USA > Ohio > Ohio early state and local history > Part 11
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In those days of ox teams and horseback riding, the advent of a buggy of any sort was of great importance. Dr. Eli Dres- bach brought the first buggy to Seneca county, and it was as great a curiosity as a circus. In 1821 there were not over 200 buggies in the State of Ohio. Dr. Dresbach was the first physician to practice medicine in Tiffin, and much could be said in commendation of his valuable services; but suffice it to quote as did Dr. J. A. McFarland in an address before the Northwestern Medical Society in 1879:
"None knew him but to love him,
None named him, but to praise."
Dr. Dresbach from Circleville, settled in Fort Ball, in 1823, and died in 1853.
Before the advent of Doctors Dresbach, Cary, Kuhn, and some others to whom the people of Seneca county were greatly indebted, there was no physician nearer than Lower Sandusky,
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Dr. Brainard, and many died for want of proper care. It was no very strange sight for people to be seen carrying boards across their backs, some miles through the woods, of which coffins were to be made.
Dr. Dresbach was the patron of all advancements for the benefit of the community. If any one came along seeking a school, he always subscribed for one and they made the selec- tion. A lady under his patronage gave a course of lectures on Physiology, which proved very instructive in those days, as she had a manakin for illustration.
Rudolphus Dickinson, from New York, a Member of Con- gress from this district, settled in Fort Ball in 1824, and was the first attorney in Seneca county. He moved to Lower Sandusky in 1826.
Abel Rawson succeeded Mr. Dickinson as prosecuting attorney. According to the laws of Massachusetts, he was examined and admitted to the Bar, in May 1823. Desirous of locating in the West, and having heard of the advantages to be gained in Ohio from an elder brother who had preceded him, he bade adieu to the home of his boyhood, and took the stage for Albany. The roads were muddy, and he was six days and nights without stopping, except for change of horses and for refreshments, in going from Albany to Buffalo. Reach- ing Ohio, he learned that the laws were such as to inhibit the practice of his profession until he had resided one year in the State. Nothing daunted, and unwilling to remain idle, he engaged a school at Dover where he remained several months. Later he went to Norwalk where he taught school until in March, 1825, he obtained employment in the Clerk's office, for the purpose of becoming familiar with the practice of law in Ohio. In the August (1825) term of the Supreme Court, he was examined and admitted to the Bar, which enabled him to act as an attorney and counsellor at law and solicitor in chancery in all the courts of the State. The Hon. Elisha Whittlesey presided as chairman of the examining committee, and con- ducted the examination during the entire afternoon with a systematic scrutiny long since obsolete in Ohio. Mr. Rawson had been a lover of books and a close student and during the
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long winter evenings, he might generally be seen at home dili- gently reading a book of history or biography. This reading was done by the light furnished by the burning of pitch pine knots obtained for the purpose, and renewed in the open fire place as convenience required, while the female members of the family were enjoying the luxury of a candle upon a table or stand provided for them in some central position. June, 1825, Mr. Rawson visited Tiffin for the first time. He passed through Bellevue where stood but a single cabin, and thence through a thick forest to Tiffin. The territory was then occupied by the Seneca tribe of Indians. Tiffin consisted of about a dozen families dwelling in rude cabins. The timber had been mostly removed on Washington street, south from the Sandusky River to Market street. There being no hotel in Tiffin, Mr. Rawson forded the river and stopped at a tavern kept by one Elisha Smith, at Fort Ball.
The only way to cross the river at high stage, was to ferry across from where stood the west end of the Monroe street bridge to a spot midway between Monroe and Washington streets. The boat was an original dugout, and the fare was two cents a trip. The Tiffin people had to come to Fort Ball to get their mail, and one man would take all for a whole neighborhood.
Mr. George Park was the original ferryman, but sold to Mr. Samuel Hoagland, who opened a little quarry on the west bank of the river near the spring, and while thus engaged, watched his chance for passengers. The sale of the lime, and the ferry, furnished him a comfortable livelihood.
As late as 1829, the thick woods back of the fort, prevented the view of the rival settlements from one another.
Fort Ball, as platted originally, comprised Adams, Miami and Clay streets running east and west, and Sandusky, Frank- lin, and Water running north and south, on land patented to Robert Armstrong on October 13, 1823, by President Monroe, west of the Sandusky River. This tract of 640 acres was granted by the United States to Mr. Armstrong for his services as interpreter. Mr. Armstrong had been taken captive in Pennsylvania, by the Indians, when but three years of age.
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On October 23, 1823, Armstrong transferred, with the ap- proval of the President, 404 acres of this Armstrong Reservation to his nephew, Jesse Spencer, for $3,000.00.
The first plat or survey in the county was probably made by Paul D. Butler, for himself and Armstrong, in 1818. This was followed in 1819, by the survey of West Oakley, or Vance's Town, by Joseph Vance; then Tiffin in 1821 by General James Hedges for his brother Josiah, and Oakley re-platted under the name of Fort Ball for Jesse Spencer, 1824.
The first tree was cut on the site of Tiffin in March 1821. When made the seat of justice, it was spoken of as the "town in the bush."
Notwithstanding the advantages of locality and accessi- bility, the east bank of the river was not generally thought of as a site for a city for almost four years after the first settlers came in, and for two years after the first village was platted on the west bank of the Sandusky River at this point.
The town of New Fort Ball was incorporated under the act of March 19, 1849. Under the act of March 1850, the towns of Tiffin and New Fort Ball were organized under one govern- ment.
Mr. Spencer, while credited with some ambition for Fort Ball, was also credited with some temper. He built the brush dam and saw mills; deeded lands for public purposes; became involved in law suits and knock-downs with Mr. Hedges, sold his town to the latter, and left soon after. The deed from Mr. Spencer to Mr. Hedges is dated June 16, 1825.
Mr. C. C. Park is one of Tiffin's pioneers, having arrived in the village in 1830, when but a year old. His father, John Park, and uncle George, came to Seneca county, in 1822; the uncle remained, but the father returned to Pennsylvania, com- ing with his family in 1830. He then built a frame building and opened a store on the site now occupied by the Tiffin National Bank, at the south-east corner of Washington and Market streets, the family living over the store.
Next to them on the south lived Mr. Keller, father of the late Mrs. George W. Cunningham; and directly across the street on the south-west corner, lived the Pittenger family. Sometime after coming to Fort Ball, in 1822, Mr. George Park took
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charge of the Erastus Bowe tavern, which stood a short dis- tance-perhaps 100 or 200 feet-north of the Sandusky River, and on land now in Washington street. The tavern was removed when the street was opened by Mr. Spencer, the founder of Fort Ball. After the removal or tearing down of the Bowe tavern, Mr. Park moved across the river and became manager of the Hedges tavern which stood on the site now occupied by the Noble Opera House block, on the east side of Washington street, about midway between Perry and Market streets.
The father of Mr. C. C. Park continued his store until about 1845, when he removed to his farm east of Tiffin, now known as the Park farm.
In speaking of the old log jail, Mr. C. C. Park says it was a square structure, with a frame addition in front. It stood at the south-east corner of what was then the court house yard, and next to the alley which ran across just opposite the alley west of the Morcher Hotel. It was called Goose Alley, from the large number of geese raised by people living in that neighbor- hood.
Every Sunday morning, he with other boys, while on their way to Sabbath School, would go by the old jail to see where the prisoners had gotten out the night before. They always chose Saturday night. Their getting out was comparatively easy, as all they had to do, was to work out a log.
In her reminiscences, Mrs. William H. Gibson tells of her parents taking their wedding trip on horse-back, and of their experience when her mother was left a widow with several children. They emigrated to Tiffin, from Graceham, Mary- land, in 1831. A brother-in-law of Mrs. Gibson, Benjamin Pittenger, who, with a brother, owned a store in Tiffin, had gone to Baltimore to purchase goods, and upon his return they accompanied him. The journey was made in a canvas topped, canoe shaped Pennslyvania wagon. This being before the days of railroads, all furniture had to be sold, as nothing but bedding and a few boxes, such as could be stored away in the wagon, could be moved. As the family were starting on their long journey, many friends accompanied them quite a distance, all on foot.
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When it was thought best to stop or rest for the night, a halt was made at some country inn, which were about equal distances apart along the road, for the accommodation of the traveling public. Often quaint signs stood in front assuring the traveler of a welcome, and indicating some fad or taste of the landlord. Most frequently they were decorated with the picture of a horse; this hung on hinges in a square frame, which was mounted upon a substantial pole. Then the pro- visions stored away for meals were brought in, and the appetites which had been sharpened by the long walks-for none rode all the way, but took turns walking by the team-were satiated with little variety, though plenty, and ever accompanied by the refreshing cup of coffee. The evening meal over, the bed- ding was brought in, and the tired bodies soon ready for slum- ber.
In those days-1831-all traffic was carried on over the mountains by teaming, and they often met heavy four or six horse teams with their tinkling bells, quaint wagons, and horses decorated with bells, which were placed in rows of four on a frame fastened on a collar crosswise of the neck. These teamsters usually went in pairs, perhaps for protection or company, and received the best of attention at the hostelries, as do traveling men of today. One of these teams coming in an opposite direction could be heard quite a distance, and thereby be warned to stop in a widened part of the road to pass and give them the right of way.
The beautiful scenery from mountain tops was a constant delight.
The first river crossed was the Monongahela at Brownsville, on a flat ferry boat. The next large river was the Ohio at Wheeling, where there was a bridge. Being between seven and eight years of age, many of the every day occurrences of that eventful journey failed to make a lasting impression. How- ever, when they reached the Sandusky River, having been two weeks on the way, and having traveled five hundred miles, she remembered of many people meeting them at the foot of Market street, and that there was no bridge. They went at once to the home of her sister, Mrs. Benjamin Pittenger, a one and a half story frame building. The store
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was in the east room of the first floor. The west was the dwelling, consisting of living room and bed rooms, the beds having high posts and curtained all about. The trundle bed, in which the children slept, was pushed under a large bed by day, and hidden from sight by a valance, the heavy curtains covering both. A long kitchen served also as dining room at one end, while the spacious fire place at the other end, with its extensive hearth, had ample room for the skillets and the dutch ovens with their piles of live coals under and on the lids above, to bake the corn pone and fry the ham and venison.
In the baking of bread in these Dutch ovens on the hearth, the loaves were raised in broad baskets made of thick ropes of straw bound together, and round in shape, to fit the oven; a cloth was laid in and then lapped over the dough; and to keep the temperature equal, the baskets were tucked between the blankets of a bed. It took one hour to bake the loaf with the live coals underneath and on top. The ovens had legs or feet of some three or four inches, that the bed of coals might be thick and yet not quite touch the oven.
Later, outside brick ovens were constructed in which much could be baked at one time. When baking in it was to be done, a rousing fire was built in it of long sticks of wood, and then allowed to die down, the embers being spread evenly and al- lowed to cool. Then they were drawn out by a wooden rake or hoe, and a mop cloth fastened to a long handle and dipped in fresh cold water, brushed over the bottom until it was the right temperature, then the bread turned onto a flat wooden shovel with the inevitable long handle, was shoved in onto the bare brick floor. When the oven was full, a board was set up at the opening until the bread was baked. These ovens were indispensable in large families, and especially in the country where there was much fruit to be dried. Oftentimes a family would put their large roast in such an oven, and returning after the lengthy Sabbath service, find the dinner cooked.
The open fire-place in the kitchen department in those early days, was usually very spacious and the hearth extended two and three feet out into the room. Several lengths of chains with adjustable hooks, were suspended from a rod high up in the chimney, and served to hold the heavy iron pots and kettles
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over the fire. The iron crane was a later invention. It could be turned out from the heat, and several kettles hung from it by hooks as high or low as desired, and then swung back over the fire. Later still, a patent reflector was intro- duced. It was of tin with a hood flaring to the fire to catch the heat, while the bread was on a pan near the back. Next came the cooking stove, which with its steady improvements, has been the greatest blessing to woman's work ever invented. This, about 1848.
The Indians would come to town almost every day to trade, bringing ginseng and cranberries. The squaws would wear high hats, like the men, with blankets around them, and rode astride their ponies, with their hair hanging straight from their heads.
The Wyandots, near Upper Sandusky, had a mission church, with regular services, and held camp-meetings. William Walker, a half-breed, was at that time, their chief. He was finely educated, and married to a white woman, who was a member of the M. E. Church. They established the mission. They had two daughters, one a blonde with light hair and com- plexion like the mother, but with marked Indian features; the other daughter was dark, and loved to ride the Indian ponies. The family lived in the village and in comfortable style.
At the camp-meetings the old men would sit at the rear of their board tents, decorated with silver bands on their arms and rings of the same metal in their ears. The singing of the congregation seemed very plaintive. One of the Armstrongs, a quarter breed, and a very fine looking man, was married to a daughter of the Rev. Russell Bigelow, at one time a missionary among them.
Mrs. Samuel Ink tells when she was a little girl, of the Indians coming by their home and stopping to feed and water their ponies, and of her curiosity regarding them. Among other things which have remained vividly stamped upon her memory, was the little papoose strapped to a board and set up against a tree, its black eyes sparkling and dancing. Another time when a band passed she ran along with them for a time, one particularly attracting her attention by being gaily decorat-
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ed with a pink ribbon over his shoulder and down under his arm, and their apparent surprise that she was in no wise afraid of them.
Mrs. Ink was born on Kekuka Lake in the State of New York, and moved with her parents to Ohio, settling upon the farm where she still resides, when she was but four years of age. She is now (1913) in her eighty-fifth year. The night they arrived in Seneca county, the colored people declared the world was at its end, owing to the great falling of meteors (1833).
The first white man to travel over the Kilbourne road, which no one knows how long had been an Indian trail, was Thomas Baker, an uncle several times removed, of the Misses Eliza Baker and Sibyl Ink.
In 1842, when the Wyandot Indians were moved by the Government to the Indian Reservation in what is now the State of Kansas, Mr. Samuel Ink, who was then a lad of eighteen years, hauled a load of household goods for a family of Indians, to Cincinnati, where they took the boat for the west. He said that among the things he carried, was a barrel of maple sugar, to which they helped themselves liberally on their journey. The woman of this family was white, and had been stolen when a babe and raised in this tribe, marrying an Indian. When the party were getting on the boat at Cincinnati, one Indian who had partaken of too much "fire-water," fell into the water and was drowned.
One squaw, called mother Solomon, could not make up her mind to go west with the tribe and so remained. She could not give up the home so sacred to her memory so her husband returned and stayed until his death. It was said that she had helped to gather faggots at the burning of Col. Crawford by the Indians, but was averse to talking of it. She was present at the Pioneer and Fiftieth Anniversary which was held at the residence of Dr. Brinkerhoff, at Upper Sandusky in 1884, and was thought to be over ninety years of age, though she did not look it. Mother Solomon has since passed on to meet those to whose memory she clung in life and would not leave their resting place on the old hunting ground; yet it was a pathetic sentiment in an uncultivated nature such as hers.
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The grand-parents of Mrs. Samuel Ink were born in New York, but at the time of the Revolutionary War, they lived on the Canadian side, near Lundy's Lane, and not far from Niag- ara Falls. Her grand-father was drafted into the British army, but her father, John W. Eastman, who was then a sturdy lad of seventeen years, went in the father's place. He was drawn up in line of battle against the Americans, but for some reason the fight was delayed, and Mr. Eastman never compelled to shoot a bullet against his native country. When they were able to escape to the American side, the grand-father was placed in the bottom of a boat, covered with a featherbed and rowed across the Niagara River. Mrs. Ink's grand- mother was greatly in sympathy with the American cause, and a very fearless woman. In some manner she came into possession of information which would be of great benefit to the Americans, and in order to reach them, she threw a bag of grain across her horse, and mounting the animal with her baby in her arms, approached the picket lines. She told them she was going to mill, so they allowed her to pass, thus being able to reach the American lines in safety with her message.
On the south-west corner of Monroe and Market streets stood a small brick house occupied by Benjamin Biggs and wife. Mrs. Biggs was noted for becoming happy and giving way to her excited feelings at church, quarterly meetings, and especially at the camp-meetings, when she would go about the grounds clapping her hands, and calling upon Benjamin to share her happy state of mind, crying out, "Glory to God!' Glory!" It caused much amusement for those who were irreligious and were spectators. She went by the name of "Aunt Kitty." A class or prayer meeting was hardly complete without Aunt Kitty's "Glory" and "Amen." No children were born to them, and when their light went out, history closed the days of shouting Methodists of that generation.
The Methodist church on Market street, near the river, was used as a school room through the week. About a year later a small brick school house was built on the north side of the street, and the church was fitted with permanent seats and used as well for the holding of courts of the county for several years. This church having two doors for entrance, the
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men entered one and the women the other, and were seated in that same manner inside. At night when the audience was dismissed, the men would arrange themselves in two lines at the ladies' door, the women passing through. If a young man escorted a lady to church, or wished gallantly to escort her home, he would step out of line, and extend his elbow, saying "Will you have my arm?" Then if it was agreeable, she would "hook on."
The illumination of the church at that time was not in danger of hurting the eyes by its brilliancy. Dipped tallow candles were used, two on a side, one on each of two middle posts, and two on the pulpit. Those on the walls were placed in a socket of tin, with a shallow cup underneath to catch the dripping tallow, the back being about four inches wide extend- ing as high as the candle to keep the smoke and heat from the wall or woodwork against which it was hung.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ebbert were active church members, and he an interesting and interested class leader. He had his class meet at his home once every week in the afternoon. Being a good singer, he always started the singing at services, but never used a hymn book. The minister lined the hymns two lines at a time, and as Mr. Ebbert knew them so well, it was not necessary to have one; and in fact, few had books, as by that rule, none were needed.
Mrs. Ebbert went about among her friends and neighbors doing for the sick and needy. She was considered almost a ministering angel on earth. She it was who always dipped the tallow candles for the church as long as they were used. The rods on which she strung the wicks to dip them in the melted tallow-and who would have the patience in these days of hurry-were found in the attic after her death. She and her husband died within six weeks of each other. They had no children of their own, but adopted three girls. In 1834 when the cholera made its appearance, a Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman died of the disease, and their pretty little daughter, Charlotte, was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Ebbert, and in time became the honored wife of Gen. John C. Lee.
Judge and Mrs. Ebbert settled in Tiffin in 1831. Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman came here from Germany and erected a two
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story hewed log house just south, on the west side, of the wire bridge, and opened a tavern for emigrants. The first German dance was held there about Christmas that same year-1833. In 1834 Mr. Hoffman added a potter's shop and an oven, and burnt several kilns of good pottery, the first in Seneca county.
From the time Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman died of cholera, there were eighty-six coffins made in five weeks at one shop alone. It was thought best not to bring bodies of persons dying in the country through the village, but some would suspend the casket under a wagon, and bury it in the cemetery after night- fall. Several were so buried in the cemetery on Franklin street.
Cholera again returned to Tiffin in 1849, 1852, and 1854; very severely for a short time in 1854, when sixteen corpses were counted in a single day. All of the physicians and many citizens worked almost unceasingly; Dr. Hovey, possibly the most active and fearless, and Dr. McCollum, until he himself was taken down. For five weeks Dr. Hovey worked among his patients night and day, scarce resting or changing clothing.
A silver-smith by the name of Madden, with Gabriel J. Keen, were talking over the cholera scare in Mr. S. B. Sneath's store on Washington street, Mr. Madden laughing over every one being afraid. Shortly afterward, a hearse passed contain- ing two caskets, and he left town feeling that was too much, even for him.
One of the proudest days in the life of Mr. Samuel B. Sneath was when he had earned money enough to take his mother back to the old home in Maryland. While there, his aunt displayed a new sewing machine of which she was justly proud, and showed much surprise when told that Mrs. Richard Sneath was also the happy possessor of one way out here in the West.
On the 5th of January, 1832, the charter of The Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Company was granted by the General Assembly of Ohio, to extend from Sandusky City to Dayton. The road was commenced in September, 1835, and finished as far as Tiffin, 1841. The iron rails were flat or strap rails, as they were called, and short, fastened to a strip of wood laid lengthwise of the ties. Sometimes one would break loose,
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