HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY - 159

CHAPTER XIII.

PLANK ROAD.

The Lower Sandusky Plank Road Company—Stock Subscribed—Cost of Buildings—Benefit of the Road to the County.

FOR a period of about nine years after the failure of the Ohio Railroad Company, the spirit of enterprise seemed to slumber in the county, and enterprising business men talked of the dullness of our prospects, and some even expressed a desire to leave and go to where business was more promising. Still, Lower Sandusky was a good point for collecting produce and selling merchandise. It was then the central trading point of a tolerably improved country, extending southward more than half way to Tiffin, eastward to a point at least half way to Bellevue, north almost to Port Clinton, and west half way or more to Perrysburg, and southwest as far as Risdon and Rome (now Fostoria), in the west part of Seneca county. Here was a circumference, then,of an average diameter of about forty miles, the products from which were brought to Lower Sandusky for sale or exchange, and for shipment by way of the river and lake to Buffalo, and thence to New York. The people residing on this circle were chiefly supplied with dry goods, groceries, drugs, salt and leather, and fish by the retail stores in Lower Sandusky, and, in fact, a large retail and barter business was carried on notwithstanding the absence of all railroads. But the roads, excepting the Maumee and Western Reserve turnpike, were unimproved earth roads, never good, and much of the year impassable. Consequently the time and expense of hauling heavy articles, such as wheat, corn, and pork, was very considerable, and of course materially reduced the

160 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

value of the products at the respective farms where raised. Notwithstanding the bad condition of the roads, however, the farm products, in great quantities, were hauled to Lower Sandusky and trade was lively at certain seasons. A very large proportion of the products brought to the place for transportation came by the roads leading to Bettsville and Rome (Fostoria), and the trade was annually in-

' creasing, though the only transportation from Lower Sandusky was by water, and this method was of course closed during a considerable portion of the year. While this state of affairs existed, the idea of building plank roads came to be promulgated and discussed, and indeed it appeared to he precisely the system best adapted to the improvement of the roads through the county. The words "plank road" at once awakened the spit it of enterprise which had slept so long, and the

LOWER SANDUSKY PLANK ROAD COMPANY
WAS CHARTERED,

with a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars, in shares of fifty dollars each, to build a plank road from the south termination of Front street, in Lower Sandusky, southward along the Sandusky River to the south line of Edward Tindall's land; thence southwesterly to Bettsville, and thence to Rome, in Seneca county, with a branch starting from the south line of Tindall's land south to Tiffin.

The stock subscription book of the company, so safely and carefully preserved by its president, James Justice, during his life, and since his death, by his daughters, shows the names of the subscribers and the amount of stock taken by each. The names of subscribers then living in the county and the amount of stock subscribed respectively are as follows :

R. Dickinson, $2,000; S. Birchard, $3,000; J. R. Pease, $2,500; L. Q. Rawson, $2,000; R. P. Buckland, $1,500; I. S. Tyler, $500; James Moore, $2,000; C. Edgarton, $500; James W. Wilson, $500; Daniel Tindall, $1,800; L. B. Otis, $500; P. Brush, $500; D. Betts, $500; F. I. Norron, $200; Kendall & Nims, $1,000; Morgan & Downs, $1,000; Doncyson & Engler, $200; J. Lesher, $200; John Joseph, $100; J. F. R. Sebring, $100; H. Everett, $200; H. E. Clark, $100; J. Millious, $200; G. F. Grund, $50; A. A. Bensack, $50; L. M. Bidwell, $100; C. O. Tillotson, $100; J. Kridler & Co., $100; I. VanDoren, jr., $100; E. Leppelman, $100; P. Door, $5o; J. F. Hults, $50; S. Lansing. $200; J. Sendelbach, $50; D. Capper, $50; H. R. Foster, $50; C. Smith, $50; J. Emerson, $500; H. Bowman, $100; J. Justice, $1,500; A. B. Taylor, $500; A. J. Dickinson, $200; M. E. Pierce. $100; P. Beaugrand, $300; H. Remsburg, $100; J. B. Smith, $500; D. Marten, $5o; M. A. Ritter, $200; C. J. Orton. $100; Samuel Thompson, $500; John Moore & Vallerte, $1,500; Daniel Seaman, $200; A. Coles, $200; Dean & Ballard, $250; L. E. Marsh, $I00; S. M. Steward, $100; John Hafford. $100; John Simon, $50; S. N. Russell, $200; J. W. Davis, $100; G. Kisseberth, $50; John Houts. $100; A. Phillips, $50

The first fifty-three names in the above list were residents of Fremont at the time they subscribed, 1849. They were all men, excepting two, Mariah E. Pierce and Lucy E. Bidwell, both widows, but not of advanced age. The men were in middle age or younger, and were, at the time, active managing members in society and business. Thirty-two years have passed, and of these fiftythree persons, thirty-one are known to be dead.

Thirty-two years ago these stockholders elected five directors, namely, James Justice, LaQ. Rawson, Charles W. Foster, John R. Pease, and James Vallette.

FIRST MEETING OF THE DIRECTORS—WORK BEGUN IN 1849.

At a meeting of the directors of the Lower Sandusky Plank Road Company, held at the office of L. Q. Rawson, in Lower Sandusky, on the 11th day of April, A. D. 1849, present, James Justice, James Vallette, John R. Pease, and LaQ. Rawson, the following proceedings were had, towit :

James Justice was elected president, L. Q. Rawson Secretary, and John R. Pease Treasurer.

It was ordered that the treasurer give bond with

HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY - 161

Sardis Birchard, his surety, in the penal sum of five thousand dollars.

Ordered also that the stockholders pay an instalment of ten per cent. on their subscriptions, on or before the 15th day of June next.

It was also ordered that the president he authorized to contract for materials for building the road from Lower Sandusky to Rome and Swope's Corners. And the board also ordered, at this meeting, that notice be given to the stockholders of the order for the payment of the instalment aforesaid, by publication in the Lower Sandusky newspapers for thirty days. The record is signed: "James Justice, President of the Lower Sandusky Plank Road Company; L. Q. Rawson, John R. Pease, James Vallette."

The president lost no time in entering upon the work of constructing the road as directed by the board. Contracts for grading were promptly made and promptly executed, under the vigorous management of President Justice, assisted by Superintendent Daniel Tindall. The sawmills in the vicinity were at once engaged exclusively in sawing planks and stringers for the road, and at least one steam sawmill was erected and operated by Joshua B. Smith for special purpose of manufacturing lumber for the road. This mill was erected by the side of the road, in the woods, about three miles north of Swope's Corners, to which point the road was completed about the 1st of October, 1849, and tollgates erected.

The branch to Rome was also being rapidly constructed.

On the parts constructed tolls were collected before the 1st of January, 1850, to the amount of three hundred and eighty-seven dollars and twenty-six cents.

The road was finished the following year (1850), from Swope's Corners to Tiffin.

From Fremont to the south line of Edward Tindall's land, where the two branches diverged, the distance was five miles, and from there each branch was about thirteen miles long; total length of road built was about thirty-one miles.

It appears by the books that on September 30, 1851, there had been paid into the treasury of the company on stock, forty-two thousand five hundred dollars; donations made to the amount of two hundred and ninety-five dollars, and tolls collected from October 1, 1849, to September 30, 1851, six thousand seven hundred and twenty-two dollars, making a total of receipts of forty-nine thousand five hundred and seventeen dollars.

The total expenditures from the commencement of the work to September 30, 1851, was forty-eight thousand eight hundred and forty-five dollars.

Tolls received in the month of May, 1850..$194 00

...........................................................1851.. 498 00

...........................................................1852.. 558 57

...........................................................1853...471 34

...........................................................1854.. 428 96

...........................................................1855.. 363 16

The amount for the corresponding month in 1856, 1857, and 1859, cannot be obtained, but the tolls declined, and the planks and timbers had so decayed that the income would no longer meet the expenses and repairs, and it was surrendered up in 1860, and the gates removed.

Many of the subscribers considered what they paid on the stock a donation for the public good, and when they had paid about half the amount subscribed, or less, forfeited their stock; some few never paid anything. Such forfeitures reduced the amount of actually paid up stock, when the road was completed, to thirty-nine thousand dollars, on which amount several dividends were declared, amounting, in the aggregate, to about forty per cent., as appears by the president's books. Although this enterprise was not a financial success for the stockholders, and although it demonstrated that plank roads were not durable, and would need rebuilding once in about ten years, still this, and one built about the same time from Fremont to Green Spring, were greatly

162 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

beneficial to the county, and to the trade of Fremont.

SOME OF THE CONSEQUENCES AND INC-

IDENTS WHICH RESULTED FROM THE

PLANK ROAD ENTERPRISE.

As was stated in the beginning of the history of this plank road, the spirit of enterprise in Lower Sandusky seemed to have departed from the people. True, it was a good point for retailing merchandise and bartering for products of the land, but there was no faith in the future growth of the place, and little or no capital was invested in real estate or in building, nor, in fact, in any kind of improvement. So gloomy had the prospect of the future growth of the town become, that a number of the most ambitious and enterprising inhabitants had, in fact, determined to remove to some more enterprising locality, and where there were some better prospects for increase of business, and of increase in the value of real estate.

Prominent among those who had become impatient with the slow progress Lower Sandusky had been making for years past, was Ralph P. Buckland, who, by laborious practice of the law, had accumulated some money and a good reputation as an honest and responsible lawyer. He had been for some time seriously contemplating removal from Dower Sandusky to either Cleveland or Toledo, where enterprise and the future looked brighter and more encouraging to those ambitious of fame and fortune. But when he saw this plank road enterprise started, he at once enlisted in it with means and enthusiasm, and seeing the project supported by the able men of the place—such as Rodolphus Dickinson, John R. Pease, Sardis Birchard, and James Justice, of Lower Sandusky, and Charles W. Foster and others of Rome, in Seneca county, he concluded to remain and cast his lot for "weal or woe "with the people where he was. In conversation with the writer only a few days since, General Buckland (he has earned the title of General, as may be seen in his biography in this work) said, in substance, that plank road enterprise is the one thing that induced him to remain in the place. "And," said he, "do you not remember, that the very summer while the plank road was being built, I built the first brick block ever erected in Fremont?" The interviewer did remember the fact. This block was erected on lot number two hundred and forty-three, on Front street, on what had been the Western House property, and is now a central business place of great value. It was fortunate for the then future of Fremont that General Buckland was induced to remain, as will appear by the more particular history of the city, and by General Buckland's biography.

Mr. John England, now quite aged, residing in the village of Ballville, states that he was in the service of Charles W. Foster as a teamster about seven years ; four years of this term of service was spent in hauling on this plank road between Rome and Lower Sandusky. The reader must bear in mind that Rome is now Fostoria, and Lower Sandusky is now Fremont. Mr. England says that he hauled produce from Rome to Tiffin, and also from Rome to Lower Sandusky, on the earth roads, before the plank road was made ; that then forty bushels of wheat, or twentyfour hundred pounds, was a full average load for a wagon and one span of good horses ; fifty bushels, or thirty hundred pounds, was a large load and not often undertaken. After the plankroad was completed, he says he often hauled at one load one hundred and ten bushels of wheat, or a weight of six thousand six hundred pounds, with one span of horses. Thus it will be seen that the cost of transportation was reduced

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one-half, while the toll charged for such a load was forty-five cents. The time saved by hauling on the plank more than compensated for the toll charged. From that time (1850) to the early part of 1860, the salt, and all other articles of merchandise for Rome and the western part of Seneca county, and also for the whole country trading at Lower Sandusky, was transported by water to the head of navigation in the Sandusky river, and thence distributed by wagons to the various trading points. This merchandise furnished loads for many of the returning teams which came in with wheat, corn, and pork, and encouraged and supported a lively business for about ten years, of which the plank road was the main artery. The amount of farm products brought to Fremont in wagons during the period between 1850 and 1860, and the display of wagons which brought these products for shipment, storage or sale, were such as to make casual visitors express surprise, and wonder at the amount of business done in the place. Strangers passing through or stopping a time on business in the place would see the streets crowded with loaded teams, waiting their turn to be unloaded, and the signs of active trade everywhere about them, and were often heard to remark at that period that Fremont was the liveliest town they had seen in their travels.

Mr. Charles O. Tillotson was, during the larger part of the period above mentioned, engaged in buying and shipping grain at Fremont. He said to the writer a few days ago that it was not an uncommon thing to see four or five hundred two-horse wagons standing in the streets and along the way to the elevators, waiting their turn to unload their wheat ; that during the wheat buying season, although there were a number of other persons engaged in buying wheat and competing with him, it was usual for him toreceive from the farm wagons and store away from ten to fourteen thousand bushels in a day. The pork trade at Fremont during the period mentioned was also very large. The trade of the place then employed a large number of vessels to carry this produce to Buffalo.

Though all this system of trade was destined to change; though the plank road was to decay and be abandoned on the advent of a system of railroads through northwestern Ohio; although the noble horses of flesh and blood, whose food was oats and corn and hay, and which must have rest, was, in the grand march of invention and progress, soon to retire and leave this long and heavy hauling to be done by the iron horse which lives on coal and water, and never tires; still, these plank roads encouraged our people to stay and strive on in the labor of developing the material resources of the county, and at the same time widely advertised the town and county as good places for business, and our people as active, enterprising and progressive. The completion of the Toledo, Norwalk & Cleveland Railroad, in 1852, by which produce was carried East and West, superseded in large part the carriage of produce by water from Fremont. The building of this railroad will be the next noticed. The finishing of the Fremont, Lima & Union Railroad from Fremont to Fostoria took the carrying of produce and merchandize away from the plank road, and the latter was abandoned early in 1860.

THE FORM OF THE ROAD, AND LINE BUILT ON.

The form of the plank road, when finished, was that of a turnpike well graded and ditched. The crown or flat surface of the top of the pike was eighteen feet wide. The plank were eight feet in length and two inches thick, of best white or bur oak, laid crosswise on firm stringers em-

164 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY.

beded in the earth, on one side of the crown, leaving a good earth road for use in dry weather, and for the use of teams in all weather which had to turn out for the team to pass which was entitled to the plank track.

"In several instances," said Mr. England whose name is above mentioned: "I met heavily loaded teams on this plank roadwhere the side or earth road was so soft that it would not do to turn off the plank, for if I did, I could never pull out. The result was that the team bound by the law of the road to turn out, would unload in part and then turn out to let the other pass,—then take the plank again, reload his wagon, and then go on. But such difficulty did not often occur.