1050 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. The board bought an additional tract of one and five-sevenths acres on November 30, 1855, and later added other tracts, making the total area of the cemetery at the present time about sixty acres. On May 28, 1856, the name of the cemetery was changed from Greenwood to Oak Dale, the latter being the name by which the cemetery has since been known. During the spring and summer of 1856 the trustees had the grounds prepared for use and, as has been stated, the grounds were formally dedicated on July 19, 1856. The clergy, of the city had exclusive charge of the dedicatory ceremonies. The program consisted of the following exercises : Singing by Rev. J. B. Finley ; prayer by Rev. Agenbroad ; reading of the Scripture by Rev. I). Schindler; address and formal dedication by Rev. James F. Chalfant ; benediction by Rev. L. H. Long. As soon as the cemetery was ready for the reception of bodies, the relatives and friends of those buried in the old cemetery on East Ward street began to remove the bodies from the old to the new cemetery. H0wever, it was not until within the last few years that the last bodies were finally removed from the old grounds. MANAGEMENT OF THE CEMETERY. The new cemetery was under the management of the city council from the time of its establishment in 1856 until in April, 1872. On the latter date the first city cemeterv trustees were elected, and they at once elected one 0f their number as acting trustee. This board of trustees continued in charge of the cemetery until the new municipal code went into effect on May I, 1903, at which time the management of the cemetery passed into the hands of the board of public service. The management has not been changed since 1903. The mayor of the city was the executive officer in charge of the cemetery from 1856 to 1872, although for a few years one of the trustees had charge. W. C. Keller, 'mayor at the time of the dedication, was in charge until his death in May, 1857. E. L. Small, William Patrick, George B.. Coulter and L. H. Long, as mayors, served, in turn, as the executive head of the cemetery trustees from 1857 to 1868. Rev. L. H. Long, who was elected mayor in September, 1867, by the city council to fill the vacancy caused by the death of George B. Coulter, was the last mayor to serve as executive head of the cemetery trustees. Although Reverend Long ended his term as mayor in the spring of 1868, he continued as head of the cemetery for five years, or up until 1872. From that time until the present CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1051 municipal code went into effect on May 1, 1903, the cemetery trustees elected one of their number to serve as manager. During this period of thirty-one years the following trustees have served as managers of the cemetery : John H. P. Stone, eight years; John D. Rock, four years; Royal J. Winder, four years and three months; A. F. Vance, Jr., nine months; J. M. Colwell, four years; D. B. McDonald, ten years, or from 1893 until May 1, 1903, on which date the management of the cemetery passed into the hands of the new board of public service. The trustees of the cemetery from 1872 until 1903, in which latter year the board of public service assumed charge, were as follow : John H. P. Stone, 1872-93 ; A. C. Deuel, 1872-73 ; R. H. Cheetham, 1872; John B. Rock, 1873-78; P. B. Ross, 1874-79; G. M. Russell, 1875-77; Josephus S. Parker, 1878-83; Charles Kulencamp, 1880-82; A. F. Vance, Jr., 1883-91 ; Royal J. Winder, 1884—died on July 18, 1888; J. M. Colwell, 1889-95; D. B. McDonald, 1892-1903 ; Henry Helps, 1894—died in December of same year; J. K. Cheetham, 1895-1902 ; Charles Lauppe, 1896-1903. The first members of the board of public service in 1903 were C. G. Kennedy (1903-05), H. W. Putnam (1903-06) and W. A. Smith (1903-05). The present members of the civil service commission are Philip J. Schneider, George S. Middleton and Ross Warnock. The first superintendent of the cemetery was John J. Myers and he served faithfully from March 1, 1857, to March 1, 1886. H. A. Church has served as superintendent since that date and is now in his thirty-first year .of continuous service. The position pays an annual salary of twelve hundred dollars. SOME NOTED MONUMENTS. The trustees erected the present receiving vault in 1885 and since that time a number of private mausoleums have been erected. The two most noted monuments in the cemetery are those that mark the graves of Simon Kenton and J. Q. A. Ward. The former was designed by J. Q. Adams Ward, the monument itself being a plain block of marble with the head of an Indian chief, the head of a bear, the head of a wolf, and the head of a panther, cut in life size on the four faces, respectively, of the monument. Kenton was originally buried in Logan county, where he died, but his remains were exhumed and finally interred in Oak Dale in 1884. The expense of the monument was borne by the state of Ohio, a special act of the Legislature appropriating a sum for the purpose. The inscription on the monument is very simple : On one side it reads : "1755-1836, Simon Kenton;" 1052 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. on the reverse space are the simple words "Erected by the State of Ohio, 1884." Ward's monument was designed by himself and is commonly known as "the Indiana Hunter." It is a replica of a larger statue which stands in Central Park, in New York City. It is of bronze and is mounted on a roughly shaped Champaign county granite boulder. The monument attracts thousands of visitors annually to the cemetery and is a most striking piece of art, designed as it was by America's foremost sculptor: There is a section of the cemetery which is used by the Catholics, the church in Urbana never having provided a separate burial ground for its members. There is also a small section set aside for the reception of old soldiers and here may be seen forty graves grouped around a small cannon. The cemetery was opened on July 19, 1856, and during the first year there were forty-two interments. The total number of interments from 1856 to July 20, 1917, was 8,266. In 1916 there were 171 interments and the year 1917 has seen 112 up to Friday, July 20. The city expended a total of $6,169.11 for the maintenance of the cemetery for the year ending December 31, 1916. WILLOW DRIVE. One of the most striking features of Oak Dale cemetery is the willow-fringed driveway leading from Scioto street to its entrance. In past years Willow Drive has been the object of much admiration because of its striking beauty. The large tree trunks and the wide-spreading branches; which formed a leafy canopy over the driveway in the summertime, was sufficient to excite the aesthetic feelings of everyone. The honor of planting these trees, .and caring for them in their infancy, is due to judge William Patrick, who was largely instrumental in the establishment of the cemetery. The willows were planted in 1858 and Judge Patrick, who was then mayor of Urbana, did the work personally. As he went to his task, he gathered up the youngsters on Scioto street, to carry water and hold the young trees while he "sifted the dark mold with kindly care about the tender infants' feet," and tamped the earth snugly around them. It was due to the efforts of Judge Patrick that a strip of half an acre was acquired for the driveway out to Scioto street, and in his honor the trustees later designated it as Patrick avenue. Another honor was done Judge Patrick's memory, when after his death on January 18, 1891, the cemetery trustees instructed the superintendent 1052 -rounds to keep his grave CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1053 and that of his wife in perfect condition from year to year as a token of appreciation for what he had done for the cemetery. Pictures have been painted and countless photographs have been taken of the old driveway, which is now about sixty years old, but it is with a sense of melancholy that the. people pass through the street now. Where once stood the sturdy trees with their symmetrical. branches, which softly whispered in the summer zephyrs, now stand in several places gnarled stumps or trees with broken snags of branches. Each succeeding storm takes its toll in boles and branches. Since the 'condition of these decrepit monarchs becomes more and more a menace to the public, it is quite probable that they will soon be replaced by a younger generation of their own kind—or, it would seem, by a different species of tree. It is, however, with sadness that Urbanians see the passing of these, old trees which have been a landmark in this section for so many years. STREET PAVING. The city of Urbana struggled along with macadamized and graveled streets from the beginning of its history down to 1912. There were other towns in the county which had street paving before the county seat did. It is undoubtedly true that the city's experience with gas and water, costly as it was, postponed for several years the paving of the city's streets. The first attempt at providing any other kind of a street than gravel was made in 1912, when Reynolds street from South Main to Russell street was paved with what was known as tarvia macadam. By the spring of 1914 the city felt itself in a financial condition warranting a start at paving and on April 14 let a contract to J. O. Shoup, of Dayton, Ohio, in the sum of $36,980, for the paving of Monument Square and two blocks from the square on North Main and Miami streets, the work to be completed by November 30, 1914. On the same date (April 14, 1914,) the city let a contract to the Andrews Paving Company, of Hamilton, Ohio, for the paving of the first two blocks of Scioto street. This street was to be paved with asphalt and the contract of two dollars and ten cents a square yard brought the total cost of the two blocks to $10,161.50. Nelsonville brick was used for the Square and for North Main street, while Hocking Valley brick was used on Miami and South Main. Berea stone was used for the curbs around the square and one square on North and South Main and Miami. Cement was used for both curb and gutter on Scioto. The latter street was the first completed and its opening on June 9, 1054 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. 1914, was the occasion for a terpsichorean performance which was celebrated with all the municipal pomp and ceremony possible. The street was handsomely decorated by the property owners, bands discoursed music and all in all it was a most joyous occasion. By October 31, 1914, the Square and three streets paved with brick were thrown .open to the public. In 1915 and 1916 the rest of Main, Scioto and Miami streets was paved. Court street was also paved through practically its entire length. No paving was planned for 1917. It should be said that the paving has been well done and that it compares very favorably with paving in other cities. STREET-CLEANING DEPARTMENT. The present system of street cleaning was established at the time the first street paving was completed in 1914. As the number of paved streets has increased the amount of equipment of the department has been increased until at the present time it consists of one rotary sweeper, six hand carts and three sprinkling wagons. There is also one one-horse cart used by the department, but it is privately owned and the city pays the owner for the use of . the cart and his services in operating it. In addition to the equipment above enumerated the city owns a scraper, scarifier and roller. The paved streets are swept by the sweeper daily. The contract for flushing the streets with water in 1917 was let to Miller & Saxbe. This firm purchased a flushing machine in 1915 and was under contract in 1916 for a part of the time. In 1917 the work was placed under the direct supervision of Service Director Rock. The new firm furnishes two teams and two drivers and the city pays fifteen dollars a day for this special Street service. According to the contract the business part of the city is flushed each night during the summer time between the hours of ten p. m. and six a. m. while the resident districts are flushed twice a week' in the day time. The sprinkling on the unpaved streets is under the supervision of William L. O'Brien, the superintendent of the street-cleaning department. The cost. of cleaning the streets in 1916 was about five thousand dollars. The sweepings are either burned or dumped in the gravel pit at the north end of the city. The garbage and waste paper receptacles along the streets in the business section of the city were placed there by the women of the city representing different church organizations. MARKET HOUSE AND CITY HALL The first property owned by the city was a market house and contrary to the current belief it was not on Market street as might have been ex- CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1055. pected, but on West Court street. This first market house stood on the lot now owned by Harry B. Hull and was in use until 1830 ; a storm in that year completely demolished it. The next market house was erected on the corner of South Main and Market streets on the site now occupied by the city building. rt was erected by Samuel Miller and was opened for use in 1831. When the town. .decided to locate the new market house there, the site was occupied by the blacksmith shop of John Hurd, but the public-spirited citizens of South Main street raised some money by private subscription and purchased some twenty. feet of Hurd's lot and he moved his shop back, thus giving a site twenty by ninety-nine feet for the market house. On this lot was built a wooden structure on brick pillars, one story in height. The history of this corner is interesting. Some years later Hurd erected fine two-story brick residence adjoining the market house on the south; that is, facing Main street and occupying the south half of the site now covered by the city building. The residence later became a hotel, passed through several hands and eventually became the property of Col. John H. James. In the fifties the city purchased it and the city at once reconstructed the building and used part of it for the mayor's office and council chamber, another part for a market house and still another part for an engine house for the fire department. It Was even used as a public school building during the latter part of the sixties and as late as the seventies. This building built by Hurd and owned by a number of different men was removed in 1890 to make way for the present beautiful city building. And this tells the story up to 1890 of the corner lot where now stands the "City of Urbana." PRESENT CITY BUILDING. The inception of the present beautiful city building dates back nearly thirty years. The agitation for a new building was brought to the point in 1887 where it was decided to ask the Legislature to pass a special act authorizing the city of Urbana to issue bonds and levy a tax for the purpose of erecting a city building. The Legislature granted the request of the city authorities by passing Senate bill No. 261, on March 24, 1888, which gave the city the authority to issue bonds and levy a special tax for this purpose. The city council on May 7, 1889, decided to proceed with the construction of the building and at the same meeting ordered advertisements placed in the local papers asking for plans and specifications for a building to cost not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars. Bonds were issued on 1056 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. June 30, 1890, in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars, dated August 1, 1890. The council had previously accepted the plans and specifications of Williams & Otter, architects of Dayton, Ohio, and set- July 1, 1889, for the opening of bids. All the bids on that day were rejected for .the reason that they exceeded the estimated cost of the building. It was necessary to make changes in the plans in order to provide for a building that could be erected within the amount the city had at its disposal. The contract was finally let, June 30, 1890, to Henry E. Myers in the sum of twenty-four thousand, one hundred and forty-nine dollars. The building stands at the southeast corner of South. Main and East Market streets, across the street from the Grace Methodist church. The building is a handsome brick structure of three stories, with stone trimmings, the first floor being arranged to provide quarters for all the city officials. As originally planned and built, it provided for an auditorium and stage, the city being under the impression that it could derive a substantial yearly income from the rental of the auditorium to theatrical companies, and it remained the city theater until the Clifford theater was opened in 1905, a period of about fifteen years. The city officials at the time of the construction of the building were: C. H. Ganson, mayor ; C. A. Ross, clerk ; J. W. Flaugher, solicitor ; Horace M. Crow, auditor ; D. M. Bunnell, president of the council; S. M. Mosgrove, J. C. Curley, I. K. Davis, Henry Helps and Martin McDermott, councilmen. Of this number Ganson, Ross, Bunnell, Mosgrove, Curley and Helps are deceased. THE PASSING OF THE SALOON. The memory of the oldest inhabitant of Urbana goes back yet to the time when it was possible to obtain any kind of a drink that distilling and brewing ingenuity could concoct. In the olden days—the days of a century ago—whiskey was as common and proper a drink as coca-cola is today--and considerably cheaper. The farmer who drove into town a hundred years ago, could. get a quart of whiskey for a dime, and many of the farmers of that day could drink a dime's worth without any noticeable effect upon their powers of locomotion. Either the whiskey has changed in quality or the farmers have changed in stability, for a quart of the mixture sold in Urbana in 1917 would make a wagon-load of farmers forget that legs were ever made for any use at all. It is not the purpose of this brief dissertation on the saloon to expatiate on its merits or demerits, although if its defenders were catalogued, it would be found that most of them CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1057 had passed through the jails, prisons, penitentiaries, asylums (both insane and poor), institutions for the feeble-minded or such other institutions as are designed for dependents, delinquents and defectiv.es. Urbana had saloons for a hundred years. If there was any virtue in them the city should have known it. The time was, and not so long ago, when to go down West Court street after dark was to take one's life in one's hands. And there were .other unsavory spots over the city, all of which have disappeared along with the saloon, which made them what they were. Unfortunately, the disappearance of the saloon itself in 1906 did not mean the disappearance of all intoxicating liquors in the city: Someone has said that we used to have shoecobblers, but now we have bootleggers, and that while the former class of citizens were entirely desirable and performed a useful service to society, the latter fall into the class whose services can be dispensed with, and to the distinct advantage of society. A boot- legger in the town is about as useful an animal as a rattlesnake in a yard full of children—and fully as dangerous. For more than a hundred years—from 1805 to 1906—liquor flowed freely in, Urbana; while other towns and cities in the state banished the saloon, the fair city of Urbana clung to the institution as if it were something very much to be desired. Prior to 1906, frequent efforts had been made to abolish the saloon, but all efforts in this direction had been thwarted by those interested in maintaining the status quo. The city council passed an act on Monday night, January 20, 1906, basing its right to do so on the Rose act, which provided that no intoxicating liquors should be sold in Urbana on or after May 25, 1906. The final vote of the council showed six for the abolition of the saloon and four who thought it should be retained for the good of the town. The newspapers reported the next day that some two or three of those who voted for the abolishment of the saloon did so under protest—presumably against their better judgment. At the time of the passage of the resolution of the city council there were twenty-two saloons in operation. The voters of the city expressed their opinion on the question on October 5, 1906, and they declared by their votes that the saloons should be closed November 4, 1906. On that day the licensed saloons closed their doors and have not been permitted to operate during the eleven years which have since elapsed., There is little doubt that the saloon will never again be seen in Urbana. (67) 1058 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. POSTOFFICE. The postoffice history of Urbana is peculiarly mixed up with the political, religious, financial and fraternal life of the city. For more than a hundred years postmasters have come and gone and one postmistress has appeared on the scene. To tell in detail why one man has been appointed and why another has not, would be to go outside the realm of local politics and into the field of national affairs. Strange as it may seem, there have been times in the little city of Urbana when aspirants for the postoffice have gathered around the wires on election night waiting with bated breath to hear whether New York was going Republican or Democratic. If the former, then some local Republican heaved a sigh of relief, for it meant the post0ffice for him, and, conversely, the Democratic aspirant slowly and sadly wended his way homeward to wait for the election four years later. From the days when John Reynolds handed out the first letter in Urbana clown to April 1, 1917, the postmaster of Urbana has been dependent for his position upon his political affiliation. An order of the President of the United States on April 1, 1917, placed the postmasters of ,all first, second and third-class postoffices under civil service, and from henceforth no postmaster can be dismissed except for cause. It would take a volume to tell of the successive campaigns waged. by local politicians for the postoffice each succeeding four years. Twenty commissions have been issued for the postoffice 0f Urbana and, with the exception of the first two or three commissions, there have been two or more applicants at each succeeding four-year period. It is not possible to follow the thread of postoffice history with any degree of certainty prior to the forties. Since that time the postmasters, their polities and their places of business are fairly well defined. In tracing back the history of the office the historian found a wide variety of factors entering into the appointment of the various incumbents. It is popularly supposed that a postmaster is appointed for some political service, and, generally speaking, this may be said to be true in the case of Urbana. The nineteen men who have held the office have had a wide variety of occupations—merchants, newspapermen, farmers and politicians. John Reynolds was the first postmaster and while very little is known of the volume of business he transacted, yet there is a certain amount of interest attaching to this first incumbent of the office. He had a little store on the site of the present Douglas Inn and here came the settlers from up CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1059 and down the Mad river valley to do their trading. According to the best accounts the initiative for the establishment of the postoffice came from Reynolds himself. There was a postroad in existence in 1805 from Cincinnati to Detroit and it happened that Urbana was not far from the route which had been established by the postoffice department. Upon the solicitation of Reynolds, Postmaster-General Granger ordered the establishment of an office at ;Urbana, with the understandinposedt the patrons of the pro- pOsed office would guarantee the expense of its maintenance. Reynolds took it upon himself to assume the obligation and with this understanding he received the appointment as postmaster. The mail was carried at his expense and the proceeds of the office for the first few years failed to equal the cost of its maintenance. It is certain that Reynolds continued in the office for several years and it was largely a labor of love and public service with him, since the office was not self-sustaining for several years after its establishment. FURTHER POSTOFFICE HISTORY. John C. Pearson was the successor of Reynolds in the office and took charge of it at the beginning of John Quincy Adams' administration in 1825. Pearson was a substantial citizen and built the first two stories of the present Douglas Inn, having the office in one of the lower rooms of the building. The records are so incomplete that it is impossible to follow the terms of the several incumbents of the office, but it is 'certain that they served in the following order John Reynolds, John Pearson, William Hunt, Samuel K. Ward, Decatur Talbott, John A. Corwin, James Taylor, William H. Fyffe, James Taylor, Newton Ambrose, William A. &and (died in office May 14, 1879), D. C. Hitt (1879-1884), S. B. Price (1884-1885, removed on account of irregularities in office), S. L. P. Stone (18854889), H. H. Williams (1889-1893), W. T. Wear (1893-1898), Mrs. Joseph P. Smith (appointed June 7, 1898, died in office September 13, 1898), Edward F. Hutches (1898-1899), R. H. Murphy (181913907), L. G. Pennock (1907- 1913), W. A. Lowry (1913, present incumbent). The postoffice has been located in several different places uring the past hundred years, .but it is not possible to determine where all these locations were, or the number of years' it was stationed at each location. John Reynolds kept the office in his store and John Pearson did likewise. Some time in the thirties the office was in a building across from the present location on South Main street, approximately where Sharp's garage is now located. In the forties and for many years after it was in a building south 1060 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. of the court house on West Court street, the building standing on the site of the law offices of Keaton, Bodey & Bodey. There is a difference of opinion as to whether the present building is the same which was used as the postoffice, but the preponderance of evidence points to a building on the site, which was later torn down. The room now occupied by the Western Union Telegraph. Company in the Douglas Inn housed the postoffice sometime in the seventies. The Odd Fellow building was erected in 1874 and shortly afterward the office was located in the room it now occupies. It has been located there continuously since 1898, but the twenty years. previous saw it switched back and forth between this room and the room now occupied by the Ideal theater at the corner of North Main and West Court streets. It is said that the shifting of location" was due to a curious c0mbination of religion, fraternal affiliation and financial consideration; furthermore, that the office was moved on one occasion from its present location to the Ideal theater site despite the fact that the Odd Fellows offered their room for one- third less rental. Politics may have had something to do with it, although all these moves may have been made from purely patriotic motives. URBANA POSTOFFICE IN 1917. If John Reynolds, the first postmaster of Urbana, could step into the office of W. A. Lowry, the present incumbent, and stay with him for one day he would recognize a change in conditions, which would he hard to realize. It will be recalled that Reynolds guaranteed out of his own pocket, the expenses of the office when it was established more than one hundred years ago. It is not known what the receipts of the office were during the first year that Reynolds was postmaster, but the last report of Postmaster Lowry showed receipts of $26,885.60. John Reynolds not only found time to attend to all the duties of the office, but he also operated a store, was engaged in banking, had charge of a farm and .had his part in about everything else in the early history of the town. But how different are things in 1917. The office is only a stone's throw fr0m where John Reynolds handed out his few letters a hundred years ago. The one employee of 1817 has given way to twenty-five employees in 1917. The few dollars which John Reynolds received seem a meager compensation compared to the salary which Postmaster Lowry receives. The first postmaster received mail only once a week, and there were times when more than a week elapsed between the arrival of mails. It was several years before the town had daily mail. But in 1917 the postoffice receives seventeen mails each day and sends out thirteen. CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1061 Everyone had to go to the office until 1888 in order to get their mail. In that year city delivery was established and' window delivery was discontinued. At first there were three carriers, but the number has been increased until there are now six regular carriers and one substitute. Rural free de-livery was established on January 1, 1899, two carriers being started on that date. Subsequently other carriers have been added from time to time until in 1917 there are nine rural mail routes radiating from the local office. These nine rural-route carriers travel a total of 235 miles and serve 3,991 patrons. The last innovation in the internal affairs of the office was the establishment of postal savings department on September 1, 1911. The statistics on this phase of the postoffice business are not made. public. The general experience of cities with this department has shown that it is largely used by foreigners, native Americans preferring to invest their money in local enterprises or place it in local banking institutions. The business of the postoffice for the first quarter of 1917 closing March 31, 1917, indicated that the receipts were $6,521.04, the largest of any corresponding quarter for the past seven years. The receipts for the twelve months ending March 31, 1917, were $26,885.60, and this amount was $2,000 larger than any previous year in the .history of the office. The receipts have gradually increased and are now averaging around $6,000 a quarter. A statement of the receipts of the office for the last seven years follows, covering the, fiscal year ending on March 31, of each year : 1910, $20,689.26; 1911, $21,628.44; 1912, $21,728.45; 1913, $21,979.78; 1914, $23,409.16; 1915. $22,617.68; 1916, $24,602.59; 1917, $26,885.60. Postmaster Lowry has been very fortunate in retaining postoffice employees. He has had but two changes since taking up his duties nearly four years ago. C. C. Steinherger was appointed rural carrier to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William Hendrickson, and Ray Allison was appointed assistant postmaster to succeed Judge David W. Todd, who, desiring to retire, resigned. The postoffice force now consists of the postmaster, five clerks, six city carriers, nine rural carriers, .messenger boy and special delivery bby.. The office is not self-sustaining, due to the fact that eight railway mail clerks are paid from the receipts. SACRIFICES "PORK" TO PATRIOTISM. The postoffice has been in the present building since 1898, although as before stated, it had been located there at other times previously, only to be removed for political, fraternal or financial reasons to other quarters. The 1062 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. efforts of the city to get a new postoffice building have extended over several years. In fact, the government made an appropriation of thirteen thousand dollars for a postoffice site in 1911, the location being on the northwest corner of Miami and Walnut streets. The lot was bought from Flora Epps, E. M. Crane and C. R Ganson and includes half a square of land. The general appropriation bill of the last Congress included an appropriation for a new postoffice in Urbana, but Congressman Fess, representative from this district, cast his vote against the bill. His reason for so doing was the fact that it contained so many appropriations for useless expenditures that it was justly nothing more than One of the so-called infamous "pork" measures. He made the remark at the time in the halls of Congress that Urbana was willing to forego a new building in view of the general conditions which faced the republic. today. His words were taken up by the press of the country and widely commended, one magazine of national circulation, Collier's Weekly, even giving his words special editorial comment. THE URBANA PUBLIC LIBRARY. By Mrs. Frank Houston. The Urbana public library is a splendid monument to the women of Urbana. Its history is unique and full of interest. At the close of a centennial exposition. given under the supervision of a committee of prominent women in the spring of 1888, a balance of one hundred dollars in the treasury suggested the possibility of a public library in the near future. Some months later a course of readings given by Miss Hamlin gave new inspiration to the idea, and resulted in the calling of a public meeting of the Women who were especially interested. The money Was readily appropriated as the nucleus of a library fund. On March 14, 1890, a meeting was held at the home of, Mrs. J. H. Patrick., on Main street, and it was finally decided to form an association for the establishment of a public library. After some discussion of ways and means, fourteen names were enrolled : Mrs. A. C. Deuel, Flora Ayers; Mrs. George McConnell, Mrs. Robert Young, Mrs. J. I. Blose, Mrs. Emma Eichelberger, Mrs. George Hitt, Mrs. Emma -Weaver, Mrs. Joseph Fisher, Mrs. John Kirby, Mrs. William Given, Mrs. M. H. Crane, Miss Clifford Warnock, and Mrs. D. B. McDonald. Nine 0f these were chosen as a temporary board of managers with Miss Warnock as secretary. Later fifty-four more names were added. On March 29, 1890, a meeting was held at the home of Miss Ayers and a permanent organization was effected by the adoption of a constitution and the election of officers CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1063 and managers. Later a stock company was incorporated according to the laws of Ohio, with the stock valued at five dollars a share. Very soon more than a hundred shares were subscribed for. The Three Homes of the Library.—During the first year the library was housed in a room of Doctor Bennett's home on Scioto street, for which ten dollars per month was paid. In the spring of 1891 a room in the new city building was secured and on April 10, 1891, the new quarters were first occupied, and a formal reception given in honor of the event. The constant growth of the library soon made it necessary to seek larger accommodations, and after a diligent search for the right place, the managers were fortunate in being able to purchase the building now occupied. This was originally the United Presbyterian church, but had been sold to a German association, which transferred it to the library association for the sum of five hundred and fifty dollars. At a cost of about twenty-five hundred dollars the old building was remodeled and fitted up in a style suitable for the library home. On December 10, 1898, the library was moved and a public reception given which was well attended by the many friends and patrons of the library. Twice the association has declined the offer of a Carnegie building, preferring to retain their own. In honor of the library's twenty-fifth anniversary, many needed improvements were made, the library being closed for a brief period of two months. The opening was held on September 8, 1916, and many friends welcomed the room as it now appears. When the managers planned to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary by improvements greatly needed, a fund for that purpose was started by the officers, managers and book committee, each subscribing ten dollars. The appeal to the good people of Urbana brought a very gracious response and valuable gifts made it possible to go beyond the original plans without touching the city's library appropriation. Valuable books, fine shelving, beautiful light fixtures, and other furnishings were added by thoughtful friends. Among the gifts of earlier years are remembered two handsome windows in memory of A. C. Deuel and wife by the former pupils of the public schools, and a bronze statuette of Shakespeare from the hands of J. Q. A. Ward, given by his wife. Maintenance of the Library—When the public library was first established its chief assets were faith and courage. The visible means of support consisted of one hundred dollars from the centennial fund, one hundred and fifty dollars from an old library association; the sum being secured from the sale of stock which amounted to about five hundred dollars, and the 1064 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. annual fee from each patron of one dollar, for library card. A Christmas bazaar held in Bennett's opera house in December, 1890, netted over seven hundred dollars. Other sources of revenue included a lecture course, suppers, socials, and, various kinds of entertainments. In the summer of 1898 the women assumed the management of the hotel at the camp meeting grounds and from this received eight hundred dollars. In this manner the library was maintained, all debts paid, and a sufficient sum saved to pay for the new building and improvements. In 1905 a change in support was inaugurated whereby the library became a free public library. An appropriation from the city council, allowed by an act of the Legislature, required the issuance of free cards, and secured a stated income, which, though very small, has been increased from time to time. Officers of the Library—Following is a list of the officers who have served the association since its organization: Presidents, Mrs. Edwin Hagenbuch, 1890-91; Mrs. Frank Houston, 1891 to the present time. First vice-presidents, Flora Ayers, 1890-91; Mrs. J. P. Smith, 1891-92; Addie Williams, 1892-96; Mrs. C. F. Colwell, 1896-97; Mrs. George Weaver, 1897-98; Mrs. A. F. Vance, Jr., 1898-99; Mrs. Robert Young, 1899-1905; Mrs. C. F. Colwell, 1905-09 ; Mrs. H. H. Hubbell, 1909 to the present time. Second vice-presidents, Mrs. C. T. Jamieson, 1890-91; Mrs. W. McK. Vance, 1891-92; Flora Ayers; 1892-94.; Mrs. J0el Read, 1894-95; Ella McDonald, 1895-96; Mrs. Robert Young, 1896-97; Mrs. M. Galligher, .1897- 98; Mrs. J. L. Bassett, 1898-99; Mrs. D. B. McDonald, 1899-1902; Mrs. C. F. Colwell, 1902-05; Mrs. H. H. .Hubbell, 1905-09; Mrs. W. W. Wilson, 1909 to the present time. Recording secretaries, Mrs. J. L. Bassett, 1890-94; Mrs. W. A. Cool, 1894-95; Mrs. J. L. Bassett, 1895-96; Mrs. F. C. Heflebower, 1896-1900; Alice L. Gaumer, 1900 to the present time. Corresponding secretaries, Mrs. H. Vance, 1891-94; Mrs. D. W. Conroy, 1894-97; Alice L. Gaumer, 1897-1900; Mrs. Harry Pappersett, 1900-01 ; Mrs. E. H. Humphries, 1901-02; Mrs. J. L. Bassett, 1902-14; Mrs. William S. Given, 1914 to the present time. Treasurers, Mrs. W. M. Rock, 1890-94; Mrs. Robert Young, 1894-95; Mrs. E. S. Eichelberger, 1895 to the present time. The following ladies have served on the book committee at different times : Belle Wood, chairman from 1890 to 1905; Mrs. Edwin Hagenbuch, 1906 to the present time; Mrs. A. C. Deuel, Mrs. Frank Houston, Mrs. G. W. MacCracken, Flora Ayers, Ella McDonald, Mrs. William Foster, Mrs. CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1065 Smith, Mrs. J. B. Hitt, Mrs. J. I. Blose, Mrs. George Batchelder, Mrs. M. H. Crane, Margaret James, Mrs. Harriet C. Milne, and Mrs. W. McK. Vance. The book committee for 1917 includes the following: Mrs. Edwin Hagenbuch (chairman); Ws. George McCracken, Ella McDonald, Margaret James, Mrs. Harriet C. Milne and Mrs. Frank Houston. The officers of the public library for 1917 are as follow : President, Mrs. Frank Houston ; first vice-president, Mrs. H. M. Hubbell; second vice-president, Mrs. W. W. Wilson; recording secretary, Alice L. Gaumer ; corresponding secretary, Mrs. William Given; treasurer, Mrs. Emma E. Eichelberger ; librarian, Mrs. Harriet C. Milne. Librarians—During the first year. the members of the association, as a matter of economy, served in their turn as librarian and janit0r. When the library was moved to the city building it was arranged to employ a regular librarian at a salary of ten d0llars a month. Minerva T. Jamison served from 1891 to 1897; Miss E. J. Fell from 1897 to 1898, and Mrs. Harrriett C. Milne from 1898 to the present time. The library now contains eleven thousand volumes, not including newspapers and magazines. During the past year (1916) more than thirty-four thousand books were put in circulation and more than forty thousand persons visited the library. URBANA COMMERCIAL CLUB. There are all kinds of commercial clubs; some are more active than others; some are quiescent, some dormant and others are eruptive spasmodically. An investigation into the Urbana Commercial Club since its organization on December 4, 1901, leads one to think that its career has been. decidedly dormant. While it has taken a more or less active part in several efforts to induce factories to locate in the city, yet it has not been an active factor in the life of the city. The preliminary meeting for the organization of the club was held on December 4, 1901. After discussing the advisability of such an organization it was decided to organize a club of the business and professional men of the city and surrounding community. The election for officers was set for the first Monday night in the following January, a committee being appointed to solicit membership in the meantime and to arouse interest in the proposed organization.. It was decided to make the initiation dues ten dollars and have annual dues of two dollars. 1066 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. At the first election the following officers were elected : Warren W. Rock, president; Hershey S. Morgan, secretary; Charles Learning, treasurer. The officers elected sixteen years ago are serving in 1917, with the exception 0f the secretary, the present secretary being W. J. Knight. During the first year or two the club held monthly meetings; then every few months; then about once a year, but of late years it has met only upon special occasions. The last special occasion was the well-planned effort of the club to secure the location of the proposed camp for the National Guard at Urbana. The president spent considerable time in investigating the possibilities of Urbana as a camp site and submitted an exhaustive report showing the advantages of the city for the camp. The final decision of the war department, however, placed the camp at Chillicothe. JOHNSON PARK. Johnson Park, a memorial to the late James B. Johnson, a former mayor of Urbana, is located just north of lots 211 and 212, at the northeast corner of the original plat of the city. It is the north one-half of the old Ward cemetery, the site of which had been deeded to the city in 1805. At a meeting of the city council, August 7, 1913, Isaac T. and Charles F. Johnson, brothers of the late mayor, offered the site to the city of Urbana for a park. The offer stipulated that the city must improve the property by building sidewalks in front along Ward and Kenton streets, and, also, by extending necessary cross walks through the park. Furthermore,. the city was to furnish such lights as were needed for park purposes. In addition, it was provided that the park should be ready for use June I,. 1914. The council accepted the offer at once with an expression of appreciation to the owners for their generosity. As the county commissioners had guaranteed to defend the title to the land, the Johnson brothers turned the land over to the city with the same guarantee against any claims of the heirs of Samuel McCord, who originally deeded the tract to the "city directors" in 1805. Soon preparations were made for putting the tract into condition for park purposes. Whether it is due to the unusual location of the park in the old cemetery, or for some other reason, it has not proved to be a very successful municipal venture. It is true that the sidewalks on the sides of the park facing the street have been built, but at present the park is serving as a community garden. The suggestion for such a garden came from I. N. Keyser, superintendent of CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1067 schools, early in the season (1917), and some time later Isaac and Charles Johnson suggested Johnson park for such an experiment. These men bore the expense of putting the ground into condition, and, together with Superintendent Keyser and Edgar G. Weller, principal of the South ward school, planned the garden and secured the following interested boys for the undertaking : Willet Stovall, Claude Bischop, Noland Poffenberger, Roy Roark, Robert Knight, Edmund Guillaume, Everell Earnhart, Edmund Gaumer and John Knight. The lot was then divided into ten plots, each a rod wide and one hundred and twenty feet deep: The plots were planted alike, and each was cared for by a boy. Since the government had requested that such crops as can be stored for the winter be given special attention, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, beans, parsnips, onions and turnips were grown, each boy to harvest his individual crop for his own use or for sale to the community. In addition to the incentive coming from the anticipated crops, the boys were encouraged by the offer of prizes from the second ward winners of prizes awarded by the Garden Association in past years, these prizes to be awarded to the boys who had the best appearing gardens. Other prizes were to be awarded for the best single crops. WAR GARDEN CONTEST. During the summer of 1917 all over the city Urbanians manifested their amateur gardening zeal by planting vegetables in their back yards and in vacant lots, these efforts resulting in quantities of fresh vegetables, healthful exercise and much satisfaction to the amateur horticulturists. About the middle of July, 1917, the Urbana Garden Association announced that on Tuesday, August 14, 1917, it would hold at the Central school building an exhibition of the results of these efforts all over Urbana and award prizes which were promised earlier in the garden season. In this contest professional gardeners, those who raise vegetables for sale, were barred, for the affair was designed to encourage the amateur gardener, and 0nly he was considered in the contest. The list of vegetables included in the contest included potatoes, onions, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, beets, parsnips, corn, string beans, lima beans and turnips. There were two classifications, back-yard and vacant-lot gardens. Gardeners of the former classification had to present four vegetables of the ab0ve list, and those of the latter; six. For the back-yard class there were two prizes, ten and five dollars ; and for the vacant-lot gardeners, there were also two prizes, 1068 -CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. twenty-five and ten dollars. There were cash awards for the best general display and other awards for the growing gardens, and the contest attracted much local attention. CITY OFFICIALS OF URBANA. The average citizen of Urbana does not realize the number of officials it takes to manage the city's affairs. A large number of these officials came into existence when the present form of city government was adopted in 1903. Numerous as are the officials, no one would say that any one of them should be dispensed with and there are some who think that the city really needs more officials. The salary of most of the 0fficials is only nominal and in most cases the officials can follow their regular occupations. The official roster of the city on June 1, 1917, included forty-0ne different officials, part of whom are elective, the remainder being appointive, either at the hands of the mayor or the city council. This does not include the members of the police and fire departments. It will be noticed that very few of the officials are elected by the voters of the city, nearly all of them being appointed by the mayor, the public service director or the city council. In the following paragraph the office, the incumbent, the tenure and mode of selection, and the annual salary are indicated. Mayor, George A. Talbott, elective, two years, $500 a year; auditor, Horace M. Crow, elective, two years, $1,250; deputy auditor, Edith M. Schetter, under civil service, $600; treasurer, Lee G. Pennock, elective, two years, $150; city solicitor, Benjamin E. Seibert, elective, two years, $600; city council, Oscar E. Eby (president), Core S. Ireland (president pro tern.), Horace M. Crow (clerk), John T. Journell, Joseph S. Moses and Charles H. Murphey (councilmen at large), Burton Guthrie (first ward), John A. Brown (second ward), Core S. Ireland (third ward), and Edward P. Ryan (fourth ward), elective, two years, president receives $100 and councilmen $50 each per year; civil service commission, Philip J. Schneider, president, George S. Middleton and Ross Warnock, appointed by the mayor, indefinite tenure, no salary; director of public service, Harry E. Rock, appointed by mayor, indefinite period, $900; city engineer, Emmett F. Sweatman, appointed by director of public service, indefinite tenure, $1,800; assistant city engineer, John O'Donnell, appointed by director of public service, indefinite tenure, per diem; street superintendent, William L. O'Brien, appointed by director of public service, indefinite tenure, $960 ; cemetery superintendent, Henry A. Church, appointed by director of public service, indefinite tenure, $1,200; CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1069 cemetery clerk, Mable Huston, appointed by director of public service, indefinite tenure, $200; superintendent of waterworks, Lincoln Burnham, appointed by director of public service, indefinite tenure, $1,200; director of public safety, William Schief, appointed by director of public service, indefinite tenure, $150; chief of police, William F. McGree, appointed by Mayor, but under civil service rules, indefinite tenure, $960; chief of fire department, William H. Pinder, appointed by mayor, but under civil service rules, indefinite tenure, $960; board of health, Mayor Talbott, L. L. Harner, Dr. G. W. Pickering, Dr. N. M. Rhodes, Walter E. Dale and John T. Ryan, appointed by mayor, the mayor being chairman ex-officio of the board, indefinite tenure, no salary,; health officer, Dr. H. M. Pearce, appointed by the health board, indefinite tenure, $280 ; district nurse, Anna Beverly, appointed by health board for indefinite period, supported by health league ; dairy and food inspector, Dr. F. F. Barger, appointed by director of public service, indefinite tenure, $360 ; plumbing inspector, Stephen Shanahan, appointed by director of public service, indefinite tenure, $840 ; sinking fund trustees, William F. Ring (president), Hershey S. Morgan, John C. Powers and William E. Berry, appointed by mayor, indefinite tenure, no salary. CURRENT BUSINESS DIRECTORY. Following is a business and professional directory of Urbana in 1917: Agricultural implements—Cone & Son, Hunter Brothers, Wierman Brothers. Attorneys and notaries—Baker, R. J., H. H. Banta, E. L. Bodey, L. C. Bodey, Buroker & Zimmer, E. E. Cheney, J. W. Crowl, Deaton & Bodey, Benjamin F. Dixon, Joseph W. Flaugher, Grant V. Fromme, V. H. Gibbs, Harold W. Houston, Johnson & Miller, George S. Middleton, Benjamin F. Miller, J. P. Northcutt, Owen, Ware & Owen, George W. Poland, W. F. Ring, Benjamin E. Seibert, Ross Warnock, Frank A. Zimmer. Automatic switch board manufacturers—W. B. Marvin Manufacturing Company. Automobiles and garages—City Garage, Prince Motor Car Company, Urbana-Buick Company, Dallas McCrery, Ganson-Poland Garage. Bakeries---Cheetham Bakery, Ideal Bakery, Walter T. Murphey. Banks—Champaign National Bank, Citizens National Bank, National Bank of Urbana. Barber shops—American House barbershop, William G. Crawford, Douglas Inn barbershop, Henry Dudley, Fansler & Happersette, Interurban 1070 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. pool room, William B. Jackson, George F. Keller, Medley Brothers, Metzger & Jones, New Model barbershop, Nichols & Anders, Palace barbershop, Jones Slaughter, Perry D. Welsh, Clyde C. Packer. Belt-dressing manufacturer—Charles Holding. Bicycles and sundries—Harmtsead & Holding, John Mayse. Billiard and pool rooms—Brunswick Billiard Parlor, Interurban Pool Room, William B. Jackson, Medley Brothers, Pioneer Pool Room, Star Pool Room, Arch Pool Room, Manhattan Pool Room. Blacksmith shops—Eleyet Acker, F. C. Berry & Company, Alfred Boyd, City Shoeing Shop, John J. Harnett, John C. Johnson, Daniel W. Kinna, J. E. Kress, J. W. Scott, Star Blacksmith Shop, J. B. Warren. Books and, stationery—Todd's Book Store, Banta's Book Store. Broom manufacturers—Griffith           Kelley, Urbana Broom Company, White-Valentine Company. Buggies and .carriages-B. A. Aughinbaugh, E. B. Gaumer & Son. Builders hardware—Ambrose Hardware Company, Miller Hardware Company, Murphy Lumber Company, Hardware Supply Company. Building and loan associations--Home Loan Company, Peoples Savings and Loan Company, Perpetual Savings Association. Business college—Moore's Business. College. Canning factories—McCoy canning factory, Urbana canning factory. Car shops--Illinois Car and Equipment Company. Carriage and auto painting—Berry & Company, George Fetz, Charles Frie. Cigar manufacturers—Armbruster Brothers, John J. Downey, Elmer Little, Murphey & Koehle, Schetter & Schief. Cleaning and pressing—The Pantatorium, Egenberger & Franz, M. Stadlers & Sons, Steward Brothers. Coal dealers—George D. Deyo, Josephine Fennessy, Gaumer Coal Company, Ambrose Hagenbuch, Harry Hayes, Thomas Heap, Wierman Brothers. Collection agency—Simmons Collecting Company. Cold storage—Urbana Artificial Ice and Storage Company. Concrete Block manufacturers—Murphy Lumber Company. Confectionery—Cheetham bakery, Chocolate shop, William A. Mack, Sugar Bowl candy kitchen. Creamery—D. McCrery & Son. Dentists—Raymond H. Bedell, A. E. Bible, Thomas T. Brand, Jr., Harry G. Butcher, George C. Glenn, William B. Griswold, A. E. McConkey, Harold E. Smith. CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1071 Drugs—George W. Cramer, C. F. Downey, Nyal Quality drug store, Welsheimer & Butler, C. B. Hatton and E. F. Brant. Dry goods and notions--Hitt & Fuller, Marsh Dry Goods Company, Ellen A. Murphy, Powers Home Store. Egg-case manufacturers—Urbana Egg Case Company. Electric-light fixtures—Mohrlight Company. Electric supplies--Geyer & Grimes, McCauley & Holding. Elevators—Blose Brothers, T. G. Powers Company, Urbana City Mills. Five-and-ten-cent stores—Curtis, Orr. Florists—S. W. Casey, J. G. Botkin, R. H. Murphey & Sons, Urbana Floral Company. Flour and feed stores—Blose Brothers, George D. Deyo, B. F. Ganson, Ambrose Hagenbuch. Flour-mills—Urbana City Mills. Fruit stores—Samuel Bianchi, Kappes Brothers, Franklin Company, J. J. Silvestri & Company. Funeral directors—R. H. Gardner, George H. Humphreys & Son, John T. Ryan. Furniture dealers—Mammoth Furnishing Company, Wendler & Ewing. Furniture manufacturers—Urbana Furniture Company. Gas specialities--Geyer & Grimes, Hardware Supply Company, D. J. Sweeney. Grain dealers—J. I. Blose, T. G. Powers & Company, Urbana City Mills, R. C. Craig. Groceries—Harry F. Allen, Beam & James, Berry Grocery, Harry A. Blair, Perry H. Boissen, S. R. Caldwell, Orla Colbert, S. C. Earnhart, Fetz Cash Grocery, Burton Guthrie, Clifton R. Hazard, George Heater, David L. Hill, F. Houston & Company, S. G. Hovey, William H. Huston, J. B. Metherd & Sons, George Middleton, George A. Miller, Hersey S. Morgan, George P. Mott, S. E. Neer, S. P. Nylan, E. E. Offenbacher, William C. Packer, Pickering Grocery Company, Sanitary Grocery Company, William H. Shepherd, James Taylor, O. H. Wagner. Harness shops—Charles Boyer, W. S. Cone & Son, Harmstead & Holding, Lauppe & Company, M. H. Schaffer. Hotels—Douglas Inn, American House, Colonial Inn, Grove Hotel. Insurance—R. J. Baker, H. H. Banta, Lou B. Berry, B. F. Dixon, J. T. Journell, Laura MacCracken, Ohio Farmers Insurance Company, Elio C. Quick, L. P. Ryan, E. E. Stafford, W. R. Talbott. 1072 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. Jewelers--H. B. Conyers, C. \V. Evans, C. F. Guyseltnan, William T. Hubbard, George W. Leonard. Junk dealers—John Green, Samuel Reich, Charles Reinscriber. Ladies furnishings—Boston Store, Hitt & Fuller, Marsh Dry Goods Company, Powers Home Store. Laundries—Hong Lee, Leo Joa, Urbana steam laundry. Light and power plant—Northwestern Ohio Light Company. Livery stables—Griffith Fox, McConnell-Pence Company, Miller & Saxbe. Machine shops—American Tool & Manufacturing Company, Morris & Gatchel, Urbana Tool and Die Company, W. B. Marvin & Company. Meat markets—S. R. Caldwell, Greis' Meat Market, G. G. Guthrie, William E. Hedges, William H. Kohlmeier, George Middleton, George A. Miller, S. P. Nolan, Pickering Grocery Company, William Sinnard & Son, Hedges Meat Market, Urbana Packing Company. Men's furnishings—W. E. Brown, Boston Store, Champaign Clothing Company, Cleveland Salvage Company, Egenberger & Franz, Powers Home Store, Stadler. Merchant tailors—John J. Coughlin, W. S. Given, John Miller, L. C. Moore, Robert Nott, Oonk, Steward Brothers. Millinery—Boston Store, Marie C. Frederick, Ladies' Hat Shop, Leonard Millinery Shop, Stokes Millinery. Monument dealers--Bunnell Monument Works, Urbana Monumental Works. Motorcycles—Harmstead & Holding. Music stores—C. D. Glenn, John H. Conley, Mammoth Furnishing Company, Wendler & Ewing. Newspapers—Urbana Daily Democrat, Urbana Daily Citizen, Champaign Democrat, American Friend. Oil companies—Standard Oil Company, Oil Refining and Developing Company. Osteopaths—Laura Foward. Packing house—Urbana Packing Company. Paper-board manufacturers—United Paper Board Company. Paper manufacturers—Howard Paper Company. Photograph studio—C. H. Chowing, Biddle Studio. Physicians—Frank F. Barger, Emil D. Buhrer, Harry Cook, Craig & Rhodes, E. R. Earl, Richard T. Henderson, Robert Henderson, Daniel C. Houser, Mark C. Houston, Vera D. Houston, Edwin W. Ludlow, David H. CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1073 Moore, Samuel C. Moore, David O'Brine, John D. O'Gara, Henry M. Pearce, George. W. Pickering, Maurice L. Smith, M. B. Starbuck, Charles M. Wanzer, Voght G. Wolfe. Planing-mill—Murphy Lumber Company. Plumbing and heating—J. H. Byers, Geyer & Grimes, Harry W. Hegele, H. W. Roberts, D. J. Sweeney.  Real estate—R. J. Baker, Banta & Beckwith, Lou B. Berry, Mrs. Carrie Blake, B. F. Dixon, Thomas E. Dye, J. T. Journell, Ello C. Quick, W. M. Rock, L. P. Ryan, Walter R. Talbot. Restaurants—Busy Bee, D. S. & U. restaurant, Erie depot restaurant, Long's restaurant, William A. Mack, New Era restaurant, Pennsylvania restaurant, Union restaurant, Logan Welch, George W. Wright. Tin shops—J. C. McCracken & Sons, Schiedt Brothers. Saddlery—Otway Cooper. Shoe stores—Clarence A. Coon, John L. Jackson & Company, Walter Johnson, W. E. Brown, Boston Store. Steam and gas fitting—Geyer & Grimes, H. W. Roberts, D. J. Sweeney, H. W. Hegele. Theatres—Clifford, Lyric, Ideal. Tin and galvanized-iron manufacturers—Johnson Manufacturing Company Tool and die manufacturers—American Tool and Manufacturing Company, Urbana Tool and Die Company, W. B. Marvin & Company. Veterinary surgeons—Buck & Bowen, C. E. Inskeep, Thomas Kerr. Wind-mills and pumps--William Mason. CHAPTER XXXVIII. SOME CHAMPAIGN CITIZENS OF A PAST GENERATION. In every community there are some men, who, by virtue of their talents, rise to a position above the level of mediocrity. This may come about for a great variety of reasons, but the fact remains that the careers of some men bring them more prominently to the front than other men of probably equal ability. Some men, in a measure, have a certain greatness thrust upon them; others, through their own efforts, acquire such a measure of fame as insures them more than a passing notice at the hands of their fellow citizens. And thus it is in Champaign county. In this county have lived men who have become governors, members of Congress, members of the state Legislatures, and justices of the supreme courts of this and other states; others from the county have been secretary of state, auditor of state and state librarian ; still others have been in the diplomatic service of our country or held other high positions under the federal government; some have become noted educators, lawyers, ministers, physicians and financiers. At least one man in the county has risen to the rank of an admiral in the United States navy, while more than one attained a high rank in the Civil War. A few have been such peculiarly useful citizens in their community that their names deserve remembrance for their busy lives in behalf of their fellow citizens.. It is not possible in this connection to notice the large number of worthy citizens of the county who have served their county in such ways as to make them remembered for what they did ; rather the purpose of this chapter is to single out only a few of the large, outstanding figures whose names have not been confined to the county with which they were immediately identified. In the different chapters of this history will be found mention of scores of worthy then of the county who rose to an enviable place in their particular line of activity. For instance, the medical chapter gives a brief biography of at least fifty physicians of the county ; the bench and bar chapter mentions some of the leading lawyers ; the newspaper chapter treats of the men who have been identified with the press of the county; scores of min- CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1075 isters find themselves noticed in the church chapter ; the military chapter notes several men who rose to the rank of commissioned officers ; artists, Musicians, actors, acrobats and people in the dramatic world find proper recognition in their respective chapters. Scattered throughout the histories of the twelve townships are found references to the early vicissitudes of hundreds of pioneers, and in many cases a complete sketch is given of these worthy forefathers of ours. A careful estimate shows that in other chapters than the present one, there. are at least five thousand men and women mentioned by name and identified in one way or another with the .history of the county. And finally, there are several hundred citizens of the county represented in the biographical section of the history, most of whom are now living, but a considerable number of whom are deceased. This present chapter singles out only those who have not been noticed in other chapters, or, if noticed, not with the fullness their prominence justifies. In the following pages may be traced the careers of Joseph Vance, Simon Kenton, Col. William Ward, John Reynolds, John Hamilton, Tunes Cooley, William Patrick, Henry Weaver, Joseph Fyffe, John Russell, Joseph P. Smith, Francis Wright, Dr. James Williams, William Haller,. John H. Young, John S. Leedom, Frank Chance, Thomas S. McFarland, John F. Gowey, and Jules Guthridge. There were a few other men whose names would have been included in this list if it had been possible to obtain accurate data concerning their careers. GOV. JOSEPH VANCE. Ever since the incumbency of Gov. Joseph Vance in the chair of the chief executive of the great state of Ohio in the later thirties, the people of Champaign county have been justly proud of the fact that this county has furnished to the state a governor. It is but proper and fitting that, in this chapter on famous men who have done well their work in developing this county and in rendering service to the state and to humanity at large, mention should be made of this distinguished figure in the civic life of the state and prominent factor in the pioneer life of Champaign county. The Hon. Joseph Vance, a captain of militia during the War of 1812, for years a member of the state Legislature from this district, governor of the state during the gubernatorial period, 1837-39, member of Congress from this district for eight terms, and a member of the state constitutional convention of 1851, was a native of Pennsylvania and later a resident of Kentucky. He became, however, a resident of Ohio in territorial days, 1076 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. having come here in 1801; and he was identified with Champaign county from the year in which the county was organized as a civic unit. Thus he was one of the real pioneers of this county. He was born in the old Indian town of "Catfish," near the city of Washington, Pennsylvania, March 21, 1786, a ion of Joseph C. and Sarah (Wilson) Vance, natives of Virginia. The elder Vance was a soldier of the patriot army during the War of Independence. After the war was over he married, and, with his family moved to Kentucky and came from thence on up into the Territory of Ohio, and remained a while in Clifton, in Green county. After a sometime residence there, he pushed northward to this section and became one of the organizers of Champaign county, where he spent the rest of his life as one of the most influential pioneers of the county. Joseph C. Vance, the father of the governor, was the youngest of a large family of children born to his parents in Virginia, and in the Old Dominion grew to maturity. His father, a native of Ireland, of Scotch ancestry, had come to this country with a considerable body of Presbyterians emigrating from Ireland with the intention of setting up new homes in the new land across the Atlantic ; and at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War had his home well established in Virginia. Joseph. C. Vance was old enough to render service in the struggle for independence, and served throughout the war as a member of Capt. Saul Vail's company in the famous rifle regiment of General Morgan. In 1781, the year hostilities ceased with the battle of Yorktown, he married Sarah Wilson, who was born in Loudon county, Virginia, and straightway he and his bride boldly pushed forward into what was then practically an unknown West with the intention of establishing a home amid pioneer conditions. Kentucky, the great western county of Virginia, was their objective. When they reached a point in the immediate vicinity' of the old Indian village of "Catfish," near the city of Washington, Pennsylvania, they made a temporary home and remained there a few years, during which time, in the spring of 1786, was born their son, Joseph, who later was to become the governor of the state of Ohio. Two years later, in 1788, Joseph Vance loaded his little family and his few belongings on a raft and floated down the Ohio to a point on the Kentucky side now known as Vanceburg, where he built a house and established his home in the wilderness. There he founded the Vanceburg settlement. A few years later he decided to penetrate farther into the wilderness and again started down the river with his family and goods on a flatboat and stopped on the Kentucky side a few miles above Mays Lick, where he established his home and developed a good farm. CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1077 It was there, near Mays Lick, among the Indians and amid conditions typical of the frontier settlements, that the future governor of Ohio grew to manhood. He became a sturdy, vigorous. man; inured to all the hardships and privations common to the pioneers of that place and period. He commenced business in life when a mere boy as a wood-chopper at the salt works, and by strict economy saved enough money to buy an ox-team, with which he hauled and distributed salt to the scattered settlers in Kentucky. Even after his settlement in Urbana, he made occasional trips to the salt works. It was while. carrying on this work he met Thomas Ewing and Duncan McArthur. These three young men, who worked by the day for their living, afterward became prominent men in the affairs of state and nation, and maintained until death the friendship which began during the days of their youth. Joseph Vance developed his body with this capacity for work and willingness to perform, the hardest kind of manual labor; and he also improved his mind by close application to the few books he could command, as he sat at the fireside during the long winter evenings. In 1801 Joseph C. Vance again decided to move on, his true pioneering instinct leading him again to face the wilderness. He crossed with his family into the then Territory of Ohio, and settled in Clifton, within the confines of Green county. Four years later, however, he "pulled up stakes" and came up into this section and settled here the same year Champaign county was organized, 1805. The Vance family established their home in Urbana, which had just a short time before been laid out by Col. William Ward ; and when the time came to establish a county seat, the father of the future governor was one of the men instrumental in having the seat of county government located at that place. Joseph C. Vance, who had a very vigorous personality, was a man of force and character, and his pioneer neighbors turned instinctively to him as. a director of their affairs. He was then the logical man to become first director of the county. He was also elected first clerk and first recorder of the county, and continued active in local civic affairs until his death in 1809. Joseph Vance was eighteen or nineteen years of age when he came to this county with his father. He was one of the first young men in the new county to apply for a license to marry, for the faded old record of marriage licenses in the court house shows that on December 17, 1807, he was united in marriage to .Mary Leman; the record disclosing that the ceremony was performed by Rev. John Thomas. Before the War of 1812 began, young Nance had been elected captain of a local militia company, which was called out on several occasions prior to the actual opening of hostilities, to quell 1078 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. incipient Indian uprisings. Some time prior to 1812, he and his company erected a blockhouse in Logan county, near Quincy, which was long known as Vance's blockhouse. He made marked progress in military affairs, for he passed through several grades of office, including major, colonel, brigadier-general and major-general. In the fall of 1812, Joseph Vance, who meanwhile had been growing greatly in favor among his pioneer neighbors, was elected to represent this district in the state Legislature and he served as a member of the lower house during the eleventh and twelfth sessions (1812-13). In the fall of 1815 he was again elected to the Legislature and served during the fourteenth and fifteenth sessions his last service in the lower house was rendered during the eighteenth session, 1819. His service in the state Legislature so commended him to the people of the congressional district that they conferred upon him a wider field of usefulness by electing him to Congress in 1820 ; and by successive re-elections he served in that body from March 4, 1821, to March 4, 1833, six terms, during which time he became one of the best-known members of the Ohio delegation in the national House of Representatives. In politics he was a Whig of the Henry Clay school, and a zealous advocate of internal improvements. In 1827, while making a speech in which he advocated the repair and extension of the National road, then called the Cumberland road, through Ohio and other states of the West, he made some sharp thrusts at the advocates of states rights. Since his arraignment had been somewhat bitter and the practice at that time was to settle such matters on the field of honor, the future governor was imminently near fighting a duel in support of his assertions ; but since it was well known that he not only would fight to uphold his principles but was also a dead shot, his opponents did not push the issue. After a three-years respite from the grind of public life, Joseph Vance was elected governor of Ohio in the fall of 1836, and served as chief executive during the years 1837-39. In the fall of the year following his retirement from the governor's office, he was elected to represent this district in the state Senate and served in that body during the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth sessions (1840-41). He was then re-elected to Congress from this district and served two terms, 1843-47, at the end of which time he retired to private life, with the avowed intention of never again allowing his name to be proposed for public office. However, when the constitutional convention of 1851 was called, Governor Vance answered the call of his neighbors to use his wealth of experience in public service in forming- a new set of organic laws for the commonwealth, and was found as one of the lead- CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1079 ing members of that historic body. It was while in the active performance of his duties as a member of the convention that he was suddenly stricken with paralysis, and was compelled to relinquish his duties. He never recovered from the stroke and died at his home, two ,and one-half miles north of Urbana, less than a year later, August 24, 1852. Governor Vance not only gave his vote and influence to public improvements, but he was interested in private enterprises which contributed to the general welfare. He was president of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. In 1818 he built a mill on Kings creek, a short distance above the junction of that creek with Mad river. The industry had all the improvements in milling in use at that day ; and the castings, the patterns of which were made on the farm, were hauled by wagon from McArthur's furnace on Raccoon creek. Moreover, he was 0ne of the first men in the county to import thoroughbred horses and cattle, thus increasing the well-being of the farmers by improving the live stock in this section. Governor Vance had a strong personality. He was about five feet ten inches in height, with a large frame, and was somewhat inclined to corpulency. His head was large, his forehead broad and his face strongly marked. His eyes, the right one of which was nearly closed as if pained by the sunlight, were shaded by heavy brows. He always wore a standing shirt collar, loose around the neck, and not always "square" with his chin ; and a black silk cravat or a neckerchief tied in a small bowknot. At home and among his neighbors he liked to wear a blouse and jeans pantaloons, and had a strong dislike for the fashionable cut of the latter. In public life he wore, according to the custom of the day, the conventional suit of black cloth. He especially liked to associate with young men, to whom he was always pleasant and talkative ; and he made himself a most interesting conversationalist by describing in the easy conversational tone of every-day life, scenes of public life he had witnessed and incidents relating to the public men he had known. As a speaker he had a strong, rich voice, and he expressed himself with earnestness and force, without the arts of a practiced debater;; often in the heat of discussion he was prone to make his argument personal. Thus Governor Vance lived. He was one of nature's noblemen, whose strong character and rugged personality were fashioned on the anvil of privation and hardship so characteristic of pioneer life. His kindly spirit, which dedicated his gifts to the public service of his fellow-men, became soft and gentle, yet bold and fearless, through the rough contact with the hard conditions of those times which tried men's souls. 1080 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. SIMON KENTON. What a debt of gratitude do the people of the Middle West owe the doughty pioneers who founded our civilization, established our economic well-being and fostered our hardy American spirit. By their great privations and arduous labors they insured the future of our country, clearing the primeval forest and creating settlements in spite of the prowling bands of hostile Indians. One of the most picturesque of these redoubtable men was Simon Kenton, the explorer, pioneer and Indian fighter, who made his way into the "dark and bloody ground" of Kentucky and also led the way into the wilderness of Ohio, planting the seeds of civilization which in later years have borne rich fruit. Simon Kenton was born in Fauquier or Culpeper county, Virginia, April 3, 1755, and died in Logan county, Ohio, April 20, 1836. His father was Irish and his mother was Scotch. There is no doubt that Kenton inherited his bold hardihood and sterling integrity from his Scotch-Irish parentage. His parents emigrated to America and located in Fauquier or Culpeper county, Virginia; but after some years' residence in Virginia, the family became dissatisfied with their surroundings and removed to Kentucky. The family consisted of several sons and one daughter. Simon, who was the youngest .member of the family, passed the early years of his life on his father's farm and industriously applied himself to the manifold duties of the pioneer boy of that day. Apparently, his career was uneventful until he reached the age of Sixteen, but then occurred an event which turned the whole current of his life and started him on a career which for wild adventure, for hair-breadth escapes and for useful service to his fellow pioneers has rarely been equaled. It seems that even at the early age of sixteen, Simon Kenton succumbed to the wiles of a neighborhood coquette who was perplexed by the problem of choosing a husband from many suitors. Young Simon and a farmer whose name was Leitchman seemed to be the most favored ones. Since the young lady could not choose between the two, they took the matter into their own hands, and in consequence of foul play on the part of some of Leitchman's friends young Kenton was beaten with great severity. He submitted to his fate for some time in silence, but he inwardly vowed that as soon as he attained his full growth he would take ample vengeance on his rival. In the following spring Kenton, finding himself six feet tall and full of strength CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1081 and action, decided that the day of reckoning had arrived. Accordingly he walked over to Leitchman's house one morning, told him his object and requested him to adjourn to a spot more convenient for the purpose. Leitch-man, who was confident in his superior strength and size, readily assented. When they reached a solitary place, they stripped and prepared for the encounter. The battle was fought with all the fury that natural hate, jeal- ousy and herculean effort could supply, and after a severe round in which considerable damage was given and received, Kenton was brought to the ground. Leitchman, without the least scruple, sprang upon him and kicked him unmercifully. During this base attack Kenton lay still, but he attentively eyed a small bush which grew nearby. It occurred to him that if he could wind Leitchman's long hair around that bush, all of these kicks and cuffs could be returned with interest. By biting his antagonist an arrierre, Kenton caused his enemy by short springs to approach the bush. When near enough Kenton exerted the whole of his strength and succeeded in wrapping the long hair of his rival around the sapling. He then sprang to his feet and took a terrible, revenge for all of his past. injuries. In a short time Leitchman was apparently gasping in the agonies of death. Kenton at once fled, without returning to get an additional supply of clothing, and he directed his- steps westward. This occurred on April 6, 1771. Kenton was deeply agitated during his flight, for he supposed that his enemy was .dead and that he was a murderer. This constant fear of a murderer's punishment caused him to push westward until he felt that immediate danger from pursuit was over. To conceal his identity, he assumed the name of Simon Butler. Soon he fell in with an exile from New Jersey whose name was Johnson, and together they pushed into the wilderness of the Allegheny mountains. They .did not pause until they arrived at a small settlement on Cheat river—one of the tributaries of the Monongahela river. Here they separated and Kenton attached himself to a small Company, which was being collected for the purpose of exploring the country, and he employed the years 1772-73 in hunting, trading, fishing and in occasional conflicts with the Indians. This life was well adapted to develop an adventurer's true character, and young Kenton showed remarkable courage, sagacity and endurance. While engrossed in these pursuits, he became the friend of Daniel Boone, and was later associated with George Rogers Clark. In 1774 war broke out with the Indians, and Governor Dunmore, of Virginia, raised two large bodies of troops for the purpose of settling the Indian question once and for all. Scouts were needed, and Kenton's experi- 1081 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. ence and ability recommended him to the notice of the governor. While he was employed as a scout in the expedition, he laid the foundation for a lasting friendship with, Simon Girty, who was also a scout. This later brought about Kenton's rescue from death at the stake. In 1775, however, Girty became a renegade, took up his abode with the Indians and became one of them. In 1776-77 the Indians became more and more troublesome. Every station was hotly beseiged. Again Kenton as a scout rendered invaluable service to the settlers. In the expedition of George Rogers Clark against the Illinois towns, Kenton was employed as a scout in 1778. In September of that year Kenton with two companions, Alexander Montgomery and George Clark, left Boone's Station for Ohio with the avowed purpose of obtaining•horses from the Indians. Near Chillicothe one night they fell in with a drove of horses that were feeding in the rich prairie. After some difficulty they captured the horses and started for the Ohio river, but the horses refused to go into the water. As time was valuable, since they knew they were pursued by the Indians, they, concluded to select three of the best horses and make their way to the Falls of the Ohio, where General Clark had some men stationed. After they had pushed forward a short distance, Clark and his companions, chagrined by the loss of the other horses, decided to return and get them. As soon as Kenton reached the river he heard a whoop in the direction of the point where they had tried to force the horses into the water. He dismounted, tied his horse and moved forward stealthily toward the point from which the whoop had emanated. Presently he saw the redskins. He fired at the foremost one, but his adversaries after quite a struggle forced him to surrender. While they were binding Kenton, Montgomery approached and fired into the Indians who immediately gave chase. Soon they returned to Kenton, shaking Montgomery's bloody scalp in his face. Clark, however, escaped. The Indians tortured Kenton in almost every conceivable manner. He was securely tied to the back of a wild, unbroken colt, and the colt was then turned loose in the woods. His escape from death in this instance was miraculous, because after the horse ran about lunging, kicking and rearing for sometime, it finally submitted to the situation and meekly returned to take its place among the other Indian ponies. After a journey of three days the Indians reached Chillicothe. During the journey Kenton suffered terrible agony. He was tied up securely at night in .a very strained and uncomfortable position, exposed to the gnats, mosquitoes and weather. At the coming of dawn the Indians began to CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1083 collect from the town to witness and to participate in the sport and amusement at Kenton's expense, for he was to run the gauntlet. The Indians, each armed with a hickory club, were ranged in two lines about six feet apart. As Kenton, who was forced to run between the lines, passed, each Indian beat him with a club. He had not gone far before he saw an Indian with a knife drawn, ready to plunge it into his body as he passed. As soon as Kenton reached this Indian, he broke through the line and ran with all speed for the town. He wished to reach the council house, for any prisoner who could succeed in doing so would not have to run the gauntlet again. Kenton, who was almost spent, was overtaken, thrown down and kicked and cuffed most terribly by the whole party. Finally they left him on the ground to recover from his exhausted state. When he had recovered somewhat, they took him to the council house to determine his fate. A number of speeches were made and Kenton, although he could not understand their language, soon ascertained by their animated gestures and fierce looks at him that a majority of the speakers were bent upon his destruction. When the vote was reported, the large majority were for death. The sentence was soon passed upon the prisoner to the accompaniment of a bedlam of blood-curdling yells. The next thing to settle was the time and place of the execution. Some wanted it carried out immediately, while others wanted it to be a solemn sacrifice. It was finally resolved that the place of execution should be Wapatomika (now Zanesfield, Logan county). Enroute to Wapatomika they passed through two other Indian towns, Pickaway and Machecheck, where he had to -run the gauntlet. While he lay at the latter place he attempted to escape, but when freedom was almost within his grasp, he accidentally ran into some Indians on horseback who drove him back to the town. Apparently death was inevitable. He was bound and given over to the young Indians who dragged him to the creek, tumbled him into the water and rolled him in the mud until he was almost suffocated. . Afterward they took him to Wapatomika. As soon as they arrived there all the inhabitants of the village crowded around the prisoner. Among those who came to see him was his old friend, the renegade, Simon Girty. As it was the custom for the Indians to blacken prisoners whom they intended for death, Girty did not immediately recognize him. After some questions Girty asked Kenton his name. When he answered "Simon Butler," the former recognized in Kenton his old friend, and threw himself into his arms. Girty promised Kenton to use all his influence to get his release. He immediately had a council convened and 1084 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. made an impassioned speech in behalf of his friend. His arguments availed, and Kenton's life was saved, and he was placed under the care and protection of the renegade. As the British post then was at Wapatomika, Girty took his charge to the store and fitted him out with wearing apparel and then provided him with a horse and saddle. Kenton was now free. It is thought probable that if the Indians had continued to treat him with kindness and respect he would have eventually become one of them, for he had but few inducements to return again to the whites, as he was a fugitive from justice. One day a war party which had been operating in the vicinity of Wheeling returned badly worsted from their foray against the Americans. They were sullen, chagrined and determined to wreak their revenge upon any white. Kenton was the only available one. Girty was advised to bring Kenton to the council which was called at Wapatomika. When Kenton entered the council lodge, he readily saw from the scowling glances of the assembled warriors that misfortune was in store for him. The war chief of the defeated party arose and in a vehement speech demanded the death of Kenton. Girty spoke brilliantly and well in behalf of his friend, but it availed nothing. Kenton was again doomed to death. Girty as a last resort persuaded the Indians to convey their prisoner to Sandusky, where the British paid their western Indian allies their ammunition. Enroute to Sandusky the prisoner and his keepers passed through the village of the celebrated Mingo chief, Logan, who, unlike the rest of his tribe, was humane. He became interested in Kenton, and enlisted the sympathy of Peter Druyer, a French Canadian, who was connected with the British Indian agent department and who had wonderful influence over Britain's red proteges. When Kenton arrived at Sandusky he Was not forced to run the gauntlet again. A grand council was called to determine his fate. Captain Druyer received the permission of the council to speak. He made it plain to the Indians that they could derive more good from a live Kenton than from a dead one, since valuable military information could doubtless be gained from him. He showed further that the Indians had surely taken sufficient revenge upon Kenton. Finally he offered the redskins rum and tobacco to the value of one hundred dollars if they would release Kenton to him so that he would be examined by- the British cocommandantt . Detroit. The Indians agreed to this proposal and Kenton became a prisoner of war. At Detroit Kenton soon regained his old vigor. In the spring of 1779 several prisoners were brought to the fort. Kenton and three of these concerted a plan of escape, though they had neither guns nor provisions and CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1085 the distance to Louisville was four hundred miles through a country inhabited by deadly foes. The wife of an Indian trader named Harvey became interested in the prisoners, and through her aid guns, ammunition and provisions were secured and hidden on the trader's premises. These were placed in the hands of the prisoners one night and they commenced their flight. Their care and skill in woodcraft enabled them to go successfully through many dangers; and finally after thirty days, they reached Louisville. From 1780 to 1794 Kenton acted as a scout in the attack and destruction of eight towns on the upper waters of the Mad river. In 1786 the Mac-a-cheek towns at the head of the Mad river were destroyed by a body of Kentuckians under General Logan. In this attack Colonel Boone and Simon Kenton, then major, led the advance. In 1793 Kenton, who was tiring of inactivity around Boone's and Logan's stations in Kentucky, struck out again by himself into the hostile territory. After he had gone to sleep one night a party of Indians came upon him and captured him. They carried him northward to a village in northern Indiana or southern Michigan. He seemed to accept his captivity with such good grace that he was adopted into the tribe. In the fall of that year when the braves went forth to lay in a store of winter meat, Kenton was left at the camp under the surveillance of a few braves. Kenton with another prisoner seized the arms of the braves, procured some ammunition and escaped. They reached their friends without mishap. In the June of 1794 Kenton was connected with Wayne's army and commanded a troop of about one hundred and fifty horsemen in the attack on Fort Recovery. About 1805 he settled in Urbana, Champaign county, Ohio, where he remained some years. In 1805 he was made brigadier-general of militia. In the War of 1812 he joined the army of General Harrison and did valiant service at the battle of Moravian town. In 1813 he joined the Kentucky forces of Governor Shelby at Urbana ; and in his last battle, October 5, 1813, on the River Thames in Canada, the British general Proctor was defeated and Tecumseh was slain. This battle seems to close the military career of Simon Kenton—a period of forty-two years of battles, sieges and raids. Kenton's opportunities enabled him to secure large quantities of land in Kentucky and Ohio, but he became poor and necessitous. There are several reasons for this. He was unable to read and trusted to his memory and the honor w men. In addition to this he w.as generous and as kindhearted as he was brave. Thus he incurred obligations which gave085   1086 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. much annoyance and distress. It is easy to see how an unlettered man can be swindled out of his possessions. In 1811-12 when the jail stood at the corner of Locust and Market streets, he was jailer. Under the old law permitting imprisonment for debt, he was arrested on an execution by some Kentucky creditors. To prevent himself from being locked up in his own prison he availed himself of the prison bounds. He was his own jailer, but he did not violate his duty or his obligation to his bond. About 1820 he moved to the head of Mad river. In 1824 he visited the Legislature of Kentucky, then in session at Frankfort, to solicit some claims held by the state against some mountain lands held by him. At first his tattered appearance brought smiles from the Legislators, but when it was found that this old man was Simon Kenton, the friend of Boone, he was the lion of the day. The Legislature not only remitted the state claims, but also was active in securing him a pension from Congress of two hundred and forty dollars. Later through the exertions of Judge Burnet and Governor Vance, a pension of twenty dollars a month was granted him, which secured his declining years from want. Collins in his history of Kentucky gives this description of Kenton: "General Kenton was of fair complexion—six feet, one inch in height. He stood and walked very erect, and in the prime of his life weighed about one hundred and ninety pounds. He was never inclined to be corpulent. He had a soft pleasant voice, laughing gray eyes, and dark auburn hair. He was a pleasant, good-humored and obliging companion, but when excited to anger, he was violent in his rage. In his dealings he was perfectly honest and his credulity such that the same man after cheating him twenty times, if he professed his friendship, could cheat him again. He usually carried a hickory staff five or six feet in length, which he grasped about a foot from the upper end and was made to serve two purposes, as a staff and as a poker to stir the wood fire." Neither Ohio nor Urbana have been negligent in honoring such an illustrious citizen; although they could have made his last years more pleasant. As the visitor to Oakdale cemetery enters the south gate his attention will be attracted by a substantial monument about eight feet high and four feet square at the base—a befitting memorial to Simon Kenton. When Kenton died in 1836 he was buried- about five miles northeast of Bellefontaine. A small stone slab marked the spot. His body, however, was removed to Oakdale cemetery in 1884. The monument noted above is due to the unselfish interest and the CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1087 steadfast attachment of Judge William Patrick to the memory of his friend. For more than twenty years the judge had made fruitless efforts to obtain from the state Legislature the passage of a bill for the erection of a fitting memorial of the services of Kenton. Finally in 1884 the bill for the modest appropriation was passed. Judge Patrick gave the matter his personal attention, and solicited the services of J. Q. A. Ward, which were cheerfully and freely given. On the monument are carved in life size the head of an Indian chief, the head of a bear, the head of a wolf and the head of a panther. The top of the monument was left in a rough unfinished condition on the suggestion of Mr. Ward, that hereafter there might be found sufficient public interest to give to the memorial a worthy capital. Near the north face may be seen a little old-fashioned grave stone which was brought from the burial ground near Kenton's residence in Logan county. Time has almost obliterated the inscription on the old gravestone, but it reads as follows : In Memory of Simon Kenton. Who was born April 13, 1755, in Culpepper County, Va., and died April 20, 1836, aged 81 years and 20 days. His fellow citizens of the west will long remember him as a skillful pioneer of early times, the brave soldier and the honest man. On the face of the monument is engraved : 1755-1836. Simon Kenton. On the north face near the top : Erected by the State of Ohio. 1884. To Judge Patrick more than to any other man is due the credit and grateful remembrance of his fellow citizens for the monument, simple though it may be, for when a people in their pursuit of wealth forget the men who did noble deeds, the time will soon come when there will be no deeds worthy of remembrance. At the unveiling of the monument in 1884, Gen. Warren Weifer, of 1088 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. Clark county, who delivered the address, said : "A long life of hardy adventures with unexampled courage and a devoted patriotism in the cause of his country justly stamp him as illustrious." WILLIAM WARD, SR. William Ward, Sr., the founder of Urbana and the proprietor of its site,. was born in Greenbriar county, Virginia, December 14, 1752; and died on December 24, 1822. He saw service in the Revolutionary War. At the battle of Point Pleasant his father, Capt. James Ward, fell, and William, who was a lieutenant in the company, led his father's command during the remainder of the fight. After the war, he returned to the old home and was married there. It was in the old Virginia homestead where his son, John A. Ward, was born. In 1790, or thereabouts, Ward moved to Kentucky and settled at Washington, near Maysville. In 1758 William Ward's younger brother, John, then about three years of age, had been stolen by the Shawnees in one of their raids into the land of the white man, Tradition has it that this same John Ward was present at the battle of Point Pleasant when his father fell ; and was with his family in Tecumseh's camp, near Williamsburg, Ohio, when it was attacked in 1792 by Kenton's company, one of whom was his brother, Charles Ward. It is said, that a year later he was on his way to visit his father's family, when a band of Shawnees, who were returning from a foray into Kentucky, camped by his lodge. The Kentuckians, who were on their trail under the command of Kenton, fell upon the camp during the night, and, in the melee, John Ward was killed. It was the search for the family of this brother, John, that drew William Ward into Ohio, since he had heard that they were up in the Mad river country. When he and Simon Kenton, whom he had persuaded to accompany him in the search, arrived at their destination, they were so delighted with the country that they entered land, between the sites of the present cities of Springfield and Urbana. The two pioneers removed to these lands in 1802, three years before the organization of Champaign county. Ward made his home about four miles this side of Springfield, and Simon Kenton raised his cabin a mile to the north of Ward's place on the farm afterward owned by Major Hunt. Since there was the requisite number of settlers in the district, the Legislature passed an act organizing Champaign county, February 20, 1805. Ichabod B. Halsey and George Harlin, of Warren county, and William CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1089 McClelland, of Butler county, were appointed as commissioners to locate the county seat, and John Reynolds, John Runyon and Samuel McColloch, associate judges of the new county. The judges met at Springfield village, April 20, 1805, and divided the county into three 'townships : Springfield, Mad River and Salem. The court also appointed Joseph C. Vance director of the county. William Ward, with Yankee shrewdness and foresight, saw his opportunity and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he considered the logical and most acceptable site for the county seat, and then approached the commissioners with a proposition to locate the seat of the new county on this tract. The site was to be divided into two hundred and twelve lots and twenty-two out-lots, half of which, selected alternately, were to be given to the county and the remainder were to be retained by Ward. In addition to this he offered two lots for a cemetery and a tract for the public square. The scheme met with the approval of the commissioners, and Ward, with Joseph C. Vance, entered into a written agreement on October 11, 1805, which embodied his proposition. The original town plat signed by them is in Book A at the court house. Thus Ward became the proprietor of the site of Urbana, and he doubtless found the venture a lucrative one. Ward soon removed to Urbana and there he lived, in the old homestead in the northwestern part of the city, until his death, December 24, 1822. By his first wife, whom he married in Virginia before he came West, he had four children. His second wife was Margaret Barr, by whom he had seven children. Mr. Ward was a large man of striking appearance. He is described by the late J. R.. McBeth, of Springfield, "as tall and broad-shouldered, with high cheek bones, keen eyes and dark auburn hair tied with a black rib; bon in a long queue, erect in person and very neat in dress. He wore but one style of hat—a black felt, with high crown and broad brim which was not turned up. His face resembled that of his grandson, Edgar Ward. He wore a. black frock coat, or surtout, and on horseback he wore green flannel wrappers or leggings tied with ferreting below the knee." Like many slaveholding Virginians, William Ward was "born to command" and was haughty and arbitrary in his manners. When John Vance, a brother of Governor Vance, was collecting supplies for the army during the war of 1812, he needed a saddle horse. Ward had one that met his approval ; but since he did not like to make a direct offer, he spoke to one (69) 1090 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. of the sons, mentioning the good price he would give. His method did not altogether appeal to Mr. Ward who asked him haughtily the next day why he did not come to him with his offer. Vance did not know what dire consequences would follow, and his surprise can well be imagined when Ward assured him the horse was for sale, and was as good and sound as he appeared ; and above all his price was about ten dollars less than Vance offered. William Ward was an old-school Virginian gentleman, who believed in good farming, and he kept the best breeds of horses and cattle. His manners were stately and decorous, and he was kind to his neighbors and liberal to strangers needing assistance in a new home. He was a Presbyterian, as was his family, but he freely entertained traveling ministers of all denominations in his home. JOHN REYNOLDS. John Reynolds, the first postmaster of Urbana and one of the leading citizens of the village for the first twenty-five years of its history, was born on April 18, 1775. Little is known of his career prior to his location in Mad River township in 1807, and shortly after settling in Urbana, but he evidently had a fairly good education if his success in financial affairs in Champaign county may be considered as demanding a trained mind. He was married on November 9, 1797, to Jane Lemon in Virginia. It seems that he came to the village about a year after locating in the county and shortly afterwards opened a store on the corner now occupied by the department store of Hitt & Fuller. For half a century he was a prominent figure in the life of the town. Just how tong he was engaged in the mercantile business is not known, but he presumably maintained his connection for several years with the store he established. He died in Urbana on December 21, 1855, in his eightieth year. Reynolds began investing in land in various parts of the county and his name appears in the records of several of the townships as the owner of varying amounts of land. He owned so much land in the southern part of Salem township that he appealed to the Legislature to pass a special bill providing for the construction of a ditch to drain it. This was in 1827 and the bill which the Legislature passed in that year furnished the legal means for the construction of what is now known as Dugan run, or Dugan ditch, or sometimes as the Town branch . However, for several years after its construction it was known as the Reynolds ditch, his connection with it CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1091 as superintendent of construction being responsible for its being so called. This famous artificial waterway has been in use so many years that many people have forgotten that it is of artificial construction. Reynolds became the first postmaster of the village and it is said that he personally guaranteed that he would make up any deficit that the government might incur in maintaining the office. He opened the office in his own store and for several years had charge of it, finally retiring in favor of John C. Pearson. In the meantime he had become interested in the first bank in Urbana and, as the wealthiest citizen of the village, was no doubt the main figure in the bank. Unfortunately, there are ho records to show the amount of business transacted by this first bank of the village and the absence of any local newspapers covering the early history of the village renders it impossible to do more than give only the vaguest details of this primitive banking institution. Personally, Reynolds is represented as having been a quiet and unassuming sort of a man, always careful in the management of his extensive business interests, and at the same time interested in everything of a public nature. His wife is remembered as a woman of more than ordinary ability. She served as superintendent of the Methodist Sunday school when the church was located at the corner of Church and Locust streets. The methods of Sunday school instruction were very different then from what they are today. Mrs. Reynolds had a desk in front of the room and it was her wont to walk up and down the little room, stopping here and there to engage in a religious conversation with one of the pupils. There were no classes as they are now understood, only an opening hymn, a reading of a few verses from the Bible by the school alternately, with no comment on what was read, and the closing hymn. Mrs. Reynolds was usually garbed in a black silk dress and white apron, while she invariably wore what was called a "mob-cap" on her head. Mrs. Reynolds died on March 5, 1857. JOHN HAMILTON. John Hamilton, a pioneer, who was one of the early residents of Urbana, may be remembered as the landlord and proprietor of the Hamilton House, a temperance hotel, which stood just east of the site of the court house. He was probably born in Kentucky in 1792 ; it is certain he came to Urbana in 1814, when he was twenty-two years of age. He lived in Urbana from that year until his death in 1868. Whenever we look into the life of a pioneer, we expect to see some 1092 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. thrilling picture, but after, his coming to Urbana, Mr. Hamilton's career apparently was uneventful. This does not mean that he did not have any true frontier experience, for he took an active part in the War of 1812. At the outbreak of the war, Mr. Hamilton answered the call of Governor Scott of Kentucky for volunteers; and he was attached to Colonel Lewis's regiment of that state, which was ordered to Ft. Wayne. After an expedition to the neighborhood of Tippecanoe, near the present city of Lafayette. Indiana, the regiment returned to Ft. Wayne and was then ordered by General Winchester. to march on short rations to Ft. Defiance. They continued on down the Maumee river to camps 1, 2 and 3, and during- this march they had no flour, or little else, for three weeks. Orders reached Colonel Lewis at the camp on the banks of the river to detach six hundred men from the regiment and move them immediately to the river Raisin to dislodge the British and Indian forces which were encamped there. On January 18, 1813, Colonel Lewis began the assault and with considerable loss to both sides, drove the enemy from their quarters. He took possession of their position and sent word to General Winchester of the victory, and the latter with three hundred men hurried to his support. On the morning of January 22, the enemy were discovered approaching to the attack. The battle was fought with desperation, but the Americans were forced back. When Hamilton's regiment tried to Make a stand in order to break the attack, Colonel Lewis, seeing his men were surrounded, ordered each to take care of himself. Young Hamilton at once turned to the south. Soon the young soldier found that an Indian was following him, but he was enabled to keep his would be captor in check, since he had retained his gun. Pursuer and pursued sprang forward from tree to tree at every opportunity, and Hamilton, hoping to evade the redskin until nightfall, knew he could then trust to his endurance and activity. Late in the afternoon, while the two were playing their game of "hide and seek," Hamilton was startled by a shot to his right. As the first pursuer had followed him during the day without firing a shot, he decided to choose him for his captor. Accordingly, he gave himself up. After some difficulty the two -Indians made an equitable division of Hamilton's belongings, and then joined their comrades with their captive at Stony Creek. Hamilton's captor decided to adopt him, and the two set out in a northwestern direction to the wigwam. Here he remained until January, 1814. As the warriors were absent, the village was, at times, reduced almost to starvation. This was especially hard on young Hamilton, since CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1093 he could not eat the dog and horse flesh, which was daily -present on the menu. Mr. Hamilton always became enthusiastic when he spoke of his adopted father and mother. The moral sense of the old Indian patriarch would not tolerate a lie, for at one time when Hamilton tried to shield one of the boys by withholding a fact, the old man flogged them both with equal fury. He also loudly praised the neatness of his foster mother. On one occasion he was sent to the spring with a sugar trough of hot hominy, which had just been boiled in lye to remove the hulls. His task was to wash out the hulls made free by the lye. As the day was. cold, his feet bare, and the hominy hot, he could not 'resist the temptation to stand in the trough. The old lady discovered him using the improvised foot-warmer, and without delay thrashed him severely. In November, 1813, peace terms were offered this tribe, the Ottawas, by a deputation from Detroit, and they were accepted after due consideration. Among the terms was the surrender of prisoners, and in January, 1814, Hamilton was delivered to the officer at Detroit and was soon sent to his home in Kentucky. In that same year he settled in Urbana, where the confidence which his neighbors reposed in his integrity caused his frequent election to offices of trust. Moreover, he was an implacable enemy of rum. Even if taverns of those days were wont to permit their guests to consume unlimited quantities of alcoholic beverages, this was not so in the Hamilton House; a fact which was made known to the guests on the hotel sign. It is then vastly to the credit of John Hamilton that no drunken brawls and ribaldry, issuing from under, his roof, ever prevented his peaceful neighbors from getting their usual portion of sleep. He was a quiet, reserved man, disliking any undue noise; and throughout his life he was totally abstemious. Withal, John Hamilton was a valuable asset to good citizenship in Urbana, and doubtless the impression he left during his long residence there stands for the best which is possible for a man to give to his community. His famous temperance hotel was on North Main street, directly across the street from the court house. The site is now occupied by the Ganson building. JAMES COOLEY. James Cooley. was one of the first lawyers to locate in Urbana, and was the first to receive recognition at the hands of the President of the United. States. Little is known of his early life, but according to records 1094 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. preserved of him in the local papers and in the writings of citizens in the county who knew him, he must have been a man of unusual attainments. He had made a brilliant record as a lawyer in Urbana before receiving an appointment in 1826 to the court of Peru as charged affaires of the United States. He had served as prosecuting attorney and had held a number of minor offices in Champaign county during the eleven years he had been a resident of Urbana, all of which he had filled to the entire satisfaction of those with whom he came in contact. Personally he is represented as having been a man of fine appearance and of such a gracious personality as to have an unusually devoted circle of friends. An interesting account has been preserved of a banquet which was tendered Mr. Cooley on the evening of July 26, 1826, just before he left for South America to take charge of his appointment in Peru. According to one of the local papers "a number of his friends in Champaign and adjoining counties, desirous of manifesting their respect for him personally, as well as to bid him an affectionate farewell" asked him to attend a dinner to be given in his honor at the Hunter Hotel in Urbana. The invitation was naturally accepted and there has been preserved a portion of the toast given by Cooley when he arose to speak. The banquet was presided over by Judge Smith, while Judge Page, of Clark county, acted as right hand man of Judge Smith. The post prandial part of the program was devoted to five toasts, the concluding one being by "Our much esteemed fellow-citizen, James Cooley." With all of his impressive dignity, and deeply grateful for the honor which his country had bestowed upon him and appreciative of the good wishes of his fellow-townsmen, Cooley expressed himself, in part, to the effect "That the very flattering testimonial of the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens, and the more flattering distinction in the sentiment given, demand and have his heartfelt acknowledgment. If he had been so fortunate as to acquire their confidence and in his endeavors faithfully to discharge his public duties, he had met their approbation—the measure of his reward is ample. Coming together from distant and various parts of the country and in many instances remote parts of the world, bringing different habits, feelings and tastes, it was natural that different and discordant opinions should be entertained on many subjects, but on one, all united—a devoted attachment to our common country, the principles of her government and sincere zeal for the prosperity of the state." He continued in a lofty strain to the end and in his peroration paid a glowing tribute to "the fertile fields of Ohio, her system of internal improvements, her commerce giving life to the industry of her citizens, her sys- CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1095 tem of education and to the sincere expression of friends as evidenced by the citizens who tendered him the banquet." He sat down with these words, and we may imagine the whiskey glasses lifted as he offered the toast : "The Mad river country its generous, patriotic and enterprising population; health and continued prosperity attend them." The local paper, the Mad River Courant, reported the next week that "The company dispersed with marked feelings of regret that so valued and esteemed a citizen is about to leave us for an undefined period of time—perhaps forever. In the evening a party numerously attended was given in honor of Mrs. Cooley. Arrangements are made to leave on Monday next, and if the virtues of a good and upright man, with the best wishes of many friends and acquaintances can secure him health, happiness and prosperity, he will be sure of those blessings." Cooley, accompanied by his wife, left at the appointed time, reached Bolivia, the capital of Peru, without any mishap and for a period of fifteen months fulfilled all of the duties connected with his office. But misfortune seemed to have marked him for her own. On April 19, 1828, he had a violent bilious attack and five days later he succumbed to the attack, passing away on Sunday, April 24, 1828. Concerning his death and the shipment of his body back to this country, a letter from Stanhope Prevost, dated at Lima, Peru, March 1, 1828, and addressed to Henry Clay, secretary of state of the United States, has the following interesting information. "The body was removed to Callao, on the morning of the day following, in a carriage-and-four, accompanied by the ministers of foreign relations and war of the Peruvian government, and the aids of His Excellency, the President, with a suitable escort, an immense train of carriages and attendants on horseback, comprising the American merchants of the place. who, together with myself, appeared as chief mourners, and all the foreign residents of every nation, as well as many native citizens and officers. At about 2 p. m., the procession reached Callao, when the body was immediately embarked in a boat of the 'Brandywine' frigate accompanied by the captain and pall bearers. Next followed a boat with the before-mentioned members of the government and the chief mourners, afterward, in their respective barges, Adm. Guise, Com. Jones, the British commanders and Vice Consul, Capt. Finch, a most numerous and respectable attendance of officers and citizens. The line of boats, occupying about two miles, moved toward the island of San Lorenzo, minute guns being fired by several men-of-war in the harbor. As the body passed, the English commencing, and, in succession the French, Peruvian and American, which latter continued until the interment had 1096 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. taken place. On the return of the boats, as the members of the Peruvian government, who had been in attendance, passed the 'Brandywine,' Corn. Jones displayed the Peruvian flag at his fore and fired a salute of seventeen guns, which being answered by the Admiral's ship, closed the ceremony of the day." It is not known where Cooley is buried. He left no descendants in the county, and as far as is known, no other members of the family have ever lived in Champaign county. WILLIAM PATRICK. One of the unique characters of Urbana for eighty years was William Patrick, who came to Urbana in 1811 and who lived in the city until his "death, January 18, 1891, lacking five years of rounding out a century. Born in New Jersey, September 22, 1796, a son of Anthony Patrick, he came with his father to Ohio in 1806 and to Urbana August 9, 1811. The life of this man could easily be written to fill a volume. He was a lovable character; for more than three-quarters of a century he walked the streets of Urbana; he served as its mayor for years; in county affairs he was no less active, serving for years as an associate judge of the county ; he served as clerk of Urbana township for thirty-two years ; as justice of the peace of the township for seventeen years; and served as assessor, recorder, .a member of the city council and as commissioner of insolvents. He was elected mayor term after term and finally positively declined to let his name be used as a candidate. His occupation was that of a cabinet-maker and he was actively engaged in the making of furniture until 1857, when he turned over his business to his sons. Such a man was William Patrick. Although he held public offices and more of them and for longer 'periods than any other man in the county, yet as has been said of him, "no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil" marked his public or private life. It was through his influence that the city now has Oak Dale cemetery ; it was he who bought the strip of land which is now the beautiful highway to the cemetery ; it was he who planted the trees which now adorn this driveway. Judge Patrick was married on April 30, 1820, to Rachel Kirkpatrick, who died on August 21, 1865. They were the parents of seven children. CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1097 HENRY WEAVER. Henry Weaver, the wealthiest man in Champaign county at the time of his oath in 1872, was born in Berkley county, Virginia, May 6, 1788, and while yet an infant was brought to Kentucky with his father's family, residing in said state until 1802, part of the time near Maysville, and later near Lexington. In 1802 he came with his father to this county, settling in the southwestern portion of Mad River township. In 1807 he was married to Nancy. Chapman. He moved to Urbana in th winter of 1813-14, beginning business in a small shop that then stood on Scioto street. He was a shoemaker and plied his vocation dilligently, and branched out into mercantile pursuits in a small, but profitable way, entering fully into legitimate store business (as it was called in those days), only when his son Lemuel became old enough to attend the counter. In 1821 he built .the Bassett House at the northeast corner of Scioto and Locust streets, the building now occupied by the Urbana Telephone Company. In 1824-25 he occupied a store room in what is now the postoffice on South Main street; afterwards, and for about two years the Glenn corner, now occupied by Sam Bianca and others, at the southwest corner of South Main street and Monument Square. In 1821 he was appointed tax collector of Champaign county. At that time the collector traveled the county over, visiting each taxpayer, and was armed with the special powers and privileges .of a constable to distrain and enforce payment if necessary. In 1833 he purchased from William Neil the site of the L. Weaver building, northeast corner of Scioto street and. Monument Square, and removed the old buildings to lots on Church and Court streets. He erected at once on this site a building which was in that day an ornament to the town and one of the finest brick blocks west of Columbus. He built the building occupied at present as a clothing store by W. E. Brown, and the Weaver dry goods store room, now occupied by W. E. Marsh as a dry goods store. The first two stories of the building now known as the Douglass Inn were built by John C. Pearson and Henry Weaver finished his work on Monument Square by bringing to its present form this large, elegant building, excelled by beauty of architecture and attractive style by few houses in the state. In 1859 Weaver was elected president of the Champaign County Bank, a position he held several years, or until the reorganization of the bank under the national banking laws. Mr. Weaver was a man of purely business habits. His mind was thor- 1098 - CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO. oughly engrossed and occupied with business and his attention was not easily drawn aside from his daily routine. With vigilant eye he observed his gradual and constantly increasing fortune, meeting with little adversity, yet surmounting difficulties with vigor and energy. Within a few days of his death he was on the street and at his store at his accustomed hours transacting the usual business connected with his large property, retaining his usual vigor of strength until Tuesday, February 27, 1872. On that day he was attacked with congestion of the lungs, suffering severely until Sunday evening, March 3rd, when he died at 8 :25 o'clock. He retained his consciousness to the hour of death, although at times under the influence of powerful opiates administered to alleviate pain. REAR ADMIRAL JOSEPH FYFFE. Joseph Fyffe is the only native of Champaign county who has ever attained the rank of a rear admiral in the United States navy. Born in Urbana, July 26, 1832, he died at Pierce, Nebraska, February 25, 1896, and was on the navy register for forty-seven years. He was the son of Col. Edward P. Fyffe who was born in Urbana, April 23, 1805, and who is often spoken of as the first white child born in Urbana. Edward P. Fyffe was in turn a son of William H. Fyffe who was born in Virginia, later moved to Kentucky and who settled in Urbana in 1805. Edward P. Fyffe was a cadet at West Point for a time, later was gtaduated in medicine and practiced in Urbana until his death. He was mustered into the service in the Civil War as colonel and was mustered out as a brevet brigadier-general. Colonel Fyffe died on September 5, 1825. Admiral Fyffe was a distinguished son of a distinguished father. When only fifteen years of age he received an appointment to the navy and from that date, September 9, 1847, until July 20, 1894, he was in the service of his country. His long career on the ocean, his promotion from time to time until he reached the high ranking of a rear admiral, and the prominent part he bore during the half century of his public service may well command the attention of his fellow-citizens of Champaign county. His first ship was the "Cumberland" and on that vessel, as a boy of fifteen, he learned the rudiments of the education which was to fit him for the high command which was to be his in after years. Before sixteen years of age he was on the "Stromboli" and had seen active service in the Mexican War. He was on one ship after another, serving on the "Yorktown" off the coast of Africa and later on the "St. Lawrence." He was promoted to CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO - 1099 the rank of midshipman on July 15, 1854, at the Naval Academy at Annapolis and was later assigned to the "San Jacinto". In 1856 he volunteered to be one of the Grinelle party which went to the Arctic regions in search of Sir John Franklin and rescued and brought home Doctor Kane and his party. He was decorated with the medal of the Arctic Order of Victoria by the Queen of England for his services on the Arctic expedition. He was commissioned master and lieutenant on September 16, 1856, and during the next few years served along the South American coast and in the East Indies on the "Germantown". At the opening of the Civil War he was on the sloop "Lancaster" in the Pacific ocean and was later transferred to the "Minnesota", the flagship of the North Atlantic blockading squadron. He was with this frigate until 1864, when he was given command of the "Hunchback", a double-ended gunboat, which was stationed on the James river. After the war he was stationed at the Boston navy yard and in 1867 was ordered to the "Oneida" and sent to the Asiatic coast. On December 2, 1868, he was commissioned commander and given command of the "Centaur". His next service was as light-house inspector of the fourteenth district, 'following which he commanded the "Monocacy" in the Pacific ocean and continued there from 1875 to 1879, in which latter year he was promoted to the rank of captain and placed in command of the "St. Louis". In 1880 he was given command of the "Franklin" and eighteen months later he was made captain of the flagship "Tennessee", of the North Atlantic squadron. His last active service on the ocean was his command of the flagship "Pensacola" of the Pacific station, and it was while on this ship that he was taken sick and returned to his home in Urbana to recuperate. In 1888 he became captain of the' Boston naval yard and remained there for three years, being promoted to the rank of commodore in February, 1889. He was assigned to special duty in Boston in 1890 and in 1891 took command of the New London naval station. On July 13, 1893, he took charge again of the Boston naval yard and remained there until he retired from the service July 20, 1894. Such in brief was the career of one of Champaign county's distinguished citizens. It was his request that his remains be brought back to the city of his birth and thev now rest in Oak Dale cemetery. JOHN RUSSELL. John Russell, the only native-born son of Champaign county who ever held the office of secretary of state of Ohio, was born in Concord township,