USA > Ohio > Wyandot County > Past and present of Wyandot County, Ohio; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievemen, Vol. I > Part 36
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36
#
HIGH SCHOOL, HARPSTER
MAIN STREET, MCCUTCHENVILLE
385
PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
Tyrolean warbling frequently became mixed with the sul- phurous echoes of the ugly mood that had so rapidly vanished.
The writer will only attempt to narrate a few of the hun- dreds of funny incidents which served to make J. Adam cel- ebrated, and they are set forth to amuse, without the slightest thought of malice.
J. Adam was always polite and gallant, especially to the fair sex, and oftentimes his politeness and gallantry were as strenuous and as explosive as his speech. At about the time of the Civil war he had a position as clerk in the dry goods store of I. H. & A. Berry, and he could flop a bolt of muslin and wind and unwind a roll of ribbon as dexterously as any- body in the business. At about that time one of the staple fabrics for ladies wear was pronounced as though spelled Marseilles. One day a lady customer, upon whom Adam was waiting, after being shown bolt after bolt of various kinds of goods, remarked, "Now, Mr. Gottfried, where is your Mar- seilles ?" Adam evidently did not hear the word "your" in the question, but supposing she had inquired about the loca- tion of the village of Marseilles, danced from behind the counter, grasped the astonished lady by the arm and escorted her to the center of Sandusky avenue, in front of the store, and bowing and pointing, he said, "Just eleven miles south, madam, but you got to go out the woolen mill road!" Adam felt considerably chagrined when the lady replied she had asked about dress goods-not about a town.
One day a neighboring merchant came out of his place of business and was mopping sweat from his forehead, when he met J. Adam. "Gee, whiz, Adam," said the merchant, "I have just finished taking an invoice. When are you going to take yours ?" Adam sniffed and replied, "O! what's the use ? What we've got, we've got, and what we ain't got we're out of, and we'll find out what we ain't got when somebody asks for something that we're out of, and then we'll order it!"
An attorney, local representative of Bradstreets, entered the hardware store and addressing Adam, said: "Adamı, Bradstreets have asked me to get your rating." "Brad- street !" yelled Adam, "Bradstreet! You just tell Bradstreet to go to h-1! If we owe him anything we can pay him."
John Pausch, the jeweler, whose store was next door south of the hardware, was a noted practical joker, and he kept the Gottfried boys going some along that line. One day he nailed Vol. 1-25
386
PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
a dead rat to the floor under a table in the rear part of his store. He then tip-toed over to the hardware store, and mys- teriously motioning and whispering as though he was afraid he might scare the animal away, asked Adam to get his flobert rifle and come over to his store and shoot a rat. Of course Adam eagerly responded, for if Adam prided himself upon anything it was his marksmanship, in which he was really very efficient, and he was wont to declare that he could shoot the eye out of a mosquito at a hundred yards. John and Adam tip-toed into the store and John pointed out the rat. Adam took careful aim, fired and apparently missed. He shot again and again and again but not until he had shot the rat to pieces did he realize that it was only one of Pausch's jokes.
One day Pausch, when he knew that there was a large crowd of loafers about the stove in the hardware store, entered and walking back, slapped Adam on the shoulder and said : "Say, Adam, now honest, have you got any real good pow- der ?" Adam indignantly, yet solemnly, assured Mr. Pausch that they had the very best powder in the world, whereupon Mr. Pausch replied that if it was that good he would take a pound. The conversation attracted the attention of the crowd about the stove and when Adam handed the package to Mr. Pausch he exhibited it to the crowd and asked those assembled to remember what Adam had said about the quality of the powder. About a half hour later Mr. Pausch again entered the store with a package in his hand identically like the one he had just purchased. He was apparently very angry and told Adam the powder wasn't worth a darn. Adam became angry and declared that the powder was just what he said it was, the very best in the world. Pausch denied and Adam defended until the crowd became very intent over the quarrel. "Well!" yelled Pausch, "I'll just show you!" whereupon he jerked the stove door open and threw the package into the fire. There was an immediate and precipitous scattering of the crowd and Adam and the clerks did not stop running until they gained the alley door, while his older brother, Jake, who was wedged in the arms of a chair, could not escape, but fell backward in the excitement among some shovels, forks and rakes. Others of the crowd followed Adam and the clerks, some rushed back of the counter and some jumped down the open cellarway. Of course the package was a fake package. The joke worked as Pausch had intended it should,
387
PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
but he kept out of the reach of the frightened crowd for sev- eral hours, and it was several days before he succeeded in making his peace with the Gottfried brothers. After Jake Gottfried became reconciled to the humor of the incident it was worth a good deal to hear him describe his plight and fright, and the rush of the crowd, ending by declaring, "Dat Pausch, he's a reg'lar ga-zoozle."
One May morning, many years ago, a large box, filled with shiney new sickles with wood handles painted a brilliant red, stood in front of the store to attract the attention of persons needing an implement to cut grass. John Pausch saw in this an opportunity for some fun, and, as citizens and farmers passed by he would stop them, whisper something and sig- nificantly nod his head in the direction of the box of sickles. He did not do this so Adam could see him, for he was too foxy to be caught in his joke conspiracies. He whispered his idea to fully a dozen different people. Soon the scheme began to work. A man would stop at the box, pick out a sickle, grasp it in his right hand and make motions like cutting grass. By this time Adam would step out of the door ready to make the sale. The prospective purchaser would look at the sickle in a puzzled way and then shift it to his left hand and make motions with it in a more satisfied manner. He would replace the sickle and take up another and go through all the motions again, always shifting to the left hand. In answer to Adam's question, "Do you want to buy a sickle, gov'nor ?" he would reply, "Yes, but I don't want a left-handed one." Of course Adam would declare they were O. K., right-handed, all right. but the prospective customer argued differently and moved on. Soon another approached the box, when the same testing, motioning and argument ensued. After about the tenth per- son that day had declared that the sickles were left-handed, Adam convinced himself by testing and motioning and by the force of the arguments advanced by men who should surely know from experience in handling sickles, that they were really left-handed, when he burst into the store and shouted to Clerk Jake Burkhart, "Say Jake, them sand-of-gun whole- salers sent us a gross of left-handed sickles. Right away quick you nail up the whole shooting-match and ship 'em back," which was done. The wholesalers were too wise to quarrel over the matter. They apologized and sent on a gross
388
PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
just like them only the handles were painted blue and no fur- ther question was raised.
For many years a patent washing machine stood in front of the store. One day a farmer stopped and looked it over. He opened the lid and gazed at its "innards" and he worked the lever that operated it. Scenting a possible customer Adam danced toward the door, but by the time he reached it the farmer was walking away. Adam vigorously hailed him, ex- claiming, "Here, come back here, gov'nor, I want to sell you this machine." The farmer smiled and replied, "No, Adam, I don't want it. We've got one at home," whereupon Adam remarked to some by-standers, "That's the way it is, now 'em nare, washing machines are like noses-everybody's got one."
In keeping with its policy of handling only the very best goods in the world, the firm, some years ago, placed in stock a car-load of the highest grade binder twine obtainable. It was strong and thin, hence measured many more feet to the pound than did the lumpy and heavier twines that were that same year being offered upon the market at a few cents less per pound. A little thought upon the subject should have convinced any fair-minded grain-grower that it would have been much more economical to have purchased the better grade, even at a higher price per pound. It would go much further in tying sheaves and it would have offered less sus- tenance to the voracious grass-hoppers, for they fattened on the cheaper twines, whereas they didn't have teeth sharp enough to bite into the kind Adam offered. He could not sell his for less than ten cents per pound, without actual loss, so he was forced to see bundle after bundle of the cheaper twine of his competitors hauled past his store in farmers' wagons, for they would purchase the cheaper grade, and the more Adam saw of this the bluer he became. Of course he ex- pressed his opinion quite forcibly of the short-sightedness of mankind in failing to see that more feet of twine to the pound was of more real worth than an apparent few cents of dif- ference in price, but the users could not see it that way and the neatly wrapped yellow balls remained in their burlap sacks in the store and in the cellar, where they were heaped in long rows, and the harvest was going merrily on and the grass-hoppers were having their feast on the cheaper twines. Whenever Adam thought of the situation his face assumed a "before taking" expression and he could have kicked an un-
389
PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
muzzled bull-dog without thought or care of possible conse- quences. In other words, his binder twine grouch was poeti- cally beautiful in its supreme completeness. One day, while in one of his most woe-begone moods of thought upon the sub- ject, an old German friend and customer from his beloved Salem township, happened in the store and dropped into a chair next to where Adam was seated. Adam was as silent and as solemn as an owl, staring into space-thinking, think- ing of Shakespeare's wisdom in declaring, "What fools we mortals be," when he happened to notice his friend. He aroused himself from his reverie with a start, grasped the farmer by the hand and said: "Why, God bless your soul, Jake, how are you ? Say, Jake, have you bought your binder twine yet?" Jake blinked a few times and drawled out the sad information that he had already laid in his supply. "Where did you get it?" snapped Adam. "Over to Carey," was the slowly measured response. "What did you pay for it ?" almost fiercely demanded Adam. "Eight and a third cents a pound," replied the farmer. Adam fairly frothed at the mouth as he yelled at his clerk, Gottlieb Stecher to "go to the cellar and bring up a ball of our twine." This Gottlieb did with alacrity, and when he handed the ball to his em- ployer, Adam unwound about a yard of the twine. He hitched up his chair directly in front of the farmer and he held the strand of twine before that worthy's eyes. "Now, honest, upon your honor as a man, Jake," pleaded Adam, "tell me, honor bright, is your twine as thick as this?" The farmer slowly permitted his eyes to survey the string from one of Adam's hands to the other, and back again, as if deliberately qualifying himself for the desired truthful reply, when he settled back in his chair and slowly and emphatically drawled, "Yes. three times as thick," whereupon Adam threw the ball fiercely upon the floor, lurched forward until his face almost touched that of the farmer, and he shouted: "You darned old fool, you; if you had horns you'd be three times dummer 'n a cow!"
J. Adam was toasting his hands and coat tails in front of the open door of the big stove one day, when a hardware drummer appeared before him. The drummer, instead of shaking hands and greeting him with that pleasant "I'd like to sell you a big bill of goods" expression, suddenly looked around as if startled and said, "Say, Adam, did you hear
-
390
PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
that noise ?" The action of the man was strange and Adam eagerly asked. "What noise?" whereupon the drummer laughed uproariously and slapping Adam on the back, re- torted, "Illinois." Adam did not catch the humor of the pun until the drummer drew a map of it, said it over again- "noise," "Illinois," and that it was the latest thing on the road. Finally it dawned upon Adam and he was enjoying a hearty laugh, which he ended very abruptly, whispering to the drummer to say nothing, as Philip was coming in the front door, and he would catch Philip with it. When Philip joined them at the stove Adam suddenly emitted his well- known warning whistle, threw up his hand and with an ex- pression of surprise turned to Philip and said, "Say, Philip, did you hear that racket?" "What racket ?" asked Philip. At this Adam slapped him upon the back and laughingly ex- ploded, "Illinois!" The drummer fairly collapsed into a chair in the excess of his mirth, while Adam danced about in his glee, but Philip couldn't see what in thunder and darna- tion there was anything so very funny in such "narrheit stuft." Noise and racket were the same to Adam, who never was poetic enough to appraise the value of rhyme or rhythm. His library shelves never sagged under the weight of bound volumes of the songs of the bards.
Years ago J. Adam used to wear a shiny silk, or plug hat, but he was effectually cured of this by big Elias Miller, of Crawfordsville, who at the same time cured him of the hand- hitting habit referred to in the introductory part of this se- ries. Big Elias Miller, in his way, was as much of a character as was Adam. Elias was a giant in stature, big-boned, loose- jointed and loquacious. He wore his cap just as he happened to place it on his head. Sometimes the visor was correctly over his forehead, sometimes it was at the back of the head and sometimes over an ear at the side of his head. His face wore a perpetual grin, and a falling lower lip constantly placed on exhibition a mouth full of strong broad teeth. When Elias was not talking he was laughing and his laugh was almost a roar, for it could be heard blocks away and our people always knew when Elias was in town, even though they did not see him, and he was always roughly good na- tured. As he entered the hardware store, upon the eventful day of this particular incident, J. Adam, proudly arrayed in his plug hat, met Elias at the door. He grabbed Elias by the
391
PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
right wrist with his left hand, swung his right in a complete circle and smashed down on Elias' hand and joyfully ex- claimed, "Why, hello uncle." Elias towered over him like a Gargantua over a pigmy. He grinned like a Billikin and then left his mighty, ham-like left hand drop upon the roof of Adam's silk hat. There was a rip, the hat band bursted and Adam's head was entirely hid from view. The rims were resting on his shoulders. Elias laughed uproariously as he turned and walked down the street. while Adam was making the air blue inside the store over this outrage to his top-piece. He never wore a silk tile thereafter, and he also amended his style of greeting and hand-shaking to a very considerable extent.
"Grandpa, I want a pocket knife," said a little boy to his grandfather, several years ago. The grandfather was a tall gentleman with whiskers. At first he tried to convince the lad that he was too little a boy to have a pocket knife, but the child hung at his legs and whined and pleaded and insisted. Reluctantly the old gentleman dug into his pocket, fishing out a quarter, gave it to the young hopeful and told him to go over to Adam Gottfried's and buy one. Soon the child came back and reported that he didn't know Adam Gottfried. "What, you don't know Adam Gottfried ? Come on and I'll show him to you." Approaching the hardware store they found Adam on the sidewalk in front. The old gentleman, who was well known in town for his sarcastic remarks, told Adam that his grandson had said that he did not know Adam Gottfried, then turning to the child and pointing to Adam, he said, "Now, sonny, after this whenever you see a little Dutchman with a belly full of beer, that's Adam Gottfried." This remark aroused Adam like a flash, for he did not happen to be in the best of humor at the time, and bendingtoward the boy, Adam exclaimed, "Yes, and sonny, whenever you see an old billy goat with a belly full of ice water, that's your grand-daddy!" and he gave the astonished elder a shove that made him stagger into the gutter, and then rushed into the store and kicked over a keg, scattering lath nails all over the floor, but the appear- ance of a country boy with some coon skins to sell, caused him to forget the affront and he was soon whistling and yod- ling as though nothing had occurred.
392
PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
The usual crowd was in the store, one day, a number of years ago, when a stranger entered. He stood around a while and then took a seat. He smiled when the others laughed at Adam's vivid description of a recent fishing trip when he landed a regular snolly-goster, for Adam would go through all the motions of fishing in telling a fish story, even to cast- ing the minnow and the reeling in of the captive-the jerk- ing of the line and pole and all. The stranger did not look like a frowsy tramp exactly, but it was plain to be seen that he was a laborer in hard luck. After about an hour or so he got Adam's attention and asked to speak to him privately, and they walked to the back part of the store. The stranger talked German and informed Adam that he was a brick- maker by trade; that he had been working on the Stief yards at Carey, but that he had lost his job. He admitted that he was broke but he knew that if he could get to Lima he could get work again. He then produced a gold watch and asked Adam to loan him ten dollars and to hold the watch as se- curity for one week. He made the further stipulation that if he failed to redeem the watch within the week it would be Adam's. Adam called Philip and they talked the matter over. "But," said Adam, "how do we know what that tur- nip's worth ?" The stranger told them to take it to any jeweler and find its value before they made the loan, so Adam and Philip took the time-piece next door and showed it to John Pausch, the jeweler. "What's it worth, John?" inquired Adam. John screwed his magnifying glass into his eye and examined the watch, front and back. "There's no watch in this town that holds a candle to this," replied John. "Full jeweled, Swiss movement and heavy gold case, and it's no filled case either. I'll give seventy-five dollars for it any- time, and at that I'd be getting it cheap," he continued. He handed the watch back to Adam, who said to Philip, "We'll let him have the ten," and back to the store they went. They handed the stranger ten dollars, had him state the conditions of the loan to the crowd, that those assembled might be wit- nesses, which the stranger did, and the watch was placed in the safe. As soon as the man secured the money he became sociable as one does when a financial strain has been relieved. He invited the entire crowd to go with him and have some- thing, and fifteen or twenty pairs of feet commenced the march to Herman Wissler's, where the rye bread had caraway
393
PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
seed in it, the limburger was always just ripe enough, and there could be no possible criticism of the amber fluid with its creamy crest. Besides, it was a pleasure to talk across the bar to genial Herman, whose facial features reminded one of the pictures of Gen. Ben Butler. The stranger "set 'em up" several times, at a cost of over a dollar a round, with Adam plucking Philip's coat tails and whispering, "let the darn fool spend the money if he wants to; he can't redeem the watch in a week." Finally the stranger bade the party good-bye and thanking Adam and Philip for helping him out, departed.
The next day Charley Stief, of Carey, happened in the. hardware store. He looked worried and he informed Adam and Philip that a fine gold watch of his had been stolen a few days before. He said that he had hung his vest on a fence post at his brick yard and that now his watch and a German tramp brickmaker who had worked for him, were both gone. Supposing that the fellow may have come to Upper San- dusky he thought he better come over and look around a little ; maybe he could find out something. All this time cold chills were creeping up the backs of Adam and Philip, and they blurted out the fact that they had loaned a "feller" ten dollars on a gold watch the day before. They exhibited the watch and Mr. Stief claimed the property with such an ex- pression of satisfaction that Adam's ire became instantly aroused, "Yes, Charley, we and you have been old friends for a coon's age, now 'em nare, but how can you prove that this is your watch ?" "Of course," replied Charley, "that I must do. I can do that easy, for Ed. Brauns cleaned the watch for me only about ten days ago, and I'm sure he's got the number in his book," so Mr. Stief and Adam and Philip marched to Mr. Brauns' jewelry store. At a glance he identified the watch as belonging to Mr. Stief, whereupon that gentleman nonchalantly restored it to his pocket, sym- pathetically remarking that he was sorry they had to lose ten dollars and all that. Adam boiled over and he and Philip held an explosive council of war. Adam was sure that the "sand-of-a-gun," was in town yet. They would find Marshal Nick Grundtisch, hunt the "feller" and get him arrested. They found the marshal and they found the man, and soon the people on the streets became aware of the fact that some- thing was seriously disturbing the peace and dignity of the
394
PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
village. Mr. Stief identified the man as being the fellow who had worked for him and who had disappeared. Of course he did not see him steal the watch, "but, gentlemen, it's easy to put two and two together, ain't it." Sure. By the time the prisoner and the party had reached the old yellow corner, on the way to the mayor's office and calaboose, quite a crowd had congregated. Here a brilliant thought struck Adam. He halted the party and took Philip aside and whispered to him. In hurried and tearful words he told Philip that they were foolish to take the fellow before the mayor; that the "sand- of-a-gun" didn't have a cent and that they would have the costs to pay in addition to what they had already lost; that they would go to the store with him and do something else. So Adam called to Marshal Grundtisch and said, "Say, Nick, before we go to the mayor's office bring him up to the store." They went to the store and when the marshal, the prisoner, Mr. Stief and a few followers had reached the stove, Adam and Philip gave each other a wink, whereupon one rushed to the front door and the other to the back door, locking them. They then grabbed ax-handles out of a rack and rushed with them menacingly uplifted toward the stranger, the muttered imprecations and the determined expressions of their faces indicating that they fully intended administering some law of their own devising, but before they could strike a blow Charley Stief sharply called upon them to halt. He laugh- ingly remarked that the joke was being carried a little too far. "Why, boys," he said, "don't you know this man ? He's my brother, Adam, from California-an old boyhood friend of yours. He got rich out west and came to make me a visit and he said he bet he could play a good joke on the Gottfried boys, and that they wouldn't know him." The ax-handles clattered to the floor and soon Adam, Philip and Adam were hugging each other in very frenzy, for they had been brick- yard boys together in their youth. The extreme anger of a few moments before melted into laughter and buoyancy that was almost hysterical, and a gay time was had for the balance of that day and night. It is no libel to hint that the midnight closing ordinance was fractured and that "Hi Le, Hi Lo" was warbled more than several times in the celebration that fol- lowed the unmasking of the watch joke, which has gone into the annals of local lore as being as clever a stunt as was ever pulled off within the limits of Wyandot county.
393
f
PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
J. Adam was called to the Great Beyond about one month too soon for him to experience the greatest ambition of his life, for after a strenuous campaign of political endeavor he had been nominated and elected by the democrats as a mem- ber of the board of commissioners of Wyandot county, but death snatched from him the honor when it was almost within his grasp, for he departed this life just a short time before he would have been inducted into office. Several very funny incidents are related in connection with the campaign he made for votes. His personal popularity gained him many votes and the humor that went with his progress over the county won for him many more. Adam, seated in his high buggy, driving his favorite horse, "Razorblade," made a tour of all of the townships of the county. In Marseilles township Adam approached a very dignified and pious looking gentleman- who proved to be a preacher who had been assigned a charge and who had moved there a short time before. Adam handed him a card announcing his candidacy. The preacher adjusted his glasses, read the card and musingly remarked: "Ah, J. A. Gottfried, democratic candidate for county commissioner ? Glad to meet you, Mr. Gottfried. I never knew or heard of you before." "You didn't?" interrogated Adam in aston- ishment, "you didn't! Why, heilig donnerwetter, I thought every sand-of-a-gun in Wyandot county knowed me."
During the fall of 1900 the Upper Sandusky lodge of Elks staged an amateur production of the Gilbert and Sulli- van comic opera, "The Mikado." The scene of the opera is laid in Japan, hence the characters were all Japanese in rep- resentation. The committee having charge of the produc- tion knew very well if they could induce J. Adam to take a part, the mere announcement of the fact would insure a full house and make the affair a financial success. The subject was broached to him and he rejected the suggestion vehe- mently. There were two things he would never do-go to jail, or make a darn fool of himself on the stage, no sir, posi- tively, no sir. The committee retired crestfallen. Finally word was sent to Adam that unless he consented to assist the Elks in their comic opera he would probably fail to receive any of their votes for county commissioner, for which office he was a candidate at the time. This caused him to think of the matter from a different standpoint. "Why, gentlemen," he said, "I was only fooling you. Of course I will take a
396
PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
part. Just dress me up and tell me what to do, and I'll do it or bust wide open, but you must let me put on a little spe- cialty-a little fishing act. I just want to show the people how me and Rev. Byers pull out the snolly-gosters when we go fishing." The committee happily agreed to let him do anything from a yodel to a song and dance, and he was as- signed the part of umbrella bearer to His Majesty, the Mi- kado. The house was packed and when the Mikado and his umbrella bearer appeared upon the stage pandemonium reigned for full five minutes. Adam, in a Japanese costume, was a comedy success-a tremendous hit. The more the audience howled and laughed the funnier became Adam's antics. He glided across the stage and whirled about with his large Japanese umbrella and nearly demolished the chorus. He had not rehearsed and the people upon the stage were as full of laughter as were the people in front. When the Mi- kado, in the course of the play, pronounced sentence upon Nanki-Poo, ordering that he be "boiled in oil," the umbrella bearer, standing at his side, rolled his eyes and shouted, "hot stuff." This was not in the words of the opera, but it broke up both the audience and the actors, and when Katisha be- moaned the fate of her lover, so cruelly sentenced, wailing, "Oh where, oh where will I get another," Adam looked at her most sympathetically, shook his head, and exclaimed "Dammed if I know!" This was also a spontaneous inter- polation, as good as any in the opera, and it also caused shrieks of laughter on the part of audience and players. At the con- clusion of his fishing specialty, which was better than any professional effort could have been, an usher walked down the aisle and handed to Adam a large cabbage head made of paper and painted to look like the real article by the dec- orators working at the new courthouse. Adam reached over the footlights and gracefully accepted the cabbage head. He . held it proudly aloft, turned to the audience and bowing, said, "Thanks, ladies and gentlemen, this is better'n I expected. I expected eggs." Adam showed that night that he had surely missed his calling-that he would have been a scream as a comedian, had he adopted that profession.
The writer was in a hotel at Urbana some years ago. He had just placed his name and address upon the register, when a traveling man, who was standing at the counter, said, "Par- don me, but I noticed you are from Upper Sandusky. Do you
397
PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
know the Gottfried brothers?" The writer replied that he did and he asked the traveling man if he also knew them. "No, I do not," he replied, "for I have never been in Upper Sandusky, but I happened at Somerset, Pennsylvania, when Miss Mabel Mckinley was married to Doctor Baer. President McKinley and the members of his cabinet were there to attend the wedding. While the president was at his brother's house, the members of the cabinet were seated in front of the leading hotel of the town, and a former Upper Sanduskian, George Foster, who was there as the president's personal body guard, was telling stories of the Dutch Hardware, the Gottfried brothers, and I never saw a man laugh as heartily and uproari- ously as did the otherwise dignified secretary of state, the Hon. John Hay, and of course the other cabinet members did likewise. It seemed that they were always eager for a Dutch hardware story by Mr. Foster." This incident is related only for the purpose of showing that Adam was known beyond the limited confines of his own home town and county.
Some years ago a party of Upper Sandusky capitalists, including Adam and Philip, formed the Oakdale Land Com- pany for the purpose of handling a large real-estate deal at Toledo. The company purchased a tract of land in one of the suburbs of the Maume bay city and made an allotment. They appointed a manager, whom we will call Smith, to have charge of the erection of six or eight residences and to sell lots. "Smith" moved to Toledo and took charge. At the next annual meeting of the board of directors "Smith" submitted his report and expense bill. This was minutely itemized and was rather a lengthy document, and every fourth or fifth item in the bill read "street car tickets, fifty cents." The directors were intently listening to the reading of the bill, when J. Adam whispered to Philip loud enough for everybody in the room to hear, "Say, Philip, let's buy that street car line! We'll get richer'n h-Il if nobody rides on it but 'Smith!' "
INDEX
When Ohio Became a State.
5
Act of Congress
12
Evolution of Ohio Counties
16
Controversy Over New Counties
21
Division of the Northwest Territory
24
The State Formed
25
Original State Counties
27
The Tide of History
28
Ohio Indians
34
A Sketch of the Wyandot Tribe of
Indians
38
The Wyandot Mission.
40
Treaties with the Indians
46
Purchase of Reservations 61
Nellie Two Bears
71
Johnny Appleseed
74
Wyandot County at an Early Day
86
Colonel Crawford's Fate.
91
Colonel Crawford's Army .
93
The Colonel Crawford Expedition.
96
The Crawford Monument
111
Sweeping Pioneer Pictures
112
Amusements of the Pioneer Boy
116
The Matthew Brayton Mystery
131
Execution of a Wyandot Indian
132
The Battle of Fallen Timbers.
138
Farm and Orchard
142
Location of Wyandot County
169
Streams in Wyandot County
169
Early Settlements in Wyandot County . 171 Farming in Wyandot County . 173 Indian Trails, Wagon Roads, Pikes, etc.175
The Railroads of Wyandot County.
.178
Wyandot County Infirmary
179
Soldiers in Our Wars
181
The First Battle of the Civil War
186
Wyandot County's Military Record.
.188
Fifteenth Ohio Infantry.
189
Forty-ninth Ohio Infantry
196
Fifty-fifth Ohio Infantry
202
Eighty-first Ohio Infantry
206
Eighty-second Ohio Infantry
209
One Hundred and First Ohio Infantry . . 210
One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio
Infantry .. 216
One Hundred and Forty-fourth Ohio
National Guards
223
Eleventh Ohio Independent Battery.
.226
Miscellaneous
.230
Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiments.
230
Ohio National Guards, One Hundred
Days' Service
234
Ohio Volunteer Cavalry Regiments.
.234
Ohio Artillery Commands, Volunteers. . 235
Other States
.235
The Farmer's Broadening Life. 238
Indian Reservations
in
Wyandot
County
239
"The Immortal J. N."
.245
The Wyandot County Bar
.246
Court Items
248
Wyandot County Agricultural Statis-
tics
249
Memorial Drinking Fountain.
250
Charles Dickens at Upper Sandusky. . 250
The Medical Profession
.252
Banks of Wyandot County
254
County Buildings
257
Historic Upper Sandusky
.258
Fort Ferree and Camp Meigs
260
Fort Ferree Burial Ground
260
Indian Council House
261
Wyandot County's First Courthouse. . 261
The Indian Jail.
263
United States Indian Agency .
.265
The Walker Store.
.266
The Walker Home.
.267
The Old Indian Tavern
268
The Village Burial Ground
270
Pioneer Upper Sandusky
. 277
Early Schools and Teachers
292
Public Schools in Upper Sandusky
297
Corporate History of Upper Sandusky. 297 The Upper Sandusky of the Present .. 298 Upper Sandusky Fire Department. 301
The Press
301
Oak Hill Cemetery
302
Public Schools, High Schools, etc.
.303
The Flood of 1913
303
399
400
INDEX
The Churches of Upper Sandusky .305
Mifflin Township 353
Carey 315
Pitt Township . 357
Nevada
.326
Harpster
.360
Township Histories . 334
Little Sandusky
. 361
Antrim Township
.334
Ridge Township
362
Crane Township
337
Richland Township
.364
Crawford Township 338
Wharton
368
Crawford and Crawfordsville. .342
Salem Township 368
Eden Township .342
Sycamore Township .372
Jackson Township .346
Sycamore
.376
Kirby
.348
Tymochtee Township . 377
Marseilles Township
.349
Mccutchenville 381
Marseilles
. 351
J. Adam Gottfried
.381
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.