USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 78
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And thus came into existence the present library. Some of the women who worked so faithfully to get it started are still living in the city, and it must be a source of gratification to them to know that they shared in the honor of establishing it. From 1878 to 1885 the library was open only on Wednesday afternoon and all day Saturday, the members taking turn acting as librarian. The fund for the purchase of books came solely from the sale of tickets and the few fines which were collected. By 1885, however, the members became so numerous that it was decided to keep the library open every afternoon except Sunday, and all day Saturday. Prior to this time the young women who had started.it had incorporated themselves under the name of the Xenia Library Association, the original eight becoming the members of the associa- tion. This took place on November 8, 1881. In 1885 the association decided to make a strenuous effort to increase the value of the library by calling upon the citizens of the city for donations. Their efforts were rewarded with . donations to the amount of $227.50. The management now felt that they could afford to employ a librarian, and Clara Martin was employed in this capacity. She was soon followed by Ella Carruthers, who in turn gave way to Elizabeth O. Kyle. On May . I, 1888, the present librarian, Etta G.
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McElwain, took charge of the library and has been connected with it as librarian continuously since that date.
The next change in the history of the library followed the legislative act of February 13, 1898, an act which empowered boards of education in cities of the fourth grade, second class, to levy a tax not to exceed one-half mill for the benefit and support of free public libraries. The management of the local library discussed the question of taking advantage of the law, and, finding that the Xenia board of education was willing to co-operate, they decided to relinquish in its favor. The women had struggled for twenty years to maintain the library and at times some of them felt that their efforts were not appreciated, but they subordinated any personal desire they may have. had and voted unanimously to turn over the library to the city. They city provided the necessary tax levy and on September 1, 1899, the first free public library in Xenia was thrown open to the public.
While the year 1899 thus marks the beginning of a new epoch in the history of the library, there was to be another important change within the next three years. In the fall of 1902 the management was the recipient of an offer from Andrew Carnegie, offering to give twenty thousand dollars for the erection of a library building provided the city furnished a site and guaranteed two thousand dollars a year for its maintenance. The proposition was promptly accepted and a site was donated by Mrs. Louisa R. Lackey and Diana Roberts, the site comprising a tract of one hundred and fifty square feet. The board of education accepted the site and agreed to the proposition of Carnegie, a resolution of November 12, 1902, by the board of education providing for the levying of a tax of not less than one-half mill nor more than one mill for the support of the library. The city council went on record with a resolution on November 28, 1902, in which it approved the action of the board of educa- tion and formally thanked the donors of the site and Mr. Carnegie for his generous gift. Furthermore, the council pledged the credit of the city of Xenia toward the consummation of the agreement made between Carnegie and the board of education, and agreed on its part to assume the contract in case the board of education did not or was unable to fulfill its part of the contract.
And thus Xenia secured its present beautiful library building without the cost of a cent to the city, to the board of education, or to anyone else. The building cost $20,000, the full amount originally donated by Carnegie, and then there was no money with which to furnish it. Again Carnegie was appealed to for assistance, and a second time he came to the assistance of the people of Xenia. This time he donated $1,350, all of which was used in equipping the library with furniture. The corner stone of the library was laid on July 22, 1904, and it was completed and opened to the public on Tuesday, June 7, 1906.
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Now follows an account of how the city lost the library, and how the county had to step in to save it from extinction. The cause for the inability of the board of education to continue its support of the library arose from the fact that the taxing sysem of the state was so changed as to make it impossible for the school board to raise the necessary money to support both the schools of the city and library. It was hoped that the city council would come to the rescue of the library, but it repudiated its agreement of 1902. To state the facts plainly, the city was not in a financial condition where it could spare the two thousand dollars annually that was required for the maintenance of the library. It was at this crisis in the history of the library that the board of governors appealed to the county commissioners for assistance, and that body agreed to furnish the necessary funds to keep the library going.
This unfortunate state of affairs arose in 1913, and while the matter was under discussion all the available funds of the library were used. Something had to be done-and done quick, or the library would have to be closed. It was at this juncture that several public-spirited friends of the library came to the front with donations of four hundred dollars, a sum sufficient to bridge over the period between the time that the board of education refused to contribute further until the county took over the library. The transfer took place on June 4, 1913, and at the same time the name of the library was changed from the Carnegie Library to the Greene County Library. The commissioners asked that the old board of governors continue in office and perform their duties as they had in the past. In fact, the only change in the library was that of name and the source of its maintenance. In 1917 the county tax for the support of the library amounted to $2,765.34, the library deriving $179.24 from fines, the sale of magazines and a few minor sources of revenue.
The management of the institution is vested in a board of governors composed of twenty women. They elect the librarian, select the books and magazines and attend to the general management of the library. The present officers are the following : Anna McCracken, president ; Margaret Moorehead, vice-president ; Mrs. Clara Shields, secretary. The board of governors is self- perpetuating, the members filling all vacancies. The first scientific cataloguing of the books was done in August and September, 1892, by Katherine L. Sharp, a library expert. There have been three bequests to the library which deserve special mention : The James E. Galloway collection of about two hundred and fifty volumes and a number of bound newspaper files; the J. P. Chew collection of bound newspapers for a long period of years; the Dr. Samuel C. Poland collection of coins. The latter collection is one of the finest in the state, numbering 1,076 coins and representing all the countries of the world. The three cases in which the coins are displayed bear the date of the gift to the library-September 5, 1910. The donors of one or more volumes number
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probably a hundred, while a number of book publishers have donated books in the past.
The number of volumes in the library on March 25, 1918, was 17,234. During 1917 there were 780 volumes added, and about this same number is added annually. There are 53 magazines on file, the New York Times, the New York Tribune, and copies of the local Xenia papers. During the year closing September 30, 1917, there were 47,745 volumes issued to 4,010 readers for home reading. This was an increase of 13,930 volumes over the previous year, and an increase of 630 in the number of readers. The librarian and her assistant attempt to keep a check on the number of readers who visit the library, and during the past year they numbered 8,491, an increase of 2,353 over the preceding year. The library was open 304 days in the last year and handed out an average of 157 books each day it was open, 324 being the largest number handed out and 34 the smallest. The monthly circulation ranged from 5,077 to 3,013 volumes.
When the county took over the library in 1913 the scope of the library was changed so as to make it more nearly a county library. Arrangements were made to establish branch libraries over the county, and already ten separate communities have taken advantage of this arrangement to secure books: Yellow Springs, Cedarville, Alpha, Bellbrook, Jamestown, Bowersville, Spring Valley, Goes, Caesarscreek and the Bryson school. Books are sent on request to these stations in lots of fifty for periods of three months. They are kept by some responsible person, the local library, the school, or even in a store, as at Goes. The idea is to make the library of as much value to the people of the county as possible. During 1917, 1,529 volumes were sent to these various stations. The addition of this work made it necessary in the fall of 1913 to provide an assistant for Miss McElwain. This position has been held since October 1, 1913, by Mrs. Winifred H. Armstrong. The present librarian, Etta G. McElwain, has been serving in this capacity for thirty years, and it is not too much to say that she has done more than any other person to keep the institution on its feet. She has kept pace with the latest developments in library science and the result has been that there is no better managed library in the state. There has never been a more faithful and efficient servant of the public in Xenia than Miss McElwain, and the people of the city owe her a debt of gratitude for her long service with the library.
THE POSTOFFICE OF XENIA.
The postoffice history of Xenia is peculiarly mixed up with the political history of the city, county and nation. For one hundred and thirteen years postmasters have come and gone, and during this long period of more than a century one postmistress has appeared on the scene. To go into detail and tell
ST. BRIGID CHURCH, XENIA.
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why one man was appointed to the office and not another would involve a discussion not only of local politics but even of national politics. There have been times in the history of Xenia when aspirants for the postoffice have gathered around the wires on election night and waited with bated breath to hear whether New York and Indiana were going Democratic or Republican. If the former, then some Democrat of the city heaved a sigh of relief, for it meant that he was going to get the postoffice, and, conversely, the Republican aspirant slowly and sadly wended his way homeward to wait for the next election four years later.
This was the situation from the beginning of the town until April 1, 1917. Up to that time, and especially since the '30s, the postmaster in Xenia was always of the political faith of the party in power. They were usually appointed because they had, or thought they had, contributed to the election of the successful candidate for the presidency. But all this was changed with the presidential order of April 1, 1917, an order which placed the postmasters of all first, second and third class offices under civil service. This means that in the future no postmaster can be removed except for cause; that all post- masters who were in office on April 1, 1917, are to retain their positions as long as they perform the duties of the office satisfactorily.
It would take a volume to tell of the successive campaigns waged by local aspirants for the postoffice in Xenia. Seventeen different persons have held the office, one incumbent, James Hoyle, serving on two different occasions. No doubt in the early days of the town there was not much of a fight over the office, for the reason that it was not very remunerative. For several years after the office was established in 1805 the incumbent was not able to make a living from the office, and it was not until near the time of the Civil War that the office reached a point where it was worth the trouble of making a fight for it. It is not certain who was the first postmaster to devote all of his time to the office, but from the best evidence it appears that James Hoyle, who was first appointed in 1853, was the first man to attempt to make a living from the office.
James Towler, a Methodist preacher, was the first postmaster of Xenia, and, according to the best authority, assumed the duties of the office on April I, 1805. He had little to do, and his compensation was so meagre that he probably had no opposition to reappointment during the time that he held the office from 1805 to 1818. Year by year the business of the office has increased until the one man who once kept the office and also carried on his regular occupation at the same time has given way to thirty-four employees. The few dollars that Postmaster Towler annually took in a hundred years ago are now offset by such a sum as $30,720.03, the amount collected in 1917.
For several years after the postoffice was established the town did not (47)
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have daily mail. It was on a star route running between Columbus and Cincinnati during part of the time, and at other times it was on a route running between Columbus and Dayton. At first it only received mail once each week ; later the mails were increased to two per week, then to three, and some time before 1846 the town was getting daily service. The mail was brought in on the old stage coaches which made regular trips between Cincinnati and Columbus, or from Dayton to the capital. But with the coming of the Little Miami Railroad in the fall of 1846 the town began to receive two mails each day. As other railroads reached the town, more mails were received. In 1918 the local office receives twenty-seven mails daily and sends out twenty-six.
The location of the postoffice for the past hundred years is a matter which has been practically impossible to determine with any degree of accuracy. The memory of the average man is a very treacherous thing, and the local papers are painfully silent on such matters as the location of the postoffice. The historian has seen the advertisements of uncalled-for letters as far back as 1814, but in no case was there any indication where the postoffice was located. It is known that the office was located during the regime of Postmaster Towler in his log house on West Main street, his house standing on the site now occupied by the North building. It is not certain just when he opened the office, nor when he received his commission, the fact that the records at Wash- ington were destroyed when the capitol and other buildings were destroyed by fire during the War of 1812 accounting for the inability of the historian to get the exact date of the beginning of the postoffice in Xenia. It is thought that it was about April 1, 1805, and this date is accepted as about the time he assumed the duties of the office.
Following the removal of the office from the log cabin of Towler, it has been more or less definitely located at ten different sites. At the time of the dedication of the present postoffice in 1915 Postmaster Orr assembled all the information he could gather concerning the history of the office from its beginning, and all the facts herein contained are taken from his speech at the dedicatory services on that occasion. Mr. Orr enumerates ten sites for the office since the time it left the cabin of Towler, to-wit : The present site of the residence of George L. White on West Market street: East Main street, next room west of Sanz's shoe store; South Detroit street, where H. E. Schmidt's grocery now stands ( other authorities state that it was just north of the Schmidt grocery) ; East Main street, in the room in the Howard block now occupied by the drug store of D. D. Jones ; corner of Greene and Main streets, where the Citizens National Bank is now located; Greene street, in room now occupied by L. S. Barnes; Greene street, in room adjoining the alley to the south; Greene street, in room of George White's store; corner of Greene and Market streets, in room occupied by the Ford agency ; in present building since December 30, 1914.
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To quote from Mr. Orr's interesting account of the office: "Let it be recorded that on the evening of the 30th day of December, 1914, at 6:30 o'clock, the windows of the government-leased quarters were closed for the last time in the building at the corner of Market and Greene streets, and half an hour later the mail and officials of this office were installed in this new building which the government had erected for the purpose-a building which should withstand the elements for a thousand years."
Many stories are told of the efforts of the Greene street merchants to keep the office on that street, the object, of course, being to attract the trade to their stores along the street. It is said that Millen, the owner of the building where the office was located for a number of years, allowed the government the room at a ridiculously low rental in order to keep the office on that street. The present beautiful postoffice building was erected on East Main street, at a cost of $135,000, and dedicated on July 4, 1915, although the office had been opened in the new building since the 30th of the preceding December.
There are now thirty-four employees connected with the local office. The present postmaster, Harry E. Rice, took charge on February 13, 1916. The assistant postmaster is Walter E. Wike, who is the oldest employe in point of service. Mr. Wike went into the office as a clerk in 1873 during the admin- istration of Mrs. Lowe, remaining three years. He was out of the office from 1876 to 1883 and in the latter year returned as clerk for a four-year period. He was then out again for a year, but returned in 1888 and has been there continuously since that year. The next oldest clerk in point of service is Anna M. Greenlease, who has been in the office since October 1, 1893, while Harry L. Clark, a city carrier, has been on duty in that capacity continuously since October 4, 1893.
City carrier service was inaugurated during the postmastership of M. M. Gaunce (1885-1889), the first three carriers being M. J. Dunn, John Hook and Martin V. Lucas. Dunn is the only one of the three now liv- ing. The present city carriers are Benjamin F. Eckerle, J. Howard Jones, Clarence W. Barnes, Harold B. Fetz, Harry L. Clark, George I. Gaines and Orlando Sprigg. The two substitute carriers are Joseph P. McCormick and Revelle Hurley.
Rural free delivery was established during the administration of J. M. Milburn (1898-1903), there being only one carrier, Charles Thompson, at first. He received only three hundred dollars a year for his services, a striking contrast to the one thousand two hundred dollars now received by the rural carriers. There are now ten regular rural-route carriers and four substitutes. The regular carriers are as follow, their names being given in the order of their route number: Edwin A. Redfern, Harry M. Weber, Andrew J. Love, David R. Brewer, Bert J. Winter, Harry E. Marshall, Levi F. Allen, Baldwin Allen, Albert Kendrick and Alphonso Lane. The substi-
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tute carriers are Lester Lane, Emory Beall, William H. Jenkins and James H. Harner. Eight of the carriers use automobiles when the roads will per- mit. Their average route covers twenty-five miles, and they serve from one hundred to one hundred and sixty patrons each. The clerks in the office include the following: George E. Hamilton, Anna M. Greenlease, Warren E. Rodgers, Leigh A. Taylor, Cora C. Williams, Milton A. Smith and Ollie C. Custer. Mary H. Hopkins is a substitute clerk. Thomas F. Kiely is the special delivery messenger. The mail is hauled to and from the railroad stations by Fred Scurry.
The postal savings department was established on September 5, 1911, but this feature has never been very much patronized in Xenia. Experi- ence has shown that the department is mostly used by foreigners and since Xenia has very few of these, there has been little use made of the depart- ment. The parcel post was established on July 25, 1913, and has proved immensely popular from the beginning. For the benefit of future genera- tions it might be stated that three-cent postage was re-established on Novem- ber 2, 1917, the country having employed two-cent postage for more than thirty years. The present war has added heavily to the duties of the post- master. He acts as a recruiting agent, as a government detective, and in other ways acts as a direct intermediary between the government at Wash- ington and the local community. All the sales of war saving stamps and thrift stamps for the county are accounted for by the postmaster of the county seat in each county. They were first offered for sale at the local office on December 3, 1917, the apportionment of the county's sales for the year 1918 being placed at five hundred fifty-eight thousand dollars. The amount of these stamps to be bought by the counties of the various states is prorated on the basis of population, Greene county being estimated to have a population of thirty-two thousand.
It is interesting to note that every postmaster since the days of Thomas G. Brown has been connected with local newspapers at some time or other a fact which may account for the fact that so many papers have arisen in the county seat since the Civil War. John H. Purdy was the editor of the Xenia Free Press in the '30s. Brown is the oldest of these postmasters now living, although he has not been a resident of the city for several years. now making his home in Coshocton. The only other postmasters living are Lewis H. Whiteman and John Francis Orr. The complete list of post- masters from 1805 down to the present time follows: James Towler, April I, 1805; George Townsley, July 7, 1818; John H. McPherson, November 13, 1828; William T. Stark, May 14, 1829; John H. McPherson, June 9, 1841: John H. Purdy, September 5, 1842; William M. Stark, December 20, 1845; Daniel Lewis, May 2, 1849; James Hoyle, May 12, 1853; Will-
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iam Lewis, April 8, 1861 ; James Hoyle, November 17, 1866; Manorah F. Lowe, April 10, 1867; Thomas G. Brown, March 3, 1879; M. M. Gaunce, December 5, 1885; Nelson A. Fulton, September 6, 1889; Lewis H. White- man, March 15, 1894; Joseph M. Milburn, May 24, 1898; John F. Orr, June 23, 1903; Harry E. Rice, February 13, 1916. The one woman who held the office, Manorah F. Lowe, was the widow of Col. John W. Lowe, the first field officer of Ohio to be killed in the Civil War. He was shot on the battlefield at Carnifix Ferry on September 18, 1861. It was in recognition of his service that President Johnson appointed his widow post- master of Xenia in 1867, and she was later appointed by President Grant, serving in all twelve years.
XENIA BECOMES A CITY.
The city council of Xenia held its first meeting on March 3, 1834, and from that time until January 2, 1918, the city was governed by a mayor and council. A study of the minutes of the council during all these years reveals many interesting things, not all of which would make delectable reading. There are on record many things of which the city can not be proud, while on the other hand there is a great preponderance of things well done.
The musty old volumes tell of mayors who filled their pockets full of money derived from fines and then skipped out for parts unknown, but on the other hand it also tells of mayors who exercised the most scrupulous care in the performance of their duties. There have been good mayors, bad mayors, and some mediocre; thus it is in every city in the country. There have been good councilmen and bad councilmen; councilmen who looked after the interests of the people they were supposed to represent, and councilmen who have looked solely after their own interests. There has probably never been a single council in the city that has not had some of the best citizens of the city in it, but when they were in the minority their influence was practically negligible. However, with the beginning of 1918 the days of the old form of government are over, and there is little chance that it will ever return.
The first city officials in 1834 were the following: Cornelius Clark, mayor; L. P. Frazer, recorder ; Alexander Conner, marshal; Jonathan Jones, clerk of the market house; Jonathan H. Wallace, David Douglass, Joseph Harbison, John Howard and John Charters, trustees. Cornelius Clark, the first mayor of the town, was a lawyer. Jones was not appointed market- house clerk until the second weekly meeting, March 10, 1834, but his salary of twenty dollars a year evidently did not appeal to him, since he soon
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