History of Logan County and Ohio, Part 80

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 80

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The Mac-u-chuck Press was both a literary and a political paper of much merit. W. Il. Gribble was the publisher-Col. Don Piatt being astride the editorial tripod. The Press became widely known through the influence of the pen of its able editor, and it hung fire for probably five years, being discontinued on account of Col. Piatt and his associates going to the war. Mr. Gribble subsequently re- moved the office to Bellefontaine, transforming it into the Bellefontaine Press.

Then followed The Weekly Enterprise, a twelve-column paper, published entirely at home (no patent) by B. S. Leonard and Il. S. Taylor-both gentlemen occupying the ed- itorial chair-both wielding impulsive pens. The motto of the paper was, "Om Prosent Omnibus." Wright Smith was the business manager.

Now comes J. 11. Fluhart and W. P. Mar- ion, still later, and scatter among the pro- plo The West Liberty Independent, a pat- ent outside paper, twenty-right columns. Mr. Fluhart at the same time was conducting the Bellefontaine Pass. The Independent flourished like a rose for awhile, then wilted

and died. Succeeding the Independent was The West Liberty Press, edited and pub- lished first by W. P. Marion and Charles Da- vis, then edited by J. H. Ayres and published by Joe K. Scott, and subsequently Scott as- sumed the responsibility and hove out into the turbulence of a journalist's life, but the effort necessary was too great for him, and he gladly, after a very brief experience, stepped down and out, and right glad was he of the opportunity.

On or about May 1, 1826, W. H. Gribble determined that the newspaper fame of West Liberty should not become extinct, and issued the first number of the Wally Ners. It was quite a newsy sheet, being published in Urbana by Gribble, and localized here for the most part by J. Clarence Hildebrand, a young man of talent and promise. On the 31st of December, 1877, it died for want of support.

In the year 1828 matters changed. A new era seemed to have dawned upon the journalistic history of the town. It was found, when reducing the problems of these failures down to philosophic faets, that many obstacles had been in the way which might have been overcome. These it is impolitic for the writer to name. On the Hith day of January, 1818, The West Liberty Gazette made its appearance, with 11. W. Hamilton as its editor and proprietor, and it has se- cured the united support of the business men of West Liberty, as also in Urbana and Bellefontaine ever since, and is flourishing like "a green bay tree," being about to enter upon its fourth year. On the 30th day of January, 1828, Mr. D. C. Bailey joined Mr. Hamilton as publisher, and they jointly took up the cudgels and fought their way through to a successful issue. On the 18th day of June, 1829, Mr. Bailey retired from the firm, and Prof. P. W. Search came in, completing such arrangements as continued Mr. Hamilton

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as editor and subsequently as a full part- ner. The Gazette is read far and wide; is Republican in politics ; is bold and fear- less, capable of coping with any of its com- peers.

This is the history of West Liberty news- papers in a nutshell; the regret is that the many excellent papers that have died here in the past, are not STILL ALIVE to greet hundreds of patrons, but they are dead beyond a res- urrecting power.

West Liberty is entitled to the honorable sobriquet of the "Garden Spot " of the county of Logan. It is located amid surroundings sublimely grand. Here the sun seems to pour around greater glories of the day-here the moon seems to hang with more beauty in her silver crescent at the evening hour-here the stars that bestud God's diamond throne- (the hosts of heaven, whose everlasting march is one enduring triumph, the divine memo- rials on the amethystine arch of nature graven by God,) appear to shine with a brighter lustre than elsewhere. Was ever a pen gifted with an eloquence that would describe it? Inspired poets write of Italian skies and Italian sunsets, but if they are grander than the scenes around West Liberty they must be supernal indeed. Turn which way you will, a panorama of unparalleled gorgeous- ness, splendor, magnificence, greets the eye. In the days of many of our pioneers this fertile valley around West Liberty was the heritage of the savage, and the haunt of wild beasts. Strong hearts were they which sub- dued the one and exterminated the other; strong men were they who lifted up the axe against the thick trees of the forest-strong- hearted women were those who shared their destiny, and reared their children by the cabin hearthstone, shrinking from no toil, fainting before no danger. As a result, what have we? A lovely town skirting a pretty hill, in the very midst of a superb landscape enveloped with

a drapery of bewitching beauty, which she displays with such grace that the eye is never satisfied with looking at her, nor is the heart ever pained by communing with her. It was at one time the most important town in Lo- gan County, there being a large competition in trade, but the county seat eventually became the loadstone with strong magnetizing power, and a majority of the moneyed men of the town left and took up a permanent residence in Bellefontaine. But it partially survived this loss, and with recuperative energy such men as Samuel Taylor, William R. Fisher, Dr. H. F. Kurfurst, George F. Bailey, O. S. Miller, Dr. D. H. Garwood, Theodore F. Mil- ler, J. W. Woodward, F. N. Draper, William Fishbough, H. J. Miller, A. B. Sieg, James D). and W. T. Stanton, Dr. John Ordway, Enos Baldwin and Benjamin Elliott, and a host of others, determined that the town should live and prosper, and their efforts have not been in vain. Improvements were made both in private dwellings and business houses, and the march of industry and increased trade moved steadily on to a further condition of happiness.

On the 13th day of May, ISSO, the town was visited with a holocaust which, within the space of two hours, laid the principal business portion thereof in ashes, sweeping into oblivion thirty-one business rooms and eight places of residence, involving a loss of $200,000, and rendering homeless, houseless, and penniless, a number of persons.

To give the fullest statement of facts con- cerning this terrible conflagration the writer hereof presents the following details, written by himself, and printed in the West Liberty Gazette extra, on the next morning after the fire, and also in the Weekly Gazette of May 9, 1880, to-wit :

" At about 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon the cry of 'fire! fire!' rang through our streets, supplemented with the thrilling cry

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HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

that the entire business portion of West Liberty was a perfect mass of flames. The report proved, in a very few moments, to be too true. The very thought itself thoroughly electrified the entire populace, and everybody left his or her home and fled precipitately to the scene of disaster, full of interest and sympathy for the unfortunates, and of a desire to render all possible aid.

" The fire originated in a stable in the rear of Dr. H. F. Kurfurst's block, at 3 o'clock, on the lot of Mrs. Lyman Cook. It was un- questionably the work of foul incendiarism. The incendiaries are, at this writing, unknown. The report, as first circulated, involved Mrs. Cook's youngest son, Judge, but later investi- gation does not fully justify the rumor, as re- liable parties saw this boy down the race at the time the fire began. Still later reports complicate Lyman Cook, but further infor- mation proves the fallacy of this rumor, as this boy is known to have been on Baldwin's prairie when the fire started. A tramp was noticed traveling out the Mac-a-check road at a rapid rate, at about 3.30 o'clock, and he should have been arrested, but in the excitement the fellow was lost sight of. His connection with the origin of the fire cannot be established. Some parties say that they saw some boys playing cards in the stable of Mrs. Cook; and thus do rumors ffy, some unfounded and others reasonable enough to warrant some severe criticism, yet nothing definite can possibly be ascertained.

"The flames leaped with mad fury from the barn to Dr. Kurfurst's ice house, then to the building where the doctor had large quantities of goods stored away, consisting of oils, chemicals, etc., most of all which caught and fed the flames with ferocious fury. The pro- gress of the furious flames was rapid, and they swept everything before them relent- lessly, completely licking up the entire square from the Bailey block to the corner of Baird

and Main streets, brushing out of existence in a moment, as it were, eight or nine business houses, with their contents. Apparently not satisfied with the ruin already wrought, the holocaust vaulted across Main street, and in its mad career it laid in ashes the entire block, commencing with Mrs. Hildebrand's business block and residence, and ending with the demolition of every building in that square and a small summer kitchen of G. W. Gorton's. In the meantime help was tele- graphed for to Bellefontaine and U'rbana. In fifty minutes from the time the dispatches were sent the steamers were at the depot, and as soon as it was possible, the engines with reels, were upon the scene of action.

"Each town sent in a large relayof men, who, with willing hearts and ready hands, went to work earnestly to help save all the property possible. Every man, woman, and child, as- sisted in transferring goods from the stores and residences, and piling them hurriedly out in the street. in a great indistinguish- able mass. The people were panic-stricken. Strong-hearted men shed tears of sorrow for the unfortunates -- women sereamed, and chil- dren added no little mite to the terrible clamor. Such a wail of woe was never known here before. Truly, could West Liberty have been called, for the time being, a young Chica- go. The great pang suffered here touched the hearts of every town around us that could come here to shew their sympathetic kinship. There were not wanting many evidences of the grandeur of human nature amid the very ashes of what was but a few moments before beautiful and prosperous. The fire depart- ments of Bellefontaine and Urbana flew to our rescue, as if on the wings of wind. Each as quickly as possible, turned heavy streams of water upon the fierce flames, subduing them at several points, thereby preventing a total annihilation of our town. Grandly, heroical- ly, did they work!

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HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

"The gratitude of our people recognizes no confines. Long, earnestly, unremittingly, did these grand men struggle to prevent a furth- er catastrophe than that already accomplished, and their labors were blessed with brilliant achievements. In this connection, let us give the Bellefontaine folks, who are known to have uttered complaints about having a "paid fire department" put upon them, a word of advice. The necessity of its organization has never been so wonderfully apparent until this fire occurred. For Heaven's sake, gen- tlemen, SUSTAIN your "Fire Department," and DO IT WELL, for they are a noble band of workers. Of the Urbana Fire Department as well, too much cannot be said enlogistic of the magnificent work done by them with one hose reel. At about six o'clock the fire was conquered. The buildings in close prox- imity to the property destroyed, as described above, were saved by the superhuman efforts of the firemen, and the herculean endeavors of men upon the Gazette building, belonging to George F. Bailey, Esq.

"Great crowds of excited people poured in here from all points of the compass, to view the disaster, and some, we are sorry to say, for the purpose of thieving. Any man who would steal upon such an occasion and in the midst of such a calamity, ought to be banged by the neck to the nearest post or tree until he is dead. No man guilty of such a deed at such a time should be given any morey. Every honorable stranger put his or her shoul- der to the wheel, and worked valiantly. The crowd probably mimbered over 2,000 who witnessed the conflagration.

" The scene presented to the eye of the ob- server on the morning after the fire was sick- ening. What was twenty-four hours previous to the penning of this article a handsome business street, is now a fearful scene of deso- lation and ruin. But it is well it was not worse, and the fire departments saved us.

Business men are in the streets, families are homeless and houseless, with everything gone, a total wreck. What a disaster! Crowds of people from all directions are perambulating around the ruins, discussing it excitedly in all its varied phases, and tendering their greatest sympathy for the sufferers.

" The losses are terrible to contemplate. Below we give a reliable statement of the losses sustained, and the amount of insurance in each case :

"O. S. Miller & Co., loss $10,000; insurance $20,000, Aspinall & Son, loss $4,000; insur- ance $2,000. B. B. Leonard, loss $6,000; insurance $3,000. Drugs not insured. Logan County Bank, loss $300; insured ; valuable papers all saved. J. S. Packer, loss $200; no insurance. O. P. Longfellow, loss $500; no insurance. John R. Steelman, loss $2,500; insurance $1,000. J. Wood Brown, loss $300; no insurance. Mrs. Jane Hildebrand, loss $5,000; insurance $2,000. Thos. P. Miller, loss 8500; no insurance. HI. F. Kurfurst, loss $28,000; insurance $14,000. George F. Bai- ley, loss $4,000; insurance $2,000. Odd Fel- lows, loss $2,000; no insurance. James Henderson & Son, loss $2,500; no insurance. D. W. Gill, loss $1,000; no insurance. G. W. Gorton, loss $1,000; no insurance. Fishbonghi & Gribble, loss $200; insured. H. J. Miller & Co., loss $800; insured. Chas. Darlinton, loss $2,000; no insurance. James Cook, loss $2,500; insurance $350. 1. S. Miller, loss $100; no insurance. J. C. Muzzy, loss $100; no insurance. J. A. Bover, loss $15; no in- surance. J. H. Deck & Co., loss $2,000; in- surance $1,600. 1. G. Thomas, loss $2,500; partially insured. Cyrus Ziegler, loss $100; no insurance. Ziegler & Jackson, loss $2,500; partially insured. Jas. Artis, loss $200; no insurance. M. C. Keith, loss probably $100; no insurance. D. H. Garwood, loss $4,000; partially insured. Dr. W. C. Kavanagh, loss $100; no insurance. Dr. 11. P. Kelly, loss

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HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

$100; no insurance. H. S. Taylor & Co., loss $3,000; insurance $1,000. W. A. Gill, loss $800; no insurance. Forsyth Bros., loss $100; no insurance. F. N. Draper, loss $400; in- sured. C'has. Pittenger, loss $200; no insur- ance. Mrs. C. Bender, loss $400; no insurance. 1. W. Woodward, loss $4,000; insurance $3,500. Arthur Wallace, loss $25; no insur- ance. Mrs. S. E. Cook, loss $1,000; no insur- ance. John Ordway, loss $3,500; insurance $2 500. E. Myers, loss $50; no insurance. James Knight, loss $1,000; no insurance. Elisha Steelman, loss $200; no insurance. John M. Hunter, loss $50; no insurance.

"Our business men who have been displaced by this fire can be found in the following places: 11. S. Taylor & Co., grocery, in Ord- way's block; J. W. Woodward, boots and shoes, in Ordway's block; J. II. Deck & Co., notions, Taylor & Couchman's building, Baird street; Logan County Bank, Corporation Clerk's office; Post-Office, adjoining Ginn House: O. S. Miller & Co., Town Hall; Thos. 1. Miller, meat market, next door to Stanton Bros .: James Henderson is above Stanton Bros', store; Ziegler & Jackson, with C. F. Fox; 1. S. Miller, in Fishbough & Gribble's basement; R. Aspinall & Son are in the room next to George W. Gorton's.

"U. S. Miller & Co., George F. Bailey, Esq., and Dr. Il. F. Kurfurst. each will re-build as quickly as possible. Let some enterprising man open a brick yard hore at once; it will not only inspire building but it will give poor men work, and compensate fully any man who will engage in the business.

" Must we lie dormant and let the ruins re- main untouched? No, never! Let all who suffered cheer up with what is left, and we shall come out all right. We have life left. and true grit, and we must rise, Phoenix-like, above the ashes. Cheer up! In the midst of calamity without a parallel in this town, looking upon the ashes of years and years of

aceminlation, let us be resolved to enter into a new era, with redoubled vigor. As there never has been such a calamity here before, so has there never been such cheerful forti- tude in the face of desolation and ruin.

" Thieves were scattered all over town yes- terday, and some plundering was the result. No account can be given of the goods stolen. An extra police force was sworn in by Mayor Kavanagh, and the result was a lot of roughs were calaboosed and will receive the atten- tion of the Mayor. Several fights occurred, but all disturbances of this nature were promptly put down by manly men.

" The Gazette could hardly give a fuller re- port of the conflagration than was contained in the "extra " gotten out at this office last Friday morning, which we reprint. It em- bodies about all that the pen could picture relative to the fire and its consequences. There are some corrections, however, that we desire to make in this article. Dr. Kurfurst's loss is $38,000, instead of $28,000. The Odd Fellows' loss is reported at $2,000, but recent developments show the amount less than $1,000. Ziegler & Jackson's loss is $600, in- stead of $2,500, on which there is no insur- ance. H. S. Taylor & Co.'s loss reaches $3,000; but they received $1,100 insurance from the .Etna. and their salvage will, prob- ably, amount to $500. Charles W. Pittonger's loss is $450, instead of $200. F. N. Draper's loss is $388,50, which is insured. Mrs. M. L. Fishbough's loss is $300, on which there is no insurance. She is not reported in the "extra." The reading room is a thing of the past.

" As to the origin, nothing new has disclosed itself. There are many, very many, that give credence to the rumor that Judge Cook is the author of the devilment, and it will devolve upon Mrs. Lyman Cook, the mother of the boy charged with the incendiarism, to produce some evidence that is reliable, that Judge was not near the stable at or near the time

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of the starting of the fire, to wit, between the hours of two and three o'clock in the afternoon of that day, in order to convince the public mind of her son's guiltlessness in this matter, otherwise he must lie under a very serious charge-one that will pursue him to his grave. We sincerely hope Mrs. Cook can do this. Liberal responses have been made to appeals for aid for those who have been utterly bankrupted by the fire, by our sister towns. Springfield, Urbana, De Graff, Bellefontaine and Marysville, so far as we have learned, have raised about one thousand dollars. The great crowd of strang- ers from these, and other places, whilst here last Sunday, opened their purses with a will- ing hand. Here is what is still being done in Bellefontaine, as our friend, Joseph H. Law- rence, Esq., writes:

" BELLEFONTAINE, O., May 18, 1880. "H. W. Hamilton, West, Liberty, O .:

"At a meeting of the citizens of Bellefon- taine, held Monday night, a committee of six- teen was appointed to canvass the town, to raise money to aid the citizens of West Lib- erty, who have suffered loss by the late fire. The committee are now at work.

"JOSEPH II. LAWRENCE.

" Prof. Search went to Marysville last Mon- day, to secure some funds, and he got $165, of which Hon. Judge Porter gave $50. Long may he be remembered, as well as his town. With this money, and that that is to come, great relief can be given the sufferers.

" The fire is replete with solemn warnings, and in another column we urge the Council not to forget their existence, and to give us a steam fire engine without delay.

"The insurance companies are settling up as fast as the stocks left can be invoiced. They have all been remarkably prompt, and will, as we learn, pay up in full.

" The work of re-construction has already begun. Dr. Kurfurst has carpenters at work

erecting a temporary frame structure, 28x30, on the east end of his corner lot, and expects to be in it, with a stock of drugs, by Saturday next. The building will also have a room for the Postoffice. The doctor also has a large number of men and boys cleaning away the debris, and cleaning and piling up the brick, preparatory to the erection of a fine business block, at once. George F. Bailey, Esq., will erect a two-story brick, with two handsome business rooms, at once. Mrs. S. E. Cook will put up a like brick structure adjoining Esquire Bailey. O. S. Miller will not delay the erec- tion of a handsome business block, which will be modern in every respect. Robert Aspinall thinks it doubtful about his erecting a busi- ness block on his lot, but we are safe in pre- (licting that he will 'change his plans,' and put up a good building. Other buildings will be put up commensurate with the enterprising spirit of our town. Dr. Ordway will be apt to build, as will Mr. Henderson, Dr. Garwood, Dr. Leonard and Mrs. Hildebrand. New im- petus will be given the business of the town, more money will be exchanged, and West Liberty will boom."

There being no fire department in the town, great risk was shouldered and suffered from the omission, and the Gazette, in an edi- torial of the 14th of May, also expatiated upon this grave matter, as follows:

"OUR LESSON. "A WORD TO THE WISE.

"Our hardest trials sometimes teach us great lessons of wisdom that we are not apt to allow to go by unheeded. Times of gen- eral calamity and confusion have ever been productive of the greatest minds, even as the purest ore is produced from the hottest fur- nace, and the brightest thunderbolt is elicited from the darkest storm. A wise man is gen- erally led to wise acts by some severe lesson,

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and we think that our people and our Town Council have drawn some hunks of wisdom from our recent terrible conflagration.

" The Gazette. in a note of the Baldwin fire, remarked that that fatal accident was " full of suggestions." and the asseveration has proved too true. We have repeatedly urged the Council of West Liberty in these columns to provide us some means for protection in case of fire, but no attention has been paid to our appeals. Enough property was destroyed last Thursday to pay for forty steamers, at $5.000 cach-for a good steamer can be pur- chased for that amount of money, and less. Now look at the result ! Here we are in ruins, and still at the mercy of another holocaust. : Citizens of West Liberty, and tax-payers, can we afford this longer? Can we afford to run the risk of being totally annihilated for fear of a little tax? Let the answer come in tones of thunder, No! No! No! Then let us awake to our danger and have no further delay. Let us have a prompt meeting of our Council, and quick action.

PARTICULAR ENGINE, but in the name of the people who must have protection,-in the name of the innocent who have been ren- dered moneyless, honseless, and homeless by the late catastrophe-in the name of others who have suffered the severest blow of their lives, who have had the accumulations of years and years swept away by the fery fiend with one fell swoop-in the name of the repu- tation of our town which we must over hold sacred, we DEMAND a fire-engine, capable of protecting the property of our town, and we cannot afford to have this matter overlooked. Let there be some decisive steps taken this week. Such exigencies arise in this matter as to admit of no combatting. The people will look anxiously and carnestly to the Coun- cil now for expeditious action. In the mean- time, let everybody be careful to avoid a sim- ilar disaster in the future."

At the next meeting of the Town Council, held May 21. Mr. F. N. Draper introduced the following resolution, to wit :

Resolved, That it is decided to purchase a steam fire engine and all necessary fire appa- ratus to give our town full protection against fire, provided, upon investigation, we have a legal right to issue bonds for the same.

" Mr. F. N. Draper, a heavy tax-payer, and a strong advocate for a fire engine, who is fully sensible of our real peril, has received a propo- sition from the La France Fire Engine Com- pany, who agree to furnish a steamer com- The resolution was adopted by a full vote. But there was another matter of the utmost importance to be attended to. in order to get the money to pay these bonds without distress- ing a few to benefit a large number, and I that was the annexing of certain contiguous territory to the town, for fully three-fourths of the people belonging to the town proper, at this writing, live outside of the corporation. plete in all particulars, and warranted, to- gether with 200 feet of best rubber hose, four ply-five ply ends-guaranteed to stand at pressure of 400 pounds to the square inch, with any coupling preferred; also, one fine finished, two-wheeled balance hand hose reel, made from best quality of wronght iron, for the sum of $3,900; the engine to be capable of throwing one 12 inch stream The Council passed an ordinance, June 12, 1814, providing " for the extension of the limits of the Incorporated Village of West Liberty," but this was opposed by remon- strators on the ground that there was a con- fliet in the laws then in existence, the Legisla- 225 fret, and to be capable of discharging 325 gallons of water per minute. This engine is guaranteed for a period of twelve years. and also to surpass any other make of equal capacity male in this or in any other country. "We do not urge the Council to buy amis i ture, having passed a new law on the subject,

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History of Logan County and Ohio, Part 80

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