300 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

CHAPTER VIII.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS-HULL'S TRACE-OPENING OF THE PERRYSBURG & BELLEFONTAINE AND OTHER STATE ROADS THROUGH HANCOCK COUNTY-PIONEER COUNTY ROADS-FIRST BRIDGE BUILT ACROSS THE BLANCHARD AT FINDLAY, AND ITS SUCCESSORS-EARLY NAVIGATION ON THE BLANCHARD-FIRST MAIL ROUTE ESTABLISHED THROUGH THE COUNTY- JOSEPH GORDON, THE VETERAN MAIL CARRIER-HISTORY OF THE RAILROADS-THE PROPOSED BELLEFONTAINE & PERRYSBURG RAILROAD-FINDLAY BRANCH OF THE INDIANAPOLIS, BLOOMINGTON & WESTERN-LAKE ERIE & WESTERN -BALTIMORE & OHIO-MCCOMB, DESHLER & TOLEDO-NEW YORK, CHICAGO & ST. LOUIS-CLEVELAND, DELPHOS & ST. LOUIS NARROW GAGE-TOLEDO, COLUMBUS & SOUTHERN-PROPOSED RAILROAD ENTERPRISES THAT HAVE FAILED DURING THE PAST FORTY-SEVEN YEARS.

DURING the earlier years of the county's history Hull's Trace was the principal highway through this portion of the State. It was opened in 1812 by the army of Gen. William Hull on its march from Urbana to the Maumee Rapids, and passed northward from the Scioto River through the center of Hancock County, traversing in its route what is now Madison, Eagle, Findlay and Allen Townships. Hull' s Trace could scarcely be called a road, for only the underbrush and very small timber were cut out so as to allow the gun-carriages and baggage wagons of the army to pass between the larger trees; yet nearly all of the travel from Bellefontaine to the Maumee passed along this rude trace until after the organization of Wood County in 1820. Though the preliminary work of opening a highway from the Maumee southward via Fort Findlay to Bellefontaine was soon afterward commenced, it was never the less many years before anything that could be called a road was constructed through this county, and wagon paths blazed through the forest were the only means of communication between the scattered settlements.

Many, even of the oldest citizens of the county, are under the impression that the Perrysburg & Bellefontaine road is located on the site of Hull's Trace, but such is not the fact. The trace struck the south line of Hancock County, about half a mile west of this road, thence, passing northward, ran down the west side of Eagle Creek to Fort Findlay, where it crossed the Blanchard; thence in a northerly direction, about half a mile east of the Perrysburg road, until reaching the highlands on the middle branch of the Portage River, a short distance south of Van Buren; thence took a northwest course along the southwest side of that stream into Wood County, and thence onward to the Maumee. The vanguard of Hull's army followed the dryest ground it could find, and avoided, wherever possible, the swales which then abounded in this region.

Early in 1820 the General Assembly passed an act, ordering a State road to be laid out from the Maumee to Bellefontaine; and on the 27th of May, 1820, the commissioners of Wood County appointed Peter G. Oliver, " road commissioner for the county of Wood, to assist in laying out the State road from Bellefontaine to the foot of the rapids of the Miami of the Lake."

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This is familiarly known as the Perrysburg & Bellefontaine, but sometimes called the Urbana, road, and is located on the range line between Ranges 10 and 11. Oliver entered into bond to lay out and let the contracts for opening said road from Fort Meigs to Fort Findlay, but it seems he did not fulfill the conditions laid down by the board, and December 12, 1820, the commissioners intimated that they would sue his bondsmen, but gave him till February 1, 1821, " to finish his road, provided that the logs should all be removed out of said road by the 1st of January, 1821. "The road was cut out as far south as Fort Findlay by the time specified, and accepted by the commissioners February 21, 1821. From Fort Findlay to Bellefontaine the road was partly opened by John Enochs, of Logan County, about the same time. Nothing further relating to the road in this county appears on the Wood County records till June 6, 1828, when the commissioners ordered " that the sum of p400 of the 3 per cent fund appropriated for Hancock County, be expended on the Urbana road in the said county." This road could not have been satisfactorily opened through to Bellefontaine under the act of 1820, for another act was passed by the Legislature February 22, 1830, " to locate and establish a State road from Bellefontaine, in Logan County, to Fort Findlay, in Hancock County; and thence on the range line between Ranges 10 and 11, to the foot of the rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie." Thomas F. Johnston, Thomas R. McKnight and James M. Workman, were appointed State Commissioners to lay out said road, and Walter Clement did the surveying. The survey was commenced at the public square in Bellefontaine, May 20, 1830, and completed the following month, though the plat of the survey was not recorded in Wood County until about a year afterward. In August, 1830, the commissioners of Hancock County agreed that the tax levied for the several State roads in this county be expended on the Bellefontaine & Perrysburg, the Upper Sandusky, Findlay & Defiance, and the State roads from Marion to Findlay, each of which were ordered to be cut out thirty-two feet wide, and the ground cleared of all timber. Thus it will be seen that ten years after the Perrysburg & Bellefontaine road was first surveyed, it still remained comparatively unopened, but through the passing years it has been gradually improved, until it is to-day one of the best roads in the county.

In the fall of 1828 the State road from Marion to Findlay was laid out by Don Alonzo Hamlin and George H. Busby, State Commissioners, and Samuel Holmes, surveyor. It unites with the Bellefontaine & Perrysburg road immediately south of the Eagle Creek bridge near the south line of Findlay Township, and passes southeastward through this county. In August, 1830, the county commissioners let the contract for cutting out this road thirty-two feet wide and removing the timber therefrom.

The Upper Sandusky, Findlay & Defiance State road was surveyed early in 1830, and the contract for opening it let in August of that year. The survey of the State road from Lower Sandusky (Fremont) to Findlay was commenced in November, 1830, by John Bell and Daniel Tindle, commissioners, and David Camp, surveyor. Rome (now Fostoria), was afterward laid out on this road. The Findlay & Port Clinton State road was surveyed in the fall of 1831 by David Camp, the State Commissioners being William L. Henderson, Joseph Hall and Ezekiel Price. This road runs in a northeast direction from Findlay to Port Clinton in Sandusky County. On the 8th of February, 1832, the Legislature passed an act to establish

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State roads through several counties, Hancock being one of those named in said act. Under this act, Squire Carlin, Samuel Jacobs and Picket Doughte, State Commissioners, with William L. Henderson as surveyor, laid out the Findlay, Lima & St. Mary's State road in the fall of 1832. The State road from Findlay to Tiffin was laid out the same year, but it was not opened as we find it re-established in 1842 from Findlay to the east line of Marion Township, by order of the county commissioners. The Findlay & New Haven State road was established in the spring of 1833, beginning at Sandusky Street in Findlay, and running due east to New Haven, Huron Co. Case Brown was the State Commissioner, and T. C. Sweney, surveyor of this road. The Tiffin and Defiance State road was also laid out in the spring of 1833, by Jacob Foster, James Gordon and Christopher Sharp, commissioners, and William L. Henderson, surveyor. It passed westward through Rome and Risdon (now Fostoria), thence continued in a southwest course on the county ridge road surveyed in March, 1832, from the site of Risdon to the site of Van Buren; thence in the same general direction to the east line of Pleasant Township; thence inclined north westwardly to the Putnam County line. In the spring of 1834, a State road was established from McCutchenville, via Big Spring, in Seneca County, to Findlay. Joseph C. Shannon, John C. De Witt and Frederick Waggoner were the commissioners in charge, and Thomas C. Sweney, surveyor. In 1835, a State road was laid out from Bucyrus toward Fort Wayne, Ind., passing through Williamstown in its route; and the same year the Findlay & Kalida State road was established; Charles W. O' Neal surveyed the latter road, and Parlee Carlin and James Taylor were the road commissioners. Some of these highways were afterward changed in places, and parts vacated to accommodate the people living along their respective routes, while several years elapsed before they were fully opened and fit for travel.

All of the earliest county roads, in Hancock County, were established under an act of the general assembly passed February 2G, 1824, authorizing the opening and regulating of roads and highways within the State. The first road petition found on record, in this county, was presented to the commissioners June 1, 1829, for a public highway from the east line of the county to Findlay. The petitioners were John J. Hendricks, Justin Smith, Joseph Whiteman, James Beard, John Huff, John Beard, William Ebright, Sampson Dildine, John Williamson, Andrew Robb, Thomas Cole, David Hagerman, John Long, John Shoemaker and Mordecai Hammond. In September, 1829, the road was viewed by John Huff, John J. Hendricks and William Moreland, Jr., with William Taylor as surveyor; Peter George, James Beard, Joshua Powell and John Boyd, chainmen; and John Long, Philip Ebright and Norman Chamberlain, markers. The road was established by the commissioners September 16, 1829. It began at Jacob Smith's on the county line (now in Wyandot County), and is the present road running westward through Vanlue to the Blanchard; thence passing down the northeast side of the river a few miles, when it crosses to the west side, and thence follows the meanders of the Blanchard into Findlay.

The second petition was presented June 7, 1830, for a road commencing on the line between Hancock and Hardin Counties, near the section line dividing sections 35 and 36, Delaware Township, thence down the west side of the Blanchard to Godfrey Wolford's mill in section 11, where it crossed the river, and continued down the east side of the stream through

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the site of Mt. Blanchard until it intersected the county road to Findlay, laid out the precious fall, near the house of John J. Hendricks in Section 12, Amanda Township. The petition was signed by Aquilla Gilbert, Asa Lake, Jesse Gilbert, Chauncy Fuller, Reuben W. Hamlin, Godfrey Wolford, John Wolford, Josiah Elder, William J. Greer, William J. Greer, Jr., John Rose, Asa M. Lake, George W. Wolford, John Elder, Ephraim Elder, Absalom Elder, Andrew Robb, Justin Smith, Amos Beard, William Ebright, Nathan Williams, James Gibson, David Egbert and Joseph W. Egbert. The commissioners appointed Thomas Thompson, James Beard and Peter George, viewers, and Wilson Vance, surveyor, to lay out said road; Elijah Beard and Charles Gibson were employed as chain carriers, and Godfrey Wolford, marker. All of the foregoing were pioneers of Delaware and Amanda Townships. The road was surveyed in July, 1830, and established as a public highway April 18, 1831.

In March, 1831, a county road was laid out, from the Perrysburg & Bellefontaine State road, south of Chamberlin's Hill, up the west side of Eagle Creek to Section 14, Madison Township, where it crossed that stream, and upon reaching the center line of Section 23 turned southeastward and continued in that direction till it intersected the Perrysburg & Bellefontaine road near the southern boundary of the county. This road followed Hull's Trace from Chamberlin's Hill to section 23, Madison Township, but the north part of it was afterward vacated. The petition, as presented to the commissioners March 7, 1831, was signed by the following well-remembered pioneers: Benjamin O. Whitman, Jacob, Joseph, John and Jacob Helms, Jr., John, Adam and Elijah Woodruff, Conrad Line, John Decker, Nathaniel Hill, Simeon and Thomas Ransbottom, John and Griffin Tullis, James West, Joshua Garrett, Abner Hill, Abel Tanner, Aaron Kinion, Alpheus Ralston, John Boyd, Leonard Tritch, Squire and Parlee Carlin, Henry Shaw, John C. Wickham, Major Bright, William Dulin and Isaac Johnson. Of these Squire Carlin and Alpheus Ralston are the only survivors. The commissioners appointed William L. Henderson surveyor, and Jacob Foster, Peter George and John Bashore, viewers. John Tullis, Adam Woodruff and Elijah Woodruff acted as chairmen, and Abel Tanner, marker. The road was established June 6, 1831, and was a little over fourteen miles in length.

The Benton Ridge road was the next highway established by the commissioners, in compliance with a petition laid before the board in the fall of 1531, and signed by Squire and Parlee Carlin, Thomas F. Johnston, Levi Williamson, James Taylor, John Boyd, Matthew Reighly, William Taylor, Wilson Vance, John Groves, Joseph A. Sargent, William Dulin, Joshua Jones, William Moreland, Samuel Gordon, Joseph Johnson, William Fowler, Henry Lamb, Isaac Baker, Thomas Cole, Minor T. Wickham, Richard Wade, Zebulon Lee, Philip Cramer, John Mullen, John Cramer, Jacob Powell, Solomon Foglesong, Jacob Fog, Simon Cramer, William Lytle and Philip Cramer, Jr. The viewers appointed to lay out said road were Peter George, Isaac Baker and Thomas F. Johnston; William L. Henderson, surveyor; Frederick Henderson, Jonathan Parker, Stephen Lee, Reuben Baker, John Cramer, Henry Smaltz and William Greenly, chairmen; Minor T. Wickham, Henry Baker, Philip Cramer and Adam Cramer, markers. The survey was completed in December, 1831, and March 5, 1832, the road was established by the board of commissioners. It begins at the west end

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of Main Cross street, and runs northwest about a mile and a half to the Sand Ridge; thence, turning abruptly southwestward, follows the ridge to the village of Benton, and thence in the same general direction to the Putnam County line. Immediately west of Findlay was a low, wet piece of ground, and instead of running due west on a line with Main Cross Street, the viewers concluded to avoid this swale by deviating toward the north and following the higher ground. Throughout pioneer days the Benton Ridge road was one of the best public highways in the county, especially during wet seasons when many other roads became almost impassable.

In February, 1832, William L. Hendorson laid out a road, beginning at the house of Aquilla Gilbert, in Section 24, Amanda Township, thence running northeast, till it intersected the State road from Upper Sandusky to Findlay, at the farm of Judge Jacob Smith, near the Crawford. County line, but now in Wyandot County. Joseph Johnson, John Rose and Joshua Powell were the viewers; Henry Treese and Andrew Beck, chairmen, and Henry George and Aquilla Gilbert, markers. The petitioners for this road were Adam Allspach, John Fenstemaker, Andrew Beck, Thomas Cole, Samuel Gordon, Thomas Thompson, Samuel Sargent, Elijah and James Beard, Joseph Egbert, Michael Misamore, Joseph Craig, Aquilla Gilbert, Isaac Litzenberger, John Condron, John Longwith, Asa M. Lake, William J. Greer, Henry Treese, William Ebright, William Taylor, Godfrey Wolford and Elisha Brown. The road was established in March, 1832, and is one of the principal highways traversing Amanda Township.

A county road was laid out in March, 1832, on the ridge from Risdon (now Fostoria) to the site of Van Buren, and established by the commissioners as a public highway the following June. Christian Beard, Jacob Foster and Thomas Slight were the viewers, and William L. Hendorson, surveyor. The petition for this road was signed by John and Micajah Gorsuch, David Heaston, Thomas Kelly, Michael Thomas, John Norris, James G. Wiseman, Elijah and John McRill, John Hiestand, John Burman, John Trout and Abraham Schoonover. In the spring of 1833 the Tiffin & Defiance State road was established over the same route, and continued on westward into Putnam County.

Another early county road was established in Union Township in the spring of 1833. The petition was presented to the commissioners March 4 of that year, with the following names appended thereto: Wenman Wade, William Fog, Jacob Burket, Henry Smaltz, Philip, John. Simon and Philip Cramer, Jr., William M. Colclo, Alexander Hardin, Solomon Foglesong, Jacob Fog, Sr., Jacob Fog, Jr., Isaac Comer, John and Thomas Mullen and Solomon and Stephen Lee. This road commences at the Findlay & Lima State Road, near the southwest corner of Section 27, Union Township, thence runs north nearly two miles to the southwest corner of Section 15; thence northeast down the northwest side of Ottawa Creek, crossing that stream below the mouth of Tiderishi Creek; thence up the northwest side of Tiderishi about a mile; thence due north to the Benton Ridge road. It was surveyed by William L. Henderson; John Byal and Asher Wickham, viewers; Philip Cramer and Peter Folk, chairmen, and Simon Cramer, marker. From this time forward roads were rapidly established in every part of the county. Whenever a few cabins made their appearance in any portion of the county, or a new township was organized, a petition was presented for a road, and always granted. For many years after the organization of the

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county one of the principal businesses of the commissioners was granting road petitions and establishing public highways. But even the best roads were at times almost impassable, and outside of Findlay Township very little stone piking has yet been done in this county, and mud roads are the rule instead of the exception.

The lack of means with which to build bridges, was one of the great drawbacks in this county, and during high water the Blanchard, and doubtless some of the smaller streams, had to be crossed in canoes or rude boats improvised for the purpose. A few cheap bridges were built in some of the townships before the first one across the Blanchard at Findlay was constructed, but they were usually temporary structures in danger of being swept away by the first freshet. In March, 1842, the commissioners resolved to receive proposals for building two bridges over the Blanchard; one at Findlay, and another on the Findlay & New Haven State road, in Marion Township. Aquilla Gilbert, one of the board, filed a protest against the proposed improvements, claiming that Findlay was getting more than her share of the public moneys, and naming bridges that had been built in other parts of the county by the townships wherein they were located, without any assistance from the county. The contract for constructing a bridge at Findlay was let in April, 1842, to Squire Carlin and Horace Eaton for the sum of $1,600, and the bridge was completed and opened for traffic in the fall of 1843. It was an open, wooden bridge, supported by wooden abutments and trestles, and was used nearly seven years before being replaced by a. better one.

On the 19th of April, 1850, a contract for a new, wooden, covered "lattice bridge " over the Blanchard at Findlay, was let to Jesse Wheeler, William Klamroth and Edwin B. Vail, to be completed on or before November 15, 1850. This bridge was 180 feet long, and eighteen feet above low water mark, with stone abutments and one stone pier in the center of the river. It was a very substantial structure, and cost about $3,000. Besides the wagon track there was a foot path on each side, and when the bridge was finished. it was regarded with much pride by the citizens of Findlay: It did good service for nearly twenty-three years, but the day of its usefulness finally passed away, and it was succeeded in 1873- 74 by the handsome iron bridge now spanning the stream. The old bridge was sold to Dr. D. W. Cass, for $105, while the stone in the abutments and pier brought about $900. Some of the timbers of this bridge were utilized in the erection of the grand stand on the fair grounds.

The sum of $940 was expended in the erection of bridges in Hancock County in 1845; and about the time the second bridge over the Blanchard at Findlay was built, many good bridges were constructed in different parts of the county. The time had come when the people could no longer afford to plod along in the old way. The previous temporary structures were replaced by substantial ones, and new bridges made their appearance in many places. With the growth in population and wealth, good bridges became a necessity, but years elapsed before all this was accomplished, and the work still goes on from year to year. Nineteen wagon bridges now span the Blanchard within the limits of Hancock County, two of which are iron, while two more iron bridges cross the stream on the boundary lines between Hancock and Hardin, and Hancock and Putnam Counties, half the expense of which was borne by this county. Bridges have also been built wherever any of the

308 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

main traveled roads cross the smaller streams; and within the last fifteen years many substantial iron bridges have replaced the old wooden ones over Eagle, Ottawa, Portage and perhaps other streams in different parts of the county.

As the present handsome iron bridge spanning the Blanchard at Findlay is recognized as the finest in the county, it will not be inappropriate to mention it briefly in this connection. August 1, 1873, the commissioners entered into a contract with the W Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio, to erect a one span iron bridge over the river at Findlay, 164 feet long, with a roadway twenty feet wide in the clear, and a footway on each side six feet wide in the clear, for the sum of $10,889.60. On the same day the contract for the stone abutments was awarded to Louis Bruner at the rate of $7 per perch of twenty-five solid feet, which, when completed, together with the east wing, came to $4,008.90. The bridge was finished and accepted by the commissioners March 27, 1874, and warranted by the company for thirty years from that date. It is a substantial structure and a credit to the builders, as well as a lasting monument to the wisdom and public spirit of the board under whom it was built, and to the people whose generous liberality rendered such a fine public improvement possible.

Before the era of roads and bridges in this portion of the State, much of the goods brought to Findlay came in pirogues from Pemysburg via the Maumee, Auglaize and Blanchard Rivers, while furs and other products of the then sparsely settled country were often shipped to the lake over the same route by the traders and merchants of the village. A Government survey made in 1816 pronounced the Blanchard navigable from Fort Findlay to the Auglaize, and many of the pioneers who located along its banks once regarded it as a navigable stream. The only boats, however, that have ever been used in the transportation of goods upon the Blanchard, were the clumsy, old-fashioned pirogues, made from the bodies of large trees, and much resembling a huge trough. A little later goods and products were wagoned to and from Sandusky City, and goods shipped at New York came via Buffalo and the lake to Sandusky, usually arriving at Findlay from two to four weeks afterward.

The first mail route through Hancock County was established about sixty-six years ago, from Bellefontaine via Fort McArthur and Findlay to Perrysburg, with Joseph Gordon as mail agent. Gordon was born in Allegheny County, Penn., January 29, 1784, and in 1801, ere reaching manhood, began his career as a horseback mail carrier in Kentucky. In 1804 he carried his first mail into Ohio from Wheeling, W . Va., some fifty miles, and his route was soon afterward extended to Chillicothe. via St. Clairsville, Zanesville and New Lancaster. He subsequently located in Bellefontaine, Ohio, and in 1820 commenced his horseback weekly mail service from that town to Perrysburg. The Findlay office was established in February, 1823, and was then, and for years afterward, the only postoffice between Bellefontaine and the Maumee-a distance of over eighty miles through a dense, unbroken forest, where the hum of civilization was yet unheard. Gordon was the only carrier over this route till the close of 1839, when a change occurred and his route ended at Findlay. He continued in the service from Bellefontaine to Findlay-some eight or ten years longer or until the route was abandoned. Gordon is remembered as a kind-hearted, generous, trustworthy man, and was of incalculable benefit to the early settlers of Hancock

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County in doing errands for them at Perrysburg and Bellefontaine. It is a sad criticism on our nineteenth century civilization that this veteran of the mails was compelled by force of circumstances to spend the evening of his eventful life as a pauper in the infirmary of Logan County.

The railroads are the nest in order of time, and perhaps the most important feature of the county's internal improvements. In March, 1839, the General Assembly passed an act "to authorize the commissioners of Wood and Hancock Counties to subscribe to the capital stock of the Bellefontaine & Perrysburg Railroad Company and to borrow money." Under the provisions of this act the commissioners of Hancock, at a special meeting held April 26, 1839, decided to subscribe 1,000 shares, amounting to $100,000, to the capital stock of said company, and delegated Parlee Carlin a special agent to negotiate a loan for said amount in the city of New York or elsewhere, at a rate of interest not to exceed 6 per cent per annum, the bonds to be redeemed in not less than twenty nor more than thirty years. The loan was never negotiated, as the project vanished into air, and few of the present generation are aware that such an enterprise was ever contemplated.

The Findlay Branch of the Indianapolis. Bloomington & Western Railroad was the first railroad built through Hancock County. On the 19th of February, 1845, the Legislature passed " an act to authorize the commissioners of Hancock County to subscribe to the capital stock of the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Company the sum of $60,000, or such sum as shall be sufficient to construct a railway or branch from the main track of said railroad to the town of Findlay." The following month, in compliance with a provision of said act, the commissioners ordered the proposed measure be submitted to a vote of the citizens of Hancock at the succeeding April election. The people voted in favor of said subscription by 1,055 to 764, a majority of 291. On the 11th of April, 1845, the board subscribed $60,000 to the capital stock of said railroad, and on the 22d the first installment of $30, 000 in county bonds was issued. The same month W ilson Vance, William Taylor, John Patterson and William L. Henderson were appointed by the commissioners as their special agents to look after the interests of the county in its dealings with the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Company. In June, 1845, John Ewing and Jacob Barnd were added to the list, but the latter dying soon afterward, Squire Carlin was appointed, September 11, 1845, to fill the vacancy. On the same date the commissioners added $15,000 to the former subscription, making a total of $75,000 subscribed by Hancock County toward the enterprise.

On the 19th of August, 1846, the railroad company, at a meeting held in Kenton, agreed to accept said subscription, the county to retain and negotiate the bonds, and construct a branch railroad from Caret' to Findlay; "Provided that said commissioners-will within four years from this date, construct said branch railway as aforesaid, free of expense to this company, and will also pledge therefor to this company the stock by them subscribed as aforesaid, there to remain until said branch railway be completed; and Provided, further, that said branch railway shall be constructed as aforesaid, under and pursuant to the directions of this company, at a cost not exceeding the estimate of the engineer of the same, to-wit: $88,429.29, and when completed to be the property of this company; and Provided, further, that said commissioners furnish and convey to this company, ground, free of ex-

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pence (not less than two acres in quantity), at said Findlay for a depot, and of such shape as may be surveyed by said engineer therefor, and also, free of expense to this company, secure the permanent right of way for said branch railway." It will no doubt surprise many of our readers that such a one sided proposition was acceptable to the county, which was actually building a railroad and giving it to the company; but the people were so anxious for the road to be built that the proposition was gladly accepted by the commissioners. On the 22d of September, 1846, the board appointed John Patterson, John Ewing and Hiram Smith, railroad agents, to transact all business in the building and completion of said branch from Findlay to Carey. They were authorized to borrow money, obtain the right-of-way, put the work under contract, and carry out all other business necessary and expedient for the furtherance of the project. In March, 1847, Hiram Smith resigned, and Charles W. O'Neal and William L. Henderson were appointed additional railroad agents, and, with Messrs. Patterson and Ewing, served till March, 1851, when the office was terminated by order of the commissioners.

The road was completed in November, 1849, and trains began running ere the close of that month. It was one of those old-fashioned strap-iron roads, similar to those first built through this State. Upon the bed, sleepers were laid lengthwise, placed apart the width of the track, the ties being laid crosswise on top of said sleepers. Two strips of timber were then laid on top of the ties, also lengthwise, and let into the same immediately over the sleepers, and upon these strips the rails, made of five-eighths strap-iron, were fastened. W hen all was finished the county had expended only $45,500 of the amount subscribed, leaving a balance of $29,500 of the subscription yet unissued. In 1852-53, an effort was made to furnish the road with T rails, the company making a proposition to the county for the latter to issue bonds to carry out the improvement, and the former to issue railroad stock to the county for said amount, and guarantee that the dividends on said stock would be sufficient to pay the interest on the bonds during their term of existence. The railway company further agreed to considerably reduce the rates of transportation. The board agreed to the proposition, but the project finally collapsed, and nothing was done at that time.

Though the subject of T railing the branch was afterward often talked of, it was not till twenty years after the road was built that the work was accomplished. In the summer of 1868, the railway company made a prop osition to the county that if the latter would contribute $12,000 toward the enterprise the company would T rail, ballast and put the branch in good condition. Upon examining the records it was discovered that $29, 500 of the original subscription remained unissued, and that the county was still liable for this amount, whenever the company complied with the original conditions, and constructed the road on a permanent basis. This was brought to the attention of the commissioners in October, 1868, who, after taking counsel, were satisfied the county was liable for said amount, and gladly issued the $12,000 in bonds to assist in carrying through the much needed improvement, the company releasing the county from all further obligation in connection with the original subscription. The work of T railing commenced in the spring of 1869, and October 21 of that year a dinner was given at the Crook House to the president of the road and board of directors on their visit to Findlay in honor of its completion.

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The large frame warehouse at the depot was built before the road was finished, and as soon as completed the latter was leased by E. P. Jones, who operated the road and warehouse for about nine years. The company then took charge of the road, and engaged J. S. Patterson as their agent in Findlay. During these years this branch line was of incalculable benefit to Findlay, far more indeed than the average citizen is willing to admit. It supplied the town with shipping facilities, and thus built up its trade and population, thereby greatly enhancing the value of real estate. The road originally extended west on Crawford Street nearly to Main. From Findlay it runs in a southeast direction across the townships of Findlay, Marion and Amanda to Carey in Wyandot County, also crossing the southwest corner of Big Lick Township in its route, Vanlue being the only town on the line in this county. Originally operated by the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Company, the name was changed by decree of the common pleas court of Erie County, February 23, 1858, to the Sandusky, Dayton & Cincinnati Railroad Company, and the branch went by that name. In January, 1866, the road was sold, and in July following reorganized as the Sandusky & Cincinnati Railroad Company. On the 11th of January, 1868, a decree of the common pleas court of Erie County again changed the name of the company to the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland. This company operated the road over thirteen years, and March 8, 1881, leased its lines to the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad Company for the term of ninety-nine years to go into effect on the 1st of May following. The branch from Carey to Findlay is about fifteen miles in length, and is now known as the Findlay Branch of the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad, which has become one of the great trunk lines of the West.

The Lake Erie & Western was the second railway built through this county, and it is yet the most important road that enters Findlay. It had its inception early in 18x3, and was first conceived and advocated by Henry Brown, of Findlay, then a young lawyer, and one of the editors of the Hancock Courier. He published an editorial in the Courier advocating the construction of a railroad from Green Springs via Rome (now Fostoria), Findlay, Lima and St: Mary's to the Indiana State line, and sent a number of the papers containing the article to leading men along the proposed route. Charles W. Foster received one of the papers, and at once seeing the feasibility of the project drove over to Findlay, and, after talking the matter over with some of the monied men of the town, took Mr. Brown in his buggy and talked up a railroad feeling along the line as far southwest as St. Mary's. On their return a delegation from Fremont met Mr. Foster at Rome, and he told them what had been done. Fremont did not want the road to go to Green Springs, and induced Mr. Foster to favor their town instead. On the 25th of April, 1853, the Fremont & Indiana Railroad Company was incorporated, with a capital of $200, 000, by Charles W. Foster, L. Q. Rawson, Sardis Birchard, James Justice and John R. Pease. The charter called for "the construction of a railroad from the town of Fremont, in the county of Sandusky, through the counties of Sandusky and Seneca to the town of Rome, in said county of Seneca; thence through the counties of Seneca and Hancock to the town of Findlay, in said county of Hancock; thence through the counties of Hancock, Allen, Auglaize, Mercer and Darke, to the west line of the State of Ohio, in said county of Darke."

The people of Hancock County, at an election held in the spring of 1853,

312 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

voted to subscribe $100,000 to the capital stock of the Dayton & Michigan Railroad Company, if said road was built through this county. The Dayton & Michigan and the Fremont & Indiana Companies entered into an arrangement for the latter company to take advantage of this vote, and get possession of the bonds voted for the purpose of building the Dayton & Michigan road, which was never really intended to be located through this county. In August, 1853, 100 bonds of $1,000 each were signed and delivered by the commissioners to L. Q. Rawson, president of the Fremont & Indiana Railroad Company, though the transfer was bitterly opposed by some leading citizens of Findlay. The commissioners also turned over to the same company $51,150 of stock and bonds held by the county in the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad. The opponents of this transfer at once notified all the money centers that the $100,000 in Hancock County bonds issued to the Fremont & Indiana Railroad Company were fradulent, and would not be paid by the county. The company were therefore unable to sell them and in 1858 returned to the county $91,000 of the amount, also the stock and bonds which they held in the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad. The remaining $9,000 of county bonds had been negotiated, and the party into whose hands they fell afterward brought suit against the county and collected the full amount of their face. The loss of these bonds was a severe stroke to the Fremont & Indiana Railroad Company, but the principal capitalists of the enterprise, L. Q. Rawson, James Moore, Charles W. Foster, D. J. Cory and Squire Carlin, were experiened business men, and determined to go forward with the project.

The enterprise, however, progressed slowly because of the financial depression of 1856-57, and the lack of proper encouragement from the people of the country through which the line was located. In the spring of 1857 the company began an effort to raise money along the route by personal subscrip tion to purchase iron for the road. The iron and rolling stock was finally contracted for in the summer of 1857, but financial difficulties soon afterward stopped all further progress. In 1858 work went forward slowly along the eastern portion of the road, and by January, 1859, the track was completed from Fremont to Fostoria, and ere the close of that month a daily train began running between those towns. The following June a daily hack line was established from Findlay to Fostoria, connecting with the trains to and from Fremont. In the summer of 1859 the railroad bridge spanning the Blanchard was commenced, and track laying between Findlay and Fostoria went forward during the summer and fall, reaching to within one mile of Findlay, and early in the winter of 1859-60, trains began running to that point. The track was completed to the Findlay depot, on Main Cross Street, in March, 1860, and a train arrived and departed daily from Findlay. In November, 1859, the large elevator near the depot was completed and put in operation by George W. Myers, and when the road was finished to the depot it found the elevator ready for business. Here the enterprise collapsed and the road was finished no further for more than twelve years. In December, 1860, the road was sold, and, January 21, 18x1, the purchasers organized a new corporation, under the name of the Fremont, Lima & Union Railroad Company. On the 4th of February, 1865, this company was consolidated with the Lake Erie & Pacific Railroad Company, of Indiana, as the Lake Erie & Louisville Railroad Company. In July, 1871, the road was again sold, and the following November that portion of the line located

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in Ohio, and extending from Fremont to Union City, was reorganized as the Fremont, Lima & Union Railroad Company, and that lying in Indiana as the Lake Erie & Louisville Railroad Company. These companies were once more consolidated, April 12, 1872, as the Lake Erie & Louisville Railroad Company.

In the meantime considerable effort was made to complete the road to Lima. On the 10th of May, 1870, the company held a meeting at Fremont and made a proposition to complete the road by February 1, 1871, on condition that the people along the line would subscribe $100,000 toward the enterprise, to be paid as follows: $25,000 when the road was finished to Rawson; $25,000 on reaching Bluffton; $25,000 on getting to Beaver Dam, and the remaining 825, 000 when the first train passed over the road to Lima. Meetings were held all along the line to stir up an interest in the subject, and raise the subscription asked for by the company. But it proved slow work, and the effort was ultimately a failure. In January, 1872, a conditional contract was made by the company with Perkins, Livingston & Post to furnish iron and equipments to put the road in running order whenever the company secured sufficient local aid to grade, bridge and tie the line, which it was thought would take about $100,000 to accomplish. During the spring the route from Findlay to St. Mary's was resurveyed, and, in June, Findlay Township voted to subscribe $78,600; Liberty, $5.000; Eagle, $10,000, and Union $20,000 toward the enterprise. Work began at once, and July 15, 1872 agreements were entered into between the railroad company and said townships, by which the former, in consideration of said subscriptions, promised to complete the road to Lima within one year from that date. L. Q. Rawson, Charles W. Foster, D. J. Cory and Squire Carlin represented the company in these agreements.

Track-laying was now pushed forward rapidly, and early in September, 1872, the first train reached Rawson. Before the close of the same month the road was finished to Bluffton, and the last rail connecting Findlay with Lima was laid November 21, 1872. On the 29th a dinner to celebrate the event was given at the City Hall in Lima by the citizens of that town, the officers of the road and many leading business men from Fremont, Fostoria, Findlay, and other towns on the road, being present at the celebration. Though the weather was very cold, every station along the line was crowded to witness and cheer the loaded train as it sped onward toward its destination. Regular trains were put on soon afterward, and by the spring of 1813 its business was booming. In September of that year the road was opened through to St. Mary's. Thus, after long years of vexatious waiting the people of Hancock County had at last a good competing railroad, and were accordingly happy. In February, 1877, the road was sold, and . the company reorganized under the old name of the Lake Erie & Louisville. In August, 1879, it was consolidated with the Indianapolis & Sandusky Railroad Company of Indiana, under the name of the Lake Erie & Western Railway Company, and the following December that corporation absorbed the Indianapolis, Lafayette & Muncie Railroad Company. The link between Fremont and Sandusky City was afterward built, and the company has now a continuous line from Sandusky, Ohio, to Bloomington, Ill., a distance of 353 miles. It enters Hancock County near its northeast corner in the city of Fostoria, and taking a southwest direction through Arcadia, Findlay, Rawson and Cory, leaves the county near the northwest corner of Orange

316 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

Township, its main line within this county being about thirty miles in length.

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was built through the northeast corner of Hancock County in 18 73, and opened for business January 1, 1874. Though it is one of the greatest trunk lines of the United States, and traverses a few miles of Hancock County territory, it can scarcely be regarded as one of her roads; yet the Baltimore & Ohio is of great benefit to the northern portion of this county, crossing Wood County from east to west only a few miles north of Hancock, thus furnishing first-class shipping facilities for the people of that section.

The McComb, Deshler & Toledo Railroad Company was incorporated June 2, 1879, by a coterie of McComb citizens, with a capital of $20,000, for the purpose of building a railroad from McComb, Hancock County, to Deshler, in Henry County. This company entered into an agreement with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad Company to furnish right of way, grade, bridge and tie the road, and the latter agreed to lay the track and operate the road perpetually as a branch of the main line. Grading was commenced in the spring of 1880, and on the 24th of November, following, the first construction train came into McComb. On the next day (Thanksgiving) the event was celebrated at McComb by a grand dinner and a flow of oratory, a large delegation coming over the road from Deshler, and a few from Findlay to participate in the happy festivities, more than 1,000 outsiders being present on the occasion. Regular trains soon began running, and the road has since proved a great convenience to the northwestern portion of the county. It takes a northwest course from McComb to Deshler, passing through the village of Deweyville in its route, and abort five miles of the road is located in Hancock County, the whole distance being nearly nine miles.

Many years ago the Tiffin & Fort Wayne Air Line Railroad Company was chartered to build a road from Tiffin, Ohio, to Fort Wayne, Ind. A road bed was completed across the north part of Hancock County, but the project then collapsed. In June, 1872, the New York Western Railway Company and the Continental Railway Company of Pennsylvania were consolidated and reorganized at Indianapolis as the Continental Railway Company, to construct a great trunk line through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. The old bed of the Tiffin & Fort Wayne in this county was selected and regarded in the fall of 1812 as the route of the Continental Railroad, but that is as far as the enterprise ever got. The New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company was incorporated in 1880 to construct a line from New York to Chicago. Findlay made an effort to secure this road, but it was finally located over the old Continental route in this county, from Arcadia westward, but running northeast from Arcadia to Fostoria parallel with the Lake Erie & Western road. Work began on this section of the line in the spring of 1881, and early in July the road was finished through this county and construction trains were in full operation. The Nickel Plate," as it is commonly called, is one of the leading trunk lines of the country, and supplies the north part of the county with excellent railroad accommodations. It runs southwest from Fostoria to Arcadia; thence due west through Cass, Allen, Portage and Pleasant Townships. . Fostoria, Arcadia, Stuartville, McComb and Shawtown are the towns located on this road in Hancock, and twenty-five miles of the line are within the county limits.

HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY. - 317

The Cleveland, Delphos & St. Louis Narrow Gauge Railroad was chartered March 9, 1881, and during the summer work was commenced along the line, which had previously been located through this county from Delphos to Carey via Arlington and Mt. Blanchard. The road was finished from Bluffton to Arlington early in the fall of 1882, and in December the construction train reached Mt. Blanchard. January 1, 1883, the road was formally opened by an excursion from Delphos to Mt. Blanchard, and the following summer the line was completed to Carey. From Bluffton, in Allen County, the road runs due east across the north parts of Orange, Van Buren, Madison and Delaware Townships to Mt. Blanchard; thence takes a northeast course through the south part of Amanda Township to Carey, Wyandot County. Besides Mt. Blanchard and Arlington, two villages-Jenera and Cordelia-have since been laid out on this road in Van Buren and Orange Townships, respectively. About twenty-one miles of the road are within the boundaries of this county, and, though it is an accommodation to the people living along its route, it will always be of very limited utility for shipping purposes until changed to a standard gauge. It is now called the Delphos Division of the Air Line Railroad, and as there is some talk of making it a standard gauge, the name will doubtless be again changed before the publication of this work.

The Toledo, Columbus & Southern Railroad, formerly the Toledo & Indianapolis, was chartered in May, 1881, and, in the winter of 1881-82, the right of way was obtained between Toledo and Findlay. All of the towns on the proposed line subscribed liberally toward the project, Findlay sub scribing $25,000. Hon. T. P. Brown, of Toledo, was the leading spirit of the enterprise, and Patrick bowling had the general contract for building and equipping the line. Work was commenced in the summer of 1882, and pushed rapidly, as the subscriptions were based on the completion of the road before the close of January, 1883. The first rail was laid December 15, and the first locomotive ran into Bowling Green from Toledo on Christ mas day. Early in January, 1883, the track was built to within a couple of miles of Findlay, and soon afterward reached the northern part of that city. January 30, the connecting rail was laid some fifteen miles north of Findlay in Wood County, and on the following day the event was celebrated by a dinner at that point. Though the last rail was in position the road was not then by any means completed, the bed being still in a very crude condition. But it was vitally necessary for the company to thus fulfill, technically at least, the conditions under which the subscriptions were obtained. The first through train came over the road from Toledo to Findlay February 7, 1883, but regular traffic did not commence before spring, and by May 15 the road was in full operation. A temporary depot was fitted up , near the track of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, east of Main Street, in North Findlay, and the new road got no farther till the summer of 1885. The right of way was then obtained southward to the track of the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad; a bridge was built over the Blanchard and the road extended across the river to the track of the latter railroad, whence it runs into the depot of said road. Late in 1885 surveys were made southward toward Columbus, and it is claimed to be only a question of time when this railroad will be built to the capital of the State. It enters the county from the north about a quarter of a mile east of the Perrysburg & Bellefontaine Road, and runs due south through

318 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

the villages of Van Buren and Stuartville to Findlay. The route south of Findlay most likely to be selected, is also parallel with and a little east of the Bellefontaine road, via Arlington, Williamstown and Dunkirk to Kenton, though a survey has also been made southeastward through Mt. Blanchard. Officers of the company state that the road will probably be extended to Kenton, and perhaps Columbus, in 1886; and though it is now of great advantage to the county, it will then offer far better facilities to both travelers and shippers.

In closing the history of the railroads it only remains to notice briefly the several roads that have been surveyed through this county, but never built. Mention has been made of the proposed Bellefontaine & Perrysburg Railroad, also of the survey made by the Dayton & Michigan Company, which was never really intended to be located through Hancock, and the Tiffrn & Fort Wayne and the Continental Roads, In 1870 the Ohio & Michigan Railroad Company surveyed a road from Sturgis, Mich. , via Napoleon and McComb, Ohio, to Findlay; but that is as far as the project ever got. In 1870-71 considerable effort was made to get the Mansfield & Coldwater road located through Findlay, but Fostoria got the prize; yet though the road was graded and some of the rails put down, it was never completed. The Toledo & Columbus Railroad Company was chartered, in 1872, to build a road between the cities named, via Findlay. Liberal subscriptions were voted by the several townships of the county, through which the line was located, but the supreme court afterward declared the act unconstitutional under which the subscriptions were made, and the scheme fell through. In January, 1880; the Columbus, Findlay & Northwestern Railroad Company was incorporated, to construct a line from Columbus, Ohio, via Findlay to Coldwater, Mich. Meetings were held and the people living along the route apparently took a deep interest in the success of the measure, but after a brief period of enthusiasm the enterprise collapsed and nothing has since been heard of it. The foregoing comprises all of the proposed roads, and though some of them would doubtless have been an advantage, the county now possesses good railroad communications with every portion of the country.