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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 487 CHAPTER XIV. JACKSON TOWNSHIP-INTRODUCTORY-TOPOGRAPHY-ORIGINAL BOUNDARIES-THE WHITES RAILROADS AND TOWNS-THE EARLY LIFE OF CRESTLINE- RELIGIONS, ETC. In the eastern part of Crawford County, lies Jackson Township, the smallest of its civil divisions. Like the little Republic of San Marino, situated amid the lesser ranges of the Apennines, and the smallest republic in the world, embracing but twenty-one square miles, Jackson Township is not only the smallest division of Crawford County, but probably the smallest township in the State of Ohio. From one of the largest townships, it has been whittled off and cut down, until it now comprises but eight square mile. In its original dimensions it included Jefferson Township, together with other portions of territory, and it was not until 1873, as shown in another chapter, that Jefferson was set off from Jackson. These two townships are honored with good old Democratic names; the one for the hero of New Orleans, and the other for the great apostle of American Democracy. The latter name (Jefferson) was doubtless bestowed upon the township at the time of its creation, in consequence of the source from which its territory was taken. Being made of a "rib" from "Old Hickory," otherwise taken from the township of Jackson, it was not deemed advisable or prudent to offend the memory of the old iron-souled warrior-President, by calling it by any other than a good, sound Democratic name. The history of the two townships is interwoven, they being one until so recent a date that it is difficult to separate them, and to give a distinct sketch of each, without "mixing things" almost unintelligibly. The early settlement of the township is noticed principally in the chapter devoted to Jefferson, as that portion now known as Jefferson was settled first. Hence, but little will be given in this connection upon that subject. This little township, this little San Marino of Crawford County, has experienced wonderful changes in the last sixty years. There are but few American readers who are not familiar with the romantic story of Rip Van Winkle, as told by Washington Irving. This story recites the strange adventures that befell the long sleeper in the Catskill Mountains, 488 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. which served but as a prelude to the surprise that awaited him when he awoke, no longer the loyal subject of George III, or the crony of Nick Vedder, the tapster, and the sometime boon companion of Van Brummel, the Dutch schoolmaster, but the free and sovereign citizen of this great Republic, then for a decade of years or more, piloting its way in "the full tide of successful experiment." Were "one to rise from the dead" who saw this country sixty years ago, in all its original wildness, or some of the "noble red men," whose hunting-grounds it once was, come back from the land of the Great Spirit, they would doubtless be as much bewildered at the change inwrought in these three-score years as was Rip Van Winkle when he awoke from his little nap in the Catskill Mountains. The pioneer found here an unbroken forest, miry swamps, the Wyandot Indians, and a profusion of game of all kinds. The visitor of today finds flourishing farms, palace homes, trunk-line railroads, and those concomitants of civilization-the church and schoolhouse. The patient ox, the old Cary plow, the reaping-hook and the scythe and cradle have given place to the improved machinery of to-day, so that the tilling of the soil is no longer a drudgery, but one of the sciences of the age in which we live. All this, the sixty years that have come and gone since the pioneer wandered here, have witnessed. The giant trees that have withstood the storms for ages, and in whose tops "The century-living crow Had his birth, then grew old and died Among their branches," have almost disappeared before the advancing tide of immigration, until now, a more flourishing or highly favored locality than the eight square miles of Jackson Township is scarcely to be found in the State. The land is rich, well improved, and has every facility, both natural and artificial, to render it valuable to the husbandman. The surface features of Jackson Township are not dissimilar to the surrounding country. In its original state, it was heavily timbered, and in many places flat and swampy, but with a soil of almost unexampled richness. It was a section not unlike the" Black Swamp" in the western part of the State, or the " Black Forest" of Germany, where "Der Schwarzwald steht der finstrer Tannen," and when cleared of the timber, drained and properly cultivated, was very valuable. Artificial or tile draining has done much to reclaim this swampy land, and reduce it to the fine state of cultivation we find it in at the present time. Its principal productions are corn, wheat and oats; also the more common of the smaller crops are grown to some extent. The timber is that indigenous to this section, and consists mainly of several kinds of oak, hickory, poplar, sugar maple, beech, elm, ash, and some walnut, and some of the common shrubs. It has but few water-courses or streams of running water, even of the smallest. dimensions. One of the tributaries forming the Sandusky River, passes through the north part of the township. This, with Whetstone Creek, and one or two small brooks which are nameless on the maps, constitutes its natural drainage system. Geographically, Jackson Township, as we have said, lies in the eastern part of the county, and is bounded north by Vernon Township, east by Richland County, south by Polk Township, west by Jefferson Township, and is situated in Range 20 west, of Township 20, and is fractional, being one section short of the fourth of a regular Congressional township. As nearly as the facts can be definitely ascertained, the eight sections now comprising Jackson Township, were HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 489 originally in Richland County, and the twelve western sections, a part of Sandusky Township, in this county. In 1835, a petition was presented to the County Commissioners, praying for a new township, and fifteen sections were stricken off from Sandusky, and called Jackson, as already related, for the hero of New Orleans. In 1842, a four-mile strip was added to Crawford from Richland County, and eight new sections were added to Jackson, making in all twenty-eight sections. At that time, it embraced within its limits Jefferson Township, which, as we have seen, remained a part of Jackson until 1873, when the citizens living in the western part petitioned the County Commissioners to be created a separate and distinct township, in order that they might enjoy some of the emoluments of office, Crestline being in the habit of capturing the majority of them, thus leaving the west end of the township out in the cold. In 1822, we learn that an election was held at the residence of one of the prominent settlers, in what is now Jackson Township, and officers elected, but their names we were unable to obtain. This, then, may properly be termed the organization of Sandusky, now Jackson Township. In 1840, the township had a population of 636; in 1870, it had, including Crestline, increased to 4,021, and in 1880, its present territory, exclusive of Crestline, contained 386 inhabitants; thus showing a gradual increase in population, taking into consideration the different extent of territory at the date of census. There are no towns or villages in Jackson except Crestline; indeed, there is no room for any others; for, by the time Crestline has grown to be as large as Cincinnati, it will cover the entire township, from end to end. Two trunk-line railroads cross almost at right angles, near the center, thus affording to the good people the most ample means of both travel and transportation. This portion of Crawford County was a favorite hunting-ground of the Indian, long before the appearance of the white man. We have no record of Indian towns and villages in the present township of Jackson, but, in that portion now known as Jefferson, many facts of history pertaining to the red men are intimately connected and associated. Through it, Crawford moved upon his ill-fated campaign against the Indians, and within its borders he encamped one night, as he marched on to his destruction. Indeed, nearly every square mile of Jefferson has some Indian incident or legend attached to it. In its forests, he chased the bounding deer, or howled behind his flying prey, and in the glare of the " wigwam fire" he " wooed his dusky mate." And in the thick forests of Jackson, as at present limited, he is only associated through that portion lately stricken off. These forests were an attractive spot to the savage in an early day, and a favorite place of hunting. But, as the tide of civilization pressed on, the poor Indian was forced backward, and the spot where he had roamed as undisputed monarch, was destined to know him no more forever. Well might he have said: "The stranger came, a timid suppliant-few and feeble, and asked to lie down on the red man's bear-skin. and warm himself at the red man's fire, and have a little piece of land to raise corn for his women and children; and now he has become strong and mighty and bold, and spreads out his parchments over the whole, and says, ' It is mine.' Stranger, there is not room for us both. The Great Spirit has not made us to live together. There is poison in the white man's cup; the white man's dog barks at the red man's heels. If I should leave the land of my fathers, whither shall I fly? Shall I go to the south, and dwell among the graves of the Pequots? Shall I wander to the West, the fierce Mohawk-the man- 490 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. eater-is my foe. Shall I fly to the East, the great water is before me. No, stranger, here I have lived, and here will I die, and if here thou abidest, there is eternal war between me and thee." But as it always turns out, the strong trampled upon the weak; the red man was driven back, and upon the smoldering embers of his campfire the pale-face erected his cabin. He came to this part of the county close in the wake of the retreating savages, or really before the savages had left for distant reservations. The story of his life is one thrilling with border romance. It rests upon the mind like enchantment, and warms the heart with tender ties of sympathy. The old gray-haired man and they trembling grandmother spend many a pleasant hour in dreaming of the past, and tell the tale of early suffering and privation to the eager-listening child, who never tires of listening. All are eager to hear it, and all keenly enjoy it. To these good old people it revives the record of a life that has been one of toil and self-sacrifice. The early history of Jackson Township belongs mostly to that portion now forming Jefferson, as already stated. There the first settlements were made, and there occurred many of those pioneer events which constitute, the early history of a township, such as the building of mills, schoolhouses, the formation of church societies, and the first birth, death and marriage events of great importance in all pioneer communities. The present township holds a kind of secondary place in pioneer history, and its settlement is of more modern date. The original pioneer of this immediate section is supposed to have been Joseph Russell. Mr. Snyder, who now lives in Crestline, but whose father settled in what is Jefferson Township at present, in 1816-17, thinks that Russell came here as early as 1820. He located about one mile south of Crestline, where Mr. Stine now lives, and was from this State, somewhere in the vicinity of Coshocton. He moved from here to Hancock County, and was living there last known of him. John Doyle came soon after Russell, and settled adjoining to him. He came from Jefferson County, near Steubenville, and, after remaining some years, sold out and moved to Indiana, where he died. Two other families moved into the same neighborhood about the same time of Doyle, or very soon afterward. whose names are utterly forgotten. Mr. Snyder told a sad story of one of them. The gentleman, whose name he does not remember cleared a piece of ground, and the neighbors came in and rolled his logs for him. He set fire to the logheaps, and was in the habit of attending to the burning of them and the brush on the cleared ground at night, his wife often going out to assist him. Upon a certain night his wife remained in the cabin to do some of her household work, and he went out alone to his clearing; which was some distance from the cabin. His wife finished her work, and, as he had not come in, thinking nothing wrong with him, however, she went to bed. In the morning he still had not come, when she went to look for him and found him burned to death at a log-heap. From appearances, it seemed that, in attempting to " mend up" the heap, it had rolled down, and a large log had caught his feet under it, knocking hits down and, unable to extricate himself, he died in that position by slow torture, both legs being burned off above the knees. These four families were the first to settle in the township of Jackson, as now bounded, and for several years they were the only settlers in this little division. After them came David Ogden, James Lowne, William Snodgrass, Philip and Fred Eichern, John Fate, Edward Cooper, Samuel Rutan, David Seltzer, John Adam Thoman, Rensellaer Living- HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 491 ston, a negro family, Harvey Aschbaugh, Jesse R. Straughan, Daniel Babst, Jr., Isaac Dille and others. Many of these are still living in and around Crestline. Straughan was an engineer of the Pittsburgh, Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and one of the original proprietors of the town. Thoman and Livingston were from New York; the latter laid out the town of Livingston. Babst was from Stark County. Some of these gentlemen will be recognized as among the leading business men of Crestline. There are no mills in Jackson Township, nor have there ever been any in the present township, outside of Crestline. The first settlers went to mill at Belleville. Later, Mr. Snyder, over near Leesville, put up a horsemill, which was a great convenience to the people for many miles around. The first road through Jackson Township was cut out by the Snyder family, as they moved to their new possessions in the present township of Jefferson. They cut out this road from four miles east of Crestline, in Richland County, to where Leesville now stands. The present road from Mansfield to Bucyrus runs over the greater part of that old road; the main street. of Crestline is also on the same old road. In the pioneer days, when everybody within a radius of twenty miles were neighbors, no invitation was necessary to get help to roll logs or raise a cabin. The mere fact that a man was ready to " log " or build, was sufficient invitation to his neighbors, who would often go twelve or fifteen miles to render this kind of friendly assistance The Indians also were very accommodating in this respect, and would always go to the assistance of their white brethren, and work faithfully all day. The "fire-water" that the white man usually provided on such occasions was doubtless a strong incentive to the Indian to lend his valuable assistance in strengthening the white men's foothold in their hunting-grounds, thus providing the weapons for their own extermination. When this part of the country was first settled, the nearest trading-points of importance were Sandusky City and Zanesville, while Mansfield and Mount Vernon were places of lesser notes and to these marts of trade the settlers in this vicinity hauled the most of their produce. With markets at such a distance, there could be little incentive to extend the productions of the community beyond the demands of home consumption, which was principally regulated by the amount each man raised upon his own premises. But in this endeavor, they often had more wheat than was needed to supply their own wants, when it was loaded into wagons and hauled to Mansfield, or most generally to Sandusky, where it commanded a better price. Said an early settler to its recently: " I took a load of wheat to Mount Vernon. where I was offered 12 ½ cents a bushel in trade for it, by Gilman Bryant; but I resolved to feed it to my hogs rather than to take that price for it, so I hauled it to Zanesville, where I got 15 cents a bushel, and had to take my pay in sugar, rice, leather and salt." Thus it was, what little surplus produce the settlers had to sell was worth but little, while such things as they were compelled to buy were as high in proportion as their produce was low. It was with great difficulty that they could manage, by the strictest economy, to raise money enough to pay their taxes and postage; the latter being 25 cents on a letter at the office of delivery, and payable in coin at that. The early settlers of Jackson were a Godfearing people, and, as soon as a few scattering cabins denoted the white man in possession of the territory, efforts were made looking to church organization. Societies were formed and meetings and preaching had at 492 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. the settlers' cabins until time and opportunity permitted the building of temples of worship. But the church history of the present township is principally confined to the town of Crestline, and will be given in that chapter. Early in the settlement of Jackson Township, the schoolhouse found a place. The people entertained great respect for education, and the elevating influence it exerted in every community. The first school taught in the present limits of the township was by Edwin Mainley, a Scotch-Irish gentleman. Owing to a little trouble he got into with one of his female pupils, he abruptly closed his school and left the community. Another of the early schools was taught by an old gentleman of the name of Magill, who is still remembered by many of the older citizens as one of the early teachers, and who, in his day, taught in nearly every neighborhood in the county. He was a teacher of the olden type-one of that class who were wont to place the accent of such words as geography and philosophy on the third syllable, and pronounce Michigan, Mi-shag-in. He was, withal, particularly fond of a "dhrap of the crayther," and, after closing his school on Friday evening, was in the habit of indulging in a little spree until the taking-up of school again. Hence, Monday morning often found him still in a muddled condition from his Saturday and Sunday potations. It is told of him that upon a certain Monday morning, after taking up school, and still feeling considerably elevated from his recent indulgence, he stopped one of his scholars in the midst of his reading lesson, with a lordly wave of his hand, and, "Stop, Mr. Larwill; stop, sir! You will never make a reader in the world, Mr. Larwill! Read on, Mr. Larwill." Many pranks were played upon him by his larger scholars. Schoolhouses then were not such as we have at the present day, but built of logs, and sometimes large cracks ventilated the buildings. Through these cracks the boys would often poke their fun at poor Magill in ways more forcible than elegant. The first schoolhouse built in the township was on the farm now owned by Jacob Sheffler, south of town, in the creek bottom, near the "old orchard." As with the religious history, the first schools were taught in the vicinity of Leesville and Middletown, and, at a later period in the history of the township, the school history has centered in Crestline. The following statistics from the last report of the Auditor, shows the flourishing state of the schools of the township at present: Balance on hand, September 1, 1879 ....................................$1,963.61 State tax................................................................................ 382.62 Irreducible fund .................................................................... 3.40 Local tax for school and schoolhouse purposes ..................... 758.23 Total.. . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .$3,107.86 Amount paid teachers ........................................$ 831.65 Other expenditures ............................................. 119.77 Total expenditures for the year ...................................................951.42 Balance on hand September 1, 1880 .....................................$2,156.44 Number of schoolhouses in township ...................................... 3 Value of school property ........................................................$2,800.00 Total number of teachers employed .......................................... 6 Average wages paid male teachers .......................................... $46.00 Average wages paid female teachers ....................................... 21.00 Number of pupils enrolled-Male ............................ 69 .........................................Female .......................... 45 Total.......................................................................... 114 Average daily attendance-Male .............................. 60 Female ............................ 33 Total............................................................................ 93 By these figures, it will be seen that the schools are in a healthy condition. Comfortable schoolhouses are provided in each district, efficient teachers are employed, and every means used by the board for the advancement of the cause of education. The great wind-storm of 1820 is an event remembered widly by all who were in the HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 493 county at the time of its occurrence. On the 17th of day it broke upon the community with but little warning, and the destruction left in its wake almost beggars description. It came from the southwest, and houses were blown down and scattered promiscuously, forest trees uprooted, fences sent flying in all directions, a great deal of stock killed, and destruction and confusion generally followed its course. It will be more fully described in the chapter devoted to Jefferson Township, where considerable loss of property and much suffering were experienced. Since the separation of Jefferson from Jackson Township, the history of Jackson has centered almost wholly in the town of Crestline, and, even before the separation of the two, the principal part of the history was confined to this flourishing village. It was laid out in 1851, by Rensellaer Livingston, and originally bore his name, and by his name was platted and recorded. The first plat was filed in the Recorder's office. February 17, 1851, and shows the location of the town of Livingston to have been on the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 10, Township 20, and Range 20 west. Several additions were made to the town under this name by different individuals. On the 17 th of December. 1852, the plat of the original town of Crestline was filed for record. This plat was made by Jesse R. Straughan, and occupied the northwest quarter of Section 15, Township 20, and Range ':0 west. The following abstract of these two sections, on which the town is located. may be of interest to some of our readers: Southwest quarter of Section 15, Township 20, Range 20. was entered in 1814, and patent issued in 1818 to Benjamin Rush; northwest quarter of same section was entered December 12, 1823, and patent issued April 12, 1824, to Elias Allen; northeast quarter of same section was entered December 8, 1814 and patent issued June 15, 1823, to David Bryant. The north half of Section 10, of same township and range, was entered June 4, 1816, and patent issued July 3, 1817, to Benjamin Johns; southwest quarterof same section was entered June 4, 1816, and patented July 3, 1817: southeast quarter of same section was entered December 8, 1820, and patent issued on 18th of same month and year. Since the laying-out of the original town of Livingston, there have been some twenty or thirty additions made to it and, in the later town of Crestline, Livinston has been absorbed, and doubtless few at the present day remember that there was ever a town in Jackson Township known by the name of Livingston or Vernon Station. Crestline is situated at the crossing of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago, and the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railways, and is about thirteen miles from Bucyrus, the county-seat. It is a railroad town, and comparatively a new place, and in 1860, had a population of 1,458: in 1870, it had increased to 2,279 and in 1880, to 2,787 inhabitants. The railroads have made Crestline what it is. Before their day, a town on this spot was unthought of, nor, until after the iron horse, with his bustle and clatter, had passed, did it rise from the mud of the surrounding swamps. Men who are still in the prime of life, "remember when the site was a good place to hunt deer." The following description is given: "It is generally flat about Crestline, and it has something of the appearance of a frontier railroad town, being very muddy, when muddy anywhere, though its general elevation is about the average; indeed, when laid out, it was thought to be the highest point above sea-level in the State, hence the name-Crestline." As a proof of the modern history of the place, John Newman, who lived in the village of Leesville in 1840, says he was in the habit of coming 494 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. down into the "big woods," where Crestline now stands, to hunt deer, which were plenty, even at that late day: also wolves, wild turkeys, etc. Verily, it may be said, that here "the rank thistle nodded in the wind, and the wild fox dug his hole unscared." The first house or cabin built in Crestline, or immediate vicinity, was erected just west of the "stone-arch bridge," on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne &; Chicago Railroad, near a spring which is to be seen yet. Who built this cabin and when, is not known, but it was there as early as 1833. Just above it, and near the street-bridge, at a later day, was operated a saw-mill, by a water-power afforded by the head-waters of the Sandusky. Years later, a man named Harvey Aschbaugh, a Dutchman from "over the Rhine," who owned eighty acres of land in the neighborhood, including the present site of Crestline, built a cabin. All that appeared to the Dutchman valuable on this tract was the game, the timber and a fine sulphur spring, which is at present within the corporate limits (the spring, not the game and the timber) of the town. A negro family owned eighty acres adjoining Aschbaugh's on the north. Where these "American citizens of African descent" came from, what was their name, and what became of them, no one now seems to know or care. Their cabin stood at what is now the west end of Main street, and was erected some time after Aschbaugh's. About the time the negro cabin was built, a man named Samuel Rutan built another cabin on an adjoining "eighty," at what is now the east end of Main street. He had purchased the land from the Government. Still further east of Rutan was the "palace" of Benjamin Ogden, while still further east, on the Leesville and Mansfield road, stood the old log house called " Seltzer's Tavern," " in which, for many years. while all was a wilderness around, one Seltzer kept weary travelers in his rude loft, and fed them on 'corn pone' and venison." This was about the situation when the iron horse dashed through the thick forest of Jackson Township. From a published chronicle of Crestline, we extract the following historical fact,: "John Adam Thoman-a well-known name in Crestline-first saw the locomotive coming. He could see the headlight through the dense woods in the direction of Cleveland, and knew it would strike that wilderness and scatter the wolves, deer and timber, like chaff before a hurricane, and immediately began his preparations to meet it and accept the inevitable. He purchased the eighty acres belonging, to the negro family, paying what was then a high price, $600. and immediately began laying out a town in the woods. The road, however. struck the farm of Rutan, at the east end of Main street, where the company erected a little shanty for a depot. and called it Vernon Station. Rutan sold his place to a man named Conwell, who erected the first house near the station. It was on Main street, west of the railroad. Conwell afterward sold out to Rensellaer Livingston. who laid out a town around the station. Here. then, the present town had its beginning and many houses were erected around Vernon Station before Crestline was thought of. The Livingston and Thoman Additions, as they are called (though really Crestline is the addition), are now the larger part of the town." This was the first beginning of the town of Crestline, and is what we have already mentioned as the town of Livingston. Aschbaugh, the owner of the eighty acres of land already noticed as including the town of Crestline, did not remain long in the vicinity of the embryo city, but sold out, and moved over into Richland County, where he died. T. C. Hall, Esq., now of Bucyrus, claims to have built the first house in the town of Liv- PAGE 495 - PICTURE OF NANCY KERR PAGE 496 BLANK HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.- 497, ingston, and to have opened the first store. It w-as erected on what was called the Mansfield road, and was a storehouse and residence combined. In this building he opened a store in the fall of 1850, and continued in business there until the fall of 1852, or the spring of 1853, when he moved over on to the original plat of Crestline, it having in the meantime, been laid out as a town. He also claims to have been the first merchant in business in the new town, as well as in the old. He built the first brick house in Crestline, which. like the one built in Livingston, was both store and residence. The brick were burned by Samuel Craig who burned the first brick kiln in the town. This was the second house and the first brick put up in Crestline. Jesse R. Straughan built the first house, which was a frame, and has put up for a hotel or eatinghouse It stands just south of the Gibson House, across the passenger track of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and is now called the "Crestline House." Upon its completion it was opened by Jacob Brown, as a hotel-the first place of entertainment opened in Crestline. The second store was opened by John Adam Thoman, and the next by E. Warner and about the same time William Knisely commenced selling goods. The first post office was opened in Livingston in 1850. Livingston was appointed Postmaster, but Hall, who was sworn in as deputy, opened the first mail-bag in the town. He soon succeeded to the office, which he held four years. After him, A. R. Jenner was appointed Postmaster John Adam Thoman was the first blacksmith. These, with the usual number of mechanics constituted about all there was of the town of Livingston, or Vernon Station. Mr. Livingston, the original proprietor of the place, died here about 1859-60. He was originally from the State of New York, and was an enterprising man. We again quote from the publication we have several times alluded to: "The Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad has the honor of establishing Crestline. The charter for this road was granted in 1836, but it was not until 1851 that the road was opened for traffic. In 1850, however, trains were running as far as Shelby and Crestline. At that time the road has a wooden one comparatively speaking. the improved 'T' rail not having been invented. For three years Vernon Station had an opportunity to spread itself, before it was interfered with by another railroad. It grew to be something of a place. A post office was established there: a hotel was erected. called the 'Ohio House.' kept by Michael Heffelfinger; Messrs. Newman & Thoman started the first store and kept a general stock, such as is usually kept in a country store. A grocery and provision store was also, established about the same time, by Thomas Hall, who was a contractor, and engaged in building a section of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad. then being rapidly pushed forward, and who established the provision store partly for the purpose of supplying his employes. Thoman and Livingston were busy during these year's selling their lots, advertising the town, and erecting dwelling-houses for the accommodation of new residents and the numerous employees of the different contractors on the two roads. In April. 1853, the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad was opened for traffic from Allegheny City to Crestline, a distance of 187 miles. Unfortunately for Vernon Station, it was, for some reason, ignored by this road, which crossed the Cleveland & Columbus road half a mile or more south of it, and immediately there was a rush for the junction. Thereafter, Vernon Station was 'left out in the cold.' " Previous to this, a party or gentlemen 498 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. concluded that money could be made out of this point on the road by laying out a new town. The names of these gentlemen were Jesse R. Straughan, the chief engineer of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, Thomas & Bartley, of Mansfield, and John and Joseph Larwill, of Wooster-the latter gentlemen being well known in the early history of Mansfield and this county as surveyors. Whether these gentlemen exerted sufficient influence to change the direction of the road slightly, so that it should strike the other road at a point so far from Vernon Station as to give room to plat a new town, is not certainly known, but may be reasonably inferred, from the fact that the Chief Engineer was interested in the project. and that these gentlemen were connected with each other by marriage, if not by blood relationship. Be this as it may, it was perfectly legitimate. They purchased the eighty acres of Harvey Aschbaugh, across which it was determined to run the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad. and laid out a town at the junction, which they called Crestline, and thereupon Vernon Station was abandoned. It, however, made little difference to the latter, as the two towns soon grew together, and the line between the two plats was obliterated. The two railroads built a frame union depot, which stood therein the mud a squatty, ugly-looking thing, for years." This published record of the two places does not agree in every particular with the facts as given us, but varies so little as to be scarcely noticeable. Mr. Hall claims to have opened the first store, while this publication credits Newman & Thoman as the first merchants, and a few other little discrepancies of a like character occur. As we have stated, the first hotel was built by Jesse Straughan, and opened as such by Jacob Brown, and is now known as the Crestline House. Brown kept it eight months, when Hall took charge of it for one year, when Miller & Mertz became the proprietors. They ran it for twelve or fifteen years, since which time it has changed hands frequently. The first lots in Crestline were sold at auction, and the first one sold was purchased by G. W. Emerson, who afterward sold it to Mr. Babst. He erected upon it a hotel, which was called the Emerson House-the second hotel built in the town. Mr. Emerson kept this hotel many years. "In March, 1854, an addition was made to the town, called East Crestline, which is in the present limits of Richland County, the main part of the town being now in Crawford County, though when platted Crawford County had not been formed, and the territory was included within the limits of Richland-the line of Richland being about four miles west of Crestline." This information is, according to our understanding of the history of this section of the county, not altogether correct. The county of Crawford was created originally in 1820 and formally organized, by act of the Legislature, passed January 31, 1826. Hence, when the town of Crestline was platted, in 1854, as above stated, "Crawford had not been formed," cannot be correct, but doubtless allusion is made to a strip that was added to Crawford from Richland County years after the formation of Crawford. Thus. a town was laid out, or, perhaps, more properly speaking, two towns were laid out and the different classes of business necessary for the building-up of towns and cities were inaugurated, and bustling activity was the order of the day around the railroad crossing. People came in rapidly; stores were opened, as the demand for them increased; mechanics located in the young and growing town; shops were established, and prosperity seemed to crown all efforts. The mercantile business, which to many of the HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 489 pioneer towns of Ohio, was an arduous undertaking, in view of the fact that most of the goods had to be hauled in wagons from Philadelphia and Baltimore, was no drawback to Crestline, as from its birth it had the advantages of railroad transportation. By experience, it knew nothing of these old-fashioned ways, in which towns like Mansfield and Bucyrus were brought up. Like the boy who was born at the age of fifteen, Crestline may almost be said to have been born in the full vigor of manhood. Its railroad or two railroads, brought markets to its very doors, instead of having to make long, weary trips to Sandusky, Zanesville and Philadelphia by teams, as so many others had to do before them. In this chapter, after a sketch of the township, we have briefly alluded to the laying-out of the village, and the beginning of its prosperity and business, the railroads, which created a demand for a town, and the early history generally of the town and surrounding community. We have followed its history from a dense and gloomy forest, where, the red man was wont to hunt the deer, to a flourishing and rapidly growing town, and here we take leave of it, to resume its history in another chapter. There we shall chronicle its progress in business, education and Christianity; its increase in wealth, its growth and extension and general prosperity. Crestline. as we have shown, is a railroad town, and. in the following chapter, together with other matters, the railroad interest will be noticed at some length, and also the establishment of railroad shops, and the men employed by the two roads. |