384 - HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

THE OLD BLOCK HOUSES AS COURT HOUSES-THE FIRST BRICK COURT HOUSE.-THE PRESENT COURT HOUSE-THE JAILS, INFIRMARY, ETC.

THE court houses of Richland County have been four in number, and in improvement, in every possible way, they have kept pace with the improvement of the county. The old court houses have been torn down and others erected as fast as the increase in population and general improvement demanded, until the present magnificent structure was reared, which, it is thought, will last several generations before the continually advancing ideas and progress of civilization will require one of greater dimensions and later style of architecture. During the war of 1812, two blockhouses were erected on the public square, as a protection against the Indians. One was of round logs and the other of hewed logs, the latter standing near the center of the north side of the park. After the war, or rather before the war ended, this hewed-log house was used for the first court house in the county. The preparation of this block-house for a court house is officially warranted and preserved in the Commissioners' records. Under date of July 10, 1813, it states that "the Commissioners proceeded to examine the block-house in Mansfield, and to order the same to be prepared for the reception of the court, and that the lower part of the same be prepared for the reception of prisoners as a jail. And do further order that the said lot of carpenter work be sold to the lowest bidder, on the 24th day of July inst., which sale is advertised accordingly."

"Ordered, that the said work be clone in the following manner, to wit.: Two floors of solid hewn timber, of the thickness of at least six inches, to be squared and jointed in a workmanlike manner ; and on the outside, a stairway, with a platform at the bead thereof of suitable size, and a door to enter the upper story there from, with suitable casings and hinges for the same; and a glass window, containing twelve lights of glass, cased in like manner as the door; and suitable seats for the court; and a latch for the upper door, and lock and chain for the lower door, and iron hinges for the same, all of which work and preparations must be done in a workmanlike manner."

On the 4th of August following, the bids were opened, and Mr. Luther Coe was the lucky man. His bid was $46, with an additional one for the construction of a hand-rail for the outside stairway, for which he was to receive $2. On the 7th of September following, Mr. Coe having completed his contract, received his pay by an order on Winn Winship, the agent of James Hedges. for the amount of the consideration agreed upon, being $48, which is ordered to be paid out of a certain donation, which the said Hedges agreed to pay for the use of the public building in the town of Mansfield.

The first session of the court was held Saturday, August 28, 1813. The Associate Judges were Thomas Coulter, William Gass and Peter Kenney. The further proceedings of this court are referred to in another chapter.

This block-house seems to have answered the purposes of a court house for three years.

July 8, 1816, "the Commissioners proceeded to lay down the particulars of a plan for a new

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court house and jail to be erected, and filed the same for inspection of all such persons as may wish to undertake the building of the same."

On the 9th of July, 1816. " the Commissioners proceeded to sell at public auction the building of the court house and jail, which was struck off to Jacob Snider and Lewis Lyberger at $1,990, they being the lowest bidders, who gave bond with Peter Snider and Andrew Newman as securities, in the sum of $3,980, conditioned for the faithful performance of their undertaking, agreeable to the which is fully delineated in said bond."

On the 3d day of December, 1816, by order of the Commissioners, " the two block-houses standing on the public square were set up at public auction, and were bid off as follows: The hewn-log house to Alexander Curran at $56.40 ; and the round-log house to Jacob Snider, at $20-who severally obligated themselves to pay the said sums into the county treasury."

Thus was the first seat of justice in Richland County which was erected without cost. and with only the labor of a squad of soldiers-disposed of for a paltry sum, torn down, and probably compelled to descend from the proud position of a seat of justice of a great county to do duty as a corn-crib or pig-sty.

The new court house was built of hewn loge. The logs were one foot square, and were laid up in double tiers one foot apart, and the space filled in with stone up to the second story. The first story- was used as a jail ; and the second story was the courtroom. When the jury went out to deliberate, they were accommodated with quarters in some private house or barn. This court room was also used for a town hall, and for religious meetings and Sunday school. It was in fact, the only public building for about ten years, while the village was gathering around it, and was used for public meetings of any and every kind. This building more fully described in a quotation from letter of Rev. James Rowland. published in the chapter containing the pioneer history of Mansfield. This may be called the second court house, though it was the first one built exclusively for that purpose.

As population, wealth and business increased, it began to be felt and talked, that a larger and more modern structure must be erected, and in 1827. this culminated in the erection of a brick court house at the very moderate cost of $3,000. , During the time occupied in the erection of this building. court was held in an old frame warehouse, which stood on the southeast corner of Second and Main streets. This brick was number three, and stood about the center of the north side of the square, near where the hewed block-house stood, and its form and proportions have not yet faded from the memories of the people of the city. It was a very plain brick house, square, and, at first, but two stories in height. Those who have use for a court house were about twenty-four years is getting ashamed of this building, or at least sufficiently ashamed of it to demand a change. It answered all the purposes of a court house for that length of time, but for some reason it never exactly suited. and it was decided in 1851 to make it more imposing. That is about all that can be said of the addition; it was of no value as a part of a court house, but perhaps it did make it more imposing. A third story was added, which was never used, and this third story was extended beyond the original building on the north and south sides, and for the support of this extension, heavy brick columns were erected. About $15,000 was the cost of this addition, no doubt intended to improve the architecture of the old building, but if such was the object, it cannot be called a brilliant success.

The following extract is from the Mansfield Herold of January 23, 1873, about the time the new court house was dedicated and the old one was being demolished:

"On the 7th of February, 1851, the Board of Commissioners adopted a plan presented by

386 - HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

B. McCarron, to whom we thus trace the honor of being the architect of the old court house. Be his name embalmed. On the 8th, they ordered advertisements for bids for contract thereof. This contract was, on the 19th of April, awarded to McCarron & Sheffler, who agreed, for the sum of $7,000, to put the old court house into the traveling condition in which it appeared but a few weeks since. But they proved to have the happy faculty of piling in extras, .and were allowed therefor, until the remodeling cost from $14,000 to $16,000, which exact amount seems never to have come to the vulgar eye. Like some ships and womankind, the rigging cost vastly more than the hull.

"The old court house has never been a favorite with our people, not from any intrinsic fault of its own, perhaps, but because it looked bad, which the poor thing could not help. The destroyers are now upon it, and it will soon be numbered among the things that were. Yet its old bricks and mortar have long heard the thrilling tones of eloquence, the flat of the law, the shriek of anguish, the appeal for justice, the trials for murder and larceny, for divorce and seduction, backed by eloquence in all its branches. The calf-pen of the Judge, the well-seasoned seats where the weary jurors alternately cursed and slept, the chicken-coop above them all-all, all are gone to repair a stable or stop the holes where 'looped and windowed raggedness' gave passage to the winter's snow. The room where the tax-payers have annually grumbled; where the deeds of all the soil have been recorded; where all the accounts, pro and con, have been audited, and where the bashful swain has so often come to get cured of lovesickness, by securing the document that authorized him and some one else to become one flesh, with two dispositions have been disrupted, as have many of the marriages therein authorized. The gouty pillars of plastered brick, as expressionless as the lumber that surmounted all, are being demolished and borne away, no longer to annoy the eye of taste or sadden the memory of those who have been actors in its dingy premises."

Thus, in 1873, passed away the old court house, which had withstood the storms of nearly half a century, which had come to the little hamlet in the wilderness, and left it a city.

The immense cost put upon the reconstruction of the old court house, and the outlandish appearance and inconvenience of the structure created universal dissatisfaction, if not disgust. The Commissioners, under whom the work was done, became unpopular in the extreme, as did the result of their labor, and but a few years elapsed before a vote was called upon the question of erecting a new court house. It was on three separate occasions defeated by the people, and finally the law of 1869 was passed, authorizing the Commissioners of counties to purchase grounds, erect court houses, jails, etc.

In that year (1869), the Commissioners purchased of Mrs. Mary E. Reid and S. E. and J. W. Jenner the three lots on the southeast corner of East Diamond and East Market streets, on which the new court house stands, for the sum of $16,500. These lots were then much higher than the street, but were graded down to a level with it. January 12, 1870, the Commissioners, David Taylor, D. M. Snyder and J. T. Keith, entered into a contract with H. E. Myer, architect, of Cleveland, to furnish a plan and specifications for a new court house, which plan was accepted, and the 10th of May set apart for opening bids for construction of the same. The entire dimensions, except the steps, are 104x129 feet; height of basement 12 feet in the clear; first floor 18 feet; second floor, 16 feet ; courtroom, 31 feet.

The contract was awarded on the 10th of May, to William Miller, J. G. Frayer, and Leonard Sheets, for $177,000. On Tuesday, the 27th of

PAGE 387 - PICTURES OF CHRISTIAN & MARY WILTY

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(Picture of the County Court House can be found on his page)

the following September, the comer-stone was laid with Masonic ceremonies. A large assemblage was present, a procession marched through the streets, and Hon. Jacob Brinkerhoff delivered an address, giving a very complete history of the bench and bar of the county.

The new building was finished, and dedicated with much ceremony January 22, 1873, on which occasion a large number of citizens gathered in the new court room. The meeting was presided over by Hon. George W. Geddes, and short speeches were made by many prominent citizens, the regular oration being delivered by Gen. Roeliff Brinkerhoff, in which he gave a general history of much value and interest.

The new building gave general satisfaction. It fronts both on East Diamond and East Market streets. The outside of the building is of pressed brick, rustic stone quoins filling the corners and decorating all the windows and doors. The roof is mansard, giving the whole the Anglo-Franco expression, combining ancient orders with modern improvements. It is beautiful in design and general appearance, solid and substantial in its construction, fire proof except the roof, and confirms to the general idea of architectural beauty of to-day, though a hundred years from now it will no doubt be thought old fogyish and out of style. A large portion of the work on this building was done by Mansfield mechanics, and much of the material furnished by Mansfield business houses, the brick being furnished from the yard of Enoch Smith and Henry C. Hedges.

The cost of the building, etc., was, contract, $177,000; extra work, $10,000; ground,

390 - HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

$16,500 ; architect, $5,000; gas fixtures, $1,200 ; carpet, $1.000; furniture, $7,000; paving, $2,500; clock, $2,700 ; iron fence, $1,500; bell, $1,300; improvement of lot, $1,000; total, $226,700.

The jails of Richland County have been three in number. The first two have been referred to in the preceding pages on the court houses the first one having been in the old hewed block-house, which was used partly for that purpose from 1813 to 1816, when the log court house was erected, the lower part of which was built and used for a jail. This was the county jail until 1827, when it was taken away for the purpose of erecting the first brick court house on its site ; and about this time, the present jail was erected, on the corner of Third and Sugar streets, which has now seen more than a half-century of service. It was a good, substantial brick building, and has been several times repaired and added to. Since the building of the new court house, the subject of erecting a new jail has been continually agitated the old one being too far away from the court house and not up to the requirements of the time. The Commissioners have purchased ground for the new jail, adjoining the courthouse lot on the south. During the fall of 1879, the buildings on this ground were removed, the ground graded down, and, during the year 1880, it is proposed to erect a jail with all modern improvements.

The infirmary of Richland County was erected, in 1845-46. on the northwest quarter of Section 25, in Weller Township. Before the erection of this building, the paupers and insane of the county had been "farmed out" that is the Commissioners had found homes for them wherever they could among the farmers and people of the county, paying a stipulated sum each year for their maintenance. The Commissioners, at the time of the erection of the infirmary, were William Taggart, William B. Hammett and John McCool. They purchased a quarter-section of land from, Nathaniel Osborn, for which they paid $3,000. The building was a substantial brick structure, and was finished in the fall of 1846, the Commissioners appointing Samuel Linn, of Franklin; John Meredith, of Madison, and Richard Condon, of Mifflin, first Directors, who were to hold their offices until others could be elected. Lowery Sibbett, of Mansfield, was the first Superintendent. In June, 1878, this infirmary building was destroyed by fire, and, at the October election of the same year, the people voted to build a new one, which has been in course of erection during the last year, and is now completed.