USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio, from 1808 to 1908, Vol. I > Part 46
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The town site was well chosen, situate in the fertile Clearfork valley, lying between the hills of the "divide" upon the north and the less abrupt elevations to the south. Gushing from the hillsides are springs of living waters and down the valley a clear stream courses in graceful curves in its onward flow to the sea.
Bellville is one of the most beautiful of the smaller towns of Ohio. It is a village of lovely homes and while there are perhaps no very wealthy resi-
MAIN STREET, BELLVILLE
BELLVILLE GOLD REGION
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dents, there are no paupers. The homes are mostly owned by those who occupy them, a condition that speaks well for the thrift of the people. The principal street is paved with brick, and a well shaded square makes a beautiful center-piece for the town.
The original plat of Bellville contained forty-eight lots and embraced the land between Main and Huron streets, and bounded on the north by Ogle and on the south by Durbin streets. The first lot sold was to Enoch Ogle-lot No. 1-at the corner of Huron and Ogle streets. Ogle built a house and opened a tavern-the first in the township. Ogle was a prominent man there in his day, appreciated a good story and had a host of friends. The blockhouse and the McCluer cabin antedated Ogle's tavern, but the latter was the first building erected in the town proper after it was platted.
The next building put up was on lot No. 5, in which Richard Crawford conducted blacksmithing.
Joseph Carter brought the first stock of merchandise to the place and occupied a room in Ogle's tavern.
A postoffice was established January 22, 1824, with Isaac Hoy as post- master. Prior to 1824 the residents of Bellville received their mail at Mansfield, and the postage on a letter was twenty-five cents.
About the time the postoffice was established John Moody opened a store of general merchandise, and by 1835 the town contained three stores.
John Moody was a preacher of the Christian denomination faith. He owned a grist mill at Bellville, with a large farm adjoining. He took no pay for his preaching, and when the country was threatened with a famine in the "thirties," Moody's garners were well filled with grain. When crops failed and people went to Moody's mill to buy breadstuff, the question was asked each, "Have you money to pay for it?" If the answer was in the affirmative, they were told to go elsewhere to buy. Those who had no funds went away with well-filled sacks and were told to return again when they needed more. The product of thousands of bushels of grain was thus given away, but giving to the poor and hungry did not impoverish Moody for the blight of drought did not touch his fields, but each succeeding harvest the crops yielded grain more abundantly, and Moody was blessed in the giving, as the people were in receiving his assistance. John Moody needs no monument in marble, for the memory of his good deeds lives in the hearts of the people of Bellville from generation to generation.
Benjamin F. Hines was a prominent citizen of Bellville for many years. His wife's maiden name was Armstrong, and her family was also old settlers. Mr. Hines was a successful business man and accumulated considerable prop- erty. Their only surviving child is Clark B. Hines, who is a prominent young attorney with law offices both in Bellville and in Mansfield.
Benjamin Jackson settled in Bellville in an early day and engaged in the mercantile business. Later, he became an associate judge of the common pleas court.
John Markey was a prominent citizen and leading merchant at Bellville for many years.
Dr. A. I. Beach was a leading physician at Bellville for many years. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, October 16, 1804, and located in
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Bellville in 1826. He married a daughter of Judge Jackson. Dr. Beach was a brother of Moses Y. Beach, the founder of the New York Sun newspaper.
Other prominent physicians at Bellville were Dr. S. W. Ells, Dr. James C. Lee, Dr. J. M. Smith, Dr. B. Ridenour, Dr. N. D. Whitcomb and Dr. Thomas Austin. Dr. Lee was a California "forty-niner," and upon his return found gold at Bellville in 1853. Dr. Smith was the father of Mrs. B. F. Lantz, of Vennum avenue, Mansfield.
The Methodists were the pioneers in the religious field, and the Disciples came a few years later. The first house for worship was built by the Methodists in 1835. Jonathan Oldfield and Robert Bell were prominent Methodists. About the same time John Moody built a house of worship for those who believed in the views proclaimed by Alexander Campbell. Captain Joseph Johnson was a faithful member and officer of this church for many years.
In 1847 the Universalists organized a society at Bellville and built a church. Among their leading members were Samuel Cutting and Richard Oldfield. In 1838 the Presbyterians organized and later built a church. Among their prominent members were Enoch French, John Lafferty, Philip Traxler and Mathew Geary. About the same year a Lutheran congregation was organized two miles west of Bellville called Salem. Some years ago the village members of the Salem congregation organized at Bellville and built a brick church building of modern architecture. The late Rev. Mr. Ritz, the father of C. S. Ritz, of West Fourth street, Mansfield, organized the Salem society. The Baptist and Cumberland Presbyterians have had organized congregations there, but they are now gone. The church buildings are very creditable to the place, that of the Universalists' being of stone.
The Rev. William Dowling was the pastor of the Disciple-now better known as Christian-Church in the "forties." He was beloved by the community.
In the '30s a Frenchman named Light came to Bellville and engaged in the mercantile trade on the northwest corner of Main and Ogle streets, where he conducted business for a number of years. He bought the "old yellow house" on the west side of the square, remodeled it as it stands today. After having been there several years, he dropped the name "Light" and resumed his French name of "LeBlond," the meaning of the words being somewhat similar. One of his sons-F. C. LeBlond-settled in Celina, Mercer county. and represented that district in the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth congresses -1863-67. James L. High, a son of the village blacksmith, became a leading lawyer in Chicago, and his legal writings gave him high rank in his pro- fession. John P. Altgeld, deceased, worked his way from the fields northeast of the village to prominence as a lawyer in the city of Chicago, and later to the high position of governor of the great state of Illinois.
The first newspaper in Bellville was established in 1849, by A. Lauback and was called the Rainbow and Repository. Its publication was discon- tinued within the year. After a long interval, the Dollar Weekly came in 1872 and was continued for a number of years. It was published by James C. Potts, our present county surveyor. In 1875 the Richland Star was started by the Garber brothers. After some years another paper, called the
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Independent, was started. In time the Star and Independent got out of the way for the Bellville Messenger, a six-column quarto, with James A. Price as editor and proprietor. The Messenger was established December 8, 1892.
In the Civil War Bellville and Jefferson township furnished more than their full quota of men and sent officers and privates to every battle field in the Union. They each performed a part in that great drama in the history of the republic. They assisted in settling for all time the supremacy and perpetuity of the Union. And after the war was over, realizing that mercy is the brightest flower in the victor's wreath, they bade the vanquished return to their homes, lay aside their swords and muskets for the tools and implements of workshop and farm, and mingle with the songs of the birds their joyous lays of contentment, industry and peace. Thus spreading over the bloody past the mantle of charity and brotherly love, and soon the soldiers were merged with and into the ranks of citizens of peace. The soldiers of the Civil War are on their last march, and the majority of them have answered the long roll-call. In the Bellville cemetery lie the remains of Captain Miller Moody, Captain D. W. Wilson and a hundred other soldiers who served their country in the great war of the rebellion.
Captain Miller Moody, a son of the Rev. John Moody, the philanthropist, was the captain of Company I, Sixteenth O. V. I., a company of "first-call troops" raised at Bellville at the outbreak of the Civil War. At the close of that term of service he raised a company at Bellville for the Fifty-ninth New York infantry and became its captain. He was in the battle of Gettysburg, where he received wounds from which he died after submitting to five ampu- tations. His remains were brought home and interred in the Bellville cemetery. Captain Moody was a graduate of Kenyon College, and had been a member of the Ohio legislature in 1849-50. Captain Moody wore faultless broadcloth and was of dignified bearing and courteous manners, but the poor and humble ever looked upon him as a friend. He gave his life to his country, and who could do more?
Captain A. W. Loback was the first lieutenant of Captain Moody's com- pany of "first-call" troops. In 1862 Comrade Loback raised a company at Bellville for the three years' service, and went into the One Hundred and Second O. V. I., and served until the close of the war. Captain Loback took good care of his troops, and a braver soldier never "donned the blue."
Captain D. W. Wilson was one of the first to volunteer when troops were called for at the beginning of the Civil War, and at the close of his term of service reenlisted for three years, and was in the service four years and three months-from the beginning of the war to its close-and returned as the captain of his company, with the good will and confidence of his men.
Lieutenant James Riddle was an officer in the Sixteenth O. V. I. in the three months' service of 1861, and later entered the One Hundred and Second and lost his life in the service. Lieutenant S. B. Donel was a member of Captain Miller Moody's company in the Sixteenth O. V. I., and was the first man wounded in the regiment. In 1862 he entered Captain A. W. Loback's company of the One Hundred and Second as a lieutenant, and served until
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the close of the war. Comrade Donel made a good soldier and enjoys recalling army reminiscences whenever he meets his old comrades-in-arms.
The first lawyer in Bellville was Professor Wilcox, who had been a teacher in the high school, or the academy, as it was then called. John Quincy Goss was a Bellville lawyer in the '50s. He possessed literary attainments; was a contributor to the press and lecturer of some note. He removed to Nebraska in 1859. George C. Howard read law with Judge Bartley, but, being engaged in business pursuits, only practiced in lower courts. Other lawyers have been located at Bellville for a time, but did not make it their permanent home. John Morrow was a Bellville merchant for nearly a half-century. He has been dead for a number of years.
Agitation of the temperance question was waged at Bellville for years and there were various and varied exhibitions of the zeal and earnestness of the prohibitionists. Liquors were spilled or bought as occasions seemed to require to close the saloons.
Bellville has a beautiful village green-a lawn-like square in the center of the town, studded with graceful trees-through which giants were seen to stalk at night in the autumn of 1861. People returning from evening "prayer meeting" walked with quickened steps as they passed the square, casting furtive glances to the right as they hastened homeward. The "giants" in this case were some soldier-boys returned from the first three months' service, and had a little fun with the timorous by one sitting upon another's shoulders, with an army blanket draped around them as a shawl, shawls being worn instead of overcoats in those days. This composite figure made a giant about nine feet high, and in the semi-darkness of the night, as a citizen now deceased expressed it, "made an awful sight."
Bellville, not to be behind any of her sister towns, even in the matter of ghosts, has its haunted house, or had forty years ago. Then there is the ghost that is said to appear occasionally at the bend in the State road, just north of town, at Deadman's run, the appearance of which chills men's blood and makes horses careen. This is a bar-room tale that is spun sometimes for the enter- tainment of travelers who may have to drive to Mansfield after the shadows of a starless night have enveloped Gold Valley.
The Wild Irishman episode was not of the spook variety, but was viewed as a banshee call, foreboding direful events. At night a voice could be heard from the Durbin hill, warning people to "repent, for the day of judgment is at hand." Some one facetiously called this hill-preacher the "Wild Irish- man." After the exhortation had come in stentorian tones from the hill-top nightly for a week or more, a searching brigade was organized. The party wended its way slowly up the steep, smooth slope of Durbin's hill, but when the summit was reached from which the voice had seemingly come, no one was to be seen, but from the Moody hill, north of the town, came the same words of warning, "Repent, ye, for the day of judgment is at hand!" The party which had so expectantly marched up the hill then marched down again, the men troubled in spirit lest the warning and prophecy might be too soon fulfilled.
The next night the party was divided into two squads, one taking Dur-
TH
CENTRAL PARK, BELLVILLE. Showing band stand and city building with residence of C. B. Hines on the left.
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bin's and the other Moody's hill, resolving to capture the "Irishman," and put an end to hill-talk. As the squads advanced, prophetical sentences and words of warning were wafted antiphonally from one hill-top to the other in sepul- chral tones, but, as before, when the places were reached, no one could be found, but a change of venue had sent the "Irishman" to Snake hill, and the words came solemnly upon the midnight air, "As one risen from the dead, I beseech you to repent !" That was the last hunt and the last cry of the banshee. While the majority of the people considered the preaching the work of some practical jokers, a few viewed the occurrences in a more superstitious light, and the religious sects held protracted meetings and a great revival followed.
In the social glow of a campfire in West Virginia, in the spring of 1861, a comrade stated to the writer that he was one of the "Wild Irishmen," and what fun they had out of the affair. These "prophets" were named Joshua and Samuel.
Honey creek valley is a fertile and prosperous farming locality and lies south of Bellville, in Jefferson township. Honey creek makes a confluence with the Clearfork of the Mohican, a short distance above the site of the old Greenwood mills, in the shadow of the Spruce hills. Honey creek and its branches have a joint length of over ten miles and drain a considerable area of country-a land that flows with "milk and honey." The several branches of Honey creek are fed by the springs which flow from the unpretentious hills that skirt the wide, undulating valleys. The Honey creek farms are not only fertile and productive, but their well-kept appearances show the prosperity and thriftiness of the owners.
The volume of water in Honey creek is not as large as formerly, which is true of all the streams in the county. But in former times the stream fur- nished water power for both grist and saw mills. A Mr. Cornell built a grist mill in 1821, on section 15, a half-mile below where the creek crosses the Old State road. It served its time and purpose, but has long been numbered with the "things that were but are not." A pottery was operated for several years in the locality of the mill. The late Johnson Howard, father of the Hon. James E. Howard, of Bellville, and of Dr. Howard, of Mansfield, built a saw- mill on this creek, between the two state roads, which he operated for a number of years. Samuel Heron had a mill on the east side of the New State road, and the Marshall mill, a mile up the central branch, sawed logs for many years, and was later purchased by Samuel Heron.
A mile south of Bellville the State road forks. The left-hand or old road goes via Ankenytown and Harter's tavern to Mt. Vernon, and the right-hand or new road goes through Palmyra and Fredericktown to Mt. Vernon. The State road does not leave Bellville for the south upon its original location. which was from Huron street, near to Switzer's stables, but now goes over Durbin's hill from South Main street.
In the fork of the State road at the northern border of Honey creek valley, the old "Red House" tavern-one of the most popular and best known hotels between Mt. Vernon and the lake, in the stage days, was situated. Its location was favorable to command the trade of both branches of the road. A line of stages ran north and south over the State road through Bellville from 1826 to
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1851, and halts were wont to be made at the "Red House" to quench the thirst of man and beast.
The "Red House" was built in 1831, by John Young for Jacob Holla- baugh, who conducted it as a public house for several years, then sold to a man named Kling. William Geteney, Peter Friedline and others occupied the position of landlord there later. The place was a great resort for dancing parties, not only from Bellville but from Mt. Vernon and Mansfield also.
About 1846 James Morrow built a new hotel-"Morrow's Inn"-across the road from the "Red House," and ran the same successfully until the railroad relegated the stage coach to the by-gones. There was a race-track on the old State road between the "Red House" and schoolhouse, where the speed of horses was tried for many years.
Passing Honey creek schoolhouse, south of Bellville, one day last summer at the noon hour, groups of children were seen playing upon the lawn, recall- ing the days of fifty years ago, when the man who paused to observe them was a boy and a pupil there. Lucy Oldfield, the teacher then, is now resting in the paradise of the redeemed, waiting for the final summons to the home not made with hands. While the boy to whom she spoke helpful words still plods on, finding the road rough and steep at times.
SHELBY.
Shelby is the second town in size in Richland county, and was first settled in 1818. Shelby is so well known that its location and boundaries need not be given. Trolley line cars ply forth and back, like a weaver's shuttle, be- tween Mansfield and Shelby every hour, and there is also a trolley line from Shelby to Norwalk and Lake Erie. The intervening land between Mansfield and Shelby may be so built up within the coming years that it will be difficult to know where one city ends and where the other begins. The first settlers in Shelby were Stephen Marvin, Henry Whitney and Eli Wilson, who came from the vicinity of Norwalk, Conn. Mr. Wilson erected a cabin on what is now South Gamble street, where W. R. Brooks now resides. This is the highest point in Shelby and has a gentle slope towards the Blackfork that, immediately south, sweeps around to the east before turning to the north in its course through Shelby. Mr. Marvin built his cabin on the same day, on what is now North Gamble street. Between these Mr. Whitney put up a cabin, near what is now the northwest corner of Gamble and Mill streets.
The Gamble brothers-Hugh and John-came in 1823, and the father- James Gamble-came two years later. John Gamble erected a grist mill on the southeast corner of Main and Gamble streets, and the settlement was called "Gamble Mills," which name it retained after it had grown into a village. A postoffice called "Gamble's Mills" was opened in 1828, with John Gamble as postmaster. It is related that after serving as postmaster for many years, receiving but a small remuneration for his services, an attempt was made to have Mr. Gamble removed, the salary having been increased with the growth of the village, making the office, or the salary at least, a thing to be desired. To counteract the movement a mass meeting was called, which was successful both as to numbers and results. The Hon. Henry Leyman was the principal
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speaker. Mr. Leyman was quite an orator, as was his son, N. N. Leyman, in later years. Mr. Leyman described the state and condition of the country at the time the postoffice was established, that the mail was then carried through the wilderness by post-boys on horseback, and that the postmaster served more to accommodate his neighbors than for the small salary he received. He gave a vivid portrayal of pioneer life and stated that John Gamble as postmaster had kindly aided the early settlers in getting letters from their old homes and friends in the East; that he frequently went out into the wilderness to meet the post-boy and would lead his horse along intricate bridle-paths into the little village. And after years of such unrequited service the town had so grown and the country had been so improved that the government allowed the post- master a larger salary, and that spoilsmen were now attempting to crowd the faithful old servant out of office, when he should be permitted to remain and receive a recompense, at least in part, for past services. The opinion of the meeting was so unanimous and its decision so emphatically expressed that it reached the ear of power at Washington, and Mr. Gamble was retained. In narrating this incident, a man, who as a boy six years old attended the meet- ing, says he was so much impressed with Mr. Leyman's eloquence and looked upon his figures of speech as actual occurrences, and in his innocency supposed that John Gamble really had to lead the post-boys' horses along bridle-paths. How the realities of life encountered in later years dispel the fancies and destroy the pictures created and drawn by the imagination in the May-morn of a man's youth !
The Hon. Henry Leyman represented Richland county in the Ohio legis- lature in 1834-35. He was in the mercantile business in Shelby for a number of years, then removed back to Mansfield, where he died in 1879. His son -N. N. Leyman-once a Shelby boy, was a prominent Mansfield lawyer in the '70s and early '80s. He died in New York years ago. He was faultless both in dress and in speech. No grammatical inaccuracies ever escaped his lips.
The town, outgrowing the name of Gamble's Mills, was rechristened "Shelby," in honor of Governor Shelby, of Kentucky, a hero of the Revo- lution, as well as of the war of 1812. General Shelby was successful in both the military and the civil service of his country, and Shelby town has pros- pered even beyond the expectations of the promoters of her present industries.
Mrs. G. M. Skiles contributed an article to the Ladies' Edition of the Shelby News, of April 10. 1896, on the "History of Shelby," and to her acknowledgment is hereby made for many of the facts contained in this chap- ter. Mrs. Skiles wrote: "The writer will not attempt to give in detail the history and progress of this village from the pioneer days to the present time. Suffice it to say. however, that Shelby has grown so large that today it is in fact a city. It has all the surroundings, advantages, privileges, fascinations and 'airs' of a city. Let us look at Shelby reflection in a mirror as she is today. A true picture is presented to our view and we see eight churches. all flourishing and their pulpits filled with able ministers, and on beautiful Sab- baths the pews well filled-rainy ones not so many attend. We have four school buildings. We are certainly proud of our high school building. It
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is located on the right bank of the magnificent winding Blackfork, that flows with its never-ceasing waters through the center of our village, dividing the town as it were into east and west. It is a very fine building with a large and beautiful lawn dotted with shade trees. We are very proud of our schools."
Concerning the schools, another writer says that within three years after the first settlement was made, the pioneers of the town, unwilling that their children should be deprived of the benefits of an education, built a log school- house, made from hewed slabs, and in place of windows they used oiled paper. It was here that eighty years ago "Aunt" Debbie Moyer taught the first school within the limits of Shelby. Her salary was nine shillings per month, with the understanding that she was to board herself. This building was burned within a year, and in 1822 another log building was built, but the log buildings in time were supplanted by more modern structures, and in 1874 the present central building was erected. Not only have the schools outgrown their primi- tive buildings, but they have steadily moved forward from the day when the teacher was required to teach only orthography, reading, writing and arith- metic as far as the "single rule of three," till today there are eight grades and a four years' high school course.
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