USA > Ohio > Erie County > History of Erie County Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 37
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The subject relating to the erection of the several county buildings within the city of Sandusky, as the county seat, having already been fully discussed, nothing beyond a mere mention of the fact is necessary in this connection ; but among the proceedings that led to the establishment not only of that seat of justice, but to the creation of a new county, which was named Erie, there appears one interesting feature not before mentioned.
As is well known, the proposition to divide Huron county and to establish Erie county met with much opposition from residents of the former, and espe- cially from those in the vicinity of Norwalk. Of course the people of this locality were almost a unit in favoring the project, and to get, if possible, a majority of the whole people interested in the division, it became necessary for the advocates of the new county to resort to a little strategem. The people of Norwalk and vicinity became somewhat alarmed lest, should the new county be formed, their county seat would be removed to a point further south and nearer the geographical center of that county's territory as it would exist. Such a change, of course, would be pleasing to the people in the south part of Huron, and, in order to accomplish their main purpose (having the new county set off) the strategic sons of this town sent a " missionary" to labor among the southern residents of Huron county, representing to them that a change in the location of their county seat would greatly benefit them. This in a measure succeeded, and by it the new county project found many warm supporters in the remote parts of Huron. ; The representative of Sandusky in this laudable effort was Colonel John N. Sloane, who went among the southern people armed with the following document proclaiming his authority :
" To whom it may concern : This may certify that Colonel John N. Sloane is authorized in behalf of the citizens of this town to confer with the people in the south and west parts of the county of Huron on the proposition of attending the proposed convention at Norwalk, on the 12th instant, and to make arrange- ments for a full and punctual attendance. Sandusky, September 5th, 1835.
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330
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
(Signed) Moors Farwell, Abner Root, Oran Follett, James N. Davidson, Charies F. Drake, Ebenezer B. Sadler, M. L. Babcock, John Beatty, John Weeden. James Hollister, Zenas W. Barker, William Neil."
The advocates for the new county erection eventually succeeded in the' part of the undertaking, and in the year 1838 Erie county was formed, but the expected results hoped for by the people in the south and west parts of Huron county were not so fully realized as Norwalk continued to be the county seat, notwithstanding its location in the extreme northern portion of that county After the county was set off Colonel Sloane ceased his missionary labors, and he and his advisory council soon lost interest in the welfare of that people, at least so far as the removal of the county seat of Huron county was con- cerned.
The Fish Hatchery .- In the eastern part of the city, on the same lot on which stands the City Water Works buildings, is the State Fish Hatchery. This institution was established in Sandusky as the most available location for the purpose of propogating fish from spawn, or eggs, taken from captured fish.
The number of fish produced here is simply incalculable, there being in thic hatchery building no less than four hundred and twenty jars, each containin; about one gallon of eggs. From this production it is estimated that the em- ployees of the State in this enterprise place in the lake, annually, from thirty to forty millions of young white fish and pickerel. The hatchery was built in this city some seven or eight years ago, upon which a similar institution at Toledo was abandoned. This is the only hatchery now in the State, and is under the superintendence of James Douglass.
The Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Home .- Although the buildings of the Sel- diers' and Sailor' Home are not within the limits of the city proper, but in Per- kins township, still the institution is regarded and looked upon, and in fact i -. a part and parcel of the city's work; for its establishment at this point Ba- made possible only through the magnanimity and generosity and public spir .:- edness of the people of the city. The city will derive benefits from this ins: - tution in a hundred different ways.
Provision was made for the establishment of a Soldiers' and Sailors' Home by an act of the Legislature of 1885-86, under which act a board of truste., was appointed as follows : R. B. Brown, of Zanesville ; Durbin Ward, sin : deceased, and the vacancy filled by the appointment of Thomas B. Paxton. (4 Cincinnati ; W. P. Orr, of --; T. T. Dill, of Mansfield, and Isaac I- Mack, of Sandusky. The board was organized on the 3d of June, 1886. b: the election of Isaac F. Mack as president, and R. B. Brown as secretary.
Subsequently, and on the Ist of July, the board met, after due notice give". at Sandusky, at which time propositions from towns and cities desiring to off." sites for the Home were duly considered, and thereafter, and between the 120
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331
THE CITY OF SANDUSKY.
and 3Ist of July, the board visited Newark, Mount Vernon, Canton, Wooster, Perrysburg, Kenton, Springfield, South Charleston, Yellow Springs, Spring- boro, McArthur, Zanesville, and Piqua, and on the 31st, at Dayton, decided to locate the home at or near the city of Sandusky, provided the terms offered by the people of that city were satisfactorily guaranteed. These terms were: A clear title to the State of the ninety-acre tract of land, the building of a sewer from it to the Augustine inlet, an arm of Lake Erie, the extension of an eight- inch water main from the city to the grounds, the extension of the gas main and the electric light lines, the extension of street car lines, and the extension of a side track from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to the grounds. The citizens of Sandusky performed each and every of the acts they had pledged themselves to do. At their expense a main sewer was built six thousand and seventy-five feet in length, extending from the grounds of the Home to an inlet of Lake Erie ; an eight-inch water main was extended, without expense to the State, to the grounds ; the right of way from the main line of the Balti- more and Ohio Railroad was donated by the citizens to the State, and cost $1,650 ; the railroad company promptly extended a branch road over this right of way, one mile in length, and reaching the boiler-house on the grounds ; at the expense of the county the two highways leading from the city to the site of the Home, have been widened to ninety-nine feet, and substantially rebuilt, and the street railway company are extending their line of track over the same.
The Home buildings are now in course of erection. They are of stone with brick partitions. The plan, in substance, calls for a main, or administration building, a general dining-room and kitchen, laundry, chapel, hospital, power- house, and cottage dormitories for about fifty men each.
Regarding the capacity and cost of the Home, the trustees report of December, 1887, says: " When the plans already approved have been carried out the Home will accomodate six hundred inmates and the employees, and the cost will be, on the basis of present contracts, about three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. To increase its capacity thereafter for additional inmates will call for about twelve thousand dollars for each fifty inmates, or about ninety-five thousand dollars for four hundred additional inmates, making a total of one thousand, or double that for eight hundred additional inmates, a total of from $500,000 to $540,000 for fourteen hundred inmates. This esti- mate includes cottages for fourteen hundred, the administration building, domestic building, boiler-house, laundry and bath-houses, chapel, hospital, stables, workshop, and such other buildings as the board regards necessary to a complete institution."
The expense of furnishing the Home is not included in the above, but it is confidently believed the entire cost of buildings and furnishing sufficient for the accommodation of fourteen hundred inmates will cost not to exceed the sum of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
332
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
The work of construction is under the immediate supervision of H. C. Lindsay, of Zanesville, as architect, and Charles C. Barnett, of Piqua, as clerk of the works. Herman Haerlin, of Cincinnati, is the landscape gar- dener, and Colonel Thomas T. Dill has charge of the improvement of the grounds.
The Custom House and Post-office .- The establishment of a custom house at this point was by no means the result of accident, but rather through the earnest efforts of Colonel James Kilbourne. By the act of 1805 Sandusky Bay was declared to be a port of entry, and was included in the district of Miami, but by the act of 1812 was changed to Sandusky. At this time the seat of the district was located at Danbury, on the peninsula, and it was through the influence of Colonel Kilbourne that the seat was, in 1821, moved to Sandusky, then a little struggling town in the factional township of Portland.
In this connection it is proper to state that to the labors of Colonel Kil- bourne was due not only the establishment of the port here, but several other prominent acts of great importance at that time.
Somewhere about the year 1815 James Kilbourne was in the employ of the Worthington Manufacturing Company, of Worthington, near Cincinnati. This company desired to find a northern outlet for their goods, and sent Kilbourne to survey a route to the lake, or at least to look up the most favorable route for the opening of a road to the lake. This being the point where the waters ex- tended farthest south, he naturally concluded that it would afford the best out- let; but on reaching the place found no white residents, only Indians. He in- quired for their chief and was directed to the cabin of Ogontz. The latter in- formed Kilbourne in answer to a query, that the land hereabouts was owned by a man in Connecticut. The Colonel then returned to Worthington, and sub- sequently went to Connecticut, where he found the owner, Zalmon Wildman, and found, furthermore, that he and Isaac Mills were engaged in a dispute re- garding the ownership of the lands which they were unable to amicably settle Kilbourne represented to them the folly of their course, and said if they would come to an agreement, and lay out a town on the site, that he, Kilbourne, would get a turnpike established from the lake running south to the Ohio River ; that he would get, through influence at Washington, the customs port removed to the place, a post-office established, and, as his compensation, would take an in- terest in the town lands. The proposition was agreed to, the dispute was set- tled, the town laid out, Kilbourne making the survey, the turnpike company was formed and the road built, the customs port was changed to this point, and the post-office established here, all just as was promised. Kilbourne eventually got his land but not until a number of years after his part of the agreement had been fulfilled. The post-office was established here in 1820, with Hector Kil- bourne, son of James Kilbourne, as postmaster. From that until the present time the incumbents of the office have been as follows: Hector Kilbourne.
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333
Francis D. Parish, Erastus Cooke, D. Caswell, E. Brink, W. B. Smith, D. Powers, J. M. Brown, T. C. McEwen, Ebenezer B. Sadler, A. C. Van Tine, John M. Boalt, Charles M. Keyes, and the present incumbent, George Daniel.
In the year 1854 the government purchased a tract of land at the south- west corner of Columbus avenue and Market street, for the sum of eleven thou- sand dollars. On this lot during the years 1856 and 1857 was erected a sub- stantial three-story stone building, costing about $65,000, thenceforth to be used as a custom-house and post-office and revenue office. The building was erected by John Carr, a contracting builder of Sandusky.
The custom business at the Port of Sandusky during the last thirty years shows a large excess of exports over imports. An effort was made to have pre- pared from the collector's books a statement showing the gross amount of both exports and imports annually, since the establishment of a port at that place, but this information could not be acquired through the local offices. Recourse, therefore, was had to the treasury department at Washington ; but it appears that the accounts of collectors of customs were not rendered to the Washington office by districts prior to 1856, and further, that during the years 1862-63 and 1864 the transactions of the custom district of Sandusky were not separately stated, but were included in "Cuyahoga and Lake Ports of Ohio" reports.
Through the courtesy of the officers in charge of the Bureau of Statistics at Washington, we are enabled to furnish a statement of the gross amount of exports and imports from 1856 to 1887 inclusive, excepting for the years 1862, 1863 and 1864, before mentioned.
Statement showing the exports of domestic, and the imports of foreign mer- chandise, from and into the custom district of Sandusky, O., during the years ending June 30, 1856 to 1887 inclusive.
YEARS ENDING JUNE 30.
EXPORTS.
IMPORTS.
YEARS ENDING JUNE 30.
EXPORTS.
IMPORTS.
1856
$23,859
$8,222
1873
353.209
$36,753
1857
14,568
19,712
1874
264,914
26.240
1858
3,260
12,475
1875
86,406
17,867
1859
11,354
87,783
1876
71,132
15.951
1860
1,858
22,174
1877
61,945
14,202
1861
29,39[
26,927
1878
39.035
16.011
1862,
'63 and'64 not separately stated.
1879
67,126
19.941
1865
24,023
17,066
1880
17,003
30.639
1866
5,532
35,007
1881
24.083
32,823
1867
3,252
8,127
1882
56,396
54.999
1868
12,515
20,77 1
1883
48,544
50.715
186g
1 8.666
28,562
1884
126,704
40.375
1870
38,673
25,956
1885
27,818
42.531
1871
14,933
30,554
1886
129,846
40,554
1872
137,145
29.655
1887
239.589
1 53.662
No foreign exports.
43
THE CITY OF SANDUSKY.
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334
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
Statement giving names, dates of appointment, and term of office of co !- lectors of customs in the customs collection district of Sandusky, O., since it? creation by act of March 2, 1811, 52 (2 stat. p. 657).
NAME.
DATE OF COMMISSION.
SERVED FROM
SERVED TO
Epaphras W. Bull,
*
April 15, 1811.
April 19, 1816.
Peter P. Ferry,
April 20, 1816.
June 13, 1822.
Moors Farwell,
June 14, 1822.
Nov. 4, 1829.
William H. Hunter,
Nov. 5, 1829.
June 30, 1837.
Elias H. Haines,
July 1, 1837.
April 20, 1846.
William Patterson,
April 3. 1846.
April 21, 1846.
June 13, 1849.
John Youngs,
May 24, 1849.
June 14, 1849.
June 15. 1851.
Harlow Case,
May 23, 1851.
June 16, 1851.
Feb'y 28, 1853.
James A. Jones, .
April 4, 1853.
April 12, 1853.
May 6, 1857.
George S. Patterson,
April 9. 1857.
May 7, 1857.
April 23, 1861.
John Youngs,
March 30, 1861.
April 24. 1861.
March 3, 1874.
John G. Pool,
Febr'y 17, 1874.
March 4. 1874.
June 11, 1882.
Clark Rude,
June 2, 1882.
June 15, 1882.
July 25. 1886.
John J. Finch,
July 12, 1886.
July 26, 1886.
United States Signal Service .- A station under the control and direction of the war department was established at Sandusky in 1877, and placed under charge of Sergeant E. F. McComas. This signal station is of great impor- tance to those engaged in lake traffic, and has proved a benefit to the whok. people of the county. Succeeding Sergeant McComas was Charles R. Dow. and subsequent to that officer, W. A. Massey, M. H. Parry and Benjamin F. Hough have been in charge, the last named being the present incumbent. The station is under orders of discontinuance on account of a lack of funds at the command of the department officers.
EDUCATION AND THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF SANDUSKY.
Among the first cities in the State to take advantage of the laws favoring common school education, Sandusky has endeavored uniformly to keep pace with the progressive spirit of the age. Any failure which may have occurred can be safely credited to errors in judgment rather than lack of a hearty ap- preciation of the advantages to be gained by general culture and enlighten- ment.
To deny that such errors have occurred from time to time would be to assume that the citizens are more than mortal. To state that any school sys- tem is not necessarily imperfect would be worse than pedantic, and to discuss school methods at any considerable length is not the province of the historian. hence we will at once take up the subject of our chapter. An old manuscript dated May 29, 1829, and in the hand writing of Judge Parish, declares that the trustees of Portland township, in the county of Huron, do certify that they have divided said township into two school districts as follows, to wit: All that part of the township lying east of the center of Columbus avenue, and a line
* Cannot give dates of commissions of these officers.
----- ----- - ------
--- -----------------
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77
335
THE CITY OF SANDUSKY.
running in the same direction therefrom to the south line of the township to constitute school district number one, and all that part lying west of said avenue and line to constitute school district number two.
An annexed list of house holders shows that there are forty nine in num- ber one, and forty eight in number two.
Very few, if any, of the men whose names appear on the list, are among the living to-day, but their descendants' names may be found among those who have been honored by the nation, as highly as the true Ohio man could wish.
We are told by local historians that Miss Sallie Stimpson started a school in a log cabin on lot one, Water street, in 1818, but another writer states that the Steamboat Hotel, now called New Lake House, was built in 1817 on the same ground. The foregoing statements may be harmonized perhaps by assuming that the lots in those days were large in proportion to the scarcity of people.
Though there were numerous private schools existing from time to time previous to 1838 it seems most proper to date the direct beginning of the present public schools September 10 of that year, when Lucas S. Beecher, S. B Caldwell and MI. Farwell were appointed local school directors by John F. Campbell, superintendent of common schools. These gentlemen, on the day of their appointment. met the Portland township board, and arranged for the anexation of the township to the city district for school purposes.
For some reason not explained in the records examined by the writer an election was held on the 21st of September, and Oran Follett, Francis D. Par- ish and Samuel B. Caldwell were chosen directors, and in October this new board passed resolutions to the effect that two female teachers be employed, and schools lasting three months from the beginning of November be estab- lished in convenient parts of the town.
Mr. O. Ransom, Miss Ann Gustin and Miss E. Hendry were employed that year, the rooms were engaged, and school was kept at an aggregate cost of three hundred and fifty-five dollars ; as to the number of children in attend- ance, their ages, and the branches taught, the records are mute for several suc- ceeding years. In October of the year 1839 an entirely new board was elected, J. N. Davidson, William B. Smith and Henry F. Merry. They met Novem- ber 9, and resolved to rent three rooms in the Methodist chapel, one room in the Western Liberties, one room in the Presbyterian Church, and two rooms in Grace Church. Noah Merrill, at twenty five dollars a month ; D. Higbie, at thirty dollars per month ; Mary L. Brown, twenty-four; Annie Gustin and Sarah A. Brown, fourteen dollars each, and Martha J. McElwain, at fifteen dollars, constituted the corps of teachers for 1839-40.
During the winter months of 1840-1 there was a new male teacher, and five female teachers, at about the same salaries as had been given the year before ; but the year following there were two male teachers again, and the same num-
336
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.
ber of ladies. Rev. B. H. Hickox was required to ring the church bell in ac- dition to his duties in the school room, and he received for the double service thirty dollars per month. The records do not state whether or not he was :, preach an occasional sermon by way of recreation ; but it is fair to assume tl :.: he was.
In September of this year Earl Bill, Zenas W. Barker and W. W. Weth- erell were elected directors-just why the election occurred in that month dor. not appear ; but schools were run on very peculiar lines at that time, so it is most probable that the date happened to be convenient. The gentlemen di not qualify however, and Superintendent Cochran appointed a board composd of the same membership, excepting Mr. Bill, whose place was filled by F. M. Follett.
A school report made in 1842 by A. Root is the earliest definite statistical record that the writer has been able to find. . It shows that the total enroli- ment amounted to three hundred and seventy-seven pupils, of whom one hun- dred and ninety-three were males and one hundred and eighty-four females. The expenses for rent of school-rooms, and other expenses not enumerated, amounted to the immense sum of one hundred and seventy-four dollars, not including a desk costing four, and a stove costing twelve dollars, which swells the grand total to one hundred and ninety dollars. This school furniture seem, to be the first property either personal or real belonging to the public schools of Sandusky. The report also declares that a tax of two mills on the dollar had been levied for public school purposes, and two hundred and forty-two dollars was the amount of the total assessment, one hundred and seventy-five having been paid in, and the remainder was delinquent; but later in the year the fund was swelled by money from other sources to no less than three hun- dred and ninety-four dollars and nine cents.
At this time the best accessible statistics place Sandusky's population at something over twelve hundred souls. A very short calculation in percentage will also show that the valuation of taxable property was $121,000. If the citizens understood the under-valuation scheme of the present day as thor- oughly as they apparently did the delinquent tax matter, the valuation re- corded may be solely multiplied by ten. The branches taught at that time were reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, and philosophy. Not a very extensive list of studies, but still something more than the three R's.
The first school buildings owned by the city were built in 1844-45 in accordance with plans suggested by a special committee consisting of Messrs. M. Farwell, A. M. Porter, and Z. W. Barker, appointed at a convention of the voters of the school district called for the purpose. Elentheros Cooke was a prominent mover in the enterprise as he was in other matters of public interest.
The committee recommended the erection of three buildings, one in the West Liberties, and one each near the east and west markets respectively ; also
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337
THE CITY OF SANDUSKY.
a high school building on the public square ; the plan of the last named build- ing to be such as should be creditable and ornamental to the town.
In 1844-45 there were four men and three ladies employed as teachers, Mr. HI. Goodwin, since so prominent in the legal profession, was among the former. In this year we find Latin added to the course laid down in 1842. The ex- penses for tuition amounted to five hundred and nineteen dollars and twenty- four cents, and six thousand fifty dollars was the cost of the four school-houses completed.
In 1845-46 we find the force of teachers increased to nine. Mr. A. C. Heustes as principal of the high school, and E. Merry, jr., since prominent in Erie county official work, as a teacher in one of the outer districts, having been added to the corps.
The attendance was three hundred and seventy-one, a trifle lower than that of 1842. French, chemistry, and physiology had been added to the course. The tuition expenses had been increased to eight hundred and eight dollars and sixty-one cents.
A " Programme for the exhibition of the students of the Sandusky City high school, Friday evening, February 6, 1846," contains no less than forty numbers, original and selected, embracing orations, colloquies, recitations, songs, compositions, beginning with prayer and closing with a benediction.
This paper is of peculiar interest as illustrating the ideas of the time on commencement exercises, and because of the fact that it contains the names of many citizens since quite prominent in public affairs. In their order on the paper they are : T. H. Goodman, H. Annis, Elizabeth Thompson, Sarah P. Corbett, Adelaide Van Vleet, E. A. Williams, Thomas Laden, Mary C. New- ton, Caroline Dibble, Julia F. Farwell, Catherine Earl, Elizabeth and Francis Roosevelt, Jane Davidson, James Currie, F. E. Parish, John T. Beecher, Sarah A. Moore, Sebastian Graff, Louisa Sloane, Sarah L. Gregg, Lucretia Gregg, Levancia Monroe, Annette Tilden, Cynthia Davidson, Leverett Hall, James E. Darling, M. Y. Graff, Mary S. Strong, Minerva E. Wells, Cordelia A. Hitch- cock, A. R. Bodley, Miranda Brooks, Jemima Johnson, E. G. Ross, R. R. Sloane, G. A. Cooke. Several names appear twice.
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