USA > Ohio > Wyandot County > Past and present of Wyandot County, Ohio; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievemen, Vol. I > Part 30
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At the power house there has been started a pleasant park with trees and plants and flowers and animals. It is much sought after during summer months as a place of resort. Pic- nic parties and family reunions and other gatherings are held here. It is growing in interest each season. M. C. Reynolds, the engineer, is chiefly responsible for the park.
Carey has adequate telephone facilities. The Carey Elec- tric Telephone Co. and the Farmers' Mutual Co. have well equipped plants and are rendering satisfactory service to a large number of subscribers.
Carey has an excellent public library. Correspondence with Andrew Carnegie elicited from him an offer of $8,000 to build a home for a library provided the city would conform to the usual conditions accompanying the offer. Com- pliance with these conditions was promised and the citi- zens promptly raised the sum necessary for a site, a contract for the erection of a library building was left and in due time the building was finished and dedicated. The library is conveniently located and is an ornament to the town in addi- tion to its usefulness in promoting the morality and intelli- gence of the people. It is named "The Dorcas Carey" li- brary, a tribute to the wife of John Carey, a former promi- nent citizen of Carey, paid her at the instance of her daugh- ter, Mrs. G. H. Whaley, a liberal contributor to the fund for the site and for other necessary expenses. The number of volumes in the library is 5,003, carefully selected and cover- ing a wide variety of subjects. Miss Marjorie Sutphen is the librarian.
Because of municipal ownership of public utilities street lighting costs the city nothing, and the same is true of fire hydrants.
The city has one paved street, Vance street, extending north and south through the corporation. The street was
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paved in 1912 and the paving of Main street is in contempla- tion. The bonded indebtedness caused by the various im- provements including paving has been reduced to $18,500, a very considerable portion of which as stated above being al- . ready provided for by accumulated funds.
INDUSTRIES
Because of the conditions enumerated Carey is an ideal place for the location of industries. Our unparalleled water supply, our railroad facilities, the general healthfulness of the city and other conditions should entice those seeking a loca- tion for factories. Already important industries have located here and are in successful operation.
One of these is The National Lime & Stone Co. This company was incorporated in March, 1903. It has two de- partments, one for the manufacture of lime and the other for the production of crushed stone. The lime is manufactured almost exclusively into the hydrated form. The daily output of the factory is 100 tons and it is shipped to all parts of the country. There is an unlimited supply of magnesia rock of the Niagara formation. The daily output of the crushed stone department of the company is 1,600 tons. There is an increas- ing demand for the stone for street and road improvement and much of it is shipped to distant points. The combined plant employs on an average 125 men. R. G. Spencer, Jr., is the general manager.
One of the most important and oldest established indus- tries of Carey is the Tile Factory of Stief Bros. This factory was established in 1860, by the late Charles Stief. It is now owned by Henry Stief and Jacob Stief, sons of Charles Stief. It is a factory for the manufacture of tiles and building blocks. It is equipped with the best of modern conveniences includ- ing three kilns of the latest and most improved type. The capacity of the factory is 800,000 feet of tile and 100,000 build- ing blocks per year. There is a great and increasing demand for the product and much of it is shipped to the adjoining counties. The average force employed in operating the fac- tory is eighteen men.
The latest addition to the important industries of Carey is The National Electric Porcelain Co., for the manufacture of electrical supplies. This company was organized and incor-
CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF CONSOLATION, CAREY
CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF CONSOLATION, CAREY (In course of construction)
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porated in 1910, with W. S. Bish as president. Mr. Bish is also manager of the factory. It occupies a building erected for the purpose and especially designed with a view to con- venience and economy. Its dimensions are 200 feet by 150 feet with a boiler and engine room added. The proprietors claim that it is the best factory of the kind in the United States. The product is much sought after and is shipped to all parts of the country. The factory has four kilns with room for more if necessary. The average number of employes is sixty-five.
W. H. Snyder is proprietor of a lumber yard, planing mill and sash and door factory. He employs an average force of sixteen men. He is proprietor also of a grain mill and ele- vator and a cement block factory. In all these lines he carries on a flourishing business.
W. A. Perkins has a sawmill and handle factory in which he manufactures and deals in hardwood lumber of all kinds. He employs twelve men.
W. F. Johnston & Son have an up-to-date and well equipped elevator and deal extensively in grain and coal.
All the ordinary lines of mercantile business are repre- sented in Carey. The dry goods, grocery, drug, clothing, hardware, furniture and notion and jewelry stores are equal in every respect to the similar establishments of our sister cities. The city is supplied with banks, has a newspaper and job printing office and her hotel is one of the best in North- western Ohio.
Carey is up to the times in the way of school privileges, with two commodious and well equipped buildings. A di- ploma from the high school entitles one to admission to the freshman class of the State University without examination. A. J. Nowlan is the efficient superintendent of schools. Be- sides the public schools there is a flourishing parochial school in connection with the Catholic church.
Of fraternal organizations there is a plentiful supply. The Masons have a Blue Lodge and Chapter. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen, Grand Army of the Republic, Eastern Star, Pythian Sisters and Rebekahs are all represented by large and flourishing organizations.
Five of the religious organizations of the country are rep- resented. They are the United Brethren, United Evangelical, Vol. 1-21
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Methodist Episcopal, English Lutheran and Catholic. These all have commodious and well appointed houses of worship and all have large congregations. Our Lady of Consolation is the name of the Catholic church. There is a large Catholic population in Carey and vicinity and many families are in- cluded in the congregation of Our Lady of Consolation church. This church has the distinction of being one of two pilgrimage churches in the United States. It possesses a shrine in the shape of a statue of the Virgin Mary, a replica of a shrine in the church of the same name in Nuremberg, Germany. It was presented to the church of Our Lady of Consolation and brought to this country and installed in the church with im- posing ceremonies. By a decree of Pope Leo XIII, the church was made a pilgrimage church and an annual pilgrimage au- thorized to be held on the fourth Sunday after Easter. These pilgrimages have come to be great events. They are attended by great multitudes of people from the surrounding country and from nearby and distant cities. Many clergymen attend, and solemn and elaborate masses are celebrated. The serv- ices are continued through the week. An interesting feature are the candle processions. Many sick and maimed come seeking relief from their ailments, and cures have been ef- fected in many instances. A new church is in process of con- struction designed to accommodate the crowds that come to attend the pilgrimages. It will seat two thousand worship- pers, will be of beautiful architecture and will be an imposing structure.
THE CHURCH AND SHRINE AT CAREY
Set in a country abounding in fertile farms, whose level acres alternate in cultivated fields, meadows, orchards and woodland, lies Carey in Wyandot county. It is a pretty town of comfortable homes that look out upon the passer-by from tidy lawns, and stately maples line its streets. Its busy, peaceful village life forms the setting of what has become a center, well known and widely visited, of Catholic devotion to the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus.
During pioneer days Catholics were few in number in Wyandot county, but among them were some that had fear- lessly followed the trails over the Alleghenies and through the gaps of the Blue Ridge from the eastern settlements in
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the olden Indian days, and had, at the cost of herculean labor, made clearings in the forests and built their humble cabins. Up to and during the Civil war, the Catholics living at Carey and throughout the surrounding country received spiritual at- tention but intermittently from other places, but during 1868 the agitation for specific parochial identity reached culmina- tion, Rev. E. J. Vattman, then pastor at Findlay, being com- missioned by the Right Reverend Bishop Rappe of Cleveland to organize a parish at Carey and to erect a church. The cornerstone was laid during 1868, but the church was not com- pleted and put to its use until about six years later. In the meantime Carey was occasionally visited by the pastors of Findlay and Tiffin.
The vivification of Carey dates from 1873, when Rev. Jo- seph P. Gloden, then pastor at St. Nicholas near Berwick, assumed charge of the situation. A man of great zeal, energy and piety, he visited Carey regularly and frequently, raised the hopes and the courage of the people, completed the church, and on October 18, 1874, had it dedicated to the worship of Almighty God. The crown of his work at Carey was however the inauguration of a shrine to the Virgin, a place of prayer and refuge for those seeking in a special manner Her heavenly intercession. And it came about in this wise.
For more than 300 years the Virgin Mary has been hon- ored in the Grandduchy of Luxemburg, under the title of "Mother of Jesus, Consoler of the Afflicted," and the venera- tion of her miraculous image has become intertwined with the spiritual life of the faithful Luxemburgers; Her shrine has become their national sanctuary. Father Gloden, a native of the Grandduchy, shared this devotion and in his earlier years had vowed that the first church it would be his to build, should be dedicated to the "Consoler of the Afflicted." Here now in Carey was the occasion to redeem his vow, and this he did, with the consent of the bishop and the approval of the people, changing the name of the uncompleted church from St. Edward to "Consoler of the Afflicted," now commonly rendered "Our Lady of Consolation." This done he be- thought of an image to grace the newly-named church and eventually he was successful in obtaining from Luxemburg a replica of the original statue.
The sight of the statue awoke in him memories of the graces and favors so richly bestowed through the intercession
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of Mary at Her shrine in the fatherland; of the praises and thanksgivings predicated to Her by thousands of pious pil- grims, and he pondered long and deep over the feasibility of transplanting this devotion to American soil, making the re- pository of the newly-acquired image a shrine for pilgrimage and pious supplication. He decided to do so, and as a befit- ting inauguration, a solemn procession was organized to ac- company afoot the image on its transfer from Berwick, where it then temporarily was, to the new church at Carey, which was to be its permanent sanctuary. On May 24, 1875, a com- pany of over 1,000, to the recitation of prayers and the singing of hymns escorted the image over the seven miles intervening between Berwick and Carey, and thus inaugurated the shrine and performed the first pilgrimage. Not content to rest the situation upon his own initiative, Father Gloden obtained the approval of Bishop Gilmour of Cleveland upon his enterprise and during 1878, having petitioned the Holy See, he obtained from Pope Leo XIII a brief approving the church as a place of pilgrimage, establishing a pious Confra- ternity specifically for it, and endowing both church and con- fraternity with indulgences and other spiritual privileges of note.
For thirteen years Father Gloden labored, building up church and school, energizing the growing congregation, fos- tering piety, until during 1886, he relinquished charge of Ber- wick and Carey to take up parochial work in larger fields. He was succeeded by Rev. M. Arnoldi and by Rev. C. L. O'Brien, the latter being the first priest resident in Carey, when on January 19, 1888, Rev. John G. Mizer took posses- sion, having been transferred to Carey from Kirby.
With the administration of Father Mizer, the present era of development and growth began. Untiringly he labored both to strengthen his parish and to further the devotion to Our Lady. A man of great executive ability, he managed well. Under him Carey developed into a strong and pros- perous parish; he planned but did not remain to execute the erection of a magnificent basilica to serve as a spiritual re- fuge for the weary and the afflicted, to be a throne of mercy for Our Lady of Consolation. A cheery smile ever wreathing his face, his lips bubbling over with sympathy, during the long years of his pastorate he sought to encourage and enhearten thousands upon thousands who came from far and wide. He
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poured the healing balm of kindly words upon sorely-suffer- ing hearts and long will his remembrance endure in the minds of those to whom he pointed out Jesus in the arms of Mary as their Consoler.
On June 1, 1912, the parish and shrine passed under the jurisdiction of the Friars Minor Conventuals, an ancient order in the Catholic church.
The shrine at Carey is a place for prayer and for the ex- ercise of faith and confidence in the unseen but real power of God; a place where one may rise into the realms of the spirit and seek therein surcease or nepenthe of the oppres- siveness of burdens laid upon one by adverse conditions of body or of mind. Faith is based upon consciousness that the things of the spirit are not idle figments: it is a primal, in- stinctive mental attitude which, when uplifted upon the pin- ions of an abiding sense of "God with us," becomes ennobling and is not in vain. This confiding Faith is one of the most precious gifts of God to man, and it finds outlet in prayer to Him. Faith and prayer reach fullest development in the Christian mind, for unlike the Mohammedan who believes he has no influence upon his kismet, the Christian believes that he can through Prayer bend Providence to himself.
And surely there is a law of prayer amid the varied laws of nature! Laws of creation are not above the Creator and nature is ruled according to His will. Just as material na- ture is governed by laws of time, space, magnitude, force, that are adapted to the inanimate character of matter, should he not have willed laws to govern spirit and mind, commen- surate to His dignity and theirs! And as the inanimate bows in so many other respects to the rational, should not the laws of inanimate nature cede to the laws of the animate, to the welfare and needs of those beings that are and move in so much higher a sphere of man, the crown of mundane crea- tion ?
The Catholic is so convinced; it is part of his religion, of his life. Through faith, confidence and prayer, he seeks and expects relief; and he has behind him the experience of ages crystallized into positive knowledge that relief has been ob- tained in the past, and on this knowledge he projects his ex- pectation that aid and relief, comfort, consolation, even cure of ills, can again be obtained in response to prayer. To him the shrine at Carey offers the atmosphere, the medium in
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which these sublime mental attitudes are cultivated and made to thrive and if he asserts that he has there found release from distress and disease, his assertion is worthy of consider- ation and dare not be brushed aside with a priori disdain.
NEVADA
The beautiful village of Nevada was named from the State of Nevada, which was attracting considerable attention in 1852, the year the original survey of the town was made.
The founders of Nevada were Jonathan Ayers and George Garrett. The land on which it was located was purchased from the Government by William Mckibben, and was pur- chased of him by Messrs. Ayers and Garrett, who laid out the town, consisting of seventy-two lots, in October, 1852. Later additions were added to the original plat.
When the site for Nevada was first chosen by its founders, the future for the town was not promising, or at least not brilliantly so. The site had the advantages of an elevated location and the proper distance from county seats; but this was the most that could be claimed for it. The land at that point was at that time covered by a dense growth of timber, and the contrast in surroundings between the future Nevada and the sleepy old village of Wyandot, which was henceforth to be considered a rival, was strongly in favor of the lat- ter town. But Nevada had within it the elements of great- ness, and with the Pittsburgh Railroad to strengthen it, and the rich farming country both north and south to supply it with the proper commercial nourishment, its success was soon placed beyond question. The woods were rapidly cleared away, the mercantile establishments began with a vitality that was unquestioned, and the point was settled. Nevada was to be a town and have a history.
When the survey for the original plat of Nevada was made, the only houses standing within its limits were the dwell- ings of Lair Miller, James McLaughlin and Samuel Elli- son. Mr. Miller's residence was built about 1846-47; Mr. McLaughlin's in 1850, and Mr. Ellison's in the same year in which the town was laid out, 1852. After that date build- ing proceeded quite rapidly as the success of the village was soon a pronounced certainty.
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William McJunkins was Nevada's pioneer merchant. He erected the first storeroom in the place in 1853. It was a frame structure of considerable dimensions and was well filled with a stock of general merchandise. Mr. McJunkins was postmaster and railroad agent at the same time and did a good business, continuing in the place several years. Wil- liam Fredregill had previously erected a small frame building 18x26 feet, and did a small grocery business. The McJun- kins building was destroyed by fire in 1872.
The second storeroom was built by Jonathan Ayres who sold the same to J. L. Cook and William F. Goodbread. It was also a frame structure and is still standing near where it was first erected-on Main street, east side, south of the railroad. The store was opened by the firm of Cook & Good- bread with a stock of $4,000 to $5,000 and an extensive and profitable business was conducted by this firm for about three and one-half years when they sold out to William Balliet. Their stock consisted of general merchandise and in connec- tion with this branch of their business they erected the first stock scales in the town and did an extensive business in the purchase and sale of all kinds of grain, live stock, etc. Messrs. Cook & Goodbread may also be considered pioneer merchants of Nevada.
D. B. Wolfe entered the dry goods business in 1872, in the room which had been occupied by Cook & Goodbread.
The third store of the village was established by S. S. Miller, who died a few years afterward and his stock of $2,000 in general merchandise was sold out at auction. From this time the mercantile interests went strongly forward till at the present date.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
This society was organized about 1856. Meetings were first held one and one-half miles north of Nevada, where the church organization was first effected. Previous to the erection of the first church building, services were held in the Lutheran church, that building being the only church edifice in Nevada at that time.
In 1867 the first church building was erected. It was a brick structure with basement, consisting of a lecture room and class rooms. The audience room above was large, sub-
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stantially and beautifully finished. The building was 40x70 feet and cost $12,000. It was beautifully located on North Main street on a part of the lot on which the present impos- ing structure stands. The corner-stone of the new church was laid, with appropriate ceremonies, July 1, 1905. Dr. S. E. Idleman, P. E., of Mansfield district, made the principal address.
The present stately edifice was dedicated February 4, 1906. Bishop Henry Spellmeyer, of Cincinnati, Ohio, preached the dedicatory sermon, and J. W. Powell, of Buffalo, New York, was in charge of the financial business; $8,500 was raised, enabling the society to dedicate the church, costing $16,000, free of debt. The building is constructed of pressed brick, buff in color, of Roman and Gothic design with trimmings of sandstone and roof of tile. The extreme length of the build- ing is ninety-six feet, its extreme width sixty-four feet. Its seating capacity is about eight hundred, though a thousand people may be accommodated within its walls. The interior arrangement is convenient, artistic and commodious, with rooms fitted for all departments of church activity. Opal- escent art glass was used in all the windows and with note- worthy artistic effect, especially in the two large windows, the one facing Main street representing "The Ascension," and the one facing south, "Humiliation." The church is lighted throughout by natural gas. All the departments of church activity are carried on with vigor and success.
The official board is composed of the following: President, L. A. Ensley, pastor; secretary, J. A. Williams; treasurer, J. F. Stuckey; F. J. Armstrong, Dr. H. E. Dwire, Wm. McBeth, L. C. Orwiler, O. V. Riley, Albert Wyss, Dr. S. E. Bretz, W. A. Tucker, H. E. Kinzly, C. H. Kuenzli, Wm. Brown, Howard Armstrong, Dr. S. H. Brake, Mrs. S. E. Bretz, Mrs. H. E. Kinzly, Mrs. J. F. Stuckey, Mrs. Della Kieffer, Mrs. Dr. H. E. Dwire, Mrs. L. A. Ensley.
The following are the names of the pastors who have served the Nevada society from its organization, and the year of their appointment :
1858-W. H. Painter of Annapolis circuit.
1859-N. J. Close and A. P. Jones of Sulphur Springs circuit.
1860-J. M. Wilcox of Sulphur Springs circuit.
1861-62-S. Fairchild of Sulphur Springs circuit.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, NEVADA
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1863-64-B. D. Jones of Sulphur Springs circuit.
1865-J. S. Albright of Sulphur Springs circuit.
1866-J. Munsinger of Nevada circuit.
1867-W. H. Painter of Nevada circuit.
1868-69-B. A. Disney of Nevada circuit.
1870-71-D. M. Conant of Nevada circuit.
1872-Stephen Faut of Nevada circuit.
1873-74-G. L. Hanawalt of Nevada circuit.
1875-76-Chauncey Baldwin of Nevada circuit.
1877-Geo. A. Marshall of Nevada circuit.
1878-79-J. H. Barron of Nevada circuit.
1880-S. O. Young of Nevada circuit.
1881-Stephen Faut of Nevada circuit.
1882-Charles Crawford (Supply)
1883-I. G. Zeigler (Supply)
1884-W. O. Waters.
1885-86-A. E. Winters.
1887-A. E. Thomas.
1889-92-E. S. Tompkins.
1893-N. W. Wagar.
1894-98-E. D. Smith.
1899-1901-J. W. Dowds.
1902-03-Fred E. Baker, from September, 1902, to April 10, 1904.
1904-06-N. E. Davis, from April 10, 1904, to January 24, 1907-E. E. Loose, from January 24, 1907, to September 16, 1907.
1907-10-L. R. Akers.
1911-L. A. Ensley.
The present pastor is a native of Coshocton county, Ohio, and entered the North Ohio Conference in 1902. He received his education from the Dresden high school, Scio College, Drew Theological Seminary and New York University.
THE NEVADA OF TODAY
By Frank Holmes
Nevada, one of the prosperous towns of Wyandot county, is situated on the main line of the Pennsylvania railroad. Its location is in the eastern part of the country, the line be-
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tween Eden and Antrim townships, dividing the town into two geographically equal parts.
The village has a population of about one thousand peo- ple characteristically substantial, and progressive in the lit- eral meaning of the word. Both public and private improve- ments attest the progressive spirit which dominates at Ne- vada, and evidence a very liberal measure of prosperity.
While the business activities of the town are largely of a mercantile character, yet in an industrial way the clay work- ing, lumbering, banking, printing and other interests are features of importance ; while the professions are represented by men of exceptional ability and standing.
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