History of Sandusky County Ohio with Illustrations 1882, Part 29

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burned up or girdled in clearing the land. No doubt the walnut timber thus destroyed, if standing now, would buy the land and fence many of the farms in that locality with costly iron fences. But the settler must have bread, bread must be raised by tilling the earth, and the land to be tilled must be cleared, and so the timber, whatever it was, gave way to the necessities of the time. But that necessity is now past, and the now great value of timber, if it was here again, admonishes the people to wisely care for what is left, and guard against future costliness of timber by preserving what is left, had also looking to a judicious reproduction of it for future use.

The history of the county, without some mention of its geological structure, would be incomplete. This science, which has done so much within the half century last past to reveal and interpret to the present age the various forces engaged, and the different periods occupied in the formations of the earth's present surface, presents some subjects of interest in almost every locality. In fact, it may be said that the geological structure of the United States and that of Canada also, was a sealed book until visited by Sir Charles Lyell, the British geologist, in 1841, when he made many interesting observations which he published on his return to England. He again visited America in 1845, and made further investigations. The publication of Mr. Lyell's works awakened so much interest in the public mind, especially those fond of that line of study, that it stimulated investigation, and the investigations revealed the utility of the science, not only in solving theories about the earth's formation, but for practical pur- poses, in discovering the location of valu- able mineral deposits, wherever located. Especially has this science been of great service to mankind in determining the

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locality of coal deposits, so necessary for the comfort and business of the people of the present day. It is worthy of remark that since Sir Charles Lyell drew attention to this geology, in 1841, the efforts made under its teaching and practical application have been such that almost all our States and nearly all civilized nations have prosecuted investigations under its teachings, with great results to wealth and comfort for the world at large. At present no State is satisfied without a thorough geological survey, by which the people are almost as well and as certainly informed of what is hidden deep down in the earth, as they are of the geography or topography of their surroundings on the surface. This grand science has of late years been well and thoroughly applied to every county in the State with results which make Ohio proud and rich in mineral resources.

So far as the geological survey of Sandusky county is involved, it may be said that it presents not so many remarkable features as some other parts of the State. But some particulars are interesting and worthy of notice, among which are, that this survey and report convinces the careful reader that the clays and gravels of our soil are what is called in geological phrase, drift, that is, the matter brought first in the ice period by glaciers, and then afterwards supplemented with the deposits from icebergs, and the remainder of the soil is either vegetable matter which grew upon and decayed on this drift, or deposits by the succeeding waters which prevailed; that Lake Erie at one time covered the lands of the county and from its waters came further deposit; that the sands and gravel found in heaps and beds in the southeastern part of the county, in parts of York, Townsend and Green Creek townships, were washed and heaped there by the action of the waters of the lake after the sea had subsided; that the prairies

in the southwestern part of Scott township were formed by undulations in the surface of what is denominated the limestone, which underlies the soil a little below the surface. This rock is called by geologists the Niagara limestone. A depression of this rock, with a raised rim on the northern inclination, held the water in pools, so that vegetation grew and decayed until it became a wet prairie. The prairies north of Fremont, beginning six miles north on the road to Port Clinton, and on to the north line of the county below Big Mud Creek, must have been of a different origin.

The soil of these prairies is but little above the still waters of the mouth of the river and Sandusky Bay, and no doubt emerged from the water at a comparatively late period; hence the soil, being a wet, tough, bluish-colored clay, was unfavorable for the growth of timber. This prairie, as you travelled down the river, made its appearance about the present residence of Grant Forguson, esq., on the north half of section two, township five, range fifteen. At this point the traveler going north, as late as 1825, perhaps later, emerged from the heavy timberland south of it into an open prairie, with a few scattering trees of burr oak and elm, and occasionally a limited grove or single tree. The grass was thick and tall, much of it what was called blue- joint, rising above a horse's back, and almost walling in the narrow wagon way for the greater part of the distance from Lower Sandusky to the present site of Port Clinton. The present county line of Sandusky, next to the south line of Ottawa County, crosses this road now about half a mile below Mud Creek bridge, and does not include a very large portion of this once prairie land.

OF THE ROCKS IN THE COUNTY.

It has often happened that persons travelling through the western part of the

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county would find localities where in the forest they would see water and rock on the surface, and the same surface covered with a growth of trees whose roots seemed to draw nourishment out of the crevices and depressions in the surface rock. This rock was coarse limestone, and the surface of it rough and seamed by the action of the elements and frost. Such persons would generally remark that they never before saw such trees growing on rock which was almost bare, nor such a formation of land. Several such spots were found in Woodville township, some in Washington, Madison, and Jackson; but those most marked by the characteristics mentioned were probably found in Woodville, where many were deceived in the selection of their land when there was snow on the ground. The timber, often sugar and beech of good growth, indicated a good soil, but in fact, the land when cleared was of little value and could not be tilled.

Geology, though it does not make such land valuable for farming, explains how these tracts came by this deceptive peculiarity. First, there is limestone, called the Niagara group, which underlies a large portion of the county. Second, the drift which had been deposited on this rock in former ages by the sea, when it prevailed over the land and subsided, was eroded or worn and eaten away by the action of the waters of Lake Erie, and in many places the rock left bare. There are out cropping of this rock in the townships of Woodville, Madison, Washington, Ballville, and Jackson. The most conspicuous exhibition of this outcropping is at Moore's Mill, a little above the village of Ballville, at the southern termination of the dam of Dean's woolen factory in the village. These outcropping rocks, however they may, in some degree, impair a small portion of the land for tillage, are not without a compensating benefit when fully considered.

Immense quantities of superior white lime and good building stone, especially for foundation and cellar walls, also stone for paving and for macadamizing roads are conveniently distributed over the county. Mr. J. S. Newberry expresses the opinion that quarries could be opened into this Niagara limestone, in the west part of the county, and stone taken out equal in value for building purposes to the famous Dayton stone. If this be so, the time may not be far distant when the advancement in the requirements of business and improvements, and the increase of permanent structures at Toledo, Detroit, and other cities of the country around will demand the opening of these quarries and show them to be beds of immense value.

HARD-PAN.

This substance, the great dread of those who dig wells, underlies deeply a large portion of the county. People often wonder what it is made of, and how it came where they find it. Geology answers by informing us that the finely ground particles of rock were pulverized and deposited by the glaciers and icebergs during the period when the sea covered the land, a part of which time this latitude was subjected to an arctic temperature. This debris was most probably brought from the highlands of the Canadas, and being ground into extreme fineness settled to the bottom when the ice which brought it melted away, leaving the fine sediment to compact into a solid mass. Excepting solid rock, we find no portion of the earth's element so impervious to water and so well adapted to resist the action of it as hard-pan. Over this lies the deposits of the lake, which together form the drift.

This drift, the geological survey informs us, covers the whole county with nearly a uniform spreading, but thicker in the eastern than in the western part, because

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the rock in the western part was more stripped or denuded by the action of the waters of Lake Erie. The average depth

of this drift, or these deposits, it is esti- mated, would not be more than one hundred feet,

CHAPTER XIX. IRON BRIDGES AND DRAINAGE.

Bridges-When Built-Cost of Bridges-Ditching-Underground Draining and Tiling.

HE preceding chapters give the reader to understand that the early settlers of the county, especially the western part of it, travelled through mud, and crossed the streams by ferry or fording.

The first method resorted to for overcoming the inconveniences resulting from a soft, wet soil, was the making of corduroy road over the portions where the swail or very deep mud made the passage most difficult. The corduroy road was made by laying round logs across the track, side by side, in contact with each other. The wagon was trundled over these logs, and the motion was healthy for dyspeptics. That formed the purely primitive corduroy, but the highly finished road of this kind was made by throwing a little earth or rotten wood over the logs, to break the jolt, in some e measure. These corduroy roads abounded in the west part of the county, and in parts of Riley and Townsend townships, as late as 1840, or say forty years ago. At the date mentioned the Greensburg road, the macadamizing of which we noticed in a preceding section of this chapter, consisted, in great part, of the corduroy.

But we were to give an account of the iron bridges in the county. As everyone would naturally expect, the county, as

soon as strong enough, began to bridge the streams where the roads crossed them. Sometimes the bridges were built by voluntary labor, and contribution of materials by those most deeply interested in the improvement. At other times, in the early settlement, the supervisors of roads would apply the two days' labor of each able- bodied resident of his district, which the law of the State required him to perform, to the building, in whole or part, of a much needed bridge. The bridges thus built were of the simplest form and cheapest construction, but they answered the purpose for a time. Then came the day of framed bridges, with stone work for abutments, which was a long step in advance; but these would decay and require rebuilding every few years, often in consequence of flood, and if not by flood or fire, then from natural decay of the timber. Meantime the increase in the manufacture of iron, and the uses to which it was found to be economically applicable, were going on, while the price of iron was reduced by the development of the vast iron deposits in the hills of Ohio; and iron bridges were one of the results of the consequent progress in the utilization of the wonderful substance. While the earth has stored away and preserved for unknown

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ages, the evidence that a race of men in- habited its surface who did not know the uses of iron, and, although it was known to men, and utilized to a limited extent in times of great antiquity, the knowledge of it antedating the composition of the Old Testament writings, still, the uses to which it is applied, the facility with which it is now found and produced, and the quantity used in the present age, entitles it to the just appellation of the age of iron. Happily for us, these advances in the manufacture and the uses of iron, evolved the iron bridge for common ways amongst the inhabitants of Sandusky county, and we record the erection of the

FIRST IRON BRIDGE IN SANDUSKY COUNTY.

The first iron bridge erected in the county, was built over Mud Creek near the village of Millersville, in Jackson township, in the year 1870, and on the macadamized road called the Greensburg road, described in a former chapter.

The stone work for this bridge cost about four hundred dollars, and the iron superstructure cost precisely eight hundred and seventy dollars. The bridge was put up by the King Bridge Company, of Cleveland. The length of this bridge is twenty-seven feet span, and width about eighteen feet.

The county commissioners who are entitled to the honor of first introducing the iron bridge into the county, were Benjamin Inman, Samuel E. Walters, and Henry Reiling.

The next iron bridge in order of time, put up in the county, was over Wolf Creek, near Bettsville, and on the line between Seneca and Sandusky counties, June 26, 1872. This bridge was erected under a joint contract between the commissioners of Seneca and Sandusky counties on one part, and the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, of Canton, Ohio, on

the other part. The iron work alone cost eight hundred and thirty-eight dollars and fifteen cents, of which amount each of the above named counties paid one-half. John P. Elderkin, sr., was the agent of the Wrought Iron Bridge Company in the contracts with that company.

The third iron bridge in the county was built over Mud Creek, in Washington township, near the residence of Levi Fought. This was also put up by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, of Canton, Ohio, at a cost of seven hundred and ninety-five dollars, for the superstructure alone, and was erected in the fall of 1874. The commissioners were John Morrison, Martin Longenbach, and William F. Sandwish.

The same year, 1874, another iron bridge was put up over Mud Creek, in Scott township, near the residence of James Inman, at a cost of seven hundred and seventy-five dollars for

the iron superstructure, contracted for between the same commissioners last above named, and Mr. Elderkin as agent for the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, of Canton.

In the fall of the year 1876 an iron bridge of the same make was erected over Mud Creek, where it is crossed by the road from Fremont to Oak Harbor, contracted for by the same commissioners, namely: John Morrison, Martin Longenbach, and William F. Sandwish. The cost of the iron superstructure for this bridge was eight hundred and sixty-two dollars and fifty cents.

Another iron bridge was built over Sugar Creek, in Woodville township, completed and paid for January 3, 1876, at a cost of eight hundred and fifty dollars. Contracted for by same commissioners last above mentioned, with same bridge company.

At the same time was completed and paid for the iron bridge over Toussaint

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Creek, in Woodville township, at a cost of seven hundred and eighty-one dollars and twenty-five cents, by the same commis- sioners and company.

The bridge over Mud Creek, near Frank Fought's, was completed and paid for January 5, 1877, at a cost, for the iron su- perstructure, of six hundred and seventy-five dollars.

On the 30th of July, 1877, another iron bridge over Mud Creek, near the residence of Noah Snyder, in Washington township, was completed and paid for, at a cost, for the iron superstructure, of six hundred and five dollars.

December 18, 1877, an iron bridge was erected over Mud Creek, near the residence of Luther Winchell, in Scott Township, at a cost, for the iron superstructure, of five hundred and fifty-two dollars.

The Portage River bridge, on the Maumee and Western Reserve turnpike, in Woodville Township, was finished in November, 1878, under a joint contract between the State and county commissioners, on one part, and the Bridge Company on the other part. The county contributed over half the costs, and paid towards the structure over two thousand dollars.

The bridge over Green Creek, near Mr. Huber's residence, in Green Creek township, was completed and paid for by the county alone, August 15, 1879, by Commissioners John Morrison, Martin Longenbach, and Herman Sandwish, under contract with the Smith Bridge Company, of Toledo, at a cost for the superstructure alone of eight hundred and sixteen dollars.

The bridge over Muskalunge Creek, in Sandusky Township, on the Port Clinton road, is a combination of wood and iron, constructed by the Smith Bridge Company, of Toledo, finished and paid for August 16, 1879, and is thought to be a good and durable structure for the place.

The exact cost of this bridge is not ascertained.

The foregoing mention of the date of the introduction of iron bridges into the county, will enable future observers to determine the relative economy between building the superstructure of bridges on our county roads of wood and of iron. The comparative cost with comparative durability of the two materials, will in time, settle the question with mathematical certainty. The present outlook indicates that timber for such purposes will, a few years hence, be much higher in price, and more difficult to obtain, while on the other hand the rapidly extending discoveries of seemingly exhaustless deposits of iron, and the daily improvements for mining and manufacturing it, indicate that not many years hence iron will be almost as cheap as wood, and with its far greater durability of the metal as a material for the superstructure of all our bridges, will settle the question in favor of iron superstructures for the purpose.

IRON BRIDGE OVER SANDUSKY RIVER.

The bridge built over the Sandusky River, in Fremont, on the line of the Maumee and Western Reserve Road, by Cyrus Williams, as master mechanic, under the employment of Rodolphus Dickinson, Member of the Board of Public Works, in 1841-42, was, as has been mentioned, a wooden structure. The supporting trestle-work erected across the Sandusky Valley, built by the Ohio Rail- road Company, which failed in 1840, fur- nished the timber for the bridge. This bridge was of good material, and was well roofed with pine shingles. The roof was renewed once during the time it stood, which was near thirty-five years. At the end of this period it was pronounced unsafe by engineers, and the Board of Public Works was importuned to construct a new bridge. The board had not suffi-

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cient money at its disposal to rebuild it, and an appropriation by the State was petitioned for. But there were objections, and consequent delay. Meanwhile the old bridge, though condemned and much slandered, continued to do duty while agitation for a new bridge continued.

STATE APPROPRIATION FOR THE BRIDGE.

After being urged for two previous ses- sions, the General Assembly, by the per- sistent and wise efforts of Hon. Benjamin Inman, then our representative, passed an act on the 27th day of February, 1877, entitled "An act to aid the Board of Public Works to build a bridge on the line of the Western Reserve and Maumee road, over the Sandusky River.

The preamble to the act, in substance, set forth that the bridge over the Sandusky River, on the line of the Western Reserve and Maumee road, one of the public works of the State, a wood structure built by the State over thirty-five years ago, is now unsafe and so far decayed that the Board of Public Works say it will be an injudicious expenditure of money to repair the same; therefore,

SECTION 1 .- Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the sum of nine thousand

dollars be and hereby is appropriated out of any moneys paid into the State treasury by the lessees of the public works, and also the sum of nine hundred dollars that the lessees have paid into the State treasury for the repair of said bridge.

SEC. 2 .- That the sums thus appropriated shall be expended by said Board of Public Works in erecting such iron bridge of such plan and dimensions as they may deem best for the interest of the State; and the fund hereby appropriated by the State shall be drawn from the treasury from time to time according to law.

SEC. 3 .- That there shall not be any money drawn out of the State treasury for the building of said bridge until the county commissioners of San-dusky county shall enter into bond to complete said bridge, after the sums above mentioned have been expended by the Board of Public Works. Said bond shall be made payable to the State of Ohio, and deposited in the office of the Secretary of State.

SEC. 4 .- This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

On the 16th of March next after the passage of this act, the county commis- sioners, namely, Martin Longanbach, William F. Sandwish, and John Morrison, were in regular session, when, on motion of Mr. Longanbach, it was resolved that the bond required by the above act be filed. To this all the commissioners agreed, and recorded their votes in the affirmative. This bond was so framed as to bind the county to complete the bridge after the expenditure of the nine thousand nine hundred dollars appropriated by the act.

The reader may notice that the act appropriates nine thousand dollars of money paid into the State treasury by the lessees of the public works, and nine hundred dollars which the lessees had paid into the State treasury, for the repair of the bridge. How this sum of nine hundred dollars came to be thus separately mentioned in

the appropriation, perhaps ought to be ex- plained. The reader may remember that, prior to the date of this appropriation, the State had leased all her public works, which, of course, included the Maumee and Western Reserve road. The lessees paid an annual rent into the State treasury for the use of the works, and out of this fund the nine thousand dollars mentioned in the appropriation bill was to be paid. These lessees, like all other lessees, so managed the Maumee and Western Reserve road as to clear a nice little sum from the tolls upon it; this saving, however, was made the greater by neglecting to repair the road and permitting it to run down. They were bound by the terms of the lease to keep the road in repair, and seeing this neglect, the people along the road began to clamor for the State to compel the lessees to repair the road. The State authorities were convinced finally that in the management of the road the lessees had violated their contract, and

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were about to force a forfeiture of the lease and put the Board of Public Works in authority over it, and sue the lessees for damages for breach of the conditions of the lease. A compromise was, however, effected, by which the lessees agreed to put a covering of stone on parts of the road most worn, and to put a new roof on the old bridge, or pay nine hundred dollars into the treasury in lieu of the roofing, as the State should elect, and then surrender their lease so far as this road was concerned, and let the State take charge of it. When it was determined to build a new bridge, the authorities elected to have the nine hundred dollars paid into the treasury, and apply the amount towards the erection of the new structure; this will explain how this peculiarity in the appropriation act was induced.

WORK BEGUN.

The filing of the bond by the commis- sioners secured the immediate application of the nine thousand nine hundred dollars appropriated by the State. A conference between the county commissioners and the Board of Public Works soon resulted in a plan of the bridge and an estimate of the cost. The letting of the mason work took place June 22, 1877, and the contract was awarded to John P. Elderkin, for four thousand six hundred and fifty-one dollars and forty cents. The contract for the iron superstructure was awarded to the King Bridge Company, of Cleveland, Ohio, for the sum of fourteen thousand nine hundred and seventy-five dollars and five cents.

The work was pushed rapidly during the summer and autumn of 1877, and the bridge was formally opened for travel on the 25th of December of the same year in which it was begun. The total cost, including engineering and all incidental expenses, was twenty thousand three hundred and fifty- seven dollars and seventy-six

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History of Sandusky County Ohio with Illustrations 1882, Part 29

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