Auglaize County, Ohio - Chapter 14: Organic History, 1905

Chapter 14: Organic History

In March, 1848, primary meetings were held for the nomination of county officers, to serve until the next annual election to be held in October. The election was held on the first Monday of April, resulting in the election of the following county officers :

On the 10th of April, 1848, the county commissioners met in session in George W. Holbrook's office, at which meeting the officers-elect filed their certificates of election and bonds, and were sworn into office.

Marmaduke W. Smith, being confined to his home by sickness, did not appear until the nth, when the oath of office was administered, and his bond fixed at two thousand dollars.

The auditor not having fully recovered from his sickness, E. M. Phelps was appointed auditor pro tern., and took the oath of office. John Rickley, also, presented his certificate and bond, which were approved. He gave bond in the sum of thirty thousand dollars. The following citizens were his bondsmen : Samuel

The record states that, "the commissioners proceeded to organize the townships and parts of townships within the limits of the county of Auglaize, as follows, viz. :

2. - The north tier of sections of Moulton township is added to the south half of Amanda township, and is hereby organized into a township to be called Logan. The remaining part of Moulton township to retain its original name.

3. - The north tier of sections of Wayne township, formerly of Mercer county, is added to the south half of Salem township, and is hereby organized into a township to be called Salem.

It is ordered that the election of the new townships of Logan and Salem be held on the third Monday of May next, and that the auditor cause public notice to be given of the same, by public advertisement in three of the most public places in each of said townships, at least ten days before the said day of election.

The Board contracted with John H. Nichols for the use of lot 57 and the half of lot 58, O. P. Wapakoneta, for offices, at sixty dollars per annum, as per contract on file.

Also contracted with James Elliott for the use of the M. E. Church for the purpose of holding courts for such length of time as they may need it, for such sum as will seat it and erect a pulpit or stand, not to exceed the sum of fifty dollars.

The Board met. Members present as yesterday. The transcripts from Mercer county not having arrived, all business as a board of equalization is postponed until such time as they arrive.

In compliance with the eleventh section of the act of the State Legislature, establishing the county of Auglaize, "the citi- - zens of Wapakoneta, or a number of them, presented a bond to the commissioners of Auglaize county in the penal sum of five thousand dollars, conditioned for the payment of five thousand dollars, in five equal annual payments, each one of the obligors to be held liable .in proportion to his taxable property on the duplicate, with security to be approved by the Board, a copy of which bond is ordered to be published and made a part of this record, for the approval of the Board.

The bond, after having a proper deliberation, is not approved. First, because the payments are not such as the Board require. Second, because the conditions generally are not approved.

On this day Marmaduke W. Smith, auditor-elect of the county, appeared with his certificate of election and bond, which were approved, and he was sworn into office. The penal sum of his bond was two thousand dollars, with William Botkin, John Hawthorn, and Picket Doute as securities.

S. R. Mott, Esq., prosecuting attorney, is allowed ten dollars for attendance two days examining bonds, etc., and the auditor is directed to issue an order accordingly.

John Ferguson is allowed one dollar and twenty-five cents for bringing the transcripts from Mercer county, and the auditor is directed to issue an order accordingly.

The Board direct an order to G. W. Andrews for four dollars and seventy-five cents for cash paid out and services in organizing the Board; also Benjamin Naas for three dollars and fifty cents for services, going to Celina to obtain transcripts.

George W. Holbrook is allowed one dollar and seventy-five cents for money paid for office copy of the bill erecting the new county of Auglaize.

The citizens of the town of Wapakoneta present a bond in the sum of five thousand dollars, payable to the commissioners of Auglaize county, Ohio, executed by George W. Holbrook, R. J. Skinner, John Elliott, William Craft, Sen., James Elliott, John C. Bothe, Jeremiah Ayers, Michael Dumbruff, George

Emerick, and Anthony Roth, jointly and severally, with a condition for the payment of five thousand dollars, payable, one thousand dollars by September ist, 1848; fifteen hundred dollars by September ist, 1849; one thousand dollars by September ist, 1850; fifteen hundred dollars by September ist, 1851, the last payment to be paid in good materials for the erection of county buildings at cash price.

The Board this day contract conditionally with R. J. Skinner for lots 51, 52, 53, Skinner's second south addition to Wapakoneta, with this express understanding that if the conditions of the five thousand dollar bond this day executed by the citizens of Wapakoneta are not complied with, the contract is at an end. but if the said bond is complied with, then the obligors of that bond shall receive a credit of two hundred dollars upon the last payment of said bond. These lots are for the erection of public buildings, and it is determined that the county buildings shall be located upon said lots.

John Elliott has presented his bill, and is allowed three dollars for services, notifying J. M. Drees and Marmaduke W. Smith. Hugh T. Rinehart is allowed for five days, $10.00; S. Montgomery is allowed for five days, $10.00 ; John M. Drees is allowed for five days, $10.00 ; E. M. Phelps is allowed nine dollars and forty-two cents for services as auditor pro tern, this session, as per account on file.

The political canvass by the Democratic and Whig parties was exciting and bitter in the extreme. Numerous political meetings were held in the two townships, in which the propriety of establishing the county seat at St. Mary's or Wapakoneta was thoroughly discussed. Notwithstanding the fact that the citizens of Wapakoneta had presented a bond for five thousand dollars, as provided in the eleventh section of the act establishing the county, and had paid, the first thousand dollars, the citizens of St. Mary's and the western townships were of opinion that the citizens of Wapakoneta would not be able to make the several payments on the bond, in which event the question of the location of the county seat would be left to a vote of the citizens of the county. Should that be the case, there was a strong probability that a majority would favor the location of it at St. Mary's, as the more densely populated townships of the west were favorable to her interests, whilst Wapakoneta was largely dependent on the more sparsely populated townships of the east.

In the warmly contested campaign, charges of corruption, trickery and selfishness were imputed to candidates, that had no foundation in fact. U. T. Rinehart, of Union township, had more than his share of contumely to bear. It finally became so exasperating to him in September that he delivered an address at Wapakoneta, in which he defined his position on the questions at issue. He was especially severe on the citizens of Wapakoneta, as he believed that most of the calumnies circulated against him had emanated from that locality. In his impassioned speech he is reported to have said, "You may rake and scrape hell from one end to the other, and you cannot find a meaner place, or a meaner set of men, than are to be found in Wapakoneta." The statement came near starting a riot, which was barely averted by the leading citizens of the place.

Dr. George W. Holbrook, who was mainly instrumental in securing the erection of the county, also received his share of censure from the citizens of St. Mary's for his favoring the establishment of the county seat at Wapakoneta. The excitement at St. Mary's ran so high in September that he was threatened with personal violence if he should visit that village.

But by the fall of 1849, however, the hostility of St. Mary's had so far abated that the Doctor visited the village with a consignment of fifty fat hogs, and was tendered a very cordial reception. A remark made by a former political opponent, "that if they had two or three such men as the Doctor, their town would' amount to something." It is needless to state that the remark was both pleasing. and amusing to the Doctor.

After a heated campaign extending through the months of August and September, the annual election was held on the 10th of October. The returns were not received by the canvassing board until late in the afternoon of the day following the election. The board therefore decided to deposit the returns in Dr. Holbrook's office, and complete the canvass the next morning. They took charge of the key of the office, feeling confident that the returns would not be disturbed during the night. When they assembled in the morning it was discovered that the returns from German township had been taken from the file by some one,, and could not be found.

Surveyor

From the record in the commissioners' office we learn that ""the commissioners-elect cast lots for length of terms that each should serve. By lot, Shadrach Montgomery was elected for three years; U. T. Rinehart for two years; and John M. Drees for one year.

December 6th, 1848. - "The Board of Commissioners took up the acct. of Dominicus Flaitz of $15 for procuring field note* for the surveyor's office. The Board allowed $13 of said account, and ordered an order to be drawn on the county treasury in favor of D. Flaitz for $13."

The journal, from December 6th, 1848, to January 10th, 1850, is filled with records of petitions for roads and their establishment, the levying of taxes, and the auditing of miscellaneous accounts.

January 18th, 1850. - The Board proceeded to business by opening the several sealed proposals submitted to the auditor (a tabular statement of which was made out and ordered to be placed on file in the auditor's office), and found that G. W. Andrews & Co., of Wapakoneta, had made the lowest bid for the erection of said court-house and jail, whereupon said Andrews was duly informed by order of the Board that his bid was accepted, upon the condition that he would enter into bond with sufficient security for the faithful performance of the contract.

Saturday morning, 8 o'clock, January 19th, 1850. - The Board of Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. Present,, S. Montgomery, H. T. Rinehart, John Morris.

The Board then found that Messrs. S. Scott and James Elliott were the next lowest bidders for the erection of the courthouse, and were accordingly notified of the fact by order of the Board.

The said Sabert Scott and James Elliott then entered into bond unto the State of Ohio, for the use of Auglaize county, in the penal sum of fifteen thousand dollars, conditioned for the erection of said court-house according to the contract this day made between said commissioners and said Scott and Elliott and filed in the auditor's office.

George W. Holbrook having bid lowest for the erection of the jail, the Board accepted said bid, whereupon said George W. Holbrook entered into bond with security in the penal sum of eight thousand dollars for the faithful performance of the contract this day entered into between said Holbrook and commissioners for the erection of said jail, and placed on file in the auditor's office.

The week following the acceptance of the buildings, the county officers moved into their respective offices. In May of the same year, the first term of court was held in the new courthouse.

The New Court House

The crowded condition of the old court-house, arising from the accumulation of valuable records in the different offices, led the grand jury in 1892 to report that a more commodious building was needed. The proposition to erect such a building was not received with favor by the public. After two years of agitation of the proposed measure, a bill was formulated by the prosecuting attorney and county commissioners, and introduced in the General Assembly by Hon. M. D. Shaw, then a member of the Senate, authorizing the county commissioners to issue bonds to the amount of $125,000, for the construction of a new courthouse. For certain reasons, the usual custom of submitting such a measure to a vote of the people was omitted, and the bill became a law February 2, 1893. The following is the law under which the building was constructed :

An - Act

Section i. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the commissioners of Auglaize county are hereby authorized and required to construct a court-house at such point at the county seat of said county as, in their judg7 ment, may be deemed most appropriate for the public good, and plans and specifications for the same shall be determined upon.

and the contract, or contracts, therefor let according to law within six months after the passage of this act, which contract or contracts shall require the said building to be completed as soon as practicable.

Section 2. That the commissioners of said county are hereby authorized, if in their opinion they deem it best for the public good, either to use the real estate now owned by the said county at the county seat as a site for said court-house, or to sell the real estate now occupied by the court-house, together with the buildings thereon, for cash or upon .such terms of credit as the commissioners may deem proper, and to purchase or acquire, by donation or condemnation, as provided by law, new real estate for such court-house. Provided, that the proceeds arising from the sale of said real estate and buildings shall be applied to the payment of the bonds and interest thereon, that may be issued and sold under the provisions of this act.

Section 3. That when, in the opinion of said commissioners, it is necessary to purchase any such real estate for said court-house, and they and the owners are unable to agree upon its purchase and sale, the said commissioners are hereby authorized to appropriate such real estate according to law in such case. And if, (in) the opinion of such commissioners, it shall be necessary in locating said court-house to use and occupy any alley or part thereof therefor, they are hereby authorized to apply to the village council or the court of common pleas to have the same vacated according to law, and to appropriate the right-ofway or easement therein of any lot-owner, according to law.

Section 4. That the commissioners of said county, for the purpose of building said court-house and acquiring the necessary real estate therefor, are hereby authorized to borrow such sum or sums of money as they may deem necessary, not to exceed the sum of one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, at a rate of interest not to exceed five per cent, per annum, and issue bonds of said county to secure the payment of the principal and interest thereon ; such interest shall be paid semi-annually, and the principal shall be paid at such times as the commissioners may prescribe within twenty-five years from the date of such indebtedness ; said bonds to be sold for not less than their par value.

Section 5. That the bonds so issued shall have interest coupons attached, and signed by the commissioners, or any two of them, and countersigned by the auditor, in sums of not less than one hundred or more than one thousand dollars each, payable to the bearer, at the county treasury, with interest as aforesaid, at such times, not exceeding twenty-five years after date, as the commissioners may prescribe, and such bonds shall specify distinctly the object for which they were issued.

said county as will pay the interest on such indebtedness and the principal as it matures, not to exceed ten thousand dollars in any one year.

"The Board of County Commissioners, then composed of Jacob Logan, William Barth and William Kelly, entered into contract with E. M. Campfield in the sum of $102,536.80 for the construction of the building. In the meantime the Board purchased the property comprising one entire half block, bounded by Willipe, Pearl, Perry and Mechanic streets, upon which the building is located, and on July 2, 1893, the work of excavation was begun. As the work progressed, addition after addition, and almost innumerable alterations, were made until the cost aggregated more than double the amount authorized by the law." The following, taken from the records in the County auditor's office, is an itemized statement of the cost of the building :

Power House Yard Improvement

Official possession of the building was taken in December, 1894, and by the following month its elegant apartments were occupied by the county officers.

The structure is a massive one, built entirely of Berea sandstone, with tile flooring, and as nearly fireproof as is possible to construct a building of its character. Every modern convenience is in operation. The county owns the electric lighting plant by which the entire building is lighted from basement to dome, and in the power house are located the boilers furnishing steam by which it is heated throughout. On the second floor are located most conveniently the common pleas court room, an assembly room, the private office of the judge of the court of common pleas, the law library of the County Bar Association, and the offices of prosecuting attorney, clerk of courts, and sheriff. Below stairs on either side of the immense corridor are the offices of the auditor, commissioners, probate judge, recorder, surveyor, and treasurer, while the basement is occupied by a large assembly room used by the commissioners, and offices for the infirmary directors, the county board of election supervisors, the school examiners, and the County Agricultural

The Miami And Erie Canal

DeWitt Clinton, Governor of New York, on the 8th of November, 1823, in response to inquiries from Mr. Williams, one of the first Board of Ohio Canal Commissioners, commented on the propriety of constructing a canal from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, as follows : "The State of Ohio, from the fertility of its soil, the benignity of its climate, and its geographical position, must always contain a dense population, and the products and consumption of its inhabitants must forever form a lucrative and extensive inland trade, exciting the powers of productive industry, and communicating aliment and energy to external commerce. But when we consider that this canal will open a way to the great rivers that fall into the Mississippi ; that it will be felt, not only in the immense valley of that river, but as far west as the Rocky Mountains and the borders of Mexico ; and that it will communicate with our great inland seas, and their tributary rivers ; with the ocean in various routes, and with the most productive regions of America, there can be no question respecting the blessings that it will produce, the riches it will create, and the energies it will call into activity."

The letters of Governor Clinton, and his influence with the promoters of a system of canals in Ohio, were mainly instrumental in securing the necessary legislation for their construction.

Preliminary to the great public improvement in western Ohio, a careful and continuous survey was made in 1824, by an engineer corps, headed by Samuel Forrer, and assisted by J. L. Williams, Francis Cleveland, Richard Howe and Thomas Mathews. One-half of the route, was through an unbroken forest. From Fort St. Mary's to the Auglaize River, not* a house or a track of civilization existed.

is of interest at this point: "On the southwest bank of this river (St. Mary's River) was found a squatter by the name of Thomas McClish, with a clearing of about one acre. While the engineer party were at this encampment, the second officer in the corps, Thomas J. Mathews, father of the Hon. Stanley Mathews, of Cincinnati, was overtaken by a special messenger, who had made his way through the wilderness, with notice of his appointment as Professor of Mathematics in Transylvania University, at Lexington, Kentucky.

"A few miles further down the Auglaize the party encamped near an Indian village, Oquanoxa's town (now Charloe), of the Ottawa tribe, at that time numerous in the lower section of the Maumee Valley. It was a time of threatening war with the Miamis, then dominant and powerful on the sources of the Maumee River and upper Wabash. The Ottawa braves and warriors were at Fort Wayne to take vengeance for the loss of an Ottawa Indian, slain by a Miami. A money compensation, however, was agreed upon in lieu of blood, probably through the influence of the Indian agent at Fort Wayne, the Hon. John Tipton, afterwards United States Senator from Indiana. From this point the party proceeded to Defiance."

An act "to aid the State of Ohio in extending the Miami Canal from Dayton to Lake Erie, and to grant a quantity of land to said State to aid in the construction of the canals authorized by law," etc., was passed by Congress and approved May 24th, 1828.

The first section of the act granted to Ohio a quantity of land equal in area to two and a half miles in width on each side of the canal between Dayton and the Maumee River. The land was granted to the State of Ohio, subject to the disposal of the Legislature, for the purpose of constructing the canal, and for no other. The section also required that the extension of the canal should be commenced within five years, and completed within twenty years.

These canal lands were sold by the State, and the proceeds used in the redemption of bonds and scrip, issued to defray the expenses of the prosecution of the work.

The spring of 1841 was a period of great activity in Auglaize county. Five hundred men of all nationalities were engaged for two years in excavating the channel of the canal from Lor- amie to St. Mary's. Boarding shanties were erected at St. Mary's and other convenient points along the line. At the same time seventeen hundred men were engaged in constructing the east and west embankments of the great St. Mary's reservoir. Boarding shanties in sufficient number were erected near the two extremeties of the reservoir to accommodate the large number of hands. In September of 1841, Bishop Purcell, of Cincinnati, came up and held mass in the two encampments. It is currently reported that each church communicant contributed one dollar to defray his expenses back to Cincinnati.

"As the work of excavation progressed, locks, of heavy oak timber, were constructed at the different points of level, having a breadth of fifteen feet between the walls, and the length of the chambers, being the space between the upper and lower gates, ninety feet, - admitting boats seventy-eight feet in length, and fourteen feet ten inches in breadth, to pass freely through.

"A few of the wooden locks between Lock Port and the Maumee River have since that time been replaced by walls of solid stone masonry, resting on floors composed of timbers laid crosswise of the pit, covered with planks three inches in thickness, both in the chambers and under the walls, and between the walls, with an additional floor of two-inch plank well joined, and secured with spikes to the timbers on which they rest.

"The two reservoirs, the Loramie and St. Mary's, on the dividing ridge or summit level of Ohio, were completed while the canal was under course of construction."

The following from the Mercer County Standard of April, 1870, illustrates the temper of the citizens of Mercer county at the time of the completion of the great reservoir : "Long before the location of the Mercer county reservoir, some hardy adventurers bought and settled within the prairie, now forming the reservoir, among whom were Thomas and Joseph Coate, Messrs. Mellinger, Large, Hugh Miller, and others, all on the south side. On the north side were Messrs. Sunday, Crockett, Bradley, Judge Linzee, Hollingsworth, Nichols, Gibson, Hull, Kompf. Pratt, and the Rev. Asa Stearns, all good men - noble specimens of the frontier.

"In 1830 Mitchell, an engineer, ran the first line around the reservoir. Subsequently, in 1837, it was run again by Barney and Forrer, compassing a circumference of 18,000 acres. In the same year all the timber outside the prairie was let for deadening, which was done by the contractors of the several locations. When the west bank was let to Giddings, Stepson and Holtsbeckor, it was let from a point south of Celina a distance of one hundred and twenty rods, at thirty-seven cents per cubic yard, and was to be wharfed with good white oak plank, two inches thick; Henry L. Johnson, late sheriff of Mercer county, sawed the lumber.

"Justin Hamilton, the member of the Legislature from the county, introduced a resolution in that body, which was passed unanimously, 'That no water should be let into the reservoir before the same should be cleared of timber and the parties paid for their land/ This resolution was in force when the bank was cut.

"When the banks were finished and the water let in, it submerged all but one acre for Mr. Sunday, with thirty-four acres of wheat; fifteen acres for Mrs. Crockett; the whole of Thomas Coate's ; sixty acres with several thousand rails for Judge Holt, of Dayton, who owned a farm two miles east of Celina; nineteen acres for Judge Linzee; nearly forty acres for Abraham Pratt, with all the rails thereto belonging, and the whole of Mellingers except a few acres around the house, besides great damage to others on the south side, too numerous to enumerate here.

"This outrage on the part of the officers of the State was too much to be borne by the gritty bloods of Mercer county. Wars have been proclaimed on less pretenses. America declared her independence and refused to pay a small tax on her tea, which of itself was not oppressive, but was oppressive in principle, and the people would not be taxed without the consent of their own Legislature. Mercer county followed the example, and declared that she would not be imposed upon by the thieving birds of Ohio.

"On. the 3d of May, 1843, a meeting was held in Celina, Samuel Ruckman, county commissioner, acting as president. It was resolved that Benjamin Linzee, Esq., should go to Piqua the head of the Board of Public Works, and lay our grievances and an address before them. Spencer and Ransom returned a sneering answer: 'Help yourselves if you can.' On the 12th of May the meeting sent Linzee back with the declaration that if they did not pay us for our lands and let off the water, that we would cut the bank on the 15th. The reply came back: 'The Piqua Guards will be with you and rout you on that day/ The muttering thunder around the reservoir was not only loud, but deep- - every person was excited. On the morning of the 15th, by 7 o'clock, more than one hundred people, with shovels, spades and wheelbarrows, were on the spot, ready for work. The place selected was the strongest one on the bank, in the old Beaver channel. Our object was not to damage the State; and the dirt was wheeled back on the bank on each side. It employed the men one day and a half before the cutting was completed ; it was dug six feet below the level of the water, and a flimsy breastwork was made to hold the water back. When the tools were taken out and all ready, Samuel Ruckman said : 'Who will start the water?' 'I,' said John S. 'I,' said Henry L., and in a moment the meandering waters were hurling down fifty yards below the bank. It was six weeks before the water subsided.

"As soon as this was known at headquarters, warrants were issued for the arrest of all who assisted in the work. Thirtyfour of the leaders, comprising all the county officers, judges, sheriff, clerks, auditor, treasurer, his deputy, recorder and surveyor, merchants and farmers, were arrested and bound over to the next term of court. A foolish idea, for the court assisted in the work. But the grand jury refused to find a bill of misdemeanor, and so the matter rested. It cost the State $17,000 to repair the damages.

"I think it proper to record the names of those who resisted the oppressive movements of the State, in cutting the west bank of the Mercer county reservoir: Judge Robert Linzee, J. S. Houston, Frank Linzee, clerk of the court; Joseph Carlin, sheriff; Fred. Schroder, auditor; L. D. McMahon, recorder; Benjamin Linzee, deputy treasurer; Samuel Ruckman, commissioner; H. Trenary, B. Mowry, Porter Pratt, Ellis Miller, M. D. ; Smith Allen, a tavernkeeper ; Eli Dennison, John Sunday apd all his family, the Crockett boys, Britton and son, Abraham Miller and Dr. Beauchamp, from Montezuma; Matthew Frank, Gray, Elli; Hugh Miller, and a hundred others, who came through curiosity for some other purpose, with Thomas and Joseph Coats."

With the completion of the Miami and Erie Canal in 1845.. a period of material growth and development of the county set in, that has continued without intermission for over half a century. Indeed, the rapid development of western and northwestern Ohio dates back to the commencement of the navigation of the great waterway.

At the time of the erection of the county, a line of packets made regular trips between Toledo and Cincinnati. A steam propeller called the" Niagara" made trips from Toledo to DefC ance, Fort Wayne, and occasionally to Cincinnati. The construction of the canal through the county afforded employment at remunerative wages to all citizens desiring employment. The writer has conversed with many men who accumulated money enough by labor on this public improvement to purchase farms for themselves.

October 8th, 1857. - The county commissioners purchased of William L. Ross and wife the following described premises to be used as a county infirmary : The west half of the northeast quarter, and the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section nineteen (19), township number five (5) south, range six (6) east, containing one hundred and twenty (120) acres, for the sum of two thousand four hundred dollars.

On the same day they also bought of John Fisher and wife the west half of the northwest quarter of section number twenty (20), township five (5) south, of range six (6) east, containing eighty (80) acres, for the sum of $1,800.

A two-storv hewed log house, log barn, and other outbuildings, on the John Fisher farm, served for county infirmary purposes for the first year. During that year, one-half of the log building was set apart for the use of the indigent poor ; the other half being occupied by the superintendent and his family.

In 1858, a frame building was erected at a cost of $600 for the better accommodation of paupers. No other buildings were erected on the farm until 1868. Plans and specifications were prepared in February, i860, for a building suitable for the growing needs of the county. The commissioners advertised for bids for the erection of a building, the bids to be presented at their regular meeting in April. When the bids were opened, it was found that no one fell below five thousand dollars, a sum that was in excess of the amount that they expected to expend. They, therefore, rejected all the bids. Their decision was an act of wisdom. The county was not prepared to erect a suitable building during the excitement of a great civil war.

No further action was taken with regard to the construction of a building until the summer of 1867. The following from the commissioners' journal of that year furnishes a pretty com- - plete history of the construction and cost of the present infirmary :

March 29, 1867. - The commissioners met to make arrangements for letting contracts for the erection of the new county infirmary, and spent the day in visiting the farm, staking off the site of the building, and examined plans and specifications for the same. Present, full Board.

The commissioners proceeded to let to the lowest bidders the contracts for work and materials for the erection of the infirmary, as follows :

The contract for stone masonry was awarded to Sproul & Lear at one dollar and fifty cents per perch of sixteen and onehalf feet. Work to be finished by September 10th, 1867; the commissioners to furnish the stone. The remainder of material, attendance, and so forth, to be furnished by the contractor.

The contract for the brick work was awarded to Christian Heisler, mason, at four dollars and ninety cents per thousand ; twenty-two and one-half brick to be counted to the cubic foot, mason's count ; openings included ; inside walls to be measured without counting any double ; the commissioners to furnish the brick, and all the remainder of material. Attendance, etc., to be furnished by the contractor. The work to be finished by the first day of November, 1867.

The contract for carpenter work was awarded to Nichols & Craft for three thousand eight hundred and twenty ($3,820) dollars. The contractors are to furnish all the material, timber, lumber, shingles, nails, locks, hinges, etc., required in finishing the building, except the glass, painting, glazing and tin work, which are to be separate contracts. The work to be finished by the 1st of June, 1868.

The contract for tin work was awarded to Thomas Moss. For guttering, the tin is to be the best quality of tin, twenty-four inches wide, at twenty-five cents per foot, and spouting at twelve and a half cents per foot. The work to be done as soon as the building is ready for the same.

The records of expenditures for materials and estimates of work at different times is scattered over many pages of the journal, the aggregate of which is $10,026.48.

The east wing of the building was built by H. P. Neumier in 1891. The cost of this addition was $8,440. In October of the same year, heating apparatus was put in at a cost of $400.

Infirmary Superintendents

The supervision of the infirmary by Mr. Jacob Bigler and his worthy wife during their nine years of service was eminently satisfactory to the public. Through the present excellent management the income from the sale of farm products and stock has reduced the expenses of the institution to a minimum. With the improvements contemplated by the commissioners and infirmary directors, the Auglaize county infirmary will become, what it should be, an honor to the countv.

Public Highways

The early records in the journals of the commissioners' of Allen and Auglaize counties are mainly a history of road improvements. The survey and location of roads through the dense wilderness occupied the attention of the commissioners during a great portion of the year. The lines were usually located along the crests of ridges, without much regard to land lines. After the establishment of a road, it was, in the course of a few years, cleared of timber to the distance of thirty feet on each side of . the road line. In passing over lowlands between ridges, corduroy roads, covered with dirt, were constructed, making those portions of the road passable at all seasons of the year. The streams were bridged by laying stringers made of heavy logs across them, covered with puncheons fastened down with spikes, or more frequently, by wooden pins. These corduroy roads and bridges served a valuable purpose, as, without them the roads could not be traversed at any season of the year. The wet soil of the wilderness, and the shade of the timber along the roads, prevented them from becoming dry until late in the summer. Even on the summits of the ridges they were soon worn into mud-holes and ruts that were impassable. To avoid them new roads, or byroads, as they were called, were made around them by clearing away the undergrowth and logs. This condition of the public highways continued for many years. The two days of labor performed by the citizens were not sufficient to keep the roads in repair.

In 1852-53, the Wapakoneta and St. Mary's Plank Road was constructed by a stock company composed of citizens of the two villages. This toll road was of great service to the couiffiy for a period of thirty years.

A stock company, composed of citizens of Wapakoneta and Sidney, constructed a gravel pike in 1850-51, on the line of the old army road from Wapakoneta to Sidney. This improvement afforded an outlet to the south, and aided greatly in the development of the central and eastern portions of the county.

Assembly in 1848, and known as the "Two Mile Assessment Law." Under its provisions, all property located within a distance of two miles, on either side of the proposed improvement, is assessed in proportion to the benefit it derives. The roads of southern Ohio constructed under the provisions of this act soon became the most popular thoroughfares of the State.

The first concerted effort in behalf of gravel pikes in Auglaize county took place September 26th, 1874, in the office of Hon. George W. Andrews, at Wapakoneta. In the eight years following this meeting eight pikes were constructed. Much bitter feeling and excitement prevailed in the fall and winter of 1878-80, when seventeen petitions were presented to the commissioners, praying for an aggregate construction of one hundred and thirteen miles of pike, at an estimated cost of $234,065. Like all public improvements requiring the expenditure of large sums of money and requiring the levying of taxes upon the property of the county, the people, as usual, became alarmed, and in some sections of the county, especially the northwestern portion, they became violent in their opposition to the petitions. The better judgment of the people, however, prevailed, and the pikes were constructed.

Appended is a list of the pikes of the county, showing the date of filing the petitioners' bond, length, and actual cost of construction. Also cost of repairs of same for a period of ten years, dating from 1891 to 1901 :

Artificial Ditches

One of the greatest hindrances that beset the pioneers of the county was the want of a proper drainage of the soil that they attempted to cultivate. Such of them as possessed sloping lands adjacent to streams were indeed fortunate. But for those whose lands were comparatively level, there were long years of labor and waiting before the land yielded the bounteous harvests that it was capable of producing. The first county ditch recorded by the county commissioners was constructed in 1868. Prior to that year many ditches were dug by pioneers in their attempts to drain one basin into an adjacent lower one - frequently inundating their unfortunate neighbors. In some instances, where farmers' lands were contiguous, they joined their labors and constructed longer continuous ditches. Similar movements by farmers in other sections of the State led to the enactment of a system of ditch laws. Under those laws the following ditches have been constructed :

The proposition of constructing a railroad from Dayton to Toledo was discussed as early as 1848, but nothing was done toward carrying the measure into effect until the summer of 1849,* when a preliminary line was surveyed from Troy to Toledo.

engineer, attended by the necessary number of hands and commissary ambulances, left Troy and reached Wapakoneta about the tenth of the month, the line passing along Perry street and across the river, where it angled to the right in the direction of Lima. Fourteen days afterward they reached Toledo. Mr. P. M. Reed, of Moulton township, who was a member of the party, relates that in coming into camp one evening, in Henry county, he struck his axe into what he supposed to be a moss-covered stump, and passed on to the camp. He was followed a few minutes later by another one of the hands, who detected the odor of whiskey, and upon examination found that it proceeded from a moss-covered barrel of whiskey, the supposed stump on which Reed had tried the edge of his axe. It had probably been unloaded there to lighten the load of an army wagon in passing through that locality in the War of 1812. The writer, has been assured by Mr. Reed that the liquor was of excellent quality. It is safe to say that such revelry in the wilderness as prevailed in camp that night had not been heard since the departure of the red men. At the close of an all-night spree, it was resolved not to commence work until the afternoon of the next day. Soon after the resumption of work they approached a prairie, which, from the great number of rattlesnakes that infested it, they named Rattlesnake Prairie. As to whether the snakes were real or imaginary, the reader must draw his own inferences. Mr. Reed asserts that they were real.

When the bill was before the State Legislature to charter the Dayton and Michigan Railroad with a northern terminus at Sidney, Dr. George Holbrook and Hon. G. W. Andrews, acting in behalf of the citizens of Wapakoneta and citizens of the surrounding country, succeeded in procuring the sum of $70,000, which bonus induced the projectors of the road to extend it through the county.

Four lines were surveyed before the road was finally located. When the last line was run, T. S. Huntington, the chief engineer, set his transit at the point where the road crosses Auglaize street, and surveyed the present line of the road to Lima.

The road from Troy to the Henry county line was divided into four working sections. The sections were placed in charge of engineers, as follows : Samuel Craig, from Lima to the Henry county line ; J. B. Craig, from Lima to a point fifteen miles south of Wapakoneta; and Jonathan Arnot from a point four miles north of Sidney to Troy. William Craft, Charles Shives, Jesse Olmstead and Henry Baumgardner, citizens of Wapakoneta, assisted the engineers during the survey of the road.

Lake Erie And Western Railroad

The Lake Erie and Western Railroad, commencing at Fremont, occupied over twenty years in its extension through the .State. It was not completed 'through Auglaize county until 1877. A branch of this road extends from St. Mary's south through New Bremen to Minster, placing those two villages in communication with the main line. At the present writing, and for several years past, the Lake Erie and Western has been one of the best paying roads in northern Ohio.

Ohio Southern

The Ohio Southern Railroad (now Detroit Southern), commenced in 1890, and ecompleted in 1892, extends in a southeasterly direction from Lima, Ohio, through the townships of

Toledo And Ohio Centrat

This road, commenced in 1897 and completed in 1900. extends from the southeastern corner of the county, through Wapakoneta to St. Mary's, a distance of about twenty-three miles. A bonus of $47,000 and the right-of-way along the entire route induced the railroad company to construct the road. In the spring of 1900, this road, known at that time as the Columbus and Northwestern, a branch of the Detroit and Lima Northern,

Western Ohio Electric Railroad

This road, commencing at Lima, Ohio, and extending south and southwest through the villages of Cridersville, Wapakoneta, Moulton and St. Mary's, is fast approaching completion. Since the commencement of the construction of the road, it has been decided by the company to extend the main line from Wapakoneta to Dayton. The roadbed of this projection has been completed from Dayton as far north as Lockington. A branch road has also been constructed from St. Mary's, parallel to the L. E. & W. road, as far south as the village of Minster.

This association was organized in the fall of 1868, at a meeting held in the old brick school building at Wapakoneta. W. F. Torrence, principal of the St. Mary's schools, presided as chairman, and Fernando C. Layton was chosen secretary. Levi Hamaker, probate judge, Edward Meyer, county clerk, and the county school examiners, W. V. M. Layton, Rev. W. C. Barnett, .and Dr. C. Berlin, were present, and participated in the organization. The following constitution and by-laws were adopted, and officers were elected for the ensuing year :

Constitution

Preamble. As a means of improvement in the profession of teaching, and of promoting the interests of the schools of our county, we, the undersigned, associate ourselves under the following constitution :

Article 2. The officers of this association shall be a president, three vice-presidents, a secretary, treasurer, and an executive committee of three members, who shall also perform the duties of the financial committee. The secretary shall, ex officio, be one of the members of this committee, and shall keep a record of its proceedings.

Article 3. It shall be the duty of the president to preside at all meetings of the association. In case of vacancy or his absence, any one of the vice-presidents or the chairman of the executive committee may perform his duties.

Article 5. The executive committee shall carry into effect all orders and resolutions of the association, and shall devise and put in operation such measures not inconsistent with the objects of the association, as it deems best. It shall arrange business for all regular meetings of the association, and shall appoint, under the direction of the association, at least one such meeting each year. It shall make all necessary arrangements for holding and conducting at least four teachers' associations in the county each year.

In case the amount of money under the control of the association, including the institute fund in the hands of the county treasurer, be insufficient to defray the necessary expenses of an institute said committee shall fix and give due notice of an institute, tuition fee to be paid by those attending such institute.

Article 6. The executive committee shall hold its meetings as soon after election as possible. Two members shall constitute a quorum for business, and afterwards meet on their own adjournment or appointment.

Article 7. Any teacher or active friend of education may become a member of this association by subscribing to the constitution and contributing annually to the finances of the association.

Article 8. The officers of this association shall be chosen by ballot or in such manner as the association shall direct, at the annual meeting, and shall hold their offices for one year, or until their successors are elected.

Article 9. This constitution may be altered or amended by a majority of the members present at any regular meeting, provided notice of such intended alteration or amendment shall have been given at the previous meeting.

After the adoption of the foregoing constitution and the registration of the names of members, the election of officers for the ensuing year resulted as follows :

Before the adjournment of the meeting, the executive committee was instructed to engage institute instructors, and prepare a program of exercises for an institute to be held at Wapakoneta in August of the following year.

It was soon discovered that a large number of the members attendant upon the institute were quite deficient in text-book knowledge, and that more time must be given to instruction in arithmetic, grammar, and geography, than to the discussion of methods of teaching.

The academic method of conducting the institute was continued until 1876. Since that year the instruction has been more professional in character.

The accumulation of examination fees collected from the teachers of the county from 1864 to 1869 was more than sufficient to pay the expenses of the first session of the institute. For the three years following, the county commissioners appropriated one hundred dollars per year to supply the deficiency in the institute fund.

When the school laws were codified in 1873, the clause authorizing the commissioners to appropriate a hundred dollars to support county teachers' institutes was repealed. From 1873 to the present, the deficiency has been supplied by voluntary contributions from the teachers.

The institute generally determines, in committee of the whole, the character and amount of the work to be undertaken, and at times designates the course to be pursued in attempting to secure its accomplishment ; but it is the usual practice to entrust the arrangement of details and the general management of business .affairs to the executive committee. The members of this com-

Since 1876, the attendance at the annual institute has been over ninety per cent, of the whole number of teachers required to fill the schools of the county.

Some idea can be formed of the efficiency of the thirty-two annual institutes from the names of the following instructors from Ohio and other States : S. C. Crumbaugh, S. F. DeFord, W. F. Torrence, C. W. Williamson, Dr. Aaron Schuyler, Prof. William Richardson, Dr. T. W. Harvey, Dr. C. W. Bennett, Prof. William Hoover, Dr. J. J. Burns, Superintendent J. L. Carson, Superintendent John W. Dowd, Superintendent J. A. Shawan, Prof. C. H. Churchill, Frank V. Irish, Principal A. J. Willoughby, Dr. Alston Ellis, Prof. Charles L. Loos, Superintendent C. S. Wheaton, Dr. W. G. Williams, Superintendent J. W. Zeller, Prof. E. M. Mills. Prof. S. J. Kirkwood, Miss Lelia Patridge, Prof. L. M. Sniff. Superintendent Frank B. Dyer, Superintendent R. W. Mitchell. Superintendent J. D. Simkins, Prof. Byron W. King- Prof. A. J. Gantvoort, Dr. Charles McMurray, Dr. M. G. Brumbaugh. Superintendent F. R. Dyer, Superintendent S. T. Dial, and Dr. C. C. Rounds.

Every one of the foregoing list of instructors has been a teacher of much experience, and in most cases has had the management of a system of schools. Many of them were specialists in the branches in which they gave instruction.

A notable degree of improvement in the country schools dates from the year 1891, when a movement was inaugurated toprepare and place an exhibit of the school work of the county at the World's Fair at Chicago.

Arrangements were matured at the annual institute of 1891, to place the manuscript work of the branches taught in the schools on exhibition in the city hall in February, 1892, and at the World's Fair in the following March.

lence of work in their exhibit. Certificates of special merit were awarded to the schools of Cridersville, Minster, St. Mary's and Wapakoneta.