Whetstone Township (part 4 of 5)

"From the good manners of the family, and from the good husbandry and respectable carriage of the father, I hoped to find a regard for religion here. I turned to the rack of the bar and found there three books; they were the Gazetteer of Ohio, Popular Geography and the Bible ; they all denoted intelligence ; the last one the most used.

"Things now began to mend with me ; daylight had come; the atmosphere was getting warm and bland. I had the benefit of a good breakfast; the road was in some measure improved; it was possible to look abroad, and everything was inviting attention. We were now passing over what is called the Grand Prairie, and the prairies of the western country are conspicuous among its phenomena. The first impression did not please me so much as I expected. It rather interests by its singularity than otherwise. If there be any other source of interest it may be found in its expansion over a wide region.

"Land here is worth about two dollars and a half per acre ; and you may get a piece of five acres, cleared, and a good eight-railed fence around it for fifty dollars.

"Most of the recent settlers along this road seem to be Germans. We passed a little settlement of eight families who had arrived this season. The log-house is the only description of house in these new and scattered settlements. I passed one occupied by a doctor of medicine, and another tenanted by two bachelors, one of them being a judge.

"The most interesting sight to me was the forest. It now appeared in all its pristine state and grandeur, tall, magnificent, boundless. _ I had been somewhat disappointed in not finding vegetation develop itself in larger form in New

England than with us ; but there was no place for disappointment here. I shall fail, however, to give you the impression it makes on one. Did it arise from height, from figure, or grouping, it might readily be conveyed to you ; but it arises chiefly from combination. You must see it in all the stages of growth, decay, dissolution and regeneration; you must see it pressing on you and overshadowing you by its silent forms, and at other times spreading itself before you like a natural park; you must see that all the clearances made by the human hand bear no higher relations to it than does a mountain to the globe; you must travel in it in solitariness, hour after hour, and day after day, frequently gazing on it with solemn delight, and occasionally casting the eye round in search of some pause, some end, without finding any, before you can fully understand the impression. Men say there is nothing in America to give you the sense of antiquity, and they mean that, as there are no works of art to produce this effect, there can be nothing else. You cannot think that I would depreciate what they mean to extol; but I hope you will sympathize with me when I say that I have met with nothing among the most venerable forms of art which impresses you so thoroughly with the idea of infinite distance and countless continuity of antiquity shrouded in all its mystery of solitude, illimitable and eternal.

"The clearances, too, which appeared on this road were on so small a scale as to strengthen this impression, and to convey a distinct impression of their own. On them the vast trees of the forest had been girdled to prevent the foliage from appearing to overshadow the ground ; and the land at their feet was grubbed and sown with corn ; which was expanding on the surface in all its luxuriance. The stems of the Indian corn were strangely contrasted with the large trunks of the pine and oak, and the verdant surface below was as strangely opposed to the skeleton trees towering above, spreading out their leafless arms to the warm sun and the refreshing rains, and doing it in vain. Life and desolation were never brought closer together.

the dining-place. My very early breakfast, and my violent exercise, had not indisposed me for dinner. The dinner was a very poor affair. The chief dish was ham fried in butter - originally lard, and the harder for frying. I tried to get my teeth through it, and failed. There remained bread, cheese, and cranberries, and of these I made my repast. While here, a German woman, one of the recent settlers, passed by on her way home. Her husband had taken the fever and died. She had come to buy a coffin for him, and other articles of domestic use at the same time. She was now walking home beside the man who bore the coffin, and with her other purchases under her arm. This was a sad specimen either of German phlegm or of the hardening effect of poverty.

"We now took in three passengers, who were going on to Marion. One was a colonel, though in mind, manners and appearance among the plainest of men; another was a lawyer and magistrate; the third was a considerable farmer.

"All of them, by their station and avocation, ought to have been gentlemen; but if just terms are to be applied to them, they must be the opposite of this. To me they were always civil; but among themselves they were evidently accustomed to blasphemous and corrupt conversation. The colonel, who had admitted himself to be a Methodist, was the best, and sought to impose restraints on himself and companions ; but he gained very little credit for them. I was grieved and disappointed, for I had met with nothing so bad. What I had witnessed at Sandusky was from a different and lower class of persons ; but here were the first three men in respectable life with whom I had met in this State ; and these put promiscuously before me - and all bad. It was necessary to guard against a hasty and prejudiced conclusion.

"On reaching Marion I was released from my unpleasant companions. I had to travel through most of the night; but no refreshments were provided. I joined in a meal that was nearly closed by another party, and prepared to go forward at the call of the driver. I soon found I was to be in different circumstances. We were nine persons and a child, within. Of course, after being tossed about in an empty coach all day, like a boat on the ocean, I was not unwilling to have the prospect of sitting steadily in my corner; but when I got fairly pinned inside, knees and feet, the hard seat and the harder ribs of the coach began to search out my bruises, and I was still a sufferer. However, there were now some qualifying considerations. The road was improving, and with it the scenery. I had come for fifty miles over a dead flat, with only one inclination, and that not greater than the pitch of Ludgate Hill ; the land was now finely undulated. My company, too, though there was something too much of it, was not objectionable; some of it was pleasing.

"There were among them the lady of a judge and her daughter. The mother was affable and fond of conversation. She was glad we had such agreeable society in the stage, as "that did not always happen." She talked freely on many subjects, and sometimes as became a judge's lady of refinement and education ; but she did it in broken grammar, and in happy ignorance that it was broken. As the night shut in, she, without the least embarrassment, struck up and sang off, very fairly, 'Home, Sweet Home.' This was all unasked, and before strangers ; yet none were surprised but myself. I name this merely as a point of manners. The lady herself was unquestionably modest, and, as I think, pious.

"At nearly one o'clock we arrived at Delaware. Here I was promised a night's rest. You shall judge whether that promise was kept or broken. There was no refreshment of any kind prepared or offered, so we demanded our lights to retire. The judge's lady and daughter were shown into a closet called a room. There was no fastening to the door, and she protested that she would not use it. I insisted that it was not proper treatment. All the amendment that could be gained was a proposition 'to fetch a nail, and she could nail herself in, and be snug enough.'

"I was shown into a similar closet. There was no dressing accommodations. I required them, and was told that these things were 'in common' below. I refused to use them; and at length, by showing a little firmness and a little kindness obtained soap, bowl and towel. I dressed. By this time it was nearly two o'clock. I was to be called at half past two; and I threw myself on the bed to try to sleep, with the soothing impression that I must awake in half an hour.

"At half past two I was summoned, and having put myself in readiness, and paid for a night's lodging, I was again on my way. The day broke on us pleasantly, and the country was very beautiful. We foirded the Whetstone, a lively river, which ornamented the ride. We passed through Worthington, a smart town, prettily placed, and having a good college, and arrived at Columbus the capital, at nine o'clock.

"The inn at which we stopped is the rendezvous of the stages. Among these there were two ready to start for Cincinnati. On seeking to engage my place the inquiry was, 'Which will you go by. Sir, the fast or the slow line ?' Weary as I was of the slow line, I exclaimed, 'Oh the fast line, certainly!' I quickly found myself enclosed in a good coach, carrying the mail, and only six persons inside. In this journey we had but three.

"In demanding to go by the fast line I was not aware of all the effects of my choice. It is certainly a delightful thing to move with some rapidity over a good road ; but on a bad road, with stubborn springs, it is really terrible. For miles out of Columbus the road is shamefully bad; and as our horses were kept on a trot, however slow, I was not only tumbled and shaken as on the previous day, but so jarred and jolted as to threaten serious mischief. Instead, therefore, of finding a lounge, or sleep, as I had hoped, in this comfortable coach, I was obliged to be on the alert for every jerk. And after all I could do, my teeth were jarred, my hat was many times thrown from my head, and all my bruises bruised over again. It was really an amusement to see us laboring to keep oar places.

"About noon we paused at the town called J efferson. We were to wait half an hour ; there would be no other chance of dinner ; but there were no signs of dinner here. However, I had been on very short supplies for the last twentyfour hours, and considered it my duty to eat if I could. I applied to the good woman of the inn, and in a very short time she placed venison, fruit-tarts and tea before me, all very clean and the venison excellent. It was a refreshing repast, and the demand on my purse was only twenty-five cents. 'How long have you been here ?' I said to my hostess, who stood by me fanning the dishes to keep off the flies. 'Only came last fall, Sir.' 'How old is this town?' 'Twenty-three months. Sir ; then the first house was built.'

"There are now about five hundred persons settled here, and there are three good hotels. There is something very striking in these rapid movepients of life and civilization in the heart of the forest.

"On leaving Jefferson we again plunged into the forest, and toward evening we got on the greensward, or natural road. This was mostly good and uncut and we bowled along in serpentine lines, so as to clear the stumps with much freedom. The scenery now, even for the forest, was becoming unusually grand. I passed in this day's ride the Yellow Springs and Springfield. The former is a watering place. There is a fine spring of chalybeate, and an establishment capable of receiving from 150 to 200 visitors. Springfield is a flourishing town, built among the handsome hills that abound in this vicinity. It is one of the cleanest, brightest and most inviting that I have seen. But all the inhabitants were as nothing compared with the forest. I had been traveling through it for two days and nights, and still it was the same. Now you came to a woodman's hut in the solitude ; now to a farm ; and now to a village, by courtesy called a town or a city; but it was still the forest. You drove on for miles through it unbroken; then you came to a small clearance and a young settlement; and then again you plunged into the wide, everlasting forest to be with nature and with God. This night I had also to travel, and, weary as I was, I was kept quite on the alert.

"The early morning found me still traveling and getting seriously unwell. I thought I must have remained in Lebanon, a town about twenty miles from Cincinnati, to sicken and suffer without a friend ; and then all the loneliness of my situation came over me. The stage halted here an hour; this allowed me some time to recover and I resolved, if it were possible, to go forward to what I might regard as a resting place.

"Happily, everything was now improving. The road was not unworthy of MacAdam, and we bowled over it at the rate of nine miles an hour. The country was covered with hills, finely wooded, and all about them were spread farms, in a handsome and thriving state of cultivation. Many ornamental cottages now appeared, and the white suburbs put on a cheerful and beautiful aspect. At last we drove into the Western metropolis. I had traveled three days and three nights, and was so wearied, bruised and hurt that I could not, with comfort, sit, lie or walk. The remainder of the day I spent in my chamber."

From Sandusky to Cincinnati, three days and three nights through the forests and fording the streams, over the worst of roads and traveling first-class at that. Today he could make the same trip, never deviating more than a few miles from exactly the same route, in a palatial car, with "soap, and bowl and towel," and tasty, well served meals on the train, and reach his journey's end rested and refreshed, at less than half the price he paid for his discomforts and inconveniences, and if he were to start from Sandusky at two in the morning he would reach Cincinnati in time to transact his business and return home in the evening. Or he could take exactly the same route in an automobile today, go over exactly the same road the entire distance to Cincinnati, and every foot of that road macadamized ; pass farming lands on every hand in the highest state of cultivation; through thriving villages and towns and cities, each a hive of busy industry, and in the entire distance not a log hut to be seen, not a stream to be forded, and of the forests he so much admired not one spared in the remorseless march of civilization.

Times, indeed, have changed, for the route he took marked an era of progress in those days, as witness the following from the Ohio State Journal of June 28, 1827: "From the encouragement offered, the tri-weekly line of stages through this place, between the city of Cincinnati and Sandusky, on Lake Erie, has been changed by its enterprising proprietors into a daily line. This offers an important advantage to travelers between these places, who may pursue their journey without the delay in most cases of a single hour. The fare has

This Sandusky Pike was a very good road - in the summer and fall and in dry weather, as all well traveled dirt and clay roads are. And the road was well traveled from the start; on busy days as many as fifty teams being in sight at one time, those from the south taking their grain and other farm products to the Sandusky market, and also large droves of cattle and other stock passing over the road on their way to the Lake. The teams returning brought the goods needed by the people, which had reached Sandusky by water from the eastern market over the newly-completed Erie Canal. The easier access to a market at Sandusky gave the farmers a better price for their produce and equally the goods they purchased were reduced in cost owing to the cheaper expense and better means of transportation. In all the little villages and every few miles along the road were taverns, where accommodation, more or less good, was furnished to the traveler, and these places were crowded. Many a farmer made extra and needed cash by furnishing accommodation to the traveler or drover who passed over the road. Along the road at night could be seen the camp-fires of those drovers who carried their cooking utensils with them, prepared their own meals and slept in the open air. Notwithstanding the traffic and the heavy toll charges, for some reason the road was not a profitable investment, and the stockholders never received any dividends; neither were there sufficient funds to make the road bed what it should have been, and what the charter called for. As a result, from Bucyrus to Delaware, a large amount of the travel and even the stages, went by Marion, and although the distance was four miles further, the road was better and they escaped the excessive toll. In the spring of the year so bad was this toll road that four horses were necessary to pull a wagon with the lightest of loads. And many a disgusted traveler, struggling through the mire and mud found himself stalled and compelled to seek help from some neighboring farmer to pull him to higher and dryer ground, and after paying for this assistance proceed a few miles further and be held up for toll charges for the privilege of passing over this route. There were similar roads to this all over northwestern Ohio, some so bad that rights to mud holes were recognized, and many an enterprising farmer found a handsome addition to his income in furnishing aid and assistance to the unfortunate traveler stalled by the bad roads. One young man had started with a wagon drawn by a team of mules, and with $ioo in cash contemplated buying land in the new country. Before he reached his destination he had been compelled to use all his capital in paying for assistance to get him over the worst places. He was not discouraged, however, and was something of a philosopher, so he went into camp at his last mud hole and by the relief of other travelers in distress soon had his hundred dollars back.*

It was in these days that profanity reached its highest range, and many indignantly refused to pay, and there were cases where the angry driver in passing managed to get a hitch on the toll-gate, and drag it a mile or two down the road. The court records of those days show many cases against travelers for "malicious destruction of property," the property being these toll-gates, and as the jury were men who knew these roads and had suffered, but were at the same time conscientious, they always brought in verdicts for the company, fixing the damages, however, at one cent, which followed the law and expressed their opinion at the same time. The turnpike company legally continued to make their charges, and when possible collected them, and the people finally demanded the abrogation of the charter on the ground of non-compliance with its provisions. Proceedings dragged their way through the legislature and through the courts, with "nothing doing," until one night the people along the line from Columbus north for thirty miles made a raid on the toll-gates and morning found every one of them destroyed. This act brought the matter so forcibly before the legislature that at their next session in 1843 the act creating the company was repealed. The company asked a hearing and asked reimbursement, and for ten years in one form or another the matter was before the legislature, until in 1856 it came up for the last time, when the Senate passed a bill authorizing the company to bring suit against the * "The Sandusky River." - Lucy Elliot Keeler.

State, but the bill failed to pass the House, and from that time to the present the discouraged owners seem to have dropped the matter. Which means that the heirs of the original stockholders in this and other counties along the line have still something coming from the State of Ohio.

Besides this road, in the early days another stage line ran through this county from Columbus to the Lake; it was authorized by the legislature in 1820, and was known as the Columbus and Portland road. It entered the present Crawford in the southeastern part of the county, from Mt. Gilead (then in Marion county) passed north, just west of Gallon, through where now stands Middletown, Leesville and West Liberty, following the route of the first road cut through the woods by the pioneers. Col. Kilbourne was also the surveyor for this road, and when he reached where Gallon now is it was his desire to have the road pass over the high ground where the public square is now located. He made overtures to Leveridge who owned the land to have the road pass here and the two would lay out a town, but Leveridge objected to having his nice farm spoiled by cutting it up into town lots, so when the road was located it was in what is now the western part of Galion, crossing the road from Mansfield to Bucyrus just east of the Whetstone, and at the junction a few houses were soon located, with a blacksmith shop and a tavern and later a store and post office, and when the present city of Galion was laid out some ten years later, the owner of the new village with its two or three houses looked west half a mile to the "Crossing" where at times as many as fifty teams were stationed, stopping on their journey over one or the other of the roads. The Portland road fell off in business after the western route to Sandusky was established through Bucyrus, but the Mansfield road continued to be a stage line until driven out of business by the railroads, and the little town of Galion became the central point and the cluster of houses at the crossing were abandoned.

Other stage lines in the early days prior to railroads were from Bucyrus to Bellefontaine, and on to Indianapolis; from Bucyrus to Mt. Vernon; from Bucyrus to Tifiiin and on to Perrysburg. The condition of this latter road was such in the spring of the year that it could have been better utihzed by steamboats than by stages ; it was mostly under water during the entire spring season. This was also true of many of the early coach roads in this county. The roads south of Bucyrus were through water for miles. There were no fences, and the driver frequently found better ground by leaving the road and picking his way along the higher spots across the plains.

There was no difficulty in laying out roads in those days. All the road makers had to do was to avoid the worst swamps, and the largest trees, and find the easiest crossings of the smaller streams. The first road the pioneer had was only a path which he made through the woods to his nearest neighbors, blazing the trees so his family would not miss the way in making neighborly visits a mile or two away. When it came to a road to secure an outlet to market, there were no county commissioners to petition; no thirty days' notice was necessary; besides there was no one to object to the road; they appointed no viewers and had no surveyor; one or two expert woodsmen started out on a clear day, when they could be guided by the sun and take their course in the intended direction, keeping on the highest and dryest ground and winding in and out to avoid the larger trees and all obstructions, cutting down the underbrush as they passed, and a road was ready for passage on foot or on horseback. Later the pioneers at their leisure cut down the small trees in the roadway, removed the fallen logs and other obstructions, and the road, such as it was, was completed. Neither was it expensive to lay out a state road. When Col. Kilbourne was a member of the Legislature he introduced a bill to pay himself and others for the laying out of the first state road in Crawford county, the old Portland road, through Polk, Jefferson, Vernon and Auburn townships. The section of the bill showing the cost is as follows :

"Section 12. - That there shall be paid to Luther Coe and James Kilbourne from the fund aforesaid for their services as road commissioners and the services of the surveyor and other assistants by them employed in laying out and establishing a state road from Worthington in Franklin county, by the salt reserve section in the county of Delaware, to New Haven, in Huron county, the following sums, viz. : For that part of said road which is in the county of Marion, to be charged to said Marion in the next general appropriation of said fund, sixty-three dollars; for that part of said road which is in Crawford county, to be charged to said Crawford as aforesaid, five dollars; and for that part of said road which is in said Huron county, twelve dollars, to be charged to said county in the next general appropriation of said fund ; making in all the sum of $80 chargeable to the said three counties. The part of said road which is in the said counties of Franklin and Delaware having been heretofore paid for ; and the remaining part thereof, which is in Richland county, amounting to $76.50, not having been paid or provided for by this act; but the same is left for future settlement."

This road was about twenty-one miles in Richland county, the same in Marion, and only two miles in Crawford. When Crawford was given four miles from Richland county in 1845, twenty-five years after the road was built, it was the territory through which this road passed.

The first attempt at improved roads in the county was made as early as 1852, when in January of that year, the citizens of Oceola met, and decided to organize a company to build a plank road from Tiffin to Oceola, R. G. Perry, John Bair and Lewis Tannehill being the committee appointed to receive and confer with other towns. Tiffin was the objective point, it being the nearest large town on a railroad, and an outlet was wanted for the products, which were then grain, pot and pearl ashes, lumber, staves, etc.

Later in the year Oceola endeavored to secure the Ohio and Indiana road, but the cost of construction was so much heavier, that it went to the south of them. But as Bucyrus was certain to secure the road, the matter of a plank road was taken up with the Bucyrus people.

A meeting was called for Bucyrus on December 18, 1852. It was held at the courthouse, and Zalmon Rowse was chairman and D. W. Swigart, secretary. It was decided to incorporate as the Oceola and Bucyrus Plank Road Company, with a capital stock of $12,000. The second meeting was at the office of Franklin Adams, and books for subscription opened. Rodney Pool, Seneca Leonard, Lewis Tannehill and Samuel Osborn having charge of the subscriptions at Oceola, and Zalmon Rowse, C. Fulton, John Sirns and P. S. Marshall at Bucyrus. Rodney Pool, Samuel Osborn and John Sims were committee to secure the right of way.

ported 115 shares sold at $50 per share, amounting to $5,750. Bucyrus had taken 71 shares, Bucyrus to Oceola 26 shares, and Oceola 18 shares. The directors elected were Zalmon Rowse, John Sims, P. S. Marshall and D. W. Swigart of Bucyrus, and Lewis Tannehill, Samuel Osborn and Rodney Pool of Oceola. Votes were also cast for Franklin Adams, Henry Converse, Benjamin Sears, George Quinby and Willis Merriman. Zalmon Rowse was elected president, D. W. Swigart, secretary, and John Sims, treasurer.

On January 6, 1854, the contract was let for building the road, G. W. J. Willoughby and R. G. and A. H. Perry having the contract for the western three miles and Samuel Osborn for the eastern half near Bucyrus. At the annual meeting the new directors were John Sims, president, D. W. Swigart, secretary, Rodney Pool, superintendent; P. S. Marshall, W^illiam \Y. Miller, Samuel Osborn and Joseph Ream. The road was completted during the year and the first six miles of improved road in Crawford county in operation. Toll gates were erected west of Bucyrus and east of Oceola. At the start the road was good at all seasons of the year and occasional repairs were made on it to keep it in condition, but each season found the plank in worse and worse condition. It was not a profitable investment financially, as in 1864, the report showed the road was "about out of debt," and on the strength of the favorable report they ordered 50,000 feet to repair the worst places. After this, no attempt \\ as made to keep up the road, and it was finally abandoned in July, 1866.

Time passed, and in neighboring counties, pike roads had been built, but the people of Crawford still continued in the spring of each year to haul their loads, sometimes up to the axle, with many a stalled team and many a broken trace that failed to stand the strain. The rich soil of Crawford made the roads worse than in the usual run of counties.

After twenty years most of the roads in spring were as impassible as in the days when the plodding oxen dragged the early pioneer wagon over the roadless virgin soil, and this was the condition of road, where every acre of land was under a high state of cultivation and each year yielding a bounteous harvest.

In 1886 a proposition was submitted to the voters of the county by the commissioners, by which the entire county should be piked by a general tax. It was submitted at the spring of the year, when hardly a road was navigable, and was one of the most singular elections, and the most bitter that ever occurred in the county. Friends of a lifetime became bitter enemies; newspapers and business men advocating the proposition were boycotted; enmities were created that were years in healing. Many humorous e\'ents occurred. A fanner stalled in Holmes township, asked assistance of a neighbor. "Are you in favor of pike sight," was the reply. "Then get out the best way you can," and he was left stalled until a friendly anti-piker lent him the assistance he needed. The election came off with the following result:

The tax duplicate of 1887, under which the first levy would have been made, showed the townships had a total valuation of $11,854,500, and the three cities of Bucyrus, Crestline and Gallon of $5,865,200, so the singular resulf was obtained of the townships voting down a proposition by which one-third of the cost would have been paid for by the cities.

The question was certainly misunderstood, or regarded with suspicion, as two years later bills were introduced in the legislature authorizing certain townships to build pikes, the cost to be assessed on the townships. Cranberry, Jefferson and Polk were the first to build pikes.

and in 1890 their usefulness and necessity for pike, building was so apparent that the people were as unanimous for pikes as they had been against them. The financial depression of 1893 put a stop to the work, but after better times came, pikes were again taken up and their building was only limited to the amount of tax the various townships would stand for road purposes.

It was not only the country that had the bad roads, but city streets were frequently impassible, for in the spring of 1893, the hearse of a funeral procession was stalled on Center street, sinking hub deep in the mire, and the pall bearers were compelled to take the casket, in which was the little child, and carry it to the cemetery. It was the finishing stroke and that year Center street was paved.

In 1898 the three townships of Bucyrus, Holmes and Whetstone entered into a joint ajrangement for the piking of roads. Other townships were doing it singly and in the past twenty years over 300 miles of improved roads have been constructed, distributed among the various townships as follows :

In 1830 a number of the citizens of Crawford, Seneca, Huron, Delaware, Logan, Clark and Champaign counties presented a petition to the legislature for a charter to build a railroad from Sandusky to Dayton, with a branch to Columbus. The committee to whom it was referred reported it back without any recommendation. The road contemplated horses as the motive power, and the cost was estimated at $4,842 per mile, including the bar or strap iron for the .track. It was this road that was built in 1840 to 1845, the Mad River and Lake Erie, the first road built in the state, and it passed through the Wyandot portion of Crawford county.

Jan. 5, 1832, the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. (Built in 1840-45.) Among those petitioning for the charter were E. B. Merriman and John Cary of Crawford.

Feb. 3, 1832, the Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad Company from Pittsburg to Massillon. (Twenty years later this road was completed to Crestline.)

Feb. 8, 1832, the Delaware, Marion and Sandusky Railroad, from Columbus, through Delaware, Marion and Bucyrus to Sandusky. Among the incorporators were E. B. Merriman, Zalmon Rowse, John Cary, Joseph Chaffee, Joseph McCutchen and Henry St. John of Crawford. (Sixty years passed before this road was built by the children and grandchildren of the early pioneers.)

Feb. II, 1832, the Milan and Columbus road, from Milan to New Haven past Gallon to Mt. Gilead and on to Columbus, the old Portland stage route. E. B. Merriman was one of the incorporators. (This road was partially built, as later the C. C. & C. was chartered, following the route from Columbus to Gallon, and then going northeast to reach the lake at Cleveland instead of Sandusky.)

These roads were undoubtedly to be operated by horse power, as the charters provided for the erection of toll houses, and people were to be permitted to go over the road with proper and suitable carriages of their own.

In 1836 a charter was granted to the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, and in 1837 to the Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania Railroad. Feb. 8, 1847, the charter of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati was amended so as to allow it to construct branches. At the same session a law was passed allowing counties and towns to subscribe for the stock of a railroad company providing the people voted favorably on the proposition.

Feb, 24, 1848, the Ohio and Pennsylvania was incorporated and on the same date the Bellefontaine and Indiana, and on March 20, 1850, the Ohio and Indiana was incorporated.

A charter was also granted at this time for a road from Bucyrus to Toledo, but nothing was done with it. A generation later it was built as the Atlantic and Lake Erie, now the Toledo and Ohio Central, owned by the Lake Shore Company.

It was nearly twenty years from the time the first charters were granted until, with one or two exceptions, work resulted in the building of railroads. Crawford county citizens had taken an active part in the promotion of the various railroad projects, but it was the Ohio and Indiana road which was strictly a Crawford county organization, in fact, promoted, built, and put in operation by Crawford county citizens, especially those of Bucyrus. The incorporators of the road in 1850 were John Anderson, George Lauck, Willis Merriman, Robert Lee, John Frantz, Josiah S. Plants, John J. Bowman, George Quinby, John Simms, John A. Gormley, Z. Rowse, Aaron Carey and C. Widman of Crawford county, and D. Ayres, R. McKelley and H. Peters of Wyandot.

At this time the Mad River road was in operation from Sandusky to Cincinnati, through Wyandot county, and a road through Richland county from Sandusky through Mansfield to Mt. Vernon and Newark. Between these two the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati was nearing completion, through eastern Crawford. When the charter of the last named road was originally granted the Bucyrus incorporators were strongly favorable to its going through Bucyrus, but the people at that time, not knowing the value of railroads, offered no special inducements, and put forth a very feeble effort to secure the road. A proposition was submitted to the voters of Crawford county at the spring election of 1846 to empower the commissioners to subscribe for $50,000 stock in the road but it was voted down: Yes, 361, No, 1,507; majority against, 1,146. Galion voted to take $15,000 stock in the new road and it was located through that town. Work was commenced immediately and it was pushed rapidly, as in April, 1850, the stockholders were called upon to pay $10 per share on their ninth assessment. In May of 1850, Alfred Kelly, the president of the road, announced that he had just succeeded in purchasing, in

England, 5,000 tons of rails for the new road. It was later in this year that cars were running to Galion. The opening of the road was on Feb. 21, 1 85 1, and on that day by invitation of President Kelly, the Ohio legislature and other prominent people were the guests of the road on the first regular train from Columbus to Cleveland, the first railroad train in Crawford county.

Soon after this, death reaped his first recorded harvest in this county from this new method of locomotion. It is thus mentioned in the "Crawford County Forum" of April 4 185 1 :

Man Killed - On the 26th ult., the cars on the Cleveland and Columbus Railroad ran over a man who was lymg on the track, severing his head from his body. The man was recognized (we did not learn his name), and subject to fits, and is supposed to have fallen on the track. The engineer, as soon as he saw him, reversed the engine, but it was too late to save him. The accident happened near Galion.

As early as April, 1851, the road was running three passenger trains each way per day, one a fast train called the "Empire State or Buckeye State Express."

The citizens of Galion early appreciated the value of railroads, for on May 24, 1850, the citizens of Polk township decided by a large majority to take $10,000 in stock in the Bellefontaine and Indiana Railroad, to run from Crestline to Indianapolis. The Bellefontaine and Indiana was 118 miles long, starting from the main road of the C. C. & C. at Crestline, and running southwest to the Indiana line. In 1852, the company issued a prospectus of the contemplated road, which is interesting as showing the cost of road building in those days and also the prospective business. From this prospectus the following facts are taken :

The abo\e shows that in those days it was not customary or e\'en contemplated to run trains on Sunday. The Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark road was completed as far as Mansfield as early as 1846, and John Hoover of Mansfield, who was one of the early conductors on that road, states that in the long ago something had gone wrong with the engine a few miles north of Shelby. By the time the engineer had his engine in running order again night was upon them and they sought lodgings for the night at a farm house near by. A passenger suggested that if they had a big lantern a man might carry it ahead and the train follow him to Shelby. This was looked upon as absurd and the man who suggested it viewed with pity, if not with contempt, for who ever heard of a train of cars running after night ! *

It was on Feb. 24, 1848, that the charter was granted under which the Ohio and Pennsylvania was built, the old Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago road. In the spring of 1848 a vote was taken in Crawford county, and carried, authorizing the county commissioners to subscribe for $100,000 of stock in the road. The Ohio and Pennsylvania, which was building, found difficulty in raising sufficient funds to complete their road through Ohio to the Indiana line. It was all they could do to handle the eastern half of the state. As a result a number of the business men of Bucyrus secured a charter for the building of the Ohio and Indiana railroad. The Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati road was in operation, and the charter of the Ohio and Indiana called for its building from "a point on the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati road near Seltzer's tavern in Richland county, thence to Bucyrus, to Upper Sandusky, thence by a route to be determined to the Indiana line and to Ft. Wayne."

In March, 1850, Hon. C. K. Ward, the member of the legislature from Crawford, secured the passage of an act allowing the county commissioners of Crawford county, to subscribe the $100,000 voted to the Ohio and Pennsylvania road in 1848, to "any other railroad passing through the town of Bucyrus."

The county commissioners were Peter Conkle, Phares Jackson and Sidney Holt. The records of the Crawford county commissioners of June 7, 1850, show : "This day the county commissioners subscribed for stock in the Ohio and Indiana railroad company to the amount of $100,000, on condition said company shall agree to receive the bonds of said county, bearing interest at the rate of six per centum per annum from date thereof, at par, in payment of said stock subscribed as aforesaid." At the same meeting they authorized a tax to be levied of $650 for railroad purposes.

On Sept. 2, 1850, they issued the first ten bonds of $1,000 each; then legal complications arose and it took many months to compromise the trouble, but eventually the matter was harmonized, and at their November meeting of 1852 the balance of the bonds were issued. J. N. Frye had succeeded Peter Conkle as com- missioner in December of 185 1, but on account of his health attended but few meetings, and when it came to the signing of the bonds he had to sign by proxy as witness the following :

"I hereby authorize and empower A. M. Jackson to sign my name to all railroad bonds that the other commissioners of Crawford County are willing to sign their names to.

Mr. Jackson was county auditor at the time, and while the proxy was not in the legal phraseology of today it said exactly what the writer wanted to say and the bonds were issued, and accepted.

In April, 1850, the books were opened to secure subscriptions for the new road at the business places of George Lauck, John Anderson, Willis Merriman and John J. Bowman in Bucyrus, and Robert Lee and John Frantz in Leesville. On May 4, a meeting was held in the interest of the road. Samuel Myers was chairman and Andrew Failor secretary. The object of the meeting was stated by J. S. Plants and remarks were made by S. R. Harris, Willis Merriman, Samuel Myers and J. S. Plants of Bucyrus, and Robert McKelly and H. Peters of Upper Sandusky. A liberal amount of money was subscribed to the stock of the road, and a resolution passed soliciting the county commissioners to subscribe the $100,000 to the road.

The township trustees decided to submit to a vote the question of Bucyrus township subscribing for $15,000 worth of stock in the new road. The constable, Lewis Stevenson, issued the call for the election, but there was pronounced opposition, and the friends of the road believing it might interfere with their securing the $100,000 already voted, the election was not held

On July 4, 1850, the stockholders of the road met at the courthouse and elected Willis Merriman, George Quinby, Henry Peters, Franklin Adams, Jacob Augustein and Josiah S. Plants as directors, and the next day the board organized by electing Willis Merriman, president, George Lauck, secretary, and John A. Gormly, treasurer. And by July 26, the sur\'eyors were at work locating the route from "at or near Seltzer's tavern" to Bucyrus. Another survey was made, commencing at the C. C. & C. at Gallon and passing through the southern part of Bucyrus, along what is now Lucas street. This was the favorite route of the directors and of the engineer, as the more level ground made the cost of construction much less. President Merriman had several meetings with the Ohio and Pennsylvania ofHcials over the crossing point, the eastern road favoring the crossing point north of Seltzer's on account of cheaper construction, the western road favoring Gabon. In October President Merriman reported that the Ohio and Pennsylvania had decided to make their western terminus at a point on the C. C. & C. road, called Crest Line, three and onehalf miles northeast of Gallon. He stated the Pennsylvania and Ohio would reach Massillon by June, 1851, and Crest Line in two years. That the arrangement was for the Ohio and Indiana to commence their road at a point near Seltzer's tavern. The country west of Mansfield was such that the Pennsylvania and Ohio preferred crossing the C. C. & C. track about two miles northeast of Crestline, but to accommodate the Ohio and Indiana and the Bellefontaine and Indiana the Pennsylvania company reluctantly consented to make the point at Crest Line, providing the Ohio and Indiana road would construct their road to Bucyrus, commencing at Crest Line. And the Belle fontaine and Indiana railway also commence at Crest Line, and the Pennsylvania and Ohio will build no further west. Merriman then adds : "A railroad from Bucyrus to Galion could be constructed cheaper than to Crest Line, but if Gabon is adopted as the eastern terminus, the Ohio and Pennsylvania will cross two miles northeast of Crest Line and later extend west on a line that will parallel the Ohio and Indiana. Crest Line was the southern ultimatum of the Ohio and Pennsylvania, and the Ohio and Indiana must connect at that point."

Then came the trouble in the court. An injunction was secured at Tiffin before Judge Bowen restraining the commissioners from the further issue of bonds, Josiah Scott and J. D. Sears being the attorneys for the commissioners. Commenting on the injunction allowed by Jvidge Bowen, the "Forum" said: "Deep are the murmurings against Judge Bowen for his decision in this case, while in the portion of the county remote from the seat of justice the news will be received with joy."

On Feb. ii, 185 1, President Merriman reported to the directors that the cost of grading and bridging for the Ohio and Indiana road and getting the roadbed ready for the rails was $3,000 per mile.

The opposers of the road were still active and endeavored to have the legislature repeal the act which gave the commissioners power to buy stock in the road, and Representative Ward presented a petition signed by 335 citizens of the county against the repeal. Mr. Ward's influence was such that the Legislature took no action.

In April a motion was heard to dissolve the injunction but it was overruled, and in June the case came before the supreme court, and they announced they would reserve their decision until December, the directors deciding, however, to continue their work on the road. On April 8, 1852, at Bucyrus, the contract was let for the grading of the road from Crest Line to Upper Sandusky, the contracts being let in sections of one mile each, the object being to have the work completed as soon as possible. Of the 29 sections between Crest Line and Upper Sandusky over two-thirds went to Bucyrus parties.

January 2, 1852, Jesse R. Straughan, the engineer in charge of the construction, reported that on the Ohio and Pennsylvania the grading was completed from Pittsburg to one mile east of Wooster. That part from Pittsburg to Alliance, 81 miles, was completed and in use, except nine miles. From Massillon east the iron was being laid and the road would be working about January 25, when track laying will be extended to Wooster, which will take about sixty days. From Wooster to Crestline a force is at work on the heavy sections. The lighter sections are about completed and timber in progress of preparation. By April next the distance of staging on direct route from Bucyrus will be 86 miles, and in twelve months the railroad will be completed to Crestline, and the Ohio and Indiana can be permitted to begin.

The supreme court also this month rendered their decision in the injunction case of James Griffith against the commissioners. It did not meet the point at issue, but made the evasive decision that the supreme court had no jurisdiction while the suit was pending in the common pleas court. The matter was therefore returned to the court of common pleas, and as stated above a satisfactory settlement was made with Griffith and the bonds issued.

The legal point involved in this case was as to the constitutionality of the law allowing a majority to vote public money to a railroad. It was settled later in a case from another county that such a law was constitutional. On this question, in 1852, Judge Spaulding held that "the legislature has no constitutional power to authorize a majority of citizens in a county to vote subscription of stock to a railroad company that shall be binding on the property of the minority." Judge Spaulding was alone in this view, but his minority opinion is the law today, showing "the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner."

During the year 1852 railroad matters at Bucyrus moved along at high pressure. In January the directors held their annual meeting at that village lasting four days, and let the contract to William Mitchell & Co. for the construction of the entire road from Crestline to Fort Wayne, he to furnish everything except the rails and rolling stock, and to commence work between Crestline and Bucyrus as soon as the individual subscriptions amounted to $45,000. The subscriptions at that time were about half that amount. It was also decided people could pay for their stock in land at a cash value to be fixed by the seller and the treasurer of the company. On March 5, 1852, the town council passed an ordinance and for the usual one dollar consideration the railroad company was authorized to construct a road on and along Galen street and to lay one or more tracks and to repair them. The ordinance was signed by S. R. Harris as mayor and Charles Rupp as recorder. On April 30th came the first call for payment of stock, which was to be paid in ten installments of $5 each to John A. Gormly. In June the entire road was under contract in mile sections, all to be completed by July I, 1853.

While Hardin county was organized in 1833, the road passed through the northern part of that county, all marsh land, and was regarded as of so little benefit to the county, that Hardin contributed nothing.

In July President Merriman returned from New York and stated that he had arranged for the entire amount of rails needed for the road and that they would be delivered in New York from England by May i, 1853. He had, also, made a contract for the locomotives. On October 5th the injunction case came on before the court at Upper Sandusky and the injunction was dissolved to the great satisfaction of the citizens in and around Bucyrus, and Bucyrus's difficulties in securing the first railroad were over.

The report of the president in January stated that he had purchased 6,000 tons of the best T rails to be delivered early in the spring. The distance from Crestline to Ft. Wayne was 131 miles, and the cost of construction would be $14,045 per mile. He stated that his accompanying estimate was based on the high price of iron rails, $66 a ton.

During the spring of 1853 work was pushed rapidly, the papers announcing in April "Several hundred new hands have arrived to work on the road near Bucyrus. The ties are mostly delivered between Crestline and Bucyrus, and it is expected the road will reach Bucyrus. July 4." On July 15, the fourth had passed and the announcement was: "Rails are laid three miles this side of Crestline. If there are no strikes the work will be done to Bucyrus in two weeks."

there in 185 1 as the resident engineer in the building of the road. Another young man to come in 1852 was Cyrus W. Fisher who had the position of telegraph operator; his salary was $20 a month, and half of this was paid to the McCoy House for room and board, but it was at Bucyrus he had his first experience in railroad work ; later going to Belief ontaine, entering the army in the Twenty-third Ohio, rising to the rank of colonel, and becoming one of the prominent railroad men of Colorado, and in 1889 returning to Bucyrus, where he still resides.

The first train arrived on Wednesday evening, August 31, and of course there were great demonstrations. The new road and the iron horse were equally a wonder to the small boys, who were the same as they are now, judging from the following from the Forum of Sept. 2, 1853:

"Timely Warning. - We learn that our town boys are in the habit of laying such things as spikes, chips, etc., on the railroad track to see what eflfect the cars will produce in running over them. Such acts might throw a whole train off the track ; it is also a penitentiary offence. We also see small boys, from 5 to 10 years of age, playing around the cars, not knowing or caring about the danger they are in. Parents should keep children away or go with them to see the cars."

Railroad Excursion To Bucyrus

The first passenger train on the Ohio and Indiana Railroad arrived at this place last Wednesday evening (Aug. 31), on which, according to previous arrangement, our Pittsburg friends made us a visit. A committee, consisting of Dr. W. Merriman, president of the Ohio and Indiana Railroad company, Gen. S. Myers, Col. G. P. Seal, Capt. John Miller and M. P. Bean, received the party at Crestline and came down with them. On arriving here the committee of arrangements conducted them to the American and National, where sumptuous suppers were in waiting. After supper the party were conducted to Sims New Hall where a table was prepared filled with eatables and drinkables (on the temperance principle of course). Dr. Merriman then welcomed them to the hospitalities of our town, arid was replied to by Gen. Robinson, president of the Ohio and Pennsylvania road. Speeches were also made by Mr. Roberts, chief engineer of the Ohio and Pennsylvania, John Larwill, Esq., of Wooster, Judge Leith, of Wyandot, Mr. Straughan, chief engineer of the Ohio and Indiana, and others. The speeches were not lengthy, but well-timed and to the point. The party remained over night, leaving early next morning. Our citizens having been invited to take a ride to Pittsburg, quite a number of gentlemen and ladies went out with them to that place.

And Representative Citizens 167

line and Bucyrus paid expenses. The follow- thirty-five minutes, and to Columbus and Cining was the first time card: cinnati of five hours and forty-five minutes.

It was later announced that persons desir- It had been promoted and built by the perseing to send freight must have it at the depot verance, the energy and the push of the busione hour before the train leaves '^^^^ "^^" °^ Bucyrus. All over the great state the only train on the road. But it should be greatest monument to the enterprise of the citiremembered the roadbed was built at a cost of ^^ns of Bucyrus of half a century ago, and a this road-bed was improved rapidly is shown When the annual meeting of the stockholdfrom the fact that in the spring of 1854 the ers was held in Bucyrus, m January, 1854, the

Bucyrus to Crestline, up grade, was scheduled B. Hoagland of Fort Wayne; William Robinfor 40 minutes for the fast line. son of Pittsburg; Robert McKelly of Upper

During the fall the work west was pushed Sandusky, and Mr. Jacobs of Lima. This rapidly, and in December the road had reached board is interesting as showing the first tendwithin two miles of Patterson* (Forest) and ency toward the combination of railroad intermany passengers were on the trains daily to ests. Mr. Robinson was president of the Ohio make connection with the Mad River road at and Pennsylvania, from Pittsburg to Crestline, Patterson for the north or south, the passen- Mr. Merriman was president of the Ohio gers walking the two miles intervening, and and Indiana, from Crestline to Ft. Wayne, the railroad furnishing conveyances to trans- nearly completed; Mr. Hanna was president port their baggage. By January the two mile of the Indiana and Chicago, from Ft. Wayne gap was completed, and the road advertised to Chicago, building. The directors organized connection at that point- for Cincinnati and by electing Willis Merriman president; Sandusky. It also advertised connection at George Quinby treasurer; C. W. Butterfield Crestline for Cincinnati and Cleveland. But secretary, and J. B. Sears solicitor, all from connection in those days certainly did not Bucyrus. During the year Mr. Merriman resigned the presidency of the road and was suc- on Feb. 25, 1854, when a man named Michael Kenney, who was employed on a freight train, was accidentally killed a short distance west of Bucyrus. The train ran off the track and threw him between the cars, the wheels running over him, killing him almost instantly. He was taken to his home at Shelby for burial.

Crawford county was now one of the most important railroad counties in the state, with the most important north and south road passing through Gallon and Crestline and the most ' important east and west road passing through Crestline and Bucyrus. The country at that time, especially west of Bucyrus, was still in a very wild condition, very sparsely settled. The new road east of Bucyrus is thus described by William Crosby, the editor of the Journal, and it A\as probably his first extended trip on a railroad :

"On Thursday, June 15 (1854), at 12:30 we took the express train at Bucyrus, but with scarcely time to be seated we found ourselves at Crestline, amid the clattering of the dinner gong, the confused din of a thousand voices, with as many different orders and wants; the rush of the hungry multitude to Mr. Hall's dining saloon, the scraping and thumping of chairs, the rattling of dishes, knives and forks, and the occasional crash of a plate, the whole mixed up into a continuous fountain of noise by the stunning effect of escaping steam. After fortifying the inner man against the demands of nature for a time at a table teeming with all the luxuries of early summer, supplied with the profusion and served in that enticing style which only such caterers as friend Hall of the Crestline House understand, we seated ourselves in the cars of the Ohio and Pennsylvania road for Pittsburg.

"Attached to an iron steed whose powers equalled the tornado and whose speed surpassed the whirlwind, we swept along the iron course threatening destruction to everything that would impede the onward flight. Unfortunately this rapid progress resulted in the killing of three cows at as many different points, which careless owners or inefficient inclosures permitted (the cows, not the points) to wander from their proper range. Stopping only at the more important stations to drop or pick up such passengers as awaited, still onward we coursed through clouds of dust which rendered the various tints of bonnettrimmings - the brilliant colors of ladies' dresses and the jet coats of the "sterner sex" - all of a russet brown ; penetrating eyes, ears, nose and mouth with a pertinacity irresistible to all the puffing, blowing and brushing of those who endeavored to escape this disagreeable appendage of railroad traveling.

"We supped at Alliance - a new town at the junction of the Ohio and Pennsylvania and the Cleveland and Pittsburg road. At this place all the laggards and loungers, together with those peculiar natures that love to be regaled with an exhibition of abilities in the science pugilistic, were supplied with a display to their taste in the form of a brutal fight between the runners and drummers of a couple of opposition eating-houses. One of these houses charged 50 cents a meal, the other 25 cents - hence the hostility. We were "sharpset," so leaving the more interested to see the end of the fight, and discuss the brutalizing merits, we made our way into one of the dining halls and endeavored to make a meal on allowance time only extending to fifteen minutes. After collecting off of sparingly supplied dishes something to start on, the eatables commenced disappearing in the magical manner peculiar to good appetite. When about fairly interested in the game of "open and shut" the motion of the rapidly vibrating knife and fork was suddenly arrested by a gentle tap on the arm, and the information of, "fifty cents each, sir," gently whispered in the ear. There was no escaping the extortion, so we forked over - but to those who travel this route we advise the house on the right, going east, not that we can indorse the table, but because we think that it could not be much more scantily supplied, and that we think 25 cents an ample price for a meal, to discuss which you have bvit fifteen minutes time allowed, and which anxious watching of moving cars reduces to five, and moreover it is scarcely possible to do any degree of justice in the way of mastication to a dime's worth of food per minute.

"Reached Allegheny City at 8:30, just eight hours from Bucyrus - 200 miles. Here we had to go through all the disagreeable attendants of city stations, resulting from the conflicting interests of bus and hack drivers, hotel runners, etc. Finally reached friends."

In the fall of 1854, the Ohio and Indiana road was completed, and Mr. Creever accompanied the first train to Fort Wayne, and his account of that trip will give the reader an idea of the western end of the line at that time.

"On Wednesday, November 15, at 9 o'clock the excursion train left Bucyrus for- Fort Wayne, the occasion being the opening of the Ohio and Indiana road. When the train reached Bucyrus, delegates were on from Pittsburg to Mansfield. At Upper Sandusky we were joined by the Wyandot delegation and at Forest by a few more.

"Leaving Forest, 20 miles out. Judge Hanna, president, was found missing. He had gotten off at Forest to oversee some work and the train left without him. At Johnstown* two freight trains were waiting the passage of the excursion train. Chief Engineer Straughan ordered one of the locomotives to go to Forest and bring back the missing president.

"Between Johnstown and Lafayette we passed over Hog Creek Marsh. At the time the road was located this prairie was covered with water, above the surface of which naught was to be seen but the coarse sedge grass or reed, growing and undulating in the breeze. Several ditches have been cut across the prairie and the surface water well drawn off. The soil now begins to wear a tolerable appearance. The prairie embraces from 15,000 to 20,000 acres, occasionally dotted with little clumps of bushes and groves of timber. It was a beautiful and novel sight, appearing like a great lake surrounded by wilderness.

"At Lima we met the mail train, which brought a large delegation from Ft. Wayne to meet our excursionists. Here we were saluted with several rounds of artillery from the Mad Anthony Guards of Ft. Wayne, and cheering music by Strubey's band of Ft. Wayne. But the grand feature at Lima was the collation. Munificent and magnificent. The caterers did justice to the hungry guests, and keen appetites did ample justice to the collation. It was specifically set forth in the invitation card that the collation would return to Ft. Wayne and every guest appeared to labor under the im- pression that it was his duty to see that the specification was fulfilled, and accordingly each set to work to carry out the requirement. After the collation was loadened up to the utmost capacity of the excursionists - which, however, was not sufficient to absorb the entire ^'fixins" by a large amount - the company, while awaiting the arrival of the missing president, passed the time in friendly intercourse with the Ft. Wayne delegation, who met us with warm and hearty greeting. After delaying for some time it was concluded to move on slowly that the express locomotive might overtake us.

"At Lima the excursion train had three passenger cars added, increasing it to ten cars, well, but comfortably filled. The Ft. Wayne delegation spread themselves throughout the train, giving out free tickets to the supper at Ft. Wayne in the evening, and also distributing tickets containing the name of the person at whose residence the holder was to be entertained for the night. Our card showed we were to be with Thomas Tigar of the Ft. Wayne Sentinel. We made no calculation for such a result, but as such was our luck we philosophically marshalled our courage, and prepared to abide with the Tigars.

"A short time after leaving Lima an accident occurred which had like to turn our enjoyment to sorrow. The chief engineer and superintendent, Mr. Straughan, was very anxious for the arrival of the president, Judge Hanna, and while keeping a lookout to the rear from the platform of one of the cars, he by some means lost his balance and was precipitated from the train. The alarm was given and the train immediately checked and backed. Mr. Straughan was taken up by some men who were working near the spot where the accident occurred and when the train arrived he was taken to the rear car. After an examination by some physicians who were aboard, he was, beyond being stunned and bruised, pronounced uninjured. This pleasing intelligence was quickly spread from car to car, and soon the company assumed its wonted tone. In a few minutes after, the express locomotive overtook us with the president aboard. He was heartily greeted by the excursionists. Everything being thus righted, our iron steed took a more

"At Delphos the road crosses the Miami Canal. After leaving Delphos the next important point for which we kept a lookout was the State Line, but although the train stopped, and the brakeman called out "State Line," yet with all our vigilance we could not see it. We could discover no line between the Buckeye State and Hoosierdom. Inseparably united as the two states are in feeling and interest, may a no more tangible line ever be drawn to separate them. Hand in hand may they march onward and upward to the great and prosperous destiny that awaits their united energy and enterprise.

"From Upper Sandusky westward to the neighborhood of Ft. Wayne the great feature of the country is wilderness - almost unbroken. At Lima, Delphos and Van Wert the forest is driven back, and a thriving, busy population is fast turning the wilderness into a garden, but many years will pass before Ohio has attained a population nearing her capacity.

"The energy and enterprise of the Buckeyes miist be great to have raised Ohio to rank as the third State in the Union, while twothirds of her rich soil rests undisturbed beneath the shade of the primitive forest. Ranking, as the State now does, what must be her ultimate destiny, when the wilderness shall be forced from her surface and teeming, busy life usurps its place, causing fruitful farms, populous towns, and busy workshops to occupy the complete length and breadth of the land.

"Half past four is the hour at which we should have arrived at Ft. Wayne, but we reached there at six. We marched to the supper room preceded by a band. The city was brilliantly illuminated and the excursionists were continually greeted by the cheers of the crowds lining the streets. After supper we went to Colerick Hall, where D. H. Colerick delivered the address of welcome. It was responded to by Gov. Johnston, and S. W. Roberts of Pennsylvania, Robert W. Schenck, late minister to Brazil, and Henry B. Payne, of Ohio.

"At ten next morning left for home. At Lima made a raid on the remains of yesterday's banquet. Had dinner at Forest. Arrived at Bucyrus at six."

In his account of the trip to Pittsburg, Mr. Creever mentions as one of the incidents the speed of the train "resulted in the killing of three cows." The casual manner in which this is stated and the following item from his paper in NoVember, 1855, would indicate little attention was paid in those days by the engineers to protect the stock straying on the unfenced track :

"Monday night, Nov. 12, the express, two miles from Bucyrus, came into colHsion with 40 or 50 cattle, belonging to Enos Barrett. The cattle got onto the railroad and were met by the train. After making two attempts to push through, the locomotive was thrown from the track and the effort had to be abandoned. The result was five of the cattle killed, eleven so severely wounded they had to be killed. A number of others were wounded. An investigation is demanded to learn how the engine driver could push the locomotive half a mile through the flock before they were scattered and straggling along the track. A reasonable degree of concern for himself and passengers would have dictated the necessity of stopping the train as soon as possible, and sending a man ahead to clear the track."

More than fifty years have passed since the publication of the above item, and today it is well worthy of a place in the humorous column of any railroad journal. The faithful persistency with which the engineer stood at his post and made repeated attempts to force his engine through a drove of forty to fifty cattle, and finally being compelled to give up the fight by his engine being thrown from the track !

On June 24, 1856, the last meeting of the Ohio and Indiana road was held in Bucyrus, and it was to consider the proposition of consolidating the three roads, the Ohio and Pennsylvania, the Ohio and Indiana, and the Ft. Wayne and Chicago. A large number of shares were represented at the meeting and the vote was unanimous for consolidation, and the road became the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago and the headquarters were at Pittsburg. For a few years the road had trouble adjusting its financial affairs, the interests of the directors and stockholders being looked after by Allen G. Thurman of Columbus. The trouble origi- nated from the bondholders seizing the road. It was not until July, 1861, that the matter was finally adjusted by the company agreeing to pay one-fourth of the principal and interest in cash, and secure the other three- fourths in third mortgage bonds of the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago, bearing interest at 7 per cent.

In 1862 the new directors of the road consisted of three from New York, Pennsylvania Ohio and Indiana, and one from Illinois. Among the Pennsylvanians was J. Edgar Thompson, the man who started the Pennsylvania company on its great era of prosperity; one of the men from New York was Samuel J. Tilden; and one of the Ohioans was Willis Merriman of Bucyrus, the first president of the central division of the consolidated roads.

Today the road is a part of the great Pennsylvania system, and the Ohio and Indiana, fostered and fathered, and built and controlled by the business men of Bucyrus is now an important link in the greatest railroad system of the world, and the first little train which jaunted along from Crestline to Bucyrus in an hour and fifteen minutes has as its successor one that would be almost to Ft. Wayne in the same length of time, and as for the thirteen miles it frequently makes it in ten minutes.

At the start of the Ohio and Indiana Crawford county issued bonds to the amount of $100,000 drawing 6 per cent interest. The bonds were issued on Jan. i, 1853, payable Jan. I, 1868, and for these bonds the county received $100,000 of stock in the road, each year one of the commissioners taking turns in attending the annual meeting of the road and voting the county's stock. After 1856, this meant a trip to Pittsburg. By agreement with the road, the county was to receive annually six per cent interest, payable not in cash, but in additional stock in the road. These certificates of stock, in lieu of cash interest, the county received up to the time of the completion of the consolidation of the roads on Jan. 20, 1858, a few days over five years, so at the time of the final consolidation the county's stock in the road amounted to $130,096, and after that the county received no dividends in stock or cash.

The latter part of the year 1861 the stock had reached so low a figure that the commissioners took measures to prepare to meet the bonds when they became due, and levied a tax of two and nine-twentieth mills, which would bring in $21,983. In December, 1862, $14,339 of this tax had been collected, leaving for collection in June, 1863, $7,644. After the first levy was made, there was a favorable turn in the affairs of the road, and the stock began gradually going up in value. The market was closely watched, and two of the commissioners went to New York and sold the entire stock held by Crawford County at 69 1-3C - the highest price at which the stock had ever sold. The railroad account now stood :

The commissioners then tried to buy the $100,000 of county bonds outstanding at their cash value, and close up the transaction, but the holders of the bonds declined to sell, as "they wished no better investment for their funds." It spoke well for the credit of the county, but there were $100,000 lying idle in the treasury and six per cent interest being paid on the outstanding bonds, so the commissioners announced the money would be lent to the citizens until March, 1867.

They met first on Feb. 1 1 , and the first day lent $352 to H M. Fisher, $4,000 to Linus H. Ross, $1,000 to G. Donnenwirth, and $400 to Mary Newell. During the eleven days they met in February they placed $47,002. Seven meetings in March disposed of $37,200 and in April and June $27,360 was placed out at interest.

This money was kept on interest for four years, thus meeting the interest on the bonds by the interest received on the money loaned, and when the bonds fell due on Jan. i, 1868, they were paid and cancelled, and Crawford's first and only investment in railroad bonds was an incident that was closed. Such investments by counties are not allowed today, yet the Craw- ford county one was a success. And the profitableness of that investment has gone on and on, and will go on in the years to come. When the road was built, the cost of construction from Crestline to Lima, 131 miles, was placed at $1,840,000. Today its valuation on the tax duplicate in Crawford county alone is $4,298,040.

It would seem that as a business proposition the investment was a financial success. Crawford county borrowed $100,000, which it invested in the stock of the road ; it paid interest on this borrowed money for 1 5 years, amounting to $90,000 ; when ten years had passed the stock was so low that the commissioners levied a tax of $20,000, preparing to meet the bonds when due. Total cost to the county, $210,000. It sold its stock for $90,000; it received interest on money loaned of $30,000. Total receipts of $190,000, leaving a cost to the county of $90,000. But for over sixty years the company has been paying taxes, and this year those taxes amount to $40,000. An investment of $90,000 (the net loss of the county) that brings in $40,000 a year looks very much like a 50 per cent, annual dividend on the original investment.

As to what per cent of the increase in the lands and products and prosperity of the county is due to railroads can not be figured with any degree of exactness, but statistics show that in 1850 Gallon was a straggling village of five to six hundred people, and the C, C. & C. and the B. & I. were built, and in ten years she trebled her population to 1,967, an increase from 300 to 400 per cent; then the Atlantic & Lake Erie came, and the next ten years gave her another increase to 3,5-23, or 60 per cent, and twenty-five years after her first railroad, from a country village of no importance she had become one of the thriving and prosperous cities of the state with over five thousand population.

In 1850 Crestline was a forest, with no residents beyond a farmer or two and their families; three railroads came, and the town was laid out, and in i860 it had a population of 1,487, and has had an increase every decade since, and in 1910 it was a prosperous town of 3,807 people.

In 1850 Bucyrus had a population of 1,365; she secured a railroad, and by i860 her population increased 60 per cent to 2,180; a steady growth followed and in 1880 her population was 3,380. Then came the T. & O. C, and by 1890 her population had jumped to 5,974 or an increase of 76 per cent.

In i860 Crawford county had three railroads the C, C and C. and the B. & I. in the southeastern part of the county, with eight and a half miles of track, and the P. Ft. W. & C. through the county from east to west, about twenty and a half, miles, making thirty miles of railroad in the county. In 1864 the Bellefontaine & Indiana was consolidated with the Indianapolis, Pittsburg and Cleveland Railroad, forming the Bellefontaine Railway Company, and in 1868 this was consolidated with the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Company, which in 1889 took the name of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company, popularly known as the "Big Four." When the Ohio and Pennsylvania was building they decided to go no further than Crestline, providing the Ohio and Indiana would commence their road at that point, and provided the Bellefontaine and Indiana would commence at the same place. This proposition was accepted, and Crestline was for some years the connecting point of the B. & I. with the P. Ft. W. & C. road, but after the B. & I. came under the control of the C. C. & C, Gabon became the eastern terminus of the B. & I. trains.

The next railroad in the county was the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. A charter was granted to the Franklin & Warren Railroad Company March 10, 185 1, but nothing was done, and in 1855 the name was changed to the Atlantic & Great Western Railway. In 1863 the building of the road had reached Gabon, and it was completed to Dayton in 1864. It was popularly known as the "Broad Gauge" road, the rails being six feet apart, a belief prevailing that with a wider track, heavier equipment could be used, and greater speed and comfort obtained. The idea was a failure. The expense of construction was heavier, the cost of rolling stock greater, and nothing gained in speed or comfort. Along nearly the entire track a third rail was added to accommodate the transfer of cars from a standard gauge to their line. At other times cars were shifted to other trucks. In the spring of 1880, the road was sold to the Ohio and Pennsylvania Company, and the new owners decided to change the entire road to standard gauge. It was doing a tremendous business, both in passengers and freight, with hundreds of trains daily from one end of the line to the other, and the change was made on June 22, 1880. Every detail had been seen to, and every possible arrangement made, and at a given signal the work was commenced all along the entire line, and in less than six hours the entire road was changed to standard gauge without the discontinuance of a train, and the delay of only a few, one of the greatest feats ever accomplished in railroad work. The road is now the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, a part of the Erie system; it has the shortest mileage of any road in the county, Gallon being its only station in Crawford, but the building is the handsomest railroad station in the county. On this road Galion was the end of a division, and large shops were erected here employing several hundred men; the Big Four also had shops, and the town being a division point on the A. 8: G. W. and the junction point of the Indianapolis division with the "Three C's," many crews had their home here, and Galion was one of the prominent railroad centers of the state, and became the metropolis of the county.

In 1850 a charter had been granted for building a road from Bucyrus to Toledo, the project being engineered by Bucyrus people. The eastern part of the county had an outlet with the C. C. & C. road nearing completion, and the western part also needed an outlet to the Lake, and with the Ohio and Pennsylvania reaching Buc)t:us, its citizens could well look forward to the little village becoming a great business center. Before the project had gotten fairly under way, the Ohio and Pennsylvania had been compelled to abandon for the present the building of their line further west than Crestline. This was a severe blow to the hopes of Bucyrus as the east and west road was more important than anything else, so all consideration of the Bucyrus and Toledo road was reluctantly abandoned, and the people of Bucyrus took upon themselves the herculean task of building the road from Crestline to Ft. Wayne. Here are the men to whom the charter was granted on March 20, 1850, to build

131 miles of railroad: Robert Lee. and John Frantz of Leesville, John Anderson, George Lauck, Willis Merriman, Josiah S. Plants, John J. Bowman, George Quinby, John Sims, John A. Gormly, Z. Rowse, Aaron Carey and C. Widman of Bucyrus; David Ayres, Robert McKelly, Henry Peters of Upper Sandusky. In four years the road was built.

Fifteen years passed and the necessity of a railroad from the coal fields in southeastern Ohio to the Lake at Toledo was apparent, and the Atlantic and Lake Erie was incorporated to start at Pomeroy on the Ohio river, through the coal fields of Athens and Perry counties, then up to Bucyrus and Toledo. From Bucyrus to Toledo it was the original road proposed in 1850, and Bucyrus took an active interest in the road from the start, Daniel W. Swigart being president of the new road and James B. Gormly, treasurer, both Bucyrus men. Meetings were held in various towns along the line, and in 1869 the preliminary survey was made. In February, 1872, a contract was made with Michael Moran aijd W. V. and A. M. McCracken of Bucyrus, to - grade the road from Bucyrus to Toledo, and in July another contract was made with B. B. Mc- Donald & Co., of Bucyrus, to lay the rails on two sections from Bucyrus north. The same year, 1872, the contract was made for the bridge over the Sandusky at Bucyrus, together with the long trestle of nearly half a mile, necessary to cross the stream. In 1873 the panic came on, and it was impossible to get capital interested in any investment, but the projectors of the road at Bucyrus persevered. Bucyrus had invested over $100,000 in the road; other sections had given freely. In September, 1875, the condition of the road was at its worst, and a meeting was held at Bucyrus to devise ways and means to save what had already been invested and to complete the road. The president made a report at that meeting stating that a proposition had been made to sell a portion of it, which would be detrimental to the interests of Crawford, Wyandot and other counties. This proposition had been temporarily defeated by the influence of the friends of Bucyrus on the board of directors. But the road was in debt so heavily that unless something was done immediately the Atlantic & Lake Erie must be abandoned. The proposition was that if $450,000 could be raised, the more pressing obHgations could be met and the road completed. This sum was divided along the line, and $50,000 assigned to Crawford county. On top of the sum already subscribed, the task was a difficult one, but the amount was raised. Construction went ahead slowly, and every attempt made to reduce expenses to the minimum. The Bucyrus Foundry and Machine Company went into the car business, and built fifteen cars to be used in the construction work; second-hand locomotives were purchased and put to use in the building of the road, and little by little the work progressed, and finally in the summer of 1880 the first train came to Bucyrus. It was less than a generation since Bucyrus had built the Ohio and Indiana road, and now the descendants of the men who had built that first road, had overcome all difficulties, and secured another road for Bucyrus. The president of the Atlantic & Lake Erie was Daniel W. Swigart, a son-in-law of George W. Sweney, one of the active workers for the Ohio and Indiana; the secretary and treasurer was James B. Gormly, whose father John A. Gormly, was treasurer of the Ohio and Indiana. Among others connected with the road were Col. W. C. Lemert, a grandson by marriage of Samuel Norton, one of the heavy subscribers to the Ohio and Indiana. Horace and William Rowse, sons of Zalmon Rowse, a director of the Ohio and Indiana; W. V., A. M. and Charles Mc- Cracken, sons of James McCracken, another active supporter of the Ohio and Indiana; Joseph N. Biddle, a son-in-law of Robert W. Musgrave, another of the men active in securing the Ohio and Indiana ; Thomas C. Hall, who had been one of the builders of the Ohio and Indiana, and now with his son Joseph E. Hall, had similar contracts for construction work on the Atlantic and Lake Erie.

After the road was completed, the influence of Bucyrus, and the work the people of that town had done for the road, secured a favorable proposition for the location of the shops at Bucyrus, but Bucyrus capital was already in the road up to its limit, so a friendly legislature was appealed to and D. W. Swigart, James B. Gormly, W. C. Lemert, Dr. C. Fulton, S. R. Harris and George W. Teel secured the passage of an act allowing the town by a vote of the people to bond itself for $50,000 to build railroad shops. The proposition carried almost unanimously and the shops were secured, and for more than thirty years they have given employment to hundreds of men with a large monthly pay roll that has added materially to the prosperity of Bucyrus, and that village which in 1880 had a population of 3,348, by the census of 1890 had taken its position as one of the cities of the state with a population of 5,974, an increase of 78 per cent in ten years. When the road was reorganized in 1878 the name was changed to the Ohio Central, and it was sold at that time for $106,668. Later a western division was built to take care of the increasing traffic from the coal fields to the Lake. The road is today a part of the Lake Shore system, and in 191 1 required additional room for its shops and trackage, and the only way to secure it was from the Fair Ground which adjoined the railroad property on the south. The Fair Ground could not spare the land, so the citizens promptly formed a company, bought the entire thirty acres belonging to the Fair Association at $1,000 an acre, and sold the Lake Shore the eight acres they wanted at $400 an acre and the remainder of the grounds will be laid out as an addition to Bucyrus. The Fair Association immediately purchased a new site just across the road of sixty acres at $300 an acre.

In 1867 the Mansfield, Coldwater and Lake Michigan railroad was projected, to start at Toledo, then run to Tiffin, and through Lykins and Sulphur Springs to Crestline and Mansfield. The people in the central and northeastern part of the county took active measures to secure the road. Both New Washington and Sulphur Springs subscribed liberally, and so enthusiastic were the people in and around Sulphur Springs -that their subscriptions amounted to $35,000. A preliminary survey was made, which located the road about half a mile east of Sulphur Springs, and an eastern suburb of that village was laid out where the station was to be, on land owned by George W. Teel, and several houses were built. The people of Crestline, however, took very little interest in the road, which was fatal to the Sulphur Springs route. New Washing- ton then took up the matter with the Toledo and Mansfield people, and a new survey was made farther north, from Tiffin through Bloomville to New Washington and Mansfield. The citizens of New Washington and southern Auburn subscribed $30,000 for the new road and so great was the interest in that section, that these subscriptions were practically all made in sums ranging from $50 to $250, the stock being in $50 shares. There were two hundred men in the two townships of Cranberry and Auburn who took stock in the road. Work was commenced in the spring of 1872, and by October the road was in operation from Toledo to New Washington, and on May i, 1873, regular trains were running over the line. In Auburn township the road passed about half a mile north of the village of DeKalb, and the same distance south of a little settlement called Mechanicsburg, and at this point a station was placed called DeKalb, and in 1874 a town was laid out around the station which was called Tiro, after the postofifice two miles north, which was transferred to the station, and in 1882 the DeKalb postoffice, which had been in existence half a century, was discontinued, being consolidated with the Tiro ofifice, and the railroad dropped the name of DeKalb and called the station Tiro.

About the time of the building of the Mansfield & Coldwater road the people of Delphos and Carey had constructed a narrow gauge road between those two towns. It was a purely local affair, built by the people of Putnam and Hancock counties residing in the little towns along the line and gave them an outlet to the markets. Later it was taken over by some capitalists, among them W. V. Mc- Cracken of Bucyrus, and was changed to a standard gauge road, and extended eastward from Carey to Akron, passing through Crawford in the center of the northern tier of townships, Texas, Lykins, Chatfield, Cranberry and Auburn, and when completed it was almost an air line, 165 miles in length, known as the Pittsburg, Akron and Western. In the construction of . the road no attention was paid to the little towns. From the time it entered the county in Texas township it followed a half section line due east for fourteen miles to New Washington, passing half a mile south of the village of Lykins, and a quarter of a mile north of Chatfield. At New Washington it took an air line northwest, goingnorth of the little village of Waynesburg. Eastern capitalists had secured the road with the intention of making it the most direct and quickest route between Pittsburg and Chicago, but the grand plans never materialized and it is today a purely local road, but a great convenience to the people along the route. It established a station in Texas township, which was named Plankton, and another in Northern Auburn, which is named North Auburn after the township. The road is now the Northern Ohio.