did the work assigned them with some neatness and less dispatch. The" grist-mill was situated on the race just south of the present grist-mill, near North street. In the cellar of this building was a still where customers regaled themselves with sun try strong potations while waiting to be served by the other department of the establishment. Another still, which figures largely in the annals of the early times, was built some years later by Dr. Lamb, just south of his house on the run. Rutherford Hayes was a part- ner with Dr. Lamb for some years, but he was noted for his temperate use of the whisky he made. Across the run from this distillery was a brick building built into the side of the hill, on which the University now stands. This building was two stories high, only one of which showed above the hill on the southern face. This Joab Norton bought or built in the fall of 1808, or in the fol- lowing spring, and was the first tannery in the town of Delaware. The lower story of the house was used for the works, the vats occupying the ground just north of the building; a free-flowing spring a little east of the building and well up on the hillside, furnished water to the household and to the tannery. The ague prevented Norton's staying longer than a year here, and he sold to Koester. He was a carpenter, but bought the tannery as a speculation. In 1813, Norton came and worked for Koester in the tannery, for a few months, when he died. The old building soon fell into disuse, and for years stood in a rickety, tumble-down condition, with its leaky roof of loose, warped-up shingles, its windows stuffed with old hats and rags, the doors, with broken hinges' and latches, slamming with every gust of wind, and bearing all the other marks of an abandoned, tottering old tenement. This old building stood for thirty or forty years unused, and needed but little more than these signs of decay to get it a reputation for being haunted. A story is told to the effect that in the winter of 1812-13 two soldiers got into a drunken quarrel at Lamb's distillery, but afterward, in their cups, clasped hands over the chasm in their friendship. On their return home to camp, however, they fell out again and came to blows, and one, fall- ing against a honey locust standing in the vicinity of the tannery, after a few convulsions, died. His now thoroughly sobered companion found that in his fall a long sharp spine had passed into his ear, piercing the brain. He found himself in an

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alarming position, and, seizing the body of his late companion, he deposited it in one of the unused vats, covering it well with the lime he found at hand. On his return to camp the companion knew nothing of the other, thought he had left him at the distillery, was himself too drunk to know much about it, but remembered that in his drink the other had hinted at desertion. The soldier was never found, and it was only in after years that his spirit returned to give color to the statement of the timid, that the old building was haunted. George Storm, who came in 1809, worked in the old Norton tannery for a while, but soon after started up works of his own, on the flat just northeast of his house. Here he con- tinued in the trade for years, supplying the country for miles around with the products of his busi- ness.

Up to 1812, general trade had assumed no im- portance, and there had been but one store, which did but little business. This was located on the northeast corner of Williams and Sandusky streets, and had been established by Col. Byxbe for his son Moses. His son proved a great failure as a business man, an evil that was partly remedied by the accession of Elias Murray as partner. He remained as partner but a short time, and, after the war, Moses Byxbe, Jr., went into some specu- lation which bankrupted him. He bought pork, made sausages and shipped it East, but it all spoiled before it got to Sandusky, and was pitched into the lake. A few such speculations brought him into the clutches of his creditors, who took the privilege of the law, and boarded him at the county jail, until, tired of such attentions, he took the ben- fit of the limit act, confining himself to the limits of the town. One of the earliest and most suc- cessful merchants of that time was William Little. He came originally to Worthington from Connect- icut with the Scioto colony. In 1808, the found- ing of Delaware attracted his attention, and he was early on the ground. He was a saddler by trade, and may have done something at his trade here, but Thomas Butler, an carly resident of Dela- ware, was a strong competitor in the same line; and it is likely that the mercantile profession held out better opportunities for business. He soon went into the trade, buying out a small stock of goods which had been sent up from Worthington as a branch business. He afterward moved his goods into a small brick store on the southwest corner of Winter and Sandusky streets, where the building, enlarged and improved, still stands.

In 1819, Joseph L. Webb came to Delaware. Col. Byxbe, in one of his trips to the East, by a hap of travel found himself the guest of Mr. Webb's father in the city of New York. Mr. Webb was a wealthy gentleman, with every com- fort surrounding his family, but the Colonel knew no criterion save success, and he left such impres- sions of the West that the son became infatuated with the idea of coming to Delaware. He came by way of Sandusky, and Col. Byxbe sent his carriage to meet him, charging, it is said, the round price of $70 for the accommodation. The year after his arrival, he set up business in the building formerly occupied by Byxbe & Murray, and continued in trade for several years. He was too easy with his collections to succeed, and closed up his business finally with a loss of $10,000. He returned to the East thoroughly cured of his in- fatuation. About this time, Horton Howard, a Quaker gentleman, opened a store in a yellow wooden building, standing on the east side of San- dusky street, where Loofbourrow's crockery store now stands. Howard afterward left town and started a newspaper, which he conducted for some years with considerable success. In 1823, Heze- kiah Kilbourn opened a store on the northwest corner of Sandusky and Winter streets, but sold out in the following year to Caleb Howard and Anthony Walker, who went into business in his building. They soon dissolved partnership, how- ever, Hosea Williams setting up in business and Walker going over to him. The Kilbourn build- ing being again left vacant, Dr. Lamh became pos- sessed with the general mania for business, and started up an establishment in which the principal attraction was a display of drugs. In 1831, Alex- ander Kilbourn built a building on the site of the Wolfley Block, and put in a stock of general goods, afterward adding hardware. The building is still in use, having found a resting-place on Sandusky street, near Mrs. Sweetser's. property, and is now occupied as a shoe-shop.

The mercantile business in the early day was a matter of no slight undertaking. Philadelphia was the nearest point where the Western merchant could buy his goods from original sources, and from there they had to be shipped in huge wagons over a tedious and uncertain journey. Mr. Little was in the habit of going to Philadelphia once a year, spending some six weeks or two months on the trip, and wagoning his goods home, frequently at a cost of $18.75 per hundred. These invoices included, at a later day, a full line of dry goods,

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

embracing velvets, satins, silks, cassimeres and the commoner goods. Then there were hats, shoes, crockery, hardware, medicines and groceries. For years after the war, money was very scarce, and all business became a system of barter, and goods were exchanged almost exclusively for produce. The trade with Indians was very large, the natives coming in for fifty miles around, sometimes fifty at a time. They brought cranberries, maple sugar and syrup, pelts and furs, and bought only the fin- est goods. The women would take only the finest broadcloths for blankets and petticoats, while the men chose the brightest prints for shirts. The or- dinary prints which now sell for 8 cents per yard, sold then for $1, while the higher priced sold for $1.50 per yard. Every store had upon its counter a flask of whisky with a glass, and it was expected that every person who came into the store would avail himself or herself of the hospitality thus set forth. Sugar made by the Indians or settlers found its way in large quantities to the stores, where it was traded off to the Kentuckians, who came with large wagon loads of tobacco every spring to exchange commodities. This article was in large demand among the Indians, who made a mixture of tobacco and sumac leaves, calling it " kinnikinick." The saddler's was an attractive place for the Indians, where they would stand for hours eyeing the bright trinkets when they could not buy them. But they usually made 'provision for a visit to the shop before they left camp, and seldom returned without their saddles and ponies brightened up by some new bit of saddle finery. In 1818, a new enterprise was started by E. Barrett & Co. This was a woolen-mill built on the mill-race just north of where the old grist-mill stood. It was generally understood that the " Co." was the real mover in the enterprise, and that it was L. H. Cowles, the son-in-law of Col. Byxbe, and a promi- nent lawyer in Delaware. A large, two-storied brick building was erected in the close vicinity of the mill to board the hands, and now stands in its original shape and in fair order. Cowles after- ward retired, and the firm changed to Barrett & King, Titus King becoming a partner. In 1827 they sold out to Benjamin F. Allen, who, two years later, introduced a carpet loom. He wove one piece of carpet that attracted considerable at- tention, but failed for some cause or other, and he sold, in the latter part of 1829, to John Moses and Seth H. Allen. These parties tried the busi- ness that had proved a failure to every one else with indifferent success. ' It finally fell into disnse,

and, with an additional story, it is now doing duty as a grist-mill ..

The scarcity of money immediately after the war was severely felt by the new town, and vari- ous expedients were undertaken to relieve the stringency. The city issued several thousand dol- lars worth of scrip in 1815-17, with good results to the local trade. A bank of issue was formed soon after this, with Moses Byxbe as President, and Leonard H. Cowles as Cashier. Stock was taken by William Little, William Sweetser and others, and several thousands of dollars issued. But, owing to the instability of the banks and the fraud- ulent concerns that had been practicing upon the people under the respectability of a charter, the Legislature became cautious, and refused to charter the Delaware Bank, and its circulation had, there- fore, to be redeemed and destroyed. Just before this unsuccessful attempt to establish a bank, the Scioto Importing Company had been formed and estab- lished in Welch's hotel-Mrs. Kilbourn's residence now-proposing to do a banking business. It was known to be a fraudulent concern, and existed but a few months, when one day, in the absence of the proprietors, the press and furniture of their room was brought into the street and burned. Their bills were poorly engraved by a well-known outlawed counterfeiter in Canada, whose igno- rance or carelessness had betrayed him into spell- ing Scioto without the " c."

The early society of Delaware was largely the product of Col. Byxbe's molding hand. With a business sagacity that overlooked no particular which was likely to contribute to the success of his schemes, he sought in the members of his community such kindred spirits as would con- tribute to the growth of the town, and, in the end, to his own personal interest .. His alliances were based upon the one consideration of gain, and the settlers, keenly alive to this feature of the bargain, were possessed more with the project of accumu- lating wealth than with laying the foundations of society in the schoolhouse and church. It is, there- fore, not surprising to find Delaware in possession of neither of these adjuncts of civilization until after the surrounding settlements had long enjoyed such privileges. There was, indeed, a strong religious sentiment prevailing in the community, and Col. Byxbe led in this as in other matters ; but the impression left upon the mind of one who hears all the reminiscences of that day, is not that of respect for the deep piety of their lives. Much may be said in extenuation of their personal character,

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but there was a lack in their public spiritual enterprise, that made the community satisfied with such accommodations as private houses, or, later, the court house afforded. Succeeding years brought an infusion of new and vigorous blood, and the pendulum of change has swayed toward the other limit. In matters of a social nature, the early community was characterized by that democratic freedom which prevails in frontier society everywhere. Invitations to . huskings, quiltings and parties, included the whole community, until it grew beyond the limits of a hospitality of even such generous proportions, and then verbal invitations were sent around. This usually consisted of the simple announcement of the time and place that the event was to take place, and included all of an available age. The introduction of the more formal written invitation at a later date was accepted by the mass of the community as an insult to their prerogatives, and resented in high dudgeon. This latter innovation, it is said, was introduced by Platt Brush, who came in 1820, as the first Registrar of the Land Office in Delaware. He was a man of intensely aristocratic notions, and held himself aloof from the people as from an infection. He refused to go to church, or allow his wife to do so, because, as he said, he did not like the odor of soft soap. A story is told, that one of the ladies of the city, desiring to make a party, sent him an invitation. Before accepting, he requested the names of all the other guests, and, finding them unexception- able, he accepted. The next day, desiring to receive her friends of all classes, she sent out her invitations with a wider scope, but was mortified-to find them all rejected. Ladies of the aristocratic circle met sometimes in the afternoon, when the lady receiving would bring in a green Zanesville glass containing a little whisky, with a few lumps of maple sugar, and a pewter spoon. It was expected that each guest would take a sip of the beverage, and pass it to her companion, until it made the rounds of the circle. Whisky played an important part in all the forms of social life in the new community. In the parlor, on the counter of the store, on training day, at huskings and log- gings, at the meetings of the lodges, everywhere the lurking evil was found. Drunkenness was common, and a jury of that time refused to call a man an habitual drunkard unless drunk more than one-half of his time. The Indians had a civilized taste for the beverage, and would resort to any device to secure what it was illegal to give or sell

to them. A story is related in the " County Atlas " of an Indian coming late one evening with a keg to the house of Col. Byxbe, and demanding of his wife (the only occupant) to have it filled. " He laid down the elements of the license law by a promise not to drink on the premises, and prom- ised never to tell where he obtained it. Mrs. Byxbe entered the room used as a bar. struck a light, and found herself surrounded by about twenty foresters, She led the way bravely into the cellar, followed by the whole band in silence. The party solemnly promised to leave when their object was gained ; the intrepid woman filled the keg, and they departed in quiet, holding their revel beyond the ear of the white man." It is related of another, that he came to a cabin in quest of whisky, but was refused and turned out. Enraged at the refusal, he caught his tomahawk and threw it with violence against the door. The settler, a vigorous man of prompt action, opened the door suddenly, and at the same time struck out with his fist, felling the lord of the forest. Taking his knife and hatchet, the white retired within his cabin, and the Indian, regaining his feet, betook himself to his companions not far off, and, giving a yell, they left the neighborhood. There was but little sleep in the cabin that night, as they expected the Indians would resent the treatment. They were happily surprised, and in the morning the Indian came back penitent, but erect and dignified, saying: "Me wrong last night ; you good man; me too cockkoosy; want my knife and tomahawk." They were at once given him, and he left without uttering a word. The Indians early learned the value and conven- ience of a market, and, in all their dealings with the whites of Delaware, showed a friendly and tractable spirit. They brought cranberries, maple sugar (sometimes mixed with meal), and molasses in coon-skins, to sell to the whites .. It did not take them long to perceive that coon-skins were not the best things to make their molasses attract- ive. They learned to borrow a pail at the first house they met, reserving the coon-skin until they were out of sight. Cranberries were a great arti- cle of commerce with the Indians, and a drove of fifty ponies, laden with this fruit, has been seen to pass through Delaware at one time, going to Co- lumbus and other points south.

The town, even at this time, with all its growth and assumptions of city airs, was hardly yet out of the woods. Letters written by young Quitman, then a law student with Platt Brush, but better

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

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known to fame as Gen. Quitman, of the Mexican war, to his brother in Philadelphia, give some lifelike pictures of the place at this time. 'He writes that " this village is on the very edge -of white population, in the district purchased from the Indians a few years since. It has now about fifty well-built houses. In the vicinity is a min- eral spring (called a ' lick '), where not many years ago thousands of buffaloes resorted. The woods now abound with deer, wolves, and turkeys, the streams with geese and ducks. They think me a clever fellow and a good Republican, because I turn out to musters and wear a straw hat cocked up behind ! I write a little, too, for the Delaware Gazette."

And here at the end of this period of Dela- ware's history, let us take leave of the city's founder. It is a melancholy retrospect, for he who once sat commanding at the source of power, died guarded like a child. For twenty years Col. Byxbe was the central figure in the county, and that, too, without the aid of a respect begotten by mental or moral worth. He possessed immense wealth, measured by the standards of that time ; an executive ability that knew no equal among his fellows, and everything promised him an impor- tant part in the fortunes of the new State. But while his business sagacity secured for him a cer- tain admiration, and his power commanded desira- ble alliances, the people felt that in the fiber of his nature he was coarse, selfish, and grasping, and their silent distrust did more to undermine his power than their open . assent to his genius could do to build it up. And thus, after living eighteen

years in the community he founded, and for which he did much to be remembered, he occupies a grave in the old cemetery, almost forgotten. The family was unfortunate in many respects. The older son, Moses Byxbe, Jr., was a great spend- thrift, and dissipated a large part of his father's fortune in reckless expenditure. He married Elizabeth Eggleston, a lady of fine address and at- tainments, of Lenox, Mass. ; went to Washington, D. C., on his wedding trip, and there bought a fine carriage, colored servants, and the appurtenances of a fine turn-out, spending a number of thousands of dollars. His business ventures were made with an equal recklessness as to the outcome, bankrupt- ing himself, and making heavy drafts upon his father to extricate him. The younger son, Apple- ton, was an imbecile, though adjudged competent by the court, after his father's death, to transact his own business. The daughters married Hon. Elias Murray, Rev. Joseph Hughs, and Hon. L. H. Cowles, all prominent and cultivated inen of their time. In the later years of his life, Col. Byxbe felt the town fast growing out of his grasp, his son's recklessness rapidly involving him in financial difficulties, and, crushed by disappoint- ment, reason tuttered from its throne. He was deranged for some two years, when one Friday morning he was discovered in the river repeat- ing, " A wounded conscience who can bear ?" From this exposure he contracted an illness which terminated in his death, September 9, 1826, in the seventieth year of his age, leaving a wife and four children to survive him.

CHAPTER XI.

DELAWARE CITY-ITS EXTENT, POPULATION AND ADMINISTRATION-INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS -BUSINESS STATISTICS.

" What is the city but the people ?"

TO study the rise and growth of a city ; to note the accidents of time and place, of public meas- ures and private character, that retard or swell the current of its progress ; to scan those " enterprises of great pith and moment " that

" With this regard. their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action ;

to mark the eddies in the margin, the obstructions in the stream, and finally the broad flow of its

irresistible power, is a matter that may well com. mand the absorbed interest of the general public not less than that of the historian. But to the readers of these pages, who are part and parcel of the city of Delaware, there will be present a per- sonal concern that will naturally demand an accu- racy of research and a philosophical acumen that we cannot flatter ourselves we shall attain. In this chapter we leave behind those traditions that gild the transactions of the early time with the mellow

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glow of a novelty that is akin to romance, and step into the broad glare of a day of tabulated facts. And, in thus approaching the dry details of a later growth and development, it is hoped that the possession of an easily accessible compendium of facts, brief and imperfect as it may be, may be found a sufficient warrant for the introduction of much that may prove dull reading matter.

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History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 56

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 818

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818