History of the city of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio, Part 89

Author: Waggoner, Clark, 1820-1903
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: New York and Toledo : Munsell & Company
Number of Pages: 1408

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In accordance with such instructions, sur- veys were made and a plan adopted, which consisted of a Straight channel from the mouth of the Maumee River, to the West and North of Turtle Island, passing through North Cape, to the Lake, the same to be with revetments and dikes. For the prosecution of this plan a small appropriation was made in 1884, but was not expended. In 1887, the Board of Govern- ment Engineers so changed the plan and route for the proposed Straight channel, as to locate it direct from the month of the River to the Lake, passing Turtle Island on the South and East, the work to be with revetments and dikes, as found necessary. Work has not been com- menced on this plan, for want of necessary ap- propriation, which will probably be made at the session of Congress beginning in Decem- ber, 1887. The matter is one of deep concern to Toledo and the vast country looking to that port as a commercial outlet.

The total amount appropriated for the im- provement of Toledo Harbor from 1866 to June 30, 1885, was $704,446.19.

A brief statement of the several Harbor im- provements within the Toledo Congressional District, as now constituted (comprising the Counties of Lncas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Erie), will not be out of place.

Taking the Harbors in the chronological order of their improvement, that at the mouth of Huron River, Erie County, will come first. Work upon it was commenced in 1826, when $5,000 was appropriated for the purpose. The

improvement consists in the building of two parallel piers of crib-work, filled with loose stone and covered with plank, which form the sides of a Canal or artificial Harbor. This ex- tends from the mouth of the River for 1,040 feet, until it reaches a depth of 12 feet of water in the Lake, and is 120 feet in width ; the chan- nel being 12 feet in depth. The work was com- pleted in 1866, since which time minor repairs have been mado from time to time. There is a Light-house on the head of the West pier, with a light of fixed white of the fourth order. For a period of about 35 years, Huron occupied a prominent position in Lake commerce, much of that time having more traffic than any other port on Lake Erie West of Cleveland. For this, it was indebted chiefly to the trade of the Milan Ship Canal from 1839 until about 1856 -- Milan for much of that time being the largest primary grain market on the entire chain of Lakes. With the opening of the Lake Shore Railway, in 1852, Milan's trade fell off, being followed by the closing and abandonment of the Canal, whereby the commerce of Hnron was made very small. The revenue collected at the latter place in the year ended June 30, 1878, was $64.85; the number of entrances and clearances of vessels, 252; with a total tonnage of 23,670. Appropriations for the Harbor at Huron had then been as follows:

1826

$5,000

1838

$ 5,000

1828

4,413

1844.

5,000

1829

5,935

1852 10,000

1830

1,880

1866 39,000

1831

3,480

1874.

1,500

1832

1,500

1875.

1,000

1834

6,700

1878

1,000

1836

4,300

1837

2,565

Total

$98,273

It may here be added, that for many years, commencing about 1826, Huron was the chief point West of Buffalo for Ship-building, espe- cially for Steamboats ; as Milan also was for Sail Vessels during the operation of the Canal.

The second Harbor improvement within the territory named, was that at the mouth of Ver- million River, which is substantially the same as that at Huron, the parallel piers extending for a distance of 1,250 feet; being 100 feet apart; and reaching 12 feet of water. The work was commenced in 1836. During the year ended June 30, 1878, the revenue collec- tions amounted to $39.80, and there were 83 arrivals and clearances at Vermillion, with a tonnage of 8,314. Appropriations were made for the Harbor as follows :

1836 $10,000 00

1874 . $ 3,000 00

1837

20,000 00

1875 __. 10,000 00

1838.

23,626 57

1876 __

5,000 00

1866.

15,315 74

1878_

4,000 00

1872

5,000 00

1873.

12,000 00

Total. -$107,942 31

The main inducement to the first improve- ment of this Harbor consisted of the Vermillion

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HISTORY OF TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY.

and Ashland Railroad, which was projected at the time of commencement of the work at the mouth of the River. The construction of the Railway was commenced, and for a time vigor- ously prosecuted, with high hopes of suceess ; but in the financial crash following 1837, it went down, without any portion of the line having been completed.

Next in order comes the Sandusky Harbor, the first appropriation for which was made in 1844. The plan of improvement consisted of dredging out the natural Ship-channel through Sandusky Bay to the East of Johnson's Island, known as the West Channel. The revenue collections for the year ended June 30, 1878, amounted to $4,242.95; the entrances and clearances being 3,172, with a total tonnage of 550,603. Appropriations were made as follows :

1844

$15,000

1873

$25,000

1852

15,000

1874

25.000

1864

10,000

1875

25,000

1866

38,580

1876

25,000

1870

10,000

1878

20,000

1872

13,000

Total

$221,580

The last Harbor improvement commenced in this District, was that at Port Clinton. For this purpose, a survey and estimate were made in 1867, the latter approximating $89,000. A second survey (with new plan and estimate) was made in 1870, the cost being placed at $120,000. The first plan consisted in deepen- ing by dredging to the depth of eight feet the narrow channel leading from the mouth of Portage River to deep water in the Lake ; also running a timber revetment of 1,000 feet length along the Peninsula, on the North side of the River at its entrance, for the purpose of protec- tion. The work of dredging was commenced in 1872, but the cut made was soon filled by the washing back of the material taken out, which made necessary the revetment or catch-sand fence, which has answered the purpose in checking the movement of the sand. In 1875, work was commenced on a second plan, which consists in forming an artificial Harbor, by confining and directing the flow of the River toward the nearest point of the required depth of water in the Lake. The result of this plan was not as satisfactory as expected, and changes in plan were found necessary. The amount of revenue collected at Port Clinton for the year ended June 30, 1878, was $125.65 ; the number of entrances and clearances, 462 ; total tonnage, 34,518. Appropriations were made for this Ilarbor as follows :

1872

$8,000

1878 $10,000

1873

2,000

1875

5,000

Total $30,000

1876

5,000

In this connection, a sketch of the improve- ment of the Monroe (Michigan) Harbor will be pertinent. That Harbor is not a natural, but

an artificial one, formed by the construction of wooden piers out from the Lake shore at a point 12 miles to the Northward of the mouth of the Raisin River, a sluggish stream, usually without perceptible current. Approaching its month, it passes through low marshes covered with grass and weeds. The piers, 100 feet apart for a distance, and then spreading out, are extended to a depth of 10 feet, at low water. One pier is 1,350, and the other 925 feet in length. Connected with this Harbor, 13 miles from the River mouth and at the junction with Little Sandy Creek, is what is known as the United States Ship Canal. Some 3,200 feet by the River from this Canal, another is en- tered, called the Monroe City Canal, for the reason that it was constructed by that City for the purpose of straightening and shortening the water-course by a bed of the River. The dis- tance from Monroe to the Lake shore by these communications, is about 33 miles, to wit : The Monroe City Canal, 1,300 feet, and the United States, 4,650 feet, each being 100 feet in width, with 11 feet of water. The work was com- menced during the Toledo War (1835), which no doubt operated to invest the improvement with special interest on the part of the Michi- gan people, as calculated to strengthen Monroe in its rivalry with Toledo. Additional impor- tance was given the same, by the commence- ment, soon thereafter, of the Michigan Southern Railroad, of which Monroe was the Eastern terminus, and which was expected to control Western traffic, as against the Erie and Kala- mazoo Railroad between Adrian and Toledo. From time to time, since the original construc- tion of the improvement, liberal appropriations have been made for perfecting, extending and maintaining the same. The amounts of appro- priations made up to and including the year 1878, were as follows :

1835

$30,000 00

1873 $15,000 00

1836

15,000 00

1874

10,000 00

1837

30,000 00

1875 10,000 00

1838

15,000 00

1876

5.000 00

1844

20,000 00

1878 2,500 00

1852

14,000 00

1866

31.015 27

$207,515 27

1872

10,000 00

The following statement presents a compara- tive showing of the two Harbors of Monroe and Toledo for the year ended June 30, 1878 :

Monroe.

First appropriation made ....

1835.

Toledo. 1866.

Amount of appropriations to 1878

$207,515 27 $544,700 00

Revenue collected, year ended June 30, 1878

25 74

15,702 24

Vessels entered and cleared, same time .. --

3,792

Tonnage of same

5,327

1,048,504

In the record here made of the several can- didates for prominence as commercial points in this region, LaPlaisance Bay should not be

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HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS.

overlooked. That was a young and hopefnl Village, North of Monroe, Michigan, and located on the Bay of the same name. Not much is known of the place, beyond the fact that some 45 years ago it existed and was ambitious of commercial recognition. At one time it eon- sidered itself a rival of Monroe, but seems to have surrendered such claim in 1843, as shown by the following publie announcement, then made :

NOTICE .- Whereas, the Commissioners of Internal Improvement [of Michigan], in establishing the rate of toll over the Southern Railroad, have made such a distinction in the price of freight in favor of the Ship Canal [at Monroe], as to operate as an embargo on LaPlaisance Bay, and amounts to a bounty or pre- mium to induce individuals to consign their freight to the Ship Canal or to Toledo, by which means most of the freight is either diverted to Toledo or forced through the Ship Canal, by means of scows, &c., thereby diminishing the business of LaPlaisance Bay to such an extent that the receipts are insufficient to defray the expenses of keeping the Warehouse open, Therefore,

Resolved, That after the expiration of the present week, all further business will be suspended at the LaPlaisance Bay Warehouse.

By order of the Board.

J. Q. ADAMS, President LaPlaisance Bay Harbor Company. MONROE, June 7, 1843.

Further record of LaPlaisance Bay, as a commercial rival of Toledo, is not found.

The most important popular movement hav - ing reference to the improvement of the harbors of the Lakes, was that held at Chicago, July 5, 6 and 7, 1847, which included also in its aims the navigable Rivers. Nearly every State of the Union was represented, the delegates in- cluding many of the prominent men of the country. The object more directly in view was to agitate the subject with reference to an in- fluence on Congress which should seeure more adequate appropriations for the improvements named, and also to affect the popular sentiment

in that connection, with reference to the Pres- idential election of 1848. The following Ohio points were represented by the delegates named :

Toledo-Jessup W. Scott, Charles O'Hara.

Perrysburg-Elijah Huntington.

Maumee City-Dr. IIoratio Conant, Charles Coats- worth, C. C. P. Hunt.

Sandusky-Eleutheros Cooke, John G. Camp, Rice Harper, Abner W. Porter, Wm. Townsend, Isaac A. Mills.

Milan-S. F. Taylor, Clark Waggoner, J. Dana Smith.

Huron-George S. Patterson, John B. Wilbor, D. G. Branch.

Among the Ohio delegates present were Governor William Bebb, Thomas Corwin, John C. Wright, James C. Hall, Stanley Matthews, Robert C. Schenek, and Ex-Gov. Jeremiah Morrow.

Edward Bates (subsequently Attorney Gen- eral under President Lincoln) was the Presi- dent, with Vice-Presidents from 17 States. Schuyler Colfax was Chief Secretary, with nine assistants. Abraham Lincoln then, in a speech before the Convention, made his first prominent appearance. Horace Greeley, then fairly in- troduced in his public life, was there. The re- sult of the occasion was a strong expression in favor of more liberal provision for the improve- ment of the internal Rivers and the harbors of the Lakes. Without doubt, the chief object of the Convention was largely attained in stimul- lating the popular sentiment on the subject, and helping to the settled poliey of the Gov- ernment in that respect which soon was devel- oped and still continues. It may be here stated, that the total of appropriations by Con- gress for barbors on Lake Erie West of Erie, up to August, 1834, was $189,102, of which sum Cleveland received 834,235; Grand River, $29,598; Black River, $35,734; Huron, $22,208; Ashtabula, $35,558 ; Conneaut, $24,810; Cun- ningham Creek, $6,956.

CHAPTER XII.

COMMERCIAL FACILITIES.

THE growth of agricultural production in T this County and in the Valley, was a very slow one, when we consider that immi- gration hither commenced early in the century. Of course the commencement of that immigra- tion was feeble, with only here and there a family developing sufficient robustness of body and purpose to encounter the hardships and dangers of frontier life at that day ; and it was, in all its severe and trying elements, frontier life. The whole country swarmed with In- dians, and the River, from month to source, was the favorite home of a portion of several powerful tribes. Its dense and unbroken for- ests, with only the woodman's axe for an im- plement of improvement, formed a barrier, which, by the light of our day, would seem to have shut ont all hope of a comfortable home. We cannot appreciate the dangers and priva- tions of those early days. The life of those men and women was amongst scenes little in accord with the peaceful picture of later years ; and when night drew its dark mantle over the forest and log cabin, the mother of those days, as she soothed her children to sleep, felt, in a sense that we do not now, that " Our Father " was their only protection from the roaming savage and wild beast.

These adverse conditions were supplemented by another and more disheartening than all besides, in the naturally unhealthfulness of the climate. The damp dews of the level lands and the evening air of the autumn, were alike laden with sickness and death. But all these were insufficient to deter adventurous, roving people from seeking a Western home. Later, and especially after the settlement of our In- dian relations, this restless love of our people for immigration was signalized by further and increased additions to our population. But it was all a huge mistake. The spirit that stimn- lates immigration to the frontier aids those who come later to enjoy the fruits of improved so- ciety and more settled conditions generally ; but to the early settler and his family, it is a life of unending, unmitigated struggle and pri- vation. The same degree of industry and pri- vation in his old home might have won for him a far greater degree of prosperity, with the ad- vantage to his family of schools, churches and fixed social advantages.

The movement Westward developed by slow- ly increasing momentum, until checked by the severe revulsion of business in 1837. Even at that date, the production of food in Lucas

County was insufficient for the consumption, although a small quantity of wheat had been exported by one farmer at an earlier date than this. Major Coleman I. Keeler shipped in the fall of 1831, about 300 bushels of wheat by the little Schooner Eagle.

The construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal was commenced in 1838-9, and the great influx of laboring population consequent there- upon, was fed by importations from the Ohio Canal at Cleveland and from Michigan. At about this period Southern Michigan began to produce a limited surplus of wheat, some of which reached Toledo in flour, for sale here and for shipment, to Buffalo. A little later wheat began to come forward from the same source, both wheat and flonr being transported hence over the Erie and Kalamazoo Railway.

The rapid and enormous growth of the busi- ness of our country is a theme of surprise to those who have witnessed it and been con- nected with it. The methods of transacting business also present wide contrasts, and in none more so than in the manner of handling the surplus grain as it came to market for storage. At first it was carried on the shoulders of men from the farmers' wagons into the ware- house. When it began to come forward by the Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad it was in bags and was unloaded by means of a small cart, holding eight or ten bags, and hauled into the upper stories of the warehouses on an inclined track, by a horse attached to a rope running through a block properly fastened to the floor below.

Hon. Richard Mott, of our City, was the pio- neer in the next advance on the method of grain handling and the building of warehouses more suitable to contain it. In the year 1838, the first building was erected on Water street, between Adams and Oak, with the additional strength required to store grain. Attached to it was a small elevator propelled by a horse. This improved method, though a little shaky and insecure, was a signal triumph in labor- saving. It marks the beginning of elevators in the West. This warehouse was burned the next year, but the enterprise of Mr. Mott sur- vived his misfortune, and in 1840 the " Old Red Warehouse " (as it has long been called), at the foot and East side of Monroe street, was built, with the further and important improvement of a substantial elevator connected therewith, the horse-power for which was under the peak of the roof, where the animal performed its

[464]

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COMMERCIAL FACILITIES.

dreary but useful round of labor, month in and month out. This method of receiving grain, with enlargement and improvement in the ele- vators from time to time as necessity required, was continued in use for more than ten years.

The grain business of Mr. Mott consisted wholly of Railroad receipts from Southern Michigan, the surplus of Lucas County farmers being scarcely anything. Up to that year, the traffic of the Railroad was made up largely of bread supplies sent from Toledo to the settlers in Southern Michigan.

The change from horses as the elevating motor to that of the unwearying power of steam, be- gan in 1847, when John Brownlee and Egbert B. Brown, partners, built a steam elevator, much increased in size over any previous structures, and with bins shaped to discharge themselves. This was built on the present site of the elevator of C. A. King & Co., and marked the commencement of this system, which, with great improvement, is now in use.

Returning to the growth of agricultural pro- duction in Lucas County, it can be stated that before the season of 1838, there was very little surplus of grain produced in this County. In that year, the surplus, though not large, gave a hopeful turn in the tide of trade.

In 1841 the commerce of that vicinity having been in a measure transferred from Perrys- burg to Miami, below Maumee City, a small cargo of wheat was purchased by the firm of Smith & Hazard, at from $1.10 to $1.40 per bushel. The Schooner Morgiana was engaged to take the cargo to Buffalo, at 10 cents per bushel freight. It was heroic work to get that

cargo on board without facilities, and it was accomplished by transporting the bags on the shoulders of laborers, and with 4,100 bushels the Vessel was deeply laden. So far this im- portant event, the first cargo shipment of wheat from the Valley, proceeded favorably ; but be- foro the Vessel left the dock a gale of wind sprang up, under the influence of which the water, as is usual in such cases, retreated toward the Lake, and the Vessel settled down upon a large boulder, breaking a hole, through which the water entered, and the cargo was lost. This commencement of the export of grain was a significant event, in more than one respect ; not least of which was, that it marked a period when, after the fever of land specu- lation had subsided. and that other fever (the bilions, had in a measure also subsided, and our farmers had recovered from this and the many other disappointments incident to fron- tier life, hope of better days began to brighten men's faces. There was a surplus in the land, and something to dispose of in exchange for other needed commodities.

About this time, the enterprising citizens of Maumee City commenced the erection of Flouring Mills, which have since been steady purchasers of the surplus grain of that portion of the County. The pioneer in the building of mills on the River, was George W. Reynolds, who was for long years connected with that and other leading enterprises at Manmee. Wm. B. Dicks, Judge Robert A. Forsyth, and Garrett & Merwin, followed in the same line of improvement at Maumee, as did Judge James Myers at Toledo.

CHAPTER XIII.

TOLEDO WAREHOUSES .- OLD AND NEW.

- gradual development of Warehonse accommodations upon the advent of the second Port Lawrence, has already been refer- red to. It will be proper here, in contrast, to refer to the very start and to the present attainment in that department of commercial operations.

PIONEER TOLEDO WAREHOUSE-1817.

The first building erected for business pur- poses within the present limits of Toledo, was a Warehouse, built wholly of logs, by the owners of the Port Lawrence property, at the very outset of improvement at this point. The date of its construction cannot now be definitely stated. It was standing in 1817, and was built on fot No. 2 of the present Port Lawrence Division, which lies next to the Merchants National Bank Building, Southwest corner of Summit and Monroe streets. The building was two-stories in height, the upper one projecting some 10 feet in front. The logs were hewn sufficiently to give the walls a somewhat even appearance. The second story projection served the two-fold purpose of a shed and a means of defense. The walls were secure against the rifle, the most formidable weapon of attack then in use here, while the only door (in front) was readily guarded through the floor of the projecting portion of the second story, after the manner of block- houses.

An event so important as the erection of the pioneer Warehouse of a prospective commer- cial point was a matter of deep and pervading interest with the country round about. Hence, the muscles of the entire region were summoned to the " log-raising," when the rude timbers were rolled to places on the firm walls. Refreshments for the occasion were abundant -not of ice cream, fruit cake and Roman punch; but of pork, beef and bread, with a good supply of whiskey, innocent of modern fusil oil. The ".raising" over, then came the roof of rude

shingles, rived by hand on the ground ; the simple windows were of sash unknown to

IMPROVED TOLEDO WAREHOUSE-1887.

machine production, and a few panes of glass as good as could be secured; the single door of rudest structure from split logs; and, lastly, the puncheon floor, smooth as broad-axe and adz could make it, with possibly a little special dressing with a jack plane.

All this accomplished. the next thing was the "honse-warming," which constituted a social occasion to that time withont a parallel in all this section. Word was duly sent to settlements within reach, and especially to the " Foot of the Rapids," as the region about Fort Meigs and on both sides of the River was ealled. From Maumee and Perrysburg came the Hunts, the Forsyths, the Conants, the Jeromes, the Hollisters, McKnights and Spaf- fords. These and others reached the seene of the proposed " frolic " by the ice in the River. It was a general turnout, the " River Raisin " (Monroe) probably contributing its quota to the assemblage. Let us not suppose these were rude, uneducated people. New England and New York chiefly had been their homes. Many accessories now so common in social occasions were lacking but not needed for the happiness of the guests. At one end of the room was a roaring fire in an eight-foot fire- place. On one side was a temporary shelf, loaded with venison, pies, eakes and liquid refresh- ments deemed essential in maintaining stalwart men and women in an all-night's draft upon their nervous systems. The ladies' dressing room was in the upper story and reached by a ladder. At the end of the room opposite the fire-place was a platform temporarily raised for

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TOLEDO WAREHOUSES.

the two French fiddlers, whose fiddling was good -for those days, and quite satisfactory to the dancers, who put in their time as best they they could throughout the night, and well on to breakfast time, the chief interruption arising from the distribution of refreshments most bountifully suppied. Such, according to the best authority at this seventy-years' distance from the event, was the advent of the " old Log-Warehouse."

It is very fortunate, that records of Toledo's pioneer business improvement is not confined to the verbal description now to be made. It was yet standing, sound and firm, when Hon. Rich- ard Mott settled here in 1836, and was taken down to make room for another building, in 1837. The historian is much indebted to that gentleman's clear memory, and to his no less skilled pencil, for an excellent drait of the building, from which was made the picture herewith presented. Different pioneers fa- miliar with the Warehouse, recognize its several parts as here shown. Gen. Chas. B. Phillips came to Toledo in 1829, and bis recol- lection of the building is made more clear from the fact that his first night here was spent on the second floor of the same.

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History of the city of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio, Part 89

Author: Waggoner, Clark, 1820-1903 Publication date: 1888 Publisher: New York and Toledo : Munsell & Company Number of Pages: 1408

Author: Waggoner, Clark, 1820-1903
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: New York and Toledo : Munsell & Company
Number of Pages: 1408