History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers, Part 81

Author: Everett, Homer, 1813-1887
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : H.Z. Williams
Number of Pages: 1040

USA > Ohio > Sandusky County > History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers > Part 81

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A few weeks after these last occurrences, in answer to a letter of General Buckland's concerning events at Memphis, the pres- ent situation and his prospect of being elected to Congress, General Sherman wrote him a private letter, from which we make the following extract :

I know on all occasions you will do your best. I attach little importance to Forrest's dash at Mem- phis. He is a devil of a fellow. and I wish I had

a few such, but they don't make permanent results like such men as vou do. I entertain for you not only a measure of respect but also of affection. I think you are right now in going to Congress. That is National. I did not want to see you return to private life on account of the labor of war. We must have the assistance of the best men in the Na- tion to reinvigorate it. In Congress you take a Na- tional position, strengthened by a practical knowl- edge of the labor, responsibility, sleepless anxiety and personal danger of war. Your mind can skip the personal and selfish for the patriotic and real. You know also that words now must be mistrusted and men judged by acts. Opinions may be soft, pleasant and flowing, but the real man must act and not talk. Indeed I do value your friendship. Poor McPherson was dear to us both; and well do I remember in our first Shiloh days how he always hunted out your camp. Whatever may befall us, believe me that I feel for you more than usual esteem and personal friendship, and feel gratified in know- ing it is reciprocated.

General Buckland remained in com- mand of the district of Memphis until the 22d of December, 1864, and on January 6, following, he tendered his resignation at Washington, to the Secretary of War, and was duly mustered out of the service. August 3, 1866, he was commissioned brevet major-general United States Volun- teers, to rank from March 13, 1865, for meritorious service in the army.

Without having sought or expected political favor, and while still serving in the army, he had been nominated for Repre- sentative in the Thirty-ninth Congress. Without having gone home to further his interests, he had been elected by the peo- ple of the Ninth district of Ohio. In obedience to their wishes, he left the mili- tary for the civil service of his country. In 1866 he was re-elected to Congress. During the whole of the four years in Congress he served on the committee on banking and currency, and on the military.

At the close of his Congressional career General Buckland resumed his law practice, a field of labor in which, before the war, he had attained distinction, and at this date he is still actively engaged in the labors of his profession,

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

To his example and influence the city of Fremont is indebted to a great extent for its many public improvements, and not the least among them are the beauti- ful shade trees, which adorn almost every part of the city. He erected the first substantial brick block in Fremont, a three-story building of four store-rooms, with a public hall in the third story, con- sidered at the time a great and hazardous enterprise. In 1853 he erected the finest dwelling then in Northern Ohio, and sub- sequently the three-story brick block at the corner of Front and State streets. In every public enterprise for the interest of the town, he was one of the first to pro- pose and one of the foremost to act, re- laxing no effort, and withholding no help until the thing had been pushed to a com- plete success.

In 1870 he was elected president of the board of managers of the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans Home, located at Xenia, which position he filled for four years.

On the 30th of January, 1875, General Buckland, Hon. R. P. Ranney, Dr. W. S. Streeter, as the guests of Henry A Kent, of New York, sailed from that city in the sailing yacht Tarolinta, for the West In- dies. They visited Martinique, Barbadoes, Trinidad, Grenada, Santa Cruz, St. Thom- as, Porto Rico, San Domingo, Jamaica, and Cuba, returning to New York April 19, after having sailed about seven thous- and miles.

General Buckland was a delegate to the Cincinnati convention that nominated General Hayes. It is well known that his labors and influence contributed largely to the success of the nomination.

For three years, from 1878 he held the position of Government director of the Union Pacific Railroad.

General Buckland's career has been measured by a success that adds one more

example of what may be attained by a boy born outside of the pale which is presumed to enclose the advantages and the means necessary to success, viz :- influential friends and parental wealth. Left an infant at the death of his father, whose letter, embodied in this sketch, shows him to have been a man, the impress of whose character was worth more than an estate to his son, he made his own way in the world, and will leave as an inheritance to his children the record of a successful life, judged by what it has accomplished, and of a character for integrity, honor, and noble impulses, worthy of all imitation.

In his family General Buckland has al- ways been kind and considerate of the best interests of each. With the wife of his youth, who still lives, he came to his Lower Sandusky home, and together, with marked mutual esteem, they, each in their sphere, worked to prosper, sharing alike with cheerfulness and hope the privations of the beginning. Suited to each other, as no man and wife could be better, they have lived happily in each other's confi- dence and love, to enjoy together in an unusual degree the comfortable surround- ings their industry has enabled them to secure; and have always shared the pleasures of travel and social enjoyment, for which the later public and official life of General Buckland afforded unusual op- portunity.

SARDIS BIRCHARD .*

A detailed biography of Sardis Birchard would be an important contribution to the history of Sandusky county. Although not one of the first settlers, he, at an early day, became a man of influence and prom- inence. He was born at Wilmington, Windham county, Vermont, January 15,

*Information derived mainly from Knapp's History of the Maumee Valley.

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

1801. Both his parents died while he was yet a child. Both of his grandfathers were Revolutionary soldiers. His grand- father, Elias Birchard, died of disease con- tracted near the close of the war. His grandfather, Captain Daniel, served as an officer under Washington during the war, and survived many years. The Birchards . were among the first settlers of Norwich, Connecticut. Sardis was the youngest of five children. He was placed in charge of his sister Sophia, who married Rutherford Hayes; became one of the family, and lived with them at Dummerston, Vermont, until 1817, when he accompanied them in their emigration to Ohio.

In Vermont young Birchard acquired the rudiments of an English education, by irregular attendance at such schools as were in existence at that day in the coun- try districts of Vermont. He became, for a boy of his age, an expert hunter and horseman, and gained some knowlege of business in the store of his brother-in-law, Mr. Hayes.

In Ohio he worked with his brother-in- law in building, farming, driving and tak- ing care of stock, and employing all his spare hours in hunting. He was able with his rifle to supply his and other families with turkeys and venison.

In 1822 his brother-in-law, Mr. Hayes, died, leaving a widow and two young children and a large, unsettled business. Mr. Birchard, who was then only twenty- one years old, at once assumed the duties of head of the family, and applied him- self diligently to the management of the unsettled affairs of his brother-in-law's es- tate, and to the care of the household.

Inheriting from his father what was con- sidered a handsome start for a young man, with a jovial and friendly disposition, fond of wild sports and wild company, with no one to look to as entitled to control or ad- vise him, his future might well be regarded 1

with apprehension. He was then a slen- der, delicate, handsome youth, with en- gaging and popular manners, and a favor- ite among the young people of the new country. Warmly attached to his sister and her children, he devoted himself to them and their interests, and was the main- stay of the family.

While yet a boy he was hired to help drive hogs to supply the first settlers of Fort Ball, now Tiffin, in 1817. The men in charge were hard drinkers, and soon after leaving Delaware the whole management depended upon Mr. Birchard. It was in the bitterly cold weather of early winter. The streams were bridgeless, and the roads all but impassable, but with praiseworthy energy and zeal he pushed forward to the Tyamochtee, where he delivered the drove to a party of Fort Ball settlers. This was Mr. Birchard's first visit to the Sandusky. He saw Lower Sandusky for the first time in September, 1824. His companion was Benjamin Powers, afterwards for many years a successful merchant and banker at Delaware. The outfit of the young men was a little extra clothing and a jug of fine brandy. They travelled in a one-horse spring wagon. The custom which univer- sally prevailed, of acquaintances drinking to each other's health whenever they met, made the brandy an important part of the outfit. At Fort Ball they met Erastus Rowe, and had a jolly time, to which the brandy contributed freely. At Fremont they stopped at Leason's tavern, a log house which stood where Shomo's block now stands. The village population at that time numbered about two hundred. While stopping here they made the ac- quaintance of George Olmstead and Judge Howland. Mr. Birchard and his travelling companion went to Portland the following day, and on their return Mr. Birchard bought a drove of fat hogs, which, as soon as the weather was cold enough, he drove

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

to Baltimore. Mr. Birchard has narrated two incidents of the trip: At Wheeling it was necessary to swim the hogs across, and they came near losing them all by the swift current of the river. By great exer- tions, and at considerable risk, they got all but half a dozen safely over. They were overtaken by a tall, fine-looking gen- tleman on horseback, who had also a car- riage drawn by four horses, and two at- tendants on saddle-horses. The gentleman helped Mr. Birchard get his hogs out of the way, chatted with him about the state of the market, and advised him as to the best way to dispose of his drove when he got them to Baltimore. He learned that the gentleman was General Jackson, on his way to Washington after the Presiden- tial election of 1824, in which he received the highest vote, but was not finally the successful candidate.

In the summer of 1825, while mowing in the hay-field, he was seriously injured in health by over-exertion. He never entirely recovered, but remained in poor health dur- ing the remainder of his life. In the win- ter of 1825-26 he had an attack pro- nounced consumption, and it was sup- posed he would not live till spring. He however thought hopefully of his condi- tion, and spoke of a horseback trip to Ver- mont. One day he heard two men at work in the room below him, discussing his case. One of them said: "It is strange how Birchard is deceived; he thinks he will make a long journey soon; but the only journey he will make is when he leaves his house, feet foremost, for the graveyard." But the cheerful disposition of Mr. Birch- ard, assisted by the elasticity of his consti- tution, carried him through. In May he made a horseback trip to Vermont, where he remained till the approach of cold weather, and then travelled South to Georgia, where he remained till the spring of 1827. Having recovered his health he

went to New York for the purpose of lay- ing in his first stock of dry goods. He was without money, and had no acquaintances. Passing about the streets he fell into con- versation with a young merchant named William P. Dixon, a stranger to him, con- nected with the firm of Amos Palmer & Co., to whom he developed his plans and explained his condition. Dixon told him he would sell him all the goods he wanted in his line and would recommend him to others. His stock was made up and shipped to Cleveland, he accompanying the goods. Mr. Birchard's plan was to sell to laborers on the Ohio Canal, then being built from Cleveland southward. He followed the canal into the 'Tuscarawas Valley, but became dissatisfied and sold part of his goods to another trader, and with the remainder opened a store at Fort Ball (now Tiffin). Here he remained, trading successfully till December, when he decided to remove to Lower Sandusky. He purchased the stock of Richard Sears, who had made his fortune trading with the Indians.

Merchants, at that time, paid very little cash for produce, and consequently re- ceived very little cash for goods, except from the Indians. For clothing, broad- cloth, Kentucky jeans, and linsey cloth was generally in use. The Indians bought fine blue cloth, Mackinaw blankets, beads, powder and lead. A great deal of corn was received in payment for goods. This was traded to the distilleries for whiskey, and the whiskey was shipped to Buffalo and sold.

Mr. Birchard received the Indian trade to a large extent by refusing to sell them whiskey. At the end of about four years he had accumulated about ten thousand dollars, which at that time was considered a large amount of money. He was mak- ing arrangements to retire, but in 1831 : was induced into a larger business than

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ever. In partnership with Esbon Husted and Rodolphus Dickinson, under the firm name of R. Dickinson & Co., the largest store in Ohio, west of Cleveland and north of Columbus, was opened. The yearly sales amounted to fifty thousand dollars.

Senecas, Ottawas, Wyandots, and a few Delawares, traded in Lower Sandusky at .this time, and the store was often full of customers from the reservations. Mr. Birchard found the Indians in his busi- ness transactions generally very honest. They would not steal as much as the same number of whites with the same opportu- nities. He often had his store-room full of Indians sleeping at night, with no watch or guard.

In 1835 Esbon Husted died, and his place in Mr. Birchard's firm was taken by George Grant, who had been a clerk in the establishment since the organization of the firm. In 1841 Mr. Grant died and the firm was dissolved, the business being settled by Mr. Birchard.

Mr. Grant was one of the most promis- ing business men in the place. He was : tall, slender, of fine address, and full of life and ambition. He died young, aged only thirty-two years.

Mr. Birchard's connection with banking is mentioned under the proper head. He made large investments in wild land which, as the county improved, rapidly multiplied his wealth.

Mr Birchard was one of the few men who, with increasing wealth, became more generous and public spirited. His good works are conspicuous. He advanced by means of his wealth and influence every public enterprise, and so many were his munificent gifts that he fully deserves the title often given him-"the city's bene- factor." His business operations stimu- lated commerce between this point and Buffalo. He worked unceasingly to se- cure the necessary legislation for the mac-

adamizing of the Western Reserve and Maumee road. The Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland railroad enterprise received his strongest efforts.

In politics Mr. Birchard was an enthu- siastic Whig, and after the formation of the Republican party became an earnest supporter of its principles. During the war he used his influence to encourage enlistments, and when money was wanted he was never appealed to in vain. He was the first Ohio purchaser of Govern- ment bonds, in 1862.

Mr. Birchard's private charities were large, and his public gifts are a monument to his memory. He had a deep sympa- thy for the poor, and could not bear to know suffering without offering relief. During the last years of his life, when poor health required confinement at home, he left with Mr. Miller, cashier of the bank, standing instructions to contribute liberally to worthy charities. His tender- ness and solicitude for the unfortunate is illustrated by a letter which Mr. Miller still preserves. It was written on a cold, stormy day in early winter, and reads as follows:

MR MILLER:

What a storm! I fear many poor people are suf- fering. If you hear of any such, give liberally for me.

S. BIRCHARD.

The Fremont Messenger, in an obituary sketch, sums up Mr. Birchard's benefac- tions, as follows :

About three years since Mr. Birchard presented to the city of Fremont the large park lying between Birchard avenue and Croghan street, and the small triangular park at the junction of Birchard and Buck- land avenues.

. In 1873 he set apart property amounting to fifty thousand dollars, for the purpose of establishing a public library in Fremont. He contributed from this fund, for the purchase of a library, about one third of the amount required to obtain for the public the square on which old Fort Stephenson formerly stood, and was thus mainly instrumental in securing that famous historical locality to the people of Fre-

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY

mont forever. His gifts to the city are estimated at seventy thousand dollars, or about one-fifth of his estate.

In addition to the above gifts made during his lifetime, we understand he made in his will the fol- lowing bequests : Five thousand dollars to Oberlin college, five thousand dollars to Honie Missions, one thousand dollars to the Fremont Ladies' Relief So- ciety, and one thousand dollars to the Conger Fund. Mr. Birchard was benevolent to a degree and in a manner known only to his most intimate friends. Aid in necessity was extended to many when none knew it except the recipients, and perhaps a friend whom he consulted. Mr. Birchard was especially devoted to the fine arts, and during his eventful life made a fine collection of oil paintings, which will eventually form one of the attractions of the "Birch- ard Library."

In May, 1857, Mr. Birchard became a member of the Presbyterian church of Fremont, and remained in its communion all his life. He contributed con- stantly to its incidental and benevolent funds. He also contributed seven thousand dollars to the erec- tion of the new edifice occupied by the congregation. In this he took especial satisfaction. Though a member of this church, he frequently aided other congregations without distinction of denomination. He gave most satisfactory evidence of sincerity in his religious experience, and died in perfect compos- ure of mind. He had talked much with his friends concerning death, and seemed to be altogether ready.

Mr. Birchard was characteristically hos- pitable, warin-hearted, and friendly. He was one of the marked characters in the history of the county. His life was fortu- nately spared to ripe old age. He died at 12 o'clock M., January 21, 1874, aged seventy-three years and six days.

GENERAL JOHN BELL.

General John Bell was a native of Penns- borough, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, and was born on the 19th of June, 1796. When he was but fourteen years old his father emigrated to Ohio, and located, in 1810, in Greene county, near Xenia. While here he laid out a village, which, in honor of him as a proprietor, was called Bellbrook.

On the 28th of March, 1816, the subject of this sketch was married to Miss Mar- garet Masten, of Greene county.

In 1823 he visited Lower Sandusky, and after having made arrangements for a resi- dence, moved his family here in the year following. He was a millwright by trade, and upon his arrival he immediately en- gaged in the milling business, which he followed for some seven years. The first wool-carding machine in this vicinity was brought here and put into operation by Mr. Bell, in the year 1827. Referring to this fact, the Hon. Homer Everett, in a historical lecture delivered at Birchard's Hall, in February, 1860, facetiously re- marks :

The judge (at that time probate judge) used to pull wool over the cards, and learned the science so well that he has since somehow succeeded in pulling wool over the eyes of the people, till they sent him to Congress and to many other good places; and he still seems to hold on. He sticks the wool on by an adhesive plaster, called doing about right, in a very kind manner.

Leaving the mill, he entered into exten- sive speculations in wheat and flour, ship- ing large quantities to Venice and Buffalo. After a number of years spent in this busi- ness, he turned his attention to merchan- dising, which he followed for some eight years. He had quite extensive dealings with the Indians, with whom he was a special favorite. Time and again his house was literally filled and surrounded by the red men, in each of whom he and his family recognized a friendly guard,-not an ene- my. These and similar scenes are, to-day, yet vivid in the memory of his descendants.

By a course of fair and honorable deal- ing from the time he first visited the place until he ceased to move among us, he ac- quired a high degree of regard and con- sideration on the part of all the citizens. This feeling of respect and esteem went on increasing in volume and intensity while he lived, and only culminated when the portals of the tomb shut him out for- ever from mortal sight.

For a considerable length of time he

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

was the Government land agent at Lower Sandusky, and also superintendent of the Western Reserve and Maumee road, be- tween Lower Sandusky and Perrysburg; and it was through him, as agent, that the Government lands along this road were disposed of to settlers for the construction of the same.

Mr. Bell was deeply interested in devel- oping the resources of the country, and on all occasions manifested a strong desire to build up the town and to advance its material prosperity; and, disregardful of his own interests, this cardinal purpose was kept steadily in view during his whole life. In the meetings of the people for the ad- vancement of public improvements and the promotion of the public welfare, he was always a conspicuous and leading actor.

He was the first mayor of Lower San- dusky, and also the first in the same office of the city of Fremont, to which position he was repeatedly re-elected. For three or four terms he served the people as pro- bate judge; also for a number of years he was a justice of the peace. In 1838 he was appointed postmaster, which position he held till 1844. Subsequently he was a member of the House of Representatives in the Ohio Legislature, to which he was several times re-elected; and afterwards, in 1851, elected to Congress. During the Toledo war of 1835, Mr. Bell was the commander of the Ohio forces, being at that time a major-general of the State militia, having received his commission March 1, 1834.

He was one of the most popular men in the county, as evinced by the fact that, whenever a candidate for an office, he ran ahead of his ticket in almost every in- stance.

There was one striking trait in his char- acter that deserves special mention in this connection. In all of his public service,

as well as in his private life, he was pre- eminently a peace-maker. He was always in for a compromise if it could possibly be effected, rather than to press a matter to litigation. His great aim seemed to be to aid people to keep out of the clutches of the law, and his advice in legal matters was always given to promote this end. So implicit was the confidence of the peo- ple in his judgment and honesty, that his counsel was almost invariably followed, and many a wrangling lawsuit was lost to unprincipled pettifoggers through the sen- sible, manly advice, " Settle your difficulty b. tween yourselves by yielding each a lit- tle, and be brethren."

General Bell was among the earliest set- tlers in Fremont, and, along with others, could tell of those deprivations, hardships, and dangers which constitute the life of the pioneer. The actual history of any of these worthy veterans would far surpass in interest and grandeur even the recitals of a modern romance.

And has the West no story Of deathless deeds sublime? Go ask yon shining river!

Up to the day of his fatal illness the General was remarkably healthy, and, al- though he had outlived the number of years allotted to the human race, he had the appearance of being much younger. He passed away from the scenes of earth on the 4th day of May, 1869, at the advanced age of seventy-four years. He was a Mason and an Odd Fellow.

The companion of his life had preceded him by about ten years. She died on the 29th of May, 1859.

The family comprised four children, --- three sons and one daughter. The daugh- terfis' now Mr. John M. Smith, of Fre- mont. The only surviving son is Charles H. Bell, also of Fremont.

Both Mr. Bell and his wife united with the Protestant Methodist church at an early

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History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers, Part 81

Author: Everett, Homer, 1813-1887 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : H.Z. Williams Number of Pages: 1040

Author: Everett, Homer, 1813-1887
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : H.Z. Williams
Number of Pages: 1040