Twentieth Century History of Findlay and Hancock County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, Part 28

Author: Jacob Anthony Kimmell
Publication date: 1910
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1189

USA > Ohio > Hancock County > Findlay > Twentieth Century History of Findlay and Hancock County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens > Part 28

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).

Eagle Creek which divides this from the main town, is spanned by three bridges, one at Main Street, one at Sandusky Street and one at Lincoln Street. Along the creek were nu- merous stone quarries from which a very large portion of the stone used for building and other purposes was taken. In this part of town are located the "Eagle Mills." Also East Lawn, the beautiful residence built by M. B. Patter- son, Esq .- a most charming place-is also located on east end of Sandusky Street. The building is a two-story frame with basement, built in a tasteful style of architecture, and surrounded by ample grounds highly orna- mented with shrubbery. The grounds also con- tain a large greenhouse, filled with the rarest plants and flowers, and a beautiful island, sur- rounded by an ample fish pond. The whole is surrounded by a nicely trimmed hedge.

The magnificent home built by H. H. Albon stands just across the street, on an eminence commanding an extensive view of the town

and surrounding country. It is one of the hand- somest homes in the county. There are a num- ber of other well arranged and comfortable private residences in this part of town. The ground on which the town is located is high and slightly rolling with a warm, sandy soil. A great many of the business men of the town reside here.

Eagle Mills, the extensive flouring estab- lishment, formerly under the management of McConnell & Kirk, and now owned and oper- ated by David Kirk and Sons, are located here and do a very large business, in the way of merchant and custom work. These mills have long been one of the industries of the town and under whatever management they have been, their work has always been satisfactory. Im- mense amounts of wheat is here floured and shipped to eastern markets and has always been considered of the best brand.

There was formerly an engine-house here, in which was kept one of the engines of the town under the management of an efficient vol- unteer company, which has now passed out of existence.

NORTH FINDLAY.

North Findlay, situated on the north side of the river, and a part of the town of Findlay, was laid out in 1854 by William Taylor, who was one of the first settlers of the county and for more than forty years a resident of Find- lay. It never had a separate existence as a town. The plat of the original town of North Findlay is in the southwest corner of the west half of the northwest quarter of fractional Sec- tion 18 and consisted originally of forty-seven lots. Lot number one is on the northeast cor- ner of Main Street and Center Street (or Tif- fin road) and the plat from thence extends

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north and east. The lots in the original town are nearly all occupied by good substantial dwelling houses and public buildings.

An addition of sixty lots on the west side of Main Street was laid out in July, 1857, by A. F. and D. M. Vance of Urbana, Ohio. This plat had some very desirable building lots and although it was at that time a considerable dis- tance from the main town, lots sold readily and were soon occupied as dwelling places. Just south of this addition was quite a body of land used at that time for farming and pas- turage purposes, which was the property of William Vance, of Urbana. Mr. Vance yield- ing to the demands for platting and selling this tract, in September, 1859, divided the ground into sixty-two lots with the necessary streets and alleys. These lots sold readily and at very good prices.

The land on the east side of Main Street between the river and the Tiffin road, was owned by Judge D. J. Cory, and as this tract separated the new town of North Findlay from the old town, he in March, 1861, laid out nine- teen lots, one tier facing on Main Street and one on Center Street. These lots were in im- mediate demand and sold readily. And almost every one is now the site of a good dwelling house. Such is the beauty of this location, and the character of the improvements thereon, that Main and Center Streets in North Findlay have been long acknowledged as one of the most picturesque spots in the town.

In October, 1860, Edson Goit having pur- chased the lands adjoining A. F. and D. M. Vance's addition, on the north, laid out twen- ty-seven lots; and in June, 1864, he added thirty more. William B. Taylor and Aaron Hall became the owners of a parcel of land

directly west of Goit's addition and laid out fifteen lots in 1866.

In November, 1874, Judge Cory laid out sixteen lots fronting on Center Street, east of his first addition. And about the same time P. and M. Taylor laid out an addition on the east side of Main Street north of the original plat, and Gray and Patterson laid out lots fronting on Center Street, and on the north side of that street. Thus by successive addi- tions, each addition to satisfy purchasers, has North Findlay become quite an important part of the town of Findlay. The town is regularly laid out, the streets and alleys crossing at right angles. The streets east of Main, commenc- ing at the south are Center, Cherry, and Wal- nut. Those on the west are Fiar, High, Don- olson, Corwin, Fillmore, and Howard. Run- ning parallel with Main are Cory and Clinton.

The Lake Erie and Western Railroad passes through this part of the town. North Findlay is connected with the main town by the mag- nificent river bridge on Main Street. Whilst there are no pretentions to grandeur in architec- tural design or magnificence in finish, yet there are very many tasty and comfortable dwellings in this part of town. The streets are beautified by hundreds of shade trees, principally maple and when in leaf, they present a cool and invit- ing appearance.

On the 17th day of March, 1838, the Legislature of Ohio passed "An Act to in- corporate the town of Findlay, in Hancock County." The first section of that act pro- vided that "So much of the township of Findlay, in the county of Hancock, as herein described, to-wit : The S. E. part of the S. E. quarter of fractional Section No. 13, Town- ship I north, of Range II. so far east as the bank of Eagle Creek ; also the east half

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of the N. E. quarter of Section 24, Town- streets, building schoolhouses, a high school ship I north, of Range 10, and also what and a city building. territory of the N. W. quarter of Section 19 as is situated southwest of Carlin's mill- race, be and the same is hereby created a town corporate, and shall be hereafter known by the name of the town of Find- lay." Section 2nd provides for an election at the court house, on the first Saturday in April next, to elect a mayor, recorder and five councilmen.

An act to repeal the charter of the town of Findlay, was passed March 13th, 1843. Why, or by what influence this last act was passed, we are unable to say.

The Legislature, on the 4th of March, 1845, passed another act, entitled "An Act to repeal the act entitled 'An Act to repeal the charter of the town of Findlay,' passed March 13th, 1843, and to declare in force the act incorporating said town, passed March 7th, 1838."

The business of laying out, opening up and improving streets, was carried on through the different administrations and economy in expenditures, and a freedom from indebtedness, characterized the con- duct of our municipal affairs previous to the advent of what is now known as the "gas boom," but since that important epoch the same rule of economy has not been ob- served, and extravagance and its consequent indebtedness have been the rule instead of the exception. Speculators in real estate obtained a majority in the municipal coun- cils and, in order to dispose of the real estate with which they were loaded, imposed expensive burdens on the tax payer. Much of the present debt, however, was run up in the building of water works, in paving

The following persons held the office of mayor previous to 1858, but owing to the loss of records we cannot give the exact order in which they were elected. John Adams, W. L. Henderson, Abraham Youn- kin, O. A. Ogden, N. Y. Mefford, Josiah S. Powell, Jacob Carr, and perhaps others. In 1858 Charles Carroll Pomeroy, late of Kentucky, and a most eccentric young man, was elected, but resigned before the end of his term, being succeeded by Ezra Brown. Since then the following persons have held the office of mayor and clerk :

Mayors-Ezra Brown, 1859; Israel Green, 1860; G. W. Twining, 1861, 1863; Jacob Carr, 1864, 1866; N. W. Filkin, 1867; J. A. Bope, 1868, 1869; G. F. Pendleton, 1870; D. B. Beardsley, 1872; Wm. Gribben, 1874; Jacob Carr, 1876; Wm. Vance, 1878, 1880; William W. Siddell, 1882, 1884; Wm. L. Carlin, 1886, 1888; J. R. Kagy, 1889; The. Totten, 1890; Thomas Mehan, 1892; B. W. Waltermire, 1894; Georg Nemeyer, 1896; D. T. Winders, 1898; Geo. Nemeyer, 1900; C. E. Watson, 1902; C. B. Metcalf, 1904; J. B. Walker, 1906, 1908; E. Lincoln Groves, 1910 -.

Clerks-S. F. Gray, 1859; Wm. Klam- roth, 1860; H. S. Shannon, 1861 ; J. P. Den- nis, 1862; Sam Huber, 1863; B. F. Kim- mons, 1864, 1865, 1866; J. C. Martin, 1867; D. H. Pugh, 1868; E. G. DeWolfe, 1869; Lem McManniss, 1870; J. W. Davidson, 1872; Jesse Wheeler, 1874; J. A. Meeks, 1876; W. T. Platt, 1878, 1880, 1882, 1884; Jacob H. Boger, 1886, 1888, 1889; W. R. Black, 1890; Marion G. Foster, 1892 ; S. P. De Wolf, 1894,

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1896; A. W. Ray, 1898, 1900, 1902; J. C. Eddie, 1904, 1906, 1908.

THE FINDLAY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

The Findlay Public Library threw open its doors to the citizens of Findlay, January 27, 1890. It was an outgrowth of a small library conducted by an association in- terested in the circulation of books in the community. An act was passed April 16, 1888, by the General Assembly of Ohio, authorizing the establishment of a public library and the election of a library board of trustees, consisting of six members, three from each of the two political parties. The members of the first library board con- sisted of C. B. Metcalf, president; W. D. McCoughey, J. A. Kagy, W. H. Wagner, Sam W. Mills and Mr. Adams.

The southeast double basement room of the court house was granted by the com- missioners for the use of a library and with a nucleus of 900 books from the associa- tion, the present library was inaugurated. Miss Nellie Baker was elected librarian. A small fee was charged for the privilege of borrowing the books and it was not until January, 1905, that the system of free li- brary books was established. An additional room was secured from the commissioners to meet the growing demands of the library.

The library now contains over 8,000 volumes with an average circulation of 3.500 per month. Miss May. Morrison the present librarian succeeded Miss Nellie Baker in 1902. Miss Ella Maxwell is assistant li- brarian. The present board of trustees con- sists of S. H. McLeod, president, Prof. J. F. Smith, Prof. C. T. Fox, Mr. W. S. Neeley, Mrs. G. W. Ross and Mrs. G. F. Pendleton.

FINDLAY COLLEGE.

Findlay College, among the most recent additions to the schools of Findlay, is among the leading educational institutions of Ohio. While the establishment of a college, under the auspices of the Church of God had been in contemplation for many years, the initial movement looking to that end took definite shape in a resolution introduced at the gen- eral eldership held at Findlay in 1881. That body authorized the committee on education to take the proper steps to form an incor- poration and to select a location for the pro- posed institution. Findlay was selected as the most appropriate site for the college, and on January 23, 1882, articles of incor- poration were filed with the secretary of State, "Findlay College" being the name adopted. The incorporators were Jeremiah M. Corvell, Robert L. Byrnes, Isaac Schrader, Tobias Koogle, Jacob M. Cassel, Anderson C. Heck, John C. Strickler and George F. Pendleton, the four last men- tioned being citizens of Hancock County. February 8, 1882, the articles of incorpora- tion were signed and the board of trustees organized by electing Isaac Frazer, presi- dent; Eli G. DeWolfe, secretary ; and E. P. Jones, treasurer. The first annual meeting of the board was held at Findlay, June 21, 1882, when a permanent organization was effected.

The site selected for the institution was a ten-acre tract lying about one mile north of the court house, situated on the west side of Main Sreet and surrounded on all sides by streets 50 feet in width. This ground was deeded to the Findlay College, July 23, 1882, by Samuel Howard and others; the

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same being paid for by private donations from the people living on the north side. On Ocotber 18, 1882, the board met for the purpose of considering plans for a college building when those submitted by Mr. Rum- baugh were accepted. The architect was directed to prepare complete plans and specifications and sealed proposals for the erection of said building were ordered to be advertised for. March 6, 1883, the bids were opened, but none were accepted for the reason that they were not within the $40,000 limit which the board by previous resolutions had fixed. The contract was finally let June 20, 1883, to Pierce & Cole- man for the sum of $49,000 to be finished according to the plans and specifications. The work was soon afterwards commenced and on Sunday the 25th day of May, 1884, the corner-stone was laid with imposing cere- monies, in the presence of a large number of people. The college was not complete until late in the year 1886, but notwithstand- ing this fact the college was opened Wednesday, September 1, 1886, with very ap- propriate ceremony and started off with nearly one hundred pupils enrolled. This edifice of education is now considered one of the finest in the state, and is fully equipped and when completed ready for business cost about $65,000. Under the present management of Rev. Brown, it bids fair to excel any institution of its kind in the state.

THE NEW HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING.

The New High School building had its birth October 18, 1899, when E. C. Miller, N. M. Adams, Ed. Dietsch, Charles A. Ebling, Timothy Fellers, T. E. Gillespie, F.

W. Karg, W. W. Shuler, A. W. Brown, and Alvin S. Thomas, members of the board of education of Findlay, passed a resolution to hold an election on November 17th, 1899, at the assembly room to decide the question of levying a tax of $50,000 to purchase a site and erect a high school building. The vote resulted as follows: For high school build- ing, 1,131 ; against high school building, 446. January 23, 1900, on the seventh ballot, the board decided on West Main Cross Street as the site by a vote of 9 to 5 and ordered the advertisement of bond sale to take place March 1, 1900; said bonds to bear interest at the rate of 4 per cent, payable semi- annually. At the same meeting the board accepted the offer of Sarah F. and Foster Geyer for lots 41, 42, and east half of 43 at $7,500; the west half of 43 of heirs of Eliza- beth Snyder at $1,500 and 44 of Minerva Snyder at $3,500, possession to be given not later than March 1, 1900. Cramer and Harpster were employed as architects on January 26, 1900, and at the same session a resolution was adopted offering $25,000 of the bonds to the city at par, also a resolu- tion to advertise for bids for heating said building, to be received until noon, March 5, 1900. The city council at its session held Feb. 7, 1900, accepted the offer of the board of education on the $25,000 worth of bonds and ordered the same to be purchased out of the Gas Bond Redemption Fund, which acceptance was received and adopted by the board, February 16, 1900. At this meeting the plans and specifications of Kramer and Harpster were presented and adopted. On March 5, 1900, the bids for the heating plant were opened and examined and with various exchanges of oratory of various members of

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the board, lasted four sessions. Nothing, ing the entire cost of the building ready for however, was done until March 30, when occupancy, including the grounds $54,276.73. all bids heretofore received were rejected. August 31, 1901, Findlay accepted the beautiful new high school building as its own-built for the public today and for posterity in the days to come. The dedica- tory services were opened by a grand chorus of America, participated by the entire audi- ence. Rev. Manchester invoked the divine blessing. Speeches appropriate for the oc- casion were delivered by various persons of renown, among whom was the Hon. Mr. Bonebrake, state commissioner of common schools. The school opened on Monday, September 2, 1901, with a large attendance of pupils and from all indications Findlay High School bids fair to equal any of its character in this grand state of ours. Here education, the foundation of our civilization, receives its finishing touches and starts the pupils on the highway to success. April 6, 1900, the board of education passed a resolution for bids for the erection of the new high school building, said bids to be re- ceived up to noon of May 11, 1900. On said date the bids were opened and examined and upon the consideration the contracts were awarded May 22, as follows: George J. Horn for excavation, sewers, stone mason work, brick work, plumbing, carpenter work, painting and glazing, structural iron work and electrical work $36,630. J. J. Dutweiler, galvanized iron roofing, curb- stone work, and plastering $5,900, total $36,530. At the meeting of the board of education held May 25, 1900, the building and grounds committee reported the refusal of Mr. Dutweiler to enter into contract and the board ordered the entire contract awarded to F. Wentz & Co., of Canal Dover, THE GAS AND OIL INDUSTRY. Ohio, for $6,425 and the contract was en- tered into and bond given June 22. August Although the subject of Natural Gas and Oil belongs to the history of the county at large, yet, as it affected the status of Findlay more than the country where these important prod- ucts were obtained, we will place its history in the article on Findlay. 17, 1900, the bids for the second $25,000 bonds were opened and the bonds awarded to the Groghan Bank of Fremont, Ohio, for $25,085 and accrued interest. The building progressed slowly and the final amount paid This never-to-be-forgotten industry, which caused such excitement the country over, and increased our little village of 4,000 inhabitants to a city of 18,000 population as if the wand of some powerful magician had been passed over our heads and the words "hocus pocus" pronounced with great emphasis, was the sup- posed everlasting natural gas and oil. to the contractor August 23, 1901 ; the city board reserving $500 until the building was accepted. This amount was not paid until March 6, 1903, which formally accepted the building. The entire cost of the building under the contract was $38,481.23; of this amount $186.23 was extras caused by changes in the original plans. The furniture In the autumn of 1836, Mr. Richard Wade, who entered the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 6 in Jackson Township, this cost $2,620.50 and the curb, driveways and walks put in by C. B. Metcalf $675.00, mak-

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county, April 7th, 1836, while digging a well on his farm, and having reached the depth of ten feet, found plenty of water, but the well was abandoned on account of such a strong flow of gas as to render it unfit for use. Mr. Wade conveyed the gas through a wooden box to the end of which he attached a piece of iron tubing, which he would light in order to ex- hibit the phenomenon to neighbors and visitors.

Two years later, or in the autumn of 1838, Daniel Foster put down a well on the lot now owned by J. M. Curtis, being lot number 171 and situated just north of the present Donnell Block. At the depth of eight feet he struck a very strong vein of gas and had to suspend operations. Covering it over he placed a pump tube, extending under his house from an open- ing in the well to a point near the chimney and then boring a hole through the floor attached a musket barrel to the pump tube, through which the gas was conducted to near the mouth of the open fireplace. This was the first time that natural gas was utilized in the county, though there were other places in this vicinity where gas was found in wells dug for water supply.

Dr. Charles Oesterlin was the man who had most to do with inaugurating the great gas boom. As early as 1850 he became earnestly convinced and argued that underlying the vil- lage was a great natural gas deposit which could be developed by drilling through the su- pervening rock strata, but the people only laughed and intimated that he was crazy. Dr. Oesterlin, however, continued to advocate his belief until it developed into an absolute fact. While serving in the state legislature Mr. Oes- terlin called on the state geologists and in- formed them that in his opinion their survey of northwestern Ohio was not exactly complete,

and that a mighty bed of natural gas lay unde- veloped in the vicinity of Findlay. The geolo- gists learnedly replied that whatever natural gas existed at Findlay came from Michigan underneath the bed of Lake Erie and there was not sufficient gas to pay for sinking wells. The doctor bluntly told them they were all mistaken, and time would prove the correct- ness of his statement, which, in truth, it did.

Early in 1884 Dr. Oesterlin determined to make an effort to organize a company to pros- pect for natural gas, and approached a number of the citizens and business men with his prop- osition. The result was that April 18, 1884, articles of incorporation, under the name of "The Findlay Natural Gas Company," were drawn up, signed and acknowledged by Dr. Charles Oesterlin, Charles J. Eckels, Fred H. Glessner, Henry Porch, George W. Kimmel and Peter Kunz in the presence of Jason Black- ford and Vincent H. Coons and three days afterwards filed in the office of the secretary of state. The capital stock was $5,000 divided into 100 shares of $50 each.

On the 30th of April the eight citizens of Findlay previously named together with U. K. Stringfellow and John H. Decker entered into a private agreement "to prospect for natural gas, petroleum, coal, minerals and artesian wells (all of which the charter covered) in and about the village of Findlay, Ohio," and share all profits arising therefrom. The subscription book for stock opened July 19, and on the 25th Dr. Charles Oesterlin took fifteen shares, Charles J. Eckles ten; Fred H. Glessner, five; George W. Kimmel, five; U. K. Stringfellow, five; Jason Blackford, two, and Henry Porch, two. Subsequently the following named per- sons took stock in the enterprise: A. C. Heck, John Ruthrauff, J. W. Zeller, W. H. Faven,

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FINDLAY COLLEGE, FINDLAY

ENTRANCE TO MAPLE GROVE CEMETERY, FINDLAY

RESIDENCE PORTION, SOUTH MAIN STREET, FINDLAY

CORY STREET WALK, WEST OF COLLEGE CAMPUS, FINDLAY

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W. T. Platt, Edward Dietsch, W. B. Porch, lots and sale were rapidly made at enormous Ernest Bacher, William Edwards, J. W Gass- man, Lemuel McManness, C. L. Cusac, Dr. An- son Hurd, John M. Hamlin, Frank Karst, Isaac Hershey, Brownyer & Martin, Mrs. Har- iett Detwiler, Mrs. E. H. Young, and B. F. Bolton, some of whom, however, took very lit- tle interest in the progress of the work.

August 22, 1884, Dr. Charles Oesterlin, Charles J. Eckles, Henry Porch, Vincent H. Coons, George W. Kimmel, A. C. Heck and U. K. Stringfellow were chosen directors of the company for the ensuing year and at once organized by electing Henry Porch president ; A. C. Heck, vice-president; Fred H. Glessner, secretary ; George W. Kimmel, treasurer. On September 5th the contract for drilling was let to Brownmyer & Martin, of Bradford, Pennsylvania, at the following prices : $2,200, for 1,200 feet; $2,800 for 1,600 feet, and $3,200 for 2,000 feet. Messrs. Eckles, Coons and Stringfellow were appointed to select a lo- cation for the well and chose the site on the land of Dr. Oesterlin, in the east part of the town. Work was commenced at once and at a depth of 314 feet the first vein of gas was struck; the second at 516 feet; the third at 618 feet; oil at 718 feet and the general bed of gas at 1,092 feet. They, however, drilled on to a depth of 1,648 feet which was reached Decem- ber 5, 1884, and operations stopped. The drill- ing of the well costing $2,825. Soon after the gas was piped into town and the use of nat- ural gas became a reality. Derricks began to loom up in all directions and the news spread with rapidity over the entire country.

The town began to exhibit an intense and teverish activity. Speculators began to pour in from every direction; syndicates were formed, vast tracts of land were laid out into

prices. In the meanwhile other large gas wells were being brought forth by various parties and excitement was running at a very rapid speed, but on the morning of January 20, 1886, when the great Karg well broke forth with its tremendous roar, caused by the escape of 20,- 000,000 cubic feet of gas, imagine the excite- ment. The gas was placed under control Jan- uary 25, 1886, and at an early hour the torch was applied. Then it was that a bright fiery flame shot upward toward the sky to a height of fully one hundred feet and the rushing noise could be heard for a distance of five miles. The light from the flame could be seen for a dis- tance of fifty miles on a cloudy night, and for a considerable distance all about the well, the grass was growing with the luxuriance of May and the water in the river below, everywhere else covered with ice, was as blue and limpid as a lake.

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Twentieth Century History of Findlay and Hancock County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, Part 28

Author: Jacob Anthony Kimmell Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1189

Author: Jacob Anthony Kimmell
Publication date: 1910
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1189