USA > Ohio > Erie County > History of Erie County Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 10
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Resolved, That in the judgment of this meeting the general interests of ag- riculture will be best promoted by the existence of separate societies in each of the counties of Huron and Erie.
Resolved, Therefore, that with a view of separate organizations in these counties this society be dissolved as soon as the financial matters can be closed up, and that a committee of three from each county be now appointed to ad- just the funds belonging to the society.
A committee was appointed. $511.10 was the amount found in the trea - ury. This was divided according to the population of each county, Huron county receiving $299.06, and Erie county $212.04.
Thus closed the pleasant associations, as a society, formed through seven years of intimate labor together, years that had seen the formation of the so- ciety, its unexpected growth, and the still more surprising advancement of agricultural and mechanical industries. The separation was not made without pain, for the annual reunions at the fairs had been seasons of glad fraternal greetings and pleasure. The ties were strong that mutual friendship and labor had woven, and united the two counties as one family.
By the dissolution of the old society, Erie county was thrown upon her own resources, with only two hundred and twelve dollars and four cents in her treasury. It seems hardly possible that the Erie County Agricultural Society
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
could attain to its present gigantic proportions from so modest a beginning. As early as February, 1855, immediately following the dissolution, we find the leading spirits of agriculture in little Erie convened at Huron to organize the
ERIE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
A notice had been published in the three newspapers of the county to that effect. I. T. Reynolds was called to the chair, and Hon. F. D. Parish made secretary. It was resolved that it be the sense of this meeting that it is expe- dient that we organize an agricultural society at this time. Thirty-seven members united with the society at this meeting and the following officers elected : I. T. Reynolds, president ; Harvey Chase, vice-president; F. D. Parish, secretary ; C. N. Ryan, treasurer ; B. H. Rogers, J. W. Thompson, A. W. Prout, sr., Elijah Bemiss, and Elam Ward, directors. The following pre- amble and resolutions will show the spirit of the meeting at this time. They were severally adopted, viz. :
Resolved, That our board of directors offer no premium on tobacco or intoxicating liquors.
WHEREAS, A well directed and vigorous system of agriculture is among the indespensable requisites to individual and national prosperity and happi- ness, and a thorough knowledge of mechanics, arts, manufactures, commerce, and facilities for transportation is essential to the life and progress of such a system, therefore be it
Resolved, That whatever measures tend essentially to improve the quality or to increase the quantity of agricultural productions, or to the improvement of stock, to increase the diffusion of the knowledge of mechanics and commerce should receive the constant attention of the entire community, and "common interests demand common efforts."
2. That we regard agricultural societies in connection with public fairs as among the most obvious and efficient means to the accomplishment of these ends.
3. We deem it, therefore, both the interest and duty of every member of the community to lend his influence and contribute his show to add to the efficiency and to extend the influence of such societies.
4. We commend the consideration of this subject to our fellow citizens of Erie county and cordially invite them to become members of this society, and invite common effort to secure a common good.
A premium list embracing every form of industry, was carefully prepared, aggregating $700 to be awarded at the first annual fair, which was held in Sandusky and was a decided success.
The fairs for 1856-7-8-9 and 60 were held at Huron, she having in 1856 at the annual meeting of the society bid $1,000 and free use of grounds for five years against the offer of Sandusky of $850 and free use of grounds.
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These five years were socially, financially, and agriculturally successful, and the good people of Huron did all in their power to make these public gather- ings pleasant and profitable.
At the annual meeting in November, 1860, it was voted to locate the fair for five years at Sandusky, and the following officers elected : E. Bemiss, pres- ident; F. D. Parish, vice-president; C. C. Keech, treasurer, and George J. Anderson, secretary ; Isaac Fowler, I. T. Reynolds, William H. Crane, Wil- liam D. Lindsley, C. B. Choate, directors.
During the war, from 1861 to 1864, no fairs were held, all the energies of the people being given to preserve the life of the imperiled nation.
April 5, 1865, a meeting was held at the court-house, Sandusky, for the purpose of reorganizing the Erie County Agricultural Society. The officers elected were as follows: Hon. F. D. Parish, president; W. H. Crane, vice- president ; John McKelvey, secretary ; F. W. Coggswell, treasurer; and C. H. Botsford, Luke S. Stow, A. W. Prout, sr., Samuel Bemis, Isaac Fowler, A. Hollister, D. C. Richmond, Calvin Caswell, Charles Carpenter, managers.
A meeting of this board was held August 16, 1865, and a committee, ap- pointed at a preceding meeting to locate and fit the grounds for holding a fair in 1865, reported that they had effected a conditional arrangement for secur- ing by purchase the beautiful grove near the south part of the city known as the Pierson and Ankeytell lots, containing nine acres of land, for the sum of $4,800, and for the sake of completing the purchase the committee recommend the plan of petitioning the county commissioners to assist the society by appro- priating not exceeding five thousand dollars for the purchase of said lots.
This plan met with the unanimous approval of the board, and blank peti- tions were sent to all the townships for the signatures of the principal tax- payers of the county. It was stated that the healthy condition of the county finances would warrant this appropriation. The petition was successful and the purchase made in 1866, and the property deeded-as all subsequent real estate of the society was-to the county commissioners.
The first fair was held on these grounds October 17, 18 and 19, 1865, and the Northern Ohio Grape Growers' Association was held on these grounds at the same time. In 1868 another small piece of ground was bought to enlarge the track, of Jacob Wintersteen, for $300, and in 1874 about eleven acres more were purchased by C. C. Keech of Jacob Wintersteen for the society for $15,000, which made about twenty acres, at a cost of $20, 100, as the property of the society, these being the present grounds. Since these purchases great improvements have been made, substantial buildings have been erected, a fine tunnel made under the track, grounds thoroughly underdrained, and a roomy amphitheatre built, making the grounds second to none in the State. Total paid for land and improvements, $39,964.
It is not the purpose of this sketch to follow in detail further the magnifi- cent history of this society since the war up to the present time. The same
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
public spirit and sacrifice that made its inception possible has characterized its friends during these later years, and though its early promoters have mostly passed away, the present generation has taken up the mantle of the fathers and are looking well and faithfully to its interests. Did time and space per- mit I would like to write of the past and present workers in this society-of a Parish, Reynolds, Crane, Bemiss, Richmond; Keech, Milner, Caswell, Prout, Carpenter, and many others who have done so much to make the society what it is to-day; and let it also be added that the meed of praise must equally be accorded to the ladies and city friends, for they have all done their share in making the work of the society a success. Charles H. Rockwell is the present president, and John T. Mack, secretary, (1888).
For a number of years prior to 1875 the Erie County Farmers' Club and Horticultural Society flourished, and held quarterly meetings in different parts of the county. It was a literary society, and discussed topics pertaining to farm life and fruits and flowers. Colonel D. C. Richmond was the able presi- dent and its moving spirit.
Farmers' Insurance Company .- June 28, 1877, the Erie County Farmers' Insurance Company was chartered and organized. This is a mutual insurance company on the assessment plan, and has now nearly $2,000,000 property in- sured. It is purely a farmers' company, as its name implies. Henry Milner is president, and Wells W. Miller, secretary.
Granges .- About the year 1874 the Grange movement struck Erie county, and four granges were organized in Margaretta, Milan, Perkins and Berlin townships.
Margaretta Grange No. 488, Patrons of Husbandry, was organized Janu- uary 30, 1874, with twenty-six charter members as follows : E. D. Graves and wife, J. B. Witter and wife, John White and wife, Calvin Caswell and wife, W. W. Miller and wife, E. White and wife, L. S. Graves and wife, N. E. Prentice, M. F. Brown, J. C. Rogers, O. Brown, E. D. White, J. Atwater, D. S. Barber, S. H. Rogers, R. F. Fowler, J. G. Snowden, T. W. McCarty and Levi Cham- berlin.
Its present membership is fifty, and its present officers are : W. W. Miller, master ; L. Billings, overseer ; B. Beebe, lecturer ; W. H. Havice, steward; S. M. Ray, assistant steward ; J. B. Witter, chaplain ; E. D. White, treasurer ; D. S. Barber, secretary ; E. C. Witter, gate-keeper ; Mrs. E. A. Beebe, ceres ; Mrs. W. W. Miller, pomona ; Mrs. G. W. Ray, flora; Mrs. D. D. White, lady assistant steward.
Milan Grange No. 342, was organized January 6, 1874, at the residence of N. M. Hawley, with twenty-five charter members, sixteen gentlemen and nine ladies, by State Deputy Barrack. The first officers elected were: G. B. Jar- rard, M .; W. W. Moore, O .; A. W. Hawley, L .; E. W. Hughes, S .; C. C. Roscoe, A. S .; Reuben Turner, chap. ; N. M. Hawley, treasurer ; R. N. Wil- cox, secretary ; Victor Turner, G. K. ; Mrs. A. W. Hawley, ceres ; Mrs. Benj.
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AGRICULTURE OF ERIE COUNTY.
Wilcox, pomona; Mrs. C. C. Roscoe, flora; Mrs. E. W. Hughes, L. A. S. Present membership thirty-eight.
Perkins Grange No. 637, was organized March 2, 1874, with thirty-five charter members. Since its organization five have died. Its present mem- bership is thirty. Its present officers are : J. D. Parker, M .; A. A. Storrs, O .; J. F. Greene, L. ; Theron Goodwin, S .; C. W. Hill, A. S .; Henry Jarrett, chap .; W. F. Gurley, sec'y; Henry Milner, treas .; H. C. Norton, G. K. : Mrs. C. W. Hills, ceres ; Mrs. J. D. Parker, pomona ; Mrs. W. F. Gurley, flora ; Mrs. Henry Milner, L. A. S.
Berlin Heights Grange No. 345, was organized in the town hall January 7, 1874, with twenty-four charter members, fourteen males and ten females; J. WV. Barrack, deputy, officiating. The officers elected were: Henry Hoak, mas- ter ; S. O. Kellogg, overseer ; L. S. Chapin, lecturer ; L. B. Chapin, steward ; A. Pearl, assistant steward ; James Douglass, chaplain ; J. M. Stahl, treasurer ; J. P. Lesley, secretary ; G. L. Sands, gate-keeper ; Mrs. H. T Smith, ceres ; Mrs. S. O. Kellogg, pomona ; Mrs. J. S. Milliman, flora ; Mrs. James Doug- lass, lady assistant steward.
The following, by Master J. M. Stahl of Berlin Grange-a history of the workings of Berlin Grange-is a fair sample of the history of other granges of the county :
"Much interest was taken in the new organization, and the membership in a short time began to rapidly increase, there being at the end of the first year sixty members. Meetings were generally held weekly, and many lively dis- cussions were entered into on the various topics that seemed to come within the sphere of grange work.
"The purchasing of goods at wholesale prices was much discussed, and was made the leading object of the order, though nothing much was done prac- tically. When the first year closed our grange was considered a success.
"The second year opened with high spirits and a continued increase in membership. Much time was spent in discussing methods of purchasing and distributing goods, as the money feature of the grange was still looked upon as its main object and attraction. Some few goods were purchased which gen- erally gave good satisfaction, but as there was no convenient place to store goods the transaction was attended with more trouble and expense to those handling them than the profits amounted to. A store house was often talked of, but never was made a practical reality.
"At the end of the second year our grange numbered ninety-eight mem- bers, nearly all in good standing. Meetings were generally well attended, but were not held weekly as often as they were the first year. The social feature began to be looked upon as the leading feature of the grange. An organ was purchased and music became a prominent part in the exercises of the meet- ings. The year ended as it began, full of hope and interest ; and so far as the social feature was concerned, may be called the golden year of the grange.
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
"The third year began as the second one ended, with flying colors and high aspirations for developing the social faculties of the farmer and raising him to a higher plane in society.
"At this time our ninety-eight members were about evenly divided between the sexes, and also between old people and young people. The young folks were the life of the grange, and at times, under the inspiring music of the or- gan and violins, they could not refrain from timing the music with their feet. This was offensive to some of our pious church folks, and with due deference to their feelings the dancing was stopped. The end of this social amusement was the end of the great interest taken in the meetings by the young people, and one after another dropped out until our membership consisted principally of old people.
"The purchasing of goods at wholesale, by our grange, proved unsatisfac- tory, and many who had come into our ranks mainly on account of the gain in dollars and cents, ceased to attend. Hence our meetings before the third year closed were not large but interesting to those who attended. A paper was started, essays written and read, and the program was changed from meet- ings of business to a school for the attainment of that knowledge and culture necessary to the elevation and refinement of farmers and their families. Most of the then active members held that the gaining of knowledge was of more value and a nobler object of the grange than the saving of a few dollars and cents. Hence this feature was for some time held to be the grand work of the order. But our meetings were often not well attended, and many who did not attend ceased to pay dues ; but none were dropped for non-payment of dues until sometime in the fourth year.
"Throughout the fourth year meetings were held regularly every two weeks, sometimes well attended, but generally only by the faithful who seemed to en- joy them and were profited by attending. Many of the uninterested were dropped for non payment of dues until our numbers were greatly reduced. .Some said the grange was dead ; others said it was not dead, and never would die. And this condition of things continued for some years ; sometimes the interest being quite lively, and then again less interest was taken and the meetings would become fewer and smaller.
"At the present time we number forty-two members and several of these are not in good standing. But we have some twenty or twenty-five members who are as zealous in the cause as when the grange was first organized. They see the necessity for a farmer's organization, and believe that there can be no better organization than the grange. When all other classes are organized to protect themselves and to facilitate their own interests, is it not clear that if the farmers of our country do not organize, they must go to the wall ? Is it not clear that surrounded as they are by rings, chartered corporations with special privileges, monopolies and trust companies, the only alternative is or- ganization or servitude ?"
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MILITARY HISTORY.
The granges in the county are now all in a healthy condition, the flow and ebb of their prosperity are passed, and they are now upon a solid foundation and have come to stay.
With township, county, State and national organizations, working in har- mony and unitedly for the bettering of the condition of the farm masses, it is the only hope or bulwark against the aggressions of monopolies, trusts and ex- tortion of other organizations detrimental to the farmers' interests. Its social feature, its literary culture, its helpfulness against the isolation of farm life, and, best of all, the fraternal brotherhood and sisterhood it engenders, are necessary to the farmer who would keep his occupation abreast in all respects to the other industrial occupations of the age. No Pomona or County Grange as such has ever been organized in the county, but the granges meet quarterly, together, and thus keep alive a feeling of union and fraternity with each other. Mrs. H. C. Norton is now the State deputy master of the county.
CHAPTER XIII.
MILITARY HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
F ROM the time of the close of the war of 1812, Erie county cannot be said to have possessed or acquired much, if any, military history until the out- break of the war of 1861-5, which event all historians are agreed in terming the " War of the Rebellion." During that war the county most certainly made a record in history, and a most glorious and enviable record it was, for, with a population in 1861 of less than twenty-five thousand souls, she sent into the various branches of the military service from seven to nine per cent. of her people, or from seventeen hundred to nineteen hundred men.
But the military history of the county commenced with the time that that intrepid band of twenty men met and formed a company for defense against the murderous depredations of the Indians during the early part of the war of 1812-15. This company was known as the " Rangers," and was organized at Huron. Their conflicts-at-arms seem to have been confined substantially to the affair with the savages on Bull Island, in which the red foe was defeated and utterly put to rout by the Rangers. Of this engagement there is no well authenticated written history, but traditional history never underestimates the magnitude of any event. This subject is elsewhere fully discussed.
Then, again, there was the citizen soldiery, whose greatest battles were fought and victories won on "general training" day-the day of all days in pioneer times, and second not even to the 4th of July. But it was in the mili-
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tia training school that was educated many of the most efficient soldiers of the late war, and it does occasionally seem that the government of the several Northern States must have had some premonitory warning of an impending struggle, for as early as 1850, in many of the States there was required to be enrolled the names of all men fit for military duty, and it was these and the young men of 1860 that made up the flower of the Union army.
As early as the year 1832 John N. Sloam, then an enterprising merchant of Sandusky, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the First Light Infantry Battalion, Second Brigade and Third Division. After this time, and while the people of the county were engaged in the arts of peace, they were, uncon- sciously, perhaps, preparing for war. Various portions of the county had their representative companies.
In Sandusky many of the older people will remember the days of glory of the Bay City Guards, an organization formed in 1851, and under the com- mand of Captain R. R. McMeans, a physician of the city; the Sandusky Fly- ing Artillery, A. Silva, commandant ; the Yaeger Rifle Company, L. Traub, commanding, and others, perhaps, whose greatest victories were achieved among the fair sex.
But there came a time, a few years later, when these had an opportunity of exhibiting their valor upon the bloody fields of battle from the first Bull Run to the Appamattox; from the State of Pennsylvania to the Gulf of Mexico.
When, on that fateful morning of April, 1861, there appeared, in answer to Moultrie's guns, upon our political horizon the words "Civil War," the sturdy men of Ohio were at once to the fore, and from that day to the time that Lee yielded to that old hero, " Unconditional Surrender" Grant, this State was sel- dom behind her quota. Let us see what Ohio did during this four years of internecine strife.
Upon the authority of Mr. Reid it may be stated that under Mr. Lincoln's call, on April 15, 1861, for 75,000 men, Ohio furnished 12,357 ; July 22, 1861, 84, 116; July 2, 1862, 58,325 ; August 4, 1862, - (nine months' men) ; June 15, 1863, 2,736 (militia) ; October 17, 1863, 32,837 ; March 14, 1864, 29,931 ; April 22, 1864, 36,254 (one hundred days' service) ; July 18, 1864, 30,823 ; December 19, 1864, 23,275. In all Ohio furnished under these sev- eral demands for men an aggregate of 310,654 men, while her total quota amounted to 306,322 men.
The fact appears that the county of Erie was represented by men in no less than thirty different regiments, although the number in each averaged consid- erably less than one hundred. Among these were some of the most daring fighters in the service.
To the military history of Erie county there attaches an additional interest from the fact of Johnson's Island having been made a national depot for the detention of captured rebel officers. This island is not a part of Erie county,
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MILITARY HISTORY.
but Sandusky seems to have been the central and prominent point and the base of all operations on the island. From here all prisoners were placed on boats and conveyed to the island, and, furthermore, all supplies were obtained here. The establishment of a prisoner's depot on Johnson's Island was brought about through the energy and exertions of a few of the leading business men of San- dusky, who at once saw that such a station would be of great value to trade in the city, and that the officers' quarters would be in and about the town rather than on the island.
The officer of the war department to whom was entrusted the duty of selecting a site for the depot was inclined to favor Detroit, and came to this city mainly in fulfillment of a duty and not that he desired to locate the place of detention here ; but the business men accorded him such a warm reception, and showed a willingness to give the enterprise such substantial aid that the agent could not well do otherwise than accept the offers made him.
The guarding force for this important point was made up, in the main, of Ohio troops, prominent among which was the One Hundred and Twenty- eighth Regiment; therefore the history of that regiment, a portion of which was from Erie county, is closely associated with the events that transpired dur- ing the occupancy of the island for the purposes stated, and will be written in connection therewith. A still greater interest and importance was given this locality during the years of the war, through the exploits of John Yates Beall, who made a fruitless attempt to rescue the prisoners on the island, which at- tempt will be found detailed in these pages, together with an account of the execution of that daring young officer.
For the following account of the history of the Johnson's Island Prisoners' Depot, and the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Regiment we are indebted to the work entitled " Ohio in the War," edited by Mr. Whitelaw Reid, now of the New York Tribune. The narrative was compiled and written so soon after the close of the war that it is doubtful whether any additional facts can be stated, even at this time ; therefore we copy literally from Mr. Reid, grant- ing him full credit for the original production.
"The One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Ohio, although chiefly occupied in guard duty within the borders of the State, was an organization of three years' troops, enlisted and mustered into the United States service, the same as other volunteer troops, and was liable to service wherever required. It attained minimum strength on the 25th of December, 1863, and consisted of four companies, before known as the 'Hoffman Battalion,' raised at different times in 1862. At and before the time of forming the regiment the Hoffman Battalion was under the command of a lieutenant-colonel and major. Six new companies were mustered in at Camp Taylor, near Cleveland, between the 8th and 15th of January, 1864. The four old companies had been on duty at Johnson's Island nearly all the time since their muster-in, but had frequently
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
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