Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio, Part 6

Author: Sutor, J. Hope, 1846-
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 898

USA > Ohio > Muskingum County > Zanesville > Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio > Part 6

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).

At the same time the following bond was given : "Know all men by these presents, that we, John McIntire, Jeffrey Price, Robert Taylor, William Raynolds, Joseph F. Munro, Wyllys Silliman, Daniel Convers, Robert Fulton are held and firmly bound unto Jacob Gomber, Daniel Stillwell and William Newell, commissioners of Muskin- gum county, in the sum of sixteen thousand dol- lars, for the payment of which we bind ourselves, our and each of our heirs, executors and admin- istrators.

"The condition of this bond is that whereas the Commissioners of Muskingum county have agreed to build a court house on condition that the sum of money necessary to buid the same shall be ad- vanced by the inhabitants of said county, now if the said sum necessary for building shall be paid the said Commissioners agreeably to the contract to be entered into by the Commissioners for build- ing said house, then this obligation to be void, else to remain in full force."

This was signed by the persons named in the body and their signatures were witnessed by Hugh Hazlett and John Van Horne. The journal further prescribed in some detail the character of the structure, which was to be of brick, fifty feet square, or to contain 2,500 square feet on each floor with other details referred to in the specifi- cations later given. No money to be appropriated and no subsequent contracts entered into by the Commissioners until the money so loaned, with in- terest thereon was paid. Newell entered a pro- test against the proceedings alleging that the Com- missioners had no authority to pledge the faith of the county to the payment of such loans.

The Zanesville Court House Company was or- ganized by the wealthiest and most influential cit- izens, with John McIntire as president and Robert Fulton as treasurer ; shares were sold at $50 each and the company agreed to pay the sums named

in the contract with the "undertakers" and the contract was executed coincident with the above recited action, and was signed by McIntire, Price, Taylor, Raynolds, Munro and Fulton on behalf of company and by Benjamin Tupper, clerk, on be- half of the commissioners, who were influenced to do so from the manifest needs for a better court house, knowing that if the capital were removed from Zanesville the buildings could be devoted to county purposes and if it remained the growth of the town would enable them to erect the neces- sary structures.

March 31, 1809, the plans for the building were approved and April 10, 1810, William Raynolds was appointed "crier" to sell the contract that day to the lowest bidder at public auction as was the custom in that time; and the "undertaking" was secured by Joseph F. Munro, Daniel Con- vers, John Williamson and James Hampson at their bid of $7,550.00. The specifications were very exact and directed that the building should be placed forty feet from Main street and in the center of the lot between Fourth street and Court ally; the foundation walls were to be thirty-six inches thick, eighteen inches under ground and twelve above : upon this wall were to be three tiers of cut stone work, respectively twelve, eleven and ten inches thick and upon it a brick wall thirty- one feet high; the lower story walls were to be twenty-two inches thick and eighteen feet high, the upper story walls, eighteen inches thick and twelve feet high above the joists of the second floor; a line of cut stone was to divide the stories, the building being patterned after the Independence Hall at Philadelphia ; the whole was to be completed and delivered to the Commissioners on or before No- vember 4, 1809. When first erected there were three large arched doors in the east, south and west fronts, reached by stone steps to a stone plat- form, and when the two story addition for county offices on the west and the Atheneum on the east were erected these doors were closed.

Payments were made by orders on John McIn- tire, the only ones recorded being: July 10, $750.00; October 6, $1,000.00; April 15, 1810, $1,000.00; December 4, 1811, final payment $1 .- 550.00.

March 8, 1810, citizens petitioned for the erec- tion of a brick building as offices for the Register and County Clerk, but really as offices for the Secretary of State and State Treasurer ; ; the Com- missioners agreed to comply with the request on condition that the money necessary for the erec- tion be loaned the county by individuals and draw interest only after the building was completed : that no part of either interest or principal was to be paid until after the money which had already been loaned for the erection of the court house, together with the interest thereon had been paid

COURT HOUSE OF 1809.

The wing on the east side was the Antheneum; the one on the west contained the offices of the county officers, and the Court Room was in the main or center portion.

1455355

PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY. 35

and all contingent expenses which had or might accrue had been discharged, and there should be a surplus of money in the county treasury ; and that bond were given for the payment of the money at times coincide with the contract to be made by the. Commissioners, and by draft as in the case of the court house. On the same day Isaac Van Horne, John McIntire and Wyllys Silliman en- tered into a bond in the sum of one thousand dol- lars in form similar to the one given in the matter of the court house, the witnesses being Benjamin Tupper and William Raynolds. April 10, 1810, the contract was awarded to James Hampson for $920.00 to erect a building 24x28 feet, ten feet high; foundation walls to be twenty-two inches thick, eighteen inches below the surface and the same height above; outside walls of brick to be fourteen inches thick, partition walls to be nine inches, and the whole laid with a brick floor ; one room was to contain a fire proof vault with brick side walls fourteen inches thick, and end walls twenty-two and one-half inches thick; two sheet iron doors were to be provided for the vault, reinforced by wrought iron bars. It was stipulated that the south wall of the building was to be in "range with the north wall of the court house." December 10, the building was pro- nounced completed and an order was given on McIntire for the contract price.

Where the north wall of the court house was erected there was formerly a prehistoric mound, and the day before excavation was commenced an ignorant German was informed that gold and sil- ver trinkets and other valuable articles were buried in it and that those first at work would se- cure the cream. At day light the next morning the victim was at work with horse and cart, while his informant walked around and enjoyed the in- dustry with which the German worked; during the day the man was told he was being imposed upon. Only a skeleton and some stone implements were found.

The General Assembly did not pass the act re- moving the capital to Zanesville until February 19, 1810, to take "effect and be in force from and after the first day of October, 1810," Next day, February 20, 1810, five commissioners were ap- pointed to locate the permanent capital in a place "not more than forty miles from what may be deemed the common center of the state, to be as- certained by Mansfield's map." The Commission- ers were directed to meet at Franklinton, Septem- ber 1, 1810, and one month before Zanesville could be capital, the commissioners would make the selection, and Zanesville was excluded by its geographical position. Zanesville was pledged and it made no protest against bad faith of the General Assembly; the court house was com- pleted and the legislature named George Jack- son, John McIntire, Wyllys Silliman, Robert Mc-

Connell and David J. Marple to transport the books, papers, etc., from Chillicothe to Zanesville, and they faithfully performed their duty with dis- appointed ambitions.

December 3, 1810, the first legislative session was held at Zanesville, the House occupying the lower floor and the Senate the upper, and it was always thereafter known as the Senate Chamber. During this session, an earthquake occurred be- tween 10 and II o'clock one forenoon ; the clerk of the hotel, upon the Clarendon site, was stand- ing in the doorway of the hotel when he felt the shock and saw the cupola of the state house sway and the dignified Senators tumbling down the steps and jumping from the windows along the stairs, and Representatives leaping from the win- dows of the lower room. Cows bellowed, horses neighed, dogs howled, pigs squealed and all ani- mated nature was alarmed; no damage was done except a few bricks knocked from chimneys and some dishes broken by being shaken from cub- board shelves.

The second session began December 2, 181I, and February 14, 1812, the act was passed locat- ing the permanent capital on the east bank of the Scioto river, opposite Franklinton, in Franklin county, where the promoters were to lay out a town. Nine propositions were considered, and twelve members entered protests on the journal against the action as unnecessary and uncalled for, especially at the rejection of the proposition from Delaware to donate the ground and erect the necessary buildings, and lay off four thousand acres in town lots and pay the state one half the proceeds of the sale. As no name had been pro- posed for the capital city the legislature directed that it be Columbus. The crowning act of bad faith with Zanesville was accomplished in the or- der of the legislature that from and after May I, 1812, the temporary capital should be fixed at Chillicothe, and Zanesville's dream of capitalistic fame was ended.

From October 1, 1810, to May 1, 1812, Zanes- ville was the state capital : when it lost the dis- tinction the state house became the county build- ing; the Representatives' hall became the court room, and the old court house and brick office were available for county purposes.

The subscribers to the fund for public buildings appear to have been dissatisfied with results and January 9, 1811, made demand upon the com- missioners for certificates for the money paid by them to contractors, with interest thereon, and January 10, the Commissioners ordered that cer- tificates should be given, in accordance with the order of March 8, 1800, to those who had paid their subscriptions in full, with interest from December 1, 1810, and that all payments subse- quently made in full should be acknowledged by a certificate bearing interest from the date of pay-

PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

ment ; provision was also made for dividend pay- ments from surplus county funds. Nothing ap- pears to have been done, and December 7, 1814. McIntire, Fulton and Convers came before the commissioners and asked some payment on ac- count and were allowed $800.00. The loan was a long one and from a memorandum appears to have been paid in full as follows :

Court House stock, redeemed in 1822. . $1,933.92 Office stock, redeemed in 1822. 441.41 Court House stock, redeemed in 1823. . 582.05

The bell which hung in the cupola of old "1809' and rang the curfew until the demolition of the building was made by Thomas Lavering, of Phil- adelphia, in 1817, and was shipped over the moun- tains by wagon to Pittsburg and thence by water to Zanesville. It was paid for principally by members of the Presbyterian church of Zanesville and Putnam, who had exclusive use of the bell for church purposes, and the expense of hanging in the cupola was borne by the city in consideration of the privilege of ringing the curfew and sound- ing fire alarms.

The original court house contained no rooms for county officers and it has not been possible to ascertain where the officers were located until the erection of the west wing. April 18, 1833. Com- missioners Israel Robinson, Samuel McCune and Lyle Fulton received proposals for building public offices at the west end of the original building. and after examining several from sundry persons awarded the contract to David Maginnis for $3,300.00 to be finished on or before April 1, 1834. The addition was a basement of stone and a two story, brick superstructure, with a center hall, and when completed formed the portion of the struc- ture, shown in prints of old "1809," abutting upon Fourth street, the Atheneum building forming the wing on the east and extending to Court alley. May 2, 1834, the Commissioners examined the im- provement and were "unanimously of the opinion that the building is finished and completed, as re- quired by contract," and "do receive said offices from the hands of the said Maginnis and are here- with contented and satisfied." A statement of the cost was given :

Per contract

Extra work

$3.300.00 342.08 $3.642.08

The east room, or next to the court room, on the first floor was occupied by the Clerk of the Courts, and the west room by the Auditor ; the east room in the second story, over the Clerk's office, was the Probate Court room and the west room the Recorder's office. When the city acquired the building of the Rescue Hook and Ladder Com- pany, the Mayor was authorized, June 10, 1864, to lease the same to the Commissioners and made a lease for ten years, at $150.00 per year, the Commissioners to have the

right to make such improvements as might be necessary to fit the building for the uses of the Treasurer and Auditor and Au- gust 30, 1864 the Commissioners ordered that dur- ing the removal and rebuilding of the vault in the Treasurer's office, that officer was authorized to deposit the public funds in the Muskingum First and Second National Banks.

The original, one story office building, erected in 1809, was vacated by the County Treasurer in the late summer, 1864, and December 5, the Com- missioners rented the building to Hugh Dunne, from November I to April 1, 1865, at $100.00 per year and during 1865 or '66 a second story was added, and the building was occupied as a print- ing ofnce and book bindery until its demolition to erect the new court house.

At the time of the razing of old "1809" the Fourth street front of the present court house block was occupied by city and private property. At the corner of Fountain alley was erected a two story, brick building owned by the city, on the side of which, next to the alley, was the Union Fire Company and on the south side a similar room once used by the Relief Fire Company, but then vacant ; through the center of the building a hall was constructed to the city prison which ex- tended across the width of the building, in the rear ; in the second story was the old council cham- ber on the north side and the Mayor's office on the south.

Adjoining this was a small, one story frame which contained some ladders and a saluting can- non; next on the south was the handsome, two story brick house of the Rescue Hook and Ladder Company, which the city had preempted and rented to the county as ofnces for the treasurer on the ground floor and Auditor on the second ; ad- joining, on the south, was the one story, frame office building of George James, with its hospita- ble front porch, and last the brick building erected in 1809 for use of the state officers and then used as a printing office and book bindery.

During the construction of the court house of 1874 the court room and Clerk's offices were maintained in the market house; the Auditor and treasurer occupied the Hook and Ladder house ; probate court was located in the old council chamber in the city building at the corner of the alley and the Recorder was housed in the O'Neill building, at northwest corner of Fourth street and Fountain alley.

NEW COURT HOUSE.

After sixty years use the old court house of "1809" was entirely inadequate for the business of the county, and the Commissioners decided to erect a building adapted to the needs and commen- surate with the standing and wealth of the county.

STALKS

MEMORIAL BUILDING.

PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

The entire block, bounded by Main and Fourth streets and Fountain and Court alleys was desired, but the city and the Zanesville Atheneum were occupants, and the former was paid $8,000.00 and the latter $6.575.00 to vacate and release all claims upon the ground. Plans were prepared and advertisements made for bids ; September 3, 1874, ten bids for the entire work, and sundry bids for portions were opened; the following day the contract was awarded to T. B. Townsend for $221,657.00, and when the building was com- pleted the unforseen "extras" aggregated $1,- 403.02, or an aggregate of $222,060.02; the last court was held in the old court house September II, 1874, when it adjourned to Black's Music Hall, where sessions were held during the con- struction of the new edifice.

The dedication of the new stone building was celebrated May 1. 1877. in the court room, at 2 p. m. Mr. E. E. Fillmore, as chairman, called the assemblage to order and delivered an address, dur- ing which he said :

"May each member of the Bar, as the genera- tions shall succeed each other, be enabled to ap- propriate to himself, as he nears his journey's end, language similar to that of the virtuous old Ro- man, who could say in the face of his bitterest enemy : 'Cato's voice was never raised to clear the guilty nor to varnish crimes.'

"Our earnest prayer should be that those who shall here successively wear the ermine may be men who fear God and hate covetousness ; men whose names shall be enrolled among the just judges by whom the world has been blessed. May they ever have before them the bright example of him, whose name has come down through the ages, surrounded by a halo, who, as he laid aside the robes of office, could say to the people: 'Here I am; witness against me. Whom have I de- frauded? Whom have I oppressed? or from whose hand have I received any bribe to blind my eyes therewith ?'

At the conclusion of Mr. Fillmore's address the orchestra discoursed some appropriate music and Rev. A. Kingsbury, D. D .. offered an Invocation, which was followed by "Gloria in Excelsis," by a quartette composed of Mrs. George Harris, Miss Kate Cassell, and Messrs. James A. Cox and William H. Wilmot, with Miss Clara Avers, organist. Mr. Frank H. Southard, on behalf of the Commissioners, presented the building to the people of the county and it was accepted on behalf of the Bar and the people by Hon. John O'Neill. president of the Bar Association. After more music by the orchestra, Hon. M. M. Granger de- livered an address upon the general history of the county, which has been freely used in the prepar- ation of this more elaborate history ; upon its con- clusion a recess was taken until 7:30 p. m. when the exercises were resumed with instrumental

music ; Hon. L. P. Marsh delivered an address upon "The Efficiency of Courts and How to Pro- moted," a subject upon which the venerable jur- ist was peculiarly qualified to speak ; the quartette rendered a suitable selection and Gen. W. H. Ball addressed the assemblage on "The Relation of the Bar to the Court and Community," after which the Doxology, "Praise God from Whom All Bless- ings Flow" was sung, and the people dispersed after a benediction by Rev. Dr. Kingsbury.

COUNTY INFIRMARY.

The original statute of the Ohio Legislature, passed February 26, 1816, authorizing the estab- lishment of homes for the indigent, designated them as poor houses, but March 23. 1850, the of- ficial title was declared to be Infirmary, as less offensive to those obliged to accept its shelter, an action in accord with the spirit of practical kind- ness and justice which characterizes so many of the Ohio laws.

January 30, 1838, the County Commissioners purchased one hundred acres of land in Fall township, and July 3, 1838, directed the payment of $3,000 therefor ; May 15, 1839, a contract was awarded David Maginnis for the erection of a building at a cost of $7,409.57, which was par- tially destroyed by fire in 1859, and rebuilt and enlarged in 1860 at a cost of $9,500.

October 8, 1863, an additional one hundred acres, adjoining, were purchased for $7,000, and May 15, 1880, a contract was let for the erection of the present handsome, comfortable and com- modious buildings, with a capacity of two hundred inmates, which were completed in May 1881, at a cost of $44.000.

MEMORIAL BUILDING.

A few old soldiers of the Civil war met at the residence of Col. Fred Geiger, June 9, 1878, to consider the organization of a soldiers' monumen- tal association, and a preliminary organization was effected by selecting Col. Geiger as president, W. O. Munson, secretary and Andros Guille. treasurer. The proposition to raise $5.000.00 by $1.00 subscriptions, was concurred in and at an adjourned meeting held in the office of the clerk of the courts, June 13. a permanent organization was effected by continuing the temporary officers with the addition of J. H. Drake, as vice president. A constitution and by-laws were adopted and C. W. Potwin, Peter Black and Robert Silvey were selected 'as trustees.

A county reunion of soldiers was held at the Fair Grounds, September 19, 1878, under the au- spices of the Association, which netted $1.000.00 to the fund and at the first annual election, June 13. 1879. the officers were reelected and an execu-

PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

tive committee chosen, consisting of F. C. Dietz, R. B. Brown, W. H. Cockins, W. S. Harlan, and Howard Aston and Mesdames F. Cogswell, J. F. L. Blandy, James Buckingham and L. B. Taylor. It was then determined to increase the monumen- tal fund of $10,000.00, and at the annual meeting held June 13, 1883, the secretary reported $5,000.00 on hand ; that the members had voted a preference to erecting the monument in front of the court house but the Commissioners had re- fused to remove the fountain to give place to the shaft, and that many of the largest subscribers favored a diversion of the fund from a monument to a memorial building, by increasing the fund for such a purpose ; it was thereupon decided to issue circulars to the subscribers in explanation of the proposed change and as a majority of the replies favored the project of a building the ener- gies of the Association were devoted to that end.

September 27, 1883, C. W. Potwin, W. A. Gra- ham and Robert Silvey, as trustees of the volun- tary association, made application to Hon. George L. Phillips, judge of the court of Common Pleas, to name trustees of the Muskingum County Sol- diers' and Sailors' Monumental Association, and he appointed Gilbert D. Munson, F. C. Dietz, Jo- seph T. Gorsuch, Thomas W. Gattrell, James Buckingham, C. Stolzenbach and Frank J. Korte, and the former trustees transferred to them the sum of $5,152.07. Mr. Dietz resigned March 14, 1887, and T. F. Spangler was named in his stead. As the Commissioners were required, by law, to provide an armory for Company B, of infantry, and Battery C, of artillery, the trustees persuaded them to issue county bonds to erect a handsome and appropriate structure to accomplish both pur- poses, and July 5, 1887, the Commissioners agreed to the issue of fifty thousand dollars in bonds. The Applegate homestead. at the northwest cor- ner of Fifth street and Fountain alley was pur- chased for $15,000.00 and upon it the four story building, fronting 97 feet on Fifth street and ex- tending 130 feet along Fountain alley, was erected ; the front is rough dressed stone, the re- mainder brick. The cellar and first floor of the rear fronting upon Court alley were fitted for in- fantry and artillery armories, and the fronts into four business rooms and a spacious entrance ; the second story contains a large assembly room for the Grand Army of the Republic, Womens' Re- lief Corps, Union Veteran Legion and Naval As- sociation, with thirteen office rooms, one of which is occupied by the Pioneer's Association; on the third floor is the spacious auditorium, seating four thousand people, with tablets upon the walls to the memory of Muskingum county's deceased soldiers and sailors.

July 4, 1889, the building was dedicated ; at II a. m. a parade was formed with R. B. Brown, chief marshal; H. L. Anderson, adjutant ; S. L. Wiles, J. A. Morrow, Charles R. Dennis, Charles

Fulkerson, Joseph Scholl, Charles H. Stolzen- bach and Charles U. Shryock, aides. The bodies forming assembled in Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Underwood streets, north of Mar- ket, and moved east in Market to Underwood, to Main and to the "Y" bridge, from which the pro- cession was countermarched to Eighth, South, Sixth, Putnam avenue, Madison street, Wood- lawn and Muskingum avenues to the south end of the Sixth street bridge, where it was dismissed.

The bodies composing the parade were: Mounted police ; Company B, 17th regiment, O. N. G .; Chief Marshal and staff ; Grand Army of the Republic; Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows ; Grand United Order of Odd Fel-

lows; St. Thomas

Cadets; Knights of St. Thomas ; St. Thomas Benevolent and Literary So- ciety; St. Nicholas Society; Society of the Holy Name; St. Thomas Sodality; St. Pat- rick Society; all other Catholic Societies ; Uniformed Rank of Knights of Pythias ; societies ; Uniformed Rank of Knights of Pythias ; McIntire Lodge, No. 38, Knights of Pythias; Myrtle Lodge, colored Knights of Pythias; Pa- triotic Order Sons of America; City Turners ; Citizens; Trades Council; Knights of Labor ; Battery C; County Commissioners; Trustees of the Monumental Association ; County Officials ; City Officials; Invited Guests; Humorous Dis- play ; Wheelmen ; Floats.

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.

Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio, Part 6

Author: Sutor, J. Hope, 1846- Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 898

Author: Sutor, J. Hope, 1846-
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 898