USA > Ohio > Hancock County > History of Hancock County, Ohio : containing a history of the county, its townships, towns portraits of early settlers and prominent men, biographies, history of the Northwest Territory, history of Ohio, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc > Part 62
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561
VILLAGE OF FINDLAY.
-76; Jacob Carr, 1876-78; William Vance, 1878-82; W. W. Siddall, 1882 -86; W. L. Carlin, 1886-88.
The following is a list of those who have filled the office of recorder or clerk of the borough since April, 1845: Mark Delaney, 1845-49; P. D. Big- elow, 1849 to October, 1854; Alonzo L. Kimber, October, 1854, to April, 1856; S. H. Darst, 1856-57; Elijah Barnd, 1857-58; S. F. Gray, 1858-60; William Klamroth, 1860-62; Jule P. Dennis, 1862-63; Samuel Huber, 1863-64; B. F. Kimmons, 1864-67; John C. Martin, 1867-69; D. H. Pugh, April, 1869, resigned the following month, and Eli G. De Wolfe appointed May 17 to serve until April, 1870; Lemuel McMannus, 1870, resigned in April, 1873, and W. Davidson appointed to serve until April, 1874; Jesse Wheeler, Jr., 1874, resigned in August, 1875, and Paul J. Sours, appointed to serve until April, 1876; John A. Meeks, 1876-78; William T. Platt, 1878-84; Jacob H. Boger, 1884-88.
One of the first necessities of every village is a place of public burial, and when Findlay was laid out such a ground was selected on the east bank of Eagle Creek. A tradition exists that this old graveyard was started by the garrison of Fort Findlay during the war of 1812. Mrs. Matthew Reighly was interred in this ground in 1822, she being the first white per- son who died in Hancock County. Philip Strohl, brother-in-law of John Bashore, was also buried there about 1830, and, until the opening of Maple Grove Cemetery, nearly all who died in the village or vicinity found a rest- ing place on this small gravel knoll overlooking Eagle Creek. With the opening of Maple Grove the old cemetery was gradually abandoned and also neglected. In February, 1871, the town council passed an ordinance order- ing the removal, by their friends, of all the bodies then remaining in the old ground to Maple Grove Cemetery by the 15th of March following, and if not done by that date the town authorities would have them reinterred. There was some opposition to this measure, and though the great majority of the bodies were removed to Maple Grove, a great many neglected the work or refused to allow the bodies of their friends to be disturbed. So the old cemetery partly remains, and several headstones on "the point" mark the resting places of those once well known in the busy scenes of life.
Maple Grove Cemetery had its inception December 25, 1854, when under an act of the Legislature passed February 24, 1848, "making pro- visions for the incorporation of cemetery associations," the following gentle- men effected such an organization: D. J. Cory, William Taylor, Hugh Newell, Jesse Wheeler, Aaron H. Bigelow, Benjamin Huber, John B. Hull, Parlee Carlin, George H. Crook, David Goucher, William H. Baldwin, Hanks P. Gage, James H. Wilson, John Ewing, Frederick Henderson, George W. Galloway, M. C. Whiteley and Henry Porch. On the 22d of January, 1855, the organization was completed by the election of John Ewing, Hanks P. Gage and Parlee Carlin, trustees, and William Taylor, clerk; and " Maple Grove Cemetery Association " was adopted as the name of the organization. The association purchased of George Biggs twenty acres of land lying in the northwest quarter of Section 13 and the northeast quarter of Section 14, Findlay Township, immediately west of town for the sum of $2,200, which they at once laid out as a cemetery. On the 3d of August, 1860, the association turned over its title in the cemetery to the town and township of Findlay, said town and township assuming an in- debtedness of $982, then owing to George Biggs. Twenty-two acres lying
562
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
south of the cemetery were purchased of Jasper N. Lytle November 16, 1872, at a cost of $2,200. A roadway belonging to Frederick Duduit originally divided the two tracts, but in April, 1875, the trustees of the cemetery ex- changed with Mr. Duduit 4.45 acres off the southwest corner of the last purchase for the roadway, which contained the same amount of land, and thus the tracts were united. In July, 1878, the authorities resolved to authorize the cemetery trustees to erect a "mortuary chapel" for the re- ception of the dead before burial, at a cost not to exceed $2,000. The chapel was commenced in the fall of 1878, and the building was completed and accepted by the trustees in May, 1879. Ryland & Wykoff were the con- tractors, and it is a very substantial, handsome stone structure, with mass- ive iron doors, and adds considerably to the beauty of the grounds. The cemetery occupies an elevated, well-drained level site on the west bank of the Blanchard, along which a winding driveway leads from the village to the main entrance. The newer portion of the grounds surrounding the chapel are handsomely laid out, and the whole cemetery has a profusion of flowers, evergreens and shade trees which furnish an inviting place of rest to the casual visitor. Many artistic and costly monuments attest the devo- tion of the living, and prove at least a fleeting reverence for those silently sleeping 'neath the grass-covered mounds dotting this beautiful city of the dead.
There are two notable circumstances so closely interwoven with the his- tory of Findlay's progress as to deserve mention in this chapter-the California movement of 1849, and the peculiar workings of the "Under- ground Railroad." We are indebted for our information on those subjects to Willis H. Whiteley, Esq., of Findlay, who obtained the facts from active par- ticipants therein, which we ourselves have verified through the same sources.
"The excitement," says Mr. Whiteley, " caused by the closing scenes of the war between the United States and Mexico was renewed early in the spring of 1848 by the report of the discovery of gold, on the American Fork of the Sacramento River, in California. The news of the finding of the precious metal spread as if borne on the wings of the wind. The in- telligence went flying through the States to the Atlantic and then to the ends of the earth. Adventurers flocked from every quarter to the new El Dorado. Thousands of men were almost crazed with the excitement. Workshops were closed, business abandoned, farms left tenantless, and offices deserted, while moving across the great plains companies of advent- urous spirits traveled westward with hungry hearts, like Jason and his Argonauts of old in search of the Golden Fleece. Nor did the excitement and the eager desire to explore the new fields of wealth leave the people of Hancock County unscathed. Early in the year 1849 a company was organ- ized in Findlay for the purpose of crossing the plains and exploring the gold bearing regions of California. The names of the men from Hancock County who were in the company are as follows: Squire Carlin, Dr. W. D. and Elliott Carlin (sons of Squire Carlin), William J. Dunham, George W. Myers, Frederick Duduit, Alonzo D. Wing, Hanks P. Gage, S. B. Harring- ton, James Predmore, James Porterfield, Samuel Porterfield, James Teatsorth, Garrett Teatsorth, Gid. Nightengale, A. Nightengale, Charles Coffinberry, - - Shultz, James Smith, Michael Deopler, William Byal, Pearson Beardsley,
Aaron Cromley, Isaac Vail, Elijah Ash, D. Austin, Isaac Miller, Isaac Johnson, - Krauss, George West, John Riddle, William Smith, Daniel
William Mr. Marshall
565
VILLAGE OF FINDLAY.
Tremaine, Isaac Sharon, Henry Moffitt, Charles Moffitt, William Moffitt, William Downing, George Downing, John Stagmier, William Worden, Peter Messamore, Jacob Beam, - Wagner, Dr. Haggerty (Mt. Blanchard) and Dr. Jesse Beason (Van Buren). There were also in the company Dr. Stanley and C. W. Butterfield (afterward the author of "Crawford's Cam- paign Against Sandusky"), from Seneca County, Peter Parks and Lathrop, from Sandusky City, and Messrs. Bagley, Blodget and. Hubbard, and two brothers named Allen, from Putnam County.
The party left Findlay on the 3d of March, 1849, going by the way of Carey to Cincinnati, and from there by steamboat to St. Joseph, Mo. From there the company went to Independence, Mo., then the great outfitting point for emigrants crossing the plains. Here they remained until May 3, 1849, when they started westward with eight wagons. While en route William Byal died and was buried on Bear River. He was a brother of Hon. A. P. Byal, of Findlay. In September of the same year, six months after leaving Findlay, the Argonauts reached Weaverville, Cal., where the company disbanded. While at this point Pearson Beardsley, a brother of D. B. Beardsley, Esq., also died, being the second after leaving home. The next year D. Austin died with cholera near Sacramento, Cal. After sep- arating at Weaverville, the members of the company scattered in all direc- tions, some to engage in mining, others to work at their trades, and many to pursue such employment as offered itself. Within two or three years the most of the company had returned, but a few remained on the Pacific slope and made for themselves permanent homes. More than half of the original company that left here for California in March, 1849, with light hearts and bright hopes of wealth, are dead, and of those who are alive a very few are now living in the county. Some are old and fast nearing the "golden shore," and all are far past middle life. Yet, withal, they speak with pleasure and recall with fervent interest the scenes and incidents and ad- ventures of the long, long journey, when they were a part of the Argonauts of '49."
For many years prior to the Rebellion, there existed in this vicinity two "stations" on the "Underground Railroad," where runaway negroes were harbored, cared for and assisted on their journey toward Canada-then the slave's goal of liberty. The business of this institution was to aid the fugi- tives in their escape to that land of refuge. A line of "stations" existed at intervals of twenty-five or thirty miles, and the travel over the line was entirely at night. "Conductors" were engaged to pilot the runaways in safety, while agents and sympathizers through the South enticed negroes from their masters, and furnished them with means to escape to the North, where they would be cared for and sent out of the country. The people who aided and abetted this work were called "Abolitionists," and were sincerely hated by the slave owners of the South. The two "stations" in this locality are said to have sheltered and furnished means of further flight to over forty fleeing blacks during the ten years preceding the Rebellion. These were worth to their masters at least $40,000. Notice of a runaway's coming was generally sent in advance, so that the sympathizers and prompt- ers of the scheme would be prepared to receive them. The slaves invaria- bly reached Hancock County at night, were kept carefully concealed, and always sent away in the night time. Some of the runaways remained in the county from a week to ten days, so as to throw their pursuers off the
30
566
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
track, and none of those who came here were captured by their owners. Late in 1858 one of the parties engaged in the "Oberlin Rescue"-the taking of an escaped negro named John from his captors -- came to Findlay to avoid arrest by the United States authorities of the Oberlin District, and remained here concealed for several weeks. But the war put an end to slavery, and the services of the Underground Railroad were no longer needed. Many of the persons who took part in its workings in this county are dead. It is not known that any of those who participated in that scheme of giving liberty to human beings ever regretted their action. Those who are dead did not, those who are living need not. It was not ambitious de- sire nor malicious intent that brought them into the work, but their deep sympathy for enslaved humanity and their earnest zeal for the liberty of the despised race.
The fire department is one of the most important and practical institu- tions of every town, yet Findlay was quite a good-sized village before she possessed a fire engine of any kind. In June, 1850, the "Tom Thumb," a small square box engine on four wheels, and operated by a hand crank, was purchased. As a fire extinguisher it was a failure, and in the fall of 1851 a second-hand engine, the "Jenny Lind," was purchased in Cincinnati, where it had been previously used by "Washington Engine Company, No. 2." The Tom Thumb was then thrown aside, and in 1859 its running gear was sold to Ernest Bacher, who now uses it in the business of his bottling works. Prior to the purchase of the Jenny Lind no effort had ever been made to organize a fire company, but the preliminary steps were now taken in that direction. On the 3d of December, 1851, a meeting was held at the court house for the purpose of effecting such an organization. Judge D. J. Cory was called to the chair, and P. D. Bigelow appointed secretary. After the object of the meeting was explained, and the necessity of a fire company fully set forth, a committee was appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws and report at a meeting to be held at the same place on the following evening, December 4. On that date the "Findlay Relief Fire Company" was organized to man the Jenny Lind engine, with Eli Detwiler, captain; William C. Cox, first lieutenant; Henry Guntner, second lieuten- ant; P. D. Bigelow, secretary; James H. Wilson, treasurer; Jacob Carr, first engineer. This old engine, though almost useless, was a part of the fire apparatus of Findlay until the spring of 1866, when the mayor and chief engineer were ordered to sell the brass and copper on the engine and remodel the running gear into a hook and ladder truck, which was com- pleted in July. The Dreadnought Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1, was then organized, and the truck has since been manned by this company.
In October, 1855, the "Citizens' Gift Fire Engine No. 2" was purchased by Jacob Carr, then mayor of the village, from L. Button & Co., of Wa- terford, N. Y. The engine cost about $850, largely raised by subscription among the citizens of the town; hence the name adopted. A company was organized to take charge of the Citizens' Gift, and this engine is yet doing good service, having been removed to East Findlay, in June, 1873.
The fire department was regularly organized under an ordinance passed April 27, 1856, and Robert S. Mungen elected chief engineer. He served until April, 1859, and his successors have been as follows: Joseph B. Roth- child, 1859-60; G. C. Barnd. 1860-62; Joel Markle, 1862-63; Charles B. "Hall, 1863-64; William L. Davis, 1864-65; Mahlon Barnd, 1865-66; Jo-
567
VILLAGE OF FINDLAY.
seph B. Rothchild, 1866-68; Philip B. Morrison, 1869-70; Thomas W. Taylor, 1870-71; Charles B. Hall, 1871-72; N. M. Adams, 1872-73; Will- iam S. Post, 1873-75; James Wilson, 1875-77; N. M. Adams, 1877-79; Peter J. Stoffel, 1879-83; Henry Glick, 1883-85; Charles Neumann, 1885-87.
The L. Button Fire Engine No. 1, was contracted for in the fall of 1858. to take the place of the Jenny Lind, and was also manufactured by L. But- ton & Co., of Waterford, N. Y. In the Courier of January 21. 1859, the following notice of this engine appears: "The new fire engine, 'L. Button No. 1,' for the No. 1 Fire Company. arrived last Monday. It is a beauti- ful machine, and no doubt will do good service in quenching the devouring element. The company had it out practicing on Wednesday, and it per- formed to their satisfaction generally. In size and capacity it is very near the same as the Citizens' Gift Engine." The L. Button cost about $825, which was principally raised by. subscription. In June, 1877, this engine was removed to North Findlay, where the company was reorganized, to consist mainly of members residing in that part of the village.
When the "Jenny Lind " was purchased a room was rented from Ewing & Wheeler, which also served as an engine house for the Citizens' Gift. when that engine was bought. In August, 1854. a lot was purchased on the north side of West Crawford Street; and in the fall of 1857 a brick engine house erected thereon. Here all the fire department apparatus was kept until after the purchase of the first steam engine. More room then became necessary, and in May, 1872, the adjoining lot was bought, and an addi- tion erected to the old building. It is now occupied by the apparatus of the Hook and Ladder Company, and also utilized as a village lock-up. In June, 1872, a site for an engine house was donated in East Findlay, by William W. McConnell and Parish W. Rockwell; and a year afterward a room was rented on East Sandusky Street, to which the Citizens' Gift engine was removed. The present brick building east of Eagle Creek was erected the same year, and dedicated by a supper given by the Citizens' Gift Fire Com- pany, December 26, 1873, to celebrate the occupancy of their new quar- ters.
In the meantime the steam fire engine "Findlay," with two hose carts, hose, etc., had been purchased. On the 3d of August, 1871, Parlee Carlin, J. T. Adams, Peter Kunz and W. H. Wheeler were appointed by the council, a committee, to negotiate for the purchase of a steam fire engine, and on the 7th they reported the pur- chase of an engine, two hose carts, and 1,000 feet of hose, etc., from the Silsby Manufacturing Company, of Seneca Falls, N. Y., for the sum of $7,300. A company to man the steamer was organized the following year. By authority of an act of the Legislature, passed May 7, 1877, the "Centen- nial," another Silsby steamer, with hose reels, hose, etc., was purchased, on the 15th of June following, for $3, 740, and a second company organized to take charge of the new engine.
Upon the purchase of the last steamer the L. Button Engine was removed to North Findlay, where a room was rented for an engine house. In October. 1877, a lot was bought of David A. Elliott, on Main Street, north of the railroad crossing; and in the fall of 1879 the present two-story brick engine house was completed and occupied by the L. Button Fire Com. pany.
568
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
The apparatus of the fire department has cost about $15,000, and is kept in excellent condition. Good cisterns have been constructed, conven- ient to every part of the town, but the supply has sometimes proved insuffi- cient, and the lack of hose to reach the more distant cisterns has often been a great drawback in fighting the fiery element. Water-works are now talked of, and, if built, will be a wonderful improvement over the present system. Except the chief engineer, the engineers and firemen of the steamers, and the three messengers, the entire department, which averages about 325 men, is composed of volunteers, whose efficiency has often been fully demon- strated.
The village authorities had been trying for some years to purchase a suitable location for a town building, but no final arrangement was arrived at until June 13, 1881, on which date the present two-story brick, on the southwest corner of the public square, was bought of James C. Garnett for the sum of $4,500. It was then a livery stable, but was at once remodeled and fitted up for town uses. In the second story are located the council room, and mayor's and marshal's offices, etc., while the lower story is occu- pied by the two steam fire engines, hose carts and other necessary apparatus of the department. A fire-alarm bell has recently been put up over the build- ing, which is a plain substantial structure in keeping with the wise economy that has heretofore characterized the successive governments of the village. Findlay now owns a good town property, extending from the public square to Crawford Street, and whenever its growth justifies the erection of more elaborate buildings than now occupy the ground there is plenty of room upon which to erect them.
Railroads, express, telegraph and telephone lines came into Findlay in the order named, and furnished conveniences not previously enjoyed by its inhabitants. The branch railroad from Findlay to Carey was opened for business in the fall of 1849, and about eleven years afterward the Lake Erie & Western reached the village in its westward course. The Toledo, Colum- bus & Southern came in the spring of 1883, and thus have grown up the present railroad facilities of the town. With the advent of the branch rail- road, express matter began to be delivered regularly, the conductor of the road also attending to that branch of business.
In August, 1857, Cunningham Hazlett opened a private express office at the Exchange Bank, which he was then operating. But the first regular office was established in April, 1858, by the United States Express Company, with A. R. Belden as agent. The office was at the depot of the branch rail- road, and though the Merchants Union had an office in Findlay several years ago, the United States soon absorbed it and has since held the field.
The Western Union Telegraph Company built a line along the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, from Fremont to Findlay, in 1863, the money being furnished by the people living upon its route, to be paid back out of the earnings of the line. It was completed to Findlay late in 1863, and January 4, 1864, the first experimental dispatch was sent over the line by the operator at Fremont, to V. D. Green, the operator in charge of the Findlay office. The first business dispatch was sent from Findlay by Col. William Mungen, and the first one was received by Frederick Henderson, both January 4, 1864. The line was extended no farther until 1878-79, when it was completed to Lima. The successive operators of the Findlay office have been V. D. Green, Hiram S. Shannon, E. J. Totten, Theodore Totten and P. C. Sours, who at present holds the position.
569
VILLAGE OF FINDLAY.
The Findlay Telephone Exchange Company was chartered January 27, 1880, and a telephone line built in Findlay by Samuel D. Houpt, which was opened for business in the summer of that year. Mr. Houpt put in eighty- two "phones, " and conducted the business until August, 1882, when he sold out to the Midland Telephone Company of Chicago, Ill. Early in 1884 the latter company took out the instruments and abandoned the field. Another telephone company has recently been chartered and a franchise granted, and a new line will probably be constructed in the village in the near future.
The greater part of Findlay was originally very flat, wet and muddy, and the lack of proper drainage rendered it impossible to construct cellars of any utility within the village. Ponds and mud-holes were numerous; streets and lots had to be filled up, and surface drainage proved insufficient to throw off the surplus water during the wet seasons. The streets were, therefore, often in a deplorable condition, and though considerable macadam- izing had been done through the passing years, yet very little improvement was discernible in many of them. The town authorities at last resolved to put in sewers, and July 5, 1869, the council appointed James A. Bope, E. P. Jones and B. F. Kimmons, a board of improvement to prepare plans for a general system of sewerage. Two weeks afterward the board submitted their report, which was adopted and the work ordered to be commenced at once. The present sewerage system of the village dates from that time, and a wonderful improvement has been effected in every way. From year to year new sewers were put in and old ones extended, until Findlay now possesses very good sewerage facilities, while her streets are much superior to the aver- age town of the State. The health and comfort of the people have accordingly increased, and that much dreaded malarial atmosphere once infesting the vil- lage has almost disappeared.
Monumental Park is a small, well shaded plat of ground west of Main Street, between Main Cross and Front Streets, and was originally laid out as Broadway. It has been said that the proprietors intended it for a market- place, but there is nothing on record to sustain such a tradition, and it is laid down on the original plat as a street and so designated in the surveyor's notes attached thereto. The subject of converting this short street into a park first began to be agitated by the local press in the spring of 1864, but no definite action was taken on the matter for five years afterward. In com- pliance with a petition of the citizens, the board of improvement, on the 19th of July, 1869, recommended that Broadway be graded, fenced and planted in trees, and on the same date the council ordered the improvement to be made. The work was soon after commenced and carried to com- pletion, a narrow roadway being left on each side of the park, extending from Main Cross to Front Street; but it has not yet been much used as a public resort and it is very doubtful that it ever will be. The park received its present name upon the erection of the base and pedestal of the soldiers' monument in the fall of 1871.
The Hancock Monumental Association had its inception on the 14th of April, 1865-the date of President Lincoln's assassination. On that day a large concourse of people were in town celebrating the fall of Richmond and the capture of Lee's army, and a meeting was held in the Presbyterian Church for the purpose of taking steps toward the erection of a monument in Findlay to the memory of the brave men from Hancock County who laid down their lives in defense of the Union. C. A. Croninger was called to
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