USA > Ohio > Sandusky County > History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers > Part 32
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The committee to make out a premium list for the annual fair made their report which was read and approved by the board. The fair was appointed to be held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, the 2d, 3d, and 4th days of October, 1861, and the meeting then ordered the premium list published.
On the 26th day of August, 1861, the board met and appointed Jeremiah Gibbs director, in place of Timothy Wilcox, ab- sent. The premium list of this year was extensive and more elaborate than those of former years, and the fair was a suc- cess. But the financial results are not given on the journal of the society, and we therefore omit any statement of them.
WHO FITTED UP FLORAL HALL IN 1861.
As a matter of history, already interest- ing in the county, and to become more and more interesting as time rolls on, we give the names of the committee desig- nated by the board of the society, to fit up floral hall for the fair of 1861. We record them here for two reasons. First, because it gives some idea of the interest the people took in these annual exhibi- tions. Secondly, because it preserves for future mention the names of a number of the men and women then prominent in our social circles, for their taste and de- votion to the cause of improvement in all directions. The committee named by the board for fitting up floral hall, for the annual fair of 1861, were as follows:
J. W. Failing, O. W. Vallette, Henry Buckland, Willard Norton, L. Morehouse, E. Simpkins, Mrs. G. Grant, Mrs. L. Q. Rawson, Mrs. G. Canfield, Mrs. Nat Haynes, Mrs. John Magee, Miss Eliza Simpkins, Miss Beckey Simpkins, Miss Isabella Nyce, Miss M. Justice, Miss Martha Raymond, Miss Ellen Hafford, Miss Jennie McLellan, Miss S. Bote- fur, Miss E. A. Morehouse, Miss Mary Canfield, Miss Amelia Norton, Miss Sarah Jane Grant, Miss H. Thompson, Miss Myra Kepler, Miss L. Kepler, Miss Emma Downs, Miss A. Sharp, Miss Sarah Wilson, Miss Mary Durand, Miss Eva Bartlett, and Miss Bell Maxwell.
To the resident of Fremont in the year 1861, who was familiar with the social or- ganization at that time, the names on this committee will awake reminiscences of in- tense interest. The list of young, and beautiful, and cultured ladies, embraces what was, at that time, the cream of our collected beauty of person, and culture of intellect, and, no doubt, those who resided in Fremont in the fall of 1861, and wit- nessed how these earnest, and beautiful, and good women labored to make the fair of the society for 1861 interesting and profitable, will trace the history of each gentleman and lady of this committee through the checkered scenes of their after life with intense interest.
On the third day of the fair held in 1861, the members met according to notice, and elected officers for the ensuing year, as follows: Daniel Capper, presi- dent; Hiram Haff, vice-president; O. W. Vallette, secretary ; Theodore Clapp, treas- urer; S. S. Rathbun, C. G. Greene, Jere- miah Gibbs, Samuel Hafford, and Daniel Waggoner, managers.
A premium list for the next fair was prepared by Daniel Capper and O. W. Vallette, and submitted to the board, and approved at a meeting held on the 31st of May, 1862. At this meeting it was re- solved that the next annual fair should be held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Fri- day, the 1st, 2d, and 3d days of October, 1862.
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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
DURING THE WAR.
From the formation of the society in 1852, to the year 1862, although the civil war broke out in 1861, the annual fairs had been held without a single failure in any year. True it is that in the year 1861 the war cloud hung heavy over all the land, but so remote were the people of Sandusky county from the contending armies and the battlefields, that our busi- ness was not seriously interrupted until the summer of 1862. Then the cloud, thicker and darker than before, spread over the whole sky and enveloped us in darkness, gloom, and fear.
After the premium list was published and the days for the fair selected, we find the following entry on the journal of the society, in the handwriting of the secre- tary, Vallette:
Owing to the unsettled state of the county on ac- count of the war, and the fact that the draft in our county came on the days appointed for our fair, it was decided by the officers of the society to postpone the fair for this year.
O. W. VALLETTE, Secretary.
Fremont, August, 1862.
Hence, the society held no fair in the year 1862.
At the meeting of the members of the society held at the store of Theodore Clapp, in Fremont, in January, 1863, the following officers were elected to serve the ensuing year : Daniel Capper, president; Platt Brush, vice-president; Theodore Clapp, treasurer; O. W. Vallette, secre- tary; S. S. Rathbun, U. B. Lemmon, C. G. Greene, and Daniel Waggoner, man- agers. An extended premium list was made out and published, and the fair was held successfully on the 7th, 8th, and 9th days of October, 1863. The premiums were regularly awarded and paid.
At a meeting of the members held on the 16th of January, 1864, the following officers of the Sandusky County Agricul- tural Society were elected to serve the
ensuing year: J. L. Greene, sr., presi- dent; John Moore, of Ballville, vice- president; John P. Moore, treasurer ; O. W. Vallette, secretary ; Daniel Waggoner, Jasper King, William E. Lay, Jason Gibbs, and Warren G. Hafford, managers.
At a meeting of the officers of the soci- ety held on the 26th day of March, 1864, the president, J. L. Greene, sr., and Sec- retary O. W. Vallette, were appointed a committee to prepare a premium list for the next fair.
On the 16th of April, 1864, the board met and appointed the fair to be held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, the 12th, 13th, and 14th days of October.
The financial results of the fair of 1864 are not recorded, and therefore not pub- lished.
On the 18th day of January, 1865, the members of the society met at the office of John L. Greene, sr., and elected the following officers to serve the ensuing year : Theodore Clapp, president; William E. Haynes, vice-president; DeWitt Krebs, treasurer; O. W. Vallette, secretary; Ed- ward Tindall, U. B. Lemmon, James N. Campbell, B. Amsden, and Charles Pow- ers, directors.
On the 27th of March, 1865, the board met at the office of Theodore Clapp. At this meeting William E. Haynes, DeWitt Krebs, and O. W. Vallette, were appointed a committee to revise and prepare a pre- mium list for the next fair and report the same to a future meeting of the board. The premium list was approved and pub- lished, and the fair again successfully held on the 6th, 7th, and 8th days of Septem- ber, 1865, and the premiums awarded and paid.
On the 27th day of January, 1866, the society met at the office of Theodore Clapp, and elected the following officers for the ensuing year. Theodore Clapp, president; William E. Haynes, vice-presi-
217
HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
dent; D. W. Krebs, treasurer ; O. W. Val- lette, secretary; Edward Tindall of Ball- ville, James N. Campbell of Washington, B. Amsden of Sandusky, Hiram Haff of York, managers for one year; O. W. Val- lette of Ballville, D. W. Krebs of Sandusky, J. P. Elderkin of Woodville, Benjamin Inman of Scott, S. S. Rathbun of Green · Creek, and David Betts of Sandusky township, managers for two years.
In May, 1866, the board met and or- dered that Theodore Clapp superintend the building of a new fence around the fair grounds, and put the grounds in good condition.
On the 28th of September the board met and made the following entry on their journal:
FREMONT, September 28, 1866.
Owing to the late floods, and the damage done on the fair grounds, it has been decided to postpone the fair for this year.
O. W. VALLETTE, Secretary.
Therefore no fair was held in the year 1866, on account of a flood. Thus we see the society was prevented from holding its fairs twice in the first fourteen years of its existence, first in 1862, by the war, and, second, in 1866, by a flood which over- flowed and damaged its grounds.
On the 14th of February, 1867, the members of the society met at the office of Theodore Clapp, and elected the fol- lowing officers to serve the ensuing year: Platt Brush, president; Charles H. Bell, vice-president; E. Walters, Charles Pow- ers, George W. Beck, and J. V. Beery, managers.
On the 7th of March following, the board met, and elected J. V. Beery secre- tary, and J. P. Elderkin treasurer.
Let it be remarked that about this time some enterprising gentlemen who were fond of cultivating speedy horse-flesh, had organized the Fremont Driving Park Asso- ciation, and had rented some out-lots on the hill, on the east side of the river, on 28
which a fine track was formed, on which the speed of trotting and running horses could be tested and compared. Let no one think or suspect that anything like vulgar horse-racing was connected with this Driving Park Association. The out lots rented by this association were very finely situated for a fair ground. Hence, at the meeting of the board in March, 1867, on motion of Mr. Rathbun, Platt Brush and Charles H. Bell were ap- pointed a committee to confer and make arrangements with a committee of the Driving Park Association, to hold the county fair upon their ground.
On the 23d day of May, 1867, the board met; present, P. Brush, George Beck, D. Betts, B. Inman, E. Walters, and John V. Beery. The committee, C. H. Bell and P. Brush, reported that they had rented the driving park for nine years, at a yearly rent of seventy-five dol- lars, for the purpose of holding the fairs of the society. After the adoption of this report, the president appointed Charles H. Bell and Saxton S. Rathbun, a committee to attend to the removal of floral hall from the old fair ground to the driving park. At this same meeting the premium list was arranged, and the next fair of the society appointed to be held on the 2d, 3d, and 4th days of October, 1867, the days of the week being Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The fair was held, accordingly, on the grounds of the Driving Park Association, the premiums awarded and paid, and the fair was now established on the east side of the river, on the hill and above the reach of floods. But the facilities for procuring a supply of water were lacking, and there was no shade. Still the fair was well attended, and was reasonably successful.
On the Ist day of February, 1868, the society met at the office of Theodore Clapp and elected the following officers:
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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
Charles H. Bell, president; Oscar Ball, vice-president; J. P. Elderkin, treasurer ; J. V. Beery, secretary ; B. Inman, John P. Elderkin, jr., Samuel Skinner, Platt Brush, William McPherson, and David Fuller, managers.
On the 6th of February the board met and appointed Samuel Skinner, Oscar Ball, Benjamin Inman, Platt Brush, and William McPherson a committee to pre- pare a premium list for the fair of 1868.
The fair was held on the 17th, 18th, and 19th days of September, 1868, and the premiums were awarded and paid as usual. This fair was held on the Trotting Park ground, east side of the river.
The officers and directors of the society for 1868, met on the 13th day of January, 1869. Present-C. H. Bell, Platt Brush, Benjamin Inman, David Fuller, George Beck, J. P. Elderkin, jr., and John V. Beery.
The object of this meeting was to con- sider on the disposal of the old fair ground, and to arrange the distribution of the finances, and pay out the funds on hand. It was, on motion of Platt Brush, resolved that the old fair ground be offered for sale, provided that over fifteen hundred dollars should be offered for it, and the motion was carried unanimously.
Here crops out the intention of the so- ciety to abandon the old fair ground, pur- chased of Morgan & Downs long before. The reasons for this movement were suf- ficient justification for abandoning the location. First, all the fences and build- ings the society might erect there were subject to be annually swept away by the floods in the river. Second, the quantity of ground was insufficient to accommodate the growing demands of the society.
The secretary was ordered to advertise the ground in both the county papers, to be sold on the 29th day of January, 1869, at 2 o'clock p. M., at the east door of the
court house in Fremont, and that it should be sold to the highest bidder. After or- dering the payment of certain sums out of the treasury, the meeting adjourned.
On the 30th of January, 1869, the members of the society met pursuant to published notice, and elected the following officers for the ensuing year: Benjamin Inman, president; Charles H. Bell, vice- president; Frederick Fabing, treasurer ; James S. Vanvalkenburg, secretary; Elijah Kellogg, George Beck, James Parks, and John K. Richards, managers. This meet- ing appointed the time for holding the next fair to be on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, the 7th, 8th, and 9th days of October, 1869.
The old fair ground was sold at auction at 2 o'clock P. M., January 29, 1869, to Canfield & Co., for sixteen hundred and five dollars. Such is the mention of the record on the journal of the society. But the record of deeds shows that the old fair ground was conveyed to Downs & Co. (which is probably another name for Canfield & Co.), by deed dated February II, 1869, for the consideration of one thousand six hundred and fifty-five dollars.
On the 2d day of June, 1869, the board met upon notice, and Charles H. Bell, George Beck, Benjamin Inman, and Frederick Fabing were appointed to pre- pare a premium list for the year 1869, which they did.
For this year the results of the fair are summed up as follows:
Amount received from former treasurer . .. .$ x 32 Amount from State Board of Agriculture ... . 106 00 Amount from rents of ground and tickets sold 741 45
$848 77
EXPENDITURES.
Paid expenses and repairs at fair. .$219 47
Paid printing . 66 00
Paid secretary's salary. 50 00
Paid assistants 9 00
Paid treasurer's assistants 10 00
Paid premiums to date. . 454 55
-$809 02
Cash balance on hand
$39 75
219
HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
The foregoing exhibit of the financial transactions of the year was reported to a meeting of the board, held on the 29th of January, 1870, and was then approved
On the same day of the above men- tioned meeting of the board, after the ap- proval of the treasurer's report above given, the members of the society pro- · ceeded to the election of officers for the ensuing year, with the following result: President, Benjamin Inman; vice presi- dent, Beman Amsden; treasurer, Chris- tian Doncyson; secretary, William H. Andrews. The directors were David Ful- ler, for one year; for two years, W. W. Cooper, Green Creek; James Havens, Jackson; H. B. Hineline, Rice; Peter Burgoon, Sandusky; and Samuel Skinner, of Washington township.
At this same meeting, held on the 29th January, 1870, James Parks, Samuel Skinner, and George W. Beck were ap- pointed a committee to report on the pur- chase of fair grounds.
-
PURCHASE OF NEW GROUNDS.
At a meeting of the board of directors of the society, held at the county audi- tor's office, on the 17th day of March, 1870, the board received the report of the committee above named on the purchase of a fair ground, and by a unanimous vote selected the site proposed to be purchased of LaQ. Rawson, and appointed B. Ams- den to survey the same under the direc- tion of a committee consisting of James Parks, Peter Burgoon, and Samuel Skin- ner. The board then adjourned until the 23d day of April, 1870, to meet at the county auditor's office at 10 o'clock A. M. A meeting was duly held at the time and place appointed. The committee and surveyor made their report.
Without narrating tedious details, we may state that the survey and report offered the society twenty acres of land,
fronting west on Elm street, and going near the brow of the hill overlooking the Sandusky valley, but did not include the side-hill. The society desired the hill, and hill-side, and on further negotiation relin- quished a strip about fourteen rods wide on Elm street, and took about twenty-seven acres covering the side-hill, for the sum of about seven thousand dollars. By this purchase the society acquired one of the most convenient and beautiful sites for a fair ground in the State.
Pursuant to notice the members of the society met at the court-house, in Fre- mont, on the roth day of February, 1871, and elected the following officers for the ensuing year.
William E. Haynes, president; Oscar Ball, vice-president; William H. Andrews, secretary ; John M. Smith, treasurer; David Fuller, B. W. Lewis, Elijah Kellogg, Ben- jamin Inman, Jacob Stetler, and James Parks, directors.
At a meeting held March II, 1871, Peter Darr was added to the list of di- rectors to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of H. B. Hineline. The board at this meeting also appointed Oscar Ball, B. Inman, David Fuller, B. W. Lewis, Peter Burgoon, and William E. Haynes, an executive committee to transact all business of the society in the absence of the board, and this executive committee was instructed to prepare a premium list for the next fair. At this meeting, it should be noticed, the society adopted a new constitution, the particular changes in which from the former one it is not deemed necessary to particularize, but it made some changes which time and ex- perience had proved necessary to the more successful management of the affairs of the society.
At a meeting of the board, held May 13, 1871, it was ordered that the next fair be held on the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th days
220
HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
of October, 1871. Vigorous measures were adopted to prepare the new grounds, and erect suitable buildings for the fair of 1871, the first held there.
The fair was held according to appoint- ment, and the popular verdict was that the society had done a good thing in se- curing such an admirable location. The results of this fair were reported to the next meeting, held February 3, 1872, and may be briefly stated as follows. The re- port was made by the treasurer, Isaac M. Keeler, successor to John M. Smith, and shows
RECEIPTS.
Citizens' loan. $2500 00
County agricultural fund. 2745 00
Nineteenth annual fair and excursion. 2465 66
$7710 66
DISBURSEMENTS.
Improvement of new grounds. . $5490 00
Old debts prior to 1871. 571 60
Premiums to date. 848 50
Expenses of nineteenth fair. 498 07
Cash on hand. 302 49
$7710 66
At a meeting held at the court-house on the 3d day of February, 1872, the follow- ing officers were unanimously elected: William E. Haynes, president; Oscar Ball, vice-president; Joseph Waggoner, Peter Burgoon, William J. Havens, Peter Darr, W. W. Cooper, and R. P. Buck- land, managers.
On the 23d of April, 1872, William H. Andrews was elected secretary, and Isaac M. Keeler treasurer for the year. At this meeting it was resolved to hold the twen- tieth annual fair of the society on the 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th days of September, 1872. The following committee was then appointed to arrange for the fair, namely : William E. Haynes, Oscar Ball, B. W. Lewis, David Fuller, and William H. An- drews. The fair was successfully held at the appointed time. Mr. Edward Tindall reported and proved to the board, accord-
ing to the rules of the society, that at the harvest of 1872 he raised two hundred and twenty bushels of wheat on six and thirty-one-hundredth acres of his land. The land was measured by J. L. Rawson, surveyor, the wheat was measured and the quantity sworn to by Mr. A. Mosier. Mr. Tindall was awarded the premium.
Pursuant to published notice the mem- bers of the society met at the court-house in Fremont, on Saturday, February I, 1873, and elected the following officers: William B. Sheldon, president ; J. R. Gep- hart, vice-president; Z. Brush, B. W. Lewis, T. H. Bush, J. Fairbanks, and Frederick Smith, managers. Mr. Sheldon refused to serve, and on the 22d of Feb- ruary, 1873, Platt Brush was elected presi- dent, and on the same day F. J. Giebel, jr., was elected secretary, and John P. El- derkin, jr., treasurer, for the ensuing year. Mr. Brush declined serving as president, and, on the 3d of May, 1873, the society elected John R. Gephart president. By this election a vacancy was caused in the office of vice-president, and T. H. Bush was eleced to that office, which left a va- cancy in the board of managers, which was filled by the election of Charles H. Norton. An executive committee was chosen, and the time for holding the next fair fixed for the Ist, 2d, 3d, and 4th days of October, 1873, and the fair was heid accordingly.
This fair was a financial failure, for an entry on the journal shows that afterwards the executive committee met, and ascer- tained by the treasurer's report that the disbursements exceeded the receipts by the amount of seven hundred dollars, and that the treasurer had paid the excess of expenditures out of his own private funds. The committee authorized a loan to be made by the society for the amount, to be paid, with eight per cent. interest, on the 2d day of November, 1874.
221
HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
On the 7th day of February, 1874. pur- suant to the provisions of the constitution of the society, and to printed notice, the society met at the county auditor's office, in Fremont, and received the treasurer's report, which shows the following receipts and disbursements :
RECEIPTS.
1873.
March 22, cash on hand. $ 23 63
August 27, cash from excursion. 208 75
October, cash receipts from fair. 2,687 00
Cash, city of Fremont. 100 00
Cash, loans
689 50
$3,708 88
DISBURSEMENTS.
Paid interest on loan $ 200 00
Paid premiums on class 17. 617 00
Paid improvements on grounds .. 538 5
Paid premiums 818 00
Paid expenses during fair. 425 00
Paid band for music. 50 00
Paid sec'y salary and expenses ... 90 00
Paid L. Q. Rawson on land. 561 06
Paid printing, etc.
222 55
Steamer and band for excursion .. 185 00
Balance on hand. 73
$3,708 88
On the 27th day of February, 1874, the society met at the county auditor's office and elected the following officers, to serve the ensuing year, namely: R. P. Buck- land, president ; W. W. Stine, vice-presi- dent; Isaac M. Keeler, secretary; W. H. Andrews, treasurer.
The president was instructed to appoint an executive committee, to consist of five members. The committee was afterwards appointed, and consisted of the following persons: C. A. Norton, W. W. Stine, B. W. Lewis, Joseph Waggoner, and E. W. Amsden.
During the summer and autumn of the year 1874 an amphitheater or grand stand was erected on the fair ground, which af- forded visitors an excellent view of the ground, and all the proceedings of the fair to be seen by the eye. It also afforded shelter from the rain and shade from the
often uncomfortable rays of the sun.
The contract for this building was awarded to Mr. A. Foster, of the city of Fremont, at the price of one thousand two hundred and seventy-five dollars.
It was also arranged and ordered by the board that there should be several new features in the fair of 1874, such as a special premium for the best pair of draught horses, and mules, also for single horse or mule. The first were offered a premium of twenty dollars, and the second ten dollars, to be tested on the ground by the dynamometer. Premiums were also offered for plowing, dragging, and drilling contests, to be put under the charge of D. C. Richmond, of Erie county, then mem- ber of the State Board of Agriculture.
The fair of 1874 began September 30, and continued four days, with the follow- ing financial result:
RECEIPTS.
Received from former treasurer. $ 179 96
From loan of C. Norton 3,000 00
From loan of W. W. Stine .. 350 00
From loan of Bank of Fremont 175 00
From annual fair. 4,291 40
From J. M. Raymond, pasture. 24 00
From State Board of Agriculture. 227 52
$8,047 68
DISBURSEMENTS.
Paid F. J. Geibel, secretary, 1873. $ 21 50
Paid F. S. White, trustee citizens' loan ... 2,500 00
Paid F. S. White, interest on citizens' loan ... 200 00
Paid C. A. Norton, interest on loan. 45 00
Paid L. Q. Rawson, on ground 1,088 00
Paid B. Donahue, for loan .. 400 00
Paid B. Donahue, loan interest. 23 29
Paid Bank of Fremont, loan and interest
318 20
Paid W. W. Stine, interest. 6 53
Paid I. M. Keeler, expenses to Columbus 15 00
Paid premiums to date. 1,682 00
Paid fair expenses. 253 71
Paid permanent improvement on grounds 840 40
Paid Bank of Fremont on note. 150 00
$8,042 68
Cash on hand February 5, 1875. . . $ 3 28
Here it will be noticed that the fair of 1874 shows a marked increase in the re-
222
HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.
ceipts and disbursements of the society.
In an elaborate report made by the secretary, Isaac M. Keeler, of the fair of 1874, to the State Board of Agriculture, held at Columbus, Ohio, January 6, 1875, he says, among other things:
The exercise of horses on the half mile track dur- ing a portion of each day, attracted a large crowd, and some excellent time was made.
Further on the report says :
The results of the fair of 1873 were unfortunate to the society, for instead of decreasing the sum of its indebtedness, it added considerably thereto, and 1 ft a bad feeling among former friends of the society. The officers of 1874, therefore, felt the greater neces- sity for economy in expenditures, and at the same time to make the exhibition so attractive as to induce the people from all parts of the county to show their interest in the society by being present at the annual fair. The total indebtedness of the society at this time cinnot be far from four thousand five hundred dollars.
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