History of Logan County and Ohio, Part 43

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin
Number of Pages: 798

USA > Ohio > Logan County > History of Logan County and Ohio > Part 43

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which followed, he employed his leisure mo- ments in developing his literary taste, and in the profound study of the best writers of prose and poetry. In the summer of 1841, he be- gan his career as a school-teacher in a district near his native village. in one of the ever- memorable, universal . Peoples' Colleges' of the times, the 'log schoolhouse." In this useful, but perplexing and ill-paid capacity, he continued most of his time until the fall of 1843. Meantime, in 1841, he had determined to study the profession of the law, and for that purpose became the student of Benjamin F. Stanton & William Lawrence, attorneys in Bellefontaine ; his studies were somewhat in- terrupted by his duties as teacher, and by his literary pursuits, yet as he had made it a rule of his life never to do anything imperfectly, he was not admitted to the bar until he had become a thoroughly well-read lawyer, in the year 1846.

"In the fall of 1845 Mr. Hubbard became editor of the Logan Gazette, and occupied that position for a number of years, but he is now the able and accomplished editor of the North DIist, published at Napoleon, Henry County, Ohio .* As a political writer he has a wide and deservedly high reputation. Notwith- standing his duties as an editor, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Logan County in 1848, and again in 1850, and in that capacity served with skill and ability for four years, when he declined a re-election. In 1858 Mr. Hubbard received the nomination of the po- litical party to which he belongs as its candi- date for Congress. He could scarcely hope for success in a district largely opposed to him politically, but, though defeated, his vote was highly complimentary. In debates and addresses in that canvas he added much to a local reputation as an orator. Early love of books, a warm imagination, cultivated by

*Mr. Hubbard has died since-the writing of the above arti- cle by Judge Lawrence .- ED.

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study, and by the beautiful scenery of the fer- tile valley of the Mad River, with a heart full of pathos and ardor, all contributed to ' Wake to ecstacy the living lyre,' and turn his thoughts into eloquence and poetry. Ilis first published poetical productions were in January, 1858. We have never known a writer with so much genius and so little os- tentation. He has never sought, but has always shunned notoriety. His poetical writ- ings, if collected, would make a good-sized volume."

Besides the Logan Gazette and North West, spoken of above, Mr. Hubbard edited at dif- ferent times the Dayton Daily Empire, the Marion Democrat and the Bucyrus Forum. Many of his poems have been published in the " Poets and Poetry of the West " and " American Poets," two highly popular works of the time. Some of his ballads during the war were quoted in all parts of the country, and one was incorporated in the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, which appeared in Blackwood's Magazine, published in Edin- burg, Scotland.

The Bellefontaine Republican is the next oldest newspaper in the county to the Gazette. It was established in 1854 by James Walker and Judge W. H. West. Six months later the firm became Samuel Walker, L. S. Powell and Martin Barringer, and so continued for about one year, when Samuel Walker bought out Powell & Barringer, and conducted it alone until about the year 1859. L. D. Reynolds, now of Dayton, then bought it, and had charge of until 1862, when it again passed into the hands of Samuel and James Walker. In the fall of 1864 they sold a two-thirds interest to D. R. Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby), who, in January, 1865, sold to J. Q. A. Campbell, the present proprietor. As will be seen, the Re - publican has been edited by some able men, aside from its present efficient editor. It is

the leading Republican organ in the county, and, under its present able management, has attained a circulation, weekly, of over 2,000. It is a large, four-page, nine-column paper, and, in mechanical execution, presents a good appearance.

The Logan County Index dates its origin back to 1859. In that year a man named Gribbell started a paper in the county, Re- publican in polities, which he called the Press. Ile sold it to A. R. Hobert, who owned it for some time, and had as an editor, P. L. Hooper After numerous changes in the proprietorship and one or two intervals in which publication was suspended, the name of the paper, in April, 1876, was changed from the Press to the Index, and in August, 1826, it was purchased by Mr. J. H. Bowman, who has been its editor ever since. Mr. Bowman began his editorial career in the Centennial year, and if he continues it until the next American Centennial, he will be a veteran editor. In July, 1879, W. S. Roebuck bought an interest, and since then the paper has been in charge of Messrs. Bow- man & Roebuck. It is a folio, eight columns to a page, and is Republican in politics.

There have been several papers established in West Liberty-some of them years ago. Among them were the West Liberty Budget, Banner, Press, Independent, and perhaps others. If the history of all these papers could be written, together with that of their different editors, it would make an interesting chapter. But our space is limited, and the briefest mention is all that we can make. These papers were ably edited, but their careers, generally, were short. They flourished for a season-swept over the scene " like un- tamed meteors, flashed, darted and fizzled," and then went out.

The West Liberty Gazette is their sucres- sor, or rather, it has risen out of their ashes. The Gazette is now reeling off its fourth

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volume, and is edited and published by H. W. Hamilton, Esq., a young man of energy and enterprise, and a good writer.

The De Graff Banner was established in 1871, by D. S. Spellman, who sometime after- ward sold it to W. A. Graffort. He conduct- ed it for a while, and sold it, and after several changes in ownership, it again passed into the hands of its old proprietor and founder, Mr. Spellman, who changed the name to the Buckeye, and still publishes it under that name. It is a sprightly and readable paper, and is neat and attractive in appearance.

A few words on those who have passed from the editorial stage of Logan County are not inappropriate in this connection. Besides Wil- liam Hubbard, who has already been noticed, there was Donn Piatt, the distinguished jour- nalist and model correspondent; Coates Kin- ney, the author and poet; Hon. William H. West, the scholarly writer; Samuel T. Walk- er, vigorous in style; Judge William Lawrence, able and logical; Dr. Thomas L. Wright, smooth and easy, and still a contributor to medical journals; D. R. Locke, and many other lesser lights, who are still remembered. These gentlemen have all, at sometime, been connected with the Logan County press. Some of them are still residents of the county, but have retired from editorial life. Donn Piatt, as a journalist and correspondent, has a fame that will live long after he has laid down the pen forever. As editor of the Mack- achack Press, and the Washington corre- spondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, and later as the editor of the Capitol, a weekly paper published in Washington city, won a wide reputation both at home and abroad. Mr. Kinney was at one time the editor of the West Liberty Banner, and an occasional con- tributor to the Logan Gazette, and withal a poet of considerable talent. Judge West, Dr. Wright, and Judge Lawrence, are well-

known throughout the country, and are writers of acknowledged merit. Their only fault is in not contributing more than they do to the literature of the time. Mr. Walker, formerly editor of the Bellefontaine Repub- lican, and afterward of the Council Bluffs (Iowa) Daily Nonpareil, was an able writer. D. R. Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby), also a former editor of the Bellefontaine Republic- an, is well-known.

The merits of the editorial fraternity who are still in the harness, we leave to some future historian to record. Familiar by per- sonal experience, with the proverbial modes- ty of newspaper men, we refrain from speak- ing of this worth and excellence to their faces. The veteran Hubbard, the able and experienced Campbell, the accomplished Bow- man, the sprightly Hamilton and the efficient Spellman, are laborers in the field of journal- ism, whose work is not yet finished. And when they have laid down the pen, it will be time enough to mete out to them the tribute of praise they have won ..

Another interesting chapter in the history of our country is the origin and progress and perfection of the railroad system. Says a late writer upon the subject : " Among the social forces of the modern world, the railroad holds unquestionably the first place. There is not a single occupation or interest which it has not radically affected. Agriculture, manu- factures, commerce, city and country life, banking, finance, law, and even government itself, have all felt its influence. But espe- cially has the railroad been a potent influence in providing the material organization for the diffusion of culture among the people, and thus preparing the conditions for a new step in the social progress of the world." This is putting it in rather strong terms, but no more so than the subject demands, perhaps. The great change wrought in all the business

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affairs of life by the railroad system is almost beyond the power of the mind to comprehend. The first railroads in the world were built in England. We have an account of a railroad made of wooden rails in the collieries in the North of England nearly twocenturies before the introduction of the locomotive. Upon these, cars or wagons were drawn by horses or mules, and they were used in hauling coal from the mines. As early as 19.1 the use of the locomotive, in the place of animal power, was suggested, but no locomotive seems to have been constructed until 1805. They did not come into practical use, however, until 1830, upon the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

The United States, not to be outdone by the Mother Country, built a railroad in 1828, from the granite quaries of Quincy, Mass., to the Neponset River, a distance of three miles. This road was operated by horse-power, and was the first radroad built upon the American Continent. During the same year a railroad was laid out from the Manch Chunk coal mines of Pennsylvania to the Lehigh River, a distance of nine miles. 1n 1828 a railroad was constructed by the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, from their coal mines to Honesdale, and it sent a commissioner to England to purchase rails and locomotives. These locomotives arrived in the spring of 1-29, and were the first used in this country. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was com- menced in 1828, and in the carly part of the the same year the South Carolina Railroad was chartered by the Legislature of that State. This road has always claimed for it itself, that it was the first railroad in the country undertaken with the intention of using steam power. It extended from Charles- ton to Imuburg, and the first locomotive over built in this country, and which was finished at the West Point foundry December

9, 1830, was built purposely for it. This lo- comotive was called the " Best Friend," and was constructed under the supervision of E. 1 .. Miller, who was a strong advocate of steam power at a time when its success was still problematical. It was accepted by the com- pany for which it was built, and " performed with entire success," says the railroad com- missioner in his report, " until the next sum- mer, without a single day's interruption, when the negro who acted as fireman, being incom- moded by the unpleasant noise of the steam escaping through the safety-valve, ventured on the experiment of confining it by pressing the weight of his body on the lever gauge of the safety-valve, which experiment resulted in the explosion of the boiler."

Slowly and with much precaution did the people of this country take hold of railroads. In January, 1832, it was reported that there were nineteen railroads, either completed or in process of construction in the United States, and that their aggregate length was nearly 1,400 miles. Though Congress afforded no material aid in this new era of internal improvements, yet this same year it exempted from duty the iron imported for railways and inclined planes, and atcually used for their construction. In 1840 it has been estimated that our yearly average of railroad construc- tion was about 500 miles. In 1850 this average had increased to 1,500 miles. In 1860 it was nearly 10,000, and in IS;1 it was stated that enterprises requiring an expendi- ture of $800,000,000, and involving the con- struction of 20,000 miles of railroad were in actual process of accomplishment. In 1812 the aggregate capital of the railroads of the United States, which were estimated to em- brace one-half the railroads of the world, was stated to amount to the enormous sum of 83.159,123,05%, their gross revenue being 8113,211,035.

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The following items in the history of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad will doubtless be read with interest by those well acquainted with that (at the present day) great railroad corporation. In July, 1832, this startling publication was made: " Many passengers and large quantities of freight pass daily on the railroad to and from Baltimore to the Point of Rocks on the Potomac, at which lat- ter place a new village is being built very rapidly. The entire journey 'out and home,' 140 miles, is now made in seventeen continuous hours, giving ample time to view the Point of Rocks, one of the most agreeable excursions that can be made in the country, and on many accounts highly interesting." Soon after the above was published, the following notice was made of its earnings: " The receipts for trav- eling and transportation on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad for the six months, ending the 31st of August, 1832, exceeded $108,000. The receipts during the same period last year did not quite amount to $00,000; the increase was, therefore, about $18,000, being an aver- age of $3,000 per month." The receipts of this great trunk line have increased somewhat since the foregoing record was made. Now it is one of the greatest and richest railroad companies in the United States, and has its branches and connections to all important points.

By way of illustrating the rapid and giant strides of the railroad system, we give the fol- lowing in the history of the Union Pacihe Railroad, which might, without violence to the subject, be termed the very perfection of the system. The event, though probably still fresh in the minds of many, will, no doubt, in after years, become one of more than passing interest. The bill for building the Union Pacific Railroad was signed by President Lin- coln on the first day of July, 1862, and on the same day he issued a call for 300,000 men to

fight the battles of the Union. The idea of building the road was suggested by the gen- erally felt necessity of a closer communica- tion between the distant parts of the country. By the terins of the grant to the Union Pa- citie, the whole line, from the Missouri River to the Bay of Sacramento, was to be com- pleted not later than July 1, 1876. The road was, however, completed, and the last tie-of polished laurel wood bound with silver bands -laid May 10, 1869, and fastened with a gold spike furnished by California, a silver one fur- nished by Nevada, and one of a mixture of gold, silver and iron furnished by Arizona. This cer- emony took place near the head of the Great Salt Lake, where the roads-the Central Pa- cifie, chartered by California, and the Union Pacific, starting from the Missouri River -- met. It was the culmination of the period of railroad growth, and had a poetry about it that was sublime and grand. By a precon- certed arrangement the wires of the telegraph had been connected with the sledge used to drive the last spike, and the intelligence that the country had been spanned by the railroad was known at the instant of its accomplish- ment, at San Francisco and New York.

But to return to the early railroad history. As the system of railroads developed in the older settled States of the East, the Western people caught the "internal improvement " fever, and, with a high and laudable ambition to give to their own States a full share of those advantages which were adorning their elder sisters, they voted away millions of money for the construction of railroads and canals. Legislatures responded to the ardent messages of their Governors in a liberal man- ner, by chartering such a number of roads as to literally checker the map of their States. They saw nothing but the most prosperous times ahead, and the system of financiering that was inaugurated had well nigh, in the

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

end. impoverished the entire country. Who, that was living at that period, does not re- member the excitement incident upon the building of railroads and canals? Ohio, as well as other Western States, took a front po- sition in the old internal improvement sys- tem. In January, 1812, we learn from " Howe's Historieal Collections, " the first resolution relating to a canal, connecting the Ohio River with Lake Erie, was introduced into the Leg- islature. In 1819, the subject was again agi- tated. In 1820, on the recommendation of Gov. Brown, an act was passed, providing for the appointment of three Canal Commission- ers, who were to employ a competent engi- neer and assistants, for the purpose of survey- ing the route. But as the canals of the State have no especial place in the history of Logan County, we do not propose to enter into an extended notice of them in these pages. This brief allusion is made merely to illustrate the excitement which prevailed at an early day in regard to internal improvements.

There is some question and dispute as to the first railroad commenced, or actually built, in the State of Ohio. One authority is that the first road was built from Toledo, extending into the State of Michigan, and was about thirty miles in length. Another authority says the Little Miami was the first; and another, that the Sandusky & Mansfield was first; while still another claims the Cincinnati & Sandusky, or Mad River Railroad, as the first railroad of the State. If it was not the first, it was among the first railroad schemes of Ohio, and was intended to connect, by " iron bands of commerce," Lake Erie and the great watery highway of the Ohio and Missis- sippi Valleys. The building of it was sng- gested by the successful completion and operation of the Baltimore & Ohio R. R. It was an enterprise in which the people of Lo- gan County were interested, as well as the

people of the State. The Ohio State Gazette of July 5, 1832, published the following: "At a meeting of the Railroad Commissioners, heid at Springfield, of the Mad River & Lake Erie R. R. Co., books were ordered to be opened at Delaware by Ezra Griswold and Solomon Smith, and at Marion by George H. Busby and Hezekiah Gordon, in addition to places mentioned in last meeting." A resolution was adopted by the meeting alluded to, asking Messrs. Vance, Cook, Finlay, Crain and Cor- win, members in Congress from the part of Ohio through which the road is to pass, to "request of the President of the United States an engineer to make a survey, ete."

Another resolution of the same meeting re- quests the proceedings published in the towns where books are to be opened, and by " such other printers as are friendly to the object thereof." The proceedings of the meeting are signed by H. G. Philips, Chairman. In a publication of the same paper of November 14, 1833, under the head of " Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad," is the following: " It appears, from statements in New York pa- pers, that the stock books were closed wit h out the requisite amount of stock being taken in Eastern cities, and the New York _Idver- tiser expresses a doubt as to 'whether the great work will be accomplished.'" The Gu- zette, in an editorial, regretted the apparent failure of the enterprise, and urged a change in the charter of the road, so that it might be built on a shorter and more direct route. It further mentioned the fact that meetings had been held, and an effort made along the route to raise money; that in Urbana alone 400 shares of stock had been taken.

But we will not attempt to follow it through all the different scenes of its construction- from its commencement to its completion. The first part of the road finished was from Sandusky to Tiffin, and it is this division that

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is elaimed as the pioneer railroad. Finally there was sufficient stock taken to build the road from Tiffin to its southern terminus, and work commenced. But many obstacles were encountered, and many difficulties met with before the iron-horse pranced into Bellefon- taine. Gen. Gardner, from whom much of the road's history was received, informed us that the period when this road was being built, was one of the hardest, financially, that he had ever known. He related how once when the hands struck upon them, the Direct- ors resolved to borrow a sum of money for present use (about $14,000) upon their own indorsement, but, with a directory, represent- ing more than $300,000 in personal property, they could not, anywhere in the country, bor- row §14,000 upon their own indorsement. Gen. Gardner for a number of years was the Director for the State, and is conversant with the early history of the road. He gives an- other instance of the difficulty they experi- enced in raising money. At a certain time, wanting some money for some portion of the work going on, he went to the Treasurer, and found that the only money in the Treasury was a bill of exchange for $1,500, from a party in New York in payment of stock. The Treasurer tried, but failed to get it cashed in Bellefontaine; sent it to Urbana but could not get it cashed there. Gen. Gardner then sent his son by stage, to Springfield, to try to get the money there, but another failure was met with. He went from Springfield to Xenia, where the same luck awaited him, and it was not until he reached Cincinnati that he succeeded in getting the money on a paltry draft for $1,500.

Logan County took some $20,000 or $30,000 in the road, and the State about $270,000; this sum on the part of the State was paid out of what was known as the " Plunder Act," and as long as the State held an interest in

the road, Gen. Gardner was the State's Di- rector. After the road had been in operation some years, he was summoned to Columbus to meet a Committee of the Legislature in re- gard to selling the stock held by the State. Upon appearing before this Committee, which was composed of members from both Houses, they inquired of him what the stock was actual- ly worth. He told them that in his judgment, it was not worth anything, but that he knew a man he thought would buy it at 7 cents on the dollar. It was finally sold at that price. The following are some of the men who were at the head of this road during the long period from its beginning to completion: Judge Cary, Judge Lane, (of the Supreme Court), John H. James, of Urbana, Osborne, Hunt, Judge Russell, John C. Yelvington, of New York. While Mr. James was at the head of affairs, he issued scrip to pay the hands, which passed current, "and looked, " says Gen. Gardner, " very much like money." He issued it in sums as small as 25 cents, and 50 cents ; the 50 cent shinplasters, in order, perhaps, to give them more of a Wall Street appearance, had an engraving of a bull upon them.

But notwithstanding all these difficulties and drawbacks, the work was accomplished, and the road was completed, a fact which was announced in the Bellefontaine Gazette of July 17, 1847, under glaring head-lines, in the following paragraph : "The railroad is this week completed to Bellefontaine, and the long-looked for cars have at last arrived. Fifteen years ago, the surveyors, with chain and red flag came into the town, and the peo- ple thought the cars would soon follow." Thus we see that Bellefontaine had at last attained to the dignity of a railroad town, and was connected with the outer world by railroad. An item here, is perhaps worthy of note. The road was originally built on ties

IHISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

or timbers laid lengthwise, upon which was placed a 3-inch bar of iron; soon this bar was replaced with one f of an inch when the Di- rectory concluded they had reached the per- fection of railroad building.

The road was of undoubted benefit, and opened up a large tract of country that would, otherwise, to-day be a wilderness. Portions of Wyandotte, Hardin, Logan and Champaign have been largely benefitted. Urbana had no outlet, neither had Bellefontaine ; Kenton was in the woods. These, at that time freble villages, have become thriving and im- portant towns ; but while it was beneficial in this way, it became almost oppressive in an- other. Like all corporations without oppo- sition or competition it became a monopoly. The price for carrying wheat from the ware- house in Bellefontaine to Sandusky was 12 ruts a bushel, and if the owner wanted to go along to look after his wheat, and was dis- posed to ride in the car with it, he could not do so wtihout buying a ticket at full rate. With the lapse of time, however, and the building of competing roads, rates on this have been brought down to corresponding rates on other roads, and the Cincinnati, San- dusky & Cleveland Railroad, with all the im- provements of the time is a popular and first- class road in every respect. A branch ex- tends from Springfield to Columbus, a distance of forty-five miles; and a branch also from Carey to Findlay, a distance of sixteen miles. In conclusion of the history of this road, we may mention another item of some interest, perhaps. It is said that the "Sandusky," the first locomotive used on the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad, was the first in America to which a regular steam whistle was applied.

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History of Logan County and Ohio, Part 43

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; O.L. Baskin & Co Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin Number of Pages: 798

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; O.L. Baskin & Co
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin
Number of Pages: 798