USA > Ohio > Erie County > History of Erie County Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 32
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THE CITY OF SANDUSKY.
some twelve or fifteen years after the town was laid out by the three proprie- tors above mentioned. They made the start, they laid the foundation for a large commercial and manufacturing city, but the afterwork was not well done, and to-day, in a measure, Sandusky feels the effect of it. But it is not the purpose of this chapter to lament the misfortunes of the past, nor to revive unpleasant recollections, nor to speculate upon what might have been, but rather to record the things that were and now are in being.
SANDUSKY SEVENTY YEARS AGO.
The old pioneers of the town of Sandusky city are all dead and gone. There were among them some who were prominent in its affairs and contributed largely toward its early building up and development. Zalmon Wildman, in his orig- inal plat of 1816, refers to a store standing on the southwesterly side of lot number six, and this is believed to have been the building erected by John Garrison, the merchant and Indian trader of 1810, and who left about the time the war of 1812-15 broke out. t. We have no evidence that Garrison again re- turned to the place. Title he had none and was but a squatter on the land. This building seems to have been the only one that stood within the limits of Wildman's first town, which has generally been known as Portland, but which he gave the name of Sandusky city.
With the platting made by Wildman, Mills and Hoadley, settlement at once commenced ; buildings were erected here and there, and the city of Sandusky appeared to be entering upon an " era of unexampled prosperity."
These improvements, together with the names of their projectors, and the dates of their coming, may with propriety be classed under the general head- ing of The First of Everything Pertaining to the Town. For a great part of the information relating to the pioneer efforts in the direction of early settle- ment and improvement, the writer is indebted to a directory published by I. F. Macks, esq., of the Register, and compiled by G. G. Nichols, in the year 1873. Zalmon Wildman is said to have built the first frame structure in the town in the year 1817. It was located on Water street, on the ground now in part oc- cupied by Reber's block. It was occupied, for a time, by Moors Farwell, for mercantile purposes, but the first mayor soon discontinued business on account of great competition in trade, but Mr. Farwell afterward became a somewhat central figure in the "village " affairs of the place, and was by no means con- signed to permanent retirement as the later pages of this chapter will show.
To W. B. Smith is due the credit of having erected the first frame dwell- ing in the town, in the year 1817, but his first visit to the locality was made prior to the war of 1812. This building stood at the corner of Water and Wayne streets, on the site afterward occupied by Scott's American Hotel. The second dwelling house stood near that just mentioned, and was built during the same year by Cyrus W. Marsh. And it was here a few years later that the
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
owner built a front portion to the house and opened the first hotel in the town, known as " Marsh's Steamboat Hotel." This building, with its subsequent modifications, repairs and improvements, made to keep step with the general progress of the place, is still standing, although its original name has been changed several times as well as its management. It has been known as " Port- er's Verandah Hotel," "Raymond's Hotel," and lastly as "Scott's American " and the " New Lake House " which latter name it bears to-day.
Mr. Marsh was quite a prominent personage in early times, and conducted a lively coach line as well as the hotel. He was a Connecticut Yankee and came to this place in 1817. He lived here about fifteen years and then sold out. and moved to Canada, but later went to Michigan.
The second hotel in town was presided over by Colonel Root and was known as the " Portland House," taking its name from that by which the town had been called. This was also on Water street, on the ground on which was afterward built Keech's Block. The old Portland House also passed through other hands and was finally put to use as a publishing and book establishment. Then it was burned down. W. B. Smith seems to have been a somewhat en- terprising man. In addition to his frame dwelling, he is also credited with having erected the first brick house, manufacturing his own material, and he being architect and builder. It was located in front of his frame building.
There came to reside in Sandusky, in the year 1821, Elentheros Cooke In the many projects looking to the benefit and advantage of the place, that were set in motion at and about this time, no person was more prominent than he. Mr. Cooke was a lawyer by profession, and as such was the pioneer in this locality (for the reader must be mindful of the fact that this was then a part of Huron county), but in his profession and out of it he was a man of de- cided ability and learning, a magnificent orator, a man whose mind and capac- ity was held by no narrow environment, whose public-spiritedness was un- bounded. After he became a citizen of the town there was made one grand step forward. Not alone in building up the town was Mr. Cooke prominent, but in railroad enterprises and others equally important was he actively engaged. His first work was in the erection of a dwelling on Columbus avenue, of native stone, the pioneer of its kind in the town. Old heads said there was not suf- ficient material to be obtained here for that purpose, but notwithstanding that the building gradually approached completion, and after it was done there ap- pears to have been a few (! ) stones left, judging from the amount of them used subsequently. It may not have been known at the time to these old wiseacres that Sandusky was " founded on a rock." but this was certainly the case.
Having devoted some attention to the " first " structures of various kinds in Sandusky town, it will be appropriate here to notice another pioneer venture that was established about the same time by an enterprising individual in the person of David Campbell. He was associated in this venture with Adonijah
1
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THE CITY OF SANDUSKY.
Champlin, and by their joint effort hoped to bring forth the Ohio Illuminator. But this paper, a proposed weekly publication, never shed its light upon the town and surrounding country. The Illuminator project was not a complete success from a business point of view. The good people of the country wanted "light." but they wanted more than that, so on the 22d of April of the follow- ing year, there was heard the first notes of the Sandusky Clarion. But enough of this. Suffice it to say that the Clairon lived and prospered, and though changed in name and appearance, still lives, and is now recognized as the lead- ing paper of the county. The chapter devoted to the "press" furnishes a complete history of the Illuminator, the Clarion and the other papers of the county as well.
The town grew rapidly in point of population, industry and trade during the first few years, and among the many who availed themselves of the grand business opportunities that were offered, the names of a few may be recalled, as follows: Moors Farwell was in mercantile trade representing Zalmon Wild- man. There was also Jennings & Darling, who came from Connecticut and opened a dry goods store in 1818, at the corner of Water street and Columbus avenue. William Townsend started in the same line of business in IS19, in a small frame building standing near the corner of Water and Lawrence streets. Mr. Townsend died of cholera in 1849. David McMurray, in the fall of 1817, built a store on the site of the Register office building, in which he started the drug business. One year later William Kelley became a partner of Mr. Mc- Murray. There was in trade here, as early as 1819, a Hebrew named Cohn, who had a small jewelry establishment on Water street. In this same line was John N. Sloane, but the latter did not commence business until some years later.
Others of the early tradesmen in various branches of business, but whose location and time of coming cannot, in each case be definitely fixed, were Gal- in Atkins, 1820, boots and shoes; D. C. Henderson, 1820, baker ; Wheeler & Galloway, hotel keepers and merchants (about 1821 or 1822) ; A. MI. Porter, 1820 or 1821, tanner and currier ; S. Pennewell and S. H. Stearns, both tan- ners ; Milton and Jennings, 1819, cabinet makers ; Alexander Clemons, 1820 or 1821, cabinet maker ; J. C. Hurd, 1823 or 1824, hatter ; Colonel A. Root, 1822 or 1823, saddler and harness maker ; Sylvanus A. Cone, 1820 or 1821, butcher ; Bush & Hollister, merchants; O. and L. Cook, dry goods : Bassett Bethel, tailor ; D. H. Tuttle, lumber dealer ; Samuel and Leicester Walker, and Abner Lyman were local carpenters. George Anderson was the pioneer physician.
The legal lights of the town at this time were Elentheros Cooke. Francis D. Parish and H. J. Harmon. The first two were prominent men in the city for many years, but of the last mentioned, Mr. Harmon, there appears no rec- ord or tradition.
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
Having passed the "settlement " stage of its life and taken upon itself the more dignified name of town, the enterprising inhabitants began to look a lit. tle to the world outside this place and cast about for the most convenient ani approved means of ingress and egress. Upon this subject we quote from the publication of W. D. Root, for the year IS55:
" As early as 1821 the project of a canal across the center of the State b -- gan to be agitated. In the outset no other line than the Sandusky and Scioto route was thought of. The monstrous, suicidal policy of constructing two canals across the State, to unite the same waters, was wholly an after-thought -the offspring of a corrupt bargain and sale between interested sections. In the legislative session of 1821 the first law was passed authorizing a survey. During the season following Judge Geddes, an eminent engineer from New York, was employed to make the examination of several routes. Finding an abundant water supply on the Central, or Sandusky and Scioto route, he was prepared to report in favor of its location for the canal, but was prevented from doing so by a portion of the commissioners interested in other routes, and thereupon immediately resigned his position, declaring that he could not consent to retain an office while denied the exercise of what he deemed its un- doubted prerogatives.
"The next year a certain Judge Bates, whose best recommendation was his suppleness in the hands of interested commissioners, was employed as chief engineer, upon whose report the two lines of canal were finally located. Vi single line had the power to carry the measure ; it could only be done by the corrupt process of bargain and sale. Cuyahoga had first to conciliate the Muskingum ally by a sop of some two millions for the river improvement, and then buy up the Scioto Valley by encountering a second summit of ascend- ing and descending locks, and still, not having votes enough, Cincinnati and the ' Miamis' had to be subsidized." It was by this resort to corrupt methods that the plan to construct the canal by the most convenient, natural and direct route was defeated ; and thus Sandusky lost what would given her at least her present population fifty years ago.
In order in some measure to compensate Sandusky for the great wrong done her in depriving her of this valuable water-way communication with the country to the south, the project of a railroad to connect with the canal from: Dayton to Cincinnati was suggested, but it was not until some years later th.i: the same was consummated. 1
Although Sandusky was for a time defeated in every attempt to open com munication with the outside world by a canal, and was long delayed in the railroad project she, nevertheless, held open communication with the east and west by way of the lake, and reached Columbus by stage. The steamer, Walk. in-the-Water, made regular trips up and down the lake until the year 1821. when she was lost. The Superior next visited this place in 1822, making tri-
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THE CITY OF SANDUSKY.
monthly trips between Detroit and Buffalo, touching a tSandusky both going and coming.
The Town of Sandusky Incorporated .- From the time of its original platting in 1816, until the latter part of the year 1823, the town of Sandusky had ac- quired a population of something like three hundred souls, and it became a matter of necessity that some provision should be made for local government and improvement, independent of the township organization of which it had hitherto formed a part. Many things were needful, many improvements could be made and many substantial benefits derived if the inhabitants of the town could be allowed to act independently. The Legislature of the State, on the 14th of February, 1824, passed an act providing for the incorporation of the town of Sandusky, and providing for the election of officers thereof.
The limits of the town as provided by the act were as follows: Commenc- ing at a point in Sandusky bay, eighty rods from low water mark, directly op- posite the north end of McDonough street; thence running a direct line to the said north end of McDonough street, and along said street to Washington street; thence east along said Washington street to Decatur street ; thence south along said Decatur street to Jefferson street ; thence east along said Jef- ferson street to Hancock street; thence north along said Hancock street to Washington street; thence east along said Washington street to Warren street; thence north along said Warren street to the shore of Sandusky bay ; thence to a point in said Sandusky bay eighty rods from low water mark, directly opposite the north end of Warren street ; thence running directly to the place of beginning, shall be, and the same is hereby erected into a town corporate, henceforth to be known and distinguished by the name of Sandusky ; subject, however, to such alterations as the Legislature may from time to time think proper to make ; and the remaining part of said town, as shown by the plat thereof on record, shall be, and the same is hereby vacated, excepting the streets and public grounds thereof.
On the first record book of proceedings of the authorities of the town there appears the following entry :
" Be it remembered that in pursuance of an act of the Legislature of the State of Ohio, passed February 14, 1824, entitled ' An act to incorporate the town of Sandusky, in the county of Huron,' the qualified electors who had been residents of the said town of Sandusky six months then immediately pre- ceeding, convened at the school-house in said town on the first Monday of May, 1824, and then and there, according to the direction of the said act, pro- Ceeded to the election of nine suitable persons, being citizens, house-holders or free· holders, and inhabitants of said town, to serve as mayor, recorder and common council of said town, by ballot ; at which meeting John Weeden and Benjamin Gregg were chosen and qualified as judges, and Frederick Devoe as clerk.
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
" Whereupon, after closing the polls and canvassing the votes which had been duly given by the qualified electors aforesaid, according to law, it ap. peared that George Anderson, Aaron C. Corbett, William Townsend, Willias: Kelley, Cyrus W. Marsh, Alexander Clemons, Elentheros Cook, John Wheeler and M. Farwell were duly elected to serve in the capacity aforesaid ; and the said judges thereupon declared and in due form certified the said per- sons duly elected, as will more fully appear by their certificate and return ca file."
In pursuance of the act of the common council met at the office of Elen- theros Cook, in the town of Sandusky, on the 10th day of May, being within ten days from the aforesaid day of election, and then and there proceeded : elect, by ballot, from their own body, three persons to serve as mayor, re- corder and treasurer, with the following result: Mayor, M. Farwell ; recorder William Townsend ; treasurer, William Kelley.
Thus organized the council proceeded to elect a town marshal, Wesley An. derson being the fortunate candidate. He, however, resigned on the 12th o! February following, and Daniel Newton was appointed in his stead.
The next work of the newly created board was to determine the term of office of the several members, with this result : For one year, Cyrus W. Marsh. William Townsend and John Wheeler; for two years, Elentheros Cooke, Aaron C. Corbett and M. Farwell; for three years, William Kelley, Alexander Clemons and George Anderson. On July 30 following John K. Campbell was appointed as town assessor.
About the first business transacted by these doughty old councilmen after their organization had been complete, was the passage of ordinances for loc ... government, which were not of importance sufficient to warrant their pub .:. cation in these pages. One thing, however, seems worthy of mention. They provided that the non-attendance at meetings of the council should be pur- ishable by a fine of one dollar, and judging from the frequency with which the s penalty was imposed, as shown by the proceedings, the treasury must have been in good condition, that is, if the fine was collected, which fact does n : appear. There ought not to have been any trouble in securing a full atten ... ance at meetings, for many of them, before a suitable room was provided, wer held at the " house" of Abner Root, and he was noted as being one of th .. most genial and hospitable landlords of that day. Many a glorious meetin .. these worthy city fathers must have had under the treatment of " mine host Root.
M. Farwell continued in the office of mayor for five years and was, in 182 succeeded by George Anderson, and the latter, after two years, by J. M. Row:
Thus were passed the first years of the life of Sandusky as an incorporate town; and a smart, bustling little place it was. Water street seems to have contained the business houses of various kinds, and in this same locality wa-
THE CITY OF SANDUSKY.
293
also situate a majority of its dwellings, although they were scattered over the tract generally as the owner was best able to afford. The town had a news- paper, the Clarion, a school, the building being situate at the corner of Col- umbus avenue and Washington row; but another was built in 1828, on the ground whereon, in later years, was erected the Episcopal Church edifice. A school was established in town as early as 1818 near the Steam Boat Hotel, but was succeeded by that on Columbus avenue.
Nor were the people unmindful of their spiritual comfort and welfare, as a church society was organized as early as 1819, but no church? home for this struggling band was provided before 1836. This was a missionary station under the charge of the Connecticut Missionary Society. Revs. John Seward and Joseph Treat conducted the services for some years. The first regular minister came in 1826, the Rev. W. M. Adams.
That the reader may have an idea as to who were the residents of this locality at or soon after the incorporation of the town, we give the names of the residents of Portland township for the year 1829. The list includes the names of those who lived in the town as well as those within the township and outside the town.
This enrollment was made in May of the year named, by the trustees of the township for the purpose of dividing the same into school districts, and to be numbered one and two, respectively. All that part of the town and town- ship lying east of Columbus avenue and a line drawn south in continuation thereof to constitute school district number one, while the land to the west of Columbus avenue and the line above mentioned, should form district number two. The resident householders of district number one were as follows :
Thomas Galaway, Isaac Darling,
William Cogswell,
McGovern,
Jesse Withington,
John Turk,
Jerome Hardenbrook,
Conrad Rhodes,
Charles F. Drake,
David B. Smith,
Thomas T. White,
David Campbell,
Chauncey Terry,
Presley Thompson,
Erastus Cooke,
John Hamer,
Leicester Walker,
George Anderson,
William Chapman,
Samuel Walker,
Cyrus W. Marsh,
James Foreman,
Richard Hill,
Judah W. Ransom,
James Wright,
Daniel R. Ellsworth,
Darwin H. Tuttle,
Michael Green,
Lewis C. Ellsworth,
Jacob Goodrich,
Marble Tatie,
Abner Lyman,
Martin Eldis,
Gurdon C. Burnham,
Aaron C. Corbett,
Adolphus Woodbridge,
Davis Dougherty,
Winslow Corbett,
Thomas McGee,
William Lisle,
Abner Root,
Hezekiah Bigford,
Joseph Darling, Widow Amsden, Alexander Clemons.
Roswell J. Jennings,
Widow Hurd,
Widow Cook,
Widow Hancock,
38
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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
The householders of district number two were as follows :
Benjamin Gregg,
Kelley Smith,
A. M. Porter,
Francis D. Parish,
Knowlton Youngs,
William Louther,
Daniel Newton,
Hewitt Hastings,
Lucus Hoskins,
Erastus S. Gregg,
Augustus Cook, John Poorman,
Ezra Wells, Elias Hand,
William Townsend,
George Lantes,
Andrew Grimes,
John Morgan,
Benjamin Withington,
Isaac Rice, John Wheeler,
Elijah Belknap,
Richard Martin,
Henry Victor,
Isaac Tupper,
Amos McLouth,
Russell Woodruff,
Jacob Bouck,
Samuel Pennewell, John Weeden,
Rufus G. Carter,
Widow Henderson,
Widow Costello,
Widow Martin,
Widow Bishop,
Widow Falley,
Daniel Wisopp,
H. H. Wilcoxen,
A. M. Moore,
George Dorrell,
E. E. Clemons,
George S. Reynolds,
Joshua Fairchild,
Henry I. Slater,
W. D. Colvin,
Michael Gill, John M. Sloane,
Perry Darby.
The question has frequently been asked : Why was it that Sandusky town. possessed, as it was, of every natural facility for trade, commerce, and man ::- facture, was so seriously retarded in its early growth, after the original propr - etors had made such generous provision for a large city ? This might be explained clearly and every contributing cause set forth, but it is hardly with a the province of this chapter to discuss these misfortunes further than they become a part of the city's history. But there was one leading reason that i: may be well enough to present at some length at this time. This injurioo cause, stripped of an explanation of its detail of facts and circumstances, Wa. "the uncertain title to the lands on which a part of the town plat was laid, and the conflicting claims to ownership which resulted in the famous litigation ul Lockwood and others against Wildman and others. People looking for a place of residence in the then new country could hardly be expected to invest :7 lands the pureness of the title to which was in doubt.
Then, again, soon after the year 1830, there was an investment made i. the purchase of a large tract of land in the town, which the purchasers hope to develop and build up, but unfortunately, the control of the tract fell in: the hands of a person who was, to say the very least, exceedingly careless of his own and his associates' interests.
It was soon after the year 1830 that Major John G. Camp visited the town of Sandusky with a view of making an extensive purchase of its lands, but .: seems that he was not sufficiently possessed of ready funds to obtain all thed: he desired ; so he at once cast about for associates in the enterprise, and sex- ceeding in enlisting the support of Thomas Neill, who is well remembered .. having lived in this locality, a part of the time in Margaretta township, an
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THE CITY OF SANDUSKY.
afterward in Sandusky ; and who was, moreover, an honest, true, and conscien- tious man. Also Oran Follett, who at the time was a prominent resident and business man of Buffalo, N. Y., and Isaac A. Mills, the son of Isaac Mills, one of the original proprietors of the town as laid out in the year 1818.
These gentlemen became the associates of Major Camp, and purchased from the owners, Wildman, Mills, and Hoadley, all that part of the surveyed fractional township that lay east of Wayne street; taking a contract therefor at a consideration less than fourteen thousand dollars. This was late in 1833, or early in the succeeding year. Major Camp and Isaac Mills lived in the town; Thomas Neill in Margaretta, and Mr. Follett in Buffalo, so that for the ready transaction of business the management of affairs was entrusted to Major Camp and Mr. Mills, the former being the leading spirit.
Matters progressed satisfactorily for some months; lots sold freely, and cash appeared to be steadily filling the joint treasury, but there also was ap- proaching the day of reckoning, the payment on the contract of purchase at last fell due. Major Camp, unfortunately, was addicted to excesses, and in his indulgences of various kinds he had spent the proceeds of the sales, and the exchequer proved to be in a depleted condition. The condition of affairs steadily became worse, but something must be done and that very soon. This brought Oran Follett to Sandusky in May, 1834. He called upon Major Camp for an explanation and payment on the contract, but received no satisfaction whatever. Becoming disgusted with such management, he sold his interest to William J. Reece, of Philadelphia.
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