Logan County, Ohio History

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. - 273

CHAPTER V.

RELIGIOUS HISTORY - PIONEER PREACHERS - SCHOOLS - STATISTICS - THE NEWSPAPERS - THEIR ADVANTAGES - RAILROADS.

this age of wonderful invention and improvement, it is a difficult mutter for the present generation to realize the inconveniences under which the people labored who settled this country. Their religious facilities were as limited as everything else connected with frontier life. No handsome Churches, with I deep-toned bells and spires pointing heavenward, then dotted the land. But in each other's cabins, or beneath the shades of the forest trees, the pioneers met to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience.

" The groves were God's first temples. Ere roan learned

To hew the shaft and lay the architrave,

And spread the roof above them. - ere he framed

The lofty vault, to gather and roll back

The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood,

Amidst the cool and silence, he knelt down,

And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks And supplications."

In the years that have followed the advent of the Anglo - Saxon, changes and improvements have succeeded the primitive customs brought hither by them. We cannot worship to-day except in magnificent temples, where our displays of style and dress are only equaled by our other fashionable resorts, where each of us try to outshine our neighbor. Our ministers, too, sleek in broadcloth, and pompous with high living, what a wonderful improvement they are upon such old-fashioned preachers as Russell Bigelow, Lorenzo Dow, Joseph Thomas and Peter Cartwright! Religion itself, we sometimes conclude, is like everything else we have at the present day-slightly adulterated, and not to be compared to that proclaimed by the Master 1800 tears ago. But we will not trace the contrast further. It may be that we entertain some old fogy ideas upon the subject that are obsolete and not to be tolerated in this advanced age.

The precise date of organization of the first church society in Logan County can not be obtained with certainty. Antrim's history of the county mentions a church established by the Quakers at Goshen, in Jefferson Township, in 1807. As early as 1813 a Methodist Church was built in Zane Township. The Tharp's Run Baptist Church one mile west of Zanesfield, was established in 1819, and others followed in rapid succession in different parts of the county.

Loan County in its early day s was honored by the visits of some of the great pioneer preachers and divines of the time. Russell Bigelow, the Methodist Evangelist, so well known in Central Ohio fifty years ago, used to preach in this county. He is described as a man small in stature, and " homely almost to deformity." When he arose before a congregation to preach, " he would lay his premises as carefully as a skillful general would arrange his forces for battle; he would comprehend the obstacles to be overcome; see that his forces were sufficient; every officer in his place; men and munitions all properly ar-ranged, and then the word given, shell and shot, small and lams arms, grape and canister, as though the heavens and earth were coming together, and in the consternation would

274 - HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

charge bayonets, and complete the destruction." Such is the description given of one of the most remarkable preachers of his day, by one who knew him and heard him preach. * "The White Pilgrim" was another of the early preachers who sometimes proclaimed the "glad tidings" to the pioneers of Logan County. His true name was Joseph Thomas, and he was known far and wide by his white dress, which he used to say was typical of the "robes oŁ the saints in glory." A noted evangelist, he traveled through out the western country, preaching salvation "without money and without price." How many thousands of people, young and old, have read', those beautiful lines, entitled '° The White Pilgrim." They were composed by Rev. J. Ellis, and dedicated to the Rev. Joseph Thomas. We remember singing the lines, in our boyhood days, at Sunday School

"I came to the spot where the white pilgrim lay,

And pensively stood by his tomb,

When in a low whisper heard something say,

' How sweetly I sleep here alone.' "

And wandered who the "White Pilgrim" was, and where he lay. Here in Logan County we learn his history ; that he used to preach here fifty years ago, and that when his I earthly labors were ended, he was laid away to calmly sleep in the village Cemetery at Johnsonburgh, Warren Co., N. J., "where a beautiful Italian marble monument marks the spot where the White Pilgrim lays."

As early as 1817, Rev. John Strange preached at the cabins of the early settlers. We hear of one of these early meetings at the house of Mr. Curtis, in Belleville, a little village that was in existence before the birth of Bellefontaine. Rev. Joshua Inskeep was a local Methodist preacher in the east part of the county, Rev. John Gutridge was a Baptist preacher and among the early settlers of

* William Haller.

Zanesfield, where he organized the Tharp's Run Baptist Church already mentioned. Camp meetings were common in the early history of the county. The following is from a pioneer reminiscence of Union Township : " One year there was a camp meeting held on the place of Lodman E. Spry, at which there were a large number of Shawnee and Delaware Indians-some all the way from Sandusky. Their encampment was back of the preachers' stand. They seemed to enjoy the meeting as well as the whites, and were quite as orderly. Some of them were. beautiful singers, and would get very happy at the night meetings."

It will doubtless be a matter of interest to many to know that the renowned but eccentric Lorenzo Dow once preached in Bellefontaine. He was making the journey from Sandusky City south, and preached every day while on his journey. The following account of his visit to this county is from Antrim's History: "It seemed that Lorenzo had sent an appointment to preach at Bellefontaine at 11 o'clock of the day that he expected to arrive there. About the appointed time he arrived at Bellefontaine, riding in Phineas Hunt'; wagon. I am informed that the people were looking earnestly for him. Judge N. Z. McColloch and others met the wagon in which was Lorenzo, and inquired, ° Is Mr. Dow here? he said, 'Yes, my name is Dow.' Judge McColloch then kindly invited him to his house and eat dinner, as there was sufficient time before the hour of meeting. Without saying a word, Lorenzo directed the driver to go south a little farther, where he alighted from the wagon and laid under the shade of a small tree, and took some bread and meat from his pocket and ate his dinner in that way. Soon meeting time came, and there was, of course a large attendance. In the course of his ser mon, Lorenzo pointed to an old lady and said

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`Old lady, if you don't quit tattling and slandering your neighbors the devil will get you.' Pointing directly at her, he said, `I am talking to you!' There was a young man in the meeting that Lorenzo probably thought need ed reproof; he said: `Young man, you estimate yourself a great deal higher than other people estimate you, (the same might be said of a great many young men of the present day); and if you don't quit your high notions and do better, the devil will get y you too!' Passing out of the meeting he met a young man and said to him, `Young man, the Lord has a work for you to do. He calls you to labor in His vineyard.' It is said that young man became a minister of the Gospel. I thick the meeting in Bellefontaine was held on the seventh day, or on Saturday. After the meeting he came with Phineas Hunt to his house in Salem Township, Champaign County.

Another of the eccentric preachers of pioneer times was old "Father Hopkins," who lived in Champaign County, and sometimes came up and preached in what is now Logan County. Dressed in tow-linen breeches and tow-linen shirt, barefoot and bareheaded, he would preach with great power, and was very popular with the people. We might go on, however, and enumerate instance after instance of the pioneer preachers; how they preached from house to house, when there were no church buildings, and no railroads to carry them to their appointments; how their zeal for their Master's work prompted them to face the storms of winter and the heat of summer, and ride for miles on horseback through the pathless forests, swimming the streams, to fill their appointments, but deem it unnecessary. Our aged readers who were here fifty years ago, will readily recall the truthful pictures. The present generation have far more extensive church privileges than did the early settlers of the country. Logan County is well supplied with handsome church edifices, not only in every township, but in every neighborhood, and in the township histories which follow, they will be written up more fully than we can do it in this chapter.

The early schools of the county next claim attention. The right of the State to maintain the free school system is founded upon the idea that where "ignorance predominates vice and crime are its inseparable concomitants," and that by education the"masses will be elevated, society benefited, offenses lessened, and good government promoted." But the main incentive to its establishment in Ohio was the great necessity that efficiency be infused into the cause of education, and the awakening of the people to an appreciation of its importance. Many old and deep-rooted prejudices against it existed in the State, one of which was taxation for this purpose. This prejudice had to be eradicated, the judgment of men as to its power and rightfulness was to be convinced, ignorant parents were to be enlightened, and teachers of the requisite qualifications and earnestness obtained.

A writer upon the school laws of Ohio sacs: "The nest-egg of the free school system of Ohio was laid by the Legislature of 1824-25, the same that inaugurated the canal policy of the State. Previous to that time, in 1821, a law passed allowing the people to unite, if they felt inclined to do so, in building school houses and employing teachers. The law of 1825 made it compulsory. The first law said the people may; the second law said they must. It commanded a tax to be levied for school purposes. Its title was ` An act to provide for the support and regulation of Common Schools.' This was during the presidential administration of James Monroe, when parties had disbanded and, of course,

276 - HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

there was no party in it. It is impossible at this day to realize the fixed and bitter opposition to the law. The father of the writer was in the Legislature and voted for the law, and although sustained for the active part he took in the passage of the canal law, which traversed nearly the length of this county, he was badly beaten for a re-election. The tax payers would not support him because the law compelled them to support 'pauper schools,' and the poorer classes because he voted to make 'pauper scholars of their children.

The. law alluded to in the above extract as passed in 1824-25 was altered every session until it seemed to be a perfect chaos, none being able to explain its provisions. Adjoining districts were often found acting under different laws. On the assembling of the Lc Legislature in 1852, Gov.. Wood in his message, strongly urged a thorough revision of the law on common schools. Upon the adoption of the new Constitution about this time a school law was finally passed, which with some further amendments and improvements has given to Ohio the very liberal and perfect school law of the present day.

The first schoolhouses in Logan County, as in all other new counties, were built, of logs, and were very rude cabins at that. They have been so often described in pioneer sketches, that a description here is unnecessary ; they were very different from the com Portable and commodious schoolhouses of the present day. The first school in the county was, perhaps, taught in the old log Quaker Church, built in 1807 , and which stood about a mile from Middleburg. Who was the first teacher then we did not learn, but. did learn that a school was taught there very early. George F. Dunn, we are told, taught the first school in Bellefontaine, or Lake Township. Dr. Thomas Cowgill gives the following sketch of a school taught about a mile from his father's, who lived near the town of East Liberty : "During the winter of 1817-18, a school was taught by the late Judge Daniel Baldwin, about one mile south of our house, in a house similar to our dwelling, except there were some joists and an upper floor. This school was largely attended by the young men and women of the neighborhood - a number of them coming four miles to school. There were at least ten young men attending this school over six feet high and large in proportion, and weighing about 200 pounds each. There were about the same number of young women attending this school; verily there were giants in those days. And those large and tall young men exhibited more signs of humility than some of the smaller scholars, for in walking across the floor, they must bow, or they would bump their heads against the joists every time. A number of these young men and women were in their shelling books ; the young women were neatly clothed in home-spun, mostly the work of their own hands. Their educational privileges seemed to be poor, yet they were highly favored of nature ; they were fair and comely, and I never beheld a more beautiful company of young ladies. The school books consisted of Webster's Shelling Book, Lindley Murray's Works, the Introductory English Reader, Sequel, and the New Testament, with Walsh's and Pike's Arithmetic. I think there was no one studying English Grammar or Geography. I have taken some note of the subsequent history of the young men and women who at tended this school. With a few exceptions they have all gone to tire house appointed for the living, and with the exception of one or two prodigals, they all did well in life, were mostly bright ornaments to society, lived useful lives, and died respected and lamented."

In Boke's Creek neighborhood, one Simpson

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. - 277

Hariman was an early teacher, and is said to have taught them some twenty years altogether. But our space will not allow a full description of all these early schools. Like the churches, they will be given in the histories of their respective township We will add a few statistics for the benefit of those interested in schools, which are taken from the State Commissioner's last report. Amount received within the year:

Balance on hand Sept. 1, 1878 .........................$47,358 12

State tax.....:...................................................... 12,713 57

Irreducible school fund .................................... 1,694 34

Local tax for school and school house purposes 47,168 06

Fines, licenses, and from other sources............... 822 98 Total................................................................. $100,757 57

AMOUNT EXPENDED

Amount paid teacher:....................................... $ 38,415 53

Managing and superintending.......................... 1,950 00

Sites and buildings ........................................... 12,493 74

Other expenditures............................................ 21,028 12

Total ............................................................ $73,887 39

Balance on hand September 1, 1879 ................ 35,470 18

Amount paid to counties.................................. 12,558 00

Amount received floor counties....................... 13,749 30

Excess of receipts from counties........................ 1,191 30

Population oif Logan county in 1870 ............... 23,028

Enumeration of Logan county in 1879 ............... 8,406

Per cent of population in 1879.............................. 36

Number of townships in Logan county.................. 17

Number of subdivisions......................................... 120

Number of separate districts .................................... 9

Number of schoolhouses erected within the year........... 4

Cost of same ....................................................... $11,661 00

Number of school houses in Logan county................... 133

Total value of school property........................... 130,323 00

NUMBER OF TEACHERS

Primary- male................................... ..................... 107

Female..................................................................... 127

Total ........................................................................ 234

Separate districts - Primary - Males......................... 3

Females .................................................................. 30

High - Males .............................................................. 8

Females ........................................................................ 2

Total ............................................................................ 43

Grand Total.................................................................. 277

AVERAGE WAGES OF TEACHERS PER MONTH

Townships-Primary- Males..............................................$34 00

Females ........................................................................... 24 00

High - Males..................................................................... 45 00

Separate districts - Primary - Males ................................ 63 00

Females............................................................................. 33 00

High-Male........................................................................ 61 00

Females ........................................................................... 47 00

NUMBER OF PUPILS ENROLLED.

Townships - Primary - Males ......................................... 2,336

Females ........................................................................... 1,930

Total ............................................................................... 2,099

Separate districts - Primary - Males......................................837

Female.... ............................................................................ 881

High-Males .......................................................................... 175

Females ............................................................................... 206

Total................................................................................... 4,266

Grand Total....................................................................... 6,365

AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE.

Townships - Primary - Males .............................................1,226

Females ...............................................................................1,105

Total......................................... ...........................................2,331

Separate districts - Primary - Males .........................524

Females.... ............................................................... 558

High - Males ............................................................. 114

Females ......................................................................142

Total......................................................................................1,338

Grand Total...........................................................................3,669

COLORED AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS.

Teachers employed in township colored Schools........................ 2

Teachers employed in separate district colored schools............... 1

Teachers , employed in separate district private schools.............. 2

Total ............................................................................................. 5

278 - HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

PUPILS E\ROLLED IN COLORED SCHOOLS.

Townships-Males ...............................65

Females.............................................. 70

Total ............................................................135

Separate districts - Males ....................42

Females ...............................................31

Total...............................................................73

Grand Total................................................ 208

An educational institution, known as Geneva College, located at the little village of Northwood, and recently removed to Pennsylvania, entertained in its day a high reputation as a seat of learning; but as its history will be more fully given in that of the village and township where it was located, we will not go into details here.

A few extracts from the State Commissioner's last report, which we deem of considerable importance, may be appropriately given. He sacs: " As the pupil masters words and their meanings, he is getting into his possession the tools with which he may dig in books for further knowledge, make his own knowledge more useful to him as a social being, and secure a body for his thoughts, without which incarnation they are as Little subject to control as the weird fancies of a dream.

"The art of silent reading deserves more attention in school-practice in grasping the meaning of a passage in the shortest possible time, and reproducing it with pen or tongue. But along with this, in its earlier stages, and for a short time preceding it, is the oral reading exercise, wherein the reader must serve as eyes to the listeners, so that they may, through his voice, see the printed page. How much inspiration is there in this work when each listener has the page before his own eves! The translation of a written sentence into a spoken sentence is much more than the mere translation, in their right order, of the words of tine written sentence; and to do this well requires, besides the names of tine written characters, culture of voice, training of eye, quickening of emotion. To serve as a medium through which others may know the printed page, catching its syllables upon the ear, is not low art. To breathe life into dead words, and to send them into the depths of the moral and intellectual mature of the hearer, and that with lancer to convince, to arouse, to subdue, greater than if the hearer had been his own interpreter, is high art indeed.* *

"Another language lesson of great value is committing to memory-learning by heart, well phrases it-choice selections, gems of thought and expression, culled from the best writings of the best writers. These should be judiciously selected, so as not to be too much beyond the easy comprehension of the pupil. They should, above all other requisites, be pure, healthful, inspiring. The teacher should add interest to the work by relating; incidents in the life of the authors. We know with what tenacity the memory clings to the simple rhymes learned in childhood. If this work be continued as it should be, who can deny its lasting effects upon life? A refined taste and quickened intellect may be hoped for as the result of drinking in and assimilating beautiful thoughts in chaste, musical language -words of warning or of approval, flashed by the memory upon the judgment in the time of temptation, of resistance thereto.

" One very good result of increased attention to literature in the schools, is the marked increase in the amount of wholesome reading -history, biography, travels, poetry, popular science, and the lessened demand for dime novels and other low fiction. Few questions are, in their bearing upon the future of our country, more important than this: `What are the boys and girls reading? ' 1 would not have less time spent in our schools upon language, but teachers may well look into the subject and see whether that time is spent to the best advantage.

PAGE 282 - BLANK

PAGE 283 - PICTURE OF JOHN INSKEEP

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. - 281

"The public regard arithmetic, par excellence, as the practical study. It is the practical educator's strong tower, and we have it taught in season and out. The nine digits seem to have taken the place of the heathen gods, and their demand for offerings know no cessation. Measured by any definition of the practical, as a means either to fit one directly for bread getting in the common business of life, or as a means for mental culture and discipline, a large part of arithmetic, as found in our books and taught from them, falls short. Instead of introducing at an early stage the science of geometry, we fritter away valuable time upon annuities and allegation and progressions; and as for interest, one would think that mankind in general made a living by suaving each other's notes. Children begin early to develop the science of numbers. It concerns matters of their daily life. The elemental steps of writing and reading numbers, or the symbols of numbers, naturally follow, and usually are not difficult of acquirement. But there is such a gap between the conditions needed for the ready learning of these thins, and the more mature judgment, and that knowledge of business and the world, demanded in the intelligent solution of ordinarily difficult problems in discount, and certain other branches of applied arithmetic. Back and forth across this stretch the boy's mind must swing like a pendulum, repelled by what it cannot comprehend, and by what it has grown tired of. He marks time when he could so readily oblique into some other study, and march forward. Then, by and by, if these advanced parts of arithmetical science are needed, their acquisition would be easy. Meanwhile, the child may give increased attention to literature and be learning interesting and profitable lessons about this world into which he has come, and in what bony he came, and how to take care of it. While these priceless practical lessons are in progress, one can fancy that the arithmetic itself would enjoy the rest.

"In the time which can be saved, also a few short steps could be taken in some other branches now much neglected. The reason for and the practical mode of doing many things which are to be done in real life by the citizen, the man of business, the manager of a household, might be taught in the schools. Something of the nature of the materials which we eat, drink and wear, and economy in the buying and using, would be excellent lessons. If he is a benefactor of mankind who causes two blades of grass to grow where one grew before, the language does not furnish a name for him or her who shall cause the laboring man to know how to make one dollar produce the good results for which he must now expend two. No matter whether we regard the school as established primarily for the good of the children, or for the preservation of the State, we must admit that the most valuable result of all education is the building of good characters. This, to speak definitely, is to instill correct principles and train in right habits. Citizens with these `constitute a State.' Men and women with these are in possession of what best assures rational happiness, the end and aim of human life. Pure sentiments, generous promptings, love for God and man, should be the fruits of a liberal education. If the child grows into this inheritance, he has riches which he can keep .and yet give away, which he will carry out of the world yet leave behind, to build his noblest monument. These truths 'aid in forming an idea of what a teacher should be."

A few words in conclusion of the school history on "Compulsory Education" may not be out of place. It is a subject that is receiving considerable attention in many parts of the country at this time. Referring to it,

282 - HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

the State Commissioner, in his report in 1878, says: "Concerning the right of State. or Government to pass and carry into effect what are known as compulsory laws, and require parents and guardians; even against their will, to send their children, there does not appear to be much diversity of opinion. Concerning the policy thereof, dependent upon so many known and unknown conditions, there is the widest diversity. I can write no history of the results of the act of March 20, 1877, for it does not seem to have any. A great good would be wrought if the wisdom of the General Assembly could devise some means which shall strengthen and supplement the powers of boards of education and enable them to prevent truancy, even if only in cases where parents desire their children to attend school regularly, but parental authority is too weak to secure that end. The instances are not few in which parents would welcome aid in this matter, knowing that truancy is often the first step in a path leading through the dark mazes of idleness, vagabondage and crime.

"Whatever may be said of young children working in mills or factories, youthful idlers upon the streets of towns and cities, should be gathered up by somebody and compelled to do something. If they learn nothing else, there will be at least this salutary lesson, that society is stronger than they, and, without injuring them, will use its strength to protect itself. While we are establishing reform schools for those who have started in the way to their own ruin and have donned the uniform of the enemies of civil society, it would be a heavenly importation to provide some way to rescue those who are yet only lingering around the camp."

The newspaper and the printing-press of the present day constitute one of the most important features of the time, and of the country. The daily paper, by the aid of the telegraph, which connects all points of civilization like spider-webs, gives us to-day all the news that transpired yesterday in the uttermost parts of the earth. The decrees of the autocrat at St. Petersburg, the diplomatic strokes of Bismarck, or the womanly wisdom of the English Queen are known to us, almost as soon as to their own subjects. And the county press, the faithful exponent of the county's interest, is the intellectual criterion for the masses, and the most popular channel of general information. It is also a true record of the county's history; the very advertisements in local papers eventually become historical facts, and it is to be regretted that so few persons seem to appreciate the value and importance of their county papers. Said Daniel Webster: "I care not how small and unpretending a newspaper may be, every issue contains something drat is worth the subscription price:' .And today journalism is recognized as a power in the land, a power before which the evil-doer and the corrupt official stand in awe. The legitimate press, holding as it does this acknowledged position, its history forms an interesting and worthy part of the history of the county.

The first newspaper published in Logan County was by Joshua Robb, who started a paper in Bellefontaine in 1830. There is at this day, some question as to the name of this first paper. However, he did not long continue its publication; but was succeeded by Hiram B. Strother, who is described as a writer, who "paid less attention to the beauties of rhetoric than to the desire of bringing his statements within the comprehension of his readers." Strother changed the name of the paper to the Bellefontaine Gazette and Logan County Advertiser. William Penn Clark succeeded Mr. Strother, and published

HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY. - 283

the paper several years. Clark was an able writer, and finally went to Iowa where he be came distinguished in politics. Two or three outer changes occurred in the ownership of the Gazette; when it became the property of Judge Lawrence. In 1845 he engaged William Hubbard to take editorial control, and in 1847 Mr. Hubbard purchased the paper of Judge re Lawrence: after his purchase of the paper, his brother, Thomas Hubbard, who was also a printer, went into partnership with William Hubbard, and together, they conducted the paper until 1854 as a Whig organ; they soul it then to Judge West, who espoused the Know - Nothing cause. The Hubbards sometime after bought back the paper, and in 1856 came out for Buchanan for President, since then it has been an organ of the Democratic party. In 1863 it was discon-tinued for a time, and its editor, Thomas Hub bard, was connected with the Dayton Daily Empire, but returned in a year or two to Bellefontaine and re-established the Gazette. In 1870 he sold it to William P. Cotter, but bought it back again in a short time and changed its name to the Examiner, under which name it is still published. It is the Decmocratic paper of the county, and is on a sound basis financially. Mr. Hubbard, its editor, is a veteran in the business, and an able and forcible writer. The following of William Hubbard, one of the oldest editors of Logan County, and one who has passed away, was written be Judge William Lawrence: "Early in the year 1832, he took his first lesson in the art preservative of all arts, the printing business, in the office of the Logan Gazette, a newspaper then edited and conducted in Bellefontaine by Hiram L. Strother. Here he served with fidelity, and shill, and industry, for seven years, when early in 1839, he became the publisher of the paper, and continued as such for a period of six months. During all this time, as, indeed, in the years which followed, he employed his leisure moments in developing his literary taste, and in the profound study of the best writers of prose and poetry. In the summer of 1841, he began his career as a school-teacher in a district near his native village, in one of the evermemorable, universal `Peoples' Colleges' of the times, the `log schoolhouse.'' In this useful, but perplexing and ill-paid capacity, I he continued exist of his time until the fall of 1845. Meantime, in 1841, he had determined to study the profession of the law, and for that purpose became the student of Benjamin F. Stanton & William Lawrence, attorneys iri Bellefontaine ; his studies were somewhat interrupted by his duties as teacher, and by his literary pursuits, yet as he had made it a rule of his life never to do anything imperfectly, he was not admitted to the bar until he had become a thoroughly well-read lawyer, in the year 1846.

" In the fall of 1845 Mr. Hubbard became editor of the Logan Gazette, and occupied that position for a number of years, but he is now the able cud accomplished editor of the North West, published at Napoleon, Henry County, Ohio.* As a political writer he has a wide and deservedly high reputation. Notwith-standing his duties as an editor, he was elected Prosecuting attorney of Logan County in 1848, and again in 1850, and in that capacity served with shill and ability for four years, when he declined a re-election. In 1858 Mr. Hubbard received the nomination of the political party to which he belongs as its candidate for Congress. He could scarcely hope for success in a district largely opposed to him politically, but, though defeated, his rote was highly complimentary. In deflates and addresses in that canvas he added much to a local reputation as an orator. Early love of books, a warm imagination, cultivated by

* Mr. Hubbard has died since-the writing of rite above article by Judge Lawrence.-ED.

284 - HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

study, and by the beautiful scenery of the fertile valley of the Mad River, with a heart full of pathos and ardor, all contributed to ' Wake to ecstacy the living lyre,' and turn his thoughts into eloquence and poetry. His first published poetical productions were in January, 1858. We have never known a writer with so much genius and so little ostentation. He has never sought, but has always shunned notoriety. His poetical writings, if collected, would make a good-sized volume."

Besides the Logan Gazette. and North. West, spoken of above, Mr. Hubbard edited at dif-erent times the Dayton Daily Empire, the Marion Democrat and the Bucyrus Forum. Many of his poems have been published in the "Poets and Poetry of the West" and " American Poets," two highly popular works of the time. Some of his ballads during the war were quoted in all parts of the country, and one was incorporated in the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, which appeared in Blackwood's Magazine, published in Edinburg; Scotland.

The Bellefontaine Republican is the next oldest newspaper in the county to the Gazette. It was established in 1854 by James Walker and Judge W. H. West. Six months later the firm became Samuel Walker, L. S. Powell and Martin Barringer, and so continued for about one year, when Samuel Walker bought out Powell & Barringer, and conducted it alone until about the year 1859. L. D. Reynolds, now of Dayton, then bought it, and had charge of until 1862, when it again passed into the hands of Samuel and James Walker. In the fall of 1864 they sold a two-thirds interest to D. R. Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby), who, in January, 1865, sold to J. Q. A. Campbell, the present proprietor. As will be seen, the Republican. has been edited by some able men, aside from its present efficient editor. It is the leading Republican organ in the county, and, under its present able management, has attained a circulation, weekly, of over 2,000. It is a large, four page, nine-column paper, and, in mechanical execution, presents a good appearance.

The Logan County Index dates its origin back to 1859. In that year a man named Gribbell started a paper in the county, Republican in politics, which he called the Press. He sold it to A. R. Robert, who owned it for some time, and had as an editor, P. L. Hooper After numerous chances in the proprietorship and one or two intervals in which publication was suspended, the name of the paper, in April, 1876, was changed from the Press to the Index, and in August, 1876, it was purchased by '11r. J. H. Bowman, who has been its editor ever since. Mr. Bowman began his editorial career in the Centennial year, and if he continues it until the next American Centennial, he will be a veteran editor. In July, 1879, W. S. Roebuck bought an interest, and since then the paper has been in charge of Messrs. Bow man & Roebuck. It is a folio, eight columns to a page, and is Republican in politics.

There have been several papers established in West Liberty-some of them years ago. Among them were the West Liberty Budget. Banner, Press, Independent, and perhaps others. If the history of all these papers could be written, together with that of them different editors, it would make an interesting chapter. But our space is limited, and the briefest mention is all that we can make These papers were ably edited, but them careers, generally, were short. They flourishes for a season-swept over the scent; "like untamed meteors; flashed, darted and fizzled,' and then went out.

The West Liberty Gazette is their successor, or rather, it has risen out of their ashes The Gazette is now reeling off its fourth

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volume, and is edited and published by H. W. Hamilton, Esq., a young man of energy and enterprise, and a good writer.

The De Graff Banner was established in 1871, by D. S. Spellman, who sometime afterward sold it to W. A. Graffort. He conducted it for a while, and sold it, and after several changes in ownership, it again passed into the hands of its old proprietor and founder, Mr. Spellman, who changed the name to the Buckeye, and still publishes it under that name. It is a sprightly and readable paper, and is neat and attractive in appearance.

A few words on those who have passed from the editorial stage of Logan County are not inappropriate in this connection. Besides William Hubbard, who has already been noticed, there was Donn Piatt, the distinguished journalist and model correspondent; Coates Kinney, the author and poet; Hon. William H. West, the scholarly writer; Samuel T. Walker, vigorous in style; Judge William Lawrence, able and logical; Dr. Thomas L. Wright, smooth and easy, and still a contributor to medical journals; D. R. Locke, and many other lesser lights, who are still remembered. These gentlemen have all, at sometime, been connected with the Logan County press. Some of them are still residents of the county, but have retired from editorial life. Donn Piatt, as a journalist and correspondent, has a fame that will live long after he has laid down the pen forever. As editor of the Mack-hack Press, and the Washington correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, and later as the editor of the Capitol, a weekly paper published in Washington city, won a wide reputation both at home and abroad. Mr. Kinney was at one time the editor of the West Liberty Banner, and an occasional contributor to the Logan Gazette, and withal a poet of considerable talent. Judge West, Dr. Wright, and Judge Lawrence, are well known throughout the country, and are writers of acknowledged merit. Their only fault is in not contributing more than they do to the literature of the time. Mr. Walker, formerly editor of the Bellefontaine Republican, and afterward of the Council Bluffs (Iowa) Daily Nonpareil, was an able writer. D. R. Locke (Petroleum V. Nasby), also a former editor of the Bellefontaine Republican, is well-known.

The merits of the editorial fraternity who are still in the harness, we leave to some future historian to record. Familiar by personal experience, with the proverbial modesty of newspaper men, we refrain from speaking of this worth and excellence to their faces. The veteran Hubbard, the able and experienced Campbell, the accomplished Bowman, the sprightly Hamilton and the efficient Spellman, are laborers in the field of journalism, whose work is not yet finished. And when they have laid down the pen, it will be time enough to mete out to them the tribute of praise they have won.

Another interesting chapter in the history of our country is the origin and progress and perfection of the railroad system. Says a late writer upon the subject: "Among the social forces of the modern world, the railroad holds unquestionably the first place. There is not a single occupation or interest which it has not radically affected. Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, city and country life, banking, finance, law, and even government itself, have all felt its influence. But especially has the railroad been a potent influence in providing the material organization for the diffusion of culture among the people, and thus preparing the conditions for a new step in the social progress of the world."This is putting it in rather strong terms, but no more so than the subject demands, perhaps. The great change wrought in all the business

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affairs of life by the railroad system is almost beyond the power of the mind to comprehend. The first railroads in the world were built in England. We have an account of a railroad made of wooden rails in the collieries in the North of England nearly two centuries before the introduction of the locomotive. Upon these, cars or wagons were drawn by horses or mules, and they were used in hauling coat from the mines. As early as 1794 the use of the locomotive, in the place of animal power, was suggested, but no locomotive seems to have been constructed until 1805. They did not come into practical use, however, until 1830, upon the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

The United States, not to be outdone by the Mother Country, built. a railroad in 1827, from the granite doggies of Quincy, Mass., to the Neponset River, a distance of three miles. This road was operated by horse-power, and was the first railroad built upon the American Continent. During the same year a railroad was laid out from the Mauch Chunk coal mines of Pennsylvania to the Lehigh River, a distance of nine miles. In 1828 a railroad was constructed by the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, from their coal , mines to Honesdale, and it sent a commissioner to England to purchase rails and locomotives. These locomotives arrived in the spring of 1829, and were the first used in this country. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was commenced in 1828, and in the early part of the same year the South Carolina Railroad was chartered by the Legislature of that State. This road has always claimed for it Itself, that it was the first railroad in the country undertaken with the intention of using steam power. It extended from Charleston to Hamburg, and the first locomotive ever built in this country, and which was finished at the West Point foundry December 9, 1830, was built purposely for it. This locomotive was called the "Best Friend," and was constructed under the supervision of E. L. Miller, who was a strong advocate of steam power at a time when its success was still problematical.' It was accepted by the company for which it was built, and " performed with entire success," says the railroad commissioner in his report, " until the next summer, without a single day's interruption, when the negro who acted as fireman, being in commoded by the unpleasant noise of the steam escaping through the safety-valve, ventured on the experiment of confining it by pressing the weight of his body on the lever gauge of the safety-valve, which experiment resulted in the explosion of the boiler."

Slowly and with much precaution did the people of this country take hold of railroads. In January, 1832, it was reported that there were nineteen railroads, either completed or in process of construction in the United States, and that their aggregate length was nearly 1,400 miles. Though Congress afforded no material aid in this new era of internal improvements, yet this same year it exempted from duty the iron imported for railways and inclined planes, and actually used for their construction. In 1840 it has been estimated that our yearly average of railroad construction was about 500 miles. In 1850 this average had increased to 1,500 miles. In 1860 it was nearly 10,000, and in 1871 it was stated that enterprises requiring an expenditure of $800,000,000, and involving the construction of 20,000 miles of railroad were in actual process of accomplishment. In 1872 the aggregate capital of the railroads of the United States, which were estimated to embrace one-half the railroads of the world, was stated to amount to the enormous sum of $3,159,423,057, , their gross revenue being $473,241,055

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The following items in the history of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad will doubtless be read with interest by those well acquainted with that (at the present day) great railroad corporation. In July, 1832, this startling publication was made: " Many passengers and large quantities of freight pass daily on the railroad to and from Baltimore to the Point of Rocks on the Potomac, at which latter place; a new village is being built very rabidly. The entire journey 'out and home,' 140 miles, is now made in seventeen continuous hours, givng ample time to view the Point of Rocks, one of the most agreeable excursions that can be made in the country, and on many accounts highly interesting.'' Soon after the above was published, the following notice was made of its earnings: "The receipts for traveling and transportation on the Baltimore Ohio Railroad for the six months, ending the 31st of August, 1832, exceeded $108,000. The receipts during the same period last year. did not quite amount to $90,000; the increase was, therefore, about $18,000, being an average of $3,000 per month.'' The receipts of this great trunk line have increased somewhat since the foregoing record was made. Now it is one of the greatest and richest railroad companies in the United States, and has its branches and connections to all important points.

By way of illustrating the rapid and giant strides of the railroad system, we give the following in fhe history of the Union Pacific Railroad, which might, without violence to the subject, ire termed the very perfection of the system. The event, though probably still fresh in the minds of many, will, no doubt, in after years, become one of more than passing interest. The bill for building the Union Pacific Railroad was signed by President Lincoln on the first day of July, 1862, and on the some day he issued a call for 300,000 men to fight the battles of the Union. The idea of building the road was suggested by the generally felt necessity of a closer communication between the distant harts of the country. By the terms of the grant to the Union Pacific, the whole line, from the Missouri River to the Bay of Sacramento, was to be completed not later than July 1, 1876. The road was, however, completed, and the last tie-of polished laurel wood hound with silver bands -laid May 10, 1869, and fastened with a gold spike furnished by California, a silver one furnished by Nevada, anti one of a mixture of fold, silver and iron furnished by Arizona. This ceremony tool: place near the head of the Great Salt Lake, where the roads-the Central Pacific, chartered by California, and the Union Pacific, starting from the Missouri River met. It was the culmination of the period of railroad growth, and had a poetry about it that was sublime and grand. By a preconcerted arrangement the wires of the telegraph had been connected with the sledge used to drive the last spike, and the intelligence that the country had keen spanned by the railroad was known at the instant of its acconrplishment, at San Francisco and New York.

But to return to the early railroad history. As the system of railroads developed is the older settled States of the East, the Western people caught the "internal improvement" fever, and, with a high and laudable ambition to give to their own States a full share of those advantages which were adorning their elder sisters, they voted away millions of money for the construction of railroads and canals. Legislatures responded to the ardent messages of their Governors in a liberal manner, by chartering such a number of roads as '' to literally checker the map of their States. They saw nothing but the most prosperous times ahead, and the system of financiering that was inaugurated had well nigh, in the

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end, impoverished tire entire country. Who, that was living at that period, does not remember the excitement incident upon the building of railroads and canals? Ohio, as well as other Western States, took a front position in the old internal improvement system. In January 1817, we learn from " Howe's Historical Collections," the first resolution relating to a canal, connecting the Ohio River with Lake Erie, was introduced into the Legislature. In 1819, the subject was main agitated. In 1820, on the recommendation of Gov. Brown, an act was passed, providing for the appointment of three Canal Commissioners, who were to employ a competent engineer and assistants, for the purpose of surveying the route. But as the canals of the State have no especial place in the history of Logan County, we do not propose to enter into an extended notice of them in these pages. This brief allusion is made merely to illustrate the excitement which prevailed at an early day in regard to internal improvements.

There is some question and dispute as to the first railroad commenced, or actually built, in the State of Ohio. One authority is that the first road was built from Toledo, extending into the State of Michigan, and was about thirty miles in length. Another authority says the Little Miami was the first; and another, that the Sandusky & Mansfield was first; while still another claims the Cincinnati & Sandusky, or Mad River Railroad, as the first railroad of the State. If it was not the first, it was among the first railroad schemes of Ohio, and was intended to connect, by " iron bands of commerce," Lake Erie and the great watery highway of the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. The building of it was suggested by the successful completion and operation of the Baltimore &, Ohio R. R. It was an enterprise in which the people of Logan County were interested, as well as the people of the State. The Ohio State Gazette of July 5, 1832, published the following: "At a meeting of the Railroad Commissioners, held at Springfield, of the Mad River & Lake Erie R. R. Co., books were ordered to be opened at Delaware by Ezra Griswold and Solomon Smith, and at Marion by George H. Bushy and Hezekiah Gordon, in addition to places mentioned in last. meeting:' A resolution was adopted by the meeting alluded to, asking Messrs. Vance, Cook, Finlay, Crain and Corwin, members in Congress from the part of Olio through which the road is to pass, to " request of the President of the United States an engineer to make a survey, etc."

Another resolution of the same meeting requests the proceedings published in the towns where books are to be opened, and by " such other printers as are friendly to the object thereof." The proceedings of the meeting are signed by H. G. Philips, Chairman. In a publication of the same paper of November 14, 1833, under the head of " Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad," is the following: "It appears, from statements in New York papers, that the stock books were closed with h out the requisite amount of stock being taken in Eastern cities, and the New York Advertiser expresses a doubt as to ' whether the great work will be accomplished."' The Gazette, in an editorial, regretted the apparent failure of the enterprise, and urged a change in the charter of the road, so that it might be built on a shorter and more direct route. It further mentioned the fact that meetings had been held, and an effort made along the route to raise money ; that in Urbana alone 400 shares of stock had been taken.

But we will not attempt to follow it through all the different scenes of its construction; from its commencement to its completion. The first part of the road finished was from Sandusky to Tiffin, and it is this division that

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is claimed as the pioneer railroad. Finally there was sufficient stock taken to build the road from Tiffin to its southern terminus, and work commenced. But many obstacles were encountered, and many difficulties met with before the iron-horse pranced into Bellefontaine. Gen. Gardner, from whom much of the road's history was received, informed us drat the period when this road was being built, was one of the hardest, financially, that he had ever known. He related how once when the hands struck upon them, the Directors resolved to borrow a sum of money for present use (about $14,000) upon their own indorsement, but, with a directory, representing more than $300,000 in personal property, they could not anywhere in the country, borrow $14,000 upon their own indorsement. Gen. Gardner for a number of years was the Director for the State, and is conversant with the early history of the road. He gives another instance of the difficulty they experienced in raising money. At a certain time, wanting some money for some portion of the work going on, he went to the Treasurer, and found that the only money in the Treasury was a bill of exchange for $1,500, from a party in New York in payment of stock. The Treasurer tried, but failed to get it cashed in Bellefontaine; sent it to Urbana but could not get it cashed there. Gen. Gardner then sent his son by stage, to Springfield, to try to get the money there, but another failure was met with. He went from Springfield to Xenia, where the same luck awaited him, and it was not until he reached Cincinnati that he succeeded in getting the money on a paltry draft for $1,500.

Logan County took some $20,000 or $30,000 in the road, and the State about $270,000; this sum on the part of the State was paid out of what was known as the "Plunder Act," and as long as the State held an interest in the road, Gen. Gardner was the State's Director. After the road had been in operation some years, he was summoned to Columbus to meet a Committee of the Legislature in regard to selling the stock held by the State. Upon appearing before this Committee, which was composed of members from both Houses, they inquired of him what the stock was actual ly worth. He told them that in his judgment, it was not worth anything, but that he knew a man he thought would buy it at 7 cents on the dollar. It was finally sold at that price. The following are some of the men who were at the head of this road during the long period from its beginning to completion: Judge Cary, Judge Lane, (of the Supreme Court), John H. James, of Urbana, Osborne, Hunt, Judge Russell, John C. Yelvington, of New York. While Mr. James was at the head of affairs, he issued scrip to pay the hands, which passed current, "and looked," says Gen. Gardner, "very much like money." He issued it in sums as small as 25 cents, and 50 cents ; the 50 cent shinplasters, in order, perhaps, to glue them more of a Wall Street appearance, had an engraving of a bull upon diem.

But notwithstanding all these difficulties and drawbacks, the work was accomplished, and the road was completed, a fact which was announced in the Bellefontaine Gazette of July 17, 1847, under glaring head-lines, in the following paragraph: " The railroad is this week completed to Bellefontaine, and the long-looked for cars have at last arrived. Fifteen years ago, the surveyors, with chain and red flag came into the town, and the people thought the cars would soon follow." Thus we see that Bellefontaine had at last attained to the dignity of a railroad town, and was connected with the outer world by railroad. An item here, is perhaps worthy of note. The road was originally built on ties

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or timbers laid lengthwise, upon which was placed a 5/8 inch bar of iron; soon this bar was replaced with one 7/8 of an inch when the Directory concluded they had reached the perfection of railroad building.

The road was of undoubted benefit, and opened up a large tract of country that would, otherwise, to-day be a wilderness. Portions of Wyandotte, Hardin, Logan and Champaign have been largely benefitted. Urbana had no outlet, neither had Bellefontaine ; Kenton was in the woods. These, at. that time feeble villages, have become thriving and important towns ; but while it was beneficial in this way, it became almost oppressive in another. Like all corporations without opposition or competition it became a monopoly. The price for carrying wheat from the warehouse in Bellefontaine to Sandusky was 12 cents a bushel, and if the owner wanted to go along to look after his wheat, and was disposed to ride in the car with it, he could not do so without buying a ticket at full rate. With the lapse of time, however, and the building of competing roads, rates on this have been brought down to corresponding rates on other roads, and the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland Railroad, with all the improvements of the time is a popular and first class road in every respect. A branch extends from Spring field to Columbus, a distance of forty-five miles; and a branch also from Carey to Findlay, a distance of sixteen miles. In conclusion of the history of this road, we may mention another item of some interest, perhaps. 1t is said that. the "Sandusky," the first locomotive used on the Mad Ricer & Lake Erie Railroad, was the first in America to which a regular steam whistle was applied.

The Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway is of more recent construction than the road just described. The Indianapolis division taps Logan County, and was originally known as the Bellefontaine & Indianapolis Railroad. The Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis, popularly known throughout the country as the "Bee Line," was chartered in 1845. The question, however, of building this road, had been agitated as early as 1835, but years were spent in surveying routes and the discussion of questions connected with the road and the different lines advocated by interested parties, so that it was not until the early part of 1851 that trains ran through from Columbus to Cleveland. It was considered a grind achievement, and in 'honor of the occasion a great banquet was given in Cleveland, where a good time prevailed generally, and champagne suffered accordingly. In 1854, the Springfield, Delaware & Mount Vernon Railroad was completed to Delaware, where. it made connection with the Cleveland & Columbus road. This road became embarrassed financially, and in January, 1862, it was sold and purchased by the Cleveland & Columbus Railroad for $134,000. Soon after this purchase was made, an arrangement was effected with the Cincinnati & Springfield Railroad, by which a through route was made from Delaware to Cincinnati, and thus was formed the "Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad."

The Indianapolis connection of the "Three C's" was made by its purchase of the Bellefontaine & Indianapolis Railroad. This road was completed through Logan County in 1853, and was then known as the Bellefontaine & Indiana Railroad. It extended from Gallon west to the Indiana State line, where it connected with the Indianapolis, Pittsburg & Cleveland Railroad. These roads were consolidated in 1864, and became the "Bellefontaine & Indianapolis Railroad." which

road was purchased in 1868 by the "Bee Line," and then became, as now known, the

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"Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway," one of the great railroad corporations of the country.

Another road in which the county is somewhat interested, and which if ever built will be of considerable benefit to it, as well as to the county seat, is the Bellefontaine, Delaware Mount Vernon Railroad. About 1852 -53, the project was agitated and a large portion of the work done through the county. Some of the townships raised the necessary amount to build it through, while others failed. In places the grade is completed ready for the ties. For lack of necessary funds, however, the work has been discontinued. Whether it will ever be commenced main or not, time only will tell. number of other railroad projects have, at different times, Leer brought before the people of the county, but have all resulted in a little ripple of excitement for awhile, a good deal of talk, and then dissolved " in thin air.'' The Cleveland, Madison & Louisville Railroad was an instance of this kind, and was designed to connect Lake Erie with the Ohio River at the Falls. A company was formed in which Robert H. Canby, Abner Riddle and Hon. Benjamin H. Stan ton represented Bellefontaine. This, however, was as near as the road ever came of being completed.

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