USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Memoirs of the Miami valley > Part 33
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In every struggle at arms since the war of 1812. Logan county .
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has given of its sons to the defense of the nation without stint. There went from this commonwealth, in the war for the Union, more than two thousand soldiers, out of its then scant population of 20,342. The first Logan county soldier to fall in that struggle was Eugene Reynolds, and in his honor the Grand Army Post No. 441 was named, upon its establishment in May, 1884. There were then but thirty- four charter members, of whom but six are now living. The mem- bership grew until at its highest point it reached three hundred and sixty, but each year subsequent to that has seen the number de- crease, until now there are but thirty-four members left. Of the more than thirty who rode in last year's parade, "taps" have been sounded for four.
The Women's Relief Corps organized in Bellefontaine in Sep- tember, 1886, charter 156, with ten members, Mrs. Mary Wilkinson, president. The chaplain, Catherine Humphreys, and the guard, Mat- tie W. Roebuck, are all that are left of this number. This organiza- tion has numbered and still numbers some of Bellefontaine's ablest women, who are carrying along the work that is left them with the ardent faith of old. In 1901 the State Encampment was won for Bellefontaine by the famous impromptu speech of Mrs. J. Q. A. Campbell, who pledged at the Findlay Encampment "a feather pil- low for every old soldier's head" in the name of the women of Logan county. And the pledge was kept. Mrs. Campbell is now the treasurer of the corps ; Mrs. Samuel Cooper, the president, and Mrs. A. N. Jenkinson, the secretary. The W. R. C. provide the flag for the "High Point" flagpole, on the C. D. Campbell farm.
"Will Riddle" Camp, No. 23, Sons of Veterans, was chartered in January, 1898, with twenty-three members. A "Woman's Aux- iliary" to the camp was also organized a few years later under charter 79, dated April 27, 1901.
An organization usually regarded as wholly religious, the Or- der of the King's Daughters and Sons was started in Bellefontaine about thirty years ago, in 1889 or early in 1890, "for spiritual cul- ture" and for "silent service," the number being at first limited to ten members. The first circle of ten was named the "Alpha" and the charter members were Bertha Powell (Stuckenberg), Mrs. George Emerson (Coulter), Mrs. Henry Whitworth, Georgia Coulter, Mrs. John E. West, Annie Price, Anna Colton, Emma Byers (deceased), Mrs. Clara G. West (deceased), and Mrs. Anson Carter. This was the first purely charitable work organized here which had no limita- tions, except the need of the object. This society so exactly filled a long felt want that the circle was soon enlarged to twenty members, and as time has passed three additional circles of equal magnitude have been formed, the St. Cecilias in 1899, the Dorcas circle in 1908, and the Agapè, early in 1913. To avoid over-lapping of the charities of the circles, who have grown into the place usually occupied by the Associated Charities of other cities, a City Union was organized of all existing circles, to act as a clearing house and to carry on the movement for a visiting nurse more effectively. The order had al- ready made the care of the needy sick one of its chief objects, and had borne the expenses of many individual cases at homes and at hospitals. In 1912 the Red Cross Christmas seals were first sold
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in Bellefontaine with this end in view. Through successive sales, aided by systematic contributions from the fraternal orders, and from the Presbyterian and other church brotherhoods, and the co-opera- tion of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Agency, and the liberality of private individuals, the public health nurse has now become an established institution in Bellefontaine, Miss Josephine Cunningham, who resigned after the completion of one successful year, having been at once replaced by her sister, Miss Amy Cunningham. Miss Steckel, who preceded them in a six-months' service, was called to Red Cross war service. St. Cecilia circle inaugurated a sewing class, at one of the public schools, which led to the adoption of domestic science training in the schools. In spite of the motive of "silent service" the work of the King's Daughters has grown to such proportions that a certain degree of publicity now necessarily obtains. Mrs. Margaret Riddle is the senior member of the order, and as leader of Alpha Circle has been held in high reverence for a long term of years.
The Bellefontaine chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, organized June 15, 1910, with eighteen charter mem- bers. The first regent was Miss Mary Powell, and vice regent, Mrs. Rebecca Williams; treasurer, Mrs. Gorton Scarff, all since deceased ; secretary, Miss Dade Kennedy ; registrar, Blanche Hamil- ton; historian, Nellie Huston; directors, Mesdames Ellis, Jones and West. The local work done by the organization is in line with the ethics of the order, and briefly stated, has been the marking of Hull's trace by a bronze tablet set in a natural boulder at the old McPherson home site. They have supported a French orphan during two years of the war, and are prepared to assist in the restor- ation of the ruined village of Tilloley, in France. There is also a project, which has been delayed by the war work, to erect a memorial entrance to Rutan park, in honor of Mrs. Rebecca Wil- liams. Mrs. Martha McPherson Miller, of Lewistown, who died December, 1918, was a member of this chapter, the only real "daughter" left in the country. The membership, January, 1919, num- bers forty-six, and the officers of today are: Mrs. J. W. Young, regent ; Mrs. Charles D. Campbell, vice regent ; Mrs. R. M. Wissler, secretary ; Helen Patterson, treasurer; Mabel Walker, registrar; Mrs. D. B. Leonard, historian ; directors, Mesdames Harriet Jones, J. J. Anderson and J. S. Deemy.
A city federation of women's clubs was formed in the winter of 1913-14, the idea originating, locally, with Mrs. Lewis Pettit, of the Tourist Club, who became the first federation president. The con- stitution, adopted February 21, 1914, states the purpose of the fed- eration to be the promotion of public welfare, and the work of the organization has been to assist financially in civic welfare move- ments, having taken for a special motive, the establishment of play- grounds for the growing boys and girls of Bellefontaine. The play- grounds have been operated, at the South and West schools. Eleven clubs are united in the federation as follows: Tourist, Sunnebah, Athenian, Woman's Franchise League, Woman's Literary Club, Woman's Club, Swastika, Economics, Onaway, Edelweiss and Art Clubs, all study organizations. The officers are: President, Mrs.
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W. M. Stamats; first vice president, Mrs. C. F. O'Donnell; second vice president, Mrs. E. M. Hamilton ; secretary, Miss Etta McCor- mick; treasurer, Mrs. Margaret Barton.
The Woman's Franchise League was organized in Bellefon- taine in January, 1912, following a preliminary meeting held at the home of Mrs. Martha Fehl and Miss R. Eva Byers at which, by co-operation with the W. C. T. U., Mrs. Florence D. Richard ad- dressed the women, and a permanent organization was effected, with Miss Florine Folsom as president, the name "Woman's Fran- chise League" being chosen at a later meeting. The Constitutional Convention being in session in Columbus at the time, the support- ers of equal suffrage had taken, new hope of success for a suffrage amendment, and a canvas of the Bellefontaine tax duplicate having disclosed eight hundred and fifteen women taxpayers in the city, the local Franchise League was given a strong point of attack for their initial campaign. Though supported by the opinions of two great presidents-Thomas Jefferson, who said, "A government is not complete that withholds from its women what it gives to its most benighted men," and Abraham Lincoln, who said, "I go for all sharing the privileges of the government who assist in bearing its burdens-by no means excluding women," the franchise move- ment was by no means a popuar one in the start. But in the seven years just closing (1919) great headway has been gained, and pub- lic support is still growing apace. The daily papers have been generous in space and comment, public speakers of note have been heard at the Chautauqua, at the county fairs and at meetings heid in public places as well as in private homes, and in schools. Among a long list of famous women workers along this line, the visit of Rosalie Jones and Elizabeth Freeman of New York City, in the little yellow wagon, is certain to be remembered.
The passage of the twenty-third amendment became at once the objective of the Leagues' efforts in 1912, and succeeding in the convention at Columbus, the local suffrage women braved the criticism of the public by working at the polls at the September election, passing out the "vote yes" cards. The amendment was lost, but in 1914 an amendment having again been petitioned for by the State Suffrage Association, the local Franchise League secured the signatures of fifteen hundred and forty voters of Logan county for its passage. Again the amendment was lost, but with a decided gain over the vote of 1912. The result was simply harder work, and the inauguration of a campaign of public education, by means of public lectures, the newspapers, distribution by mail and per- sonally, of suffrage literature, and by a study of civil government and parliamentary law on their own part, in classes. Efforts have not been confined solely to suffrage questions, however, but lec- tures have been given and classes conducted, under their auspices, in the "cold-pack" canning processes, the preservation of wild bird life, and kindred subjects, while a large amount of literature from the state board of health has been distributed on the prevention of tuberculosis and "How to Save the Babies."
The Franchise League has never been connected, in any way, with the old "Congressional Union," nor 'with the "Woman's
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Political Party" of militant notoriety. It is a member of the City Federation of Women's Clubs, and works only along the most enlightened lines. It has been supported by the best brains and wisest women of Bellefontaine, among whom foremost mention should be made of Mrs. Mary Phillips Koogle, who is of the same lineage as the great reformer, Wendell Phillips, who long ago lifted his voice for equal suffrage; while the active workers and influen- tial members include such names as Mesdames Martha Byers Fehl, Celia A. Inskeep, Margaret Stillwell, Strayer Pool, Estelle H. Campbell, Rosa Hall, Henry Switzer, Mary Henry, Oscar Mc- Laughlin, Jessie Gibson, C. C. Yule, Juliette Mclaughlin, Alice Rankin, Maggie Watson Ginn and Mary Jeffries and Misses Dr. Carrie Richeson, Mary Craig, Mary A. Cheever, May McRey- nolds, Alice Hamilton, Sarah A. Knight, R. Eva Byers, Florine Fol- som, Mary McElree, Sarah Henry, Ida May Moore and Cloris Aikin.
The Railroad Young Men's Christian Association of Bellefon- taine was organized in 1900, and the headquarters, erected in the vicinity of the Big Four shops, was opened and dedicated January 10, 1901, for the benefit of railroad men resident and running be- tween Cleveland and Indianapolis. Mr. Edward Hamilton, inter- national secretary of R. R. Y. M. C. A.'s had supervision of the con- struction and planning of the institution, his wide experience en- abling him to provide the home-like atmosphere desirable. The first board of managers were: Chairman, A. N. Jenkinson; Dr. J. H. Wilson, J. Belser, Will Spittle and Henry Myers, the first secretary being Mr. Pawlings, who was followed by Mr. Imish, Mr. Weaver and J. H. Underkircher, the present secretary, replac- ing the latter in 1909. The efficiency of the institution has been greatly enlarged since the administration of Mr. Underkircher, although the work has grown steadily from the start. In addition to the original hotel from one to four dwelling houses have been operated as rooming places, and in November, 1914, the downtown hotel headquarters was opened, using the old Bellefontaine Hotel on West Columbus avenue for the purpose. A gymnasium is ac- commodated here, and the hotel provides more and better rooms than were available in the dwellings previously rented. The asso- ciation has done a great work in the city, and has been felt in all the war work and other public movements undertaken. In 1918 they provided and erected a fine steel flag pole to mark the highest point of land in Logan county, and the state of Ohio, the spot being located authentically on the C. D. Campbell farm, a few miles east of the city, on the Jerusalem pike. The flag which flew from it was provided by the W. R. C. of Reynolds Post. The membership of the Y. M. C. A. has reached eight hundred. The present board of directors is A. N. Jenkinson, Dr. J. H. Wilson, A. Jay Miller, Fred C. Spittle, Edward G. Costin, W. D. Paul, J. H. Underkircher. The prospects are now bright for the building of a new and modern home for the association in the near future.
The Bellefontaine council of the Knights of Columbus began its life as part of the Sidney, Ohio, council from 1906 until April 1, 1915, when they formed an independent council with fifty charter
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members, a number which has grown until now (1919) there are eighty-six members, taking no account of those who have come and gone in the interim. Primarily formed to provide proper social atmosphere for the young men of St. Patrick's parish, the council has during the late war broadened its scope and co-operated with the entire community in all the war drives and relief work, and has also raised separate funds for the maintenance of moral uplift work in the army camps and cantonments in this country and overseas. Twenty-two of the eighty-six members have been in army service, part of the number being still in France. John A. Sugrue, present Grand Knight, represented the council on the board of the War Chest drive, when the Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., K. of C., Jewish Wel- fare and Salvation Army joined hands to raise funds for the sup- port of all.
The remaining officers of the council are : Deputy grand knight, Christopher Rath; chancellor, Harry Sellars ; guards, M. J. Brophy, and Anthony Fisher; advocate, T. M. Shea; recording secretary, Edward Brandenburg; financial secretary, Francis J. Brennan ; trustees, T. A. Hennesy, M. J. Brophy and William Purcell.
Industry in Bellefontaine began with log cabin building, in which for the greater part "every man was his own architect," at least until he had a roof over his head, when specialization set in.
Nathaniel Dodge not only kept a public house, but was Belle- fontaine's first shoemaker. Shoes, of course, called for leather, and the first of several tanneries was established by Leonard Houtz and Jacob Staley, outside the southwest corner of the town plat.
The very first saddler was Justice Edwards-also known in the county as a school teacher. He was soon competed with in the saddlery business by Martin Shields, and by a man named Chevalier. Abner Riddle was a journeyman saddler in the Chevalier shop about 1826, but did not locate permanently in the county seat at that time.
William Powell was the first carpenter and cabinet maker, and though not written down as an undertaker, he made coffins, using the native walnut from the Marmon sawmill in Mad river valley.
The first blacksmith was Thomas Good, who had a shop on East Chillicothe avenue, nearly opposite the site of the first Epis- copal chapel.
John Powell was the first tailor, in a community where home- made buckskin breeches prevailed. Jacob Powell was a gunsmith.
But these were only the "first." Many a rival establishment was opened as the village grew. The blacksmithies developed into wagon shops. A distillery and, after awhile, a brewery started up outside the old corporation limits, but these long ago "died the death."
From William Powell's shop to Stupp's and Kennedy Brothers', or from John Powell's to the tailors, clothiers and haberdashers of modern Bellefontaine-Geiger, Wolfheim, Parker, Hamilton & Co. and others-seems a far cry, but every line presents the same degree of progress, both in trade and manufacture.
In the industrial history of Bellefontaine one line of manu-
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THE STORY OF LOGAN COUNTY
facture has from the first occupied a major part of the field, and while at the present time other lines have risen to equal rivalry, vehicle making is still a distinguishing industry in Bellefontaine, and one for which this city is known in every part of the United States among buyers and manufacturers.
Beginning with the pioneer blacksmiths, who of necessity be- came wheelwrights and wagon makers to supply the needs of the times, rising prosperity created a market which could better be sup- plied by local manufacture than by any other means; and a demand for vehicles of a high grade came as quickly, for the settlers of Logan county were but a generation removed from the refinements of the oldest civilization in America, and had no process of evo- lution to pass through in this regard. They knew what they wanted.
Whether the shop of William Pollock on Detroit street, in which he followed blacksmithing, wheel and wagon making, or the little brick shop on East Chillicothe street at the site of the Leister JoHantgen residence was the first permanent home of the industry, is indeterminate and of no importance. Both were early enough to claim the honor of pioneering. But the distinguishing line of manufacture begun at the latter place by the Emery brothers, John, Peter and George, who came to Bellefontaine in 1849, deserves first mention. Their specialty was pleasure vehicles, originally and elab- orately designed, and usually made to order. Carriages of every description were made, every part of the work being produced in the local factory. The luxuriousness of finish, fittings and trappings can scarcely be conveyed here, but an immediate fame followed the industry which spread afar. Many people still remember vividly the celebrated "swan sleigh"-designed and made by the Emerys- a creation of white and gold, with its sides fashioned in the sweep- ing lines of a floating swan, with gorgeous cushionings, in which the gay youth of Bellefontaine swept over the snowy highways, the envy of all beholders. It ended its days (which were long in the land of Logan) in a sombre coat of black, but the merry parties it carried enjoyed it none the less. The Emery brothers began their work in the shop on East Chillicothe avenue, but soon built larger quarters on the east side of Detroit street, where, in 1853, Amos Miller, who came to Bellefontaine from Cleveland, Ohio, had estab- lished himself in the carriage industry in the Pollock shop on the west side. Both factories grew, and after a period of several years the Emery brothers withdrew from the field while still in the high tide of success, to engage in less strenuous pursuits, while Amos Miller's brothers, David J., Jacob N. and Samuel P. Miller, all of Wayne county, Ohio, came to join him in the more exten- sive manufacture of carriages and pleasure vehicles which he had planned. Miller Brothers then became the leading firm in this line, and held the center of the field for more than thirty years follow- ing. They were the patentees of the famous "Eureka" jump-seat buggy, which had a popularity as wide as the country, and were the originators of the carriage body business, to which they turned their attention exclusively, incorporating under the name of the Miller Carriage Company. Some degree of unwisdom in promoting too many novelties in style, the sudden uprise of the automobile
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trade, and, chiefly, advancing age finally brought this time-honored business to an end about twenty years ago. Amos Miller died March 6, 1910, and David J. Miller (father of Charles Miller), now eighty-nine years of age, is the only one of the Miller brothers surviving.
The A. J. Miller and Company Auto Bodies plant, which now occupies quarters with some hundred thousand square feet of floor space under roof, is not an outgrowth of the former Miller estab- lishments, although Alfred J. Miller ("Allie" Miller), the sole pro- prietor, is the son of Amos Miller. The present business was begun in a small shop at the site of the King buggy repair shop on Detroit street, in which Mr. Miller, then nineteen years of age, opened for business on his own initiative and "capital." Before so very long the business had outgrown this little shop and was moved to the old Everett tannery, where C. L. Robb's factory now stands. This place being destroyed by fire April 19, 1890, Mr. Miller purchased the Byers property lying in the angle of the rail- way tracks south of the Big Four depot, where he erected the frame part of the present large plant. More ground was added presently, and the property now comprises seven acres, part of which is neatly parked. The business has been enlarged from time to time since 1890, and since 1911 has been devoted exclusively to the manufacture of auto bodies, of which practically every variety is made, for civil and military uses, the chief line now being ambu- lances, hearses and a complete line of motor driven vehicles for the undertaking trade. Work is done by contract for auto manufac- turers, and for the direct purchaser, and the entire process from start to finish is completed in this factory, the bodies leaving it ready for the chassis. The Miller factory also assembles a chassis of its own, known as the "Miller."
Various other vehicle concerns have flourished and gone their way during the decades, the little shop on East Chillicothe having accommodated, successively, after the Emerys, Younglove and McLaughlin; Fossler, Green and Company ; Falte, Green and Com- pany ; H. C. Garwood and Company (1883) ; Kingsbury and Crock- ett (1893) ; Kingsbury and Rawlings for awhile, the Kingsbury firm removing in 1908 to their present location between Auburn and Patterson streets, west of Main, where the Kingsbury buggy and auto works does a repair and rebuilding business. Joseph JoHant- gen, who originally came to Bellefontaine to enter the Miller broth- ers factory, established himself in business in the Detroit street quarters, and now occupies both the old Emery and the Miller sites, in a prosperous business along auto repairing lines. The Miller works was moved to the old Bellefontaine skating rink, which stood off East Chillicothe avenue near where is now the residence of W. T. Haviland, and from there to the empty building of the defunct woolen mill, which has since been converted into a mattress factory. In the old chapel of the United Presbyterians, on Detroit street, David J. Miller at one time engaged in the carriage business with a son-in-law of Amos Miller, Mr. Kiplinger, the place being occupied afterward by Barker and Foulk in the same line, while, eleven years ago, Harry W. Eaton took the building and continued
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THE STORY OF LOGAN COUNTY
the industry until 1916, when he changed it to automobile repair- ing. The Dodge Brothers Motor car has its agency there.
Other temporary firms in this line have been Duddy, Fossler and Goodwin, Duddy and Goodwin, and O. S. Goodwin. The origi- nal Pollock establishment on Detroit street was removed to the neighborhood of the Colton mill-not then built.
Lawrence Rausenberger, a boy born and reared in Logan county, on a farm near DeGraff, was always of the type who "wanted to see the wheels go around," and after the death of his father, he removed with his mother to Bellefontaine. Here he learned the machinist's art and was employed in the A. J. Miller factory, where his unusual ability and originality were constantly in evidence. At this period he conceived an idea for an airplane motor, for which he made his own patterns, assembling the cast- ings, and, collaborating with a young colleague from Vermont, who built the plane, after which the whole was successfully tried out in public and exhibited at the Logan county fair in 1913, and at other points. The flights were made by the partner, who, though an expert, lost his life in an accident soon after. Young Rausen- berger, diverted from the thought of becoming an aviator, con- tinued the perfecting of his motor, which became recognized by experts as superior, and certain features of it were adopted in the "Liberty" motor, assembled under government supervision for army airplane use.
With the gradual decline of the great lumbering camps and sawmills in Logan county, the more modern of the latter attracted woodworking industries which availed themselves of the machin- ery. In connection with the Mack Dickinson sawmill in the north- west part of Bellefontaine, N. H. Walker in 1879 erected a saw, scroll and planing mill, where furniture parts were manufactured in the rough, and where the manufacture of chairs was begun, al- though the unfinished product was chiefly shipped to firms in New York and Boston. The firm collapsed, however, and the plant was idle in the eighties, when the father of W. T. Haviland purchased it; and in 1886 the firm of Chichester and Haviland (junior) came to Bellefontaine and embarked in the manufacture of chairs, using the Walker building. Their product was begun and finished in the local plant. Several years of prosperous business ensued, but in the financial depression of 1893 the manufacture was discontinued. The building was later sold by Haviland, senior, to the Citizens' Ice and Supply Company, a regularly organized stock concern, whose officers and directors are Nevin U. Smith, president; W. T. Havi- land, vice-president; Charles H. Zearing, secretary, treasurer and manager ; John E. Miller, W. G. Wissler. The affairs of the com- pany may be briefly termed "one hundred per cent solid," with a fine surplus, and paid, at the end of the last year, an eight per cent dividend on stock.
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