USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 38
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When D. S. and Robert Ervin began the milling business in 1878 they had the capital to go into the business on the most extensive scale that had thus far been attempted in the township. In 1881 they completed a grain elevator of twenty-five thousand bushels capacity. In 1879 they bought and sold thirty thousand bushels of wheat, an item of no inconsiderable importance to the farmers of the community.
D. S. Ervin was the most energetic manufacturer in the town for a number of years. His lime and flour industries have been mentioned, but he was engaged in a third industry which was a valuable acquisition to the town. This was the manufacture of brick, which he started in 1879, and in his first year he made about two hundred thousand brick. This was the first brick factory in Cedarville township and was operated until in the 'gos. In this connection the one tile factory of the township should be mentioned, that of J. W. Strouse and B. W. Northup, which was opened" for business in 1871. Their first drying room, ninety-two by forty feet, was burned in 1873, but was immediately replaced by another of equal size. They employed from three to six men during the working season and turned out about fifteen kilns a year, averaging about four hundred and fifty rods each. This factory closed down in the middle of the '80s.
OTHER INDUSTRIES GRADUALLY DEVELOPED.
The seventies seemed to be prolific of industries of all kinds in Cedar- ville township. The first and only fruit-evaporating plant in the county made its appearance in the township in the fall of 1879, being the property of the Tarbox brothers. They had established a cider press in 1876, and they later conceived the idea of branching out into the drying of apples, peaches and other fruits. They erected a frame building, twenty by thirty feet, in which to dry the fruit and in season employed as many as fourteen hands. During the year when apples were plentiful they often made as high as a thousand barrels of cider annually, and dried more than half a ton of apples each week. But this industry has long since handled its last apple.
One other remarkable industry remains to be considered of the early ones of the township. This was the lime industry, which, from the earliest history of the township, has been maintained on a more or less extensive
MAIN BUILDING. CEDARVILLE COLLEGE.
WHITELAW REID'S BOYHOOD HOME, CEDARVILLE.
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scale. As early as the '40s the burning of lime was the most important industry in the township outside of farming, and some seven or eight fami- lies were supported by the industry. Just who was the first to begin burn- ing lime on an extensive scale is not known, but Wesley Iliff was in the business in 1843 with an extensive plant for those days. He was in busi- ness yet in the '8os, and just before he closed down he was making about one hundred and fifty carloads of lime annually. John Orr started in the lime business in 1845 and he and his son continued to operate kilns for about half a century. His output was about the same as that of Iliff. W. G. Shroads opened a quarry and began burning lime about 1860 and continued in business until in the '8os, making about the same amount as Iliff and the Orrs. The part that D. S. Ervin took in the lime industry has already been mentioned. He was in the business longer than any of his predecessors or successors, not retiring until 1917. In that year the Cedarville Lime Company was organized and took over the quarry formerly controlled by Ervin, and it now appears that the industry will soon become more important than ever before.
The largest industry in the town is the manufacture of strawboard, an industry which has been in operation in the town for more than a quarter of a century. In 1892 the Hagar Straw Board and Paper Company was organized and in the same year a plant was erected at Cedarville which today represents an investment of at least a quarter of a million dollars. The Hagar family are the largest stockholders in the company, although George Little, of Xenia, is heavily interested in the company. The foreman in active charge of the plant is A. Z. Smith.
SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, LODGES, BANKS, ETC.
The first school building in the village of Cedarville was erected in 1850 by James Turnbull to be used by him for his own private school. He was very successful as a teacher, but soon thereafter he died. After a number of other teachers had tried subscription schools with indifferent suc- cess, the township took over the building and opened the first free public school in the village. In 1866 the town built a seven-room brick school house, which was in use until the fall of 1916, when the present eighty- thousand-dollar structure was ready for occupancy.
For many years after Cedarville was established in 1816 there were no churches in the little village. It appears that the Methodists were the first to erect a building, but no local historian affixes a date for its erection. Most of the early settlers were Presbyterians of one or the other of the three branches which were then in existence, but it does not appear that a Pres-
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byterian church of any kind was erected in the village until in the '30s. There are now six churches in the village, each doing its part toward making the town a better place in which to live. The local historian in 1916 made the statement that the churches of this community had sent forth fifty-five preachers, and interesting to state, it is affirmed that no fewer than forty- five girls of Cedarville township have become the wives of preachers.
In former years Cedarville was not what might be called a "lodge" town, a fact due to the preponderance of the Presbyterian sentiment of the community. There is a Masonic lodge, a lodge of Knights of Pythias and a lodge of Odd Fellows.
The town has one bank, the Exchange Bank, established in 1892. The first newspaper appeared in 1877 under the name of the Enterprise, and since that date the village has had a paper under various names and with many and sundry editors in charge. The present paper, the Cedarville Herald, is in its forty-first year.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Back in the days before the Civil War Cedarville boasted of a volunteer fire department that was the pride of the village. In those days there were state contests among fire companies, competitive contests of all sorts cal- culated to exhibit the speed and accuracy with which they could handle their apparatus. It was largely because of the desire to compete in such contests that practically every town of any size in the state organized volunteer com- panies in the '50s. Some of them wore gaudy uniforms, an outfit which was much more ornamental than useful, and which would never be put on to fight fires.
Cedarville took the field with one of these volunteer fire companies in 1853, the captain being James Bogle, with A. S. Frazer as chief nozzleman. This company trained with all the enthusiasm of a modern football team and went out over the state and captured prizes everywhere. They first bought a second-hand engine, which, by the way, was a hand affair, and a hose reel. With this meager outfit they were prepared to put their skill against the world, more particularly the state of Ohio.
Their first public appearance in a contest was at Springfield, Ohio, on July 4, 1854, and, so the ancient chronicler states, when they left for that place at four o'clock on the morning of that day it was so cold that they had to wear their overcoats. It must be remembered that the water was thrown then by power derived from the strong arms of the men themselves wielding the handle of their small engine. On this first public appearance they out- distanced all competitors by at least fifteen feet. The record on this, their maiden appearance has not been preserved, but later in a contest at Zanes-
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ville, the Cedarville company won first prize, a silver trumpet, with a spurt of two hundred and forty feet.
It is unfortunate that some member of the company did not keep a record of their winnings. It is recalled that they appeared at Springfield, Sandusky, Tiffin, Zanesville and Dayton, at each of which places they won a silver trumpet for the best work. All of these evidences of the prowess of the company were lost when the local opera house burned in 1887. Among the brawny "fire laddies" who were members of this famous company were the Kyles, Turnbulls, Jacksons, James Bogle, A. S. Frazer, Edward Van- horn and a number of others.
The present fire department is housed in the town hall. The equipment consists of a steam engine and hose carts, with hooks and ladders. The town is supplied with fire cisterns so disposed that water may be pumped on to any building within the corporation. In case of emergency the creek which flows through the town furnishes an ample supply of water. The firemen are volunteers and are paid for actual attendance upon fires. The town has been very fortunate in the way of fires, no serious fire having occurred since the one of October 29, 1887, which destroyed the town hall and a few adjoining buildings.
STREETS, SIDEWALKS, SEWERAGE, GAS, ELECTRICITY. ETC.
One of the earmarks of a progressive town is to be found in its streets and sidewalks. Cedarville possesses one paved street, Main street from the railroad station to the creek, this street having been paved with brick in 1916. There are cement sidewalks all over the town, while several of the streets are macadamized, and those not improved in this way are well graveled.
The town has no waterworks and consequently no sewerage system as yet. There is a sewage-disposal plant in connection with the new school building, but it has no connection with the town proper. This plant cost the township $6,000 and is located about three-fourths of a mile from the school building. It is said to be one of the best plants in the state con- sidering its cost.
The town has an abundance of natural gas, being on the main line of the Ohio Fuel Supply Company which passes through the county, furnishing Cedarville, Wilberforce and Xenia. This line was put through the county in the spring of 1905 and has been in continuous operation since that year. There are two hundred sixty-five consumers of gas in Cedarville according to the last report of the company. Electricity for the town is furnished by the Dayton Light and Power Company, the same company which furnishes Xenia, Yellow Springs, Clifton, South Charleston and a number of other towns in this section of the state. The town is well supplied with electric
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street lights, this service costing the town one hundred fifty-seven dollars and fifty cents a month, or one thousand eight hundred ninety dollars per year.
TOWN AND TOWNSHIP HOUSE.
The one public building of Cedarville is owned jointly by the town and township, although it is usually referred to locally as the opera house. The present building was erected in 1888 and represents an outlay of six- teen thousand dollars. Most of the expense was borne by the township, the town bearing the expense of the rear part of the building, which contains the town clerk's offices, the council chamber and mayor's office, and the lock-up. The two lower rooms in front are occupied by the postoffice and township clerk, respectively, the government paying the township three hun- dred sixty dollars annual rental for its quarters. For several years the Exchange Bank was located in the room now used by the township clerk. The auditorium of the building is one of the largest in the county and has a seating capacity of nearly six hundred. The stage is the largest in the county and is equipped with all the necessary machinery for the presentation of modern plays.
The present building was erected immediately following the destruction by fire of the hall which stood on the same site. The building had been built in 1884 and was approximately as large as the present one, but it was destined to stand only three years, the fire of October 29, 1887, completely destroying the building, as well as a building adjoining. This was the most destructive fire the town has ever witnessed.
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
The public library of Cedarville is one of the many thousands of libraries of the United States which have come into existence through the generosity of Andrew Carnegie. Cedarville College united with the town and township in a joint appeal for the donation, and as a result Carnegie made a gift, contingent, as all his gifts of a similar nature are, upon the recipients of the donation guaranteeing a maintenance fund of ten per cent. of the amount given.
The township bought the lot and the title to it, as well as to the building, was subsequently vested in the college. However, the township owns the books and pays for all additions to the library. The township also main- tains the library by a direct tax amounting to about fourteen hundred dollars annually, this about paying the librarian and janitor, and heating the build- ing. The township also pays one hundred and fifty dollars a year toward the upkeep of the building and grounds.
The library was opened in 1908 with appropriate ceremonies. The
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present librarian is Mrs. Lucile Gray. The township trustees appoint the library board, the present board consisting of Dr. W. R. McChesney, W. H. Barker and W. B. Stevenson.
THE POSTOFFICE.
The first postmaster has already been mentioned. John Paris, the first incumbent, attended to the little mail that came to the village from the time the office was established in 1834 until he retired in 1844 in favor of A. W. Osborn. The first mail was brought from Xenia once each week, and it was not until 1845 that the mail was received daily. In that year the stage- coach line was inaugurated between Columbus and Cincinnati and from that time down to the coming of the railroad in the fore part of the '50s the mail was brought to the village by the stage.
Osborn held the office until 1848, when he was succeeded by James Small for a six-month period. Colonel Torrence followed Small, but gave way in about two years to Josiah Mitchell. The next incumbent, William S. Bratton, took up the burden in Taylor's administration, but served only a short time. When President Pierce came into office in 1853, A. W. Osborn was again appointed and served during this administration. The Buchanan administration (1857-61) saw John Gibney, Jr., in charge of the local office, he, in turn, being followed in 1861 by A. W. Osborn. John G. Winter succeeded Osborn, but resigned after six months of service. This brings the history of the office up to 1867, in which year H. M. Boyd became post- master. Boyd served two years, being followed in 1869 by H. D. Cline, a soldier of the Civil War. Cline held the office longer than any of his prede- cessors, remaining in charge until he was displaced by James A. McMillan in 1885. The succession since McMillan has been as follows: John McLean, James A. McMillan, Thomas N. Tarbox, Stephen C. Wright and William A. Turnbull. Mr. Turnbull has been in charge of the local office since July 1, 1914.
Rural free delivery from the Cedarville office was established in Octo- ber, 1902, with three carriers, and the same three carriers are still serving. They are Oscar Satterfield, William A. Spencer and Hugh Stormont. All three use automobiles when the roads will permit. The postoffice has been located in the town hall since 1888.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
The municipal history of the town prior to 1887 is difficult to trace owing to the fact that all the village records up to that date were lost when the fire of that year destroyed the opera house. The town, however, was a part of the township until it was incorporated on January 21, 1848, and
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its citizens shared with the farmers of the township the officials elected for the township. The records for the next thirty-eight years, or up to 1887, were lost in the fire of that year.
The officials for 1918 are as follows: Mayor, D. H. McFarland; clerk, J. W. Johnson; treasurer, J. C. Barber ; marshal, H. A. McLean ; councilmen, J. W. Ross, B. E. McFarland, J. O. Stewart, H. Z. Smith, J. E. Mitchell and E. G Lowry.
CEDARVILLE IN 1918.
The Cedarville of 1918 is a typical flourishing town of fifteen hundred, with a group of wide-awake business men, with keen professional men, with substantial artisans of many trades, and with a representative number of retired farmers who have located in the town to spend the remainder of their days. Such a town may be duplicated all over the United States. It does not aspire to metropolitan honors, but contents itself with being a good country town with all the qualities which such a town should possess.
It has the finest school building in the state for a town of its size, a college of good reputation, strong churches, paved streets, electric lights and plenty of natural gas, a fine opera house and public library, two industries of importance-paper-mill and lime works-a substantial banking institu- tion and a progressive building and loan association, a wide-awake news- paper, good stores of all kinds, good railroad service and fine highways in every direction, and finally, a spirit of communism which pervades the whole community and is responsible for the pride its fifteen hundred inhabitants take in their town.
A business directory is not ordinarily a fascinating part of a town his- tory, but fifty years from now there will probably not be a one of the men here listed who will be in business. It will have descended to their sons or their grandsons, or passed into new hands altogether. In fact, of the men who were in business in 1880 there is not one who is in active business today. D. S. Ervin is probably the oldest business man in the town, but he prac- tically retired in 1917, his lime and stone business now being in charge of a younger group of men.
The following list of the business and professional men of the town as they appear in April, 1918, represents about sixty different occupations. It does not include those who are classed as day laborers, and of course does not include the scores of retired farmers who now make the town their home. The list follows: Automobile dealers, Ralph Murdock, Owens & Son; automobile livery, M. C. Nagley; bakery, Jacob Siegler, Jacob E. Post ; barbers, Charles Smith, William McCoy, A. C. Russell; bank, The Exchange Bank, O. L. Smith, cashier; blacksmiths, Ralph Wolford, George Barlow,
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Harvey Owens; butcher, Jacob Cultice; building and loan association, An- drew Jackson, secretary ; cement worker, Arthur Townsley, J. H. McMillan; cigars, Sherman Jones; churches, Reformed Presbyterian, United Presby- terian, Reformed Presbyterians (Old Style), Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal, Colored Baptist; clothing store, G. H. Hartman; coal dealers, D. S. Ervin, Andrews Brothers, Kerr & Hastings Brothers; cream stations, Houstonia Creamery Company, J. W. Long Company, West Jef- ferson Creamery Company ; contractors, Iliff Brothers; college, Cedarville College; draymen, Harvey Myers, Fred Kennon; dry goods, J. C. Barber ; dry cleaning, J. Herndon; drug store, A. E. Richards, C. N. Ridgeway ; electrician, E. G. Lowry, Fred Milton; elevator, Kerr & Hastings Brothers; feed and grain, Kerr & Hastings Brothers, Andrews Brothers; furniture, J. H. McMillan, J. A. Barr ; general stores, Kerr & Hastings Brothers; Rob- ert Bird & Sons Company ; groceries, B. H. Little, J. E. Post, W. W. Trout, L. H. Sullenberger, M. C. Nagley ; hardware, R. M. McKee, G. A. Shrodes, C. N. Stuckey & Son; harness, Kerr & Hastings Brothers; hotel, Cedar Inn, Mrs. George Smith, proprietor; house mover, Arthur Townsley ; ice dealer, D. S. Ervin; insurance, W. L. Clemans; jewelry, J. W. Johnson; junk dealer, William Bose; livery stable, George Boyd; lime and stone, Cedar- ville Lime & Stone Company; lodges, Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias; mayor, D. H. McFarland; meat markets, Mrs. C. C. Weimer & Son, Hayes Bates; moving pictures, Ralph Murdock; music teachers, George Siegler, Helen Oglesbee; newspaper, Cedarvville Herald, Karlh Bull, owner and editor; notion store, Mrs. Anna Boyd; painters, Thomas N. Tarbox; paperhangers, Calvin Ewry, Foster Banks, Charles Spencer; paper mill, Hagar Strawboard & Paper Company; photographer, J. Victor Tarr; phy- sicians, E. C. Oglesbee, Myron I. Marsh, John O. Stewart; pool rooms, George Boyd, Charles Spencer ; postoffice, William A. Turnbull, postmaster ; plumber, John Steele; railroad agent, Whitington; real estate, Cedarville Realty Company, W. L. Clemans, George Smith; restaurant, Mrs. George Smith, J. A. Hinton, Charles Spencer; saw-mill, Tarbox Lumber Company ; schools, public, L. D. Parker, principal; seminary, theological, Reformed Presbyterian; shoe shining, Sherman Jones; shoe repairer, Edward Rich- ards; Standard Oil Company, George Marshall, local manager ; stock buyer, Frank Townsley; stone crusher, Cedarville Lime & Stone Company; tele- phone, Cedarville Telephone Company; telegraph operators, J. R. Wells, Charles Payne, Hugh Grindle; tile, Andrews Brothers, Kerr & Hastings Brothers; undertaker, J. H. McMillan, J. A. Barr, Nagley Brothers; veter- inarian, Leo Anderson.
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CHAPTER XXIV.
THE CITY OF YELLOW SPRINGS.
The city of Yellow Springs has had an interesting and eventful his- tory. Though it was only a collection of a few houses until the establishment of Antioch College here in 1852, yet it has a history which goes back nearly a half century prior to that year. The name of the city is suggestive of the wonderful spring of water which still gushes forth on the old Neff farm. It was this spring that attracted the Indians to the site and was also respon- sible for the early settling of the place by white men. This spring has been the means during the past century of attracting to the place thousands of people who came to try its healing qualities. Here came the families of some of the best-known generals of the Civil War during the days when that struggle was being waged. The composition of the waters of this celebrated spring show its main constituents to be as follows: Carbonate of lime, 92.97 per cent .; carbonate of magnesia, 2.42; iron and alumina, 3.80; sili- cous matter, .80.
Lewis Davis, a son of Owen Davis, the old miller, was undoubtedly the first settler on the site of the present city, but it seems that he made only a short stay in the township. The first settler is mentioned at length in the history of Miami township. The township was not organized until June 8, 1808, but the postoffice at Yellow Springs has an unbroken record from May 10, 1805, down to the present time. This fact makes it certain that there was at least a tavern or store at the place continuously for the first half of the town's history. It is not possible to trace the growth of the place year by year prior to 1852. It is stated that when the railroad reached the place in the summer of 1846 there was only the Methodist church building and two or three small houses on the site. Therefore, the history of the town from 1803 to 1846 is practically nil. But there have been a few events chronicled during these years which are worth setting forth.
FIRST CABIN ON THE TOWNSITE.
It seems that Thomas Fream must have succeeded Lewis Davis as the second settler on the site, or at least, Fream was some place in the immediate vicinity. He was granted a license in 1805 to conduct a tavern on the site. Unfortunately, the exact location of this tavern of Fream is not known, but the official record shows that he was succeeded as postmaster by James Miller
Yellow Spring.
Pompey's Pillar.
Lower Falls.
Upper Falls.
THE GLEN AT YELLOW SPRINGS.
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on October 1, 1810. This may mean that he sold his tavern, and he prob- ably had some sort of a store in connection, to Miller. Another authority is responsible for the statement that the first log cabin on the present site of Yellow Springs was built by Elisha Mills, also mentioned elsewhere, this cabin becoming a part of the Yellow Springs hotel in after years. Mills became postmaster of the village, if it may be so called, by an appointment dated July 15, 1823, continuing in the office for the next ten years.
The facts of the situation are that with no records other than those of the postoffice it is impossible to establish a sequence for the various busi- ness enterprises which were in the town prior to 1846. Some of these business men of this period were the following: Oliver Farnsworth, who started the first newspaper in 1830; Benjamin Deaver, who opened the first tanyard in 1834; Abner and Betsey Morton, the first colored people, located in the village in 1835; George Confer, who started the first cider mill in 1836, this same year bringing John Hammond, the first carpenter, into the village; the Methodists built a church in 1840 on the site of the present post- office, their building being the first one west of the railroad which came in 1846; Israel Baker opened the first shoeshop in 1842; the year 1842 brought Frank Hafner, the first baker, and Andrew Modie, the first painter; the first school house within the present limits of the corporation was erected in 1845, the same building being later used as an Episcopal church, the build- ing being used for school purposes in 1918; the year 1846 brought the rail- road to the struggling village, and here begins a new epoch in the his- tory of the town.
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