Seneca County, Ohio - Chapter 20: Surplus Revenue Politics First Political Jollification -Tiffin in the Woods - Tiffin Incor Porated- Fi Rst Election - I Ncorporation, 1880

SURPLUS REVENUE POLITICS FIRST POLITICAL JOLLIFICATION -TIFFIN IN THE WOODS - TIFFIN INCOR PORATED- FI RST ELECTION - I NCORPORATION OF FORT BALL - ITS FIRST ELECTION- INCORPORATION OF THE CITYFIRST CORPS OF CITY OFFICERS HARRISON NOBLE- PLANK ROADSPIKES-TELEGRAPHS THE SCHOOLS OF TIFFIN.

WIIF.X the revolutionary war ended the general government and the colonies were badly in debt ; the former was compelled to repudiate, and those ot the colonies that were luckv enough to have surplus lands under their old charters, were enabled to pay a large part of their debts by land scrips. Virginia and Connecticut, owning the entire northwestern territory, paid nearly all their colonial debts by these scrips, which secured the first titles to land northwest of the Ohio river. The general government struggled along with an empty treasury for many years, until finally the duties on imports and the proceeds from the sale ot the public lands made her exchequer flush, and the statesmen of those days were troubled with the surplus revenue. There was no national debt, and the money accumulated in the I'nited States treasury until it became a burden. The recommendation of (leneral lackson. to distribute it among the >tates. was approved by some and opposed by others. Some ot the eastern states had no particular use tor their shares, but it was a dod-send to Mime of the state^ in the west, where the people suffered greatly for want ot' money, which was especially true oi Ohio. The gross amount to be distributed wa> SJO,GOO.OOO. The portion to Ohio was Si. 42^.000: and the amount that came to Seneca count}' was S; i .7 V- 7,v° v The act passed congress and was approved by the President on the ^Cith day of Mar< h, 1X37.

I!y an act of the general assembly of the Mate of Ohio, the coumv commi-oioners ot each county were made lund commissioners of this iiirjilu-i revenue for their respective counties. On the jd da\ of May, president, and the light on tlie I'nited States bank culminated in the removal ot deposit-,, the vetoes of the re-charters, which agitated the whole country. Part}' spirit ran high in iS^j. when Jackson was the Democratic candidate for re'-election. Clay was the candidate and the embodiment of the Whig jiarty. ('lay and Jackson were both Masons, (ireat prejudices were entertained against both, and the Morgan affair was in everybody's mouth. The Masons were very much abused, and a new party was called into existence, called "anti-Mason," under the leadership of William \Virt, of Maryland, who was the candidate for president, and Amos Lllmaker, of Pennsylvania, for vice-president. The ides of November came on and Jackson was re-elected. Now the Democrats hadjto have a jubilee, and the first political jollification in Seneca county came olf at the house of Colonel John Goodin, in Tiffin, on Thursday, the 6th day of December, iS^2. Hon. David 1C. Owen was appointed president, and Andrew laigenbeel vice-president.

In writing up the proceedings of this meeting. Mr. L. Brown, the editor of the Patriiit. the pioneer newspaper of the county, and whose columns were open to the three parties alike (for he published " Cla«r politics." " Jackson politics," and " \Virt politics.") said:

Although many of our friends were unavoidably absent, viewing the lands in the "Seneca Reservation." previous to the sale ofthem. which commences mi Monday next, yet the concourse was unusually large.

Thirteen regular toasts - one tor each ot the original states.) were offered, besides a number of volunteer toasts - some witty, some less so. Amongst those who participated were Henry Cronise. George Flack. Nathan I.. Wright. Joseph Graff. Colonel R. Ja<ma. I'riah I'. Coonrad. Gabriel (. Keen. L. Drown. Jacob Kroh. Colonel John Goodin. A. Katon. Samuel ^. Martin. J. II. Drown. I.. Locke. J-'reilerick Kisldcr. 1'. I. Price. William Anderson. John Campbell. William II. Kessler. Joshua Senev, Andrew Main/.

names; charged them with having been bribed, and predicted that all sorts of evils would follow. Kven the purchase of Fort Hall by Mr. Hedges, failed, for a time, to allay this bitter feeling. Itgre\vinto fever-heat when the post-office was removed from Fort Ball to Tiffin, and Jacob Plane was appointed postmaster on this side, in the spring ot 1^29, under Jackson. Kven Mr. Hoagland, the terryman, became so incensed against Mr. 1 ledges that at every session of the court he would come into the court house on the second or third day of the term, take off his big stove-pipe hat at the door, walk up to the judges' desk with measured step, in his long brown overcoat reaching down to his shoes, holding in his hand a large role ot manuscript, which he would lay before one of the judges, turn round and walk out again with an air of triumph, snapping one eye at the bystanders. In this manuscript he complained of Mr. Hedges tor refusing to let Hoagland take stones out of the river, and many other things.

But the little town, thus languishing, did live (as the lawyers say); slowly and gradually increasing in numbers, until about the year 1X33 it numbered probably 400 souls. For fourteen years, from the time of its platting, it was under the government of Clinton township, having no government ot its own until the jth day ot March. 1^35, the legislature of ( )hio passed an act incorporating the town of Tiffin. The act contained twenty-one long sections. It provided, amongst other things, for the limit of taxation: tor the us-1 by the town of the county jail; for the election and appointment of officers: for building of sidewalks and improving the streets: for provMing fire apparatus: for punishing the sale of intoxicating liquors, etc. The town embraced the first plat and first southern addition.

There was no election held under the law in April. 1835, nor 'n April. 1^3^). Nobody seemed to care tor a town government, but in lune. 1-^36. the following notice was published in the 'I'ifrin Gazette, vi/: liusiness clustered around the p:il>lir ^.ji;arc and .ilonu Washington .street, where it is yet holding -svay with a ii\<>^\ wonderful ten.uitv I'i.'tm is unlike in. my other to\viis in the we--: ::: this re>pe< t. where business extemU into various streets; In; here :t must ! e < "iil'ineil in .1 square or two and sin k tlu-re..

The act contains twenty-six sections; was prepared by the writer at the request of the councils of both towns, and was passed by the legislature without any change.

First ward is all north of Market street, to the river: extending from Market street east to Circular; thence south to Rebecca; thence east along Rebecca to an alley lying east of lot 647; thence south along said alley to Main: thence east to the corporation line.

The valuation of the taxable property in the city proper for 1X71) was >2, 4030^3. The city tax tor the same year was SN^.o.^.S^. For a number of years past the annual tax of the city has averaged three per cent, on the '!< illar valuat ion.

your high schools no\v-a-days, heated by hot-air furnaces, and supplied with beautiful and convenient patent desks, were not to be thought of then.

When Harrison grew up to be large enough to work, he helped his lather clear land, and in a few years seventy acres were cleared on the homestead farm. The boys had their sports also in those days. It was not always hard work and no play.

lie \vas a very good coon hunter, and kept a couple of blooded coon dogs with which he would scour the country around tor coon: the Crosslev boys, the young liostons. and I lollopeters. often joining him. One night Harrison got out his Indian pony, took his dogs with him and went to Mud creek, where he caught seven coons. Hoys olten got their '- spending money " in that way.

The squirrels, chip-monks and crows were so numerous and trouble some that the people were compelled to make war upon them. Harrison olten collected a lot of boys with guns and ammunition tor a squirrel hunt. They appointed two captains, who picked their men one at a time. " turn about;" then they started in all directions. They were to meet at a certain place, and the party that had the least number ot squirrel-tails, lost the price, which was two bushels of corn which the losing party had to furnish. The plumes of the left wings of crows. hawks or bn//ards were also counted for so rnanv squirrel-tails.

The boys also or^ani/ed debating societies and spelling schools. wh;< h were held often a' private houses, and which were a source ot pleasure and mutual impnnement.

The winters of 1X4. (--5 young Noble spent at the college in ( (berlin. and in 1X40 he attended the Seneca count}' academy in Republic. In the winter of 1X40-7 he taught a school in Tiffin, occupying one ot tinupper rooms in the two story brick school house, still standing, on the north side ot Market street, near the corner of Monroe and Market. Mrs. (iibbs. a Mr. ('ollins, and the writer were all the other teachers then employed in Tiffin. ('ollins wa- a tall, slender man. had a wile was a prca< her. and made terrible war on the Masons and s. He was going to break down their lodges ami Inild oi C,od upon their ruins. ![,- returned In U'oosler. ivherc \ li'.ed and did not behave very well after his return. Hi - but his < >\vn . liowing vear Noble cniered the office of his brother. U'arrcn

Soon after their marriage the young couple commenced housekeeping in their pleasant home on the corner of Jefferson and Market, where they still reside.

In this year ( 1X49^. on the 22<1 day of March, the general assembly of Ohio also passed an act incorporating the Lower Sandusky, Tiffin and Fort Hall plank road company. Ralph 1'. I'.uckland, John R. Teas. John I,. Green, James Justice, and John Bell, of Sandusky county:

I.oren/o Abbott, Calvin Clark, I!enjamin Tomb, Cyrus Tool. Vincent Bell, John W. Patterson. Warren 1'. Noble, and Rex in W. Shawhan, of Seneca county. Chester R. Mott, Joseph McCutchen, Robert McKelley, and Andrew McKlvain, of \Yyandot county, and all others associated with them, by subscribing stock, were made a body corporate and politic.

Another company, called the Tiffin and ( 'sceola plank road company, was also chartered, and both roads put in operation A branch road from Fostoria to intersect the former, north of the mouth of U'olf creek, was also laid. Toll-gates were erected and tolls collected. These answered the purpose tor awhile, and were tvery popular until they began to give way by the rotting of the plank. The tolls collected proved insufficient to keep up the necessary repairs and other expenses. Subscribers were assessed to pay a second time, a work that always has a tendency to injure the popularity ot any joint stock company. Meanwhile the roads became worthless and were abandoned: toll-gates broke down, and the supervisors of common highways removed the plank bv putting them on piles and burning them up. The stockholders lost every dollar they invested; never reali/ed anything, and thus ended another wild, impracticable, foolish experiment.

For many years past, some ot our citi/ens agitated the propriety of building pikes in Seneca county. The great inexhaustible quantity of stone in the ( ounty suitable tor that purpose, the bad condition of the roads every winter and spring, together with the landed wealth and general enterprise ol our citi/ens. seemed to warrant such a measure as wise and necessary. During the past winter ( iSj^-.So), meetings were held in several town-hips, and in Tiffin, in which the subject was discussed, and finally the county commissioners were prevailed upon to pnbli-h a notice in the Tiftin paper-, calling upon the voters at the n Dii '!.>- I",;--1 Monday in April. iS.'-'c. to vole on the subject, yes I ' : i:: ! - ' -: :' \ ot the votes cast had been in favor of pikes, tlie cominis- have commenced the work under the law. The measure should he deleated, and so largo a portion oj our pooplo '.oted against pikes. Mittice it to sa\. that when the \uto- were < «>u:ited. it was toiind that only 1.57* voted tor pike-,, while ;,i>" votes were < a-: against the proposition. I; is to he regretted, that an improvement so highly needed in our lounty. should find so tew :r;ends. 1 ;ftm alone gave a majority in favor, some 500. All other ele« t;on precincts in the i ounty gave large majorities against the measure. In 11;^' >pr::iL'. a township that needs -ood roads as li.uiiy a- an\ other locality in the county. ;n a \ote ot s-i. there \sa- only one \ oto in tas.it- ,,! pikes.

A'iiout 1X41;. the first line of telegraph was i onstru> ted through T lin. along the Mad Ri\'or and I ake I'.rie now ('. S. \ ('., R.uiroad. A joke in i onneotion with this enterprise i> almost too good to he lost. Mr. < 'Inustopher Snyder, the men hant. was a good d.eal oi a wag. and whenever he had a chance to get a "rig" on anvone, would spare neither triend n« >r l< ie.

full desrription of the tiling. Linally Snyder told him that travel by -^teamer around (.'ape I lorn was very expensive and dangerous, and to .'.void both, this plan had been adopted: that when the work was com pleted clear to San l-'rancisco an iron saddle would be placed across -.lie wires to hold the traveler and his baggage, and when all was ready 'he thinu would be touched oil behind him. and that would send him 'cross the country to San I-'rancisco, where he would be received on a ->ile of straw, and trom whence he could go to the mines when lie was .x-ady.

All this seemed very reasonable to Ries. but he said we lived in a most wonderful age, when improvements were made in all department* >>f life: and finishing dressing Snyder's hair, he went away. lie was gone about an hour, when he returned very much excited, and setting his tin cup on the counter with such violence that the water llew in all directions, and shaking his list at Snyder. threatened that he would never again believe anything he said: that people down street had laughed at him when he told them oi the new way of ^oing to California, etc. Snyder said that Joe Ranker had told him the same story, and he did not know any better himself, etc.: but Ries went awav in a verv nervous, an^'rv mood.

Amonur the early pioneers in Fort Hail was also Andrew Love, who lived on the bluff on the McOitchenville road, where the fixer conies up eh >se to the road.

Another pioneer, on the Tittm side, was Alexander Mason. He buih and opened the "LaL:le llotei." on the corner ol \\a-hington ami 1'errv streets. It wa> a t\\o story brick budding, and received a third -lory when Mr. R. \V. Shanlian became the owner, who lilted up and enlarged the hotel, when it was christened the --Shawhan House." I. \\ . Patterson, proprietor. Mason kept there in 1X^4 anil 1^5: Patterson opened tin: Shauhan House in iS;o. The hotel has retained its name ever since, under several proprietors, among whom 1'. 1'. Myers, who really built Mp the reputation of the house and kept it the longest, was -.he nio^t popular.

There were but few children among the early settlers in Titlm, and ve! to secure a site and build a school house was one of the first public i ares ami enlisted the support of everybody. Application was made to Mr. Hedges for a lot to build a school house upon, and on the first dav of Lebruarv. iSjS. Mr. Hedges executed a deed to (/eorge I)on take much pains to instruct me in English grammar and pronouncing words correctly in reading the history of the United States, he took the other half of my time to receive instructions in mathematics and in the geography of Kurope. Thus my thirty days passed away and I became a graduate of Mr. Crockett's first school in Tiffin. This constituted the sum total of my schooling in America, and it was not long after, that the school examiners of Tiffin, Joshua Seney, Oliver Cowdry and Frederick Singer, gave me a certificate of qualification to teach school, when 1 became one of the first teachers in the two-story brick, still standing on the same lot, now occupied for a shop.

The little old. one-story school house was torn away in about 1844 and the two-story brick put up a little further from the street, with four rooms.

Here all the schools in Tiffin were accommodated until the young city organized under the union school system and preparations were made to build the beautiful school house on South Monroe street, now known as the high school building.

Simultaneously with the organization of the city of Tiffin, the question of inaugurating the union school system under the law. agitated the minds of some of our people also. Opinions as to its propriety differed very widely. The proud position that Ohio occupies in her educational department, when she taxes her wealth to educate her youth - in other words - when she makes the owners of property pay taxes to educate the children of those who do not pay taxes for want of property - was not appreciated by all our citi/ens. The friends of the measure were the taxpayers, the wealthy men of the city, one of the most active of whom was Mr. R. \V. Shawan, who had no child to educate and paid the largest amount of taxes of any man in the county. To his honor be it said - the success of the measure depended largely on the part he took in its favor. Remarkable as it may seem, the enemies of the proposition were the poorer classes, who generally have the most children to educate. Nineteen of these, who worked hard, electioneering for votes against the measure all day, were the heads of families averaging five children to each, and whose taxes on the duplicate added together tor all purposes did not reach the sum ot thirty dollars.

The vote wa> taken in September, 1850. and a handsome majority >ecured in it-, favor. In October following, at the election lor member-, of the x hool board, the following were elected, vi/.:

On the 22(1 day of November. 1855, at a public meeting, the board was authori/ed to borrow a sum of money not to exceed the sum of S6.000. to be used in tlie building of the new school house, and interest not to exceed ten per cent.

( )n the loth of lime. 1X^6. the board, passed a resolution to lay the corner-stone oi the new school house with appropriate ceremonies, and to invite the Rev. I.. Andrew to <leli\er the address.

( Mi the 20th of lanuary. 1X57, another public meeting, held at the mayor's office, resolved to instruct the school board to proceed and finish the new school building, and to levy additional taxes on all the taxable property in Tiffin, for that purpose, as follows :

For the year 1X^7. one and one-half mills additional: lor the year 1858,0110 and one-half mills additional: for the year 1X51,. one and one-half mills additional: for the year 1X60. three and seven-tenths mills on the dollar: for the year iX'n. three and seven-tenths mills on the dollar: for the year 1X62. three and six-tenths mills on the dollar: tor the year 1X63. three and seven-tenths mills on the dollar, and to borrow another sum of money for that purpose, not exceeding SX.ooo; t< » issue bonds, etc.

Mv a special vote of the citi/ens. lanuary 30. 1X71. the board was authori/.ed to build t\vo additional school houses; one in the first ward

In iXyS the board built th.e large school hou-e in the i no\\ - tliird -,\ard. in Fi-dibaugh's addition, at a cost, including site, of S^.Xoc mak ing a total of about S 72.000 invested in school houses and lots

There are at this time about 2.700 youths in Tiilin entiiled to public : n- tract ion. 'I he school iund tor the \'ear 1X7(1 was S i <). * i 5 . ^ |.

came to Tiffin and entered into partnership \vitli l)r. H. K. Hershiser,. in the well known corner drug store on Market and Washington. At the close ot the first year he bought his partner's interest, and has remained in successful business there ever since. Kversince his location here Dr. Hubbard has taken a very lively interest in every measure calculated to promote the growth and welfare of Tiffin, his adopted city, especially in her educational interests. He has been twice elected a member of the school board: first in 1877. and again in 1880, and has been president of the board since 1878. He was married to Miss Helen M., daughter of Judge Sawyer, of Nashua, New Hampshire, on the 27th day of August, 1873, an<^ Clara S. and Sheldon I>. Hubbard help to make the household lively.

was born in Somerset county. Pennsylvania, on the 2oth of October, 1836, the oldest son of Jonathan and Margaret Knepper. He graduated from Heidelberg college in the class of 1862, and from the seminary in Mercersburg. Pennsylvania, in 1864. He was superintendent of the schools of Waterloo, Iowa, and of Waverly, in the same state. On the 24th day of lime, 1868, he was married to S. (irace Dunnell, daughter of David Dunnell, of Massachusetts, the bride then living in Waterloo. This union was blessed with three children, one son and two daughters. In 1871 he was elected professor of the Alumni of Heidelberg and took charge of his position in 1872. In the spring of 1879 he was elected a member of the school board of Tiffin.

was born in the citv of I'.otin. on the Rhine, on the loth dav of November. 1831. He attended the academy and university at !>onn. and before lie had time to graduate he left his native city and country: he came to America and settled in Sandusky ('ity in the spring ot i,S;i. Mr. I'.rohl had also applied himself to the mercantile business while he lived in his native city, and when he removed trom Sandusky ("ity to Tittin in i8;s he entered into copartnership with 1,. T. Abbott in the business of wholesale grocers. He continued in this linn until in 1857 he entered into partnership with Robert ('rum in Tiffin in the sale of groceries and liquors. The business wa- conducted by this limi until y -»u; . when M r. 1 In - --.-.: ul ly ever sim ( 'at harine Kraut/.