324 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
URBANA AND URBANA TOWNSHIP.
BY J. W. OGDEN.
A sketch of the settlement and prosperity of the city of Urbana, and of the territory bearing the same name, would be, substantially, a record of the county in all the features which underlie its growth. The county was organized in 1805, and, in the same year, surveys were made and lots laid off, by Joseph C. Vance, on Section 23, for which William Ward held a patent. The town, as originally platted, contained 212 inlots, 6 rods in front abutting streets and running back 10 rods, and two tiers of lots on the western border and one tier on the southern border, aggregating twenty-two lots, ranging in size from an acre and a half to two acres, with suitable streets. Lots No. 201 and 202 were donated for educational and religious purposes, but were used, in part, for a burial-ground.
As was customary at that early day, and which found many followers in the Western territory, the center of the newly-made town was made an open space, called "the square," composed of four fractional lots, six rods square. This space was intended, probably, less for ornament and the uses of a park than as convenience for countrymen who should bring in the products of their farms, for sale, or who desired a convenient place to secure their. teams. Be this as it may, "the square " was made the "camping ground" for the surrounding country for many years, and, as the county became the more settled, was the more filled with wagons of wood, hay and other farm products.A few rods north of the center was a deep well, from which water was drawn by a windlass, in an old "iron-bound bucket," which, from its constant use, was never suffered to become "moss-covered."
The proportions of the public square and the extent of the newly surveyed village do not suggest the suspicion of great expectations. William Ward, the proprietor, was originally from Greenbrier, Va., and, with several of his neighbors, some years before, had settled in this district. He had an "eye for a farm," and, in the almost untrodden wilderness, with unerring sagacity, saw and selected for himself choice tracts of land.
By the third section of the act defining the boundaries of the county, the temporary seat of justice was fixed at the house of George Fithian, in Springfield, where the first court was held. Court was afterward held at the rapids of the Maumee, though there is no record of the fact, and the statement rests only on hearsay testimony. The seat of justice being removed to Urbana in 1807, a log house on Lot No. 174, on Court Street, afterward occupied as a dwelling-house by Mr. Duncan McDonald, was used as a court-room. The old court house has been removed, and on its site stands the livery stables of Mr. Samuel Marvin. The jail was erected on Lot No. 107, now called the Lawson property.
George Fithian, Joseph C. Vance and Simon Kenton were the first settlers in the village. Thomas Pearce, father of Mr. Harvey Pearce, before the town was laid out, built a log cabin on what is now the market space, and cultivated a field many years on the north side of Scioto street, near East Lawn avenue. George Fithian opened a tavern in a hewed-lag house where Grace Methodist Episcopal Church now stands.
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Joseph C. Vance, father of Joseph Vance, who afterward served many years in Congress, and was subsequently Governor of the State, was appointed Clerk of the Court, which office he filled until he died, in 1809. In 1806, the inn of George Fithian was changed into a "store," the first in the place, by Mr. Samuel McCord. The cabin was afterward enlarged and weather-boarded, and occupied for many years as a residence and jewelry store, by William Thomas, and, more recently, as a dwelling-house, by Warren Holding. In 1878, it passed into the hands of the Society of the Second Methodist Episcopal Church, and its razing was watched by a large crowd with great interest, as the removal of one of the old landmarks. The generations since the days of Thomas the Clockmaker had supposed the building to be only a weather boarded "frame" or "balloon" structure, and were surprised to see, beneath the " veneering " of the poplar sheeting, the well-hewed log house. As the work of destruction went on, a bystander, one of the "oldest settlers," remarked that on the north side would be found an open space, made by the removal of part of one of the logs, for the purpose of light, and afterward used as a shelf, on which the " bottles of corn juice " called for at the bar were kept. The open space was soon made visible, but not a drop of "Old Monongahela " had been left as a memento of the old tavern and store, or as a sample of the "drink" of our forefathers. On the site of the old tavern now stands a beautiful church.
In the coming century, when progress shall declare the structure of to-day too straitened in its proportions, and luxury, smiling at the "simplicity" of the past, shall tear down, to build up a nobler temple of worship, curious crowds will again gather around to speculate on what may be found, and weary in seeking to decipher the almost obliterated papers and manuscripts beneath the corner-stone.
The first Methodist Episcopal Church was on Inlot No. 207, on the corner of Locust and Ward streets, where James Hendley now lives.
The first schoolhouse was a log cabin on the knoll on the north side of Scioto street, about forty rods east of the corner of East Lawn avenue, and was known as "College Hill." The cabin was built by Thomas Pearce, for a family residence, in 1804. The teachers in this cabin were Peter Oliver and William Stephens.
Fabian Engle opened the first store on the Springfield road, at about halfway between the present dwellings on the Newell and Dallas farms.
John Reynolds and William Ward erected the first grist-mill in 1814, connecting with it carding and fulling, which was the foundation of the present woolen factory of Messrs. Henry Fox & Co.
The first marriage license was issued to Daniel Harr and Elizabeth Ross, dated May 28, 1805. Both lived to an honored old age, and saw their children's children to the third generation.
The first deed recorded was executed by Samuel Wheeler to Timothy Woods, in Mad River Township, March 2, 1805, and was recorded by Joseph C. Vance, September 30, 1805.
The. first frame house built in Urbana was by John Reynolds, on the northeast corner of what is now called the " Weaver House," and subsequently the frame building on the southeast side of the public square, adjoining the brick store-house of Messrs. Hitt, White & Mitchell, and now occupied as photograph rooms and grocery. Mr. Reynolds used the building for his dwelling-house and had a store-room on the corner.
326 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
Christopher McGill was born in 1802, in a cabin on the farm of John H. Young, now within the city limits, and J. H. Patrick, in 1811, in a cabin near the place where Mrs. Keller's residence now stands. Dr. E. P. Fyffe was the first child born in town.
Among the first settlers in the village, in addition to those mentioned, were Samuel McCord, Zephaniah Luce, William H. Fyffe, William and John Glenn, Frederick Ambrose, John Reynolds, Edward W. Pearce, and others. In 1811, the population of the town comprised forty-five families. Among these were, besides the above, Benjamin Doolittle, Joseph Hedges, Mrs. Fitch, Dr. Davidson, Alex. Doke, George Hite, Job Gard, Alex. McComsey, John Shryach, Randel Sargent, N. Carpenter, John Frizzle, Joseph Vance, Frederic Gump, David Vance, David Parkison, Lawrence Niles, James Fithian, Wilson Thomas (colored), Toney (colored), Peter Carter (colored), Daniel Helmick, Nathaniel Pickard, Isaac Robinson, John Gilmore, Anthony Patrick, Jacob Thorp, William Powell, ---- Stout, Samuel Trewett, John Huston, Daniel Harr and Henry Bacon. The names of a number of these men will probably recur again in our sketch.
The first court met in the house of George Fithian, in Springfield; Francis Dunlevy, President Judge, and John Reynolds, Samuel McCulloch and John Runyon, Associate Judges; Arthur St. Clair, Prosecuting Attorney; John Daugherty, Sheriff Joseph C. Vance, Clerk. One of the incidents connected with the first court, was the return of the Sheriff on a writ of capias, issued against Philip Jarbo and Simon Kenton, for the recovery of a debt for which Kenton had become surety. The return of the Sheriff on the writ- was "Found Philip Jarbo, and have his body in court; found Simon Kenton, but he refuses to be arrested,"-and he was not arrested. We can readily believe that the high regard in which Kenton was held by the court and officers sufficiently explains why he was not punished for his contumacy.
The first jail was on Market street, east of South Main street. Simon Kenton was the jailor about the year 1811, and was at the same time on the jail bonds for a surety debt, and was therefore his own jailor.
The first municipal election was held in 1816, Simon Kenton, Anthony Patrick and George Hite being the judges.
The house on Court street, before mentioned, continued to be occupied as a court house until a new one was built in the public square in 1814. The new court house was constructed of brick, and at that time was considered a spacious building. The main, or rather the only, entrance faced the south. The courtroom was on the first floor, on the north part of the building. A hall led from the main entrance into the court-room, and on each side of this hall were the Clerk and Recorder's offices. The other county offices were in the second story, part of which was also used as a Masonic lodge. Although perhaps the most pretentious house in the village, the rooms were, in fact, small, dingy and unsafe, and the walls, more especially of the ante-room or main entrance and stairway, sadly defaced by the scrawls, marks and "flourishes " of "young America." The court-room was also used as a city hall, and was the place of all public and political meetings, and for the town and township elections. As no fence surrounded the building, and the main entrance always open, access to the stairway and belfry was easy and free to all, and the bell rope, reaching to the lower floor, was made to do service for all public meetings, and was rung to convene the court, for political meetings, for church, school and fires. In the belfry a heavy club was kept to be used in giving an alarm of fire, or to "toll "
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when a death happened. The last time the bell was tolled for a funeral, was on the occasion of the burial of " Old Squire Thomas, " as he was commonly called and known, of Salem Township. The practice had been growing into disuse, but a party of boys were in the belfry at the time spoken of, when one of them struck the bell with the heavy beetle. This was repeated a few times, and then being too late to cease, the tolling was continued until the grave was closed. The old bell was broken in taking down the house, and was replaced by the bell which now swings in the new court house on the corner of Court and North Main, of about the same tone and caliber.
The old structure was removed in 1840, about the time of the completion of the court house on the site and forming part of the present building. The old house had one quality-so rare in these later days as to make one suspect it to be one of the lost arts-a first-class job of brick work and masonry. The walls were evidently made "to stay," and the bricks were held so tenaciously by the cement, that each particular brick had to be broken loose and dressed with the trowel. A section of one of the walls being thrown down, remained unbroken, and came down with a " thud " like a dead-fall. We may be the more surprised at this, as the formula in use with masons when the old house was built, and for many years afterward, was one-third each of sand, lime and clay. When the house was erected, Judge William Patrick carried the first hod of brick to begin the work, and when it was being torn down carried the first hod-load away.
The house in the public square was superseded, in 1810, by a brick building on the northwest corner of Court and North Main streets, on the site of the present structure, of which it forms a material part. This building at the time of its erection, was deemed amply sufficient for all purposes incident to a court house, for many years; but no long experience clearly indicated the house to be not only unsafe from fire, but too small for the increasing business of the county. The question of tearing down and rebuilding a house, convenient in arrangement, ample in size for present and future requirements, secure from waste by fire and creditable to the county, was discussed at some length and with considerable warmth, and was finally submitted to a vote of the people, and rejected. With the rebuilding of a court house, the construction of another jail was closely connected. For many years, the old jail, located on the same premises as the court house, had been declared by nearly every grand jury as discreditable to the humanity of the age, badly ventilated, dark, verminous, unhealthy and oftentimes crowded. Such being the admitted facts, the result of the election gave general surprise in the city ; but the further fact was that the " rural districts " were in no humor for an expensive house. It was currently believed, that back of the proposed improvements were radical changes, involving heavy expenditures without corresponding benefits, the sale or exchange of the present premises for others, on the plea of more spacious grounds, and an unbroken front of mercantile establishments, a sale uncalled for and unnecessary, a project worked up by some one who had "corner lots" for sale, and that the law empowered the Commissioners of the county to invest a sum of money in alterations and repairs, amply sufficient to meet the requirements of the case, without the sanction of a popular vote. The above explains the reason of the vote on the proposition submitted to the people by the Commissioners. Accepting the vote as final, the latter remodeled and enlarged the building in 1880, making it substantially fire-proof, and containing all the supposed necessary room and facilities for the transaction of the official business of the county for the next
328 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
hundred years. The exterior of the altered house was a model of architectural proportions, the portico supported by Ionic columns of rare merit, and the building modeled after the style of Grecian art, a kind of architecture which has singularly marked the public buildings of modern Republics. The remodeled building had in view space, comfort, convenience and safety, without regard to style of architecture. While these are said to be fully secured, though the building can hardly be called hideous as an object of art, it can with as little propriety lay claim to architectural beauty.
The "iron-handled " pump, on the north side of the house in the "square," before mentioned, a kind of public property, in which the teamsters of the county claimed a prescriptive right, was preserved and kept in use long after the building was removed. But the "town pump," in the progress of events, was made to give way to the changed order of things. What should be done to relieve the blankness of the open space, was long a mooted question.
"Long time ago," a liberty pole, surmounted with a brush, did impartial justice in flaunting the bunting of rival parties, and, on the `glorious Fourth," "flung out the star-spangled banner to the breeze." Beneath its shade, the traveling peddler cracked his jokes and sold his lotions and patent pills. Here the politician, on a platform improvised from a neighboring store-box, harangued the multitude and " saved the country," and here the " boys," when the election returns came in, brought out the cannon and the big drum, and with the smoke and smell of tar barrel and pine box, and unearthly yell, made night hideous in honor of the occasion. Here the "holiday" soldiers held their dress parade, " trailed arms, carried arms, and charged. the. bayonet." But all would not do.
The open place still had its unfinished appearance, and the feasibility of bringing the springs from "Buckeye " White's hill to grace the "square " with a living fountain, was freely entertained. But in this, as in other things, the old adage was verified, that " the business of everybody is nobody's business," and the project ended in talk. That was the time before the Holly Works were thought of. In the meantime, the civil war was inaugurated and ended, and Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg and the March to the Sea made part of the record of the citizen-soldiers of Champaign in the contest. To commemorate the result, private subscription erected a granite monument, surmounted by a bronze figure, representing a returned soldier looking down on the graves of his comrades who lost their lives in the slaveholder's rebellion. By common consent, the term "Public Square," has been superseded by the significant and more appropriate " Monument Square."
It may not here be inappropriate to recall the names of the Judges of the court who sat in the "old temple " and the new, and dispensed justice with impartial hand, and of the bar, who, with " silver tongue of ready utterance," sought to make the wrong appear the better reason, or with honest purpose and manly courage, maintained their client's cause. Material changes have been made since that day. both in the organization of the court and in the general practice of attorneys. The Justices' bench was composed of one President Judge, supposed to be learned in the law, and three Associate Justices, taken from the body of the county, and selected for their good sense and integrity rather than for their legal acquirements. The office of Judge was one of appointment, which was superseded afterward by election by the people, and the office of Associate Judge legislated out of existence, in 1852. Occasionally, the President Judge, when the cases involving questions of law were disposed of,
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 329
would leave the unfinished business, which was more of the character of the work that now comes before the County Commissioners or Probate Judge, for disposition by his Associates. The latter naturally deferred to the opinion of the Chief Justice. We shall not attempt to give the names of all the Judges and attorneys who played their little part in the two halls of justice, but among them were men of rare ability and character. Among these were Joseph R. Swan, of Columbus, who for many years presided over this judicial district with great distinction and honor, and better known throughout the State for his invaluable "Treatise " touching the laws, duties and forms, appertaining to the office of Justice of the Peace. His legal knowledge and judicial integrity are too well remembered to require comment, and the younger members of the bar remember with grateful pleasure his patient courtesy and kindly suggestions in cases of embarrassment and hesitancy, and his readiness to show fair play between the supercilious and snubbing old practitioner and the unskilled novice at the bar. He retired from the bench about the year 1816, when the office was made elective, and continued his residence in Columbus, where he still lives, in an honored old age, revered by all who know him, and we reflect the common sentiment in saying that Ohio never had an abler or a better man. At the time he was on the bench he was a man of good size, of rounded and full form, a little stoop-shouldered ; a well-defined and strongly marked face, with a cast of the mouth, nose and marks in the forehead which indicated, to a stranger, severity. On the bench, it bore the impress of serious business, which probably gave this cast to his face. The voice was pleasant, though a little nasal in its tone, and just loud enough to be heard. He entered the court-room and upon his duties quietly, totally free from any self-conscious ness, spoke a pleasant word to those about him, as he took his seat, and, by his quiet dignity, commanded a decorum and stillness in the court-room which were enforced in after days by specific rulings.
After the court was removed to its present location, he "put up " during the session at the Hamilton House, a temperance inn kept by John Hamilton, the two-story brick tavern still bearing the name, and opposite the court house. His custom was, every morning before the opening of the court, and sometimes in the evening, to walk as far as the "Nutwood " farm of William Ward, now the property of Ab C. Jennings, and, in these morning walks, the writer of this paper was not infrequently invited to accompany him. The talk was generally rambling, but in which " the law " or legal questions had no part. On one occasion, the talk was of a very able effort made in the court-room on the previous day, by a young attorney, when he added to the comments, " I have heard him many times, and never heard him say a foolish thing."Rather a hard hit at the tyros generally, but the same young man has since become one of the most brilliant and successful lawyers in Ohio. On another occasion, the talk ran on the first sermon preached the evening before, by Thomas Coleman, a young clerk of town, who had been licensed to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church. "Tom " had been a little wild, was not a man of learning, had a showy way of presenting a thought, and was a very clever imitator of the voice, gestures and mannerism of William B. Christie. The discourse was criticized with some little severity, and, when it was ended, he replied, " There was also another side to be looked at," and reviewed the discourse with impartial justice. It was then thought to be intended as a gentle rebuke of an ungenerous criticism, but a better acquaintance gave assurance that it was simply his habit of looking at a subject on all sides, and seeing the strong and weak points of the subject matter presented to his thoughts.
330 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
The Associate Justices during the administration of Judge Swan were James Dallas, James Smith (who was succeeded by John Taylor) and Elisha Berry. These all were men of sterling sense and integrity. Judge Dallas was a Protestant Irishman of superior ,common sense, and-a man of positive convictions, and who did not hesitate to express them as positively. Judge Smith came to Champaign in 1813, and lived one miles west of town. Judge Berry was quiet and unassuming, a good citizen, neighbor and friend. Judge Taylor still survives, at the ripe old age of eighty-five, and now lives in Defiance County. He afterward represented Defiance County in the Senate of Ohio. Judge Tayfor was "fornenst " the popular sentiment in politics, and made himself obnox ious by his uncompromising Democracy and his hostility to Whigism. In the readjustment of parties growing out of the secession doctrines, he joined the Republican ranks with the same enthusiasm he once labored for the Democracy. He boasts of having shaken hands with every Governor of Ohio.
Judge Swan was succeeded by Judge Torbert, of Springfield, who died after a few years of service on the bench, the associates being Judge William Patrick, Edward L. Morgan and Elisha C. Berry. They were all "old settlers." Judge Morgan resided in Salem Township, and was an active citizen in all matters relating to the public interests, and universally held in high esteem for bis intrinsic virtues. Judge Patrick was the son of Anthony Patrick, who emigrated into Champaign among the first pioneers. Ile alone survives of the number, and is one of the very few links remaining to connect the present with the early settlement of the State. His vigorous pen has repeatedly done good service in behalf of questions of public interest. When Mayor of the city of . Urbana, he was instrumental in having the road to the cemetery shaded on either side bv trees, and with pardonable pride watches the growth and safety of the maples and forest trees that line the streets-the glory and beauty of the city.
When the "old house" was new, the modes of travel were vastly different from what they are now. The stage-coach was too uncertain ; buggies were not common, and horseback-riding was the ordinary mode of travel from one town to another. In traveling the circuit, Judge Swan usually traveled in a kind of sulky, drawn by a pied horse-not a very handsome beast, whatever its merits as to horse-flesh. The members of the bar generally traveled on horseback, carrying saddlebags, an overcoat rolled up and strapped on behind the saddle, and with a piece of cloth about three-fourths of a yard square buttoned around the lower part of the leg and tied with a string below the knee. These were called "leggings," and were commonly well spattered with mud. The profession about equally divided their favors between the Exchange and the Hamilton House, and were received with a deference and treated with ceremonious consideration not altogether in harmony with the " Fifteenth Amendment." The law practice has greatly changed since that day. The names of Edward W. Pierce and Henry Bacon have already been mentioned. Bacon and C. P. Holcomb were resident attorneys for a time only. Pierce was said to be a man of learning and talents, but given to melancholy, and, in the winter of 1816, was found dead in the woods between Urbana and Springfield. The resident lawyers who practiced in the former house were Moses B. Corwin, Jaines Cooley, William Bayles, Daniel S. Bell, John H. James, Israel Hamilton, Richard. McNamar. George B. Way. Samuel V. Baldwin and John H. Young. Possibly, here John A. Corwin made his first law argument. McNamar, Way, Baldwin and Young also could not have been longer than a year or two. They
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all carried their green bags and cases into the house of 1840. Then the lawyers traveled the circuit, going from one court to another, as business, or the hopes of business, called. Logan County sent Anthony Casad, Hiram McCartney, Richard S. Canby, Benjamin Stanton and William Lawrence; Clarke furnished William A. Rodgers, Charles Anthony and Samson Mason. John W. Andrews came occasionally from Franklin; and Mercer, Union and Miami each had a representative. They had jolly times then among the lawyers, and the best story-teller always had an appreciative audience.. A majority of these were young men, just pushing their way into public recognition, and, with the exception, perhaps, of Charles Anthony and Samson Mason, none had reached their prime. Such an array of legal ability is not often found. It is not our purpose to go outside of Champaign County, but we cannot forbear our tribute to the memory of William A. Rodgers, who died shortly afterward-the quiet, unassuming gentleman, the scholarly lawyer, whose opinion settled legal doubts. He was always cheerful, pleasant and communicative, but usually sat back, with eyes half closed, apparently inattentive to what was going on, but catching and remembering every word, and to whose legal opinion the oldest lawyers deferred. In his arguments to the court, he spoke rapidly, without gesticulation and without effort, in an earnest and somewhat conversational tone, but the casual observer saw at once that he was no common man.
Of the resident attorneys of forty years ago, not many remain to-day. James Cooley accepted a mission of Charge d'Affaires from the United States to Chili, where he died in 1828. His contemporaries speak in high terms of his abilities, and the promise he had given of a brilliant and successful future.
Moses B. Corwin was one of the first lawyers to locate in Urbana, and lived to an advanced age, but many years before his death dropped out of the profession. He was no great lawyer, but he had a fund of anecdote, which he narrated with " great unction."
With the new building came new aspirants for legal honors. Law offices formed partnerships, among which were Moses B. and John A. Corwin, who occupied what was afterward the Commissioners' room in the court house; John H. James and Richard McNemar, who had an oflice in a building adjoining Weaver's present hardware store, on Scioto street ; Israel Hamilton and John H. Young, whose office was in a frame building on West Court street, between the Presbyterian Church and the brick house on the adjoining lot, where Hamilton lived. These three firms graduated a large number of students, some of whom became men of character and force, in no way discreditable to their early instructors, while a few cared little whether they ever had a single brief. George B. Way and Sam V. Baldwin had an office in a brick building on the west side of North Main, not far from the National Bank. This firm did not long continue. Baldwin was afterward elected Probate Judge for many years, and Way located in Washington City.
With the increasing population and wealth of the county, the number of lawyers increased. The roster gives the following names in the order they came or were admitted to practice: Edward W. Pearce, Moses B. Corwin, John Holcomb, James Cooley, John H. James, Israel Hamilton, Daniel S. Bell, Richard McNemar, John H. Young, H. J. Kyle, George B. Way, Samuel V. Baldwin, John A. Corwin, Ichabod Corwin, John W. Ogden, W. F. Mosgrove, John D. Burnett, R. C. Fulton, Charles Fulton, W. D. Lowry, John S. Leedom, James Taylor, Levi Geiger, Jerry Deuel, W. A. Purtlebaugh, Thomas D. Crow, D. W. Todd, Dwight Bannister, W. R. Warnock, George M. Eichel-
332 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
barger, F. Chance, W. A. Humes, A. C. Deue1, J. F. Gowey, J. M. Russell, S. T. McMorran, T. G. Keller, George A. Weaver, L. H. Long, Henry T. Niles, John Henry James, T. C. Cheney, R. C. Horr, T. J. Corkery, Thomas J. Frank, H. D. Crow, M. C. Gowey, F. V. Sowles, G. W. Poland, B. F. Martz, Duncan McDonald, M. M. Sayre, H. M. Crow, C. C. Kirkpatrick, A. P. Middleton, A. N. Middleton, J. F. Eichelberger, L. D. Johnson, M. Gallagher, W. A. Hoopes, and J. W. Byler. Of this number, Burnett and R. Fulton went to Columbus; Charles Fulton and Banister to Iowa; W. A. Humes to Texas; L. H. Long, to Lebanon; John Henry James, Sandusky; M. C. Gowey and Hoopes, North Lewisburg; Lowry, Mutual: Cheney, Mechanicsburg ; Corkery, Toledo; Sowles, Cincinnati; McMorran, St. Paris; Kirkpatrick, Springfield, and A. C. Deuel to the public schools of the city.
Of the above, Cooley, Holcomb, Pearce, Hamilton, McNemar, Baldwin, Bell, Way, M. B., John A. and Ichabod Corwin, C. Fulton, Kyle and Mosgrove are dead. Gallagher deals out justice from a magistrate's office, and Warnock has been elevated to the "woolsack," of this judicial district. Niles and Ogden have abandoned the "crookedness " of the law and joined the ranks of the "honest farmers." John H. James, who, for more than half a century, maintained a front rank in the profession, has abandoned the "science of human experience" to younger men. The retirement of Mr. James from the profession leaves John H. Young the Nestor of the bar of Urbana, with years of good hard work still before him.
In the distribution of offices of honor and responsibility, the profession has not been overlooked. James Cooley was Minister to Peru; Israel Hamilton, U. S. Attorney for the District of Ohio, under the administration of President Van Buren. Moses B. Corwin represented the district in Congress, John A. Corwin sat on the Supreme Bench of the State, and Ichabod Corwin, Robert Fulton and W. R. Warnock were Judges in the Court of Common Pleas. John D. Burnett, Robert Fulton, T. S. McMorrow and J. F. Gowey were members of the lower house, and John H. James and W. R. Warnock of the Senate, in the State General Assembly. Samuel V. Baldwin and D. W. Todd were Judges of Probate, John H. Young, a delegate to the third convention for the revision of the State Constitution, Jeremiah Deuel, Mayor, and A. C. Deuel, Superintendent of the public schools of the city. The remainder are young enough to bide their time, and supposed to have some "expectations," and, when the opportunity offers, like Barkis, will be "willin'."
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The most casual observer cannot but have noticed, notwithstanding the privation and discomforts attending the lives of the early settlers, the zeal they manifested in education, and that, as soon as a sufficient number of pupils could be collected and a teacher secured, a house was erected for the purpose. The period just preceding the Revolution was characterized by its number of literary men, and the interest they gave to polite learning; and the patriots who were conspicuous in the Revolution were men not only of ability but of no ordinary culture. We can readily understand that the influence of their example had its weight in molding public sentiment in other respects, besides that of zeal for the patriot cause. To this may be added that, for the most part, the early pioneers were men of character, who; endured the dangers and trials of a new country, not solely for their own sakes, but for their children, and, with a faith
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in what the future would bring forth, clearly saw the power and value of education. Then we find, from the beginning, their object kept steadily in view, and provision made for its successful prosecution; and the express declaration of the fundamental law of the State, enjoins that "the principal of all funds arising from the sale or other distribution of lands or other property, granted or intrusted to the State for educational purposes, shall forever be preserved inviolate and undiminished, and the income arising therefrom shall be faithfully applied to the specific objects of the original grants or appropriations, and the General Assembly shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, shall secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the State." By virtue of this provision, the Legislature enacted a common school law, which went into effect about 1825. In many parts of the county, the election of directors and the efficient working of the law, engrossed the public attention. In Urbana, the provisions of the law, touching the assessment of property to meet the necessary expenses of free public schools, did not receive the popular vote, and, for many years, the schools were of a private character, the teachers occasionally receiving a pro-rata amount of the State funds in the treasury. In 1849, the general school law was greatly amended and improved, classifying the districts, and giving to Urbane that of a city of the second class. Under the salutary operations of the law, the public schools have taken a high character. Outside the larger towns, where classification of pupils and grading of schools became difficult, or, under existing circumstances, in many cases impracticable, the schools have, nevertheless, become efficient and invaluable, and the standard of qualifications of teachers required to be of a high order. Yet it will hardly be claimed, by the most enthusiastic advocate of the common schools, that the system, in its operations or results, is perfect. On the contrary, it has many imperfections, which time and a larger experience will remedy. But, contrasted with the scholarship and methods of not only the pioneer times, but those of the past few decades, we cannot fail to see a marked and continued improvement. While the public schools were never intended to take the place of the college, yet from the very nature of the case, the largest number of pupils must necessarily be unable to advance farther than the grammar department of these schools. Still, the minority, who may seek a more thorough scholarship here, may, and ought to be fitted, for admission into the colleges and universities. And such, we take it, has been the constant tendency of the system. Objection has been made that so small a percentage of the pupils in the intermediate department of the schools avail themselves of the advantages of the upper or grammar school, and that, therefore, the latter should be abandoned and left for private enterprise. If there be any validity in the objection, it loses its force in its application to the schools of Urbana, which annually transfer a large per cent of the pupils of the intermediate school into the grammar or high school for graduation.
As the town increased in population, the thought naturally arose as to the establishment of a school of a higher rank than that of the chance pedagogue. To meet this wish, the "old academy," as it was called, was built in 1820. This was a joint-stock concern, built of brick, on the site of the ward school building on Court street, two stories high, with a broad hall through the middle, with stairway and a room on each side, above and below. The lot was unfenced, and, when the building was not occupied, a favorite pastime of idle boys was to break the windows and commit other wanton waste. The appearance
338 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
and condition of the building and premises were not creditable to the town. About the year 1847 or 1848, it was sold to a man named Barker, who taught school for a time, and then re-sold to the public for common-school purposes. Prior to the adoption of the present system of graded schools, the public and private schools were conducted somewhat after the same style as the district. schools of to-day. That is, there was no systematic course of study. The boys and girls were placed in classes which corresponded with their acquirements in any particular branch. Thus one might be in a certain reading class, and also in a grammar or geography class which did not consist of any other members of the reading class. There being usually but one teacher, prevented conflict of time in hearing recitations. The morning work generally began with the reading classes, which used for text-books, the sequel to the English Reader, the English Reader and the Introduction. Before these were used, the New Testament was the common reader for the larger pupils, the little fellows using the short sentences in the American Speller and the fables at the close of the book. The writing was with a common goose-quill, made into a pen by the teacher, and who for half an hour daily was kept busy repairing the worn pens. The spelling class closed the day's work. The scholars generally studied their lessons in school, and were assisted as occasion demanded. The regular recitations having been learned, the residue of the time was given to arithmetic, the sums being wrought out on the slate and shown to the teacher only as help was wanted. Where the teacher had the rare faculty to create in the pupil a thirst for knowledge, the plan worked well, and unquestionably where there was a desire to learn, the progress was rapid and substantial, but where this faculty was wanting, or the boy was naturally indolent, it made great shirks. In a miscellaneous and crowded school, thorough classification was out of the question. The plan also involved a different discipline. Corporeal punishment was the rule-in presence of the whole school-the girls making no exceptions. In modes of inflicting punishment, there was a wide difference in different teachers, and, when not too severe, these frequently were sources of sly fun for all except the recipient. The younger pupils, having no lessons to learn, when not engaged in reciting, were ripe for mischief. A common trick was to place a bent pin or tack on a vacant seat, and so much the better if the " master " should be so fortunate as to sit on it. Another was to catch ground-squirrels, which were very numerous, and occasionally let one loose in the school-room. Almost every boy had his temporary pet in his pocket, which were called by the slang word 'grimy," and was indicated by the string by which the "grimy " was secured, hanging from his pocket or tied to his button-hole. It would require a volume to describe the tricks played on scholars and teacher, the modes of punishment, etc., which were part of the schools forty to sixty years ago. The town school was a counterpart of the country school. In some schools, the pupils were required to say " good morning " as they entered the room and on returning from school, to bow and wish a "good evening " to every one they might chance to meet-the little girls usually forming a line in the fence corner and courtesying all together. The 4th of July was the holiday. On Christmas, the larger boys claimed and exercised-the right to take possession of the school-room and " bar" out the teacher-which generally led to controversy until one or the other party was victor. The boys gave their " ultimatum " on a slip of paper passed through the keyhole or a broken pane of glass, and which was commonly a basket of apples and immunity from punishment; not infrequently the result was flogging all round.
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 339
More particularly in the rural districts, at the close of the term, in places where the worst element prevailed, the teacher, if he had at all made himself obnox ious, would be seized by the larger and stronger young men and " ducked " in the nearest pond, or placed under the pump.
Teachers were employed at an early day in Urbana ; but for the first forty years, the schools were "pay schools," and, as a consequence, many boys ran idle in the streets, or were early sent to learn a trade. For many years after the State law relative to common schools was established, all efforts to make them public and free by an assessment on property were voted down. In addition to the academy for boys, it was proposed about the same time to establish a female academy. For this purpose, a house, now the residence of Mr. William Wiley, on the corner of Church and Walnut streets, was secured, and Joseph Vance, then a member of Congress, employed in Washington two young ladies, sisters, named Buchanan, to take charge of the new enterprise. One of them afterward married Jesse Bayles. From some cause, the. school was a failure. The list of teachers who taught in town until the establishment of free public schools was, as far as we can now learn, Peter Oliver and. William Stephens, who occupied the log house built by Mr. Pearce on the knoll near the east end of Scioto street; Nathaniel Pincard, Henry Drake, John C. Pearson, who afterward was clerk of the court during almost the entire term of Judge Swan; a Mr. Thompson, who taught in a small frame house on Walnut street, next door to the residence of Peter R. Colwell. Both houses are still standing. Lemuel Weaver, about 1821-22, in the house where Mrs. Guinea. lives between Water and Reynolds streets. Whitney & Baldwin (partners).. George Bell, about 1825. Mr. Bell occupied a log house on Miami street, nearly opposite Dr. Mosgrove's residence, which was burned down in the fire of 1876. He next taught in a frame house on the corner of Scioto and Kenton streets,, where Evan Patrick now lives, and afterward in the frame house on Miami; street, which now adjoins the office of Dr. Mosgrove. Mr. Bell was an Irishman, and had a high reputation as a teacher. He was strict in his discipline, but drink in the latter part of his time made him very severe with the rod. He went to Cincinnati as clerk for the house of Robert Wilson, but returned and. opened a grocery in 1829. In 1830, several members of his family were killed by the tornado which swept through Urbana that year, and he became the more addicted to drink, which shortened his life. He was employed at one time by Judge Dallas, who lived about four miles south of town, as private tutor in his family. Several of the boys of town were permitted to join the class, going down on Monday morning and returning Friday evening on foot. Mr. Bell always carried a heavy cane, which he used to add dignity and impressiveness to his manner. John A. Mosgrove was one of the boys who, attended the Dallas school, and, as he and Mr. Bell usually walked down in company, he insisted that his pupil should carry a cane. The cane was an awkward encumbrance, and Mosgrove suffered it to drag instead of giving it the fling-out style indicative of elegant manners, and, before he was aware, would receive a heavy thwack on the back to remind him of his negligence. It was also his custom when walking with a friend or patron of the school, if happening to meet a promising pupil, to bail him anywhere on the street, and, in the nearest store or grocery, have his progress tested by difficult questions. He was as magisterial without as within the school-room, and with him obedience was a prime virtue. His ordinary salutation was "a fine sunshiny day," fine rainy day,""a fine cold day," etc.
340 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
Among the boys and girls who were pupils of Mr. Bell, were William W. Helmick, John A. Mosgrove, Thomas and David Gwynne, Irving Doolittle, Edward P. Harvey and W. H. Fyffe, Jr., the Baylor boys, Simeon and Jason Weaver, Sam and Henry Funk, William Corwin, Hiram Cook, Harris Patrick, W. Lansdale, James P. McCord, B. A. Berry, Bela Hovey, William Ambrose, John and Hisor Shryock, Than and Carr Kirkpatrick, Newton Heylen, James and Mary Jane Colwell, Eliza and Sophia Corwin, Eliza and Mary Wallace, Eliza and Polly Sweet, Susan Luse, Jane and Eliza Reynolds, Elvira Shryock, Fanny and Elnora Berry, Thomas and Mary Jane Bell, Mary and Jane McCord, Amanda and Tabitha Pearson, and others whose names are not recalled. Many of these began with other teachers, and continued on with others afterward, accessions being made from time to time by the younger ones of the same families and new settlers in town.
Mr. Haines succeeded Bell, and taught in the frame building on Scioto street, up-stairs, where Mr. Henry P. Espy now lives. Among his pupils were two sons of David Vance (afterward County Treasurer), Elijah and Elisha. Haines incurred their animosity, and, seizing a favorable opportunity, they waylaid him and punished him severely, and, fearing the consequences, fled to Mississippi.
King and Britton then opened school in the log house, elsewhere spoken of, where Grace Church now stands. John and Dan Helmick, W. H. Hamilton, the Lowe, Holden, Hovey and Patrick boys were occupying the lowest forms. The leading incident of this school was the " barring " out of the teacher, who, with an ax, cut down the doors and barricades within.
Jonathan Chaplin taught about the year 1828, in what was called the Colwell property, near the creek, on West Market street; afterward in a house on the alley by the Baptist Church. Chaplin used to go down the alley during recess to Hunter's Tavern, now the Exchange, and the boys read the day's disasters an his face. He afterward taught in one of the rooms of the old academy. About this time, he reformed his habits of drinking, and became an active and exemplary preacher in the M. E. Church. James McBeth taught in the lower part of town, in the middle of the hazel brush. The boys never came in on call, and fairly ran the gauntlet when they came in. Mr. Murray and Mr. Hamilton Davidson opened school about the same time, and, still later, Newton Heylen, in the house before occupied by Chaplin, on Court street, and then in an upper room of the court house. Among the lady teachers may be named Mrs. Shaw and Miss Amanda Fish. Mr. A. M. Bolton taught a school in a brick house recently on the lot of W. W. Helmick, and known as Lawrence Miller's grocery, and afterward in the Ohio House, the site of the I. O. O. F. building.
In 1832-33, Mr. Harvey Marsh had a private school on the Colwell property, on West Market street, and afterward in the Mosgrove house, on Main street. He was popular as a teacher.
In 1833-.34, he exchanged the school-room for merchandising, keeping an "all-sorts store," with a decided leaning toward fowling-pieces and ammunition. Some time after, he removed his stock in trade to a brick building on the west side of North Main street, a few doors below Court, where he continued until he sold out in 1878. His establishment was generally looked upon as a curiosity-shop of old and odd things. He did not keep pace with the changing times, and marked his goads at the prices of fifty years ago, and it was said that on his shelves were pieces of delft-ware and prints, fish-hooks and
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 341
barlow-knives, which probably made part of his first invoice. But the purchaser could always find there what he could not get elsewhere. At the auction which followed the purchase of the stock, the bidding was brisk, and prices ran up for articles whose greatest merit was age. He still finds his way to the post office-wears a heavy coat and is muffled about the throat with an old-style bandana handkerchief, and seems the relic of a former generation.
In 1833, Edward Taylor taught in the east room of the academy. He was not a success as a teacher, but wrote a fine hand, and employed a considerable part of the school hours in writing for outside parties. He remained here but a few years, and removed to Cincinnati. When the rebellion was inaugurated, be volunteered in the Union army, was taken prisoner at Bull Run, and one among the first inmates of Libby prison. What became of him on his exchange from Libby we are not advised, but then he must have been old, and the chances are that he is dead. John Sample, during the years 1833-34-35, occupied the west room of the building. Sample was a fair scholar, and considered a successful teacher. He was quiet and reserved in his manners, and fond of lonely walks. The latter may be explained by the fact of his fondness for botany, and of his purpose to write a -history of the flora of Champaign County, a purpose he was compelled to abandon on account of ill health. He died of consumption, shortly after giving up his school. He was understood to be the writer of a series of papers which appeared in the town journal, criticising a. rival teacher, which provoked retaliation, and gave the public much interest at the time, and which will be remembered by some of the older citizens of the then village. During Sample's time, a man named W. F. Cowles opened, school in the east room of the second story of the old academy, and, in the competition, Taylor, who occupied the first-floor east room, abandoned the field. Cowles was understood to be a Yankee, which was synonymous with "Abolitionist," a "pestilent fellow," unworthy of ordinary respect. In fact, his opinions in regard to slavery and the slave-trade was that of hundreds of other$ of that day-exceedingly moderate compared with the opinions of the present: time, and related mainly to the abstract question of right and wrong. The fewest number of the Abolitionists of 1830-40 had progressed far enough in their denunciations or opinions to accept the summing-up of John Wesley, as the "sum of all villainies." It was left for another generation, for the men who, were then schoolboys and their children, to see the enormity of human bondage. The morality or immorality of slavery was a mooted question, into which. passion, prejudice and early training entered largely, but with a growing sentiment strongly against its unrighteousness. But even the advanced and most pronounced Abolitionists had no well-defined opinions as to the way in which the evil was to be abated. They had faith to believe that public sentiment was. omnipotent in all questions of public policy, and that, when this sentiment. should be educated to duly appreciate the enormity of the system, slavery would fall from its own weight. It is questionable whether the result would have been accomplished within a century, if slavery itself had not been aggressive. As a political question, its maintainers were not satisfied to hold it in abeyance, and, in politics, it became not only a power, but arbitrary. The issue, then, was only a question of time. Be all this as it may, Cowles was a very moderate Abolitionist, but did not make himself obnoxious by his open advocacy of Abolition opinions.
He was a fair scholar, and a born teacher, and was probably the first teacher of the town who used the inductive mode of reasoning as a system for the
342 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
school-room. He was also the first man to introduce the blackboard in schools. He soon had a full house, and was very successful, but, with all his learning and ability, be was crotchety. The next year he proposed a manual-labor school, in which the boys were to study half the day and cultivate a farm and garden the other half. The spot selected for a garden was several acres bordering on the town branch, nearly opposite the schoolhouse, on Water street. This lot was divided into strips of eight or ten feet wide, reaching the entire length; each strip making a garden spot a little more than the usual size for a garden. The boys entered into the work with commendable zeal, and raised, not only the ordinary vegetables used in the household, but many of them had borders of pinks, four-o'clocks, and other common flowers, and, it must be confessed, some permitted the weeds to run wild and apparently take the ground. The soil was rich, and in the aggregate produced that year an enormous crop of vegetables. The farm selected for the manual-labor school experiment, contained ninety acres, adjoining town on the north, or northwest, belonging to John W. Hitt, through which the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland Railway now runs, and was entered through a pair of bars, a little to the west of the bridge near the Catholic Seminary, on North Main street. The land lay between a line running westwardly from the bars and a parallel line running near the dwelling-house, the ruins of which still remain, the space extending back from a third to half a mile. It was in sod, and turned under that spring, and, in its roughly-plowed condition, was transferred to the young farmers, each boy taking from one to three acres, in strips clear through the land. The crop planted was mainly corn, some few added pumpkins, others white beans. Here and there were to be seen patches of potatoes, and nearly all tried their luck in a melon patch. The ground was broken, planted and tended after the approved style of that day, the seeds were dropped by hand and cultivated with a hand hoe, though quite a number cultivated their lit tle patch with the "shovel plow " in addition to the use of the hoe. As the experiment was never repeated, it is doubtful, to use a phrase of to-day, whether it "paid." The melon crop, particularly, was a dead loss, The hoodlums, then as now, had a keen scent for a watermelon and where it grew, and a great corn-field afforded no concealment. The ripe ones were stolen, the large ones "plugged," and too often, with mere wantonness, the vines were destroyed. The "young farmers " ranged from twelve to seventeen years of age, and the growing corn received, in a number of cases, some outside help, more particularly where the shovel plow was in requisition. One instance is recalled, as indicative of the times: A colored man, named George Harris, was employed to assist in the corn-field with the shovel plow. He was a runaway slave, bad stopped in Champaign, as either a safe place, or to recruit, after his toilsome flight. His first employment was in this corn-field, on the patch assigned to Thomas Ogden. Harris was a capital hand, of medium size, strong, active and skillful. He spent the day in the corn-field, and at night made love to a colored woman whom Mr. David Ogden had brought from Virginia. One morning, young Ogden, on his way to school, saw a stranger with a handbill describing a runaway slave, and talking to a man named Kirkpatrick, who was known to make a business of capturing runaways. He at once hastened his steps to the corn-field where Harris was plowing, told him in a few words what he had seen, and added: "Now, George, if you have run away from the South, the best thing for you to do is to leave here as fast as you can." Harris was astounded at the news, said he was a runaway slave, and
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 343
added that he "would never be taken alive," and, leaving the horse standing in the furrow, broke through the corn at a full run, toward the north. In about a month a letter was received with a Canadian postmark, stating that he had reached Canada without interruption, was doing well, and requested that "Sally " might be sent to him. Sally was duly sent and reached his home. No word was heard from him afterward, but Harris had pluck, energy and intelligence to succeed anywhere. The two kidnapers, on scouring the field, which occupied some time, found that the prey had escaped, and gave up the chase. Among the boys who were concerned in the field and garden were Evan Patrick, Robert Colwell, Holly Raper, Thomas Ogden, William Samson, William H. Pearson, John A. Corwin, Decatur Talbot, Ichabod Corwin, Emmet and Warren Holding, William H. Colwell, George Folsom, John Carter, Lewis Hunter, Ed Goddard, Thomas Bell, Decatur Talbott, Bela Hovey, T. H. Berry, Newton Ambrose and others-in all about forty pupils. At the first the boys met at the school-room and were mustered in front of the building. A ballot was had for captain, which resulted in the choice of John A. Corwin, who at once stepped from the ranks and acknowledged the honor in as graceful a speech as he ever afterward made in his best efforts at the bar or on the stump ; when, with the order "shoulder hoes," the company started to their field of labor. But after a week or ten days the mustering was found to consume unnecessary time, and was abandoned.
There lived in Urbana at that time a colored man named George McCoy, a collar-maker by trade, a big, powerful fellow, bald as an eagle, with a narrow, contracted forehead and almost the whole of his brains lodged back of and above his ears. He was looked upon with much distrust by the community, but no suspicion had been fastened on him. He was afterward convicted of grand larceny and died in the State Prison. Cowles had some business with McCoy, and some one, seeing them conversing together, started the cry of "Abolitionist." A little encouragement excited the public indignation, and as he passed down the street he was plied with a volley of eggs. Very few probably were concerned in casting the eggs, but there was little sympathy manifested in his behalf. Assuming that Mr. Edmund B. Cavalier, who lived and had a store in the brick building now occupied by the Mutual Relief Association Fire Insurance Company, had furnished the eggs and probably assisted in the disgraceful and wanton attack, he went directly to the store where Cavalier was, and by a well-directed blow laid him on the floor. Cowles was not a large man, and to all appearances troubled-with pulmonary disease, but he was more than a match physically for Cavalier. The latter made no resistance, but armed himself with the purpose to kill Cowles on sight. Mr. William Patrick and William C. Keller, as soon as this was known, called on Cowles and urged his immediate departure from town as a means of saving his life. Cowles was not disposed to run from danger, and determined to risk the chances, probably acting on the presumption that his adversary, by his threats, had put himself equally on the defensive. The two gentlemen remained with him till nearly midnight, using every possible argument to induce him to "leave town on the morrow, without an encounter, and finally extorted from him a promise to leave within two weeks, on condition that he was not to be molested. They then went to Cavalier's, it being nearly midnight, and waked him from his sleep, informing him of the promise of Cowles to leave as soon as he could close up his business, or within two weeks, and urging him, under the circumstances, to let the man go without following up his purpose. They had the same difficulty
344 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
with Cavalier they had had with Cowles-a smarting sense of the indignity and wrong with which he had been treated, and his determination to take satisfaction in a summary way. They pleaded with him for hours to abandon his purpose, and finally obtained a reluctant promise that he would do nothing rashly within the time agreed upon. Both parties kept their promise. Cavalier made no demonstrations of resentment, and Cowles, closing up his business, left town, very few knowing then, or to this day, who had taken the pains to close up the difficulty. This ended the school and the manual-labor experiment. Cowles and Cavalier were both troubled with pulmonary consumption, and are long since dead.
The next teacher who occupied the ground floor, and afterward the upper east side of the Academy, was Mr. Ben F. Ogden, a fine, classical scholar and excellent teacher. His room was crowded with the young men and young ladies. of town, and be had such rare magnetism over his pupils as to compel an attachment for him personally, and an interest in their studies. As a disciplinarian and organizer, he was a failure-his talents and influence as an instructor acting on the individual rather than on the mass. He was a good reader, and read Shakespeare with rare skill, and in the evenings would gather into the schoolroom the larger boys and young men who wished to be present to read and hear recitations from his favorite author. He was erratic in his movements, and impulsive dissatisfied with himself and his employment-closing up his school, and spending a year in the East and South, to return and resume his work in Urbana, where he always felt sure of a full house and an appreciation of his labors. About the close of the war, he went to Iowa, and left the schoolroom for a farm, near Ottumwa, where he died in 1874.
School-teaching was now attaining the rank and character of a respectable profession. The talents, acquirements and character of Miss Eudora Heylen, Miss Catharine A. Baldwin, Miss Wentworth, Miss Mary Hughes and other young ladies of acknowledged merit, had contributed not a little to save the business from contempt. The absolute importance of employing the best talents with the most thorough scholarship, and at remunerative wages, was in advance of the times. The position of school-teachers was hardly respectable. It was practically considered a work which any one of ordinary attainments could do, and do successfully; and cheapness too frequently was made a material factor in the employment of the teacher; $3 per term of twelve weeks, may be considered a fair average for each pupil; in the aggregate, numbering thirty to forty pupils, including a number, either of charity or impecunious scholars. Like the horse in the tread-mill, there was no getting on, and, after years of honorable toil, the "school-master" found himself where he began-penniless, and, not infrequently, unfitted to engage in any other employment. Practically, it was a disreputable employment, and was the last resort for cultivated minds. In the rural districts it was still worse, for there a lower order of talents and acquirements prevailed; the pay was less, and generally the teacher was compelled to "board round; " that is, to take part of his pay in boarding a week, or other proportionate part of the time, with the several patrons of the school. Services were not estimated and paid for at what they cost or were intrinsically worth, but were gauged by the work and pay of an unskilled laborer. But, as we have said, a change was being made. A better class of teachers, and a more just appreciation on the part of the community of the office of teacher, inaugurated a revolution, which to-day ranks the cultured instructor among the learned professions. This change was produced partly by the character of he men who
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 345
engaged in the profession, not as a means to an end, but as a permanent employment, and partly by the opinions of leading citizens, who recognized the importance of the office, and the responsibilities imposed on the teacher.
This sketch would be imperfect were we to omit a notice of the present condition of schools in the town and county. The old log' schoolhouse, chinked and daubed, is only a memory of the past. In all the townships, brick structures, of size sufficient to accommodate from eighty to a hundred pupils, seated with single or double writing-desks, on iron frames, firmly secured in place, with chairs or seats, all made after the most approved pattern; "blackboards " of hard finish, made in the wall and reaching around three sides of the building ; the room well warmed and lighted; located in the midst of ample play-grounds, and costing, in the aggregate, an average of $2,000 to $2,500 each. Occasionally may be found the intermediate or frame building still used, but rapidly falling to decay, and destined soon to be counted with the primitive cabin of the wilderness. Teachers are employed for the term of three or six months, at a monthly salary varying from $30 to $50 or $60, payable out of the township treasury on the proper order. The schools are continued from six to ten months. The winter school is usually taught by a man, and the spring or summer term by females. In these, the course of instruction is generally restricted to the more elementary branches of an English education, with algebra occasionally added. Though the present country school is infinitely in advance of the school of eighty years ago, yet it must be admitted there is still a vast improvement to be made. The difficulty arises not so much from the want of learning or teaching capacity in the instructor, as from the crowded condition of the schools, the want of classification and the apparent indifference on the part of the patrons of the schools. Corporal punishment has been almost entirely disused ; discipline being restricted more to moral suasion ; the deprivation of little school privileges; percentages of merit and discredit; and, in extreme cases, whipping, suspension for a time and expulsion. In the towns accepting the law authorizing the organization of separate districts, are found larger and improved buildings, with greater facilities for study than in the sub-district schools, with a more extended course of study, and graded into primary, intermediate and grammar schools ; and pupils transferred from one department to another only on a satisfactory examination in writing. Mechanicsburg, North Lewisburg, St. Paris and Urbana have organized independent districts, with buildings and appointments amply sufficient for the present and many coming years.
We have before indicated the style and pay.of the primitive teacher; it may not be amiss to give the recent action of the School Board of Urbana, in reference to teachers and salaries for the school year of 1880-81, in contrast with the same within the memory of the middle-aged men of to-day:
HIGH SCHOOL.
Principal, Miss Anna J. Arnold......................................................... $1,000
Assistant, Miss M. V. Friend........................................................... 800
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL.
Principal, Miss Eudora C. Baldwin.................................................... 650
Assistant, S. H. Wallace.................................................................... 400
PREPARATORY.
Grade A, Miss Mary C. Armstrong..................................................... 500
Grade B, Miss Sarah A. Warnock......... ............................................. 400
Grade C, Miss Minnie S. Deuel......................................................... 400
346 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
FIRST WARD, SOUTH DISTRICT.
Principal, E. B. Kiser..................................................................... 700
Miss Mary E. Mayse...................................................................... 400
Miss Mary Morgan........................................................................ 400
SECOND WARD, CENTRAL DISTRICT.
Principal, S. B. Price. ..................................................................... 700
Miss Anna Miller............................................................................. 400
Miss Bird West. .............................................................................. 400
Mrs. L. I. Bassett............................................................................. 400
THIRD WARD, NORTH DISTRICT.
Principal, Richard S. Pearce.................................................................... 700
John W. Crowl....................................................................................... 400
Miss Sarah J. Armstrong. ....................................................................... 400
COLORED SCHOOL.
Principal, W. O. Bowles.......................................................................... 650
Miss Frankie Jones.................................................................................. 850
TEACHER OF PENMANSHIP AND DRAWING.
G. W. Snavely............................................................................................ 700
SUPERINTENDENT.
A. C. Deuel................................................................................................1,800
Teachers, 22. Total Salaries, $12,550. The present Superintendent, Mr. A. C. Deuel, has been at the head of the Urbana schools since 1850.
URBANA UNIVERSITY.
In the year 1849, it was proposed, by a number of New Churchmen then residing at Urbana, to establish here an institution of learning, as the beginning of a university, to be under the superintendence and direction of persons connected with the New Church, or holding to the doctrines set forth in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (see article, "New Church "). Ten acres of ground, finely wooded, and affording eligible sites for the college buildings, and in close proximity to the railroads, were proffered as a gift to the proposed institution, and further donations were soon offered sufficient to insure the erection of a building for college purposes. In the autumn of that year, a meeting of persons friendly to the enterprise convened at Urbana, at the invitation of the Rev. James Park Stuart, and organized an association, which accepted the proffered gifts, appointed a Provisional Board of Trustees, and authorized an application to the Legislature of Ohio for an act of incorporation.
The charter bears the date of March 7, 1850, and is one of the most liberal ever granted by any legislature, giving ample powers for the establishment of whatever schools, seminaries or colleges may be deemed necessary or desirable, and for the conferring of the usual academic degrees. The Incorporators named in the charter are as follows: Milo G. Williams, of Montgomery County; John R. Williams, of Belmont County; Benjamin F. Barrett, E. Hinman and William E. White, of Cincinnati; David Gwynne, of Champaign County; George Field, of Detroit, Mich.; Sabin Hough, of Franklin County; Samuel T. Worcester, of Huron County; John Murdoch, of Clark County; and Richard S. Canby, of Logan County. The institution was incorporated under the title of "The Urbana University," The corporation is governed by
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twelve Trustees, the persons above named constituting the first Board of Trustees. Vacancies in the board are filled by the remaining members. The title by which the grounds of the college are held is a fee simple, clear of incumbrances, and the deed provides that no part of the grounds shall ever be alienated by the university, either by its own deed or by judicial proceedings against it, nor any part of them used for any purpose not connected with the business of the college, nor any buildings erected on the grounds except such as shall be the property of the university, and for its use. On the 19th of June (still observed by the college as "Foundation Day "), 1850, the cornerstone of the university building was laid, and the eastern wing, the tower for the stairs, the central hall and class and library rooms were soon completed in a substantial manner. The College Hall, or students' dormitory and residence, was soon erected, and, in the year 1874, a third story was added to this building, and, in 1875, a wing was added to the university building, providing for a chemist's laboratory in the lower story, and for the President's room above: In the year 1855, we find the following names on the Board of Trustees, besides Messrs. Williams, Stuart, John Murdoch and David Gwynne, of the original incorporators, viz.: John H. James, Urbana ; Jabez Fox, Detroit, Mich.; John B. Niles, La Porte, Ind.; William M. Murdoch, Urbana ; Chauncey Giles, Cincinnati; and J. Young Scammon and J. R. Hibbard, of Chicago, Ill. Many of these gentlemen were continued on the board for a long period, Mr. Milo G. Williams, whose name stands first on the original list, remaining a member until his death, in the year 1880. The following of those named are at the present writing members of the board: Messrs. William M. Murdoch, Chauncey Giles, J. R. Hibbard, J. Young Scammon ; the remaining members constituting the present board are Messrs. Jacob L. Wayne, of Cincinnati; John Curtis Ager, of Brooklyn, N. Y.; Hamilton Ring, Henry T. Niles, Henry P. Espy, Charles G. Smith and Frank Sewall, of Urbana, and C. H. Allen, of Cincinnati. Shortly after the original donation of ten acres by J. H. James, Esq., of Urbana, an addition of five acres was made by Mr. Edward Dodson, of Cincinnati, and an adjoining tract of fifteen acres was purchased and donated to the college by the Hon. J. Y. Scammon, of Chicago, Ill. Thus the entire domain of the college embraces about thirty acres, covered with a pleasant grove of native trees, and affording a college site hardly surpassed for beauty anywhere in the West.
Among the early professors in the college were Milo G. Williams, A. M., Professor of Science and Dean of the Faculty; Charles W. Cathcart, Professor of Mathematics and Librarian; J. F. Leonhard Tafel, Ph. D., Professor of Languages; Henry Thayer Niles, A. M., Professor of Greek and Rhetoric; Rev. James P. Stuart, A. M., Professor of Philosophy, and Miss Caroline W. Collier, Principal of the Preparatory Department. In the catalogue of 1855-56, we find enumerated 128 students and pupils of both sexes, including the three primary classes, 46; the preparatory, 54; the college regular students, 14; partial-course students, 15. A number of the students at this period, upon their subsequent graduation, were elected to the positions of professors or instructors, among whom may be named John Curtis Ager and Richard Foster. At the outbreak of the war, in 1861, the attendance of students became so reduced as to require the suspension of the collegiate department, and the institution was conducted for a number of years in the form of an academy, with a varying attendance. Among the teachers employed during this period, besides Prof. Milo G. Williams, who rendered
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efficient assistance both in active teaching and in the general management of the institution, may be named the Rev. Charles Hardon, the Rev. George Nelson Smith, Mr. Julius Herrick, Mr. A. B. Farnham, Mr. James Dike and Mr. Alonzo Phelps; also Miss Theodora Howells and Miss Farnham and Miss Finney. The President of the institution during this period was the Rev. Chauncey Giles, who resided in Cincinnati, and had only an indirect management of its concerns. In 1870, the Board of Trustees elected as President of the university the Rev. Frank Sewall, then Pastor of the New Church parish of Glendale, near Cincinnati, and took measures to re-establish an actual collegiate organization. Thomas F. Moses, M. D., also residing at Glendale, was, on the nomination of Mr. Sewall, also elected the University Professor of Natural Science. In the fall of 1870, the institution was opened under the new organization with an attendance of fifty pupils, and, in the coming year, the primary department and the school for girls were, at the suggestion of President Sewall and by vote of the board, temporarily suspended until better provision could be made for their thorough and proper advancement. Classes preparatory to college were at once formed, the entire course, preparatory and collegiate, covering seven years.
In the year 1876, the first class of graduates under the new organization received their degrees, two as Bachelors of Arts and one in Science. Classes have since been graduated regularly each year, and the second or Master's degree has been conferred by the Board on a number of graduates who have since leaving college completed their professional studies, and been promoted into their respective professions. A number of students have pursued here a special theological course, and have since been ordained into the sacred ministry. Among those who have been students under President Sewall may be named the Rev. Richard De Charms, Rev. H. C. Vetterling, Rev. Julian K. Smyth, Rev. Jacob E. Werren, and Rev. Jacob Kimm. In the year 1872, the board undertook to raise an endowment fund for the college, and for this purpose constituted President Sewall a committee on the endowment and sustaining funds. After a continuous and persevering effort the President was enabled to report in the year 1878 that an endowment fund of $50,000 was raised, and, to a large extent, paid into the treasury. A statement of the payments and assets of the university was, by order of the board, published in that year, and it shows a total of property belonging to the college, including lands, buildings, furniture, library, etc., valued at $86,187.67. Among the larger subscriptions to the endowment fund were those of Mrs. A. L. Wentz, of Newburgh, N. Y., $5,000; Mr. Joseph A. Barker, of Providence, R. I., $10,000, and Mrs. Lenore M. Gordon, of Norfolk, Va., widow of the late George P. Gordon, of New York, inventor and proprietor of the celebrated Gordon printing press, $10,000. It is proposed to complete the endowment of a "Gordon Professorship " as a memorial of Mr. Gordon and his services in perfecting this mighty instrument of civilization and Christian advancement. Under the Presidency of Frank Sewall the college has also received large accessions to its library and cabinet, among which are specially to be mentioned the large donation from the late Christopher Cranch, of Washington, D. C., and of Dr. O. P. Baer, of Richmond, Ind. The cabinet of mineralogy, geology and paleontology is extensive and valuable, for which the university is largely indebted to Professor Moses' intelligent interest and care. There is also a valuable collection of coins and of zoological and botanical specimens. The library numbers some 5,000 volumes, arranged in sections of history, philosophy, classics, theology, literature,
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biography, travels and science; it is constantly securing valuable additions, and is of great practical utility to the students. In the year 1879, the Committee on the School for Girls and Primary Department opened again these departments of the university in temporary apartments. In 1880, by means of the Loring fund, the gift of the late Mrs. Maria Loring, of Cincinnati, and other donations, a new building for these schools was erected on a part of the New Church society's lot, corner of Reynolds and South Main streets, this portion of the lot being granted by the society to the university under a perpetual lease for this purpose. This building composes three commodious school-rooms, hall and ante-room on the lower floor, and a fine lyceum hall, 40x30 feet, above. It was formally opened and dedicated with religious services on Sunday, September 12, 1880, the Rev. Frank Sewall officiating. The university schools for girls, the primary school and the Kindergarten, under the general charge of Prof. Moses as Director, and with Mrs. T. P. McNemar as Principal, Miss Adelaide Smith and Miss Anna M. Woelfle as teachers, opened in this building at the beginning of the fall term, September 29, 1880.
The following gentlemen have occupied positions in the faculty since the reorganization of the college in 1870. Those marked with a star being present incumbents of their respective professorships: Frank Lewall,* S. A. M., President and Professor of Intellectual and Moral Science; Thomas Freeman Moses,* A. M., M. D., Professor of Natural Science and Director of the School for Girls; Philip Baraud Cabell, A. M.,* Professor of Ancient Languages and Literature; Thomas French, Jr., Ph. D.,* Professor of Physics and Mathematics, and Master of the Grammar School; William Pinckney Starke, A. M., Professor of Ancient Languages; Jacob E. Werren, Professor of Modern Languages; Hjalma Hjorth Boyesen, Tutor in Latin and Greek; George A. Worcester,* Instructor in Botany and Master of the College Hall. Among the contributions to general learning furnished by Urbana University, may be mentioned the Meteorological Reports, contributed to the records of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, during many years, by Prof. Milo G. Williams; "The Unity of Natural Phenomena," translated and edited, with notes from the French of Saigey, by Prof. T. F. Moses, published in Boston, by Estes & Lauriat, 1873; an address by the same, on " The Spiritual Nature of Force," published in 1871, and a number of papers contributed to the published records of the Central Ohio Scientific Association, by Profs. Moses and Werren, in 1878. The transcription in Latin for the press, of the large and important work in manuscript, by Emanuel Swedenborg, entitled "De Cerebro " (concerning the Brain), comprising some three or four hundred pages, folio, by Prof. Philip B. Cabell, the transcription and translation into English, by Prof. Cabell, of Swedenborg's treatise in Latin, entitled, "Ontologia," now in process of publication (1880), by J. B. Lippincott & Co., of Philadelphia; an address on the "Harmony of Religion and Science in the New Church," by Frank Sewall, published by Robert Clark & Co., Cincinnati; also, by President Sewall, two volumes of religious discourses, entitled, "The Pillow of Stones, or Divine Allegories from the Old Testament," and "The Hem of His Garment, or Spiritual Lessons from the Life of our Lord," both published by J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia; and, by the same author, the "Latin Speaker," easy dialogues and selections for memorizing and declamation in the Latin language, published by Appleton & Co., of New York, in 1878.
The educational advantages of Urbana University have been more fully appreciated, it would appear, by those living at a distance and coming here
350 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
hundreds of miles to reside for a number of years, in obtaining an education, than by the youth of the immediate vicinity, of whom but few have availed themselves of the course more than for a few terms of irregular study. In the catalogue of 1878, we find the names of students from the States of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, New York, Kentucky, Kansas and Maine, and, also, the names of those in previous years from Norway, Sweden and Canada, and, also, from other States of the Union.
The terms of tuition, which are somewhat high, although only about half the rates of the larger Eastern colleges, make it difficult for the college to compete with the free instruction offered by the State University, but the policy of the Board has been to offer only first-rate instruction and to charge for it accordingly, as necessity requires, believing that those parents and young men who are in search of a thorough education will not make "cheapness " of tuition the only consideration in their choosing. At the same time, by the judicious granting of free scholarships to worthy applicants, the board desires to make the course at Urbana University available to every earnest student who sball seek an education here and is able to provide for his living expenses.
THE CHURCHES.
It may be thought that too much space has been given to what in the beginning was intended to be only a sketch of the county. But the origin and progress of the religious sects of the country are closely identified with the development of the country. Religion, equally with trade and politics, occupies the attention of every community, and the men who were conspicuous in the early settlement of the country have been equally faithful and earnest members of some branch of the Christian church. It is in the purpose of these sketches to give not only the formation and early growth of the various churches which have formed societies in Champaign County, but also to note the marked changes which may have taken place. The early settlers were distinguished for their hospitality and kindly consideration for others. Poverty, sickness and want were incentives to considerate help. The hardships and deprivations which many families endured, make us wonder at the pertinacity with which they maintained their ground. We are surprised to hear that there should be want when game was abundant, but it must be recollected that many of them had no fire-arms, or, having them, were unskilled in their use. Common dangers and common wants did away with all minor questions. The preacher of the Gospel, whatever his particular belief, was a religious teacher, and, as such, received a common consideration.
As the country increased in population and sects increased in number, the lines of demarkation began to be drawn. It was the instinctive teaching that sectarian divisions copld be maintained in no other way. Before twenty-five years had elapsed, dogmatic theology entered largely into the pulpit discourses. Dogmatism was met with dogma, and Scripture quoted in proof that he who doubted was damned. The step was easy and rapid to censorious criticism. Harsh epithets and false statements were freely given and returned. It was sacrilege for one not to the "manor born " to be permitted to preach in another church than his own, and, if by any chance this happened, the preacher for the day took occasion to deliver a doctrinal sermon, with sharp thrusts at the heresies of his hearers, to be returned, with good usury, when the opportunity occurred. "Stand aside, for I am holier than thou," was the logical summing
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up of the whole matter. The fact is, none of this class had any practical knowledge of the thirteenth chapter of Corinthians, and very little of the Sermon on the Mount. Unfortunately, the want of a generous recognition of the freedom of opinion transfused itself throughout the congregations. No one seemed to be willing to let another go to heaven or the other place, except after the mode prescribed by his own faith. This censorious judgment was not confined to any one denomination ; it was a common failing. No one questions the integrity and honesty of purpose of these men and sects. It was simply inherited bigotry-a zeal without knowledge.
The latter half of the period since sectarianism asserted itself has revolutionized the acrimony of religious opinion. A little leaven of the old lump still occasionally asserts itself; but, with a single exception, the representatives of all meet on the same platform and extend to others the charity each asks for himself.
With respect to the multiplication of churches, material changes are very naturally being discussed. The most cursory observer cannot but have noticed the number of sects and the conflicting ideas which divide churchgoing people. This may not be wondered at when dogmatic theology ruled the hour, and each separate sect was endeavoring to pre-occupy the field. But, at a time when the essential features of Christianity are accepted by all, that the shadow of a difference should induce so many to drag along a precarious existence when consolidation would be the equivalent of life and vigor, is not so plain. Nor is the thoughtful man any the less puzzled when he sees a field already pre-occupied, with facilities amply sufficient to give religious instruction to every man, woman and child in the community-to see some distant missionary society resolve such a place to be one of the " waste places of Zion," and forthwith erect another "tabernacle," and thereby condemn the "faithful few " found there to a heavy burden and a meager religious pabulum from an illy supported preacher, and by the act cripple, to that extent, the established societies. We have a vague notion that the future will condemn the act as lacking in worldly wisdom, as well as in religious sympathy.
The M. E. Church.-The early records of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Urbana have been destroyed or lost; so that it is impossible to ascertain the names of those who organized the first society of Methodists in the then village. John Reynolds, John C. Pearson, John Goddard, Joseph White, Martin Hitt, Joseph Reppart, Samuel Hitt, William Sampson, Frederick Ambrose, Moses B. Corwin, Jonathan Chaplin, Henry Weaver and others were long identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church in this locality, and either were active participants in the organization of the new society, or early participants in the work. But in all new countries where religious denominations are wanting, the entire community are apt to become active co-workers, both by aid and personal attendance at meetings for public worship, to strengthen the efforts of others.
Urbana was originally part of Mad River Circuit, and the name of the town first appears in the "General Minutes- of the Methodist Episcopal Church," in 1833 ; Urbana then being the chief point simply of a very large circuit, with Revs. R. Brandriff and O. Johnson as preachers. They were followed, in 1834, by George W. Walker and Michael Marlay. In 1835, Joshua Boucher and A. Morrow were appointed to the circuit, William H. Raper being then the Presiding Elder. In 1837, Urbana was made a "station," and Joshua Boucher appointed Pastor. He was succeeded by a long line of able and prominent ministers, including such men as J. L. Grover, William B. Christie, A. M.
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Lorraine, Asa B. Stroud, Cyrus Brooks, Michael Marlay, I. S. Inskip, Granville Moody, J. T. Mitchell, M. Dustin, W. Herr, W. H. Sutherland, C. W. Sears and others whose names are not now recalled.
No data are obtainable concerning the first and second church edifice built in the town, reference to which is made on another page.
The present First Methodist Episcopal Church building was erected in 1836, and very largely through the efforts and liberality of the late John Reynolds, who might with propriety be called one of the early "merchant princes " of Ohio. The original subscription paper is still preserved. It is in the handwriting of Mr. Reynolds, who heads it with $500 as his own subscription. He is followed by John C. Pearson, with $200. Then follow, with smaller sums, John Goddard, William Sampson, Matthis & Wooley, R. Murdock, William C. Keller, Carter & Mosgrove, Joseph White, John Kiger, Daniel S. Bell, David Ogden, James Hunter, John Hamilton, David Sweet, Berry & Hovey, S. T. Hovey, Harry Marsh, David Vance, Henry Weaver, T. S. Hitt, W. H. Fyffe, A. and W. Patrick, O. T. Cundiff, E. B. Cavalier, W. and D. McDonald, F. M. Wright, P. B. Ross, A. F. Vance, Glenn & McDonald and many others. One peculiarity of the subscription list is, that a considerable number agreed to pay the amounts subscribed in lumber or work.
In 1855, the Second Methodist Episcopal Church was organized, with Rev. J. F. Chalfant, as Pastor. At that time the First Church reported a membership of 235, and the Second, 197, making a total of 432.
In 1879, the Second Church completed their new edifice on the corner of Main and Market streets, at a cost of about $25,000. In the same year, the First Church was refitted and refurnished at an expense of nearly $5,000. In that year, the membership of the First Church was 480, and that of Grace Church 310.
We are indebted to Rev. John F. Marley, present Pastor of the First Church, son of Rev. Michael Marley, who was Pastor in 1834-35, and afterward, for many of the foregoing facts.
The First Presbyterian Church.-General reference has been made to this church on another page. Like all religious societies of that day, in order to be self-sustaining as far as possible, the boundaries were made to take in a wide extent of territory, Buck Creek and Urbana constituting one society.
Among its ministers may be mentioned James Hughes and David Merrill. With the pastorate of Mr. Merrill two societies were organized, one called the Buck Creek Presbyterian Church, and the other the First Presbyterian Church of Urbana. In the Urbana branch ministered Rev. C. McGill, Edward Raffensperger, L. D. Long, John Woods, James A. P. McGaw, and others. At Buck Creek, Rev. Hugh Price, Melloy, T. B. Cross and W. F. Claybaugh. These two churches have pursued the even tenor of their way with little " flurry," save during the schism into "old and new school," the pastors for the most part serving acceptably until the opening of a more profitable field, or a conjecture of an end of their usefulness. The name of Mr. Raffensperger sug gests an episode that terminated his pastorate quite suddenly. He was young, inexperienced, just from college, and believed to possess more than ordinary pulpit abilities. Part of the contract between him and the church was that the salary should be paid promptly, quarterly. On one occasion, payday fell on a Saturday, and the Treasurer happened to be absent. Next day, the congregation assembled as usual, and no preacher made his appearance. One of the session, after some time had elapsed, made a call at the "study," which is in
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the same building, and found the reverend gentleman very quietly entertaining himself with a book. Surprise, inquiry and explanation rapidly followed, when the committeman returned to the audience-room and reported cause of absence. A few minutes sufficed for some one in the congregation to move that the relation between that church and its Pastor be at once dissolved, which was carried without a dissenting voice, and no after explanations were of any avail. The reasonable supposition is that he went to his next charge a wiser man.
The ministerial relation between J. A. P. McGaw and this church was closed in July, 1880, Dr. McGaw accepting a call from the Central Church of Rock Island, Ill. The membership numbers 329, and the church sustains a large and flourishing Sunday school, with fine library, Woman's Missionary Society, and the usual benevolent offices of the church.
Lutheran Church.-This congregation was organized by Rev. Ezra Keller, D. D., assisted by Rev. Adam Helwig, in 1846. The corner-stone of the present edifice was laid in May, 1851. The society was incorporated as an Evangelical Lutheran Church, connected with the General Synod of the United States, which connection it has always retained. The pastors have been in the following order: Adam Helwig, A. M. Swath, Daniel Shindler, N. B. Little, J. D. Severinghaus, A. J. Imhoff, E. D. Smith, A. J. Kissell, E. W. Sanders and A. J. Imhoff.
This church has had times of prosperity and great discouragement. The first years brought considerable success, but, during the years of 1858-59, the membership was greatly reduced by deaths and removals, and, in 1862, came the resignation of Mr. Severinghaus. Disorganization was prevented through the trusteeship of Messrs. E. B. Gaumer, J. F. Rettberg, and others. In 1867, the Board of Home Missions appointed Rev. A. J. Imhoff, D. D., Missionary Pastor, who, on the 1st of April of that year, reorganized the congregation. Thirty-four of the former members were then living in the county, but, by reason of old age and distance from the church, a number never became members of the reorganized congregation. The new beginning was small, but was at once increased by persons who had moved into the town during the time the church was closed. At the end of two years the pastor withdrew from the support of the Missionary Board. Regular services have been sustained and attended by a constant increase in numbers and development for good.
The membership numbers over a hundred, and the Sunday school about a hundred and forty. It has a weekly prayer meeting, and a Women's Missionary Society, and is in hearty sympathy with the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and its religious and reformatory work.
Church of the Epiphany.-This denomination was organized into a society in 1847, under the rectorship of Rev. Charles B. Stout, and the active support of Dr. Adam Mosgrove, Samuel H. Robinson, Abram Robertson, T. M. Gwynne, W. F. Slater and others, who purchased the lot on the corner of Scioto and Kenton streets, then the residence of John McCord, and under their auspices a house for worship was erected in 1849. This church, from the beginning, has been small in numbers, and necessarily drew heavily on the liberality of its members for its maintenance. The deaths of several of its prominent and efficient members in successive years, together with the financial embarrassment of the country, which unavoidably pressed heavily on all public enterprises, have interrupted the regular maintenance of a clergyman, and the present indications are that, without extraneous assistance, the society will hardly be able to maintain a separate and independent existence.
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The United Presbyterian Church.-This society was organized in the fall of 1844 by Rev. J. S. McCracken. James Dallas. Andrew McBeth and Miles C. Beatty were elected Ruling Elders, and constituted the session. Rev. Thomas Palmer was first Pastor in 1845, who died Feb. 15, 1847, and was succeeded by L. H. Long in 1849, and by J. B. Findley in 1853. In 1856, the congregation was without a stated pastor, and continued so until 1861, though services were held by Revs. David Payne, T. C. McCaghn and Thomas Brown. W. S. Morhead preached for one year, but declined a permanent pastorate to labor as a missionary in Italy. In December, 1862, T. P. Dysart accepted a call, and died at the end of two years' service. He was succeeded by Rev. H. H. Thompson in April, 1865, who still remains the faithful, earnest and able Pastor of perhaps the smallest church in the city.
The house in which the congregation worships was built in 1846, and occupies a lot on West Market street, below Grace Church. The probability is that at no distant day this branch or section of the U. P. organization will merge in the First Presbyterian.
The Howard Weaver Mission.-This association is under the control of no sect, but is managed and directed by persons attached to the various religious denominations of the city, and, without a formulated creed, accepts the Scriptures as the word of God, and a rule of faith and practice. The Mission was organized as a Sabbath school in 1867, which was held in different places until 1875, when Mr. Lemuel Weaver built and donated to the society the brick house in the northern section of the city, now occupied by the Mission for school, temperance meetings and religious services. The building was opened on Christmas, 1875, when the "Mission Association" was organized, and the deed for the building executed by Mr. Weaver, and delivered to the Trustees, Milo G. Williams, C. F. Colwell and David H. Hovey. This neat little building is a fitting memorial of Howard Weaver, son of air. Lemuel Weaver, one of the earliest laborers in the city in missionary work among the destitute, and one of the founders of the Mission Sunday school. He died of consumption in 1874, aged about twenty-three years. The school and Mission have been in charge of Josiah Talbott, General Superintendent, under whose faithful services much good has been done, and multitudes have here received religious instruction who could not be induced to attend or enter other houses of worship.
The Baptist Church.-This organization in Urbana resulted from the action of a State society, organized for missionary purposes. In the early settlement of the State, the Baptists had confined their efforts to the establishment of churches in the rural districts. The country was reasonably well supplied, while the towns were overlooked. By the missionary society, which had for its object the building-up of societies in places that had been neglected, Urbana was believed to present a good field, and thither Rev. Enos French was sent in 1840. Until the necessary preliminary arrangements could be made, services were held in the court-room, and, in the meantime, by act of the Legislature, the society was incorporated with the usual rights and powers, Samuel V. Baldwin being named in the charter as one of the Trustees. Under the efficient labors of Elder French, the site was secured, and the erection of the present church edifice, on the south side of Court street, between Main and Walnut, begun. Mr. French's health failed, and he was succeeded by Elder Gorman. Mr. Gorman was a man of untiring energy. He not only was unwearied in his efforts to raise money to build the house, but with his own hands prepared mortar, and carried the hod and brick to the mason. Through his efforts the house was built and
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dedicated, and the church prospered. He was succeeded again by Elder French. In 1852, came Elder Williams, who died that fall. After whom, came Elders Bryant, Agenbroad and Bonham, the latter in 1858, Elder Tuttle in 1863, Taylor in 1868, Clark in 1870, Harriman in 1872 and Stone in 1878. The Baptist Church, in this locality, has been fortunate in it selection of ministers. Most of them were men of more than ordinary ability and learning, and Revs. Albert Tuttle and George E. Harriman ranked with the ablest pastors of the city. The former bad a love for his fishing-rod and gun, and was supposed not to be in perfect harmony with his congregation on certain questions of their own. The connection was dissolved, and he went to Minnesota. Rev. George Harriman was a ripe scholar, whose pulpit efforts showed thought and culture. To him, more than to any other one man, is clue the credit of building up a demand for a higher order of literary excellence among the lyceum-going people of the city, and of the suppression of the hoodlum and the rough by the introduction of entertainments which shut off their attendance, or elevated their standard of amusements. In 1874, the society was weakened by the erection of a church at Hickory Grove, which drew heavily on the resources of the Urbana society. The latter, at no time strong in wealth or numbers, has met heavy pecuniary liabilities, and successfully prosecuted its work, yet the erection of a house of worship, which unavoidably draws on the territory and resources of the other, while it may not close the doors, must nevertheless cripple its usefulness. At this present writing, the pastorate of Rev. E. C. Stone, in connection with this organization, is dissolved, and the society are making efforts to supply the vacancy. The church has a flourishing Sunday school, and takes an active interest in the missionary and other benevolent enterprises of the day.
The Urbana Society of the New Church.-The New Church is a body of Christians holding to the religious doctrines set forth in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, a learned and pious Swede who lived from 1688 to 1772. The distinguishing features of the faith of this denomination are the following I. That the Lord Jesus Christ, instead of being one of three Divine Personages, is Himself the one and only God, and that the Divine Trinity is not a trinity of persons, but of divine attributes; the Father being the term used in Scripture to denote the Divine Love ; the Son, the Divine Wisdom or Word, and the Holy Spirit, the Divine Proceeding or Operation, and that this trinity resides in the Lord Jesus Christ like the trinity of soul, body and operation in man. II. That the Bible or Word of God is Divine truth, revealed to man in a three distinct planes of meaning, there being within or beneath the literal sense a spiritual and a celestial sense, and that these different senses are connected by a divine law of correspondence, according to which each thing in nature corresponds to something in mind, all nature being but a reflection of a mental or spiritual world, and the whole natural or literal sense of the Bible being but an outward symbol or parable of the inner meaning, which relates entirely to the soul of man and its world. III. That to redeem the world, God came into the world and took upon himself a human nature, and made it divine, even the Lord Jesus Christ, and that in so doing he combated and subdued the powers of hell, and released mankind from their spiritual bondage, and made it possible for man to freely choose the way of life, and thus to be saved by living a life according to the commandments; and that in this divine humanity He is ever nigh to aid and succor all who trust and pray to Him. IV. That we are immortal spirits clothed with natural bodies, which at death we shall leave forever. We shall then enter the spiritual world in a real human form and substantial spiritual
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body, and shall be judged by our life on earth ; if it has been good, we shall live forever as angels in heaven; but if evil, we shall seek an abode with those who are wickedlike ourselves. V. That the second coming of the Lord is a coming "not in person but in spirit," by revealing the "spiritual or inner sense" of His holy Word, whereby He has commenced a new outpouring of light and of love through His church into the minds of men; that this spiritual sense of the Bible constitutes the doctrines of the new and lasting Christianity promised to the church under the figure of the holy city, New Jerusalem, seen by John the Revelator, descending out of heaven from God (Rev., xxi) (hence the New Church is often called the " Church of the New Jerusalem ") ; and, finally, that the way to the attainment of this spiritual sense is found in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, a human instrument divinely raised up as were the sacred writers of old-for the communicating of a new dispensation of divine truth to the world.
The history of the society of the New Church (sometimes called "Swedenborgian ") in Urbana, is of peculiar interest, from the fact that it can be traced back very distinctly and directly to the very origin of the New Church in America, as will appear from the following facts of personal history
In the year 1784, Mr. James Glen came from London, England, to Philadelphia, bringing some volumes of Swedenborg's works with him, and he lectured in that city on the subject of the New Church, being the first avowed advocate of these doctrines in America. Leaving this country, he left behind him a number of these volumes, which afterward fell into the hands of Mr. Francis Bailey, of Philadelphia, a printer, who, with his wife and a Miss Hettie Barclay, became warm recipients of the doctrines. Mr. Bailey issued from the press the first volume of the New Church writings printed in America, and Miss Barclay was instrumental in forming a New Church Society in Bedford Penn., where she went to reside with her brother, in 1789. Some time prior to 1826, Mr. Thomas Gwynne came with his family to reside in Urbana. He was formerly of Cumberland, Md.; had there married Jane Murdoch. whose brother, Robert S. Murdoch, also came to Urbana to live, engaging with Mr. Gwynne in business. The brothers, John and William M. Murdoch, also subsequently came to live in Urbana. Mr. Gwynne was a New Church man, " having received the doctrines through Mr. Josiah Espy, of Bedford, Penn.," where, as we have seen, a New Church Society had grown up as the result of the interest and zeal of Miss Hettie Barclay. A nephew of Miss. Hettie Barclay, Mr. Josiah Barclay, became the husband of Isabella Murdoch, a sister of John, Robert and William M. Murdoch, who also came to reside in Urbana, and another sister, Miss Maria Murdoch, was the wife of Josiah Espy, who subsequently resided in Columbus, Ohio, the father of Mr. Henry P. Espy, of Urbana. In 1826, Mr. John H. James came to Urbana from Cincinnati, and took up his residence in Urbana. His wife, Mrs. Abby James, was a daughter of Mr. Francis Bailey, of Philadelphia, mentioned above. Mrs. James' three sisters, Margaret, Lydia and Ellen Bailey, subsequently, from the year 1833, made their home with Mrs. James, in Urbana, and formed a conspicuous part of the little group of believers in those early days of the New Church in Urbana. In May, 1828, John Murdoch and his sister, Mrs. Isabella Barclay, came here to reside, and added to the number. In 1835, Mr. David Gwynne and family returned for permanent residence here. Mr. Richard R. McNemar, a receiver of the doctrines, had also settled here in 1833. The little circle of believers in the " Heavenly Doctrines of the New Jerusalem " were visited by ministers and missionaries of
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 361
the New Church from time to time. The Rev. M. M. Carll visited them in 1831; Alexander Kinmont in 1836 and 1838; the Rev. T. O. Prescott (Miller) in 1813 to 1845; the Rev. Sabin Hough in 1847, and the Rev. James P. Stuart in 1848 and 1849. At this time the subject of establishing in Urbana a New Church College was set on foot, and for this purpose a meeting was called and the following persons came together, constituting the first assembly of New Church men in Urbana for purposes of cooperation in organizing the work of the church. There were present the Rev. James P. Stuart, of Twenty Mile Stand, Hamilton County; Milo G. Williams, Amos C. Richards and David Pruden, of Dayton; John Murdoch and William M. Murdoch, of Springfield; the Rev. Sabin Hough, of Columbus ; Richard S. Canby, of Logan County, and the Rev. George Field, of Detroit, Mich.
On November 8; 1850, the society of the New Church in Urbana was organized, and an act of the Assembly of Ohio incorporating the society was passed March 20, 1851. A constitution was adopted on December 28, 1351, and on January, 1352, the first Board of Trustees was elected, as follows : Messrs. John H. James, David Gwynne and William M. Murdoch. Mr. Milo G. Williams was elected Secretary. A resolution was passed looking to the purchasing of a building lot. The incorporators were Milo G. Williams, James P. Stuart, William M. Murdoch, David Gwynne, John H. James, Edward U. Blake, Thomas Al. Gwynne and John Murdoch. Mr. Amos A. Richards had also brought his family to reside here, from Dayton. These families constituting the New Church community, were in the habit of meeting from house to house on Sunday evenings, and holding a simple service of divine worship, consisting of a chapter from the Word, a passage of Scripture chanted, the Lord's Prayer repeated, and a sermon selected from some New Church writer. In 1852, the number was increased by the families of Dr. Hamilton Ring and Dr. Joseph Howells. In 1855, a lot was purchased by the society on the corner of what are now South Main and Reynolds streets, and a plain structure of wood, 30X50 feet, known as the New Church Hall, was erected thereon, and was first opened for service on January 5, 1856, the Rev. James P. Stuart conducting the worship, and Mr. Willard G. Day, a student in Urbana University, delivering a lecture on the " History and Character of the Word."
On May 14, 1856, the Rev. James P. Stuart was duly elected Pastor of the society, which office he held for two years, resigning in 1853. From that time, the society has elected no Pastor, but has co-operated with th e Urbana Univer sity in the support of public worship and preaching for the united benefit of the college and the society. the Professors of the college frequently being ministers of the church or students for the ministry, and officiating in the pulpit as part of their regular duty. The worship was conducted by Mr. John C. Ager in 1859. Rev. J. C. Eaton officiated regularly for this society and the New Church society in Bellefuntaine in the year 1860 ; Mr. George Nelson Smith was leader in 1861, Mr. Charles Hardon and the Rev. A. J. Bartels in 1862 and 1863. In 1864, Mr. Charles Harden was ordained, and entered into an engagement as minister of the society for the years 1864 and 1865. The Rev. J. M. Miller made monthly visits to the church in 1866, and the Rev. E. A. Beaman in 1867. The Rev. George Nelson Smith, having been ordained into the ministry, served the society and college as minister in the years 1868 and 1869. Mr. Milo G. Williams frequently officiated as leader in worship in the absence of a minister, and for many years served as Superintendent of the Sunday school of the society. In the year 1870, the Rev. Frank Sewall, having
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been elected by the Board of Trustees President of the university, removed with his family to Urbana, and assumed the pastoral charge of the college and congregation, the society stipulating to contribute a stated sum toward the current expenses of the college. The Rev. Mr. Sewall still remains in this charge.
The total number of names enrolled on the list of members up to the present writing (1880) is 140. The present number of resident communicant members is about forty, and the general attendance at divine worship is from eighty to one hundred. There have been in all, since the foundation of the society, one hundred and twenty-seven persons baptized, infants and adults, of which number fifty-six have been baptized by the present minister, the Rev. Frank Sewall.
In the year 1879, the society voted to give into possession of the Trustees of Urbana University its house of worship, to be removed to the rear of the church lot and converted into a building for a school for girls and primary school, to be under the direction of the Trustees of the university, at the same time giving to the university a perpetual lease of the rear part of the lot required for the purposes of the school. This was done in consideration of a sum being raised sufficient to warrant the beginning of a new house of worship to be erected on the site of the former one. The required sum being raised, in the spring of 1880 the society released its former building, which was thereupon removed and converted into the school building as above described, and, on July 1, the work of cutting and laying the stone of the new church edifice was commenced. The corner-stone of the church was solemnly laid with prayer and benediction, and a declaration of the faith of the New Church, the Rev. Frank Sewall officiating, on the 30th of July, 1830. The church is constructed entirely of Springfield limestone, from the quarry of Mr. A. Holcomb, the architect of the building being the Rev. Frank Sewall ; the master builder, Mr. Thomas Allison, and the toaster mason, Mr. Laury. The new school building, being completed for the uses of the girls' and primary school of Urbana University, was formally opened and dedicated with religious services by the Rev. Frank Sewall on Sunday, September 12, 1880.
The following is the Declaration of Faith subscribed to by members of the Urbana Society of the New Church:
I. That God is one in essence and in person ; that, from love toward men, he assumed humanity, and glorified it; and that He thus became God with us, the Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
II. That the word is divine truth proceeding from the Lord; that it is adapted to all the states of angels and of men, and that thus it is the divine medium by which men and angels are conjoined with the Lord.
III. That the Lord alone is the source of genuine life, the precepts of which are the Ten Commandments; that these precepts are to be obeyed by man as of himself, with the acknowledgment that the power and the will to do so are of the LORD ALONE, and thus that men are regenerated and saved by the Lord by means of a life according to His precepts.
St. Paul's African Methodist Episcopal Church.-This church was organized about the years 1824 or 1825, by Rev. Moses Freeman, a missionary of the Philadelphia Annual Conference. When on a missionary tour in the West, finding a few colored persons living in Urbana, some of whom had been members of the church, he made known the object of his mission. He was gladly welcomed, and preached his first sermon to the house of Fanny Carter. After the services, he organized the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in Urbana, with Frank and Rachel Reno. Lewis and Susan Adams, John and Re-
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becca Gamon, Elijah Brown and Fanny Carter, Elijah Brown was appointed Class-leader and local preacher until a preacher could be sent. The congregation, like all the pioneer churches, met from house to house until able to build a house of worship of their own. The first building was of logs, afterward weather-boarded, which was removed, in 1844, to make room for a brick house. They had then increased in numbers and influence. "The people had a mind to work." Many members of the church worked in the brick-yard to assist in the cause. Robert Reno molded the brick, Jeremiah Dempsy wheeled the clay to make them. This house was soon found to be too small, and, in 1866, under the administration of Rev. J. W. Steward, was torn down and the foundations laid for the present " Saint Paul's." The work was finished under the pastorate of David Smith, who followed Mr. Steward. June 1, 1876, Benjamin W. Arnett was appointed to the charge. Under him the church was finished, and was dedicated in the following September by Bishop Wayman, of Baltimore, assisted by J. A. P. McGaw, of the Presbvterian, George G. Harriman, of the Baptist, and H. H. Thompson, of the United Presbyterian Churches of the city.
The colored residents of the city and members of the church have good reason to be proud of their new St. Paul's. It is comfortable and convenient, and presents a fine appearance, with the appointments of rich and well-to-do societies. When the sittings become insufficient to meet the wants of the colored population, worshiping in St. Paul's, instead of tearing down and building larger, they will be more apt to follow the example of Grace Church, and, on withdrawing from the parent hive, erect for themselves a " new St. Peter's."
"'This church has been fortunate in receiving the ministrations of a number of able men. Among these may be named Jerry Thompson. Mr. Thompson was among the first in order of time, and inferior to none of his successors in natural abilitv. He was illiterate, but possessed a vivid imagination, and pictured to the fears of his hearers the wailings of the damned in the bottomless pit, and portrayed in as strong contrast, to the delight of the saints, the blaze of glory in the celestial city.
"His strength as a preacher was in his quaint, vivid and original descriptions, uttered with the impressiveness of conviction, and philippics against the sins of the times, too personal to be misapplied. With equal facility, he drew his hearers from the groan to the shout. To him hell was a material place, bubbling and hissing with molten fire and brimstone-where the worm died not and the fire was never quenched,; and when he got on, his ` high horse,' it was said he would `dip up hell with a ladle,' and. having wrought up his congregation to a high pitch of excitement, would close with a powerful appeal to `flee from the wrath to come.' It need hardly be said revivals were common in that church.
"The music, too, was usually of that emotional character that strongly impressed the audience. Improvisation was not unusual, after the manner of some of the Southern churches, where books are not used-a practice not infrequently in use on the old plantations. at their social gatherings. and on the Mississippi River steamboats, by the deck hands. A leader-sometimes a self constituted chorister-would sing a line or stanza, bearing upon the salient points of the sermon, with words and music of his own composing, when the congregation would join in the chorus, not always appropriate, but suited to arouse the religious fervor of the assembly. Then, if the sermon had presented the fears and hopes of the Christian, a thought or sentence of the
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preacher would be improvised into measure and sung in recitative, when the house would join in the chorus
"'Oh! Gabriel's gwine to blow-gwine to blow-gwine to blow,
Gabriel's gwine to blow at that great day.'
'`Many of the voices were rich and strong, the music abounding in quavers and slurs, but moving in perfect time and harmony, while the deep-toned voice of old John Gamrel, like the tones of a trombone, filled the house. While the singing was progressing, the preacher, at intervals, would improve the opportunity by a word of exhortation The pent-up feelings of the assembly were unloosed. ' Bless the Lord!' 'Amen!' 'Hallelujah!' 'Glory!' and other exclamations of similar import, were heard from various parts of the house. Sobs and groans mingled with shouts of triumph. Here might be seen one clapping her hands; near by, another, keeping time with his foot and swaying his body to and fro, and another, too full for restraint, would give play to his excited feelings in shootings of delight, or one of the females, overcome by the nervous strain, would fall in a swoon, the crowd surrounding her in a circle, and a female friend kneeling at her side. High above all the demonstrations of religious fervor, the voice of the preacher might be heard in his impassioned exhortation, alarming the impenitent and encouraging the faithful, when, the song having ceased, the minister quieted the noisy worshipers into something like order with a few more words of exhortation, and the `apostolic benediction dismissed the meeting."
St. Paul's of 1880 is not the little log or frame church of 1840, though sometimes still the demonstrative spirit of the pioneer Methodist asserts itself, and the music has lost none of its wonted force, and we doubt not the influence of this church has been an efficient means to make the colored people of the city, who are numbered among its worshipers, peaceful, quiet and active citizens.
Second Baptist Church.-This church was organized in March, 1846, in a log cabin bought of J. H. Patrick by Washington Cheevers, and the members composing the first society were Elizabeth Cheevers, Elizabeth Farrow, Mary Ann Morse, John Clark, Bryant Clark and Lucy Clark. Mary Ann Morse is the only surviving member of this number. The Elders, in succession, were Rev. P. Young, L. B. Moss, Richard Meredith, Henry Reckhold, G. W. Curry, L. B. Moss, L. B. Moss has served the church for twenty-five years. The church has had a large membership since its organization, and occupies for its place of worship the brick building on the corner of Buckeye and Hill streets.
The St. Mary's Catholic Church.-The Roman Catholic Church of the city was organized by Rev. Augustus Grogban, in 1853. He continued with the church until his death,, in 1859. His successor was Rev. James Francis Kearney, August 1, 1859. During the administration of Father Kearney, the church was enlarged twice; the first time, in 1867, the addition cost $14,010.64 and the second enlargement, in 1873, cost $6,263.53. He not only did a good work for his congregation, but was universally esteemed by all who knew him for his tolerant opinions and social character. He died in 1877, and was succeeded by Rev. M. W. Walsh. Under the administration of the latter, the brick building near Boyce, on North Main street, formerly erected for a seminary under the auspices of the Associate Reformed or United Presbyterian Church, was purchased and converted into a nunnery and parochial school. He died in 1878, and was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Donahue.
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Rev. J. A. Henry, for several years, has been Assistant Pastor. The church is flourishing, with a large membership and a number of social organizations, or societies, for the promotion of temperance, social intercourse and general knowledge.
THE TEMPERANCE CRUSADE.
In February of 1874, the ladies of Xenia, in Greene County, as a means to close the drinking saloons of that city, and thereby stop a prolific source of crime, want, suffering and degradation, agreed to go in a body to the several shops where intoxicating liquors were sold as a drink or beverage, and appeal to the men engaged in the traffic to abandon a business which their own moral sense condemned, and which was in hostility to the best interests of humanity and the country. As might have been expected, and probably by many was anticipated, the owners of the "Little Gem," "The Saloon," and kindred shops with fancy names and a suspicious record, turned a deaf ear to their entreaties and expostulations. A few were ready to argue the question; they were engaged in a legitimate business ; the manufacture and distillation of highwines had already tied up a large capital and afforded an immense revenue; that the destruction or crippling of this industry would re-act on the body of the country in destroying a market for leading farm products of the State ; that the manufacture of alcohol was essential to the prosperity of the mechanic arts; and that they did not solicit the patronage of their husbands, brothers and sons, and withal kept an orderly house. A few received them graciously, and were not to be. outdone in politeness ; some were surly and closed their door: and a few were belligerent, and probably would have resorted to threats and violence, but there was a physical power back of the "crusade" which plainly indicated that acts of personal injury could not be attempted with impunity. Hundreds who doubted the wisdom of the effort sympathized in the work, and would have protected the ladies from injury. But they were in earnest.. Many of them had every reason to hate the infernal traffic with a deadly and unending hatred. On the failure of the request, the next and natural movement was to appeal to Heaven in their behalf. Where permitted, the ladies would enter the saloon, and, no objection being rnade, one of the number would read a portion of the Scriptures, another lead in prayer, and all join in singing a hymn. If admittance were refused, they assembled on the curbstone and around the door, leaving ample space for passers-by and for going into or from the shop, and there continued their devotions. Having ended at one place, the body of earnest and devout women moved quietly and in order to another saloon, and there repeated the same. It was indeed a pitiable sight. In snow-storm, rain and biting winds, these bands of faithful women took up what one may readily conceive to have been a hard and painful burden, and, day after day, pursued their thankless errand of love. At the first. the crowd, when the singing and praying band had taken their places on and about the curbstone, gathered around them, filling up the street, some from curiosity, and others as a protection. Hats were raised and many an eye dimmed, as the blended voices rose in harmony or the impassioned prayer was uttered.
Several of the dealers engaged in the sale of intoxicating drinks agreed to close their houses, and go out of the business altogether, but the majority closed their doors for the time, with the supposition that it would be only a temporary excitement, bringing a richer harvest when it was over.
The story of the "crusaders," as they were called, in their work at Xenia, spread over the State, and almost every important town followed their example,
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adding to the example a more systematic work. An organization was effected in Urbana March 9, 1874, and shortly afterward similar societies in the other principal towns of the county. In this work, ladies of all the churches of the city took an active part. Two hundred and twenty-five agreed and pledged themselves "to perform, cheerfully, whatever work pertaining to the cause presented," and were called " recruits for the crusade." The recruits were formed into bands of fifteen each. A permanent picket corps was also established, a small number of which were assigned to guard each saloon, the guard being relieved at stated intervals. Sentinel duty to begin at 6 o'clock A. M. and close at 9 P. M.
An advisory committee was also appointed, composed of the clergymen of the city, together with a number of laymen. The first street-work was. begun March 12, 1876, when, in accordance with the previously arranged plan, a band filed from the lecture-room of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, and made their first attack on the " Little Gem " saloon, on North Main street, and nearly opposite the court house. When the reading, singing and prayers were ended, the band, sometimes singing as they went, but more frequently in solemn and impressive silence, moved on their line of march to the nearest point of the common enemy ; and, at the same time, the band next in order filed out of the same room, and along the same beaten track, to follow up successfully any impressions that had been made. The sentinels faithfully stood at their posts of observation until relieved. Thus, day after day, for many weeks, without intermission, the work went on. To all appearances the saloons were dead -the blinds were down, the doors closed, and the few who entered found access through the back door-and he was considered a bold man, or insensible to shame, who, in mere bravado or for a drink of whisky, would pass the line of pickets. After weeks of zealous, courageous and persistent Work, the pickets and recruits were called in, and, having elected a new board of officers, were dismissed from further duty, subject to call, whenever the emergency for a renewed effort shall be manifest.
The Temperance League is now known as the Women's Temperance Union, and meetings for prayer, consultation and work are still regularly held. The tactics are being changed, but the resolve to triumph is invincible. No efforts are spared to foster a public sentiment which, in the end, by its extent and character, shall declare the use of intoxicating drinks immoral, and their sale a crime. Without this public sentiment pervading the community, no amount of zeal and no prohibitory law will avail aught, for public opinion is the sanction to all law.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
In no feature of the city interests have greater changes taken place, or more marked progress shown, than in the methods of extinguishing fires. This, after the manner of all towns and villages, in the earlier settlement of Urbana, was by means of voluntary labor. A common danger gave a common interest. On the cry of fire, the person nearest the court house, or, if in the night, the person giving the alarm, hurried to the court house, calling fire! fire! as he, ran, and rattling on some of the doors along the street. The ringing of the bell aroused the sleepers generally, who rushed into the street, sometimes dressing as they ran, carrying an empty bucket, and shouting ire! In a cold, stormy night, no cry is more appalling-than that of fire! beneath one's window. accompanied by the noise of men's feet clattering on the pavement. When the burn-
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ing house was reached, by common consent, two lines were formed to the nearest well or pump, and the filled buckets passed along one line to persons who had courage to stand on or in the building, while the empty buckets were returned by the other line to the well. Relays stood at the pump, and persons at the house were relieved from time to time. When the well was at a distance and hands scarce a single line was formed, which did double duty in passing the buckets, or several lines formed to the various water supplies in the locality. Not only the men worked with a will, but the women turned out generally in force and rendered efficient service. Two things aided materially in the avoidance of many and serious fires. The number of houses was small and these were detached, and the consciousness of danger made people careful of fire. We are also surprised at the success with which fires were extinguished, and at the want of pre-organized effort on the part of the town to be ready for active work when the alarm should be given.
In 1833, the town felt large enough to maintain a fire company. About the same time, a volunteer company was formed to " run the machine," under the name of the "Champaign Fire Company." The engine was called the "Champaign." No record being found, the names of officers are not ascertained, but Judge Patrick and William Rianhard were active members and among its first officers. The company was insufficient for the labor necessary to work the engine, and relays were made by calls on the bystanders to lend a helping hand. The engine and company were a step in the right direction, but they too plainly did away with the zeal and effort so conspicuous under the line and bucket system.
In the winter of 1854-55, a company was organized with the following officers: James V. Guthrie, President; T. G. Keller, Secretary; and John T. Zombro, Treasurer. This company was organized under the name of the " Molunkee " Fire Company. In 1857, the third company was organized and called " Young America," and in 1865 there was added to the Fire Department a hook and ladder company, called "Hercules," organized with J. D. Gugenham. Foreman; Samuel Warnock, Secretary; and G. F. Pence, Treasurer. Both of the latter named companies are in operation at this time. The Young America company have now about eighty active members. Their officers at present are: B. F. Conklin, President; S. F. Wherritt, Vice President; William Helmick, Foreman; Eugene Dwieior and H. B. Fisher, Foremen Hose Division ; F. M. Ambrose, Treasurer; J. C. Edmonson, Secretary; H. H. Williams, George B. Hunter and W. W. Lewis, Trustees. They have an engine house on North Main street, opposite the First Methodist Episcopal Church. The Hercules Company is now in the bands of the colored men ; their building is in the rear of the city hall building.
A steam fire-engine was purchased in 1866, and was for several years operated by volunteers, who became tired, and horses were purchased and some paid men employed, viz., engineer, driver and fireman "Molunkee " was the name given the steamer, after an Indian killed on King's Creek, as "tradition " has it. In 1873, a paid fire department was organized. The steamer has not been in use since the building of the Holly Water Works. There are now seventy-three hydrants in the corporation, and the fire department consists mainly of hose reels. There are two engine-houses other than those of the Young America and Hercules companies referred to above, namely, one in the First Ward, situated in the city hall building, and the other in the Third Ward, situated on Russell street, near Gwynne street. In the former is kept
368 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
the steamer and one hose reel, and in the latter one hose reel, each a one-horse reel. Ten. men are employed, five at each house, one driver and four hosemen to each reel. One of the number sleeps at each house. They have now about two thousand five hundred feet of serviceable hose. The cisterns are kept full, and the engine in reserve. Aaron Wiley is chief of the fire department; S. J. Dixon, driver of hose reel, and D. H. Brown, E. A. Hill, J. H. Pratt and Jack Cavenaugh, hosemen in the First Ward, and in the Second Ward, William McAnnally, driver, Thomas Berry, Mat Whalon, Walter Groves and James McAnnally, hosemen. The other companies are volunteer.
URBANA WATER WORKS.
The subject of water works was brought prominently before the citizens early in 1877, and the matter finally took shape by the organization and incorporation of the Urbana Water Works Company April 7, 1877, with a capital stock of $100,000, by Messrs. Matt Weaver, R. R. Colwell, James Taylor, John H. P. Stone, Henry Fox, Dr. J. H. Ayers, F. Houston, C. H. Ganson and G. M. Eichelberger.
On Monday, May 21, 1877, the City Council concluded a contract with H. P. Clough and T. J. McGowan, as H.. P. Clough & Co., wherein the city agreed to furnish the right of way for ten years and protect the same by ordi nance, and to pay annually the sum of $6,000, one-half payable April 1, and the second payment October 1, beginning in 1878, for sixty hydrants, and $75 per annum for each hydrant above the number of sixty, and other provisions. Clough & Co. were to build a power house and well, and furnish the necessary machinery, etc. The work to be commenced in May, 1877, and completed by November 1, 1878, and to sell the works to the city at any time for the sum of $75,000.
A special election was ordered by the Council for a vote of the citizens to confirm or reject the proposed enterprise, to be held Monday, June 25, 1877. The vote stood-yeas, 822; nays, 35; total vote, 857. At a meeting of the City Council, held Monday evening, July 2, 1877, the plane and specifications were agreed upon; but, on July 31, 1877, a new contract was entered into for the reason that the laws of the State (Burns law) forbid a municipal corporation to enter into binding contracts for a period of ten years. The new contract provided for the erection of a power house, to be supplied by triplicate machinery, to furnish 1,500,000 gallons of water in twenty-four hours; seven miles of pipe; sixty hydrants at $100 each per annum, and such additional hydrants as the city should require, at $75 each per annum ; one hydrant at the U. S. Rolling Stock Company's yards and the public buildings to be supplied free; the cost to private individuals not to exceed that charged in Cincinnati in 1876, and a provision that the city might at any time purchase the works for $85,000, or for such sum as might be agreed upon by arbitrators.
The work of laying pipes and mains was commenced August 14, 1877, but had not proceeded far before operations were brought to a sudden stop by the insolvency of the McGowan Pump Company, of Middletown, Ohio, and they were forced to abandon the contract. We quote from the Citizen and Gazette newspaper:
"Under this state of affairs the prospects were slim indeed. But just then there arrived on the ground Mr. T. T. Flagler, President of the Holly Manu-
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 369
facturing Company, of Lockport, N. Y., who stepped into the place of Mr. McGowan. There immediately followed a re-organization of the Urbana Water Works, with T. T. Flagler, President; J. H. Ayers, Vice President; H. P. Clough, Secretary; L. C. Hovey, Treasurer; Messrs. Flagler, Clough, Ayers, James Taylor and Joel Read, Directors; E. G. Wiley and Joel Read, Trustees."
A contract, supplementary to the first, with the City Council, which provided for the substitution of the Holly machinery for that of McGowan. Under this new arrangement, work was resumed, and went forward rapidly, and the time for the completion of the works extended to January 21, 1878. They were done at the time agreed. The power buildings, well and reservoir are located in the southwest of the city, within the corporate limits, and are all as complete, substantial and handsome as could be desired.
A final test of the works was made under the direction of the city authorities, January 29, 1878, and, at the next meeting of the council, the works were formally accepted on behalf of the city, and plans entered into for a grand Water Works opening and jubilee on the 22d of February following. With their usual vim and hearty good will, the citizens prepared for the occasion. The officials and prominent citizens of neighboring towns and cities were invited and every preparation made for a thorough test of the works, and a day of rejoicing that should exceed anything ever before held in the city. When the day arrived., many of the invited guests came, and the city put on its holiday attire. A street parade began at 1 o'clock P. M., in the midst of a lively shower, and was composed of military and fire companies, bands of music, civic societies, officials, etc., and paraded the principal streets. This was followed by a display of the powers of the water works that elicited the greatest praise and admiration of all. An evening entertainment was held in the city hall. J. H. Young opened with an excellent speech, and was followed by George W. Wilson, Senator of this District; Thomas A. Cowgill, D. W. Todd, W. R. Warnock, G. Ellis, J. F. Gowey, 0. E. Lewis, President of City Council, and S. D. Clayton. Excellent music by the bands, and a select choir of singers were interspersed. Thus closed the rejoicing of Urbana's citizens over one of their best improvements and most useful and permanent enterprises.
THE OLD STAGE COMPANY.
Among the earliest enterprises in which the citizens of Urbana took stock, was what is called, at this day, the "Old Urbana Stage Company," organized about the year 1833. Urbana was practically " in the woods," and connected with the outside world with indifferent mail facilities. It was proposed to organize a stage company or daily line of coaches, for the transportation of mail and passengers from Cincinnati to Sandusky, and a very considerable number of the citizens of the town took stock in the venture. For a time, all went swimmingly. Substantial and elegant coaches, each drawn by four superb horses at least, gave an air of business and prosperity. The driver cracked his whip and blew his horn with all the importance of the old time " king of the footboard."
In an unlucky moment, it was concluded to extend the line from Springfield to Wheeling. The same reckless spirit of management attended this branch as had been made part of the other, and in the enterprise the company became competitors of an old, well established and skilled company, known as Neil, Moore & Co. Competition was strong, business good, management bad,
370 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
expenses enormous, and, in a short time, the bottom dollar on the subscription-roll had been reached, with a big debt accumulating. It was a day when the limited-liability clause was not inserted in contracts and partnerships ; and when the company collapsed, and the stockholders found themselves individually responsible, to the extent of their means, for the entire indebtedness, property suddenly and mysteriously changed hands. Long and troublesome lawsuits followed. Many, who had not learned the tricks of worldly wisdom, paid the penalty of their simplicity; and some, who thought themselves pretty, " well-to-do " in the world, still found it necessary to peg away at the last or hammer on the anvil.
The mischief resulting from the failure of the stage company, was undoubtedly long continued. The direct pecuniary losses might be repaired, but the failure and its consequences aroused a spirit of suspicion, broke down a confidence in worthy enterprises, and is still made to give point to the adage, "Look before you leap."
OHIO MUTUAL RELIEF ASSOCIATION.
This organization was the result of an accidental meeting of a number of the citizens in Urbana, in the fall of 1872. The question of life assurance happened in the course of common conversation. During the hour, the expense of the ordinary modes of life insurance, and the uncertainty of the issue in schemes of speculation to which large accumulations of money are invited, and into which the strongest and best-managed life companies are drawn, were canvassed with careful scrutiny. The statistics and published tables of the leading insurance companies gave sufficient data on which to form conclusions. The actual cost of insurance for a series of years, weighed by the estimated risks, as shown by the bills of mortality, plainly showed that the insured who lived long were heavily taxed, and it was proposed that a new plan of relief be presented to the public.
Other meetings were held; plans and suggestions considered, which resulted in the following general features: First, the membership to be divided into two general divisions, of which the first contain those who should obligate to pay each $1 into the treasury, for the use and benefit of the representatives of a deceased member of the division; and second, those who should pay $5 each for the same purpose and class.
These divisions were further subdivided into three classes, entitled A, B and C, the acceptance of a member into a class being determined by the age of the applicant.
Every member has the assurance that, in the event of his death, his family or legal representative if he were a member of the first class, will receive from the association the multiple of $1 by the number of members in the first class, and of $5 for the number of members in the second class.
Terms of membership were: In the first division, the payment of $3 admittance fee; $2 annual dues, and $2 into the relief fund. In the second division, the amount required was fixed at $25, in advance, to be divided among the several funds of the association, in the same ratio.
In the payment of current expenses in the first division, each member pays $2 annually, and, in addition to the sum taxable on the death of a member, an additional assessment of 25 cents. In the second division, the annual dues are $10 per year, and 50 cents additional assessment on the death of a member.
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 371
The association has been eminently successful in its business. Among those who have taken an active interest in its affairs are P. B. Ross, J. H. Patrick, H. H. Thompson, J. F. Shumate, Dr. J. H. Ayres, Dr. D. M. Vance, S. L. P. Stone, Dr. B. A. Rose and John S. Leedom.
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY GRANGE MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE ASSOCIATION.
In May, 1877, the "grangers " of the county organized, under what is called the "Granger law," under the above title, to insure against loss of farm property by fire and lightning. The form of policy issued was substantially the same as other fire insurance companies, but limited to farm property, excluding churches, schoolhouses and Grange halls ; confined exclusively to Champaign County, but admitting all farmers, whether members of the Grange or not; policies to continue five years ; cost of membership, $2 ; liability, a pro rata assessment on all policies for payment of losses.
The incorporators were Simeon Taylor, John Richardson, E. J. Garrett, John W. Ogden, Isaac Bull, Darius Taylor, P. L. Stickley, Lemuel Hoak, L. D. Johnson, John M. Niles. Simeon Taylor was elected President; J. W. Ogden, Secretary; and William Thomas, T. B. Price and E. J. Garrett, Directors.
As this"institution " is not covered by a patent-right, has nothing of clap-trap or humbug belonging to it, demands only a nominal fee for membership, and is not "run" for the purpose of private speculation, the probability is that before the time fixed for the first policy to expire, the books will be closed and the organization wound up.
URBANA PLOW WORKS.
Among the important manufacturing industries of Urbana is the plow works of Messrs. Henry Borger & Co., situated on West Court street, near the depot.
The works were established in 1874, by Borger & Rauch, as a manufactory of plows, and after about two years they added to their business the manufacture of spring wagons, farm wagons, harrows, wrought-iron fencing, etc., increasing their facilities and machinery to meet the growing demand for their work. In 1879, Mr. Rauch retired from the firm, and the business was con tinued at the old stand by the firm of Borger & Co. This is the largest and only manufactory of the kind in this county. Their Eureka plows, Little Giant shovel plows and Scotch harrows have earned for this firm a widespread reputation, and they sell extensively to dealers in western and northern Ohio and Pennsylvania. Their machinery is varied and extensive, and runs by steam power. The firm own the buildings they occupy, and represent a capital of some $8,000, with a business prospect that is flattering to their superior work and excellent management.
THE UNITED STATES ROLLING STOCK COMPANY.
This company was chartered in the State of New York, in the year 1871, and was formed for the purpose of manufacturing, selling and leasing locomotives, freight, box and fiat cars, etc. The general offices are located at Nos. 27 and 29 Pine street, New York City; works and storage yards, in Chicago,
372 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
Ill., and Urbana, Ohio. A. Hegewisch is President and General Manager; D. M. Monsso, Treasurer and Secretary, and C. F. Jauriet, General Master Mechanic.
In May, 1875, Messrs. J. W. Hodgskin, President of the company, with Mr. C. F. Jauriet, Master Mechanic, came to Urbana in search of a suitable location for their branch shops, and broached the subject to prominent citizens, who, ever ready to take up with an enterprise so beneficial to their city, at once favored the project. These gentlemen, with a committee of three prominent citizens, held a meeting at the Exchange Hotel, where the matter was duly discussed, and resulted in selecting a committee, consisting of Messrs. John H. Young, James Taylor, R. H. Cheetham, Lemuel Weaver, John B. Smith, H. T. Niles, E. W. Stafford, J. H. Patrick, John Kirby, H. H. Thompson, H. N. Benjamin, W. R. Warnock, Matt Weaver, J. S. Leedom, C. G. Smith, H. McDonald, Edward Jennings and Dr. J. H. Ayres, who united in calling a meeting of the citizens at city hall on Tuesday evening, May 25, 1875. At this meeting, the matter was duly discussed and the propositions of the visiting gentlemen considered ; whereupon a committee of fifteen prominent citizens was chosen " to see the citizens of this city, and learn what they are willing to give toward this enterprise." The latter committee held a meeting on Wednesday evening, May 26, and started a subscription for shares of stock, also a subscription for donations. This proved a success, and the necessary funds were readily secured and the enterprise started in a manner that assured success.
On Tuesday, June 15, 1875, the subscribers held a meeting at the law office of Warnock & Eichelberger, and elected as Trustees E. W. Stafford, C. G. Smith and Matt Weaver, who collected and managed the subscribed funds, and began negotiations for suitable grounds upon which to locate the works.
Several tracts of land were considered, and were examined by Messrs. Jauriet and Thompson, who finally selected a tract of forty-seven and one-half acres, known as the Ross and Hagenbuch land, lying west of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad track, east of North Main street. The tract consisted of a square lot of ten acres, on the east side of North Main street, and adjoining the north corporation line, and thirty-seven and one-half acres lying in a strip east of the said ten-acre lot, and extending south to the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad tracks. This property was duly purchased by the Trustees for about $12,000, with the understanding that when certain conditions were complied with, the same was to be deeded to the United States Rolling Stock Company.
On Monday, August 16, 1875, the company broke ground here and began the work of construction, and pushed their buildings to completion in compliance with contract. We need scarcely add that this was satisfactorily accomplished, and the property duly conveyed to the company as a donation from the enterprising citizens of Urbana.
The present buildings of the company consist of two sheds, each thirty feet wide by 750 feet long, and one shed 60 feet wide by 750 feet long, used as workshops ; one repair shop, 30 feet wide by 800 feet long; blacksmith-shop, 40x150 feet ; storehouse, 30x150 feet, with an office and minor structures.
There are about eight miles of track laid in these yards, of which about one and one-fourth miles are under roof.
Mr. C. F. Jauriet, the General Master Mechanic of the company, has supervision of the works, and Mr. B. F. Leonard acts as Foreman, with other foremen and managers in the various branches of the business.
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The company employs here an average of 175 men the year through, having at present a force of 260 men engaged in the various departments, styled respectively the wood-working shops, machine-shops and paint-shops.
The principal work done in this great establishment has been the repairing of all kinds of railroad rolling stock ; but in the past year about 150 freight cars have been turned out in addition.
For the past year, ending June 30, 1880, some $68,000 had been paid for labor, and about $135,000 worth of material used in the business.
ASSOCIATIONS.
The city is prolific of associations, having for their object social intercourse and improvement or pecuniary advantage, and, in some cases, both social and pecuniary benefits. Among these may be mentioned several of the so-called secret orders, making the payment of a fixed sum to sick or disabled members, the care of the sick, payment of certain amount of funeral expenses, and life assurance the substantial basis of their operations.
Among the former may be mentioned two organizations in the Roman Catholic Church, or perhaps more properly of members of that church ; one composed of married, the other of unmarried women, and which are known as " the Sodality ; " the essential features of which are understood to be the cultivation of sociability and mental improvement.
The same church organization has also a Temperance Society, and a social and benevolent association called the "Hibernia Society." These societies contemplate care for the sick and funeral expenses.
Among the associations of the city, of a purely monetary character, are the loan and building companies, having for their objects the character of savings banks, and the purchase of property to be paid for by small installments of money. These companies have been popular, and have accomplished a good work. The following may be specially mentioned
The Industry Loan and Building Association, was organized March 1, 1875, and by the terms of the charter, will expire March 1, 1883. The capital stock of $250,000 is divided into 1,250 shares of $200 each. Subscribers pay into the treasury 25 cents weekly on each share of stock subscribed. In the loan of funds collected, the borrower bids a certain premium for precedence in taking a loan. This premium is deducted from the face of the stock, and the balance is paid in cash as an advanced loan, on which the borrower pays interest at the rate of 6 per cent in weekly installments. The loan is further secured by mortgage on real estate. This organization will close at the expiration of eight years from date of incorporation, unless loans are made on all shares paid up prior to that date. Of this society, P. B. Ross is President, and T. D. Crow, Secretary.
The City Loan and Building Association, J. F. Brand, President, and H. D. Crow, Secretary. Incorporated February 19, 1878, with capital stock of $150,000, divided into shares of $200 each. Conducted on the eight years' plan, same as similar associations, except for first three years a limitation is fixed on the premium. For first year, the limitation is $96 ; for second year, $90; and for third year, $86. When two or more borrowers bid the maximum premium, precedence is determined by lot.
The Perpetual Savings and Building Association, Joel Read, President; and John M. Russell, Secretary. Organized in 1879, capital stock $400,000,
376 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
divided into 2,000 shares of $200 each. Premiums for loans are limited. Business conducted on the same plan and by same methods as similar organizations, but differ from others in having no period designated for its final closing. Subscriptions may be taken at any time, and entire amount of stock subscribed by one may be received.
The Urbana Loan and Building Association, J. H. Patrick President; George M. Eichelberger, Secretary. Substantially the same as the foregoing, and conducted on the eight years' plan. Has been successful in its management, and, having been the advance association, contributed materially to the building up of other organizations having the same objects in view. This association will close by articles of agreement in 1881.
The Golden Rule Aid Company.-This company was incorporated, under the statutes of Ohio providing for loan companies, July 20, 1880. The plan of the organization is secured by copyright, granted to A. G. Richards by the Librarian of Congress, in January, 1879. The right for Champaign County was purchased July 27, 1880, by A. J. Imhoff, J. E. Clark and C. F. Powell. The leading object of the company, is to enable persons to purchase property and pay for it in small payments, on long time, at low rates of interest; especially to assist them to purchase homes. and pay for them with the same money with which they pay rent, and to liquidate oppressive mortgages.
The money of this company is procured' by the payment of dues or loan shares, and is loaned to the shareholders at 3 per cent per annum. The borrowed money, principal and interest, is paid in 125 equal monthly payments. As each borrower has always 125 months time given him from the date of his loan share certificate, the organization is perpetual in its character, and be comes one of the permanent institutions of the county. A. J. Imhoff, President; C. F. Powell, Secretary; J. E. Clarke, Treasurer; D. E. Sullivan, E. V. Rhoads and H. C. Pearce, Directors.
Other organizations have been effected, having partially a social character, but whose main object is in the nature of a life insurance.
The Royal Areanum was organized in 1877, and proposes "to give moral and material aid to its members, and those dependent on them," and, out of a widow's and orphan's fund," to pay a sum, not exceeding $3,000, as the member may direct. This society is national in its operations, and numbers 20,000 members. The local organization, besides its proportionate tax in maintenance of the general fund, also has a separate fund for the uses and benefit of the home society, kept up by annual dues, and distributed in weekly sums to sick and disabled members. Membership is restricted to persons between the ages of twenty-one and sixty, and the assessment for "widows' and orphans' " fund is graded with the age of the member at the time of becoming a member.
The Knights of Honor.-This society is similar in character and purposes to that of the Royal Arcanum, which it claims is an offshoot and imitator. It is also national in its workings, and in its beneficiary operations numbers 100,000 members. This society, in its national capacity, is specially entitled to commendation for the beneficent work it accomplished during the plague of the yellow fever, during recent years, in the Southern States.
Knights of Pythias.-This society, founded on the well-known legend of Damon and Pythias, has for its purposes a fraternal interest and the advantages which result from pecuniary relief and care of the sick and disabled. The association was first instituted by J. H. Rathbone, of Washington City, D. C., who still lives. The Urbana Lodge numbers sixty members, who, with black
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 377
cloth uniforms and the paraphernalia of the ancient knights errant, present a graceful appearance on parade. The Urbana lodge was established June 14, 1877, with twenty charter members, namely, W. A. Brand, George M. Eichelberger, James F. Shumate, J. F. Gowey, John Mayse, C. A. Ross, R. C. Horr, C. W. Clarke, C. L. Stough, A. P. Ross, H. D. Crow, H. W. Crow, G. T. Seibert, J. J. Blose, Frank Chance, G. W. Hitt, T. T. Brand, J. F. Brand, J. C. Brand and J. C. Roof.
GRAIN WAREHOUSES.
Champaign County is essentially an agricultural county, and has, consequently, always produced more than was necessary for home consumption. The surplus was, as is stated elsewhere, hauled to distant markets by wagon, the teamster bringing back, in exchange for his grain, groceries and other articles of household consumption. The construction of the railway leading to Sandusky in 1848, and the Little Miami to Cincinnati about 1847, encouraged the erection of elevators or grain warehouses in Urbana, for the storage, purchase and shipment of grain. The advantages over the old mode were so many and great that the elevator was not long in securing popular favor. The amount of grain received and shipped necessarily fluctuates, but is estimated to be, annually, from one hundred thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand bushels of wheat, and an equal amount of corn. Shipments were made mainly to the Eastern markets. Grain received in store, for six months, without charge; when to be closed out at the market price, or chargable at the rate of one cent per bushel a month. Grades of wheat and corn have not been established. In other words, purchases are or have been made of all as third-class grade, substantially offering a premium on dirt, as there is no inducement for the farmer to put his grain in first-class order, when the slovenly dealer receives as much pay per bushel for his badly cleaned seed as is received for the prime article. The inequality of the system is curing itself, and more recently a graded valuation, based on a threefold classification, is governing the local market. The shipped products of the county find depots for the receiving of grain at all the stations on the several lines of railways ; St. Paris and Mechanicsburg, more particularly, being considerable grain centers.
Urbana contains three grain warehouses, which are amply sufficient for the requirements of the grain trade which naturally tends to this marker. Two houses were opened at about the same time, in 1848, on the line of the then Mad River & Lake Erie Railway (now called the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland Railroad), at the mouth of Miami street; one by Erastus Sheldon ; the other by A. & L. H. Magrew. The Sheldon house soon changed hands to John A. Mosgrove, William Wiley and S. A. Winslow (Mosgrove, Winslow & Wiley). The death of Winslow changed the style and firm to Mosgrove & Wiley, who conducted the business many years, and a few years since disposed of their interest to Irving Blose and John Edmonson, under the firm name of Blose & Edmonson. This concern wanted "ballast" and did not continue any considerable time and were succeeded by Messrs. Woodcock & Co., which firm, after a year's work. changed into the hands of E. T. Woodcock, by whom the business is now conducted.
The house of Magrew, in 1854, changed proprietors and became Magrew & Sons (Matthew, Lemuel and Merrill Magrew). In 1861, the firm name was L. H. and M. Magrew and S. B. Payne. In 1868, M. Magrew having died, the firm became Eichholtz, Payne & Magrew, by whom the business is still carried on.
378 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
The third house erected within the past twelve years, on the line of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad, and usually known as the "elevator," though strictly the work in all the warehouses is performed on the plan of the elevators, was built by Messrs. E. M. Bennett & Co. The firm changed to Ross, Bennett & Co. Afterward to Blose, Bennett & Co., and to-day is conducted by E. M. Bennett.
On the grounds attached to this elevator, about the same time, was opened a cattle and stock-yard, for the monthly sale of stock. Much expense was incurred, and every possible facility offered to make the enterprise a success. The business opened prosperously, and for a time was well patronized, but after a faithful trial for about a year, the support received growing continually less, the scheme was abandoned. The explanation of the failure is not difficult. A similar organization in an adjoining county had proved a success for years, and took precedence, and the raising of cattle in Champaign County had been gradually changing, from being largely a special pursuit into other departments of agriculture. agriculture. To o which may be added, farmers as a class, are tenacious of running in the old ruts, and are not in favor of any " new-fangled notions," or speculative theories until they have been demonstrated by those who are able to run the chances of success or loss, the reason for which is plain. Agriculture is slow work, and the annual returns do not justify unnecessary risks.
MANUFACTURES.
The village, like all other towns and villages of the country, was largely composed of artisans who had for the most part served an indentured apprenticeship and traveled as journeymen mechanics to perfect themselves in their trades. Cabinet-makers, carpenters, hatters, shoemakers, masons, blacksmiths, weavers, potters, brick-makers and all the mechanical pursuits were represented long before the town had reached half its present population. In proportion to the population, there was the same tendency to engage in the so-called "liberal professions " then as now, the schoolroom being usually made the medium to the law, medicine and theology. In the settlement of the country we are impressed with the fact that the early pioneers almost without exception, were skilled in some mechanical trade. It not unfrequently happened that there were several of the same name who were distinguished one from the other by their employment, thus Mason Downs, Carpenter Downs, Nailer Bell. Weaver Bell, Teacher Bell, Lawyer Bell, etc. Each man plied his trade with little or no help from machinery, save such as he made himself. Machinery now has largely taken the place of the skilled artisan, and " trades," with few exceptions are no longer taught. While the invention of machinery has, perhaps, increased the demand for labor and diminished the cost of the product made, it has turned out a more finished article, but at the personal skill and independence of the workman.
Projects have been entertained at various times for the erection of factories and machine-shops, some of which have been carried into operation, and some of which have been sad failures. The shops which were opened from time to time, maintained by the industry of the proprietor and the few hands with him as apprentices, gave stability, attraction and reasonable prosperity to the growing village. But as time ran on, invention and labor-saving machinery, demanding capital and enterprise, began-to make inroads on manual labor.
There have never been wanting men in Urbana who have had the sagacity to see that by effort and 'concert of action the town might be made a prominent
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 379
mechanical center. The incredulous are apt to question this from the lack of water-power and the absence of the two great elements of civilization, coal and iron. But, on the other hand, other manufacturing districts have been built up under equal disadvantages. Transportation facilities abound, and the wonderful fertility of her lands, with a superabundance of cheap food. presents a prime factor in the result. At an early day, a project was advocated to make a canal from Mad River to and beyond the town as a tangible mode of securing ample water-power for all conceivable purposes. The only feasible route was from the northwest, beginning at a point some miles above town. The general scheme and plans were extensive and complicated, and now unnecessary to be detailed. Mr. John H. James, who was understood to have fathered the plan, gave the matter much thought and advocacy. The question was one which demanded legislative intervention and sanction. In connection with this is a bit of unwritten political history not commonly known. Charles Anthony, of Clarke, John H. James and Abram R. Colwell, of Champaign, were candidates for the Legislature. For the three to remain in the field was equivalent to the election of Anthony and the consequent defeat of the contemplated improvement. With either of the two candidates from Champaign, Anthony could be defeated. Israel Bamilion and William Patrick, discussing the situation, agreed to call upon the candidates from Champaign and urge the withdrawal of either from the contest. They went at once to Mr. Colwell, who saw the certain defeat in a triangular fight, but said he would leave the matter to Mr. James to say which of the two should withdraw. The committee then called on Mr. James and stated the condition in which all parties were placed, when Mr. James promptly surrendered in favor of Mr. Colwell. The result was, Colwell was elected to represent the district, and the canal project from some cause was lost. Unfortunately, there will always be found men in every community who are "wiser than ten men who can give a reason,"who saw a " cat in the meal." "It would ruin Mad River; " "it would make the country unhealthy ; " "it would make Mr. James very rich !" This latter, it was asserted, was the chief source that dried up the canal. That somebody should make money out of it was an enormity not to be overlooked. There were those stupid enough to believe, or stupid enough to act on the supposition that men would give their time, talents and means to promote a great public enterprise for the simple glory of it, ignoring the universal fact that all men work for the "almighty dollar," and that all public enterprises everywhere have this same complexion. Somebody will make the larger pile; the whole community are permanently benefitted. Mad River still pursues its winding channel, with but a single mill in the distance of many miles.
In 1879, an organization of the citizens of town was effected for the purpose of inducing capitalists, in connection with mills and factories in search of a location for business, to settle here.
The want of space forbids any lengthy account of enterprises which were begun and failed, and of others which have been a success. A simple notice or two may be sufficient. About 1850, D. and T. M. Gwynne started a stave factory, and, after a few years' operation, transferred their means to a machine factory. Both concerns closed doors, mainly, it is believed, from a want of experience in the economical management of such establishments. The stave, factory was resumed under the auspices of David Hovey and Royal Winder, with a like result. About the same time, Allen and Jacob Minturn began the manufacture of the Huzzy reaper in the southeastern part of town. Lacking
380 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
capital, they associated with them, in 1856, Jacob Kauffman and James A. Nelson. The machine was of excessive draft, requiring four horses. After many experiments and considerable expense, the reaper was vastly improved, and the enterprise bid fair to be a permanent success, when some one claimed a patent right on the machine superior to claims which had been bought. The "capital" of the concern saw no money in the enterprise with an annoying lawsuit, though successful in the issue, and closed the factory. Not many years after, the Hurd brothers opened a spoke and hub factory in the northwestern part of the city. The works were prosecuted with vigor and success for some time, but the " hard times " and general stagnation of business prompted a temporary closing of the works, which promised to be permanent. We elsewhere refer to the Urbana Machine Shops. Greatly embarrassed for a time by the depressed condition of the country, and still further damaged by the want of experience, under the return of general prosperity and a broad experience, it has, perhaps, laid the foundation for an extensive establishment. Down on Miami street, where the " town branch " crosses the street, ow the north side, many years ago an iron foundry was erected. During the decade of 1830, it was successfully managed by David Parry, then by Gordon, afterward by Messrs. Morris and Crane, and now by Marcus Crane. Stoves of many varieties, patterns and purposes, and light castings, constitute its general manufacture, and the " foundry " may be considered one of the fixed institutions of the town. On the southeastern portion of the city, the "woolen-factory " always catches the eye of the stranger. As early as 1814, John Reynolds and Elisha C. Berry built a flouring-mill hard by, which was soon after enlarged and changed into a carding and woolen factory. In the sixty-six years which have elapsed, the establishment has passed through a number of hands, successful in its purpose when managed by experience and skill. It is now the property of and managed by Messrs. Henry Fox & Co., who are turning out cloths which compete with the boasted mills of the country, and which, brought in competition at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876, won for Mr. Fox the prize medal. The "factory," too, may be considered one of the permanent fixtures of the city. Within the last few years, two establishments have been built for the manufacture of corn-brooms, both near the mouth of North Main street, one by Messrs. David Perry & Bros., the other by J. J. Robinson & Sons. The two establishments work from thirty to forty hands, turning out sixty to one hundred dozen brooms a day, which are shipped to Pennsylvania, Western and Northern Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. Dugan Prairie has a reputation for raising an unsurpassed quality of broom-corn - J. W. Ogden, David Carey, David Perry, Mark Higbee, Freyhoff, Dalhousie and perhaps others living on the prairie making a specialty of the crop and illustrating the first principles of commercial prosperity-the bringing of the producer and manufacturer side by side.
The enterprises thus begun on the returning tide of prosperity, conducted within control and under the hand of experience, bid fair to become manufactories of magnitude and importance.
Of other enterprises, we make more special mention.
Messrs. C. G. Smith & Co.'s Tannery.-On South Main street, where the town branch crosses the street, will be found this establishment, which, in a small way, was begun by John and William Glenn in the early settlement of the own. The abundance of raw-hides and tanbark: made the tanning and dressing of hides a profitable occupation. The Messrs. Glenn were quiet men,
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 381
took no part in politics, never wanted an office, attended to their own business and prospered, and under their hand the tannery became a "fixture." In later life, Mr. John Glenn, on a summer day, might be seen in front of the little brick adjoining the tannery building, then his residence, and have a kind word for every boy who passed, and generally offer his snuff-box to cement the good will. The establishment has been greatly enlarged and improved, and the proprietors no longer look exclusively to Champaign, either for hides or bark. They have also connected with the tannery and finishing-house, an extensive harness manufactory. Few persons know of the extent and capacity of this establishment, in its various appointments, which may also be put down as one of the permanent manufactories of the country.
The Urbana Machine Works.-This company was organized in 1870, by about thirty citizens of Urbana, on the stock plan, with a view to manufacturing the Dougherty water-wheel, the Excelsior steel plow and the Excelsior grain drill. The water-wheel, being found insufficient to stand the test to which it was subjected, was abandoned, and shortly afterward began the manufacture of Small's turbine wheel, designed and patented by E. S. Small, of Urbana. The Excelsior plow was soon known as a valuable pattern, and steadily grew in popular favor. In 1872 and 1873, less than 200 were manufactured. In the next year, 900, and in the year following, 1,400 were made. The company also undertook the manufacture of the Burn's corn-planter, a sulky breaking-plow, and mill gearing, shafting and pulleys, and, in connection with their shops, had a foundry for the casting of the machinery used in their manufactures.
The recent commercial panic and financial depression affected this establishment, as it did hundreds of other houses throughout the country. The company also suffered from the want of experience, which too frequently at tends enterprises of this character, and which losses and time alone can remedy. The resumption of specie payment by the Government, and the returning tide of prosperity to all departments of industry, will be equally felt by this factory in its continuance of work.
The Saunders' Glue Factory. -In the southwestern quarter, just within the city limits, stands the glue factory of Mr. Robert Saunders. This establishment was begun about twenty years ago, on a small scale, but with indifferent success. William F. Mosgrove, David Hovey, William B. Moore and Newton Ambrose each, in turn, being interested in the business with Mr. Saunders; but not proving as profitable as probably had been anticipated, they disposed of their interests, the whole concern ultimately falling into the hands and management of Mr. Saunders. Through the years of national financial troubles, he "stuck" to his business, and, with returning general prosperity, there is a great probability that the works will be equally prosperous. The factory turns out 500 pounds of glue daily, which is shipped to Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis or Cleveland, and the material used brought partly from distant markets, but supplied to a considerable extent by the tannery of Messrs. C. G. Smith & Co., of Urbana. In connection with the establishment is also a soap factory, which manufactures several qualities of soap for laundries and wool factories. These are partly molded into bars, as are found at the stores, but mainly in barrels, for shipment to factories.
We hope to see Mr. Saunders, at no distant day, connect with the above the manufacture of a commercial fertilizer. Tons of crude materials are sold at nominal cost, by the cord, which, chemically "doctored " by the admixture of sand and clay or other cheap material, sells readily at from $30 to $40 a
382 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
ton. This factory having maintained itself for so many years, in times of great financial depression, we may readily conclude that it may be set down as one of the permanent industries of this locality.
BANKS.
In the year 1814, an association was formed in Urbana for the purpose of carrying on a banking business. It was chartered in 1816, and was known as the Urbana Banking Company. The building in which this, the first bank was opened, was situated on Miami street, a little west of the present site of the Weaver House. John Reynolds was its first President and William Neil its first Cashier. This bank was in operation until about the year 1841, when it broke, never to be repaired.
At about this time, the Mutual Insurance Company was engaged in the banking business.
In 1857 or 1858, the first private bank of Urbana was organized. Its proprietors were William Wiley, James Clark, S. A. Winslow, Thomas M. Gwynne, David Gwynne and J. M. Mosgrove. Its Cashier was James Clark. It was known as the Farmers' Bank, and was opened on the south side of Monument Square, and afterward moved to North Main street. It was succeeded by Armstrong's Bank, which was succeeded by the Citizen's National Bank, now in operation. The latter is located on the northeast corner of Monument Square and North Main street. It was organized in 1865; chartered February 14 of that year. Its first President was Amos Whitely; Cashier, E. G. Wiley; Directors, Abner Whitely, David Blose, William Wiley, John H. Blose and Edward Jennings. On the resignation of Mr. Whitely, as President, soon after its organization, J. B. Armstrong became President, whose resignation was tendered in February, 1874, at which time Oliver Taylor was elected President, who is now in office. W. W. Wilson is its present Cashier, and John Mayse, Assistant Cashier. Oliver Taylor, I. B. Thomas, J. M. Mosgrove, S. L. Robinson, Allen Loudenback, James Taylor, Orville Noble, C. F. Colwell and John S. Kirby, Directors. This bank withstood the panic of 1873, did not suspend payment, is in good condition, having a capital of $100,000, with a surplus of $10,000.
There are two other national banks in Urbana-the Champaign National Bank, formerly the Champaign County Bank, and the Third National Bank. The former was organized and received its charter in the spring of 1865, and is located on North Main street, near Monument Square. Its officers are as follows: President, P. B. Ross; Cashier, H. P. Espy; Directors, J. A. McLain, Lemuel Weaver, J. M. Patrick and H. P. Espy. It has a capital of $100,000; surplus, $20,000.
The Third National Bank was chartered in 1873. It is situated on North Main street, No. 22, between Monument Square and Court street. John H. Young was its first President; J. Hill, Vice President; E. J. Wiley, Cashier; A. F. Vance, Jr., Assistant Cashier; Directors, Joseph Hill, William Wiley, C. W. Marshall, David Loudenback, J. C. Coulson and Frank Chance. There has been no change in officers since its organization. Was not affected by the panic of 1873. Has a capital of $100,000.
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 383
LODGES AND ASSOCIATIONS.
Urbana Lodge, No. 46, I.O.O.F. -Charter granted August 2, 1845, charter members being Erastus Sheldon, John Crim, John A. Mosgrove, Francis M. Wright and Samuel H. Robinson, of whom Mr. Mosgrove alone survives. This lodge first met in an upper room in a brick building on the corner of Monument Square and Miami street, which now forms part of the "Weaver House." When the house was remodeled, the lodge removed to the third-story room of Anderson's drug store, on the corner of Monument Square and Scioto street. Being cramped for room, and financially prosperous, they purchased the lot on South Main street, and removed one of the old landmarks of the city, a frame building, occupied many years by Daniel Harr as a tavern, known, to a later generation as the "Ohio House," kept by Mr. Scott. On this lot the present house, known as the Odd Fellows' Building, was built at a cost of about $20,000, and contains the post office, Young Men's Christian Association and general audience-room. Total membership, 243.
Harmony Lodge, No. 8, A., F. & A. M., Urbana, is more particularly mentioned in the general county notes.
The Champaign Encampment, No. 29, I.O.O.F.-Charter granted September 2, 1848 ; instituted October 22, 1848, by John D. Harrison ; charter members, John A. Mosgrove, J. H. Patrick, W. F. Slater, F. D. Bonham, Samuel H. Robinson and Hiram S. Camp. Membership, 120.
Goff Lodge, A., F. & A. M. - Is composed of colored citizens organized by David Jenkins, D. G. M., and Grand Master of the State, March 26, 1866; and has a membership of forty-five.
Benjamin Lodge, G. U. O. O. F.- Lodge of Odd Fellows, is composed of colored citizens, and was organized by B. W. Arnet, September 15, 1876 ; is made of good material and doing a good work. Membership, fifty-five.
Improved Order of Red Men. -This organization is of American origin, and claims to have been instituted in the latter part of the last century. Its purposes are social and beneficial, and, in its jurisdiction, it comprises lodges in all the States. The division is into councils and tribes. The unit of organization is called a. tribe. The several tribes within the boundaries of a State constitute a State Council, and the several State Councils constitute the Great Council. The following-named persons, in the organization of Mineola Tribe, No. 37, at Urbana, March 4, 1868, were charter members, viz., George W. Collins, Joseph S. Carter, J. C. Jones, S. M. Perry, L. Shyrigh, W. A. Brand, D. W. Happersett, C. W. Roof, C. H. Ward, S. S. P. Stone, J. D. Kirkpatrick, George Satterthwaite, R. J. Winder, Hiram Norris, George Sollers, James B. Landis, F. M. Ambrose, John Emerson and John Gump. This lodge has rapidly increased in membership, numbering 120, and occupies the commodious and finely frescoed room in the upper story of Weaver's Block, corner of Scioto and Monument Square.
Other associations exist, of which it is unnecessary to make any extended notice, among which are the medical profession, the bar, Young Men's Christian Association and the Urbana Library. The Y. M. C. A. has a reading room in the I. O. O. F. building, which is open every night to all who wish to use it. The association is doing a good work, but does not receive the encouragement and support it deserves. The town in 1830 had a circulating library, which was kept in the court house, in the public square. On the removal of that building the books were scattered and lost. The present library is kept in
384 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
the Weaver Block, northeast corner of the public square ; has a fair list of good books, which are annually increased. The mistake is that it is not free, and that the city does not provide a library room for the use of the city and for a cabinet for the Scientific Association.
ACCIDENTS BY WIND, FIRE AND FLOOD.
Tornado, 1830.-From a report of William Patrick, we make the following abstract: Monday, March 22, 1830, in the early morning, was mild and pleasant, but at about 10 or 11 o'clock sprang up fitful southwestern breezes, with flitting clouds, until about 2 o'clock, P. M., when a small black, dense cloud was seen low down in the western horizon. Spectators were attracted by its marked singularity in many respects. It moved in quick, darting swoops and zigzag gyrations, up, down and horizontally, with rapid, whirling evolutions, and seemed to emit dazzling electric scintillations, producing a fringe-work of inconceivable splendor. In a few moments, all nature was hushed-not a breath of air stirred. The heavens seemed to hang out a dark pall, and all to be immersed in one general gloom. The deathlike silence and breathless calm suddenly changed to an appalling spectacle. The whole heavens at once were in tumultuous commotion. The storm-king, in awful grandeur, howling, shrieking and terrific, carried in its course trees, lumber, roofs, fences, haystacks, everything within its reach, in wild fury. It is impossible to give an adequate conception of the awful sublimity of the scene. In less time than the story can be told, the tornado seemed to dash like the forked lightning on the town, picking up and demolishing a small brick building on the northeast corner of the homestead lot of John A. Mosgrove, occupied by Richard Baker; unroofing the Luce House, on the corner of Miami and Russell streets; dipped into the Town, Branch, in the present foundry yard, cleaning out the water and sediment in its course ; then ascending, whirled and scattered the frame house of J. B. Eaker, near the front yard of the residence of J. M. Gardener, unroofing a log house of old James Hulse, in the rear of the present Lutheran Church, and destroying all the stables in the vicinity. The storm then leaped over two or three small frames nearly opposite the present Presbyterian Church, occupied by Jonathan E. Chaplin and others, demolishing in front a pillared market house, then seizing the hip roof and brick steeple of the Presbyterian Church, erected on the site of the present court house, crumbled the brick walls to its foundations, carrying steeple and timbers long distances, hurling portions of them against the Hamilton House, which was partly unroofed and prostrated, and unroofing the brick dwelling just beyond the latter. Here the tornado divided into two currents-one struck and unroofed a log house occupied by William Downs, drawing out as by suction the north wall of the old brick Methodist Episcopal Church, which it laid out in a straight line, without even separating the masonry to any extent. The other struck the house of Rollin J. Harvey, which it prostrated, then whirled into fragments a new frame house occupied by George Bell, a little east of the present residence of Dr. Houston. Mrs. Bell was hurled several rods, maiming her for life; four children were killed and their bodies carried a long distance, and a little girl, a daughter of William Smith, who was playing with the Bell children, dangerously injured by the splintered timbers.
Here the two currents again united, leaving the residence. of Jerry Mathis, which stood in the front part of the lot of Jerry Denets, untouched, picked up
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 385
the brick residence of Charles Mathis, which was on the spot where Mrs. West now lives, and crumbled it to the lower floor, leaving Mrs. Mathis sitting with a small child in her arms, unhurt. The storm then wheeled to the north and demolished the oil-mill of John Mathis, leaving not a vestige of his stock of castor beans. Here the tornado left the town, pursuing its devastating course through the Ryan woods, on a line a little north of the old burial-ground, across the rising ground where the public high school buildings are, twisting, uprooting and hurling headlong the largest trees ; yet onward it sped, ascending and descending; touching the earth here and there, at unequal distances, in a track from four to six rods wide, when it came in contact with the earth, across the State of Ohio, nearly destroying a small town in Richland County and reaching a town in northeastern Pennsylvania at about 5 o'clock the same day, at the speed of about 150 miles an hour.
Immediately after the storm had passed, the citizens of the town, with the assistance of many from the country, met, and inaugurated measures of relief for the suffering, and on the following morning began the reconstruction of the buildings. Men of all trades became carpenters, brick masons and plasterers ; some furnished shingles, glass, nails-and other material, and in the course of a month all of the unfortunate families were provided with homes.
The terror inspired by the tornado of 1830 left a permanent impression on the minds of the then residents of the town, and for many years the gathering storm prompted an early retreat to the cellar, as the place of safety.
For many years the county has escaped the ravages of the storm. The years 1879 and .1880 have-been more marked by violent wind-storms than any period since that above named. In November of 1879, a whirlwind passed over the eastern portion of the body of the county, inflicting material damage and loss, but without loss of life. In the spring of 1880, several heavy storms passed over the same general route, one of which, with the force and violence of a tornado, did much damage in its course, and particularly in the village of Cable. And afterward, in June, during the afternoon, a funnel-shaped cloud drove over the same route, high in the air, revolving as it went, like a huge monster, dipping down to the earth for an instant and darting back again, fortunately carried on the fierce war of the elements beyond the reach of human habitations. Those who witnessed the dark and driving mass, and heard the rush and noise of the mighty wind, were terrified lest it strike the earth in its onward sweep. When it had passed, dark and gloomy clouds covered the sky, and, though scarcely 4 o'clock, many outside the track of the storm-cloud lighted lamps for half an hour.
Fire. -Loss and damage by fire in Urbana have been unusually small. At a rough estimate, $5,000 would pay the entire loss from this cause, from the first settlement of the town until the date of the fire on Miami street. The last-named fire occurred in the winter of 1876-77, and spread from the northwest angle of the public square-the first building being occupied by Decatur Talbott, as a hat store-thence to the south corner of the block, and passed down the street to the brick house on the southwest corner of the block, which stopped further progress. The house on the corner of the square was not materially damaged. One or two old "landmarks " of town were destroyed. The fire began about the middle of the block, and was suspected to be the work of an incendiary, and threatened to become a general conflagration. The loss was covered mainly by insurance. While the owners suffered a considerable loss, the improvements which followed added materially to the value of the property and the general appearance of the street.
386 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
Water.-Located away from a stream of any magnitude, and washed only by a "pleasant run," scarcely ten feet wide, accidents by flood might be supposed to be the one item which should be omitted. But the" Town Branch " has on several occasions become a resistless torrent, once about the year 1842, once in 1847, and once in 1868. The increased volume of water was caused by the breaking of the embankment of the factory pond or reservoir, from which the creek is in a measure supplied, which, together with heavy and continued rains, made the little stream for the time overspread its banks. On one occasion, Lewis Hunter was standing on the bridge, near the tannery, looking at the surging waters whirl beneath the bridge. The arch was too small, and the pressure oŁ the pent-up stream was too great for the structure, and, as he was looking, the whole concern was swept away, and he was carried down the torrent with the floating timber, but, at the bend of the stream at the foot of the block, he was thrown out on the land, without material injury.
FIRST ELECTION.
The election of Urbana Township, given as the first election held in the township, was held in Urbana October 8, 1811. Zephaniah Luce, William Stevens and William Glenn were Judges, and Joseph Hedges and Daniel Helmick, Clerks of the election. At this election, eighty-seven votes were cast, the names being. Lawrence White, Joseph Gordon, W. H. Fyffe, Samuel McCord, George Hunter, James Robinson, Benjamin Doolittle, Nathaniel Pinkard, Daniel Helmick, George Fithian, Joseph Hedges, Zephaniah Luce, William Glenn, Nathaniel Morrow, John Rig don, John Huston, Alexander Allen, Joseph Ford, John Williams, Britton Lovett, James Askin, James McGill, Jacob Arney. Hugh Gibbs, James Dallas, Samuel Hoge, James Elmore, John McCord, William Stevens, Anthony Patrick, Henry Bacon, Simon Kenton, David W. Parkison, Nathan Fitch, Frederic Ambrose, William Powell, Jacob Slagel, James Fithian, David Moody, Daniel Harr, Isaac Robinson, Edward W. Pierce, John Thompson, John Thomas, John Shryock, James Wilkison, Enos Thomas, Isaac Shockey, William Bridge, John Reynolds, John A. Ward, John Trewitt, William Sargent, William Rhodes, Joseph Ayer, Sr., Allen Oliver, Thomas Wert, Nicholas Carpenter, John White, John Glenn, John Sargent, Daniel Sargent, Jacob Pence, Curtis M. Thompson, Andrew Richards, Job Clemons, Timothy Giffert, Sanford Edmonds, Thomas Moore, John Rhodes, Alexander McCompsey, Robert Noe, John Ford, Francis Stevenson, Robert Tabor, John Frazell, Tolson Ford, Thomas Ford, Job Gard, James Davison, Samuel Clifton, John Stewart, Thomas Trewitt, Benjamin Nichols, John Fitcher, Joseph Pence and Nelson Sargent.
The election of 1811 shows the choice of Zephaniah Luce, William Glenn and William Stevens, Trustees; Treasurer, Joseph Hedges; Overseers of the Poor, John Reynolds and Charles Stewart; Fence Viewers, William Bridge and William Powell ; House Appraiser and Lister, D. Vance and Daniel Helmick; Supervisors, William Rhodes and William Parkison.
For the next four years we find the same names, but few occupying the same office longer than two years, Daniel Helmick being Clerk.
In 1815, John Rhodes was Township Clerk ; John Reynolds, Treasurer; Samuel McCord, C. H. Case and Benjamin Doolittle, Trustees; Daniel Helmick, Fence Viewer. For the next four years Daniel Helmick was Clerk, and John Reynolds, Treasurer.
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 387
1820-William Patrick, Clerk; John Wallace, Treasurer; John Hamilton, Frederic Ambrose and William H. Fyffe, Trustees; George Hite and E. C. Berry, Overseers of the Poor; John Hamilton and John McCord, Fence Viewers. For the next five years the same Clerk, Trustees and Treasurer.
1825-Township Clerk, William Patrick. Treasurer, E. B. Cavilier ; Trustees, James Smith, William H. Fyffe and Andrew Kirkpatrick; Fence Viewers, Thomas Gwynne and Edmund Conner; Appraisers, John Goddard and Enos Thomas.
1830-Township Clerk, William Patrick; Trustees, Fyffe, Smith and Kirkpatrsck ; Overseers of the Poor, Matthew Magrew and George Hite ; Treasurer, John Wallace; Fence Viewers, Joseph S. Carter and John H. James.
From 1825 to 1851, William Patrick was chosen clerk.
1852-53-S. V. Baldwin.
1854-Levi Geiger.
1855-60-Decatur Talbott.
1863-64-Decatur Talbott.
1865-74-D. W. Todd.
1875-80-R. C. Horr.
1825-35-Trustees, Smith, Fyffe and Kirkpatrick.
1840-F. Ambrose, W. H. Fyffe and James Dunlap.
1845-W. H. Fyffe, John Hamilton, Joseph White.
1850-J. H. Patrick, Joseph White and William Sampson.
1855-J. H. Patrick and H. Chew.
1860.-William.McDonald, R. R. Colwell and William Sampson.
1865-Patrick Colwell and James P. Pindar.
1870-R. H. Cheatham, C. F. Colwell and T. M. Todd,
1875-J. H. Patrick, J. A. Mosgrove and John G. Logan.
1880-J. A. Mosgrove, Ed A. Hill and James W. Fulton.
Under another paragraph is given the aggregate number of enlistments and deaths of those who enlisted in the Federal forces in the civil war. Herewith are published the names of the enlisted men from Urbana City and Township
KEY.- (1) Colonel (2a) Lieutenant Colonel, (2) Major, (3) Captain, (4) First Lieutenant (5), Second Lieutenant, (ov) Com. U. S. N.]
Ambrose, James, (3)
Armstrong, Jacob H.,
Armstrong, Robert W.,
Anderson, John J.,
Anderson, Norval W.,
Armstrong, James, (2a)
Allen, George,
Ambrose, Frank,
Ackerman, Charles,
Ayres, Lemuel M.,
Allen, William,
Atchison, C. W.,
Anthony, James,
Athey, James,
Allen, Ezra I.,
Armstrong, James W. M.,
Armstrong, W.,
Bennett, Joseph W.,
Bartlett, Edward B.,
Benjamin, Horatio N., (5)
Brosman, Charles D.,
Branstetter, Adam,
Baldwin, Frank,
Baird, I. L., (4)
Baldwin, William, (4)
Bowe, James C.,
Bowe, John,
Bell, William,
Brush, Stephen,
Brand, William A., (5)
Brand, Thomas F.,
Barr, James N.,
Buckels, Archibald,
Banes, James F.,
Banes, William L_,
Bennett, P. S. H.,
Barnes, Henry,
Bennett, John F. S., (6)
Brush, Reed,
Brand, Joseph C., (5)
Broughey, Bennet,
Baldwin, John R.,
Barchus, Levi,
Baylen, Moses C.,
Brace, James,
Boyer, Andrew,
Bush, John,
Berryhill, A. S., (4)
Brown, Samuel,
Brown, Elijah P.,
Burns, James,
Condiff, John M.,
Campbell, Stephen M.,
Corwin, William,
388 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
Clary, William,
Chatfield, David H.,
Collins, George A.,
Collins, Frank,
Collins, Charles E.,
Condiff, Edmund B.,
Colwell, Ress,
Clark, Amos,
Clary, Patrick,
Candy, Charles, (4)
Clark, Samuel H.,
Coughlin, Martin,
Clagman, John,
Clapsaddle, Jacob,
Chapman, Calvin,
Cline, Isaiah,
Cline, Moses,
Coughlin, James L. W.
Clark, John,
Clark, William H.,
Castle, Orlando,
Carter, James,
Coulter, James R.,
Cowan, Alexander,
Casky, James,
Crabb, William H.,
Coleman, Thomas,
Chinty, Hugh,
Corwin, Harvey B.,
Chatfield, John,
Cleveland, Albert,
Colwell, William V.,
Curns, Thomas A.,
Cassil, John,
Connel, Patrick,
Delany, Thomas,
Dolbo, George,
Daffy, George,
Duffy, James,
Darkin, Michael,
Davies, E. C.,
Durnett, Augustus,
Darrow, Nathaniel,
Durye, Thomas,
Delany, John, Dolson,
Isaac H., Doty,
Stephen J., Daly,
William, Edmunson, (6)
John C., Eccles,
Thomas G.,
Elbin, John,
Elberts, W. T.,
Eawright, Michael,
Fyffe, Joseph P., (ov)
Febiger, John, (ov)
Fisher, Alexander,
Fost, James,
Fennesay, Thomas,
Faulkner, Charles W.,
Fissler, Israel,
Flago, Thomas B.,
Flago, William C.,
Fisher, William,
Funk, Henry C.,
Fulton, Charles E.,(3)
Fulton, Joseph, (6)
Francis, Eli C., (4)
Fyffe, E. P., (1)
Fitz, George,
Gurnea, John,
Grove, Shepherd B.,
Gearhart, John N.,
Gearhart, Charles E.,
Gingery, Samuel,
Grove, John B.,
Ganson, Benjamin F., (5)
Goudy, William,
Green, Isaac,
Green, William,
Goudy, James H.,
Gearhart, H: T.,
Gearhart, Joseph M.,
Gumper, John,
Gadskesen, Nysemas,
Gruber, William S.,
Gowdy, Harper,
Gurnea, John B.,
Gregg, Cyrus,
Harlay, James K., (6)
Hitchburn, Henry, (5)
Hoover, George,
Hitt, Daniel W.,
Hollingsworth, Charles
Hitchburn, Charles,
Hitt, Joseph W.,
Hamilton, William, (5)
Hill, Joseph,(3)
Houston, Archibald, (6)
Happersett, D. W.,
Houtz, Jacob B.,
Houtz, John W.,
Hoss, George,
Henderson, Samuel,(4)
Houston, William M.,(4)
Heller, Andrew,
Heller, Henry,
Heller, Amos,
Hamilton, Samuel H., (5)
Hedges, Samuel H.,
Hennesy, Patrick,
Hefflebower, John S.,
Humphreys, Thomas H.,
Hunter, George B.,
Hefflebower, Abram,
Hefflebower, Adam, (5)
Hamilton, Alanson,
Hopkins, Chauncey,
Hovey, Edward H.,
Hodges, Jonas, Jr.,
Hill, Patrick,
Horr, Benjamin,
Hunter, William O.,
Hartshorn, D. W., (3)
Johnson, John,
Jamison, Samuel S.,
Johnson, Rufus,
Johnson, E. C.,
Jackson, Oaker,
Johnson, W. B.,
Jones, John,
James, John Henry, (4)
Kearney, John,
Keith, Henry,
Kimber, George E.,
King, James L.,
Keller, Theodore G.,
Kernery, Peter,
Kenaga, P. B.,
Knight, John P.,
Kenaga, O. B.,
Kelch, David B.,
Kimber, Emmor, (4)
Lynch, Martin,
Lowe, Joseph,
Leutz, John,
Landes, B. H.,
Luce, D., Jr., (4)
Lamar, Frank,
Logan, Samuel P.,
Light, J. C.,
Lee, Levi,
Lemon, O. T.,
Long, L. H., (4)
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 389
McGill, James,
Mathis, William,
McDarrh, Barney,
Mulchay, Jerry,
Murphey, Cornelius,
Montoney, Eli,
McQuirk, Michael,
McClelland, William,
McDarrh, Henry,
Monzer, Thomas K.,
McConnell, Thomas,
McNally, Patrick,
McDermott, John,
McDermott, Thomas,
Mooney, Martin,
Maher, Michael,
McRoberts, W. C.,
McRoberts, Uriah S.,
Maloney, John,
McCoy, James,
Minturn, John O.,
Minturn, Charles,
Minturn, Smith E.,
Miller, Lewis H.,
McGill, Conrad,
Marks, Patrick,
Merrill, James H.,
Mooney, William,
McCrea, Tully, (ov)
Miles, Christopher,
Miles, Benjamin K.,
Murdoch, Robert N.,
Maddock, John,
Moore, Augustus E.,
Martin, Henry F.,
Mast, Elhanan N.,
Muldowny, Richard,
Mathis, James,
Madigan, Patrick,
McComsey, William,
McFerridge, Michael,
Mayse, William, (6)
Mahan, William N.,
McDonald, D. A.,
McDarrh, Charles D.,
Marquet, David,
Murray, William,
McCormick, Lawrence,
Morrow, Isaac L.,
Mitchell, James M.,
McGown, John B.,
McNemar, Richard R.,
Mayse, Jacob,
Mayse, Andrew,
Maxwell, Peter,
McCue, Terrell,
McCafferty, Couda,
Morrison, Thomas,
Newcombe, Charles W.
Newcomb, John G.,
Newcomb, Asa B.,
Nagh, Ernst,
Nagle, Charles,
Northcutt, Joseph P.,
O'Briant, Isaiah,
O'Haver, Harvey,
O'Brian, Patrick,
Organ, B. S.,
Outram, Timothy,
Oakly, Francis,
O'Brian, Edward,
Poffenborger, C. A.,
Palmer, I. G., (4)
Pangle, James F.,
Purcell, George W.,
Porter, William,
Poffenbarger, Ira M.,
Powell, Jepha H., (4)
Pence, John D.,
Poorman, George H.,
Price, David S.,
Prettyman, S. P.,
Poland, Jacob,
Patrick, William M.,
Pearson, John S.,
Poysell, William W.,
Quine, Franklin,
Richard, Edwards,
Ryan, Christopher,
Redback, William,
Richards, Charles W.,
Ryan, Simon,
Riley, Philip,
Reynolds, Joseph L.,
Ross, William R.,
Renkle, Ben P., (1)
Ramsbottom, Howard,
Rhodes, Charles H.,
Rawlings, D. W.,
Richardson, Amos,
Rickets, William A.,
Russell, John M.,
Rhodes, William,(4)
Rees, John W.,
Steven, Allen C.,
Snyder, Jacob,
Smith, Charles H.,
Stone, Thomas,
Snoffer, Jacob,
Snoffer, John,
Stump, Adolphus,
Stump, Harvey,
Sampson, William A.,
Shanley, Henry,
Stewart, Daniel W.,
Sears, C. B.,
Sears, C. W., (4)
Stansberry, Marcus L., (5)
Singer, Frederick,
Stansberry, Theodore,
Sweet, James C.,
Smith, William F.,
Scudder, Thomas,
Sigman, Thomas,
Sigman, John,
Shephart. Gandolpb,
Shyrigh, Burdett C.,
Shellhone, Edward,
Shyrigh, William B.,
Tough, David,
Talbott, John H.,
Thompson, Albert,
Taylor, John,
Travis, Ezra D.,
Terrey, Michael,
Thompson, John,
Teester, George,
Tabor, Harrison,
Tritt, John H.,
Tucket, Robert,
Thoma, Richard C.,
Ulrick, John,
Vinyard, Harvey,
Voke, Ambrose,
Vance, William W.,
Vance, Joseph C., (a)
Way, George B.,(3)
Warnock, Robert,
White, Norman,
Ward, William A.,
Wallace, Squire H.,
Winn, Martin,
Whalen, Michael,
390 - HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
Willis, Charles P.,
Wilkins, Ridgley P.,
Wentworth, Frank,
Whalen, Patrick,
Whalen, Thomas,
Wooley, James J.,
Wooley, John C.,
Wright, Martin, (5)
Warnock, William R.,(4)
Wright, Moses B.,(3)
Wolfkill, W. R.,
Wolfkill, Robert F.,
Ward, Cyrus T.,
Weaver, Charles,
Willshire, Joseph W.,
Wiley, Harrison,
Wade, George B.,
Ward, William J.,
White, Edward,
Young, Robert,
Young, William N.,
Yeazel, James W.,
Yeazel, Samuel,
Zombro, William H.,
Zombro, Abraham.
We had hoped to give a list of the merchants and professional men who have resided in Urbana, together with the changes which have taken place. Several lists have been made at various times, but they have been inaccurate, and any attempt to make a full list now would be equally imperfect. Until 1840, and perhaps later, many, or perhaps all, the stores were of the character of "all sorts stores," carrying miscellaneous stocks of dry goods, groceries, hardware, school-books and notions. In more recent years, the various departments of mercantile trade have been subdivided, and the tendency is to make specialties of certain classes of merchandise. As town and city, there has never been any lack of dry-goods dealers and grocers. In addition to these, shops and stores abound for the sale of merchandise, which formerly was sold in the "all sorts store," as boots and shoes, clothing, hats and caps, furniture, clocks and jewelry, hardware, glass and queensware, agricultural implements, drugs and paints, books and stationery, stoves and hollow-ware, meat-shops and green-grocers. No class of men in the community are more public-spirited, or contribute more to the advancement of the public good. To enumerate the names of a portion might appear invidious; to mention all would be-the equivalent of a directory.
There has been no time in the history of the town when there were not sufficient physicians to "doctor " the sick. These represent the various schools and modes of practice, and the most fastidious may make his choice. We are indebted to Dr. James M. Mosgrove, now the oldest practicing physician in the city, for a paper, which is believed to be the most complete list to be made of the physicians of the county, and which will be found in the general notes on the county.
On another page, will be found the names of the members of the legal profession, and a list of the citizens of the city and, township of Urbana who enlisted in the late war. Those who survive of these are the industrious, busy men of to-day. In the foregoing pages, as well as throng hout the entire volume, will be found scattered names and lists. The descendants of these are the active; earnest men of the present, as intent on making money, acquiring knowledge, developing the resources of the country and holding office, as their forefathers were.
In closing these pages, the names and faces of many of the old citizens come up unbidden, whose virtues and good deeds live after them, who played their little part on the stage of life, and the world was made the better that they lived in it. We cannot omit the name of one, Judge William Patrick, who still lingers among us, older than the century, whom the city has delighted to honor, and who, in the varied career of his life, has won the highest praise of men, that of "the man of integrity." The friends who know him will heartily respond to the sentiment of Horace, Redeat sere in Coelum, and when the change shall come, that he walk forth from the winter of life into the everlasting morning.
Page 391 - PICTURE OF MASON ARROWSMITH
PAGE 392 - BLANK
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY. - 393
The sketch we have undertaken to write, we are aware is both rude and imperfect. As the work progressed and the story of the times that tried and made men was unraveled, we were the more convinced that the narrative demanded, not the pleasurable occupation of a few months, but the labor of years. The captious and critical may recall much that should have been recorded, but it may be well to remember the vastness of the work which shall include the whole. The scandalmonger who shall hunt for a story of wrongs and crime will be disappointed. Not that these things have not been, for recent years have shown too clearly how the confidence of men may be betrayed, and home and honor lost. Over these we would drop the veil, and with the more pleasure record that during a period of almost eighty years the annals of the county have been singularly free from the stain of great crimes. In looking over the past, we may reasonably conclude that Urbana will never be a city of great circumference, but a home where culture and taste may delight to dwell; and that the county of which it is the center will, in the coming century, become the garden of the State.