USA > Ohio > Sandusky County > History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers > Part 120
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133
It would be useless and tedious to trace all the changes in the hardware and tin- ware business. The first store of this character was opened by A. S. Herr. The line of succession was from Herr to Bor- don & Powers, then to A. J. Bordon, and from him, in 1878, to M. W. Hobart & Co., H. T. Bowlus being the partner. Mr. Bowlus sold, in 1880, to Mr. Smith. The business of this house is general tinwork, and trade in hardware, tinware, stoves, building material, and agricultural imple- ments. Mr. Hobart, the senior member of the firm, is a native of Portage county. He was engaged in trade in Pemberville, Wood county, from 1872 till 1878.
The Gibsonburg hotel was built by W.
IO1
802
HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
H. Gibson, and placed in charge of John Patterson. The property was purchased by Peter Kimmerling in 1875, who has since been the obliging lord of the tavern. The bane of most small towns, and in this connection we do not hesitate to in- clude the three first named in the intro- duction to this topic, is miserable dens misnamed houses of entertainment. Gib- sonburg, in this particular, fortunately has nothing to complain of. The landlord is as obliging and hospitable as he is loqua- cious, and the landlady as neat and care- ful as the most fastidious could wish.
Nature here has left a legacy of inesti- mable value in the peculiar geological for- mation spoken of in the introduction to this chapter. The town stands nearly on the summit of the break or uplift, making it comparatively easy to open quarries. The manufacture of lime is the prevail- ing industry of the place. This industry, directly and indirectly, employs about one hundred and fifty men.
The first lime-kiln was built by W. H. Gibson & Co. in 1873. A second kiln was connected in 1877. Both are now owned by E. Farmer & Co. Their capacity is eleven hundred barrels per week. Con- nected with these kilns, and owned by the same firm, is the stave and heading fac tory. This establishment manufactures general coopers' supplies, but was pri- marily built for the manufacture of lime barrels. The firm employs eighty hands and fifteen teams.
The lime-kilns operated by L. Friar & Co., a two-thirds interest in which is owned by Zorn, Hornung & Co., have a capacity of seven hundred barrels per week. Closely connected with this firm is the Hoop Factory company, which supplies the lime barrels and also carries on the manufacture of hoops on an extensive scale. Twelve thousand hoops a day are turned out in busy seasons, and forty men
are given steady employment in all depart- ments.
Zorn, Hornung & Co. inaugurated the grain trade. In 1875 they built an elevator and are the only dealers at present.
Two stores have not been mentioned, A. Fraunfelter, merchant tailor, and M. H. Porter, groceries and provisions. There are a number of saloons.
The first member of the medical pro- fession who settled in Gibsonburg was R. S. Hitell, who opened an office in 1873. He was a graduate of Jefferson Medical college, and won a good reputation and profitable practice during his residence here. He removed, in 1881, to Kansas City, Missouri, where he is now prac- ticing.
D. G. Hart, a native of Ashland county, began practicing in Gibsonburg in 1877. He is a graduate of Cincinnati Medical college. His practice is the best testi- monial of the confidence reposed in him by the public.
E. B. Erwin opened an office in this place in 1881. He is a graduate of Cleve- land Medical college.
We have now outlined the growth of the village from a business point of view. The exact population in 1880 was five hundred and eighty-six. The growth since that time has been fully one hundred.
But a town needs more than business establishments. It must have govern- ment, educational facilities, and societies for the promotion of morality and social benevolence. Toward the building up of institutions of this kind, Gibsonburg has already made a good beginning.
The public school enrolls one hundred and fifty pupils, and employs three teach- ers. The growth of the village made the erection of a new school-house necessary in 1876. The building contains three rooms. A regular course of study was arranged in 1877 by T. D. Stevenson, who
803
HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
was at that time principal. The village was set apart from the township as a special school district in 1880. The first board were J. W. Marvin, president ; John Beach, Charles Sardis, J. B. Taylor, E. Garn, J. Kininger.
T. D. Stevenson has been identified · closely both with the business and educa- tional interests of Gibsonburg. He is the son of David Stevenson, of Green Creek township. He learned the saddle and harness making trade at Green Spring, and worked there till 1861, when he en- listed in the Eighth Ohio Volunteer In- fantry. At the close of the war he returned to Green Spring, and worked at the trade till 1866. The next two years were spent at Milan Normal school and Oberlin col- lege. Mr. Stevenson then came to Madi- son township, and engaged in school teaching till June, 1881. He has been justice of the peace for ten years, and was from 1874 till 1877 senior partner in the firm of Stevenson, Smith & Co. Mr. Stevenson married, in 1870, Rosetta A. Fowler, of Wood county, and has a family of three children-Thomas B., Amos C., and Ray D. Mr. Stevenson was admitted to the Bar in 1877.
The village was incorporated under the laws of Ohio in the spring of 1880. On the first Monday of April of that year, the following officers were chosen : J. Kin- ninger, mayor ; Eli Reeves, J. W. Marvin, Elijah Garn, Charles Sanders, T. D. Stev- enson, and M. W. Hobart, council; S. B. Stilson, clerk; Adam Hornung, treasurer ; George Kaunkle, marshal.
The Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and Knights of Honor are both represented in this village.
Gibsonburg Lodge No. 687, Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, was instituted August 12, 1879, with the following as charter members : T. D. Stevenson, A. P. Johnson, John Veipch, Henry H. Tice,
C. D. Patterson, George L. Donnels, John Sandwich, Henry Zorn, C. W. Heseman, Charles Urech, A. H. Tice, John D. Donnels, W. A. Penfield, John W. Brown, F. W. Dohn. The past noble grands in their order are : T. D. Stevenson, John Veipch, John L. Donnels, John W. Brown, and G. L. Donnels. The present membership of the lodge is fifty-six.
Thomson Lodge No. 1413, Knights of Honor, was instituted October 9, 1879. Dr. J. G. Thomson, of Rollersville, stood sponsor at the christening. The charter members were : R. S. Hittell, Jesse E. Caples, S. B. Stilson, J. Kinninger, Charles A. Eslinger, Charles Urech, Henry Diel, S. Immel, D. G. Hart, Joseph M. Bowser, Robert A. Mitchell, Peter P. Wolcutt, Martin Vosburg, M. W. Hobart. The fol- lowing is a list of past dictators: R. S. Hittell, D. G. Hart, J. Kinninger, S. B. Stilson, M. W. Hobart, J. B. Taylor, and J. W. Lewis.
There are in Gibsonburg three churches -Evangelical, Lutheran, and Methodist. The first-named was organized long before the town had an existence. There is one other -the United Brethren, one mile south of the village, which for convenience will be sketched in this connection.
The Evangelical is probably the oldest religious society in the township. It was formed, in 1836, of the following five in- dividuals : Peter Kimmerling and his wife Elizabeth, Jacob Kimmerling and his wife Nancy, and Dena Wickard. The so- ciety was known as Basswood class. The first meeting-house was built about 1845. The present house was dedicated in 1874. The preachers have been: Revs. Lintner, Lumbert, Haley, Longbrecht, Kopp, Sint- zer, Eckley, Stroman, Storkley, Zintner, Strohm, Smous, George, Thomas, Rife, Schupp, Crouse, Strohman, Wingard, and Snyder. The present membership is about seventy.
804
HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
Salem church, United Brethren, was organized near the time of the organiza- tion of the Evangelical church. The first members were the families of Jacob Garn, John Reed, and Lucas Fleck. John Long and Peter Fleck were the first preachers. The old log meeting-house was built in 1845. The present house, one mile di- rectly south of Gibsonburg, was built in 1864. There are about seventy members.
A Methodist Episcopal class was formed at Gibsonburg in 1873, Rev. Christian Wolf being the first preacher. In 1877 the old school-house was purchased and fitted up for a meeting-house. There are at present about fifty members.
A Lutheran congregation was formed in 1875, Rev. George Gratz pastor. A meeting house was built in 1876. The membership includes about fifty families.
ORGANIZATION.
Three townships bear the names of il- lustrious Presidents of the United States. Jackson, the first of the three established, adopted the name of the great organizer, if not real founder, of the Democratic party, who at that time was at the head of the Government. A new township, bor- dering Jackson on the north, was formed a year later, and, at the request of its lead- ing men, was honored with the name of the noble patriot whose name has been a household word since the foundation of the Government. The first settlers of Washington probably felt like declaring their patriotism in some way or other, even though it was necessary to lay aside par- tisan feeling and accept the name of the great antagonizer of Jeffersonian princi- ples, for the majority were genuine Jack- sonian Democrats. It is barely possi- ble, however, that the minority who drafted the petition took advantage of the majority's ignorance of political history, and secured for the new township the name of the distinguished Federalist leader.
June 3, 1834, Madison was brought into being, and, in answer to the request of leading residents, was complimented with the name of that other distinguished champion of early Democracy, and Chief Executive during the War of 1812-James Madison. The township originally in- cluded all of township five, range thirteen, but, in 1840, when Woodville was organ- ized, a strip one mile and a half wide was struck off the north side and attached to Woodville, leaving Madison six miles long and four and one-half wide.
The first election was held on the 4th day of July, 1833, at Jacob Garn's black- smith shop, near the centre of the town- ship, where succeeding elections were held for a number of years. The officers cho- sen were: David Smith and John Reed, justices of the peace; James A. Holcomb, Jacob Garn, and William Whitford, trus- tees; Jesse Johnson, George Ickes, and John Reed, supervisors; Daniel McIntosh, treasurer; William Smith, constable; Fred- erick Clark and Henry P. Allen, overseers of the poor; Gideon Harmon and Elias Miller, fence viewers.
INITIAL ITEMS.
The first frame barn in the township was built by James A. Holcomb.
An impetus was given to the settlement of Scott and Madison townships in 1836 by the erection of a steam saw-mill on Sugar Creek, which was placed in charge of Crawford King. Why so much im- portance should be attached to the build- ing of a saw-mill it is hard for an observer of the present day to understand. But a revolution has taken place in this part of the county since 1836. Boards, if not a necessity, are inestimably convenient. Other things being equal, settlers will seek locations where the use of puncheons for floors and doors is unnecessary. The condition of the roads made it impossible to haul lumber any distance, so that, in
805
HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
the absence of a local mill, there was no alternative to the use of puncheons. This mill was owned by a joint stock company, known as the Farmers' Union Milling company. Jeremiah N. King was the leading spirit in the enterprise, and was chosen president of the company. The stock was owned by local parties. In a financial point of view the establishment proved a failure, but the main object for which it was built was accomplished.
!
The second saw-mill in the township was built by Jacob Garn.
The first cemetery in the township was located in section twenty-three, and has become a township burying-ground named Madison township cemetery. Mrs. Lucas Flake was the first person buried there.
Quinchan cemetery has also become a public burying ground. Its incipiency was the burial of a child of Jacob Staner. The institutions of a new country usually begin in a very simple way. In the case of a cemetery for instance, some one dies. No tract in the immediate neighborhood has been dedicated for the burial of the dead. A grave is dug at the nearest dry and elevated spot. The place is marked with a wooden picket, and fenced up by a square of rails. Soon there is another death, and the body is buried by the side of the first. In course of time it becomes necessary to enlarge the enclosure. The place becomes recognized as a public lot for burial, and eventually is deeded by the owner of the land to the township, a church, or association. The wooden slabs have, in most instances, been displaced by lettered freestone, but in some instances the perishable wood has rotted away, and the resting-place of the eternal sleeper is forever unknown.
The first school in Madison township was on the Staner farm, and was taught by Eliza Davidson. Daniel Smith was one of the early teachers in this house.
The last wolf seen in the county was killed by N. P. Hathaway in 1858. This is an "initial item" in the sense that it marked the beginning of safety for sheep and other weak domestic animals.
The first important ditch through the township begins in Wood county, drains the northwest corner of Scott township and the western part of Madison, emptying into Sugar Creek in Madison.
Rollersville is divided by the township line, and is briefly sketched in a previous chapter.
HIGH WIND.
In the year 1839 Madison was visited by the most terrific storm ever known in the western part of the county. It was one of the three great tornadoes which have touched our territory, and, as it was second in regard to time, so also was it second in power and destructiveness. The first passed over Green Creek and Town- send, and the last over the south part of Green Creek. The Madison tornado for- tunately passed over a sparsely populated region of country and did little real dam- age. The timber in its path was splintered and twisted to the ground. But this cir- cumstance, at that time when forest was a nuisance rather than a resource of wealth, had little effect upon values. It made clearing so much easier, and, to that ex- tent, was a benefit. No one was hurt, no houses were blown down; useless trees were the only victims of the wrath of Æolus. Madison, on account of this cir- cumstance, was given the pseudonym "Windfall."
HARVEST HOME.
An institution of the west part of this county and the east part of Wood county is the annual harvest festival and thanks- giving. This beautiful social custom of yearly meeting and feasting originated in 1857, in the form of union Sunday-school and pioneer meetings. Historical remi-
805
HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
niscences and speeches relating to Sunday- school work were delivered and all united in a bountiful picnic dinner. Gradually, however, as the range of visitors extended beyond the limits of the neighborhood, the character of the meetings changed until now it has become a general holi- day.
These annual gatherings are held Aug- ust 30th, and are under the management of a president and committee of arrange- ments. Morris Reese, esq., of Pember- ville, has been president since the in-
stitution of the holiday. The meet- ings are held in Mr. Reese's grove. Ex- penses are met by charging license to sell confectionary, etc. No intoxicating drinks are allowed on the premises. The farmers of this section can well af- ford to devote one day in the year to social pleasures and thanksgiving. No- where in Ohio is agriculture better re- warded, besides, such gatherings con- duce to the unity and consequently the happiness of the community.
SCOTT.
.
T TO the writer of ardent imagination and
zealous in multiplying words for the purpose of interesting those who skim over the chronicles of past times merely for relaxation and amusement, Scott town- ship would be an interesting field. That this was the scene of some criminal epi- sode of more than ordinary consequence was clearly indicated to the present writer by the peculiar manner of a quartette of old settlers during his first interview. About some persons and places they talked in circumlocutions and carried on private consultations in a low whisper. From their disconnected talk nothing could be gleaned, except that there was something to find out. We do not belong to that class of imaginative narrators who seek only to interest. It is the purpose of this history to trace the development of the county from a wilderness, which blotted the map of our fair State, to portray the changes in men and manners, effected by the progress of knowledge, the vicissitudes of events, and the influence of situation. But the rare prospect of finding a condi- ment to give zest to the ordinarily flat detail of local history made us inquisi- tive.
:
....
-------
Before proceeding further it will be nec- essary, in order that a certain conventional arrangement may be preserved, to give some idea of the "lay of the ground," and a detailed account of the settlement. It will offend no one if the reader skips the pages covering this last topic. Descrip tion and biograply in local history are re- spectively like sleep and work in human
life; both are imposed by contingencies founded in the nature of things.
This rambling preface, it is hoped, is sufficient to tire the reader into a desire to take a view of Scott.
Madison township on the north, Jack- son on the east, Seneca county on the south, and Wood county on the west bound a township six miles square, contain- ing more acres of marsh and prairie land than is embraced by any other township in Sandusky county. The limestone ridges of Madison barely touch Scott along the northern boundary. The streams which we have been talking about ever since coming into the Black Swamp, all, ex- cept Portage River and Muskallonge, have their sources in the prairies of this town- ship.
Furthest to the south and partly in Seneca county, is the Tauwa prairie, em- bracing an area of about three sections and eliptical in form, the longest axis being in a northeast and southwest direction. Running almost parallel with Tauwa and separated from it by a strip of woodland, is the largest treeless tract in the township. It is named from the creek which is fed by its numerous springs - Mud Creek prairie. Directly north, and almost circu- lar in form, is a pond like depression of more than a section named Miller prairie as a compliment to an early settler on its border. The source of Sugar Creek was an eliptical marsh two miles in its longest axis and one mile in its shortest. We say the source was a marsh, for at the time we write farmers are threshing im-
807
808
HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
mense crops of wheat taken from the fer- tile surface of this once useless swamp, uninhabited except by snakes, frogs, and turtles, which grew to frightful size. We were told (credulous people, who believe everything they see in print, may skip this paragraph) we were told - and snake stories have been believed since the time of Eve's misfortune-that in this swail, about the year 1841, was captured the monster snake of the county. A hunter wading in grass almost to his head, just high enough above the wavy surface to fire deadly shot at ducks chased from their secluded retreats, heard a surg- ing noise at some distance in his path. his eyes met those of a mortal enemy. The snake's forked tongue vibrated angrily in a frightful mouth raised above the grass. The barrel of the hunter's faithful gun soon contained a heavy charge of buck shot. Having taken careful aim he fired, dispatching two balls to the centre of the monster's head, and a third knock- ing out one eye. The writhing squirm and roll of death followed. The snake measured eighteen feet eleven and one half inches long and three feet nine inches and a quarter at the "belt." Careful ex- amination showed him to be thirty-three years old. The neighborhood was of course somewhat aroused, and a congre- gation of men around the dead body de- termined upon a dissection. It was a happy thought, for within that serpent's skin was contained a part of a human skeleton and a small packet containing needles, buttons, and other notions. It will be seen by reference to the chapter on Woodville that a peddler was once mys- teriously missing from the hotel at that village. That murderer of fair fame, sus- picion, was destroying the honest name of two or three worthy pioneers, but this story cleared the atmosphere of scandal by making known the last chapter of the
life of the Woodville peddler. The snake also contained half a bushel of bogus coins and a machine for making them. It further contained the pocketbook of a man from the East who had come to the town- ship to buy land, and whose boots the next morning were found hanging on a tree.
We concluded right here in the pro- gress of the telling of this remarkable story to give it to our readers just as it came to us. We spoke above of the in- direct way the old settlers of Scott have of telling the history of their township, and this is undoubtedly an allegory in- vented by a churlish wag, for the purpose of giving us a glimpse at the deeds of darkness and devilment of times past. We hope to be forgiven for this diversion, but it seems proper before closing this volume, which commits to immortal type the best recollections of the best-posted living pioneers, for the recorder to give a specimen of his varied experience in mak- ing the collection. This is our only snake story. Its meaning will be more clear be- fore reaching the conclusion of the chap- ter.
One of the large Wood county prairies touches the western limits of Scott and is drained by a ditch running toward the northeast, which is mentioned in the pre- ceding chapter on Madison.
All these prairies seem to have been small lakes, or rather large ponds. Ex- uberant vegetation decaying year after year, gradually filled them up until they became marshes, which was their condition when settlers first penetrated the heavy timber lands adjoining. They remained in this comparatively useless condition until. the commissioners of the county took one of the most important steps in the his- tory of public improvements.
It would not be desirable to follow through the construction of all the large
HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
809
drains which have transformed useless marshes into fields of inexhaustible fer- tility. That subject has already been touched in a previous chapter on public improvements.
It was out of a contingency arising in Scott township that the law regulating the manner of constructing ditches was changed in 1879. The former law gave the county commissioners power to order the construction of ditches, so many rods being assigned to each property holder in proportion to the amount of benefit, in the estimation of the board, he would derive therefrom. This system in Scott proved impracticable, for each farmer, having as- signed a certain portion to construct, and the time within certain limits being op- tional, chose his own convenient season. It often happened that the upper part of a long drain was excavated first, thus opening the marsh and throwing the over- flow upon the lands below. . Another dif- ficulty lay in the fact that it is impossible to secure satisfactory work when unhar- monious, unskilled, and often unwilling. hands have to be depended upon for its accomplishment. However, unpractica- ble as it was, at least a half dozen useful drains were made according to its provisions. But the drainage was not sufficient to completely accomplish the desired object, the entire recovery of the prairie marshes. The flow of water from the Seneca county marshes no doubt increased the necessity for more and larger outlets. A new law was passed by the Legislature in 1879, which overcomes the difficulty mentioned above, though deemed somewhattyrannical by the farmers of Scott. Under this law the commissioners ordered the construction of a ditch. The contract for the whole work is given to the lowest bidder, and the cost assessed on the prop- erty benefited in due proportion. Under this law several of the largest ditches have
been constructed. Land, twenty years ago covered with water, is now producing forty bushels of wheat to the acre. The croak of the bullfrog is seldom heard in the land, and even mosquitoes have abandoned this once favorite watering place. These superfluous pests abounded in unimaginable numbers, and were of monstrous size, before the country was cleared and swamps drained. An old set- tler of simple habits and consequently not given to the prevalent vice of exaggera- tion, told the writer with religious sincerity, that when he came to the township, in 1832, swarms of these insects hovered over the distracted land in such numbers that the sun at times became invisible and the horridly monotonous, ceaseless song of these hungry millions, smothered and made imperceptible the barking of dogs and the ring of cow-bells, the melancholy chorus of wolves being the only sound which rose above the din. Mosquitoes then were hungry, voracious creatures, with infinite capacity. It was impossible to keep them off children. It is known that one child was actually bitten to death, and Mrs. Samuel Sprout has informed us that when one of her children died, lumps, caused by the poisonous "sinker," covered its whole head, despite the most careful watching. Scott was not the only place cursed in this way. The whole Black Swamp swarmed with them, but the marshes of Scott were summer resorts during dry weather.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.