CHAPTER X CORPORATE AND PUBLIC MATTERS WHEN C HILLICOTHE BECAME A CITY-PASSING FROM TOWN TO CITY -FIRST ELECTION-FIRST PAVING ORDINANCE-TOWN AND CITY MARKETS-CHILLICOTHE'S FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY-FIRST STEPS TOWARD PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM- COMPLETION OF EASTERN AND WESTERN SCHOOLS-ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOLS AND EDUCATIONAL BOARD-SCHOOL LIBRARY FORMED-MALE TEACHERS OFF FOR THE WAR-CHANGES IN SCHOOL BUILDINGS-BUILDING ERECTED FOR COLORED PUPILS-SYSTEM REORGANIZED ( 1874)— PRESENT STATUS OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS-POLICE PROTECTION-FIRE DEPARTMENT AND WATER SUPPLY-THE BUCKET BRIGADE -WATER BASINS AND CISTERNS- DEPARTMENT IN 1845—IMPROVED SIDE-BRAKE ENGINES-ORGANIZATION OF NOS. 3, 4 AND 5 -FIRST UNIFORMED COMPANY-WORK AT THE GREAT FIRE OF 1852—DETAILS OF THE CONFLAGRATION-INITIAL STEPS TOWARD WATER WORKS-FIRST STEAM FIRE ENGINE-ORGANIZATION OF PAID DEPARTMENT (1879-80) -PRESENT DEPARTMENT-CONSTRUCTION OF PRESENT WATER WORKS-THE CITY PARK-THE DRIVING PARK-GRAND VIEW AND GREEN LAWN CEMETERIES-THE CITY HOSPITAL-THE POSTOFFICE-ELECTRIC TRANSPORTATION, LIGHT AND POWER-HOME TELEPHONE COMPANY-LOGAN NATURAL GAS AND FUEL COMPANY-IMPORTANT EVENTS CONNECTED WITH THE CITY-THE 1840 CAMPAIGN-CHILLICOTHE'S SEMI-CENTENNIAL-COMING OF THE RAILWAY, THE TELEGRAPH AND THE TELEPHONE-THE NEW COURTHOUSE UNDER WAY-FIRST STRIKE AT CHILLICOTHE-THE RAILWAY SHOPS OF THE B. & O.-PASSING OF THE OLD BRIDGE-HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND CITY CENTENNIAL-THE STATE CENTENNIAL-WHY MR. MASSIE DID NOT SPEAK-THE CENTENNIAL LOAN EXHIBIT. It has been the intention of the writer to make a general historical advance of Ross County events up to the time of the incorporation of Chillicothe as a city in 1838. He realizes that there are some ragged edges ; in some cases, in order to retain a fair continuity of narrative, events have overlapped, and, in places where leading characters have been mentioned, there have been a number - 275 - 276 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY of side excursions of a personal nature, with a resumption of the general narrative. WHEN CHILLICOTHE BECAME A CITY When the State Legislature granted Chillicothe a city charter in March, 1838, the population of the place was about 5,000. The Academy and the Female Seminary were in full swing, but it was a dozen years before the city schools were organized into any sort of a public system. The Hydraulic Canal had been completed, and flour-making, pork-packing and other industries were growing. Chillicothe had been for five or six years a lively town on the Grand Canal and the result of the general boom was to stimulate town improvements. In the summer and fall of 1838 many of the wooden buildings on Paint Street were replaced with brick. The streets also were graded. The spur of the hill on South Paint Street was cut away, sidewalks were built and rows of trees were set out along the entire length of that thoroughfare. The Gazette said : " The main street of our city will be one of the most beautiful and extensive esplanades in the state, with its lines of stores and dwellings and rows of comely locusts." Locust trees were also planted along the north side of the canal, from the head of Paint Street up to the locks. To superintend and up-keep such improvements, the new city council appointed the first street commissioner of Chillicothe, on August 18, 1838, at a salary of $2 for each day he worked. PASSING FROM TOWN TO CITY The mass meeting called by the mayor and town council to get the public sentiment on municipal incorporation, was called on the 9th of December, 1837. The petition to the Legislature was so generally signed, that the city charter was passed on the following 14th of March. Section first of the act describes the boundaries and powers of the corporation. Section third divides the city into four wards by Paint Street running north and south, and by the alley between Second and Main Street running east and west. The southeast quarter of the city constituted the First Ward ; the southwest, the Second ; the northwest, the Third, and the northeast, the Fourth. The mayor, two councilmen from each ward, and a treasurer, recorder and assessor, were required to be elected on the second Monday of April following; the members of the council to elect a city marshal. Whenever vacancies should occur in any of the city offices, they were to be filled by the council until the next regular HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 277 election. The ordinances passed by the town council were to continue in force until altered or repealed by the common council of the city, and the State Legislature reserved the power to change or amend the city ordinances as it might deem expedient. FIRST ELECTION As ordered by the incorporating act, the first election was held on the second Monday (9th) of April, 1838, and the following officers were chosen : William H. Skerritt, mayor; Amasa D. Sproat, treasurer ; Robert Adams, recorder; Jacob Wolfe, assessor; John. Leggett and J. A. Fulton, councilmen for the First Ward ; John Wood and William R. Drury, Second Ward ; Thomas Orr and Levi Anderson, Third Ward, and James Howard and James S. McGinnis, Fourth Ward. Robert Adams, declining to serve as recorder, the council elected Thomas Ghormley in his place. That body also selected James McCollister as city marshal ; Ebenezer Tuttle, clerk of market, and John Carlisle, Jr., weigh master. The recorder is now known as the city clerk. FIRST PAVING ORDINANCE In March, 1839, the new city council passed the first paving ordinance, ordering the following sidewalks to be laid, either of brick or flag-stones : East side of Paint, between Second and Water ; south side of Water, between Paint and Mulberry ; north side of Second, between Paint and Mulberry. TOWN AND CITY MARKETS When Chillicothe was incorporated as a city, two of its public institutions were well underway—the city market and the public library. The Market House is one of Chillicothe's oldest institutions. Brief reference has been made to it before. As early as April, 1802, a mass meeting was held in the courthouse to decide on its site. In the same spring and summer it was built at the head of Paint Street running south to the cross alley—a long, low-roofed structure, open at the sides, with brick pillars and stalls, or benches, for market men and women. The first Market House stood until 1815, when it threatened to collapse from hard use and old age. Then, under authority from the town board, William R. Southward, John Waddle and Jeremiah McLene were appointed a committee to superintend the construction of a new house. The old Market House stood until 1830 and its substantial brick founda- 278 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY tions were afterward found in excavating for buildings and in making other improvements in the locality. The second Market House was completed in 1830, or 1831, and stood in the middle of Paint Street. It was thirty feet wide and 198 feet long, extending from the north boundary of Main Street to what is now the Warner House Alley. It had a gently-sloping roof, supported on round, white wooden column's, between which were the market stalls. In the rear was a small storage room. The ground under the roof was paved. By the year 1830 the second old Market House was getting very dilapidated and residents, especially the women, were very much ashamed of the litter and dirt which made Paint Street so unsightly, if not unsanitary. Therefore, the public spirited Mrs. Ann Haller and William Fullerton presented the town with ground for a new Market House. It lay on either side of Haller's Alley, a continuation of the alley between Main and Fourth streets. The city condemned Haller 's Alley back to the cross alley, which gave a space ninety feet wide. In the middle of this a site 30 feet wide by 250 feet long was occupied by the new house, leaving passages thirty feet wide on either side. These were named North and South Market streets. The new Market House was opened in August, 1830. But the enterprise gradually lost footing with the increase in groceries and their growing supplies of fresh vegetables, until for some years before its destruction in 1874, the old Market House was almost abandoned, except as the adopted headquarters of a playground for children. CHILLICOTHE’S FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY The Chillicothe Public Library is one of the oldest in the state. It originated in 1848, when the superintendent of schools induced the public school teachers to set aside a small sum from their salaries every year to be spent in the purchase of books. This continued until several hundred volumes had accumulated. In 1850 the State Legislature made an appropriation for the purpose of providing libraries for all the school districts of the state. These libraries were small, and were composed exclusively of works of history, biography, and so on—such books as the committee appointed by the Legislature thought the children ought to read. All the libraries for Ross County were sent to Chillicothe for distribution, but many of the smaller schools had no place to keep the books ; so they remained at Chillicothe and were added to those already possessed by the schools. In 1856, a society known as "The Young Men 's Gymnasium and Library Association" was formed, club rooms opened, and several HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 279 hundred books purchased during the years the society flourished. The Civil war, which took most of the young men of the city away to the front, caused the association to disband, and its library was left in the care of one of the former officers. In 1867, Judge B. F. Stone caused these three libraries, aggregating about 1,200 volumes, to be made over to the Board of Education, on condition that they be properly housed, and cared for, that a certain sum be spent every year for new books, and that the collection be open and free to the whole public. For a while, this library was given a room in the courthouse, but when a city building was erected in 1876, the upper floor was set apart for library use. It was very handsomely finished in black walnut, Henry Watterson was employed as librarian, and the library was given a real start. Mr. Watterson was a very efficient librarian of the old school, and his white hair and beard and glittering eyes and trenchant speech were the terror of all those who returned books damaged or overdue. He resigned in 1887 on account of extreme age, and was succeeded by James M. Borrows, under whom the work of classifying and systematizing the library was for the first time seriously begun. Mr. Borrows resigned in 1899 to accept a position as principal in the public schools, and was succeeded by Burton E. Stevenson, who is still librarian. Beginning about this time, the growth of the library became so remarkable that the quarters in the City Building soon proved wholly inadequate, and in 1906 a donation of $30,000 for the erection of a new building was secured from Andrew Carnegie. The 280 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY building, one of the best arranged in the state, was opened a year later, and since then the library's growth has been very rapid, as the following table of book circulation shows : Circulation for 1905, 28,729; 1910, 37,587 ; 1915, 84,726. In other words, in ten years, the library 's circulation has more than tripled, and in five years it has more than doubled. A total of 17,967 new books has been accessioned and catalogued during the past ten years, of which number, 2,623 were added in 1915. The library is supported by taxation, and is still administered by a committee of the Board of Education. About $3,000 annually is received from the tax levied by the board. Three years ago, the county commissioners agreed to contribute $500 a year if the library was opened to the whole county. This was done, with such success that the county circulation last year for the county was about 10,000. Four branches have been established, and a number more are in contemplation. The commissioners increased their appropriation for the current year to $800. FIRST STEPS TOWARD PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM The public schools of Chillicothe were organized under the Akron law of 1849, but for a number of years thereafter were imperfectly graded and, in the absence of suitable buildings, occupied old churches and other rented tenements. COMPLETION OF EASTERN AND WESTERN SCHOOLS In 1850 two building sites were purchased by the Board of Education—one in the northwestern part of the city upon which stands the Western School and the other near the present Baltimore & Ohio Depot on the site of what was the Chillicothe Ice Company's plant. In the following year a part of the Central School ground was leased from the trustees of the Chillicothe Academy, and before the close of the year three buildings were in course of erection. Although the great fire of April, 1852, destroyed the records and official papers of the Board of Education, the school buildings were spared, and the Eastern and Western structures were completed in the fall of that year. ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOLS AND EDUCATIONAL BOARD Previous to the completion of the new school buildings, the local system of public education was under the management of the following : Board of Education—Allen G. Latham, president ; Amasa D. Sproat, secretary ; Jacob Wolfe, treasurer ; Dr. Louis W. Foulke, Jacob May and William McKell, members. 282 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Superintendent, Daniel W. Hearn ; principal, High School for Boys, on Main Street, Thomas C. Hearn ; teacher, High School for Girls, also on Main Street, Sarah M. Burnside ; principal, Second Grade School for Girls, on High Street, Catharine Adams; teacher, Second Grade School for Boys, on Main Street, Josiah L. Hearn ; teacher, Primary School for Boys, on High Street, Sarah Pierson ; teachers of three primary schools for both sexes on Paint and Caldwell streets, Misses Caroline Stark, Caruthers and Meech. William T. McClintick, Nathaniel Wilson and Samuel F. McCoy were the examiners. The cost of tuition for the school year 1851 amounted to $2,693.33 ; expenses of the schools, exclusive of building fund, $3,083.31; enrollment, 2,168. In the fall of 1852, upon the occupancy of the new buildings, a more systematic grading was accomplished ; male principals were placed in charge of each building, who were to instruct the higher classes, while female teachers were employed for the lower grades. L. E. Warner was chosen superintendent. In 1853 the Central Building was completed and the high schools were transferred thither. During the same year the first provision was made for teaching the colored children of the city, John B. Bowls, Joseph D. Hackley and Miss A. E. Chancellor being employed for that purpose. In 1854 E. H. Allen was made principal of the high school and, in the following year, superintendent. Through his influence the schools were classified as follows : Primary schools, a three years' course ; secondary, also a three years' course ; grammar, a two years' course ; high school, four years' course ; coeducational in all the grades. Under the reorganization the general superintendency was abolished. The principals of the high and grammer schools constituted a Board of Superintendence, the principal of the high school being president of the board. That system was in force, with a short interval, until 1874. SCHOOL LIBRARY FORMED In 1855 the school library was formed. The teachers, by personal contributions and with the proceeds of a fair held for the purpose, raised sufficient funds to purchase about 800 volumes. The Alethean and the Worthington Literary societies, local organizations, also contributed their collections of books and cabinets. To these were added the books furnished by the state, under the law of 1853. For several years the teachers voluntarily contributed 1 per cent of their salaries to the same object. In 1860 there were about 1,700 volumes in the library. In 1859 the first four years' class graduated from the high HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 283 school. The members were Maria McKell, Margaret McKell and Olivia Allston. MALE TEACHERS OFF FOR THE WAR In the fall of 1861 the entire male force of teachers—the head of the high school and two principals of the ward schools resigned their positions to enlist as Union soldiers. They were Edward H. Allen, Benjamin F. Stone and James A. Morgan. During a portion of the following year the schools were managed solely by the women. In 1864, upon petition of a large number of citizens, instruction in German was provided for, and about the same time the high school course was reduced to three years. Two years later it became apparent that the school accommodations were insufficient, and additional rooms were rented in the Eastern and Western sub-districts. As the location of the Eastern building, adjacent to the railroad, had long been condemned, the board sold the premises, rebuilt on a larger scale in a safer location, and also made an addition to the Western School. These works were begun in 1869 and completed in 1872. The fine Eastern building, with grounds, cost $75,000; the addition to the Western School, $10,000. BUILDING ERECTED FOR COLORED PUPILS In 1874 a lot was purchased and a building erected for the use of the colored pupils, at an expense of about $11,000. This is known as the Southern School. The building of that school is a reminder of the large colored element in Chillicothe, and some of the scholars have been extremely bright. The first graduate from the high school of that race was John C. Parker, class of 1883. He was a good scholar and, like many other colored boys, a leading athlete. He joined the United States mail service after his graduation. In 1875 the old Academy building was refitted and modernized, thus adding four rooms to the Central subdistrict. SYSTEM REORGANIZED (1874) The Board of Superintendence resolved upon a reorganization of the schools in 1874. The result was that the board itself was abolished, and the plan of a general superintendent, with principals at each building, was restored. The schools were classified as primary, grammar and high; the first two with four grades and all with 284 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY four years' courses. The special teachers of penmanship and music were dispensed with, and those branches remanded to the care of the superintendent and subordinate teachers. The changes reduced materially the cost of tuition and, it was believed, increased the efficiency of the schools. Chillicothe has six large—several of them magnificent—schoolhouses. Four hundred pupils are enrolled in the high school and 2,000 in the lower grades. There is a teaching force of seventy-two, of whom fifteen are in the high school. PRESENT STATUS OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS The high school is a handsome building of fourteen rooms and large auditorium, located on West Fifth between Paint and Walnut. It was erected in 1900 at a cost of $125,000. The Central School, containing twelve rooms, a gymnasium and a thoroughly equipped manual training department, is built of brick with stone trimmings, contains two stories and basement and stands on the northwest corner of Sixth and Paint, and was just completed this year, 1916. The Eastern School, on the west side of Bridge Street, between Main and Second, was completed in 1879. It is the largest ward school in the city, has twenty-four rooms and cost, approximately, $125,000. The new Western School, northeast corner of Chestnut and Cherry, was built in 1911. It contains fourteen rooms and is valued at $150,000. The Jackson School, twelve rooms and valued at $50,000, is on the corner of Monroe and Jackson. The Southern School is on the northeastern corner of Seventh and Walnut and contains seven rooms and an auditorium. POLICE PROTECTION Chillicothe is fully protected against fire and criminals. Her police force has been maintained up to all requirements, from the time the first city marshal was elected by the common council in April, 1838, to and including the year 1916. A captain, two sergeants and about a dozen patrolmen and merchant police constitute the force. FIRE DEPARTMENT AND WATER SUPPLY The Fire Department and the water supply are so closely related that they cannot be separated historically. In early times HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 285 the means for extinguishing fires in Chillicothe were very meager. Water could be obtained only from wells and private cisterns, or from the Scioto River. One small fire engine and a scant supply of leather buckets comprised the fire apparatus. THE BUCKET BRIGADE Property holders were required by ordinance to supply themselves with buckets, in number according to the value of their property. These buckets were marked with the owners' names, and were required to be hung up in porches, or other convenient places, ready for use. Fire wardens were appointed whose duty it was to control and direct operations at fires, see that the buckets and other apparatus were kept in repair and in place, and examine the construction of flues and the arrangement of stovepipes, with a view to prevention. Col. John Madeira and James Howard acted for many years in that capacity, continuing their duties at fires even after a volunteer department was well organized. The old records of the city council indicate that it was the duty of the marshal "on the breaking out of a fire, to unlock the engine house, ring the Court House bell and cause 'Fire !' to be cried in the streets." WATER BASINS AND CISTERNS The construction of the Ohio Canal, and afterward the Hydraulic, with its basin, increased the available supply of water. These and a large basin belonging to the Carson mill on Fifth Street, together with eight or ten fire cisterns, ranging from 500 to 800 barrels each, virtually constituted the city's source of water supply until the completion of the present water works in the early '80s. DEPARTMENT IN 1845 In 1845 the fire department consisted of three companies, with two engines and a hook and ladder truck. The Citizen Company No. 1 was composed of the older citizens, its engine being a Sellers & Pennock of Philadelphia—a suction engine, with a horizontal double-acting chamber, worked by end-levers operating the pump by a bell-crank connection. It was not a handy machine, but still did good service in its day ; at least, such is the opinion of the old volunteers. No. 1 also had a two-wheeled tender and 1,000 feet of good leather hose. The Rescue Company No. 2 comprised the younger men. They had a small Pat Lyon engine, of Philadelphia, worked by end- 286 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY levers, chambers about four or five inches in diameter—not a suction engine, but supplied by buckets. The Hook and Ladder Company had quite a large and able membership, but their apparatus was home-made and primitive. But in the days of old frame houses and stables it frequently was of good service. IMPROVED SIDE-BRAKE ENGINES About the year 1846 the city council purchased a new side-brake engine, eight-inch chamber, built by William Smith, of New York, and 1,000 feet of leather hose. A two-wheeled tender was also built, and the new apparatus was given to Rescue No. 2. With this acquisition the company increased in number and activity, and for many years performed valuable service. ORGANIZATION OF Nos. 3, 4 AND 5 After the Rescue was thus supplied, the little Pat Lyon was turned over to a new company, the Relief No. 3, which was organized in February, 1847, by citizens of the Third Ward. The company used that engine for some years, after which the city supplied it first with a large, side-brake Button engine, and later with a piston steam-engine, which, on the organization of the paid department, was turned back to the city. The Phoenix Company No. 4 was next organized by a number of German citizens, who purchased an engine in the Fatherland ; but it was rather an old-fashioned affair, as compared with engines of American build. It is true the brass work was handsomely finished, but the style of machinery was antiquated—chambers about seven inches—a forcing engine, like the little Pat Lyon. After using it for some years the Phoenix Company procured a suction engine, built by Shaw & West, of Chillicothe. After operating the two for some time, the company disposed of both and was supplied with a steam rotary engine of Seneca Falls, New York, which remained in service for many years. The Reliance Company No. .5 was organized in January, 1851, and was, in its day, composed of as fine caliber as any company in the city. The membership was largely drawn from the industrial classes of the Fourth Ward and it was considered an offshoot of the Rescue Company. The city council made an appropriation for the purchase of a $700 engine, hose and hose carriage, and Major Welsh was authorized to carry out the contract. The company proposed to the city to add a larger amount in order to get a better engine than that proposed. The council acceded to the propo- HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 287 sition, and sufficient money was raised by subscription among the citizens to purchase one of the Agnew machines, of Philadelphia, at a cost of $1,270. Gen. James Ryan, councilman from the Fourth Ward, obtained an appropriation for an engine house, and Colonel Gilmore attended to the legal business necessary to obtain a charter for the company. Both of these gentlemen were elected honorary members, and Reliance No. 5 started out under bright and substantial auspices. FIRST UNIFORMED COMPANY On the arrival of the new engine and apparatus, the company had a membership of one hundred able, stalwart, uniformed men. As the Reliance was the first fire company in the city to adopt a uniform, many a joke used to be told on the boys by the citizens, who were often surprised to see them so quick at a fire, uniformed, helmeted and perfectly equipped. It was insisted that many of them carried their red shirts in their hats, upon all occasions and in all places; that one of the most enthusiastic and ready had even been detected removing that piece of his uniform from his hat while in the act of leaving church at an alarm of fire—even hauling his red shirt over his head while yet in sanctuary. WORK AT THE GREAT FIRE OF 1852 A. C. Ireland, one of the founders of the Reliance, tells that story, without mentioning names, and also describes the part taken by the several companies in the fire of 1852. "At the great fire of April 1, 1852," he says, "the water being out of the canal, the Reliance was stationed on the canal bank where the mud had been deposited by the men engaged in cleaning the canal. The Rescue was supplying her from the old bed of the river. The fire at this time had caught in many places in the Fourth Ward, where most of the members of the company resided, and many had left the engine to see their families. Suddenly from the warehouse of John Marfield, filled with lard, pork, hams, etc., and only the width of the canal distant from the engine, burst out a sheet of flame with a terrific roar and, driven by the wind, which was blowing a gale at the time, directly across the engine, swept the men from the brakes. They tried to move her, but it was impossible owing to the depth of the mud and the fury of the fire, and had to leave her, but not until some of them had the clothes burned off them. The engine burned there as she stood, everything that was combustible being destroyed. Immediately after the fire, the remains of the machine were picked up and shipped to Mr. Angew, and the 288 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY engine was rebuilt in handsomer style than before, at a price of $1,500, Mr. Agnew allowing the company $500 for the machinery, the pumping apparatus being uninjured. The money the company raised by subscription among themselves and citizens friendly to them. The engine was soon rebuilt, and has done valuable service. "At the time of the great tire, the engine for the Citizens' Company was in the machine shop for repairs. The Phoenix, not having its suction engine built, was not of much service at such a fire. The Reliance was burned at two o'clock P. M., which left the Rescue as the only available machine. After the fire had expended its fury, both the Rescue and Phoenix were used in extinguishing the flames that still continued their ravages in the cellars of some of the large provision houses. "The Citizens Company, never having been supplied with new apparatus and their numbers dwindling away, finally disbanded. The engine, being about worthless for fire purposes, was sold at auction, being purchased by Major William Welsh and broken up for old metal at his foundry and machine works. No. 6 FORMED BY COLORED CITIZENS "The Button engine, formerly belonging to the Relief Company, was next given to another new company, Enterprise No. 6, organized by colored citizens of the Second Ward. They had a good company, were very active and enthusiastic in the cause, and rendered efficient service for several years, up to the time of the disbanding of the volunteer department." DETAILS OF THE CONFLAGRATION The great fire of April 1, 1852, seemed at first a crushing blow to the city, but after the initial shock its people buckled on their armor and fought a good fight in the line of reconstruction. The story of the disaster is told by the Gazette under flaring headlines, and it is said that it was the first time in its history when it honored a local item with more than a line. But the great fire called for these head-lines : "Terrific Conflagration ! Chillicothe in Ashes ! $500,000 to $700,000 Property Destroyed—$250,000 insured. 2,000 People Houseless!" Prefacing its article, the paper said : "Although not burned out, we were knocked into pi yesterday, and could not issue our daily." "Note :—Most of the articles in today's Gazette were prepared and in type yesterday, before the fire, to which fact we point as apology for the brevity of some of them. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 289 "Fully one-fourth of the property, extant within our municipal limits yesterday morning, is dust and ashes today. Nearly one-fourth of our population have been turned out of house and home. At a little past noon yesterday a stove in the cabinet shop of Mr. John Watts, in the vicinity of the Clinton House stables, bursted, having been filled with shavings. In an instant the shop, full of inflammable materials, was in flames. The wind was blowing a hurricane, E. N. E., toward the stables and rear of the Clinton House, so that, within fifteen minutes after the first alarm, the roof of that large edifice, four stories high, was on fire. Within the next hour every building north of the alley between and parallel with the canal and Second street, to Paint street, was on fire." There was no hope of conquering the flames; the most that could be hoped was to check them. There was no water in the canal, no fire-cisterns, and only the private wells to depend upon. Early in the fire the "Reliance" fire engine had to be abandoned, owing to the sudden bursting of Adam's warehouse, and was burned where it stood. Another engine had to be run down the bank into the river in order to save it. The fire rapidly spread eastward. The old covered bridge which crossed the canal at Mulberry and Water streets caught fire and carried the flames east of the canal. Men, women and children worked frantically, but it was not until near night that the wind went down and the flames were checked. The old Gazette says : "We cannot close this account without speaking of the high sense entertained by the whole community of the services of the ladies, who, as they always can, in cases of real necessity, set the men an example of patience and fortitude, zeal and activity. God bless them, and have pity on the desolate." The burned district included the houses on both sides of Walnut, from Water to Second, except the Thatcher Block, now the Auch Block. On the north side of Second a few houses were saved between Walnut and Paint, including the old Methodist Episcopal Church on the alley, now a livery stable. Below that, every building was burned clear down to Mulberry Street. In the district bounded by Walnut, Mulberry, Water and the alley, between Water and Second, every house was burned. All houses north of the canal, from Paint to Mulberry, went down. The block east of the canal, on the south side of Water Street, down to the first alley, was taken, and many houses on Water Street below that point. A small 2-story brick building, now the barn of the Colonial Hotel, was not burned, and this was the only house to escape in that square. An old map shows the burnt district, with a full list of owners. The map was gotten out by Williard G. Day, then an employe in the Gazette office, and who afterward became a well-known author, Vol. I-19 290 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY lecturer and scientist in the East. Many people piled their goods in the middle of the streets, only to see them burn there. Some goods thrust into the mouth of the old Paint Street sewer caught fire, so hot were the flames. The old church on the corner of the alley, then belonging to the Catholic Church, was saved by Rev. George Beecher, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church. After the fire a special police force of the best men of the town patrolled the streets every night. Outside cities sent substantial aid, and merchants in Cincinnati, Philadelphia and New York offered the merchants here as long credit as they wished. ANOTHER ACCOUNT The following account of the fire was contributed by an old citizen to the well known publication, " Che-le-co-the" ("Glimpses of Yesterday ") : "It began at about 11 A. M. in a carpenter shop on the alley between Second and Water Streets, west of Walnut Street, opposite the stable attached to the Clinton Hotel. A bunch of shavings pushed into a stove, an accumulation of smoke and gas bursting open the stove door and scattering the fire among the shavings on the floor,—the shop in flames,—the Hotel stable next, and then the Hotel itself ; the canal empty, no water nearer than the Scioto River beneath the steep bank north of the canal ; the hurried placing of a hand fire-engine between the canal and river and an attempt to throw water from it upon the fire ; a high and mighty wind, driving the men from the engine and consuming the latter, or else causing it to be rolled into the river to prevent its destruction (I forgot which), and carrying flakes of fire with terrific speed upon all the town lying eastward ; a mad impressment of vehicles of every sort to save furniture and merchandise from the houses that lay in the pathway of the flames ; consternation on every face, hurrying to and fro, in the effort to save something ; blank despair; as the flame sped relentlessly on with flash and roar, and the occasional bursting of cans of powder in the stores that dared such hazard, until at last as evening came on, the wind ceased, and the fire stopped somewhere west of Hickory Street, almost for want of food within its path. "Such was the story told me on my return to Chillicothe on the evening of that fateful day. I had been absent at Court in Fayette County and had ridden across into Madison County on some business matter. Returning homeward, I noticed from the high plain above the North Fork of Paint Creek, this side of Bloomingburgh, in the direction of Chillicothe, a great cloud of smoke. I thought it very large but concluded it came from the burning of HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 291 brushwood and cornstalks by the farmers along the Paint Creek or North Fork bottoms. "At Frankfort I stopped for horse feeding, and to take dinner, and afterward mounted for a leisurely homeward ride. After passing the Cory hill, I met a man with a wagon and team, who stopped to ask me whether I were going to Chillicothe? I said, ' Yes. " You needn't go,' said he, 'for Chillicothe is all burned up.' It was April 1st, and concluding that I was sought to be made the victim of the day, I rode on, with just curiosity enough to ask the next person I met about the fire. He told me of its location and extent, and as it began near my own little home on Second Street, and as the homes and business of many relatives and friends were directly in its path, I lost no further time but galloped my horse until I reached the town. The shades of night had gathered over the scene, but the ground in the fire's way was lurid with glowing embers and low shooting flames, and the people everywhere were busy watching against a renewal of the conflagration, or in providing food and shelter for those who had been made houseless and homeless. That night was marked by many sleepless eyes. "The next few days were busy with preparation for rebuilding and for the resumption of business. Temporary quarters were soon found for our shopmen and merchants. Creditors were generous and indulgent; new credits were given, new and better buildings were erected, and a prosperity seemingly greater than before attended us. But it was only seeming. Pay-day had to come some time. It was postponed and delayed by renewals and expedients of all sorts, for a score of years ; our business men falling, one by one, from year to year, until about all the old men were gone and their places filled by the energetic youth who went into the war of the rebellion almost as boys, but came out thoughtful and disciplined men. "May our Heavenly Father save us from another calamity like that of the Great Fire of April 1, 1852." INITIAL STEPS TOWARD WATERWORKS Five years before the fire, during the year of the great flood of 1847, it was proposed to buy the Hydraulic Canal and build a reservoir on the hills west of the city. The flood destroyed the aqueduct and the usefulness of the canal for power purposes, and its channel was afterward utilized for fire purposes. When the great conflagration swept over so large a portion of Chillicothe, the citizens were stirred over the necessity for better fire protection, and in September, 1853, its voters, by a majority of 334, expressed themselves in favor of a regular system of waterworks. It was 292 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY voted, to appropriate $70,000 to build them. Plans and surveys were made and, within a couple of years, the estimated cost had run up to $140,000. As the ravages of the fire were being rapidly repaired, and the general depression and panic had passed, the taxpayers blocked the building of the waterworks at that time, and the old makeshift of basins and cisterns, distributed at what were considered the chief points of danger, was continued for years thereafter. FIRST STEAM FIRE ENGINE On July 4, 1867, the first steam fire engine reached Chillicothe and was hauled in the Fourth of July parade. It was the old Scioto, bought jointly by the Phoenix Fire Company and the city, and cost $5,500. The other fire equipment at that time consisted of the Relief and Reliable hand engines and a hook and ladder. ORGANIZATION OF PAID DEPARTMENT (1879-80) The fire department continued to improve in apparatus and personnel, but was not organized on really an up-to-date basis until it became a paid steam department. It was thus reorganized by the city, in the spring of 1879, with Gregory Studer as chief engineer. Company No. 1 occupied a good 2-story brick engine house on Mulberry Street between Second and Main streets. Its old steamer was replaced by a new steam fire engine from the Ahrens Manufacturing Company of Cincinnati, in February, 1880. It cost $4,400, and it is proudly recorded in the public prints : "At the trial had on its arrival, February 5th, steam was raised from cold water, and a stream of water thrown, in four minutes and fifteen seconds from the time of lighting the fire. An extraordinary feat, surely !" No. 1's house was built with hose tower and alarm bell cupola, and the hook and ladder house was directly opposite. The house of Company No. 2 was located on High Street between Chestnut and Mill, and also had a machine, but not a steam fire engine. Both companies were supplied with rubber and leather hose, hose reels and carriages and also sufficient horses to draw all the apparatus provided. By the time the new fire engine arrived, the Gamewell alarm system was also installed. PRESENT DEPARTMENT There are now about forty fire alarm boxes, grouped most abundantly in the manufacturing districts and in other danger HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 293 centers. The engine, hose and hook and ladder companies have headquarters at three established stations, and the entire department is under the immediate direction of a chief and the administrative management of a director of public safety and Board of Fire Commissioners. CONSTRUCTION OF PRESENT WATERWORKS The present waterworks installed at City Park, which cover about two-thirds of an acre, date from 1881. In January of that year the old Chillicothe Gas Light and Coke Company was reorganized and incorporated as the Chillicothe Gas and Water Company, with the following officers: William Poland, president ; William T. McClintick, vice president; Abram C. Kopp, secretary; William McKell, treasurer ; and Fred A. Stacey, superintendent. Mr. Poland was succeeded in the presidency by Mr. Stacey in 1889, and in 1908 Mr. Kopp was followed in the secretaryship by John A. Poland, son of the first president. Robert Herron has been superintendent of the waterworks for the past twelve years. The gas plant was closed in May, 1915. The construction of the original waterworks covered the period 1881-83. The system now not only includes the power house, with a daily pumping capacity of 4,500,000 gallons, but two large open wells, with concrete domes, thirty-five feet deep, and thirty and twenty-six feet in diameter, and six artesian wells, sixty feet deep, also twenty-six miles of mains, from four to sixteen inches in diameter. The value of the system is, approximately, $364,000. So that Chillicothe has now as good a system, both from the standpoints of a sanitary domestic supply and of adequate fire protection, as can be found in any city of its population in the country. THE CITY PARK The City Park has been municipal property since 1870 and what are now attractive pleasure grounds, as well as the site of the waterworks, were long considered breeders of malaria and fevers. As early as 1827 malarial fevers were very prevalent in Southern Ohio. There had been a bad epidemic at Chillicothe and the citizens concluded that it was due to the stagnant water caused by a milldam across the river near what is now the east end of Main Street. James Miller and John Cutright, the owners of the dam, were indicted and tried. Nearly all the doctors in the town were summoned as witnesses, with such prominent citizens as William McFarland, Thomas James, Judge James McClintick, Henry Brush, James S. Swearingen and John Baillhache, editor of the Gazette. 294 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY It was shown that the river had had a good fall until the dam was built in 1812. After that year the dam was raised once or twice, and the water backed up beyond the steam mill, or to the east end of Mill Street. The main channel of the stream, sweeping around by the town where the park lake now is, was stagnant, and the river was cutting a way across the loop. This new way, or thoroughfare, began about 1817, and is the present bed of the river. It was dammed with brush and logs in 1822, in an attempt to turn the current back in the old way, but a flood swept out the dam and made an island of the ground which is now the City Park. Some of the witnesses in the case thought that the fever was due to the ponds which abounded in the town. There were ponds east of High Street, where Park Street and the gas works are ; ponds at the head of Water Street, where St. Peter's Church stands; ponds on East Fifth Street, and scattered generally through the town. As an immediate result of the trial in 1827, the owners of the dam were ordered to lower it, and an attempt was made to drain some of the worst of the ponds ; but it was some years before they were obliterated. In September, 1870, after the island itself had been an eye-sore for many years, the city bought the property with the expressed purpose of transforming it into a public park, but it was not until 1874 that work upon it was begun in earnest. In that year the common council appointed William Poland and John H. Bovey as a committee in charge of the improvement, and they are considered the fathers of the City Park. With the completion of the waterworks in 1893 the island was gradually laid out into the pretty grounds as they are today. THE DRIVING PARK HISTORIC GROUND The Driving Park lay across the canal, northwest of the city and east of the juncture of High and Church streets. It is historical. During the War of 1812 the site was occupied by Camp Bull, a heavy stockade of logs with cabins along one side. Sixty British prisoners, taken in Perry's victory on Lake Erie, at the battle of the Thames and other engagements, were confined at Camp Bull. They hatched a plot to overpower the guards, sack the town and escape to Canada, but were detected and transferred to Kentucky. The camp was also used as a rendezvous for troops in that war and five deserters from the American army were shot, as elsewhere described. At the beginning of the Civil war the name was changed to Camp Logan and it became well known as a recruiting station. The Driving Park has been the scene of numerous exciting races for the past twenty-five years. HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 295 Besides these well known pleasure resorts, Chillicothe provides Poland Park on the east side of Madeira Avenue near Fifth Street. GRAND VIEW AND GREEN LAWN CEMETERIES Grand View and Green Lawn cemeteries, although public burial grounds, are beautiful, restful and sacred resorts for thousands of people of Chillicothe. The former is the first city cemetery of note to be laid out, although the first burial place selected by the pioneer citizens was on the Scioto River northeast of town near where the first bridge was thrown across that stream. But it was abandoned, after a few years, the building of the bridge and the opening of a road to town, with the washing away of the graves directly on the river banks, calling attention to its undesirable site. It was many years before Grand View was adopted as the name for the beautiful cemetery at the end of Walnut Street, and it is appropriately christened, for its elevated site commands a broad and striking view of the valleys of the Scioto River and Paint Creek, with Chillicothe spread to the northward. The first interment in the cemetery was that of the father of Rev. James Britton, about the year 1842. A purchase of ground for the establishment of the cemetery was made about 1841, but the first recorded meeting of the board of trustees was held on November 13, 1845, at the office of James D. Caldwell. Its members were Col. James Swearingen, Col. John Madeira, John Woodbridge, E. P. Kendrick and James D. Caldwell. The first purchase consisted of fifteen acres from the estate of John McCoy. Doctor Foulke had bought two and one-half acres from the estate, which blocked an exit from the cemetery grounds to Walnut Street, but he relinquished his tract to the board of trustees at his purchase price, so that the seventeen and one-half acres, which constituted the first cemetery grounds, were acquired for about $1,500. At the time only about one-third of the area was available for burials, the remainder being upon beautiful, but steep wooded acclivities. At the time of the meeting in 1845 virtually nothing had been done to improve the grounds and very few interments had been made ; but a resolution was then and there passed to provide for the survey of lots and for the rebuilding of the fences, which was a beginning in the right direction. Samuel Kendrick, civil engineer, finally laid out the road by which the summit of the high ground is reached, and also surveyed the first lots. In 1864 additions were surveyed by J. Earnshaw, of Cincinnati, and other sections were laid out by Benjamin Grove, of Louisville, and others employed by the .board of trustees. In 1878 the cemetery was enlarged by the purchase of twenty-eight acres from the heirs of George Renick. 296 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY Dr. L. W. Foulke was made president of the board in 1860, and the first well-considered movement toward ornamenting the grounds was made by the standing committee, appointed for that purpose and consisting of Doctor Foulke, Doctor Silvey and M. R. Bartlett. To that committee Chillicothe is greatly indebted for the original plan which was the basis of the landscape beauties of Grand View. Green Lawn, in the southeastern part of the city, not far from Grand View, was laid out in 1865 as the Scioto Township Cemetery, and still retains that character. Previous to that year it had been used as a private burial ground. Green Lawn is located on the north side of Eastern Avenue west of Watt Street. As its name implies, it is more retiring in its beauties than Grand View. THE CITY HOSPITAL Another institution, which is under private management, although it partakes of a public character, is the Chillicothe City Hospital, which was opened in January, 1896, as an emergency hospital. It was opened in a house on Bridge Street. It is governed by a board of men and women chosen from the various churches and charitable organizations. The physicians of the city give their services free to charity cases. THE POSTOFFICE The postal service of Chillicothe is first-class and the building, in which its several departments have been installed since April, HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 297 1905, is an ornament to the city. Its construction involved an expenditure of $80,000. The handsome building and efficient service represent the culmination of 117 years of improvements. In 1799 Joseph Tiffin, a brother of the governor, was appointed Chillicothe's first postmaster and had no trouble, for some time, in hand' ling the mails alone. He held the office for over twenty years. Perhaps the most important events in the development of the local service have been as follows : Establishment of the money order department in 1865 ; of the carrier service, in 1888; and of the rural service, in 1900. We are indebted for these facts to George Perkins, veteran both of the Civil war and the Chillicothe post, office. ELECTRIC TRANSPORTATION, LIGHT AND POWER The Chillicothe Electric Railroad, Light and Power Company had its origin in the Chillicothe Street Railroad, which, under a city ordinance of October, 1874, was authorized to erect poles for the carrying of electric wires in certain streets. In 1894 it was granted a renewal of its original charter for twenty-five years. In the meantime the Juneman Electric Light and Power Company had built a plant at the head of Paint Street, and lighted the city, under contract, in 1886-96. In July, 1896, it secured a new ten-years' contract, but in January, 1898, the Street Railroad Company took over the contract from the Juneman Company, which went out of existence, and assumed the corporate name under which it is still known. There were then three miles of road in its system ; now there are five. In 1898 the following officers took charge of the different interests : Clark Story, president ; John Tomlinson, secretary and treasurer ; Joseph P. Myers, superintendent and general manager. In 1901 W. A. Story, nephew of the president, became secretary. Mr. Myers remained superintendent and general manager until January, 1906, when he was elected president and general manager. In December, 1914, the company disposed of its property to P. W. Brooks, of New York, who still controls it. HOME TELEPHONE COMPANY In 1895 the city granted two franchises designed to bring to its people utilities which have proven of broad usefulness. In March, of that year, the Home Telephone Company was granted a franchise and constructed a plant. James M. Thomas, one of the originators of the company, afterward became prominent in developing the independent movement against the Bell Telephone Company. 298 - HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY LOGAN NATURAL GAS AND FUEL COMPANY In September of the same year the Logan Natural Gas and Fuel Company was granted a franchise and constructed their pipe lines about 1898. It draws natural gas from central and northern Ohio and also purchases West Virginia gas. In Ross County it supplies consumers at Chillicothe, Hallsville, Kingston and Adelphi, the distributing system embracing about ten miles of mains connecting these points, in addition to the city and town systems. The local company is controlled by the Union Natural Gas Corporation of Pittsburgh, which also owns the Citizens Gas and Electric Company, of Lorain, Ohio. THE 1840 CAMPAIGN The city never saw such a political campaign as the one of '40, when William Henry Harrison was the candidate of the whig party against Martin Van Buren. It will probably never see such another. Larger crowds may be in the city, but never again will there be such spontaneous, whole-souled enthusiasm, such energy of celebration, such overwhelming devotion, as were then displayed. The only campaign which approaches it was the Blaine outburst of '84. But even that was not the same. The nature, habits and temper of the people had changed ; there was no longer the heartiness and simplicity which made the old Tippecanoe and Tyler Too campaign possible. There was a Harrison convention at Columbus on February 22, 1840. Chillicothe concluded to go to it. On February 19th the main delegation met at the courthouse at 9 A. M. and marched down Paint Street to the Water Street wharf. There lay four canal boats—the Uncle Sam, in charge of Marshals James Rowe and J. Bausman ; the J. F. Armstrong, Marshal W. Y. Gilmore ; Corn-planter, Marshal A. Swift, and the Oregon, Marshals M. Armour and J. Robinson, of Huntington. The delegation climbed aboard, with the German Grenadiers and their band on the Uncle Sam. Four boats were not enough, so they impressed the Rodolph and the Bennington. The Citizen's band got on the Rodolph, and tooted for all they knew. Then all six boats pulled out for Columbus. The rest of the population went on horseback, in stages, in wagons and afoot, and had a splendid time. When they got back they were fired with enthusiasm to do something themselves, so they figured on getting Harrison to come here. He could not come until in September; this was too long to wait, so, on May 16th they raised a log-cabin. The Tippecanoe and Straightout clubs were busy all morning receiving the county HISTORY OF ROSS COUNTY - 299 delegations, which came from all directions. The Twin township delegation covered itself with glory by bringing in a Buckeye cabin, drawn by six horses, and outside the cabin was a barrel of hard cider, with a gourd by it. A coon-skin was nailed on the logs, and a live coon climbed about the roof. The Kingston boys brought a canoe thirty feet long. After marching about the town the procession stopped at the corner of Paint and Main streets, and by noon, had raised a log cabin on the southwest corner. The cabin was 40 by 75 feet, and would seat a thousand. At the Paint Street end were two flagpoles, each made of a single tree, eighty-one feet high, furnished by James Cutright, of Springfield township. After the "raisin" the ladies of the city served dinner at the market house, and the Gazette overflows in its encomiums on their appearance, in "the domestic gown, the checked apron, and the careful brooch." Then there were speeches and speeches, and the people went home. It was in Chillicothe that the ladies first took the initiative in attending political meetings ; and it was the Gazette which first suggested the famous "Log cabin" as the emblem of the campaign, and first suggested raising log cabins for meeting places. The preceding celebration but whetted the appetite of the people, and when the "big" celebration came, on September 16th, 17th and 18th, they outdid all former efforts. The old town was filled with strangers, and the people, feeling that their noted hospitality was being tested, showed more than ever that graceful, wholehearted welcome which makes this city so pleasant for visitors, whether as individuals or as societies. One lady, who well remembers those days, tells how, for a week beforehand, her mother and her maids, and every housekeeper in town, were busy baking and boiling and brewing, to get a sufficient supply of solids and delicacies to feed the expected guests. Private citizens threw open their homes, ticks were made, filled with straw and placed on the floors of rooms and porches. On the porches slept the young men; the old men and ladies indoors, until every foot of space was occupied. On Wednesday, the first day of the celebration, the committees received the visitors ; there were various people from Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York ; and delegations from almost every county in Ohio. Some of the people had traveled for a week or more, in order to be here. On Thursday morning at eight the procession began forming, and, at 10 o'clock moved out the Limestone road to meet Harrison, who came here from Hillsborough. Not half the people in town were in the procession, yet, with a double column of carriages and