CHAPTER XXII.
RECAPITULATION AND STATISTICS
Comparison of Early and Present Conditions—Road Building—Sewerage— Timber—
Land Values—Agricultural Prosperity—Public Buildings—Water Supply—
Manufacturing Indus tries—So me First Things—Roster of Public Officials.
The author came to Hancock County in 1851, then a boy of seven years of age, and remembers
well the conditions of the county. Outside of the towns, there were at that time perhaps not a half
dozen frame houses, the then prevailing style of architecture being either round or hewed-log
dwellings, those dwelling in the latter being considered the aristocracy. Even in these best houses
there were no carpets, except now and then perchance one made of rags with a homespun chain
in the weaving; and such a thing as a piano or organ would have been considered an unwonted
extravagance and would have given occasion for the gossips to exercise their jealousy.
Not a mile of improved road then existed in the county, not even in the town of Findlay, and it
was no uncommon event to see one or two yoke of oxen, hitched to a wagon with a moderate
load become stalled in the mud of Findlay, Main Street ; while to drive in the county at night was
a difficult task, owing to logs and stumps obstructing the right of way. And where the way passed
over low ground, corduroy was built up, by placing large logs side by side, filling the depressions
with smaller logs, then a covering of brush, on which earth was placed, to be washed off by the
first rain; sometimes the waters arose and floated out the whole structure. Sometimes these
structures were curved to avoid great stumps that were too colossal to be removed, until time
caused them to decay. This was in the time before any ditching or tiling had improved the
drainage, and during rainy spells the roads were almost impassable at any time of the year.
The virgin soil being rich, made very poor material for public highways, but afforded good crops,
where the natural drainage was sufficient to carry off the surplus water.
In 1852 or '53, the town council passed an ordinance that all property owners on Main Street,
Findlay, should improve the street to the extent of the width of his lot and to the center of the
street, by placing hereon a depth of six inches of broken stone. No contract was to be given to
any one party to do this work, but each individual property owner between the river bridge and
Sandusky Street had charge of his share of the improvement and did it at his own convenience,
giving the street the appearance of an unfinished patch-quilt. Owing
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282 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY
to the looseness of the ground foundation and to the fact that great quantities of mud were
deposited upon it from the wheels of the wagons coming out of the country roads, this McAdam
road that had been the joy and pride of the village, disappeared from view and is poetically
"though lost to sight to memory dear."
However, the people gave no sign of discouragement, but placed another layer of stone on that
street from time to time, and when it became covered with mud raked it up with hoes and hauled
it off, redressing it with broken stones. This was kept up until 1890 when the whole mass was
removed and replaced by a twelve-inch foundation of crushed stone, and paved with paving brick
from Lima Street on the south to Howard Street on the north, together with Allen Avenue, which
was the first side street paved. This was followed in 1902 by the paving of Main from Lima to
Third Street, East Sandusky Street, Center and Cherry and from year to year more paving was
completed until now the entire town is done, and Findlay has fifteen miles of brick pavement and
one "Hurd Avenue" of asphalt paving.
Commencing along in the early seventies, there was an effort to pike the county roads, but this
met with bitter opposition from the farmers and at an election for the purpose of levying a tax to
improve the county roads it was badly beaten. Two years after, and after it was thought the
farmers would take part, another election was held, but the measure was again defeated, but with
a less majority against it, a number of the more progressive farmers voting in its favor.
Then Findlay Township took up the matter and by special legislation bill voted three mills on the
dollar valuation to build roads. The roads that were built with the money—poor though they
were—convinced the farming community that what they did need most was good roads, and
instead of opposing, they began clamoring for them, importuning the county commissioners to
increase the levy for pike to the limit, and most of the townships followed Findlay's plan of
voting a levy to improve the roads within their townships until at the present date, 1909, all of the
main roads and a goodly part of the side roads are improved by piking with crushed stone,
rendering them passable for business or pleasure the entire year. And still the cry goes up from
county and town, "Give us better and more good roads."
The work of open ditching and underdraining has been referred to in the part of this work
devoted to the farming interests and will not be extensively mentioned here, except to say that in
the fifties much of the best soil was useless on account of the want of artificial drainage, while
now this is the best soil for agriculture, having been drained of its surplus water, and the writer
believes there is not an acre of land in Hancock County, that cannot be tilled.
The matter of sewers for the town was first taken up about 1868 by an ordinance to construct
two-tile sewers in Findlay, one on each side of South Main Street from the river to Lima Street.
This measure met with no little opposition from the uninformed, and the writer remembers right
well, of the wealthiest personage, Judge Cory, who lived on the west side of Main Street between
Front Street and the river, complaining of the sewers, because as he said he had a good well
seven feet deep, and by sinking the sewers to the same depth, it
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY - 283
drained his well and consequently rendered it useless.
These old sewers are still used locally and are of some convenience, but the city of Findlay has
an excellent sewer system, serving all parts of the town with an outlet into Blanchard River
below the town through a six-foot brick-shell sewer, and not only Findlay, but all the smaller
towns of the county are well provided with sewerage. Owing to this work of ditching, sewering
and tiling more than to any other thing, the sickness and especially the acute diseases of the
people have decreased at least fifty per cent.
Mention has been made of the immense quantities of valuable timber growing in Hancock
County, in an early day, and it has been estimated that if the timber were now as it was one
hundred years ago it would be worth as much as the improvements are today.
Along in the fifties when the people began to build frame barns and houses and the railroad was
built to Cory and gave us shipping to water at Sandusky, the saw-mill business was given a great
impetus, and the best part of this fine timber was cut into lumber either for domestic use or
exported. This work gave employment to a great many men for thirty years, but now the saw mill
industry is almost a thing of the past, and the quality of timber now used by the mills would not
have been recognized as eligible in those days.
Very little of the original forest remains in the county, yet each farm has a lot of from five to
thirty acres of woodland, mostly second growth, and some of the more enterprising farmers are
planting and cultivating quick-growth trees. Among the most valuable timber was great
quantities of black-walnut. Many farms were fenced with rails split out of this growth and the
rails are in a good state of preservation to this day. During the Civil War, government contracts
brought up a great part of the walnut with which to make gun stocks and many thousand were cut
out in the rough in Findlay.
In the early part of 1850-6o land in Hancock County was at a low price. Good farms, half of
which were cleared, could be bought for from ten to fifteen dollars an acre, much less than it
would cost nowadays to hire it cleared up and fenced. The price advanced slowly as the settlers
emerged from the poverty of pioneer life and during the war arose, or seemingly so, to a high
figure, as high as $75 to $ r oo an acre, but as greenbacks—the war money issued by the
government—were only worth about forty cents on the gold value, this price was fallacious,
being in fact equal to about forty dollars per acre. Still land kept on steadily advancing in price,
excepting during some panicky years, until now the farms of Hancock County are selling from
ninety to one hundred and fifty dollars per acre. This has been largely brought about by the high
price of farm products, especially corn, and the improved manner of farming. During the early
days referred to, most of the farms had a mortgage on them, but these have been lifted and at the
present time it is a rare thing to find a farm on which this encumbrance exists and is only found
on some recently purchased tract. The farmer today is the prince of the realm. His residence is
beautiful and commodious and his barns capacious, giving shelter to his stock and storage to his
crops. The production of his acres has been largely increased and his stock has been bred up to
one hundred per cent over the former conditions.
As previously stated, the county is well sup-
284 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY
plied with schoolhouses and churches, and this with good roads, rural delivery of mail and a
number of interurban railroads, life in the country is rendered agreeable and convenient.
As to Findlay, the county seat, located near the center of this productive county, it could be
nothing less than prosperous, having a fine court house, jail, and sheriff's residence, a stone
municipal building 50x200 feet and a full complement of schoolhouses and churches, with an
elegant high school building.
The new court house had its inception in June, 1837, when the county commissioners advertised
in the Findlay Courier that proposals would be received on the 4th of July following, at the
auditor's office in Findlay to make two thousand good brick to build county buildings in Findlay
and that a draft or model shall be drawn of the court house suitable for the county at the expense
of the county.
With respect to the erection of this court house the records are incomplete, but it has been
ascertained that John McCurdy was the builder and that the court house was probably begun in
the latter part of 1837 and that it was completed in 1842, costing $7,953.22.
This structure answered its purpose for over forty years, at the end of which time the growth of
the county and the consequent increase of business in the various offices demanded a larger and
more substantial edifice. Accordingly, on April 17, 1885, the legislature of the state of Ohio
passed an act authorizing the building of a court house in Findlay, Hancock county, Ohio, and the
issuance of bonds to meet the payment of the same. On June 5, 1885, the committee, consisting
of C. S. Kelley, J. M. Moorhead and A. S. Beck, commissioners of Hancock County; G. S.
Galloway, appointed by the court of Common Pleas, together with G. W. Myers, probate judge;
Lemuel McManness, sheriff, and Pressly E. Hay, clerk of the courts, met to make preliminary
arrangements and consider the plans of the newly contemplated seat of justice.
August 11, 1886, the corner-stone of the new court house was laid amid appropriate ceremonies
and a grand celebration consisting of speeches, music, parades and accompanied in the evening
with a grand display of gas illuminations. The work of construction was pushed along as fast as
possible and on October 27th, 1888, the building was dedicated to the use of the public.
The architecture of the building in the main is classic, though the roof is pitched, the
inconvenience of a flat roof being thus avoided. The outside finish is entirely of stone, with rock
face work and cut-stone trimmings. The front windows are large and showy, the smallest having
a five-foot opening and the largest one of seven feet. Each window has forty-four square feet of
plate glass or more and ample light is furnished in every part of the building. No wood whatever,
excepting window-frames, doors and a portion of the floors, is used in the construction of the
edifice, which is guaranteed fire-proof. The tower is 130 feet high from the ground to top and 07
feet to the center of the clock dial. It is finished with a dome roof surmounted with a statue of
John Hancock sixteen feet high. The tower is built entirely of iron and stone and is 24 feet
square. The clock dial is 9 feet in diameter and can be illuminated with gas or electric lights. The
edifice is 142 feet long and 82 feet wide, and 146 feet from ground to top. Entrance into the first
floor hall from the front on the east is through a stone portico supported by four pol-
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY - 285
ished granite columns 20 inches in diameter. This portico is designed as a protection for the first
flight of steps so often left uncovered.
The portico, 12 feet high, is sumounted by an imposing entablature extending up to the roof. In
this is a magnificent stained glass window 12 x 26 feet in size opening out upon the balcony,
having an archway top and extending through two stories. This arch is stir-mounted with a group
of feminine figures repsenting Justice, Law, and Mercy. Two small easy flights of stairs
separated by a vestibule, lead through double doors into a spacious hallway running through the
building, intercepted by a traverse hallway 18 feet wide and 75 feet long.
In the center is an octagon rotunda 20 feet square with a gallery up through and into the dome. It
is furnished with tile floors and iron ceilings, and the walls are of fine pressed and enamelled
brick. To the right of the hall near the entrance a door opens into the treasurer's office for the
reception of city taxes and an archway from that leads into the main office of the same official,
where taxes in general are received. Three places of entrance are provided and the room is 24 x
28 feet in dimensions. To the north and adjoining the general collecting room is the treasurers'
money vault and private office, the private office being 13 x 15 feet in dimensions. This is about
the size of all the private offices.
Immediately adjoining this office to the west is the auditor's offices consisting of three rooms.
The main office is 30 x 35 feet in size and has communication with the treasurer's office by
means of a sliding window. Besides the private office and workroom adjoining, there is a large
fire-proof record vault 13 x 28 feet in dimensions and containing a window. To the south of and
adjoining the auditor's vault and office is the commissioners room 17 x 24 feet.
On the left side at the front entrance is the sheriff's office, 16 x 18 feet in size. This is connected
with the common pleas court room on the second floor by means of a private stairway.
At the south entrance of the traverse hall is the entrance to the probate court room, 24 x 30 feet in
dimensions, which, like the auditor's office, is separated from the hall by a stained glass screen.
Adjoining on the east side is the probate judge's office, while to the north of the office is the
record vault. To the west of the probate court room is the retiring room for the witnesses, which
is also used as a private office. The southwest portion of the first room is used by the recorder,
who has a private office to the south and a record vault to the north of the main office.
The second floor may be reached by a large double iron staircase at the rear of the main hall. It
has midway landings and a large stained glass window looks out in the rear. In the southwest
portion of the room away from the din and noise of the streets is the common pleas court room
35 x 4o feet in dimensions. It is furnished with amphitheatre tiers of seats and the general public
may gain entrance through large double doors. Back of the bar railings are several private
entrances for officials and those having business with the court, so that they need not push their
way through the crowds in the court room. The judge's bench is in an archway in the partition
dividing the court from the judge's room and a room for the law library and for attorneys'
consultation with clients.
On this floor also is conveniently located apartments for grand and petit juries and wait-
286 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY
ing witnesses. The clerk's desk in the court room is connected directly with the clerk's suite of
three offices in the front part of the second floor. In the northeast corner the prosecuting attorney
has a good-sized office and convenient consultation rooms.
To the west of this office and at the north end of the traverse hall there is an office for the county
school examiners.
In the northwest corner a room of ample size has been set apart as a circuit court room, and
immediately adjoining this on the south is a large room for the circuit judges.
The basement has a spacious assembly hall for conventions and public gatherings. Besides this
there is the surveyors' office, a public library room, reading room and janitor's boiler and work
rooms most conveniently arranged. It will thus be seen that the county now has a public building
adequate to all the purposes for which it was designed and there is no reason to doubt but that it
will continue to meet the public wants for many years to come.
Formerly the city water supply was obtained from the Blanchard River, but the development of
oil along this stream above the town contaminated the supply and forced the city to obtain its
water from magnetic springs at Limestone Ridge ten miles above them, and this supply is
pronounced the purest water supply of any town or city in the state. The water is conducted
directly from the springs by conduits to the pumping station, and is not exposed to the light of
day until drawn from the faucet. The supply is abundant and has shown no signs of exhaustion in
the dryest seasons, it being used for all the purposes of the town. Since its introduction sickness
has greatly decreased; cases of typhoid fever are quite rare, and no epidemics of any kind have
struck the town since its use commenced five years ago. The city is the owner of the plant, and
although largely in debt for it, it is on a good paying basis and the income is steadily increasing.
Findlay has no large factories but quite a number of small ones, and the workmen are not
foreigners but our own citizens, most of whom own their own homes and are prosperous.
Aside from those given special notice are the Adams Machine Shops, manufacturing and
repairing oil well machinery, making steam boilers, and bridge building ; the National Oil
Refinery, for the manufacturing of crude petroleum into its various products ; the Chamberlin
Cartridge and Target Works for the making of clay targets for trap shooting ; the National Handle
Works, Findlay Basket Factory, and other small industries. Several of those last mentioned are
under the control of trusts who do not allow the managers to give out a single word relating to the
business or output.
And now, after having traced the story and facts of this county of Hancock in the State of Ohio of
America, from and even before its conception to, the present time—from the time when land sold
for one dollar an acre to the time when the same land sold for upwards of one hundred d0llars an
acre, and when lots sold in Findlay for ten dollars that are now worth ten thousand dollars ; from
the time when very little, if anything, was exported, and less if possible, was imported, to the
time when thousands of car loads of the products of the fertile soil, are exported and an
abundance of the
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY - 287
necessaries and comforts of life are imported; from the time when the inhabitants depended
entirely for their living support upon their own products to the time when all depend largely for
their wants upon the productions of some one else—I bring this history to a conclusion.
Time has rolled on until there is scarcely one of the pioneers of 1830 to '35 remaining to relate
the "short and simple annals of the poor" ; yet we owe it to ourselves and to posterity not only to
preserve the records of their work in the past, but also the record of the present status of Hancock
County, and in keeping with this thought I will close this final chapter with a statement of "First
Things" followed by a Statistical Statement of the present standing of the county as furnished by
our present genial auditor, Fred C. Shank.
SOME FIRST THINGS.
The first fair was held October 15th, 1852.
The first murder of record occurred in 1846. John Parish supposed to have been murdered by one
B. F. Dulin.
The first gas and oil well of importance was struck November 5th, 1884, on the Oesterlin farm,
east of Findlay.
The first assessor was Dan Alonzo Hamlin, 1828.
The first deed was one granted June 3rd, 1822, to John Gardner, being the W. pt. S. E. 1/4 Sec.
13 T. 1 N. R. 10 East.
The first mortgage was executed February 8th, 1840, given to Isaac Jones by Jos. Remington, on
the S. E. 1/4 N. W. 1/4 Sec. 1 T. 1. N. R. 11 E.
The first election was held on the first Monday of April, 1828.
The first case in court was Robert Elder vs. Asa Lake et al, April 17th, 1829.
The first will was made by John Wolford, June 26, 1829, and probated April 30, 1830.
The first administrator was William Taylor, administrator of the John Patterson estate, March 19,
1829.
The first physician was Dr. Bass Rawson, who came in September, 1829.
The first lawyer was Edson Goit, in August, 1832.
The first bank—The First National, 1863.
The first death of resident was that of Mrs. Matthew Reighley, 1822.
The first mail carrier was Joseph Gordon.
The first mail route was established in 1820.
The first lodge was the I. 0. 0. F., established in 1848.
The first minister of the Gospel was the Rev. James Gilruth, in 1822.
The first newspaper was The Findlay Courier, Nov. 10, 1836.
The first street railroad was opened on Main Street in 1887.
The first telephone line was established in 1879.
The telegraph line was established in 1862.
The first settlement in Hancock County was made in 1815 by Benj. Cox.
The first white person born was Lydia Cox, in 1815.
The first entry of land was made by Joseph Vance, William Mill and Elnathan Cory, on the third
of July, 1821, being the S. pt. S. W. 1/4 and S. E. 1/4 Sec. 8 and E.
288 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY
pt. S. E. 1/4 Sec. 13 and N. E. pt. N. E. 3/4 Sec. 17 T. I N. R. 10 East.
The first church was built 1822, known as the Duke's Meeting House, west of Findlay.
The first schoolhouse was in Findlay.
The first teacher was Joseph White.
The first marriage was performed Sept. 2, 1824, by W. Vance, justice of the peace and the
participating parties being Samuel Kepler and Rachel McKinnis.
The first divorce was granted Aug. 17, 1846, to Benj. and Elizabeth Tremain.
The first court was held March 14, 1828. The first court house was ordered built Jan. 16, 1832.
The first jail ordered built July 3, 1830.
The first bridge was built across the Blanchard River at Findlay in 1843.
The first railroad was built in 1849 from Findlay to Carey.
The first county road was located from Findlay to Vanlue, ordered Sept. 16, 1829.
FIRST SCHOOLHOUSES.
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