History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers, Part 85

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 85

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Shortly after coming to Lower Sandusky Mr. Justice was chosen by the Legislature of Ohio one of the associate judges of the court of common pleas of Sandusky county, which office he filled with singular promptness and fidelity for a number of years, under the first Constitution of the State.

For a period of perhaps ten years Judge Justice discharged gratuitously and effi- ciently the duties of a member of the board of education of the city of Fre- mont, acting most of the time as treasurer of the board, a position for which he was

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peculiarly and well qualified. He was also mayor of the village for a term.

When the First National Bank of Fre- mont was organized, Judge Justice placed some capital in the stock of that Institu- tion, and on account of his well-known financial ability and integrity, was one of the first board of directors, and he held this position by successive re elections until the time of his death, which oc- curred on the 28th day of May, 1873, at the ripe age of seventy-eight years, leaving a large estate for the support of his wife and to descend to his four adult children.

In person Judge Justice was a man of impressive presence and strong magnetic power, of large size, weighing over two hundred pounds, light hair and complex- ion, blue eyes, and full round head and face. In business promptness and integ- rity no citizen surpassed him. His punc- tuality in the performance of all contracts and promises was a marked feature in his character, and his wonderful industry and activity in all business affairs continued until the disability caused by his last sick- ness compelled him to reluctantly cease his labors. Those who enter the First National Bank of Fremont may see an admirable portrait of Judge Justice on the south wall of the office, which was presented by his children. The picture is the work of his only living son, Milton J. Justice, who is a natural artist and has set forth his father's features with wonder- ful accuracy.

The wife of the subject of the foregoing sketch was not only one of the pioneers of this county but possessed virtues in a remarkable degree. She was born in Huntingdon county, State of Pennsylva- nia, on the 13th day of October, 1800, the daughter of David Moore and sister of Mrs. William Fields, now a widow residing in this county, and also sister of the late

worthy citizens James and John Moore, of Ballville township, so well remembered and esteemed by the people of the county as men of high merit and success in busi- ness and in usefulness to the community.

At the age of fourteen years Miss Eliza Moore emigrated with her parents from Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, to Ross county, Ohio. Her father, David Moore, was of full Scotch blood, and her mother was born in Pennsylvania. In 1820 she was married to James Justice, near Chillicothe, and in 1822 emigrated. thence to Sandusky county, with her hus- band and only child and settled in Ball- ville township. Her father had preceded her in coming into the county and was then engaged in the erection of a grist- and saw-mill on the Sandusky River, in what is now known as Ballville village. But Mr. Moore had not then brought his family into the county. The journey from Chillicothe to Ballville was made by Mrs. Justice on horseback. The child, Nancy, she brought with her, is now the wife of Dr. James W. Wilson, president of the First National Bank of Fremont. The way was through an almost unbroken wil- derness.

The inhabitants of this northwestern portion of the State were very few and very poor in the goods of this world, but they were rich in that trust in God, irrepressible cheerfulness, and indomitable courage which distinguished the hardy pioneers of that period in this portion of the State. After arriving at Ballville, Mrs. Justice passed a short time in a fisherman's shanty, until a log cabin was finished, in the per- formance of her domestic duties, with scanty means, and for nine months she never saw the face of a white woman. In this shanty the only fire-place was a heap of stones in one corner to prevent the fire from burning the wall. Above the fire- place was an opening in the roof for the

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escape of the smoke. If the rain put out the fire, Mrs. Justice would be compelled to go a mile and a quarter to the nearest neighbor's to obtain coals to rekindle her fire. Among her cooking utensils she had what was called a Dutch oven, an iron shallow kettle, with an iron lid or cover, in which all her baking was done, by setting · the kettle over coals and piling coals on the cover. She often preserved fire in a stormy time by placing brands and coals in this oven, and placing it out of the reach of the rain in the back part of the shanty, and thus saved the time and trouble of going to the neighbor's for fire. Mrs. Justice survived her husband until the 17th day of October, 1876, when she died at the advanced age of seventy-six years and four days. Her remains now rest by the side of those of her husband, marked by a beautiful granite monument, in that beautiful resting place, Oakland cemetery.

This venerable and respected pair reared a family whose standing in society testify to the merits of their parents. The family consisted of three daughters and one son, all surviving them. Another son was born to them, named Granville Moore, who died at Lower Sandusky at the age of six- teen years. The names of the surviving children are: Mrs. Nancy E. Wilson, wife of Dr. James W. Wilson (this daughter was born in Chillicothe, and was the child Mrs. Justice brought on horseback from that place); Minerva E., wife of Hon. Ho- mer Everett ; Mrs. S. Eliza Failing, wife of Dr. John W. Failing, all now residing in Fremont, and Milton J. Justice, now a res- ident of Lucas county, Ohio.

On the 12th of October, 1870, this then venerable husband and wife cele- brated their golden wedding. The oc- casion was of peculiar interest to a large assemblage of friends there present to witness the ceremonies and festiv-

ities. Among the other pleasant events of that evening was one of peculiar interest and pleasure to all present, but especially to Mrs. Justice. This was the presentation from the children by Rev. R. L. Chitten- den of a beautiful gold ring, on the in- side of which neatly engraved was the sacred word, "Mother." This was surely a most fitting and significant expression of enduring love and filial affection of the children. Surely this pair of pioneers were honorable, and honored by society for their virtues while living, and honored in and by their posterity, who live to revere their memories and imitate their virtues.

It is worthy of note, that Mrs. Justice had received from her father as part of her outfit, a set of Windsor chairs, painted yel- low, a bureau, a table, stand, and bed- stead, all of solid black walnut and orna- mented with brass knobs or handles, which she preserved to the close of her life and which are still kept by her daugh- ter, in the family, at her old homstead, now occupied by Mrs. Homer Everett. The chairs were used by the aged couple at their golden wedding above spoken of, and illustrates that care and economy of Mrs. Justice which contributed so much to the accumulation of wealth and the comfort of her descendants.

JACOB BURGNER

was born in Thompson township, Seneca county, Ohio, November 5, 1833. His parents were of Swiss descent. His father, Peter Burgner, came from Lancaster coun- ty, Pennsylvania, in 1812, at the age of nine years, to Stark county, Ohio. Here he twice helped clear up a home and worked several years in the construction of the Ohio and Erie canal. In 1830 he married Miss Catharine Hollinger, and moved to Seneca county, where he en-

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

tered a quarter-section of heavily timbered land two miles west of Flat Rock. This he cleared up and improved with unremit- ting toil, making it a comfortable home for himself and family for thirty-three years.

Jacob was the eldest of seven children, Sve sons and two daughters. His first teacher was John Grimes. Being assisted at home, and stimulated by rewards from teachers and parents, he made rapid pro- gress in his studies, and committed to memory many pages of his text-books, but his mind was often overtasked and his health injured by close confinement in the crowded, unventilated log school- house where he spent the first twelve years of his school life. He attended several Sunday-schools, read and re-read every library book and newspaper that came in his way, and recited from mem- ory about one-half of the New Testament. When he was eleven years old his mother died, and this event led him to look too much on the dark side of life. At the age of sixteen he became a member of the United Brethren church, under the minis- try of Rev. J. C. Bright, and he was soon after elected class-leader and Sunday- school superintendent, offices which he held at intervals for many years afterwards. At the age of seventeen he taught a com- mon school in his father's district. and during the next five winters he taught in the neighboring schools of Thompson town- ship. His wages meanwhile rose from ten to thirty-two dollars per month. He was a careful reader of the Ohio Journal of Education. The summer seasons were spent at hard work on his father's farm. From 1852 till 1856 he attended school at Otterbein University, and at the Seneca County Academy, Republic, Ohio.

In the fall of 1856 he returned to Otter- bein University, where he remained three full years and completed his course ofstudy.

On the 8th of September, 1859, he was married to Miss Rebecca M. Miller, and soon after came to Fremont and taught the East grammar school under Don A. Pease superintendent. The next year he taught the Maumee grammar school. In the fall of 1861 he returned to Fremont and taught the high school in a small brick building in the rear of the old Presbyterian church, Rev. E. Bushnell being superintendent. In the fall of 1862 he was elected super- intendent of the Port Clinton schools, and in 1864 of the Green Spring union schools. Finding that his health was in- jured by confinement to the school-room, he began farming in the spring of 1863. Here he has followed farming during the summer season and teaching country schools during the winter for the past eighteen years. In the summer of 1864 Mr. Burgner served as clerk of company H, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth regi- ment, Ohio National Guards, about four months at Fort Ethan Allen, Virginia. In April, 1865, he was elected justice of the peace of Ballville township, which office he held six years. Of Mr. Burgner's brothers, one died in infancy, David and Joseph in early manhood, and Dr. Samuel H. Burgner, of Bellevue, at the age of twenty-eight, Lav gan only daughter, Orie, an orphan His sister Mary mar- ried Henry Biechler, and lives at York Center; his sister Lizzie married Joseph B. Maurer and lives near Monticello, In- diana. His father, Peter Burgner, was three times married, and died at the age of seventy-four.

Jacob Burgner's family consists of his wife and three children-Kittie, Linneus and Louis. His first daughter, Alice, died in infancy. He took in her place his brother's child, Orie, at the same early age, maintained and educated her, and she is now about completing a course of study at Oberlin college.

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

In the fall of 1853 Jacob Burgner took his first lessons in phonography, of Charles S. Royce, at a teacher's institute, held at Republic, Ohio. The novelty, simplicity, and brevity of phonetic shorthand com- pletely captivated him, and he at once be- came wedded to it for life. He bought The American Manual of Phonography, by Elias Longley, (Ben Pitman's system, Cincinnati, Ohio), and mastered its con- tents. He then wrote a shorthand letter to Mr. Royce, and received a similar one in return. While a student at Republic, Ohio, he taught several classes in pho- nography, and began the study of Ben Pitman's Reporter's Companion. This he mastered, column after column, until he could read at a glance, or write in- stantly, the briefest outline for more than four thousand of the most frequently re- curring words and phrases in the English language. But it was not until after he had taught several classes in phonography at Otterbein University, and had made many repeated efforts and failures at reporting sermons and lectures, that, in 1857, he acquired the ability to write legibly with the rapidity of speech. Mr. Burgner's first verbatim report was one of Bishop Davis' sermons, and it was soon after hon- ored with the dignity of print by the Rev. Alexander Campbell, who solicited and published it in the Millenial Harbinger, Volume I., No. 12.

On coming to Fremont, in 1859, Mr. Burgner gave a short course of lessons in phonography to the teachers of the Union Schools, and in the spring of 1861 fur- nished the Fremont papers with a verbatim report of the speeches of Hon. Homer Everett, Colonel R. P. Buckland, and Rev. H. Lang, at a flag presentation to the Seventy-second Regiment, Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry. This was the first sten- ographic reporting done in Sandusky county.

At the May term, 1871, of the court of common pleas for Sandusky county, Mr. Burgner made the first stenographic report of a law suit, in the case of Mrs. Harriet Seager vs. J. S. Lutz, at request of the plaintiff.

In June, 1876, he reported verbatim for the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Fre- mont papers the first speech of General R. B. Hayes, after his nomination for the Presidency, and, in 1877, the speeches of many distinguished generals of the army, at the grand reunion of Hayes' regiment, the Twenty-third, at Fremont, Ohio.

At the March term, 1880, Jacob Burg- ner and L. E. Stetler were appointed . official stenographers for Sandusky county court of common pleas, for three years, by Judge J. H. Doyle, of Toledo, and they then jointly reported the proceedings in the Pelter Welch murder trial.

STEPHEN BUCKLAND AND FAMILY.

This highly esteemed citizen of Fremont was born at Hudson, Portage county (since included in Summit county) on the 16th day of January, 1814. He is the son of Ralph Buckland and Ann (Kent) Buck- land, of Connecticut, and of English an- cestry. His father died before he was born, and was buried at Ravenna, Portage county, Ohio. Stephen left home at about six years of age and became a member of the family of Charles King, whose wife was sister to Mr. Buckland's mother. Mr. King moved to Brooklyn while Stephen was still quite young, and engaged in the manufacture of castor oil, and there man- ufactured the first castor oil made in the West. In this business young Buckland assisted as he could, and became quite an efficient help for Mr. King. At the age of about fifteen years young Buckland

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went home to live with his mother, who, meantime, had married Dr. Luther Han- chet, at Middlebury, Portage county, Ohio. While at Mr. King's young Buckland often visited his mother at Middlebury, and in doing so passed over the site of the pres- ent flourishing city of Akron. The coun- try where Akron now stands was then a wilderness without inhabitants or improve- ment, unless a hunter's cabin situated there can be called an improvement. This was about the year 1821 or 1822, and before the Ohio canal was located. Ste- phen was in the vicinity, and afterwards witnessed the construction of the canal and subsequent growth of the city. He determined, as all young men should, to learn a trade, and according to this deter- mination he learned the cabinet and chair- making business in the establishment of Mr. Harry Purdy, in Middlebury. From there he went to Akron, and after working at his trade for a time rented the factory at lock number four, on the canal, which furnished water-power for the establish- ment. After remaining in this business a few years he went to Canfield and en- gaged as clerk in the mercantile house of Kent & Lockwood. While so engaged he made the acquaintance of Miss Lucy Whittlesey, daughter of the late Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, so well known and es- teemed in the State of Ohio. He was married to this lady on the 11th day of October, A. D. 1838. Soon after the marriage the husband and wife removed to Edinburg, in Portage county, where Mr. Buckland engaged in merchandising, in which pursuit he continued until 1850.

Mrs. Lucy (Whittlesey) Buckland, the wife of Stephen Buckland, was born at Can- field on the 22d day of December, A. D. 1817. The children of this worthy hus- band and wife were all born while they were residing at Edinburg. In the year 1850 the family came to Fremont and set-

tled here. Soon after his arrival Mr. Buck- land formed a partnership in the drug and book business with C. R. McCulloch, and for some time the firm did a prosper- ous business. In 1855 this partnership was amicably dissolved and Mr. Buckland opened a drug and book store on his own account, in which business he has contin- ued to the present time, either alone or in company with his sons. To those who know Stephen Buckland no praise is nec- essary. His name with them is a synonym of all that is sincere, truthful, honest, and patriotic. Mr. Buckland now conducts the business he has so long been engaged in at Fremont, in company with his wor- thy son, Ralph Pomeroy Buckland, named after General R. P. Buckland.

DAVID DEAL ..

The only survivor of the War of 1812, who continues to reside in Fremont is David Deal. He was born near Harris- burg, Pennsylvania, in October, 1793. In his younger years he took considerable in- terest in hunting and sporting. In 1813 he was drafted and placed in Colonel Ste- phenson's regiment, under General Har- rison's command. He was with the army at Fort Meigs and Upper Sandusky, and was at the former place during the siege. He was discharged at Fort Seneca shortly after the unsuccessful attack on Fort Meigs. He married, in 1814, Magdaline Overmyer, daughter of Peter Overmyer. In 1829 they came to this county and settled in Jackson township. Mr. Deal is now feeble, but retains correct impressions of military operations in the Northwest during the period of the second war with England.

TOWNSHIPS OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

SANDUSKY.

THIS township originally included all that part of the county west of the Sandusky River, together with parts of Seneca and Ottawa counties. Its organi- zation as a township of Huron county in 1815 has already been given in connection with the history of Fremont, which, until recently, was included within its limits. The territory was reduced to its present boundaries in 1878, when Fremont town- ship was established.

The sand ridges along the Sandusky River, and extending through the central part of the township, were the chosen lo- cations of the first settlers, although the soil on these sand-bars is inferior to the vegetable mould on Muskallonge or on Lit- tle Mud Creek. During the early period of settlement, the western part being a con- tinuous swamp, the first pioneers had no choice in the matter of location. Besides, numerous small Indian clearings along the river prepared the way for white occu- pation. The narrative of the two first white families-the Whittaker and Wil- liams families-is fully given in connec- tion with the Indian history and discussion of land titles.

Along Muskallonge a road was opened out and clearings commenced about 1827, and the first improvement on Little Mud Creek, so far as can be learned, was made about 1829.

On the dry lands along the east side of the Sandusky is an extensive chain of

earthworks. One of the mounds on the river bank was excavated some years ago and a skeleton found between plates of mica. These sepulchres of the dis- tinguished dead of a civilized and proba- bly æsthetic race, which has perished, not only from the earth, but from history, fur- nish interesting data for speculation. The chain of enclosures has almost been ob- literated by the gradual change of the river channel. Here we have an illustra- tion of the effect of progressive civiliza- tion. The Mound Builders, as is shown by the location of these earth-works, and the Indians who followed them, chose the dry sand-bars for places of residence. The early white settlers followed the ex- ample of the races which had vacated. But times have changed; axes, plows, and tiles have converted the marshy forest, worthless years ago, into fields far more productive than the sand acres along the river ridges.

Sandusky township is bounded on the north by Rice, on the east by Riley, on the south by Ballville and Fremont, and on the west by Washington.

The principal streams on the west side of the river are Muskallonge and Little Mud Creek, and on the east side, Bark Creek, none of which afford available water-power for mills. This, however, was no great inconvenience, as the mills on the Sandusky River at Ballville and Fre- mont were easily reached. The celebrated

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HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

"Black Swamp" region begins at Muskal- longe and takes in that part of the town- ship lying west of this stream.

SETTLEMENT.

The settlement of Sandusky township was not as rapid as its location would lead us to expect. Ballville was improved be- fore Sandusky, and the east part of the county was filling up rapidly before any- thing more than scattering settlements were made in this township. Why this was the case is an easy problem when the miasmatic, sickly state of the country west of the river is taken into account. Mus- kallonge was dammed up by fallen timber, and in consequence a wide tract of coun- try was wet and uninviting. No roads were opened up in the western part. On the whole there was little encouragement to settle.

Except the Whittaker and Williams families, Reuben Patterson was the first settler of Sandusky township who re- mained to make a permanent improve- ment and home. There were more squat- ters down along the river than perhaps any other place in the county, but most of them, being unable to enter land, deserted their squatter openings and pushed on farther west. Mr. Patterson's family con- sisted of a wife and six children-Alvord, Eveline, Danforth, Julius, Harriet, and Caroline. The family left New York in a wagon in the fall of 1816, and came to Huron, then the stopping-place of so many Western emigrants. At the open- ing of the following spring they removed to the peninsula, but sickness so afflicted them that the new home with its improve- ments was deserted. Mr. Patterson made a trip to the Maumee in search of a home and there made the acquaintance of Cap- tain Rumery, who persuaded him to come to Lower Sandusky. When the family ar- rived from the peninsula no room in which to put their goods could be found, except

a log house in the fort, which had been used during the war by the officers. Esquire Morrison occupied one end and Mr. Baker the other; the Patterson family were crowded into the middle room, the floor of which was made of clay. A bed- stead was placed in a corner, and on this, during the day, all the clothing was piled, and at night beds were made on the ground. One of the gates thrown down before the fire-place furnished one small piece of floor, which contributed to the comfort of this large family in a small room in wet weather. Mr. Patterson and his sons set to work and cleared a piece of land on the west side of the river, near the forks of the road, and in the spring of 1819 the family moved into an unfinished cabin on this place. The cracks were filled afterwards with mortar made of clay and straw, and a chimney made of logs heavily interlaid with clay mortar was erected on the outside of the house. The location of the cabin was on the Whittaker Reserve, a part of which Mr. Patterson rented. When the Government sale of lands was advertised at Delaware, Mrs. Patterson took her little bag of silver coin, mounted her horse, and in company with Lysander C. Ball and James Whittaker, went to Delaware. She purchased what was for years known as the Patterson farm, on the east side of the river. Here Mr. Patterson lived until his death in 1841, having survived his wife one year. The living representatives of the family are: Eveline, widow of L. C. Ball ; Julius, and Harriet, widow of James Moore.

L. C. Ball was a settler in Sandusky township in 1823. He left his home in New York in 1818, with a view to locating in the West, Detroit being his objective point. Being without means, he em- ployed the natural method of travelling. High water intercepted his progress at Lower Sandusky, where he found em-

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ployment at general work. He soon en- gaged at the then profitable trade of black- smithing in James Kirk's shop, and after- wards built a shop of his own. In 1823 Mr. Ball married Eveline Patterson, and settled on a farm just below the corpora- tion, where he lived, raised a family, and died. Mrs. Ball remains on the home- stead. The children are: Eveline, Al- vira, Thaddeus, Oscar, Lysander C., and Sarah (Emerson).

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History of Sandusky County, Ohio : with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens and pioneers, Part 85

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