History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families, Part 9

Author: Bryan, Chester Edwin
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : Bowen
Number of Pages: 1150

USA > Ohio > Madison County > History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 9

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MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

corner stone of the court house of Madison county; copy of the Masonic Monitor and a photograph of the interior of the new Masonic hall at London.

The grand master then instructed the grand treasurer to deposit the casket with its contents in the cavity prepared for its reception, and added :

"May the Grand Architect of the Universe in His infinite wisdom, grant that ages upon ages shall pass away ere it again be seen by human eyes," and the brethren responded, "So mote it be."

PROVING THE WORK.

While the band was playing the patriotic air, "America," the stone was slowly lowered within a few inches of its destined place and then held in suspension while the choir sang "Faith, Hope and Charity," after which followed the ceremony of proving the work.

The grand marshal presented to the grand master a plumb, a level and a square, which he distributed to his fellow craftsmen, each of whom applied his instrument to the corner stone and announced in his time that the work was plumb, level and square.

The grand master then proclaimed that the stone had been tested by the proper implements of masonry and he declared it to be well formed, true and trusty, and cor- rectly laid according to the rules of the craft. He then spread the mortar and while the band played a solemn air, the stone was lowered to its final resting place.

The deputy grand master then advanced with a vessel filled with corn, which the grand master poured on the stone as an emblem of plenty. The senior grand warden presented a vessel filled with wine, which the grand master emptied on the stone as an emblem of joy and gladness. The junior grand warden then came forward with a vessel of oil, which the grand master took, saying, "I pour oil as an emblem of peace."

The grand master then, with extended hands, made the following invocation :

"May the all-bounteous Author of Nature bless the inhabitants of this place with an abundance of the necessaries, conveniences and comforts of life; assist in the erec- tion and completion of this building, protect the workmen against every accident, long preserve the structure from decay, and grant to us all a supply of the corn of nour- ishment, the wine of refreshment and the oil of joy. Amen."

The grand marshal then presented J. H. Decker, as the architect of the building. to whom was returned the square. level and plumb and plans of the building. Then followed music. after which the grand master proclaimed in the name of the grand lodge of Ohio the cornerstone to be laid according to the ancient customs.

After a few remarks by the grand master and by Deputy Grand Master Levi C. Goodale, the benediction was pronounced by Rev. J. W. Dillon, of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and the vast crowd dispersed.

COMPLETION OF THE STRUCTURE.

On September 2, the commissioners had bought lot No. 41 and the southwest halves of lots Nos. 42 and 43, owned by G. W. Lohr, for ten thousand dollars. This made the court house grounds include the entire square-two hundred and eighty and one-half feet by two hundred and eighty and one-half feet.

Owing to the death of Architect Maetzel, the commissioners appointed Joseph Dauber as the architect of the building, June 22, 1891. On October 16, 1890, bids were received to furnish two boilers and accessory materials for heating the court house, jail and sheriff's residence and the contract was awarded to Borger Brothers & Com- pany, of Columbus, Ohio. for twelve hundred and ninety-four dollars. The contracts for the furnishing of the wood furniture for the court house was given to A. H. Andrews & Company, of Chicago, and for the metallic furniture to the Fenton Metallic Manu- facturing Company, of Jamestown, New York, on December 23. 1891. C. F. Thornwald,

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

of Cincinnati, was given the contract of furnishing the grates and mantels for the court house, jail and sheriff's residence, on February 4, 1892. February 6, following, McHenry & Company received the contract for the combination gas and electric-lighting fixtures. On February 10, the Seth Thomas Clock Company, of New York, received the contract for the tower clock, dials and bell, agreeing to furnish an eight-day, striking, twenty- eight-hundred-pound tower clock with gravity escapement and fourteen-foot pendulum, with a three thousand-pound bell, for two thousand, one hundred and twenty-two dollars.

The commissioners having been notified that the court house, jail and sheriff's resi- dence were finished, inspected the same on July 16, 1892, accepted them from the con- tractors and ordered that "they be settled with in full."

The contract for lightning rods was given to Edward Pickering; for grading the sidewalks, walks and grounds around the court house, to Edward Neville; for furnish- ing the materials and constructing the walks, pavements and curbing, to G. W. Doerz- back; for furnishing two hundred and forty chairs for the assembly room in the base- ment, to Edward Armstrong.

THE JAIL.

The commissioners received authority to build a new county jail under the same legislative enactments that gave such authority in regard to the construction of a new court house. Architect Maetzel, of the court house then under way of construction, presented plans to the building committee for a new county jail on September 22, 1890, and for a sheriff's residence in connection with the jail, at an estimated cost of about forty thousand dollars including steam heat. After a few minor changes from the original idea these plans were accepted by that committee on October 14. The plans called for a neat two-story brick of modern style. The jail proper contained sixteen cells-eight on each of the two stories. The front of the building was to be used as the sheriff's residence, having six living rooms and three cells for females.

Bids for the construction of the jail were received and opened on December 18, 1890, and, although James Self, of London, was the lowest bidder, at thirty-five thousand dollars, the contract was awarded to G. W. Doerzback, of Sandusky, for thirty-five thousand eight hundred and eighty dollars. The matter was brought into court and in February the specifications were ordered changed and the contract set aside. Bids were again received and opened on July 9, 1891, but were so suggestively. close together that the commissioners made no awards and ordered the auditor again to advertise for bids. The third set of bids was opened on August 10, 1891, and the contract was let to D. W. McGrath, a prominent young contractor of Columbus, Ohio, for twenty-seven thousand eight hundred and eighty-five dollars. The plumbing was done by the Sanitary Plumbing Company of Columbus. The plans and specifications were made by Joseph Dauben, of Columbus, for which he received one hundred and fifty dollars. The building was accepted at the same time as was the court house, as stated above.

BOND ISSUES.

The first issue of bonds to pay for the construction of the new court house, jail and sheriff's residence was ordered by the commissioners, July 15, 1890. The issue was to be for fifty one-thousand-dollar bonds, to bear interest at six per cent, pay- able semi-annually, the bonds to be paid off in bunches of ten bonds. Twelve bids were received on this issue and they were sold to the First National Bank of Chilli- cothe, Ohio, on August 7, 1890, for fifty-three thousand nine hundred and one dollars. On March 30, 1891, the commissioners ordered another issue of seventy-six one-thou- sand-dollar bonds to bear date of April 23, 1891. They were issued in thirteen series, and bore six per cent. interest, payable semi-annually. They were sold on that date to Farson Leach & Company, of Chicago, at a premium of three thousand six hundred

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

and ten dollars. The third issue of court house and jail bonds was voted on Novem- ber 16, 1891, and was to consist of seventy-four one-thousand-dollar bonds in twelve series, to bear the date of December 17, 1891. These were sold to Seasongood & Mayer, of Cincinnati, on that date, for eighty thousand, three lmundred and sixty-nine dollars and fifty cents.

On July 16, 1892, the commissioners ordered that a bill be prepared and sent to Hon. James Martin, representative of Madison county in the General Assembly, to be submitted to that body, authorizing the issue of bonds not to exceed twenty thousand dollars at six per cent. interest for the purpose of furnishing the court house. This bill was enacted into law on April 12, 1892, and twenty-one thousand- dollar bonds were issued bearing the date of November 12, 1892. These bonds. "for the purchase of furniture and fixtures for the court house and improving the court house grounds," were sold to Spitzer & Company, of Toledo, Ohio, for twenty-two thousand and forty-three dollars.

PRISON BONDS.

When the colonies proclaimed their independence and shook off the grasp of tyranny, a relic of English barbarism, known as imprisonment for debt was engrafted into the laws of the young republic. This law was an outrage upon honest poverty and was the cause of untold misery. The prisoner confined for debt, upon giving good security to his creditors, was allowed a certain defined limit outside of the jail in which to exercise his manhood, and this limit was known as the "prison bounds," but by crossing this line he forfeited his security, and. therefore, his liberty. In 1799. a law was passed in the Northwest Territory, making two hundred yards, in any direction from the jail, the prison bounds. In 1800 this was increased to four hundred and forty yards, and reduced to four hundred in 1805. In 1821, the corporation line became the boundary, and in 1832, it was extended so as to embrace the whole county. Thus it remained until the adoption of the new Constitution, when this relic of a feudal nation was erased from the statutes of Ohio.

From the proceedings of the court of common pleas, held by the associate judges, February, 1815, the following item is culled: "Ordered that the prison bounds of the county of Madison shall be and that they are hereby established by and with the out- lines of the town plat of London, in the county aforesaid, including the out-lots, unless the said plan of said town should be too large for prison bounds as are directed by law; in that case, the said prison bounds shall be laid off to the limits of the law, making the jail of said county the center thereof, and ordered that Patrick McLene, Esq., county surveyor, of said county of Madison, be, by the clerk, notified to run, lay off and mark sufficiently said prison bounds by blazing, putting up posts, etc .. so as to make the said bounds plain and easy to be found and discovered, and that the said surveyor make a return thereof to the next term of this court." In compliance with this order the prison bounds were established by Patrick McLene, June 19, 1815, and ran as follows: "Beginning at the south corner of out-lot No. 11, which is the graveyard, running thence west until the line strikes Glade run, above William Pink- ard's tanyard ; thence down said run, with the meanders thereof, until it intersects with Oak run; thence down Oak run, with the meanders thereof, to the south corner of lot No. 18; thence S. 570 degrees E., 53 poles, to the north corner of out-lot No. 1; thence N. 56 degrees E., 46 poles, to Main street, including George Thompson's pottery shop; thence N. 36 degrees E., 50 poles; to the west corner of out-lot No. 6; thence N. 45 degrees W .. with the range of out-lots Nos. 7, 8, 9 and 10, 92 poles to the beginning." These bounds were enlarged in 1821, to the corporation limits, and in 1833 to the boundaries of Madison county, which was in harmony with the laws enacted in those years. With the progress of civilization, all such laws as imprison-

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

ment for debt became obnoxious to the spirit of enlightenment and humanity, which civilization engenders, and are therefore annulled as they ought to be.

COUNTY INFIRMARY.

Throughout the pioneer days of Madison county, each township supported its own poor, but finally the duty devolved upon the county, and private individuals were engaged to support indigent persons, or pay for doing so. In September, 1857, the county commissioners appropriated fifteen thousand dollars toward purchasing land and erecting suitable buildings for a county infirmary, provided, however, that the county vote in favor of said appropriation at the following October election. Whether or not the commissioners' action was ratified, is not a matter of record, but noth- ing was done toward establishing the infirmary for more than six years subsequent to that event. On the 9th of June, 1864, the commissioners purchased one hundred and ten acres of land from Jesse Watson and James Q. Minshall, paying for the same ninety- five dollars per acre. This tract was situated immediately south of London, and a portion of it is now inside the corporate limits. Fruit trees were planted, fences built and the property somewhat improved, but no buildings were erected, nor was it ever occupied for infirmary purposes, and was finally sold.

The present county farm was purchased on June 6, 1866, from James Rankin. Jr., and originally contained sixty-eight and one-quarter acres of land, for which the county paid seventy-five dollars an acre. Additions have since been made and the county now has a farin of one hundred and ninety-five acres. The commissioners met on July 2, 1866, and appointed three infirmary directors, J. W. Carr, William Cryder and Richard Baskerville, and they in turn, subsequently, appointed G. W. Darety as superintendent of the infirmary. On July 17, 1866, he took possession of the frame house standing on the farm when purchased, and on July 31, following. the first inmates were admitted. On the 3rd of August, 1866, bids were advertised for the erection of a "lunatic building," and on September 3, following, the contract was awarded to Ginn & Henry, of Cedarville, to be completed by November 5, at a cost of $4,999. On the 6th of November, the contract for erecting a new infirmary building was given to the same firm, at a cost of $18,000. After the erection of this building, it was found very imperfect; even prior to its completion it had been dis- covered that the contractors were not doing the work according to contract. The building was found absolutely unsafe, and on August 31, 1868, was condemned by Anderson & Hannaford, architects of Cincinnati, whom the commissioners called upon to examine the structure. The board then took the matter in hand, remodeled and strengthened the building wherever necessary, and carried the whole to completion. Mr. Darety continued as superintendent and moved into the new building on January 11, 1872. In August, 1873, Isaac Curl succeeded Mr. Darety and served until April 1, 1875, at which time William M. Jackson become superintendent, and he, in turn, was succeeded by J. Smith Davidson, April 1, 1877.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTITUTION.

In 1872 Samuel P. Davidson, one of the infirmary directors, was employed by the commissioners to lay off the grounds surrounding the new buildings, and make such improvements as were necessary to the comfort and convenience of the inmates and to the attractiveness of the institution. He drafted a plan of the grounds, which the commissioners approved. In the front of the building the landscape was laid off twenty yards square, with a heart-shape driveway from the gate to the main entrance of the building. Cutting this figure in two, is a gravel walk from the gate to the front door of the infirmary. Within the driveway, flowers, shrubbery and ornamental

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

trees decorate the grounds, while surrounding it are planted fruit trees and various kinds of evergreens, giving to the whole a handsome appearance, and reflecting much credit upon its worthy projector, as well as upon the county whose general munificence has created this asylum for poor, suffering humanity.

The building is of brick with stone foundation forty-five by one hundred and eight feet in size, four stories high, with a rear wing thirty-two by forty-five feet and of the same height as the main structure. The basement, or first story, contains nineteen rooms and there are located the kitchen, bakery, laundry, children's diuing-room, milk house and storage rooms, also the engine and boilers which heat the building through- out. Each of the other stories contain twenty rooms. On ascending a flight of stone steps from the driveway, the first floor above the basement is reached. This floor contains the superintendent's office and reception room, two dining-rooms, and sixteen bedrooms for the inmates. The central and western portion of the next floor is occu- pied by the family of the superintendent, the rest of it being used for inmates' bed- rooms, bathrooms, and a wardrobe wherein the wearing apparel of the inmates is kept, neatly folded away for their use. The top floor is divided into bedrooms for the inmates and the help engaged at the infirmary. There is also located on this floor a school roon, where the children stopping at the institution receive regular instruc- tion, by a competent teacher employed for the purpose. The building contains three cells, in which insane inmates are confined when such a course is necessary, Close to the rear of the main structure stands a brick washhouse, a brick smokehouse, a frame icehouse. and all other outbuildings common to such institution.

The county farm lies about three and one-half miles southwest of London, in Union township, and is situated between the Jefferson, South Charleston, and Xenia turnpike and the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, & St. Louis railroad. It is the highest eleva- tion between London and Cincinnati, and possesses an excellent soil. The water is unequalled in the county, and contains splendid tonic qualities; while the premises at and around the infirmary have wells and pipes from which constantly flows a never-failing supply of water for all purposes. The farm is well improved, contains an ice pond, has an orchard of several acres of the finest varieties of fruit trees, is kept in the best condition possible, and for a healthful, pleasant location cannot be surpassed anywhere in Madison county. The present superintendent of the infrm- ary is R. W. Thomas.

MADISON COUNTY CHILDREN'S HOME.

Prior to the year 1889 the indigent children of Madison county were kept in the children's homes of other counties. In May of that year a carefully prepared contract was entered into by the commissioners with Mrs. Auburn Smith, of London. to care for the children for a period of three years. The county at that time had twenty- six wards in the Franklin county children's home, who were to be transferred on July 1. By the agreement with Mrs. Smith she was to clothe, feed and care for the children and receive a compensation of thirty-six cents a day per capita. She remod- eled her home in the northern part of town and the children were taken there. These contracts with Mrs. Smith were renewed from time to time until September 1. 1896, when she refused to renew the contract on account of ill health and the need of rest.

In the spring of that year a bill was prepared, as pushed through the state Legislature, authorizing the county to issue thirty-five thousand-dollar bonds for the purpose of building a county children's home. This bill was passed on April 21, 1896. The court of common pleas appointed William H. H. Morgan, M. L. Rea and John T. Vent to act in connection with commissioners for approval of plans, drawings, rep- resentations, bills of materials, specifications, work, etc. The commissioners voted to issue twenty-five one-thousand-dollar bonds on June 8, 1896. Seventy-five acres of

COUNTY CHILDREN'S HOME, NEAR LONDON.

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

ground was purchased on the same date, of A. T. O'Neill, for a farm. This farm is located one and one-la.1 miles north of the court house on the east side of the Marysville pike. It is the north end of the old "Billy" Wingett farm and a part of old John Phifer farm in Deer Creek township and has a frontage on the pike of eighty yards and the cost of the same was seventy-five dollars an acre. The bonds were sold to Farson, Leach & Company, of Chicago, at a premium of eight hundred and five dollars, but they refused to take them and the contract was cancelled. They were again advertised for sale and sold on August 20, 1896, to the Fourth National Bank of Columbus at a premium of two hundred and sixty dollars. These bonds bear date of September 10, 1896.

The commissioners hired George F. Hammond, of Cleveland, Ohio, as architect and approved his plans and specifications on December 16, 1896. These plans called for a plain, unelaborate structure of common brick. The whole structure presents a frontage of one hundred and seventy-three and one-half feet, consisting of a two- faced administration building, thirty-nine and one-half feet front, with twenty-five feet corridors on each side connecting with one-story sleeping cottages, each forty-two by sixty-two and one-half feet. The main building has a depth of seventy and one- third feet back, inside measure, not counting front or back steps. The cottages and corridors also are of brick, with stone trimmings, all roofed with slate. The front steps lead to a large piazza from which entrance is gained to a vestibule fronting the hall, forty-two by thirty-six feet, divided by a fourteen-foot sitting-room and a ten-foot family dining-room back, and also an open stairway. Back of the hall is a fifteen by twenty-eight foot dining-hall, supplied with a forty-foot kitchen and large pantry. The side corridors connect with the cottages by arch doors, making it pos- sible to see from one side wall to the other. The cottages have each three front dayrooms, all connected together, leading back to linen-rooms, cribrooms, sleeping- rooms, attendants' rooms and twenty-two by thirty-four-foot dormitories. The second floors contain chambers, closets, a large schoolroom and bedroom. The basement contains boiler-room, coal houses, laundry, etc. Clint Morse was chosen to superintend the construction of the building. The contract for its construction was let to James Self, of London, for the sum of $16,456.18. The building was inspected and accepted by the commissioners on February 22, 1898. About May 1, the children, about eighty in number, were transferred from the Logan county children's home at Bellefontaine. to which place they had been taken at the expiration of the contract with Mrs. Auburn Smith.

A board of trustees to have supervision of the home was created on February 25, 1898, composed of C. M. Butt, Lester Bidwell, M. L. Rea and Xerxes Farrar. Mr. Butt died on January 12, 1904, and Howard Black was appointed to fill his unex- pired term and was reappointed. He served until he left the county in 1911, when S. W. Beale was appointed to fill his unexpired term and was then reappointed. The other men have served continuously since the home was erected. Daniel Kulp was appointed the first superintendent, with his wife as matron, by the trustees. He served until B. F. Linson, the present superintendent, was appointed. The present visiting committee consists of J. B. VanWagner, Henry Lenhart, J. R. Atchison, Lucy Beach, Mrs. G. T. Clark and Mrs. A. J. Strain. The present matron is Mrs. B. F. Linson, the wife of the superintendent. The report of the trustees for the year ending August 31, 1915, showed that there were thirty-one children in the home-seven having been admitted during the year. There have been one hundred and fifty-eight children admit- ted since the foundation of the home-seventy-eight being the greatest number at any one time and fifteen the least.

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MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

STATE REPRESENTATIVES.

Under the Constitution of 1802, the legislative representative apportionment was established by the same law as the senatorial apportionment, but the members of the lower house were chosen ammually, while under the later constitutions, their official term is fixed at two years, and the apportionment is designated by dividing the whole population of the state by -, and the quotient thereof is the ratio of representation in the House. The law provides for this apportionment every ten years. After the admission of Ohio, and prior to the formation of Madison county, this district was represented in the first General Assembly (1803), by the representative of Ross county, and in the second (1803-04), third (1804-05), and fourth (1805-06), by those of Ross and Franklin; in the fifth (1806-07) and sixth (1807-08), by Ross, Franklin and Highland; in the seventh (1SOS-09) and eighth (1809-10), by Franklin and Delaware.

This brings the date up to the time of the formation of Madison county, which first appears in the formation of a legislative district in the ninth General Assembly (1810-11), Franklin, Madison, Delaware and Pickaway counties composing the same. In the next session (1811-12), only a portion of Pickaway was in this district, while in the eleventh (1812-13), Madison and Delaware were together, and the district so existed until the fifteenth General Assembly (1816-17), when Madison county stood alone. It remained a separate district until the nineteenth legislative session (1820-21), at which time Madison and the newly created county of Union were united. For eight years they voted together, but in the twenty-seventh General Assembly (1828-29), Madison, Union, Logan and Hardin are found forming a district. Hardin county was cut off from this district ere the twenty-ninth Assembly met (1830-31). No other changes were made until the thirty-fifth session (1836-37), when Madison and Fay- ette were placed together. This formation remained for four years, and in the thirty-ninth General Assembly (1840-41), Clark county replaced Fayette. The next apportionment came in the forty-third Assembly (1844-45), which placed Madison and Franklin together. Before the meeting of the forty-seventh session (1848-49), this was changed, Madison, Clark and Champaign counties forming a district. This combi- nation existed until the adoption of the new Constitution in 1852, since which time Madison county has been entitled to one representative.

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History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families, Part 9

Author: Bryan, Chester Edwin Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : Bowen Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Bryan, Chester Edwin
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : Bowen
Number of Pages: 1150