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 63
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
the chair, and D. R. Locke appointed secretary. After a free interchange of opinion, Messrs. C. A. Croninger, W. H. Wheeler, J. S. Patterson, Milton Gray. D. W. Clark and D. R. Locke were appointed a committee to devise a plan for raising the necessary funds to build a monument, and re- port at a meeting to be held April 20. The committee submitted their re- port at that meeting, recommending "Hancock Monumental Association" as the name of the society, and that the officers consist of an executive board embracing a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer and five directors, also an advisory board of eighteen members, one from each town ship of the county. They also recommended that the sum of $10,000 be raised, each township to pay in proportion to its taxable property. The re- port was adopted and the following officers elected: C. A. Croninger, presi dent; Milton Gray, vice-president; D. R. Locke, secretary; Hanks P. Gage, treasurer; W. H. Wheeler, George W. Galloway, J. S. Patterson, Aaron Blackford and John Ruthrauff. directors; also one member of the advisory board in each township. This mode of raising the money failed, and a lottery scheme was then got up, and an advertising sheet called the Soldiers' Memorial, started to help along the enterprise. On the 4th of January, 1870, after about $2,000 had been raised, "The Soldiers' Monument Association of Hancock County" was incorporated, with the following board of directors: Stewart Sprague, president; Albert Langworthy, vice-presi- dent; Charles E. Niles, treasurer; E. T. Dunn, secretary; H. B. Green, William L. Davis and William McKinnis. It is confidently claimed that about $6,000 were raised by this lottery scheme. During this period con- siderable trouble came to the surface, and much wrangling was indulged in and bad feelings engendered between some of the parties engaged in raising and handling the funds. Several sites for the monument were advocated, but in May, 1870, the members of the association decided by vote to locate it in the park. In August, 1870, the building committee consisting of George W. Galloway, Milton Gray and William L. Davis, were instructed to contract for the erection of a monument on the site selected the previous spring. They did not find sufficient funds in the treasurer's hands to carry out in full the proposed work, and therefore built a foundation, and con- tracted with W. D. Mckean, of Cincinnati, to erect the Quincy granite bases and pedestal, which were completed in the fall of 1871, at a cost of $1.900. The building committee soon afterward built an iron fence around the monument (which was subsequently taken down and sold), and thus it remained in an unfinished state for nearly five years.
Early in the fall of 1874 the subject of completing the monument began to be talked of among the people of the town, and on the 14th of November a meeting was held in the court house for the purpose of effecting an organ- ization, also to make such arrangements as would be deemed necessary to finish the work commenced more than nine years before. Judge S. B. Huffman was chosen chairman, and after a few explanatory remarks and suggestions, Col. James A. Bope, William H. Schuler and William Welsh were appointed a committee to further the objects of the meeting. On the 20th of November another meeting was held, and Col. James A. Bope, Gen. Moses B. Walker, William Welsh, James M. Byal and John W. Davis appointed an executive committee, and empowered to appoint a sub-com- mittee of one citizen from each township. Col. Bope was directed to ascer- tain the cost of a statue and get full information on the subject for the
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VILLAGE OF FINDLAY.
association. Another object of this meeting was to organize a military company of old soldiers to assist in the production of a military drama. The following permanent officers of the association were elected November 27: Capt. James Wilson, president; Judge S. B. Huffman, vice-president; John Adams, treasurer; Willis H. Whiteley, secretary. The military com- pany effected an organization December 17, with James Wilson, captain; James M. Byal, first lieutenant; William H. Schuler, second lieutenant. On Monday evening, December 28, 1874, a military drama called the "Union Spy" was produced in Wheeler's Hall before a large audience, and repeated six times during the week, realizing the handsome sum of $600 toward the enterprise. A small paper called the Monumental Era was issued during this period, to advocate the completion of the monument. Another series of entertainments were given in January, 1875, and in this manner and by such means the association raised the money necessary to finish the work in hand.
On the 23d of April, 1875, the contract for the marble statue now sur- mounting the pedestal was let to Thomas O'Hare & Co., of Cincinnati, for the sum of $1,200, the statue to be completed and ready to unveil by the 4th of July following. The work was completed according to contract, and on Tuesday, July 6, 1875, more than ten years after the project was first mooted, the monument was unveiled in the presence of one of the largest assemblies ever seen in Findlay. The day was one of rejoicing, yet mixed with a certain sadness which the memory of the fallen called forth from the depths of every honest heart. The town was crowded; flags were in pro- fusion on every hand; magnificent floral decorations and appropriate mot- toes embellished Main Street, and a grand parade preceded the unveiling ceremonies. Addresses were delivered in the court house yard by ex-Gov. R. B. Hayes and Gov. William Allen, followed by Hon. Samuel F. Hunt, of Cincinnati, the orator of the day, who pronounced an eloquent eulogium on the patriotism and noble deeds of the gallant men who fell in the cause of liberty. At the conclusion of the oration the distinguished guests and officers of the association proceeded to the base of the monument, around which the military had formed a hollow square. Here an appropriate song, composed for the occasion by Col. William Mungen, was sung, and as the last note died away the drapery was quickly removed from the statue by Martin L. Detwiler, the audience standing with heads uncovered. The band then broke forth in patriotic strains, the benediction was pronounced, and with cheers for the sculptor, Thomas O'Hare, the large assemblage dis- persed.
The monument, as completed, stands on an elevated foundation, formed into a grass-covered knoll, and is seventeen feet three inches in height, consist- ing of three bases and a pedestal of Quincy granite ten feet high; a plinth or base for the statue of pure Italian marble fifteen inches high, surmounted by an Italian marble statue six feet in height. The statue represents an infantry soldier standing at "parade-rest," and is a very handsome and life- like piece of sculpture. On the pedestal, surrounded by a beautifully-carved wreath, is the following sentiment:
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
OUR HONORED DEAD.
And on the third base-stone the following inscription is engraved :
IN MEMORY OF THE SOLDIERS OF HANCOCK COUNTY, WHO FOUGHT TO SUPPRESS THE GREAT REBELLION. 1861-1865.
The four cannon placed around the monument are condemned ordnance obtained from the United States Government through a resolution introduced in the Senate by Hon. John Sherman. They lend to the whole a military aspect in harmony with the statue of the soldier surmounting the pedestal.
The question of lighting Findlay with gas first took definite shape on the 15th of August, 1858, when the council granted a franchise to certain citizens to erect gas works in the village. In May, 1860, this franchise was renewed by request of William Mungen and associates, but nothing further came of it. In 1867 Robert S. Mungen and associates were granted a franchise to build works and light the town with gas, but this effort also fell through, and the village continued to be lighted with coal-oil lamps for more than seven years afterward. On the 24th of May, 1871, "An ordinance to provide for lighting the incorporated village of Findlay with gas" was passed by the council, and the following July "The Findlay Gas Light Company " was incorporated, with a capital stock of $35,000. Samuel D. Frey, James J. Wheeler, William Anderson, Charles E. Niles and William L. Davis were chosen directors of the company, with Mr. Frey president of the board, and Mr. Niles, secretary. Some attention was given at this time to the probable existence of natural gas in this locality, and Messrs. Frey and Anderson visited the gas regions of New York and Pennsylvania to investi- gate the subject. On their return they reported, from what they had learned, that sufficient natural gas might be obtained to light the town. In August, 1871. the company leased of George S. Mosher Lot 75, on Hardin Street, east of the Presbyterian Church, with the intention of sinking an experi- mental gas-well; but, as the State geologists were pronounced in their views against the existence here of natural gas in paying quantities, the enterprise was abandoned, and the company subsequently turned its attention toward the construction of artificial works.
On the 26th of August, 1874, the council passed "An Ordinance to pro. vide for the erection and construction of gas-works in the incorporated vil- lage of Findlay," granting the Findlay Gas Light Company the right and privilege of laying gas pipes in any part of the town, also to erect works for the manufacture of gas, the same to be completed and in operation be- fore .the close of the year. On the 15th of September the company trans- ferred this franchise to Robert T. Coverdale, who began active operations on the 27th, and vigorously pushed the work forward to completion. Buildings were erected on East Sandusky Street, and the laying of mains progressed rapidly. On the evening of December 24, 1874, between fifty and sixty citizens of Findlay met at the Joy House, by invitation of Mr. Coverdale, where a "grand spread" had been prepared, to celebrate the first lighting of the town on that night with the gas manufactured at the
Louis Juneaek
575
VILLAGE OF FINDLAY.
new works. The town then contained fifty-two lamp posts, and two and three-fourth miles of mains, which were increased with the passing years.
In 1875 Mr. Coverdale sold the works to the Findlay Gas Light Com- pany, in which he was a stockholder and director, but continued to manage the business until January 23, 1877, when the works were purchased by Y. Bickham, of Cincinnati, Ohio, who subsequently disposed of stock in the company to J. G. Hull, Charles E. Niles, Samuel D. Frey, William An- derson and George W. Myers. The works, however, were principally owned by Mr. Hull, who continued to manufacture gas until the develop- ment of natural gas, and were closed down February 1, 1885. Nature's gas-works and gasometers were opened up to take their place, and in com parison those of men appear small indeed.
Though the growth of Findlay has not been rapid, its history has been characterized by no backward movement. In 1831 the village possessed about fifty inhabitants; in 1840, 560; 1850, 1,256; 1860, 2,467; 1870, 3,315; 1880, 4,633; and its best informed citizens now claim a population of about 6,000. Comparing Findlay with the average town of Ohio under 10,000 inhabitants she stands pre-eminent. Main, the principal business street of the town, is especially attractive. It is broad, level and well paved, lined and faced upon either side with good buildings, solid and sub- stantial business blocks and modern fronts, and since the development of natural gas it is the most birlliantly illuminated street in Ohio, as the town is also the best heated. The richness and prosperity of the surrounding country are shown in the large and handsome stores, a few of them being as fine as any in the State outside of Cincinnati and Cleveland. In this respect the town is indeed remarkable, as her merchants carry larger stocks and do a larger business than is usually done in country towns. The business inter- ests of Findlay are embraced in two foundry and machine shops, three flouring mills and another large one now building, a linseed oil mill, a rake factory, a stave and handle factory, four carriage and wagon shops, a woolen-mill, two planing-mills, and sash, door and blind factories, two saw- mills, one saw and planing-mill, one furniture manufactory, a novelty works, a hoop factory, a handle and fanning-mill factory, the only mask factory in the United States, an extensive edge-tool works just completed, a factory for working in metals, a glass factory in process of construction, two marble works, one pottery, five cigar factories, two grain elevators, five hotels, an opera house and a good hall, two national banks, one daily and three weekly newspapers, several stone quarries, limekilns and brickyards, quite a number of blacksmith and repair shops, together with about 125 whole- sale and retail firms, embracing dry goods, groceries, clothing, notions, stoves and tinware, hardware, saddlery, drugs, books and stationery, queensware, jewelry, farming machinery, musical instruments, furniture, lumber, boots and shoes, commission business, livery stables, liquor stores and saloons, bottling works, undertakers, meat markets, gas fitters, bakeries, restaurants, photographers, fruit stands, barber shops, dress-makers and milliners, and several other kinds of establishments, which, with the members of the well filled agencies and professions, go to make up the ma- terial interests of a live, progressive town. Away from the business center the streets are lined on either side with handsome shade trees, and the pri- vate residences are generally neat and substantial, a few of them bearing a
576
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
favorable comparison with the better class of homes to be found in the larger cities. While Findlay has quite a goodly number of manufacturing establishments there is ample room for many more, and her citizens are ever ready to encourage and assist any legitimate enterprise in that line that desires to take advantage of her wonderful resources. Findlay is compar- atively free of debt, while her schools, churches and other public buildings are generally large and solidly built structures, fully in harmony with the progressive spirit of the age. The great natural gas discoveries have given to Findlay an inestimable advantage over every other town in the State, so that even her enemies must concede that while secure in her present busi- ness prosperity, her future is full of the brightest promise.
CHAPTER XXX.
FINDLAY CONTINUED.
SCHOOLS AND NEWSPAPERS-FIRST SCHOOL OPENED IN THE VILLAGE-THE OLD LOG SCHOOLHOUSE AND ITS SUCCESSOR - PIONEER SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS OF FINDLAY-PROGRESS OF EDUCATION-PAST AND PRESENT SCHOOLS OF DISTRICT NO. 9, AND THEIR SUPERINTENDENTS SINCE 1864- ORGANIZATION OF THE UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT-ITS FIRST TEACIIERS AND SCHOOLS-EARLY MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION-SUPERINTEND- ENTS OF THE UNION SCHOOLS SINCE 1854-GROWTH OF TIIE SCHOOLS AND THEIR PRESENT EFFICIENCY-FINDLAY ACADEMICAL INSTITUTE-HAN- COCK WESLEYAN SEMINARY-FINDLAY COLLEGE-HISTORY OF THE NEWS- PAPERS OF FINDLAY-THE HANCOCK COURIER-HANCOCK REPUBLICAN- HANCOCK FARMER-WESTERN HERALD-HANCOCK WHIG AND JOURNAL- HOME COMPANION, AND FINDLAY WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN-DAILY JEFFER- SONIAN - THIE REPORTER - FINDLAY WEEKLY REPUBLICAN - FINDLAY DAILY STAR-IMPROVEMENT IN THE PRESS WITHIN THE PAST THIRTY YEARS.
E DUCATION is one of the most powerful factors in molding the future of every community, and without it man is not far removed from the brute creation. An intelligent, well educated, moral man or woman is the highest example of an enlightened civilization, but even a limited educa- tion is a wonderful stepping-stone in the battle of life. The pioneers fully recognized this fact, and, though generally uneducated themselves, took advantage of every legitimate means to educate their children, as the first public building we find erected in every village or settlement was invaria- bly the little log schoolhouse. Findlay was no exception to the rule. The first school in the village was taught in the winter of 1826-27, by Joseph White, in a small log cabin east of the Sherman House site. Squire Car- lin, then a young business man of Findlay, attended this school, and is, doubtless, its only surviving scholar now living in the county. White set- tled down the Blanchard, in Liberty Township, in 1823, and three years afterward removed into Findlay. Soon after the winter term had closed he left for parts unknown. In 1827 a one-story hewed-log schoolhouse eighteen feet square was built on the northwest corner of Crawford and East Streets, on Lot 141, donated by Vance & Cory for that purpose, and.
577
VILLAGE OF FINDLAY.
here a school was opened by John C. Wickham in the winter of 1827-28. This old log building was used about eight or nine years, Miss Melinda V. Strother, Edson Goit and a few others, whose names are not remembered, teaching there after Mr. Wickham. The building was utilized for various purposes, such as schoolhouse, court house, church and private residence, and seems to have been admirably adapted to the wants of the struggling settlers. About 1839-40 it was sold to Abraham Daughenbaugh, who moved it to the rear of Henderson's store, where it stood for several years.
In 1836 a school was taught in the court house by Charles W. O'Neal and Miss Sarah Eldridge, and in 1837, 1838 and 1839 school was held in the same building. The whole village then composed one school district of Findlay Township, and the directors paid to the county at the rate of $20 per annum for the use of a room in the court house. Miss Sarah A. Bald- win taught in the public schools of the village about this time, and also some years afterward as Mrs. Merriam; and in 1839 George Patterson taught in a room on the east side of Main Street, immediately north of Sandusky. Alexander Adair tanght in the old Methodist Church on Main Cross Street about 1840, while the old Presbyterian Church on Craw- ford was occupied for a public school in 1839-40, with Daniel Woodward and John Sours as the teachers in charge. In 1840 a two-story frame of four rooms was built upon the same lot on Crawford Street, where the log schoolhouse formerly stood, by Abraham Daughenbangh and Jonathan Par- ker, which was opened in the winter of 1840-41. This was used some six or seven years, and for reasons now forgotten was then abandoned. Besides those teachers previously mentioned, Miss Hannah Rawson, Rev. Simon Peck, Erastus Thompson. Aaron H. Bigelow, Abel F. Parker and daughter Julia A., Miss Phobe J. Wilson, William P. Wilson, Enos W. and William Thomas, Eunice Wade, Mr. Washburn, Miss Terry, Aaron and John Black- ford, Miss Jane E. Bigelow, Miss Clarinda Green, John M. Christian and wife, John H. Reid, Levi J. Flenner, Miss Ruth A. Wilson, Mr. Lowry, Miss Mary Vail, John Bowman, Miss Sarah Smith, Miss Ann Wright, Thomas Caton. Mr. Ballard, David Lamb, Samnel A. Spear and wife, P. D. Pelton and wife, James Hayes and wife, Alonzo L. Kimber, J. B. Hall and wife, John E. Morris, Hugh L. McKee, Miss Clara J. Henderson, Miss Mary Parsons, Abraham Harritt, Miss Sarah Peck, William Russell, and, doubtless, others, tanght in either the public or private schools of the vil- lage at quite an early date, and may be classed among the pioneer teachers of Findlay.
A few years after the frame on Crawford Street was built, Alexander Adair put up a building on Sandusky Street, and opened a private school. In 1847-48 the academy occupied this building, and it was subsequently utilized by the public schools. It was small and inconvenient, and, to in- crease its seating capacity, a gallery was built along the south and west sides. The Rummell Block now stands upon the site of this old school- house.
In the meantime the village had been divided into three or four districts, but upon the abandonment of the old frame schoolhouse on Crawford Street, which all had previously patronized, none of the districts possessed a separate building. A school was then opened in the rear part of Jonathan Parker's frame, which stood on the site of Patterson's Block, and taught by a Mr. Lowry, who was succeeded by Miss Mary Vail and John Bowman. The children of
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
District No. 9 attended this school, until the erection of the brick on Hardin Street. In 1850 a proposition was submitted to the voters of the town to organize the schools under the graded system, and to repair and reoccupy the old building on Crawford Street, which had been vacant for several years and fast going to ruin, but the scheme was defeated. District No. 9 then decided to organize under the Akron School Law, and erect a schoolhouse in that district. On February 24, 1851, the directors of No. 9 purchased of John B. Hull, Lot 54 on West Hardin Street, built a brick house of two rooms and opened a two-teacher school, in the fall of that year with James Hayes and wife in charge. Two years afterward the Union School District was organized, but No. 9 refused to become a part thereof. School was held in the Hardin Street building for thirteen years, and it was then sold to Michael Gaudert, and, remodeled, is now the home of Miss Julia A. Parker. In the spring of 1864 the directors of No. 9 bought an acre of ground on West Lincoln Street of D. J. Cory, and built a large two-story brick of four rooms, which was completed and opened October 5, of that year, with J. S. Vanhorn, as superintendent. His successors have been Wallace Taylor, F. H. Tufts, A. G. Crouse, C. N. Vancleve, J. N. Doty and C. B. Metcalf. In 1870 a mansard-roof was put on, furnishing the building with a good hall, while the heating apparatus in the basement heats the whole building. This school is in a very flourishing condition, and is regarded as equal to those in the Union School District. The site, building and furniture of No. 9 schoolhouse cost about $20,000.
In April, 1851, the directors of District No. 11 purchased Lot 45, on West Front Street, of D. J. Cory, and erected a small brick schoolhouse the same year. The balance of the village, outside of District No. 9, rented rooms for school purposes, and thus the school interests dragged along till the passage of the act of March 14, 1853, which gave an impetus to the cause of education all over the State. Under that law a general reorganization took place, and graded schools were established on a firm basis.
The Union School District of Findlay was organized soon after the pas- sage of that act, and a board of education, consisting of Parlee Carlin, Ezra Brown and N. Y. Mefford, elected. In October, 1853, the board divided the district into three subdistricts, viz .: 1, 2 and 4, which embraced all of the village except that portion included in the independent District No. 9. They employed Alonzo L. Kimber to teach No. 1, John Bowman in No. 2, and John E. Morris in No. 4, each receiving a salary of $28 per month. Miss Clara J. Henderson was hired at $18.66 per month to assist John E. Morris, and Miss Martha O. Main as the assistant of John Bowman, at $12 per month. The schools opened under the new regime in the fall of 1853, in the old Methodist Church on East Main Cross Street, and the little brick schoolhouse on Front Street, and the term lasted four months. The two- story frame schoolhouse on Crawford Street, which by agreement had be- come the property of the Union District, was in a badly wrecked condition, and considerable repairing was necessary before it could be occupied. In 1854 the building was repaired and fitted up by the board, several hundred dollars being expended upon it, and in the fall of that year, the schools took possession. Alonzo L. Kimber was appointed superintendent of the Union District at a salary of $35 per month. John Bowman was assigned to the Front Street building at $28 per month, and Mrs. Malinda Vance and Miss Martha J. Powell were engaged as assistants at $22 per month each. The
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VILLAGE OF FINDLAY.
schools kept open for seven months in 1854-55, and the following year the full school term of ten months was adopted. The schools were now on the road to success, and it was only a question of time when they would attain a high degree of efficiency.
The successive members of the board of education of the Union District, up to April, 1861, were Parlee Carlin, Ezra Brown, N. Y. Mefford, John Custer, Henry Guntner, Henry Porch, George W. Galloway, W. K. Pray, G. J. Rogers, Daniel B. Beardsley, David Goucher and Henry Byal. These may be called the pioneer members of the board, which is the only reason we have for giving their names.
With the growth of the schools more room soon became necessary, and an old salaratus factory on the corner of Hardin and East Streets was rented and fitted up for school purposes. In 1855-56 a school was opened here in charge of Miss Ruth A. Wilson, who taught there four years, and was then suc- ceeded by Miss Mary Mungen. This old schoolhouse was a low frame build- ing with but one room, yet, poor as it was, there are many men and women now living who remember with liveliest pleasure the days they spent there acquiring the rudiments of an education. Remodeled and rebuilt it is now occupied by Mrs. Kimmel as a residence.
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