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The following is a list of county officers for 1872 : Wm. M. Johnson, probate judge ; Isaac Hagey, auditor; William Lang, treasurer ; J. C. Millhime, clerk of common pleas court; Frank Baker, prosecuting attorney; John Wesley,. sheriff; Wm. De Witt, recorder ; P. H. Ryan, surveyor ; H. D. Rakestraw, D. E. Majors, and S. M. Ogden, commissioners; U. P. Coonrod, Eden Tease, G. W. Bachman, infirmary directors. The public schools of Tiffin employ twenty teachers, who give instruction to 970 pupils, with an average daily attendance of 69 per cent. The three Catholic schools have in charge the education of about 500 pupils. The Ursuline Convent, founded in 1862 by four nuns of that order from Cleveland, is under the management of an able corps of teachers, and possesses advantages for the accommodation of 100 boarding pupils. Heidelburg College employs six professors, and has an average attendance of 175 students. It is the first organized, and, as yet, only Collegiate Institution in northwestern Ohio, having been opened November 11, 1850, by Rev. J. H., and Rev. R. Good, of the German Reformed Church. The city also contains eleven churches, including one Episcopalian, one Presbyterian, one Baptist, one German Catholic, one Irish Catholic, one Methodist, one Methodist Episcopal, two Reformed, one Lutheran, and one Albright. The Citizens' Hospital and Orphan Asylum is an institution situated on a plat of forty acres, one mile from Tiffin, founded by Rev. J. L. Bihn, in 1868, and conducted by the sisters of St. Francis. In connection with the college is a Theological Seminary, open to students of all denominations who may desire to avail themselves of its advantages. One hundred and five ministers have been educated at the institution, and the average attendance is about twenty-five. The business houses of Tiffin include ten dry goods ; nine millinery and fancy goods ; three clothing ; six boot and shoe ; one hat and cap ; four jeweler ; three book and stationery ; five drug ; five hardware ; twenty-two grocery ; three tobacco and cigar; four con- Seneca County—Charles W. Foster, of Fostoria - 503 fectionary ; four furniture ; three crockery ; three saddlery ; four photograph galleries ; seven produce dealers, and seven hotels and boarding houses. In manufacturing industries, there are three foundry and machine shops ; Tiffin Agricultural Works ; Ohio Stove Works ; Tiffin Woollen Mills ; one churn and wooden ware factory ; one pump do ; two bent wood do ; one paper board mill ; one handle factory ; two planing mills, manufacturing sash, doors, blinds, etc.; three carriage factories ; three wagon do ; one flax and one wool carding mill ; one foundry ; one tile factory ; one wood stirrup do ; one boiler do ; five flouring mills ; three saw mills ; two stove factories ; two marble do ; three bakeries ; three breweries; two distilleries ; two tanneries ; two asheries; five cigar manufactories ; four lumber yards, and six lime kilns. The newspapers of Tiffin are well conducted, and consist of the Advertiser, by J. M. Armstrong and J. M. Myers ; the Tribune, by Lockes & Blymer, and the Star, by White & Foster.
Next in importance to Tiffin is Fostoria, of which future city Mr. Charles W. Foster being the founder, a brief personal sketch of him is here introduced. Mr. Foster was born in Rockfield, Worcester county, Massachusetts, November 21, 1800; and, in about 1820, his father and family removed to western New York, then a sparsely settled country. On the 7th of June, 1827, at Cambridge, Washington county, New York, he married Miss Laura Crocker; and, during the same year, removed to Seneca county, Ohio, and from thence, in October, 1832, to the place now known as Fostoria ; and, jointly with his father-in-law, John Crocker, and his brother-in-law, Roswell Crocker, entered. about 2,000 acres of unimproved land, in the town and neighborhood. Immediately after the arrival of the party, the town of Rome, in Seneca county, adjoining the Hancock county line, was laid out, and in November a store of goods was opened. The rival town of Risdon, located, one-half in Seneca and one-half in Hancock county, was platted about the same time by John Gorsuch—the town being named after the surveyor, David Risdon. In the last named town a store was established, about the same time with the one of Mr. Foster and his associates ; but the latter has continued, under a modification of partnership, and commencing forty years ago, with a capital of two thousand dollars, and tales of goods the first year not exceeding three thousand dollars, and those chiefly a barter trade—furs and skins being the chief medium of exchange—the house has now a paid up capital of $75,000, and last year's sales reached $130,000 ; and the outside business of the firm, including the trade in wool, grain, pork, lumber, etc., amounted, in cash, to over one million of dollars. There are few instances of business success in the Maumee Val- 504 Seneca County—Charles W. Roster, of Fostoria. ley that have been more marked, than that of Mr. Foster. With the exception of R. W. Shawhan, of Tiffin, there is not one of his co-temporaries -who, in 1832, were engaged in merchandise, and now pursuing the business. During this long period of business life, Mr. Foster was never a party to a contested law-suit. He has in some instances been compelled to bring suit against parties removing out of the country, or manifesting indifference to their obligations; but his extensive business has been generally conducted amicably and satisfactorily to all with whom he has had dealings. Among the first enterprises of public value that seemed a necessity, was the erection of a saw and grist-mill—the mills of Tiffin being the nearest—and, in about 1834, Roswell Crocker, with the aid of his father and brother-in-law, built a saw-mill, and in 1836 a grist-mill. These mills drew custom from distant settlements, and proved highly beneficial to the new town and country. The town of Risdon, after the consolidation of the two places in the year 1852, transferred its business activity to Rome, and the point now known as Fostoria, where it will have a permanent and prosperous abiding place. To Mr. Charles W. Foster, and to his son, Hon, Charles Foster, and to their enterprise and foresight—a. fording substantial aid to every proposition which gave a reasonable promise of advancing the moral and material growth of the place—is this recently isolated inland town indebted for the rank it now holds, and for the promise of continued growth. Starting the town in the wilderness, with his courageous partners, and with an adjoining rival to contest the field, there are not many who would not, during some of these forty years that are past, have yielded a conflict that now, when we look back, must have appeared hopeless to one of less energy and will. Although having passed a life of unusual activity, and achieved a degree of success rarely attending, under the circumstances, human effort, Mr. Foster now appears, at the age of seventy-three, in the very prime of vigorous manhood. The shipments made by G. Morgan & Co., from March 1, to July 30, 1872, five months, were 3,100 barrels of eggs (220,000 dozen), and 2,500 firkins of butter. Foster, Olmsted & Co., bought, during the year ending July, 1872, 185,000 bushels of wheat ; 300,000 pounds of wool ; 175,000 bushels of oats; 50,000 bushels of corn, and 5,000 dressed hogs. And other parties shipped, during the same period, about 12,000 barrels of flour; 2,000,000 feet of lumber ; 7,000 hogs, and 3,000 head of cattle and horses. Fostoria contains Presbyterian, Methodist, United Brethren, Lutheran and Catholic churches ; one newspaper—the Fostoria Review, by Mr. Jones, editor and proprietor—one bank; four hotels (the principal being the Hayes House, W. W. Reed, proprietor) ; three general merchandise stores, which last year made sales amounting to Sandusky County—Its Organization - 505 $261,000 ; three provision, two jewelry, three hardware, three clothing, one drug, and two stove stores; three tin, three harness, four millinery, two dress making, and two marble establishments; two furniture sales rooms ; two meat markets ; two photograph galleries, and one news depot. Also, two grist and three saw mills; one stave and barrel, and one tile factory ; two planing mills ; two foundries; four carriage, and six blacksmith shops ; one tannery; one ashery ; five brickyards ; two boot and shoe shops and stores, and four shoe shops ; two bakery and confectionery stores, and one grain elevator. SANDUSKY COUNTY Was organized, according to the court record, in pursuance of an act of the General Assembly of Ohio, February 12, 1820. ,George Tod was President Judge of the Circuit, and Israel Harrington, David Harrold, and Alexander Morrison, Associate Judges. James Williams was appointed clerk pro tempore ; "whereupon,"—so the record reads--" the sheriff returned the venire for the grand jurors, and it appearing that the venire did not issue thirty days before the return, the array being challenged, the panel was questioned ; whereupon the sheriff was ordered to select a new jury from the bystanders, and the following persons being called, appeared, to wit : Joshua Davis, Elisha W. Howland, Jonathan II. Jerome, William Morrison, Josiah Rumery, Nicholas Whittinger, William Andrews, Ruel Loomis, James Montgomery, Caleb Rice, Robert Harvey, Thomas Webb, Elijah Brayton, Charles B. Fitch, and Reuben Bristol ; whereupon Charles B. Fitch was appointed foreman, and took the oath prescribed by law ; and his fellow-jurors, after taking the same oath, received a solemn charge from the court and retired. "Upon application, David Baker was appointed Inspector of the County of Sandusky, and entered into bonds according to law. " Willis E. Brown produced his commission as Sheriff of the County of Sandusky, and was sworn to execute the duties of his office in open court. "Phillip B. Hopkins is appointed clerk pro tempore." Election Notice and Poll Book of Election, August 1, 1815 : Notice is hereby given to the qualified electors of the township of Lower Sandusky, to meet at the house of Israel Harrington on the 15th day of August, at 10 o'clock A. M., then and there to elect township officers, as the law directs. Said township to comprise all that part of Huron county west of the 24th range of Connecticut Reserve. ELI S. BARNUM, CALEB PALMER, CHARLES PARKER, Commissioners. HURON, August 1, 1815. 506 - Sandusky County - Early History. In pursuance of the foregoing notification, the electors of Lower Sandusky assembled and made choice of Israel Harrington, Esq., for Chairman of said meeting. Elisha Harrington and Charles R. Fitch were chosen judges of election. Ephraim Johnston and Isaac Lee were appointed clerks. At that election, the following officers were chosen: Trustees, Israel Harrington, Randall Jerome, and Jeremiah Everett; township clerk, Isaac Lee; overseers of the, poor, Morris A. Newman, and William Andrews ; fence viewers, Isaac Lee, and William Ford; appraisers, Charles B. Fitch, and Henry Dubrow ; lister, Charles B. Fitch ; supervisors, William Andrews, and Morris A. Newman. Israel Harrington, who died in 1841, was one of the early " innkeepers" at Lower Sandusky ;—was a good citizen and neighbor, and understood how to conduct a house of entertainment. Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, after the battle of the Thames, in which conflict he received a painful wound, was a guest, during several days, under the hospitable roof of Mr. Harrington. Regarding the signification of the name of the county, John H. James, in the American Pioneer, makes the statement following : "I have a note of a conversation with William Walker, at Columbus, in 1835-6, at which time he was principal chief of the Wynndots, at Upper Sandusky, in which I asked the meaning of the word Sandusky. He said it meant ' at the cold water,' and should be sounded San-doos-tee. He said it carried with it the force of a preposition. The Upper Cold Water, and the Lower Cold Water, then, were descriptive Indian names, given long before the presence of the trader, Sowdowsky. In the vocabulary of Wyandot words, given by John Johnston, formerly Indian agent in Ohio, as printed in Archaeologia Americana, vol. 1, p. 295, the word water is given, Sa, undustee, or, water within pools." The late Major B. F. Stickney, in a lecture delivered before the Young Men's Association of 'Toledo, February 28, 1845, said : "The remains of extensive works of defence are now to be seen near Lower Sandusky. The Wyandots have given me this account of them : At a period of two centuries and a half since, or more, all the Indians west of this point were at war with all the Indians east. Two walled towns were built near each other, and each was inhabited by those of Wyandot origin. They assumed a neutral position, and all the Indians at war recognized that character. They might be called two neutral cities. All of the west might enter the western city, and all of the east the eastern. The inhabitants of one city might inform those of the other, that war parties were there, or had been there ; but who they were, or whence they came, or anything more, must not be mentioned. The war parties might remain there in security, taking their own time for departure. At the western town they suffered the warriors to burn their prisoners near it; but the eastern would not. An old Wyandot informed me Sandusky County--Early History - 507 that he recollected seeing, when a boy, the remains of a cedar post, or stake, at which they formerly burned prisoners. "The French historians tell us that these neutral cities were inhabited, and their neutral character respected, when they first came here. At length a quarrel arose between the two cities, and one destroyed the inhabitants of the other. This put an end to neutrality." Tecumseh's brother, "the Prophet," made a visit to the Wyandots, at Lower Sandusky, as early as 1806 (says Peter Navarre), and designated four of their best women as witches, whom he appointed men to slay at midnight. This fearful deed would have been consummated, but for the timely interference of Rev. Joseph Badger, missionary to the Wyandots. In a mannscript memoranda of Rev. R. A. Sherrard, now in possession of Mr. Butterfield, of Bucyrus, the following account is given of a trial at a term of the Sandusky Court of Common Pleas: "When at Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), the 1st of May, 1824, I attended a term of the Court of Common Pleas of Sandusky county. The first case called was one brought by a Seneca Indian, represented by his next friend, a fourth breed Indian, a local Methodist preacher named Montgomery. The suit was brought to prove the identity and ownership of a pony horse, which Montgomery, acting for the Seneca Indian, had replevied, having found the horse in the possession of a white man, living three or four miles west of the Seneca reservation. " The Indian's statement was, that he had raised the pony from a colt, and had been out on a hunting excursion, near where his opponent, the white man, lived, when his pony left him, and was making its way homeward, to the Seneca Reserve, when it was taken up by defendant. The white mAn claimed that he had raised the beast, and was its rightful owner. The plaintiff also asserted the same claim. "The Indian had five witnesses of his own tribe, the testimony of each being directly in favor of his claim. The first of these witnesses was 01d George,' the chief, a tall, portly man, six feet and two inches in height, and a well-proportioned figure, though over seventy years of age. I frequently met his father, whose hair was once, it is said, as black and coarse as that of a horse' tail ; but when I first met him, in 1824, his hair was as White as a sheep's wool, and he was said to have passed his hundredth year. "He was born at or near Cayuga Lake, in the State of New York, and was generally known as Cayuga George, the chief. His testimony was expected to be corroborated by four other Indians. A question suggested itself to the court (Judge Ebenezer Lane being President Judge of the circuit,) and attorneys, as to the form of oath proper to be administered to the Indian witnesses. After some deliberation, Judge Lane, through an interpreter, put the question to the chief in the following words : 508 - Sandusky County—Early History. " Do you believe that the Great Spirit will punish you, if youtell a lie about the horse ?' "George quickly replied, and with great animation in his countenance, that he would not tell a lie for any man's horse. " The Judge then ordered the witnesses to hold up their right hand, each, and put the test to them as follows : " You and each of you, do solemnly promise to speak the truth, as you believe that the Great Spirit will punish you, if you tell a lie about the ownership of the horse, now in dispute between the Indian and the white man ;' to which they gave their assent by a nod, and the exclamation Ugh !' " The Indians were then questioned, one by one, commencing with George, the chief, as to what they knew concerning the pony, or horse, in dispute; and their averment was, that the Seneca Indian who claimed the horse raised him from a colt, and that he was three years old that spring. The four witnesses of the white claimant testified directly the reverse of this, and swore that the white man had been the owner of the pony since it was a colt, had raised it, and that it was four years old that spring. " Here was a discrepancy between the witnesses. of the opposing parties as to the age of the colt; and, in order to aid the jury in reconciling the conflicting testimony, the judge ordered the sheriff to call three men, who claimed knowledge of such matters, to ascertain the age of a horse by examination of his teeth. "The sheriff selected three men who professed to be endowed with this gift, and who, after a careful examination of the beast's mouth, testified that he was of the age sworn to by the Indian witnesses.— Contrary to the evidence, the jury brought in a verdict for the white man. "And thus ended that lawsuit, showing the uncertainty of the law. A number of white men raised fifteen dollars, and purchased the horse, and delivered it to the Indian, who returned to his home in the Reservation, consisting of forty thousand acres, situated on the east side of the Sandusky river, five miles above Fremont." And regarding the Seneca Indians, the same writer has the following: "The Ohio fragment of the Seneca tribe was an off-shoot from the old Senecas of New York. This swarm, or colony, from the old line, left it more than 200 years ago, and settled on the Sandusky river, around where Fremont now stands, and where they resided from that time until they sold out their reservation to the United States, under the treaty made at Washington city in February, 1831, —James B. Gardner being the Commissioner of the General Government. "In pursuance of this treaty, the Senecas removed to the Nesho river, west of the Mississippi, in the fall of 1831. Their reservation was sold by order of President Jackson, in the autumn of 1832. " At the time of the horse trial mentioned above, George, the
Sandusky County—Early History - 509 chief, and his father, were both living, but both had become old, and far advanced in life. George was the only acting chief, ruler, or head man of the Seneca tribe, and was much respected, not only by his own race, hut by all the white settlers who knew him, or had any dealings with him. His word would be taken among the white people, by whom he was known, far beyond many of the white population of that country at that time. He would not suffer any thieving person, male or female, of his own, or of any other tribe, if he knew it, to live among his Indians. The punishment for that, and other crimes, was club law'—the offender being clubbed outside his jurisdiction ; and if the culprit returned at a future period, death by clubbing would be his portion. Murder, in all cases, was punishable by death. It was a rare crime among the Senecas, and only occurred in drunken broils." "While at Lower Sandusky, in May, 1824," Mr. Sherrard continues, "I often met George, the chief, and his wife: She frequently visited Lower Sandusky, distant five miles from her residence, and travelled upon her pony, using a side-saddle. The Seneca women generally rode upon a man's saddle, and after the custom of men, a leg on each side the body of the horse ; but they had a neat way of tucking their Indian blanket around their legs, and they all wore leggins and moccasins. " One day George and his wife, on returning from Lower Sandusky, called at the house of Colonel Chambers, two miles above town, where Mr. Sherrard boarded ; and, after being seated, George took out his pipe and filled it with tobacco, and commenced smoking. He then made enquiry of Mrs. Chambers whether she " had lost hankish, like one on neck ;" at the same time pointing to the one she wore. She replied that she had not missed any as yet, " Me know you have," said George. "Me see many on line to dry; Mohawk squaw live 'mong us; she steal one like dat on neck; me think she stole from line when dry. Next time me come, me bring him. Me no 'low Indian steal ; me good man ; me good in here ;" at the same time placing his hand over his heart. "Having finished this bit of discourse, he and his wife left, forgetting the twist of tobacco from which he had filled his pipe. Shortly after he was gone, Mrs. Chambers noticed the forgotten tobacco, and remarked that when he came again, she would give it to him. "'Yes,' said I, 'and tell him you are good woman—good in here." In regard to the Indian murder, reference to which is made by Judge Higgins (pp. 282, 283), Mr. Sherrard gives the following account : "About the year 1825, Coonstick, Steel and Cracked-Hoof, left the reservation for the double purpose of a three years' hunting and trapping excursion, and to seek a location for a new home for the tribe in the west. At the time of their starting, Comstock, the brother of the two first, was the principal chief of the tribe. On their return, in 1828, richly laden with furs and horses, they found Seneca 510 - Sandusky County - Early History. John, their fourth brother, chief in place of Comstock, who had died during their absence. Comstock was the favorite of the two and they at once charged Seneca John with producing his death by equalled. Said he witchcraft. John denied. the charge in a strain of eloquence rarely "'I loved my brother Comstock more than the green earth I stand upon. I would give up myself; limb by limb, piecemeal by piecemeal ;—I would shed my blood, drop by drop, to restore him to life.' "But all his protestations of innocence and affection for his brother Comstock, were of no avail. His two other brothers pronounced him guilty, and declared their determination to become his executioners. John replied that he was willing to die, and only wished to live until next morning, to see the sun rise once more. This request being granted, John told them that he would sleep that night on Hard-Hickory's porch, which fronted the east, where they would find him at sunrise.- He chose that place because he did not wish to be killed in presence of his wife, and desired that the chief, Hard-Hickory, witness that he died like a man. "Coonstick and Steel retired for the night to an old cabin near by. In the morning, in company with Shane, another Indian, they proceeded to the house of Hard-Hickory,—who was my informant, —who stated that a little after sunrise he heard their footsteps on the porch, and he opened the door just wide enough to peep out. He saw John asleep upon his blanket, and they standing near him. At length one of them awoke him, and he immediately rose, took off a large handkerchief which was around his head,.letting his unusually long hair fall upon his shoulders. This being done, he looked around upon the landscape, and upon the rising sun, to take a farewell look of a scene he was never again to behold ; and then announced to his brothers that he was ready to die. " Shane and Coonstick each took him by the arm, and Steel walked behind. In this way they led him about ten steps from the porch, when his brother, Steel, struck him with a tomahawk on the back of his bead, and he fell to theground, bleeding freel y. S posing the blow sufficient to -kill him, they dragged him undeur a p-peach tree near by. In a short time he revived, however, the blow having been broken by his great mass of hair. Knowing that it was Steel who struck the blow, John, as he lay, turned his head towards Coonstick, and said :. 'Now, brother, take your revenge !' This so operated on Coonstick, that he interposed to save him ; but the proposition enraged Steel to such a degree, that he drew his knife and cut John's throat from ear to ear ; and the next day he was buried with the usual Indian ceremonies, not more than twenty feet from where he fell." The judicial basis upon which the judgment of the Court was rendered in the foregoing case, is clearly stated in the communication of Judge David Higgins, already referred to. Sandusky County—Early History - 511 Mr Sherrard has also the following in regard to the religion of the Indians : "Here I would offer another remark from an idea which has been discussed in connection with this matter —which is, that I have reason to believe that the Seneca, as well' as the Osage Indians, may have been sun worshippers. I reach this conclusion from the circumstance of the willingness of Seneca John to meet death on condition that his brothers would let him live until morning, to see the sun rise once more. " The reply of George, the chief, to the missionaries, was, at all times, that their own religion was good enough but what that religion consisted in, I have no account, further than that they had a strong native belief in a Great Spirit, that overlooked the affairs and actions of mankind. The Senecas have also a custom handed down from their ancestors, and points to their Jewish origin as one of the lost ten tribes. They have a yearly sacrifice; and for that purpose fatten a white dog—for they utterly abhor and detest any other color. At this sacrifice, the whole male portion of the tribe are convened. This statement I obtained from Colonel Chambers, in 1824, who was well acquainted with the manners and customs of the Senecas." A writer in the Fremont Messenger, Mr. Morris E. Tyler, communicates to that sprightly journal the interesting reminiscences quoted below : " During the war of 1812, while D. P. Snow, who lived at Cold Creek (now called Castalia), was absent from home, Captain Pumpkin and a band of Indians captured the family of Mr. Snow. He instantly illed an infant. They marched the rest towards the Sandusky bay. Mrs. Snow being unable to travel, was tomahawked and scalped within a few rods of the house. The remainder of the family, two sons and one daughter, they took to. their canoes. They then conveyed them to Detroit, which had been disgracefully surrendered by the coward, Hull, where they sold them to the British government. After this brutality on the part of Pumpkin and his band, he killed some of his own people, when they in revenge killed this Indian murderer, on the Stony Prairie, about one mile from the city of Fremont. " The Indians were in the habit of watching for the United States mail, which came weekly from Columbus to the forces in this part of the State. The Indians knew the day, and awaited the arrival of the mail carriers. About twenty of the redskins secreted themselves behind logs, in an oak opening, about one mile arid a half south of Fremont, up the river. On that day, General. Harrison sent Colonel Ball with twenty-seven dragoons to Fort Stephenson. On their way, they were attacked by the Indians, who were defeated by Colonel Ball's force, without the loss of a single man, and the mail was saved from British inspection. 512 - Sandusky County—Early History. "The village and township of Ballville was named after Colonel Ball in honor of this achievement. "James Whittaker, the first white man who settled here, was cap. tured near Fort Pitt (now Pittsburg), by the Indians, about the year 1778, while hunting. He was compelled to run the gauntlet, and was adopted by the Wyandot tribe, and was considered one of their people. "Elizabeth Fueks was the first white woman who settled in Sandusky county. She was captured by the Indians when she was about eleven years old, at Cross Roads, Pennsylvania, about the year 1780, and was adopted by the Wyandot Indians as one of their tribe. She was married to James Whittaker, at Detroit. They settled here at a very early day. Mr. Whittaker was an Indian trader. He died in 1806, at Upper Sandusky, after partaking with his partner, Hugh Patterson, a glass of wine which, it is supposed, contained poison, as he died very suddenly after taking it. "At the close of the war, the following named settlers were living: Jeremiah Everett (father of Homer Everett), Israel Harrington, Morris A. Newman (father of the wife of Judge Knapp), James Nugin, and David Gallagher, who was then commissary at Fort Stephenson. "Judge Isaac Knapp carried the mail a portion of that year, from Fort Stephenson to Fort Meigs (now Perrysburg). At that time, there was no road, and he was guided by blazes or spots made on the trees by hewing with a hatchet. The route travelled was a dangerous one. They started from Fremont, went down the river to Muskalonge creek, thence west about one mile, where they crossed the creek by fording ; thence to Portage river which they crossed, where Elmore is now situated ; from there by a circuitous route to Fort Meigs. "In those days the mail carriers were men of courage and determination, as the Indians and wolves were opposed to the advancement of our system of civilization. " Fort Stephenson was built upon the ground now occupied by Lewis Leppelman and Dr. W. B. Ames, for residences. The fort was within the square formed by Arch, Garrison, High, and Croghan streets. The fort was built of pickets twelve feet high above the ground, and the line surrounded by a ditch nine feet wide and six feet deep. The earth from this ditch was thrown up against the pickets. Within the fort were three rude structures, used by the garrison for storehouses. It was built for a garrison of 200. On the west side of the fort, the ditch was situated on the north side of High, and about the centre of Croghan street. " Before the war of 1812, there was a large town built by the Muncie Indians, which was called Muncie village. It was situated several miles below Fremont, on the Sandusky river, on what is known as the Neil lands, at a point where a rivulet enters the river, Sandusky County—First Preacher - 513 a few rods above a house now occupied by a man named Harrison. This village was destroyed in the war of 1812. "Rev. Joseph Badger was the first man who preached the gospel in Sandusky county. In the year 1800, the Missionary Societies of the Eastern States desired to send missionaries to the Indians in the northern part of Ohio. At their instance, he came here and resided among the Wyandots and other tribes of Indians. The same year he returned to Blandford, Massachusetts, and afterwards returned to Ohio, and settled on the Western Reserve. Before the war of 1812, his labors were divided between the Western Reserve and the country bordering on the Sandusky and Maumee rivers. In 1812, he was appointed chaplain by Governor Meigs, was in Fort Meigs during the siege of 1813, and through the war was attached to General Harrison's command. He died in Wood county in 1846." The following sketch of the first Court House at Lower Sandusky, is from the pen of Homer Everett : "The first Court House in Lower Sandusky, was erected between the month of July and the last day of December. on the site near the present residence of Hon. R. P. Buckland. The frame was then put up and covered, but not finished. The whole surrounding was then densely covered with thick oak trees. It was away out in the woods. A. year or two afterwards, this frame was moved on rollers to the top of the hill, on the lots now occupied by Rev. H. Lang, and constitutes his residence. From sometime about the year 1825 or 1826, to 1840, this building was called the Court House, when our present one was completed. "The first one was built by subscription ; the location was warmly contended for by the east and west sides, each making the best offer it was able to perform. The subscription signed by the inhabitants west of the river, is dated August 1, 1823, and is quite indicative of the state of things in a monetary and pecuniary point of view. The list embraces four columns, one for the amount of cash, one for the amount of labor, one for the amount of produce, and one for the amount of material subscribed. Out of the thirty-three signers, only fifteen subscribed money, and the total amount of cash raised was only $235, The remainder of the $1,800, which was the total of the subscription, was signed material, labor, and produce. "The building was first let to Cyrus Hulburt, who failed to fulfill his contract, and afterwards let to Thomas I.. Hawkins, for $2,400, the County Commissioners paying six hundred dollars in orders on the Treasury." The act of March 12, 1820, established the county seat at Croghansville ; but Commissioners appointed by the General Assembly to review the location, in 1822, established it on the west side of the river, where it has since remained. - 32 - 514 - Sandusky County—Pioneers, &c. The fifty-ninth anniversary of Croghan's defence of Fort Stephenson was celebrated at Fremont, on Friday, August 2, 1872, by a large concourse of old residents of the Maumee Valley. The Fremont Democratic Messenger, August 8, 1872, concludes a notice of the celebration as follows : "The victory of Croghan and his brave band of heroes, gave prominence to this place ; to Ohio, a glorious page in history ; to Croghan and his determined supporters, imperishable honors, and lustre to the American arms. " Well may our people honor and cherish, in grateful remembrance, the brave and heroic defenders of Fort Stephenson." Isaac Knapp located at Fort Stephenson in September, 1814. None who were then citizens of the place; survive him. The pickets of the Fort, and the two large block houses, situated on the south line of the enclosure ; the sentry-box on the southeast corner ; the magazine in the northwest corner, and a large block house projecting over the picket line, and designed to cover the ditches, were then in good condition of preservation. About ninety to one hundred men, under command of Captain Gest, garrisoned the post. The fort was evacuated in May or June, 1815. Lieutenants Thomas L. Hawkins, and Thomas E. Boswell, after the evacuation, remained at the fort, and made the place their permanent home. Morris A. Newman, from Norwalk, was military postmaster, and kept a small store. Israel Harrington was a tavern-keeper; and Messrs. Disborough and Wilson, who, in 1818, built a schooner for the lake trade, were also here. And so was Jeremiah Everett, and Josiah Rumsey—the last named building the schooner General Brown, in 1819. There were, also, in 1814, several French families—among them Thomas DeMasque, Joseph and Baptiste Momeny, and a Mr. LaPoint. There was also a Mr. Loomis, a Mr. Crossett, and Major Stoddard, an old man without a family, and Moses Nichols, who afterwards erected a tannery.--George Shannon had resided in the neighborhood of Fort Stephen. son before the war, and married one of the daughters of the well-known Whitakers, but fled after the war broke out, and returned after Perry's victory. Lysander Ball located in the neighborhood in 1818; and during the same year, Thomas Holcomb, and Samuel Hollinshead, the latter now of Port Clinton. In early life, Isaac Knapp exhibited several instances:of the highest order of moral courage, and which have few parallels. In addition to his military service in the war of 1812, he served, after he had many years passed the " military age" of life, in the war with Mexico, in 1846-47 ; and in civil life was a member of the Ohio Legislature, Associate Judge, etc. John S. Tyler was one of the pioneers of the county. His death, Which occurred January 12, 1873, was noticed in the Fremont Messenger, as follows : Sandusky County—Dr. L: Q. Rawson - 515 "Mr. Tyler was born in Cayuga county, New York, on the 25th day of December, 1803. He came to this city with his father's family from Detroit, Michigan, in 1816, and at time of his father's death had been a resident of this city for fifty-seven years. He was engaged in mercantile business in Fremont and Elmore for a number of years. He was highly esteemed by all our people as a good citizen, neighbor and friend. his family were all present at his bedside. His remains, on Tuesday afternoon, were followed by a number of our early settlers, and a large number of mourning friends, to their final resting place in Oakwood cemetery."
DR. L. Q. RAWSON. Three brothers, each distinguished in his sphere of life, have left their impress upon the early history of northwestern Ohio. The late Abel Rawson, Esq., of Tiffin, hitherto mentioned, was one of the oldest and most prominent members of the northwestern Ohio bar. Previous to his removal to Ohio, in 1824, he was admitted as a lawyer in his native State, Massachusetts; • and at the August term of the Supreme Court, in 1825, to the Ohio bar, and established himself in practice at Fort Ball, then a rival of Tiffin, but now forming a part of that city. Mr. Rawson closed his long and useful life on the 24th of August, 1871. Dr. L. Q. Rawson, a younger brother of the above mentioned, was born September 14, 1804. The place of his birth, although within the established boundaries of a State, was in a place so barren and inhospitable, that it was not embraced within any civil jurisdiction. The locality was known as " Irvin's grant," and was situated between the towns of Warwick and Wendall, in Franklin Co., Mass., and was so rough, rocky, and worthless, that neither of the adjacent towns would consent to extend over it the protection of municipal law. Hence, the doctor facetiously remarks, when approached touching the place of his birth, that he " was not born anywhere." The locality has since, however, achieved the dignity of a lawful birth, and organized as a town called Irvin. When the doctor was yet a boy, three or four years old, his father and family removed to New Salem, now Orange, Franklin county, Massachusetts, where he remained until he bade adieu to his friends and native State, in March, 1824, and came to Ohio. He passed some time in the counties of Geauga, Summit, and Muskingum, pursuing medical studies, until July, 1826, when, having received a license from the Ohio Medical Society, he engaged in the practice of his profession, at Tyamochtee, then Crawford county, and in December, 1827, removed to his present residence, Fremont, Ohio. He attended medical lectures, and received the degree of M. D. 516 - Sandusky County—Dr. L. Q. Rawson. from the Ohio Medical College, and the University of Pennsylvania, and continued in active practice until 1855. On the 8th of July, 1829, the doctor married Miss Sophia Beaugrand, daughter of John B. Beaugrand, one of the early Indian traders at Maumee City, and who was engaged in business at that place on the occurrence of the war of 1812. When he commenced practice in Lower Sandusky, in 1827, the two physicians in the place were Drs. Brainard and Hastings. He has survived many years his professional cotemporaries, and is now, at the age of 68, in full health and vigor. The general limit to his practice was west to the Portage river, from the source of that stream to its entrance into the bay at Port Clinton ; on the east, Clyde, and on the south to Fort Seneca. None of the intervening streams, crossed by these several routes, were then bridged, except the river at Lower Sandusky. The inhabitants were generally poor; and even those in comparatively comfortable circumstances, and disposed to pay, had little money, and offered produce in liquidation of their physicians' bills. In 1834, the cholera scourge prevailed at Lower Sandusky. The people generally, at that time, regarded the disease as contagious, and the mass of them locked their doors, and refused to leave their houses, or admit visitors. Drs. Rawson and Brown, Mr. Birchard, and Judge Hulbert, discharged the several offices of physician, nurse, and undertaker. The population of the town then amounted to about three hundred, and the per cent. of deaths was large. This was the first year of the visitation of the cholera, and on no occasion of its subsequent appearance at Lower Sandusky, has the disease been attended with results so fatal. From 1836 to 1851, he was clerk of the court—his professional business, however, rendering it necessary that the principal charge of the office be confided to a deputy. The Louisville and Lake Erie Railway, with which the name of Dr. Rawson is so closely identified, was incorporated April 25,1853 —Charles W. Foster, L. Q. Rawson, Sardis Birchard, James Justice, and John R. Pease, being the corporators. The Company was organized on a capital of $200,000. The purpose was, " the construction of a railroad from the town of Fremont, in the county of Sandusky, through the counties of Sandusky and Seneca, to the town of Rome, in said county of Seneca; thence through the counties of Seneca and Hancock, to the . town of Findlay, in said county of Hancock ; thence through the counties of Hancock, Allen, Auglaize, Mercer, and Darke, to the west line of the State of Ohio, in said county of Darke.'' In 1855, he made an effort to withdraw from professional business, and engage in railroad enterprises ; and, co-operating with Mr. C. W. Foster, of Fostoria, was among the original projectors of the Lake Erie and Louisville railroad, and, to their united energies and labors, the country interested in that important work is unquestion- Sandusky County—Sardis Birchard - 517 ably indebted for the progress it has made, and for the prospects of its early completion. Since his effort to relieve himself of medical practice, he has devoted his energies to the work of enlisting capital and local aid in behalf of this road. At the first organization of the company, in 1853, he was elected Director and President, and has maintained, uninterruptedly, these relations down to the present time—having, in fact, the general management of all the interests of the road. Dr. Bass Rawson, the third brother, removed to Findlay in September, 1829, and has continued uninterruptedly and successfully the practice of his profession in that place. He is one of the oldest and most honored citizens of that city.
SARDIS BIRCHARD. Sardis Birchard, of Fremont, Sandusky county, was born in Wil- mington, Windham county, Vermont, January 15, 1801. He lost both his parents, while yet a child. His father, Roger Birchard, died in 1805,; and his mother, Drusilla Austin Birchard, in 1813. Both of his grandfathers were revolutionary soldiers. His grandfather, Elias Birchard, died of disease contracted in the service near the close of the war. His grandfather, Captain Daniel Austin, served as an officer under Washington throughout the war, and survived many years. The Birchards were among the first settlers of Norwich, Connecticut. When his mother died, five children survived her, of whom the subject of this sketch, Sardis, was the youngest. He was placed in charge of his sister, Sophia, who had married Rutherford Hayes; became one of their family, and lived with them at Dummerston, Vermont, until 1817, when he accompanied them in their emigra-, tion to Ohio. In Vermont, young Birchard acquired the rudiments of an English education, by an irregular attendance at such schools as were in existence at that day in the country towns of Vermont; became an expert hunter and horseman for a boy of his age, and gained some knowledge of business in the store of his brother-in-law, Mr. Hayes. In Ohio, he worked with his brother-in-law in building, farming, driving, and taking care of stock, and employing all his spare hours in hunting. He was able, with his rifle, to supply his own and other families with turkeys and venison. In 1822, his brother-in law, Mr. Hayes, died, leaving a widow and three young children, and a large unsettled business. Mr. B., who was barely twenty-one years old, at once assumed the duties of the bead of the family, and applied himself diligently. to the management of the unsettled affairs of his brother-in-law's estate, and to the care of his household. Inheriting from his father what was then considered a handsome 518 - Sandusky County—Sardis Birchard. start for a young man, with a jovial and friendly disposition, fond of wild sports and wild company, with no one to look up to as entitled to control or advise him, his future might well be regarded with apprehension. He was then a slender, delicate, handsome youth, with engaging and popular manners, and a favorite among. the young people of the new country. Warmly attached to his sister and her children, he devoted himself to them and their interests, and was the main stay of the family. While yet a boy, he was hired to help drive hogs to feed the first settlers at Fort Ball, now Tiffin, in 1817. The men in charge were hard drinkers, and, soon after leaving Delaware, the whole business depended on Birchard. It was in the bitterly- cold weather of early winter; the roads and streams were impassable; but with an energy and spirit which delighted his employers, he pushed through to the Tymochtee, where he was met by a party of settlers at Fort Ball, to whom he safely delivered the drove of hogs. This was Mr. Birchard's first visit to the Sandusky region. He first visited his future home, Fremont, then Lower Sandusky, in September, 1824. His companion was Benjamin Powers, for many years past a respectable citizen and successful merchant and banker of Delaware, Ohio. The young men traveled in a one-horse spring wagon, and their outfit consisted of a little extra clothing, and a jug of fine brandy. The then universal custom of the country for friends and acquaintances, on meeting, to drink together, made the brandy a by no means insignificant part of their supplies. At Fort Ball they met Erastus Bowe, and other friends, formerly of Delaware, and had a jolly meeting, in which the brandy was not altogether neglected. At Lower Sandusky, they stopped at Leason's tavern, a log house on the east side of Front street, where Shomos' block now stands. The pickets were still standing around Fort Stephenson, and the ditch was quite perfect. The village then contained perhaps two hundred inhabitants. There was another tavern known as the Harrington tavern, and kept by Annie Williams, standing where Leppelman's store now is. The young men made the acquaintance of George Olmsted, Elisha W. Howland, and others. They left for Portland, now Sandusky City, crossing the river at the " Old Ford," between what are now Garrison and Croghan streets, in Fremont. After his return home, Mr. Birchard, with Stephen R. Bennett as a partner, bought and drove to Baltimore, in the first cold weather of the winter of 1824-25, a large drove of fat hogs. There were two incidents of this trip which are well remembered. The young men had to swim their hogs across the Ohio river, at Wheeling, and came near losing them all by the swift current of the river. By great exertions, and at considerable risk to themselves, they got all but four or five safely across. In the meantime, they were overtaken on the road by a tall, fine looking gentleman on horseback, who had also a carriage drawn by four horses, and two Sandusky County—Sardis Birchard - 519 other saddle-horses with attendants. The gentleman helped Mr. Birchard get the hogs out of the way, chatted with him about the state of the market, and the prospects of the weather, and advised him as to the best way to dispose of his hogs at Baltimore. This gentleman turned out to be General Jackson, on his way to Washington, after the Presidential election of 1824, in which he was the highest, but not finally the successful candidate. In the summer of 1825, while mowing in the hay-field, he was seriously injured in health by over-exertion. From the effects of this, he never entirely recovered, but has remained in impaired health ever since. In the winter of 1825-26, he was confined to his bed with an attack called consumption, and it was supposed he would not live till spring. He however talked hopefully of his condition, and spoke of a horseback trip to Vermont. One day, while yet confined to his bed, he heard two men, who were at work finishing the room below him, talking of his case. One of them said : "It is strange how Birchard is deceived. He thinks of making a long journey, soon ; but the only journey he'll ever make, is when he leaves this house, feet foremost, for the graveyard." But the cheerful disposition of Mr. B., aided by the elasticity of his constitution, carried him through. In May he set out on horseback, making short day's journeys at first, and reached Vermont, where he remained until the approach of winter, when he travelled south to Georgia, and remained until the spring of 1826. This year he made his first purchase of goods, as a retail dry goods merchant. He went to New York without money and without acquaintances. Passing about the streets, he fell into conversation with a young merchant, a stranger to him, named William P. Dixon, standing at the store door of Amos Palmer & Co., on the corner of Pearl street and Maiden Lane. He told the New Yorker his plans and his condition ; when the latter told him he would sell him all the goods he wanted in his line, and would recommend him to others. His stock was made up and shipped to Cleveland, he accompanying the goods. His intention was to sell to laborers on the Ohio Canal, which was then being built from Cleveland southwardly. After passing down the canal into the Tuscarawas valley, he became dissatisfied with that trade, and sold part of his goods in bulk to another trader, and took the rest to Fort Ball (now Tiffin), on the west side of Sandusky river. Here he remained, trading successfully with the new settlers, until December, 1827, when he removed to Lower Sandusky—having decided to go with Dr. L. Q. Rawson, who preceded him a few days. He was first in Lower Sandusky in business alone, in a store on the corner of Front and Croghan streets, where Betts' block now is; the store being a new one, and erected and owned by Richard Sears, who had made a fortune trading with the Indians, and who had left for Buffalo that year, in the spring. Three other stores were, one very large one, by George Olmsted, on Front street, east 520 - Sandusky County—Sardis Birchard. side, between Garrison and Croghan, where Heffner now is—a frame two-story building. George was the earliest merchant in the place, who came with his brother, Jesse, from New York city in 1817, and established one of the largest stores in the State. Their first store was on Front street, west side, north end of town, where Gasdorf's packing house now is. Boats came up the river, nearly to this store. Jesse S. had a store on the west side of Front street, directly opposite to Birchard's. Esbon Husted's store was in a large frame building, on the southeast corner of Front and State streets, where the Birchard block now stands, Dry goods, groceries, hardware, crockery, salt, drugs, and school, and a few other books, stationery, whiskey, brandy, rum, wines, etc., were among the staple goods. There were two distilleries—one owned by Ezra Williams, just at the foot of the hill, south of the pike, east of Thompson's; and the other owned by Sanford Main, at the Tyler spring. The merchants generally sold their goods for corn, and sold the corn for whiskey, which they shipped to Buffalo and New York. For clothing, broadcloths, Kentucky jeans, and linsey woolsey goods were generally in use. The Indians bought fine blue cloth, Mackinaw blankets, beads, and powder and lead. Mr. Birchard received the Indian trade to a large extent, by refusing to sell them liquor. He was in trade three or four years, and having accumulated ten thousand dollars, considered himself rich enough to retire. About 1831, however, he formed his first partnership with Rodolphus Dickinson, and Esbon Husted—Mr. B. furnishing the capital. The firm name was R. Dickinson & Co.; and they soon had in operation one of the largest retail stores north of Columbus, and west of Cleveland, their yearly sales amounting to fifty thousand dollars. Sales were largely on credit. He bought the first vessel with Richard Sears, each owning an equal interest. The vessel was named " John Richards," a schooner worth then four thousand dollars, and about one hundred tons burden. The first shipment of wheat, out of Lower Sandusky, according to the best of Mr. B.'s recollection, was made on this schooner ; and this shipment was probably the first sent eastward from any lake port west of Cleveland. The wheat from the ridges of Seneca county was then much sought after for starch manufacture. Wheat was then worth about fifty cents a bushel. The Indians, with whom Mr. Birchard traded chiefly. were the Senecas. They drew an annuity from the State of New York, payable at Albany, amounting to $1,700; and among Mr. B.'s customers, whom he trusted, during the year, were Tall Chief, Hard-Hickory, Seneca John, Curley-Eye, Good-Hunter, and others ; and before the annuity was paid, he would get authority to draw the money, signed by the chiefs, and go to Albany after it. This he did three times, and once had trouble in obtaining it—the agent refu- Sandusky County—Sardis Birchard.521 sing to pay money, and offering barter. This was in Silas Wright's time. The agent belonged to the Albany Regency, and Mr. B. called upon Comptroller Wright, to ask him to interpose in his favor; but the Comptroller treated his application rather coolly.—Horace Meacham, a friend of B.'s, and a forwarding merchant at Albany, went with him to the Comptroller again. Wright was quite a different man ; and soon after Mr. B.'s return home, his friend Meacham forwarded him the cash. Besides the Seneca tribe, Mr. B. traded somewhat with the Wyandots, and Ottawas. Among the Wyandots were a few Delawares. The Senecas owned a reservation, containing perhaps forty thousand acres, east of the Sandusky river, on the line of Sandusky and Seneca counties. Their principal settlement was near Green Springs. They had a mill near where Stoner's mill now stands. Their Council House was near the same place. Mr. B. attended several of their dances in the daytime, and at night. He was present at the ceremony of burning the white dogs. The Indians danced in the Council House, in the centre of which was a fire, over which was boiling a pot of corn and meat. Their musicians had in their hands bundles of deer hoofs, which they rattled and pounded on a skin stretched over a hoop. Mr. B., Rodolphus Dickinson, Judge Justice, Mr. Fifield, and others, joined in the Indian dance. Mr. B. was the guest, at night, of Hard-HickoryThey called him Ansequago, and told him that it meant " the man who owns most of the land"—the significance of which Mr. B. could not understand, as, at that time, he was not the owner of much land. The Wyandots, and a few Delawares, were at Upper Sandusky, where they had twelve miles square. The Ottawas—" 'Tawas"— were on the Maumee, near the mouth of that river, and occasionally visited Lower Sandusky, in small squads. He remembers well the death of Seneca John, mentioned in Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio (p. 459), and also by Judge Higgins, in this volume (p. 282). * * * * * * * * * Seneca John was a tall, noble looking man, said to look very much like Henry Clay. He was always a pleasant, cheerful man, and almost always wore a smile. He was called the most eloquent speaker of his tribe. If there was anger, or ill-feeling in the council, he could always restore harmony. He was particularly admired by the squaws, and fond of buying gifts for them. He traded much with Mr. B., and on the evening before the morning of his death, was at Mr. B.'s store. The whole tribe seemed to be in town. Steel and Coonstick, half brothers of Seneca John, were jealous of his power. Mr. B. knew all the parties, and remembers well, when, on the last evening of his life, and above referred to, he bade Mr. B. goodbye. They stood together on the platform, in front of Mr. B.'s store, as the Indians went off south on their horses. He looked at them, as they moved off, with such sadness in his face that it attracted Mr. B.'s attention, who wondered at his letting them all go off without 522 - Sandusky County —Sardis Birchard. him. Then he turned to Mr. B., and inquired the amount of his indebtedness. They went back together into the store, and passed behind the counter to the desk. The account was figured up, and the amount stated to John. Saying something about paying it, he bade Mr. B. good-bye, and went off--making no reference to his trouble. Hard-Hickory lived about a mile below Green Springs, in a cabin yet standing, and Seneca John, the night before his execution, slept under Hard-Hickory's porch. Steel and Coonstick, at sunrise, called and waked him. John told them to kill him quick. They tomahawked him. Mr. B. obtained this statement from Hard-Hickory, who came into town that day, or the next, with Tall Chief, and told about it. Tall Chief could not talk English well. Mr. B.'s clerk, Obed Dickinson, could talk better Indian than himself, and he asked Obed to inquire of Tall Chief if he was willing that Steel and Coonstick should be arrested ? Tall Chief thought it was a great crime, and he was understood to say " yes ;" but when they were arrested, Tall Chief did all he could to defend them. Tall Chief was a man of great dignity of manner and character. Mr. B. found the Indians, in their business transactions, generally very honest. They would not steal as much as the same number of whites, with the same opportunities. He has had his store room full of Indians, sleeping all night on the floor, with no watch or guard, and sleeping in a cot near by them. Tall Chief always settled the debts of the Indians who died—believing that "they couldn't enter the good hunting grounds of the spirit-land, until their debts were paid." He settled the bills of Seneca John, after the death of the latter. The Indians paid for goods mostly in deer-skins, finely dressed, and in coon, muskrat, and sometimes in mink, otter, and bear skins. The Indians dressed skins much better than white men. In 1835, Esbon Husted died, and his place in Mr. Birchard's firm was taken by George Grant, who had been a clerk in the establishment, since the formation of the firm. In 1841, Mr. Grant died, and the firm was dissolved ; the business being settled by Mr. Birchard. Rodolphus Dickinson was an educated man, being a college graduate, and having 4, good knowledge of the law, which profession he studied under the late Judge Gustavus Swan, in Columbus. Had he even attention to law practice, he would have been successful; but he was active in the politics of his time,—thrice elected a member of the Board of Public Works, and twice elected to Congress, and died while a member of the House of Representative of the United States, in 1849. Mr. Grant was a man of great business capacity and energy, who died young, aged only 32. He was a tall, slender man, of fine address, and full of life and ambition. On the first of January, 1851, Mr. B., in partnership with Lucius Sandusky County—Sardis Birchard - 523 B. Otis, established the first banking house in Fremont, under the name of Birchard & Otis. On the removal of Judge Otis to Chicago, in 1856, Mr. B. formed a partnership with Anson H. Miller, and Dr. James W. Wilson, under the name of Birchard, Miller & Co. In 1863, the First National Bank of Fremont was organized, and the banking house of Birchard, Miller & Co. was merged into it. It was the second National Bank organized in Ohio, and the fifth organized in the United States. Mr. Birchard was elected President of the Bank, on its organization, and yet holds the position. There were two lawyers in practice in Lower Sandusky, when Mr. Birchard came there to reside—Harvey J. Harmon, and Rodolphus Dickinson. They were opposite in politics—Harmon supporting Jackson, and Dickinson supporting Adams. Harmon was honest and able, but indifferent to business, and fond of talking politics. He cultivated the island; but his fences were often down, and hogs and cattle gathered his crops. Mr. Birchard used to, in jest, tell him that he never got but one basket of corn from the island, and that, as he passed the corner tavern, some one engaged him in a political debate, and the hogs ate up his corn. No churches were in Lower Sandusky in 1827. Religious meetings were held in an old log school house, that stood nearly where the new high school building now is, on Croghan street. Court was held in the same building, until the frame court house was finished, where Rev. H. Lang now lives. The preachers were, Rev. Mr. Harrington, a Presbyterian, who took up preaching in his old age. He generally put in two hours' time on each sermon. Rev. Mr. Montgomery, a Methodist missionary, lived with the Seneca Indians, near Fort Seneca. These men preached only occasionally.—Rev. Mr. Bigelow, and other Methodists, also visited the town. Samuel Treat, John Bell, Thomas Gallagher, and Thomas L. Hawkins, and their wives, all Methodists, were the only church members, now recollected by Mr. Birchard, as living in Fremont, in 1827. Judge Jacob Nyce always led the singing, in the Presbyterian meetings, but was not a church member. Among the farmers living near Lower Sandusky, were Mr. Moore, father of James and John, who owned the mill property near Ballsville ; Mr. Chamberlain, a short distance above Moore ; Mrs. Tindall and sons, Daniel, William, John, and Edward; Mr. Patterson, and his sons, Danforth, and Julius. Mr. B. attended the sales of United States lands at Delaware, about 1820, by Platt Brush, Register of the Land Office. The sale included all of the lands from Delaware county north to the State line, except the Indian reservations. The lands were sold at public auction, the minimum price being fixed at $1.25 per acre. The sale continued two or three weeks, and large crowds of people attended. On certain tracts, there was a brisk competition in the bidding, and some land sold as high as $10 per acre. 524 - Sandusky County—Sardis Birchard. [The foregoing is chiefly gathered from notes embracing some of the recollections of Mr. Birchard, as communicated in a conversation with a friend, and not designed, originally, for publication. What follows, in conclusion, only embraces facts now generally known; but, unless placed upon record, would perish with this generation.] During a period now embracing nearly half a century, Mr. Birchard has been active and conspicuous, where good words and works were required, in the promotion of every important scheme, designed to advance the welfare of the town and county of his residence. It has already been stated, that he was connected with the first enterprise that opened river and lake commerce, between Fremont and Buffalo. Appropriations, by the State, for the construction of the Western Reserve and Maumee road, had in him an early, untiring, and efficient friend; and, through his efforts in circulating petitions over the State (throughout which he had a large business acquaintance), to-influence public opinion, and thus secure favorable legislative action, the work was doubtless completed many years earlier than it would otherwise have been. The next and most important work that enlisted his efforts, was the enterprise of constructing the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland railroad ; and when the scheme was struggling for existence, against the efforts of those friendly to the rival route, now known as the Northern Division, which had among its friends the late Judge Lane, of Sandusky City, and others of commanding influence. The chances were in favor of the Northern route; but Mr. Birchard, in co-operation with C. L. Boalt, of Norwalk, commenced the enlistment and organization of forces in behalf of the Southern route. A public meeting the first one held—of those along the contemplated line friendly to this route, was appointed at Bellevue. At the time named, the "mass meeting," it was discovered, was composed, in great part, of the citizens which Mi. Birchard had persuaded to go along with him from Fremont. At one time, during the progress of the struggle, Mr. Boalt and Mr. Birchard pledged every dollar of their private fortunes, for the purpose of raising funds to prosecute the enterprise ; and without such pledges and extraordinary personal efforts, and the encounter of such hazards, it is probable that the construction of the southern line of the Lake Shore road, would have been postponed many years. Mr. Boalt was made the first President of the road, upon the organization of the Company ; and, heartily co-operating with him, Mr. Birchard, through his influence with leading capitalists in New York, was successful in obtaining the necessary means to push forward the work. He was an active and influential member of the Whig party while it existed, and did not abandon his interest in politics after its demise; but was an earnest supporter of Mr. Lincoln and the war. |
