PROMINENT MEN AND EVENTS.

[Pg. 100]

     A list of the early merchants of Lancaster from 1800 to 1825 is herewith presented:  James Converse, William and Christian King, Rudolph Pitcher, Thomas Hart, Simon Converse, Andrew Crockett, John Creed, Matthews and Schofield, Jacob Green, Creed and Cushing, John Graham, John Woodbridge, Archibald Carnahan, N. S. Cushing, Samuel F. Maccracken, John Black, JEsse Beecher, Lucas B. Wing, Henry Darst, O. O. Rigby, Emanuel and Samuel Carpenter, Robert Smith, F. A. Foster, Latta and Connell, Henry ARnold, Christian Rokohl, King and Rodgers, Henry Van Pelt and Company, Campbell, Rudisill and Company, Browning and Noble, Miller and Retzel, Owings and Thompson.
     The prominent tavern keepers were Thomas Sturgeon, John Sweyer, Rudolph Pitcher, Jacob Green, F. A. Shaeffer, Gotlieb Steinman, John Noble, John U. Giesy, Jacob Beck, Christian Niebling, Dr. Ezra Torrence, E. G. Pomeroy, and Peter Reber.
     As early as 1806 the tax list of Lancaster was no small sum.  Rudolph Pitcher had one property valued at $2,500, other lots valued at $1,407, his taxes
were seventeen dollars and seventy-two cents.  Others paid as much as ten dollars each.
     The prominent physicians for the first twenty-five years of Lancaster were Dr. Amasa Delano, Dr. William Irwin, Dr. William Kerr, Dr. Ezra Torrence, Dr. John M. Shaug, Dr. James Wilson, Dr. Wilcox, Dr. Daniel Smith, Dr. Robert McNeill, Dr. James White.
     The attorneys of Lancaster for the first twenty-five

Page 101 -
years were Alexander White, who died early, William Creighton, who moved to Chillicothe, E. B. Merwin, who moved to Zanesville, Robert F. Slaughter, Philemon Beecher, Wm. W. Irvin, Charles R. Sherman, Thomas Ewing, Henry Stanbery, and H. H. Hunter. 

     The early settlers of Lancaster came from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, France, the New England States, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky.  Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia contributed the largest number.  Lancaster was noted from the start for the number of its intelligent, enterprising, and distinguished men and fair women.
     The families married and intermarried and a race of native Buckeyes was the result, combining all that was good in the different races.  Beecher, a Connecticut Yankee, married a daughter of Irish parents.  William W. Irvin, a Virginia gentleman, married a sister of Mrs. Beecher.  Creed from Rhode Island married a daughter of Virginia parents.  Foster of Rhode Island, a Maryland girl.  Ewing married the daughter of Irish parents. Kauffman, a Baltimorean, married a Yankee girl.  Dr. White, a Pennsylvanian, married Mrs. Kauffman's sister.  Scofield, a Yankee, married a Maryland girl; and John T. Brasee, a New Yorker, married their daughter.  This list might be extended indefinitely.  The population soon became a homogeneous one composed of the many elements named.  The pioneers were noted for rearing large families, and they seemed to do it as easily and as well as the parents of the modern family of one or two children; and their children were as successful in life.

Page 102 -

THE PROMINENT MERCHANTS.

     The prominent merchants doing business in 1826, as given by John G. Willock in his manuscript, were William and Christian King, Creed and Cushing, S. F. Maccracken, Latta and Connell, F. A. Foster, Henry and George B. Arnold, Jacob Green, Campbell, Rudisill and Company, Matthews and Company, Browning and Noble, George Kauffman, Wm. Townsend, and James Gates, jewelers.
     The leading society people in Lancaster in 1826, by the same authority were, the families of Judge Sherman, Judge Irvin, Judge Scofield, Thomas Ewing, Philemon Beecher, Hugh Boyle, Michael Garaghty, Christian King, Henry Arnold, Samuel F. Maccracken, John Creed, Rev. John Wright, and Mrs. Gen. Williamson, afterwards Mrs. Col. Sumner.  From 1826 to 1830 there were young men in the society of Lancaster who afterwards became prominent.
     We name John G. Willock, R. M. Ainsworth, George Myers, Henry T. Myers, William J. Reese, David Colerick, Gilbert Outcalt, John C. Fall, Wm. King, Thomas Reed, Hocking H. Hunter, Henry Stanbery, George B. Arnold, P. Van Trump, John M. Creed, George Kauffman, and Dr. James White.

COLONIZATION SOCIETY.

     In the year 1826 there was in active working order a Colonization Society, composed of leading citizens.  Judge Scofield was the president.  Samuel F. Maccracken was the secretary.  The managers were Philemon Beecher, Joseph Grubb, Dr. Robert McNeill, JAcob Claypool, and John Creed.  Judge Irvin was chair man of one of their regular meetings.  Coloniza-

Page 103 -
tion seemed to be the only remedy for slavery at this time.
     In 1826 there was a Fairfield County Medical Society and regular meetings were held in Lancaster.
The Lancaster members were Dr. Robert McNeill, Dr. James White, Dr. J. M. Shaug, and Dr. Ezra Clark.
The out-of-town members were Dr. M. Z. Kreider, of Royalton, Dr. Miner, of Lithopolis, Dr. Simon Hyde and Turner, of Rushville, Dr. N. Wait, of West Rushville, and Dr. S. S. Goehegan, of Baltimore.
     In 1827 David Colerick was Commissioner of Insolvents, an office unknown in our day.

NEWSPAPERS.

     Der Ohio Adler {Ohio Eagle), a small German paper, was established in Lancaster in 1807.  The most reliable information is that the owner and editor was Edward Shaeffer, a competent and respectable gentleman, and one of the pioneer members of the Lutheran Church.  In the year 1812 or 1813 Jacob D. Deitrick came from the East to Lancaster and purchased Shaeffer's paper.  He then commenced the publication of the English edition of the Ohio Eagle, continuing at the same time the German edition.  Some years later he sold out to John Herman, who continued both editions of the paper.  Both editions were still published in 1825 when the Duke of Saxe Weimar visited Lancaster, and were still published in 1829 as stated in Kilbourne's Ohio Gaseteer.  John Herman died in 1833 and the paper passed into the hands of Thomas U. White.  In about one year White sold the paper to John and Charles Brough, who came to Lancaster from Marietta.  We cannot trace the German edition any farther than John Herman's time, when we pre-

Page 104 -
sume it was discontinued.  The Broughs edited with great ability a fierce and aggressive paper.  Dr. Casper Thiel, an educated man of German descent, succeeded the Broughs, and in turn was succeeded by Samuel Pike, H. H. Robinson, D. A. Robertson, F. M. Ellis, Newton, Schleich, John L. Tuthill, Baker, Zahm, and Charles Roland.  In 1870 Thomas Wetzler took a controlling interest and is to-day its successful publisher.  The Lancaster Gazette was founded by General George Sanderson and Benjamin Oswold in 1826, and though the paper was edited by others, Sanderson retained an interest until 1836.  Reese and Borland had charge of it in 1832 and afterwards Colonel P. Van Trump.  Captain Duffey was the able editor in the great campaign of 1840, having been brought to Lancaster for that campaign.  Other editors were Moeller, Percival, Weaver, Slaughter, McElroy, Joshua Clarke, R. M. Clarke, Dr. H. Scott, A. P. Miller. Samuel A. Griswold was the editor for thirty years, from 1866 to 1896.  The paper is now edited by F. S. Pursell. 
     The Lancaster Democrat, Telegraph, and Journal each flourished for a few years.  The Fairfield County Republican was established in 1880 by A. R. Eversole. 
     The Fairfield County Democrat is owned by a company and edited by Silas W. Rigby. 
     In 1832 Colonel Van Trump and John H. Wright published a small weekly paper which they in 1833 merged with the Gazette.  James Weaver was carrier boy for Colonel Van Trump, and for the New Year's Address sold copies to the amount of twenty-seven dollars.  He is still proud of that day's work.

Page 105

HENRY STANBERY.

     Henry Stanbery was the son of a physician.  He was born in New York City in the year 1803.  When but eleven years of age, in the year 1814, he came with his father to Zanesville, Ohio.  He was educated at Washington College, Pa., and studied law in Zanesville.  In May, 1824, he was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court at Gallipolis, Ohio. In the month of June following, he made his first speech to a jury in the Court House at Athens, Ohio.  It was a case of bastardy and he appeared for the fair plaintiff.  Among other good points he made, he said to the jury that there were three witnesses in this case in behalf of the plaintiff, the mother and her twin babies, silent though they were.  His opponent saw the force of Stanbery's speech and did his best to counteract it.  The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff.  "The silence often of pure innocence Persuades, when speaking fails."  Winter's Tale.  At the solicitation of Thomas Ewing, he settled in Lancaster and with him formed a partnership.  They traveled the circuit together for a few years, when they dissolved partnership and became friendly rivals upon all cases of great importance upon the circuit.  From 1825 to 1830 Ewing and Stanbery were the most prominent young attorneys in the State in active practice.  And from 1830 to the close of their professional careers they were the foremost lawyers of the State of Ohio.  Mr. Stanbery's reputation rests upon his ability as a lawyer.  He took no part in politics.  In the year 1846 Henry Stanbery was elected Attorney-General by the Legislature of the State of Ohio; in

Page 106 -
which capacity he served the State ably for five years.  In the meantime he became a resident of Columbus, Ohio.  In the year 1850 he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention for Franklin County, being one of the ablest members of that body and conspicuous in debate.  From Columbus he moved to Cincinnati, where he practiced his profession until called to fill the position of Attorney-General of the United States by President Johnson in the year 1866.  During the impeachment trial of President Johnson, he resigned this office to become his counsel.  He returned to Cincinnati, where he spent the declining years of his life.  He died while on a visit to New York City in 1883, aged eighty years.  Henry Stanbery was a man over six feet in height, straight as an arrow, of commanding presence, courtly manners, and was the most polite and affable member of the Ohio Bar.  He was the soul of honor and scorned to do a mean act.  He neither misled court or jury, or took a mean advantage of his opponent.  He was one of the great lawyers of our time and a model gentleman in every relation in life.  His first wife was a daughter of General Philemon Beecher.  She died early, in the year 1840, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery by the side of her father and mother.  His second wife was a daughter of Colonel Bond, of Chillicothe.  The body of Henry Stanbery was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery at Cincinnati.  His son, Judge Philemon Beecher Stanbery, lives in Pomeroy, Ohio.

WILLIAM MEDILL.

     William Medill was a native of the State of Delaware and was born in the year 1802.  He received a college education and studied law.  In the year 1832 he came

Page 107 -
to Lancaster, was received into the best society, and was soon one of the promising young men of the town.  He was well educated, and refined in his manners and, although he never married, was always something of a ladies' man and popular in society.  He gave promise of eminence at the bar, but early embarked upon a political career, thereby neglecting his profession.  He became a great and successful politician, and made a reputation both state and national.  He was a gentleman of high character and his integrity was never questioned.  He was a Democrat and the idol of his party in the State of Ohio.  In 1835, 1836 and 1837 he was a member of the Ohio Legislature for Fairfield County.  He was elected and served two terms in Congress from 1839 to 1843, where he took a leading position, serving on important committees.  Under Polk's administration he served first as an Assistant Postmaster-General, but was soon transferred to the more important office of Commissioner of Indian Affairs.  In this position he made some reforms and added to his reputation as a man of affairs.
     He was a member of the Ohio Constitutional Convention of 1850, and was elected president of that body.  Here he was associated with Henry Stanbery and many other distinguished men.  In the year 1851 he was elected lieutenant governor of Ohio, and in the year 1854 was elected governor.
     Retiring from the office of governor, he was appointed by James Buchanan comptroller of the U. S. Treasury, an important position, which he filled with distinguished ability.
     While comptroller an old claim passed both houses of Congress, involving an expenditure of two or three millions of money, and was approved by the President.

Page 108 -
     Medill was satisfied that it was a fraud, and refused to pay it.  The appeals of congressmen and senators and of the President himself failed to move him and the claim was not paid.  An attempt was made to impeach him; Green,* of Missouri, offering the resolution with that end in view, in the Senate, but the firmness of R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, and others who had confidence in the judgment and integrity of Medill, prevented it.
     At the close of Buchanan's term he returned to Lancaster, broken in health, where he spent his closing years in quiet retirement, dying in the year 1865.
     Governor Medill educated his relative, Dr. Robert McNeill, the younger, and was liberal to other friends.  The Governor at his death gave his fine estate to his nephew and namesake, William Medill, of this city.

JOSHUA CLARKE.

     Joshua Clarke was born Aug. 27, 1795, in the State of New York, where he received his education.  He came early to Lancaster and was first engaged in the business of a contractor and builder.  He built the fine house, now the residence of Judge Brasee, for Captain A. F. Witte and in 1833 became lessee.  Here he took his bride, his second wife, to live.  She was Miss Adaline Doane, and he first met her at the grand party given in honor of Daniel Webster by Senator Ewing in 1833.  Her escort on this occasion was Wm. Medill, afterwards governor of Ohio.
     From the year 1825 to 1850 Captain Clarke was a busy man; full of energy and enterprise.  After ceasing to be a builder, he managed the Witte distillery

---------------
     * Con. Globe parts 2 and 3.  36th Congress.

Page 109 -
for Maccracken, Latta, and Effinger, and at the same time operated one at Clarksburg.  He also, in partnership with Colonel John Noble, built and operated a carding mill and a large blacksmith shop at the same point.  Later, as a partner of Colonel Noble, he rented Barrett's woolen mill at the upper falls of the Hockhocking River, which they successfully managed two or three years.  In 1855 and continuing to 1860, he was the owner and editor of the Lancaster Gazette.  During all of these years Joshua Clarke was a prominent man in Lancaster, taking part in every public enterprise which called for the opinion or action of a good citizen.
     He was the friend of education and member of a committee, of which General W. J. Reese and Wm. Medill were also members, to inspect and report to the managers, the condition, efficiency and character of Howe's Academy.  The report of the committee was favorable.  As early as 1833 he was a member of the Lancaster Institute, a famous debating society, and was a prominent participant in its deliberations and debates.  In the Whig campaigns of 1836, 1840 and 1844, he made effective stump speeches, and his services were in demand in all parts of Fairfield County.  He was a member of the Board of Managers of the old Lancaster Library.
     In the year 1842 he was chosen to deliver the fourth of July oration at a large celebration of the national anniversary.  So well was it received, that he was requested to publish it.  It may be found in the Ohio Eagle of that year.
     When the Whig party became little more than a dissolving view, Captain Clarke allied himself to the American party.  He was a delegate to the State con-

Page 110 -
vention of that party (in 1857), held at Dayton, O., and was selected as chairman of the convention, an honor always to be appreciated.  At this convention his friend, Colonel P. Van Trump, was nominated for governor.
     He supported John Bell for president as against Fremont and Buchanan.
     After the downfall of the old Whig party and the collapse of the American party, he seemed to be lost.  His convictions were such that he could not consist ently be a Democrat.  He did not fraternize with the Republican party and he ended his days in this unsatisfactory frame of mind.  He was alone, "the last leaf upon the tree."
     Captain Clarke was fond of books and read the best authors.  He was familiar with the English classics.  Of poetry, "Tam O' Shanter" was his favorite short poem.  He died on his farm south of town, March, 1866.  He was twice married and the father of fifteen children—Burns, Byron, Willis Gaylord, Robert McNeil, Charles, Joshua, Henry, Thomas, Mrs. Thos. Coulson, Mrs. Robert Slaughter, Mrs. Henrietta Pearse, Mrs. Fannie King, Mrs. H. W. Carpenter, Mrs. J. M. Sutphen, and Mrs. James Ulrick.  Joshua and Wm. H. Kooken were his adopted sons.  He numbered among his friends, during a long series of years, the leading men of Lancaster.  One of his sons, R. M. Clarke, is a distinguished lawyer of Carson City, Nevada.

F. J. BOVING

     Mr. Boving was a native of Bremen, Germany.  He came to Ohio from Baltimore, Maryland, and first settled in Royalton, Ohio.  This was in the year 1830.  Here he was engaged in the dry goods business in

Page 111 -
connection with H. H. Westfall.  In 1832 he married Miss Catharine Scott, the daughter of a farmer in the vicinity.  In 1839 he moved to Lancaster, and in partnership with Mr. Graue he opened up a wholesale and retail grocery and the firm was known as Boving & Graue.  This firm conducted a large and profitable business for nine years.  In addition to their grocery trade they handled large quantities of tobacco, and shipped it to Baltimore.  During five years of this time there was no bank in Lancaster, and they sold exchange to the merchants.  In fact they supplied the community with banking facilities.  In the year 1848 Graue left the firm and moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and E. Becker became Boving's partner.  In 1856 Boving sold his interest to E. Becker, and in 1859 purchased the hardware stock of John Effinger and continued the business until 1864, when he sold out to John C. Weaver, and permanently retired from mercantile life.  He then purchased one or two farms superintended the farming and cultivated grapes.  Mr. Boving was an honorable man and an influential citizen, and one of the most intelligent and capable men in the business circles of Lancaster in his time.

WILLIAM J. REESE

     William J. Reese was born Aug. 3, 1804, in the city of Philadelphia.  He received a liberal education in his native city and studied law.  He came to Lancaster in 1827 and, after one year's residence as required by law, opened a law office and began the practice of his profession.  He was a cultured, refined and brilliant young man.  While yet a young attorney in 1829, he joined Samuel F. Maccracken in establishing a dry goods store in Newark.  This store

Page 112 -
Maccracken's clerks, to whom in 1832 Mr. Reese sold his interest in the store.  In this same year he purchased an interest in the Lancaster Gazette in partnership with Charles Borland.  One year satisfied him with news papers, and he sold his interest to Colonel P. VanTrump.  In 1832 General Reese purchased the interest of Henry Matthews and Joel Buttles in the dry goods stock of Henry Matthews & Company, of which firm Thomas Reed was a member.  The business was continued under the firm name of Thomas Reed & Company.  January 30th, 1836, Thomas Reed retired from the firm.  In March, 1838, General Reese disposed of his goods to Culbertson and Nye.  Nov. 13th, 1838, David Rokohl purchased a one-third interest in the business, the firm becoming Culbertson, Nye & Rokohl.  In the year 1843 General Reese moved to Philadelphia.  There in connection with John Hulan he opened a jobbing house.  He followed this business for a few years but it proved a failure, and, losing his health, he returned to Lancaster, where he lived in retirement the remainder of his days.  General Reese was always a prominent and influential citizen of Lancaster.  He was the captain of a fine military company at one time.  He was Brigadier-General of the Ohio Militia at the time he decided to leave Lancaster.  In the days of his prosperity, he built one of the finest and most commodious houses in Lancaster.  He was for several years Secretary of the Board of Fund Commissioners for the State of Ohio.  He was an enthusiastic Mason and the reputed author of the present ritual.  He succeeded Judge Sherman as Master of the Masonic Lodge of Lancaster.  For eight years he was the

Page 113 -
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of Ohio.  He was one of the original members of the St. John's Episcopal Church and an enthusiastic churchman.  He built the first store in Lancaster with what is called an open front.  His wife was the eldest daughter of Judge Charles R. Sherman.  General Reese was always a public spirited citizen and a polite and courteous gentleman.  He died Dec. 17th, 1883.

MARY ELIZABETH REESE.

     Mary Elizabeth Reese, a daughter of Charles R. Sherman and the eldest sister of the two distinguished brothers John and W. T. Sherman, was born in Lancaster, Ohio, Apr. 21st, 1812.  Mrs. Reese has lived eighty-five years in Lancaster, save ten years she spent in Philadelphia, in the most interesting period of the world's history.  Since her marriage, at the age of seventeen years, she has been a leader in society in Lancaster, known to all of its people and highly esteemed and honored.  When her brother, General W. T. Sherman, broken in spirit and much distressed on account of his cruel treatment, came to Lancaster on a furlough, after he had been relieved by Secretary Cameron, on the plea that he was either drunk or crazy, she was the one to whom he came for sympathy, and it was her faith in his ability that fortified him and gave him the encouragement that induced him to return to the army.  She never forgave Cameron for the injury to her brother, and at the marriage of her niece to Don Cameron, declined to be escorted by the Secretary, notwithstanding he had apologized for his treatment of her brother.  An incident of her courtship related by herself to Miss Carrie Foster, a cor-

Page 114 -
respondent, is of interest, associated as it is with beautiful Mt. Pleasant.
     In the old homestead, part of which, modernized, still stands on the north side of Main Street, near the crown of the hill, and between the residences of E. B. White and Philip Rising, where her brothers and sisters were reared, Mary Elizabeth Sherman was married in her seventeenth year to William J. Reese, a wealthy young- lawyer of Philadelphia, who had begun the practice of his profession in Lancaster.  The courtship which led up to this union furnishes one of the pretty legends associated with historic Mt. Pleasant, a unique pile of rocks on the northern boundary of this city.  The popular version of the story is that Miss Sherman, to test her lover's courage and affection, sprang from the face of the bluff, which rises two hundred feet and more from the base, and was immediately followed by Mr. Reese.  Alighting on the declivity many feet below both were saved from injury, and immediately she gave her "promise true" to the brave young fellow.  Somewhat shorn of the romance, the incident, as told the writer by the heroine, is as follows:
     "She had one afternoon induced some of her school girl friends to play truant, and the bevy ascended Mt. Pleasant, where they were wandering about when they chanced to run across a party of young men, among whom was Mr. Reese, then paying marked attention to Mary Elizabeth.  Not wishing to meet her admirer, she started on a run to evade them, her foot slipped on the verge of the precipice and over she went, landing a few feet below on a ledge of rock, where she lay unconscious.  Young Reese noticed her disappearance, and sprang after her and by the

Page 115 -
aid of the others lifted her back to the plain above, and she was assisted home in a semi-conscious condition.  When medical aid was summoned it was found that the teeth of her great old-fashioned tortoise shell comb had been driven their length under the scalp and broken off, necessitating the use of the knife for their removal.  The young lady was badly bruised by the fall but was otherwise uninjured.  A piece of her dress, which was torn off in her descent, was picked up by her rescuer and preserved for years as a tender memento."

MRS. SARAH JULIAN

     Philip Shartle came to Lancaster from Berks County, Penn., in 1804 and took up his residence on Columbus Street.  He remained here a year or two and then moved to his farm in Clear Creek Township where he kept a tavern for twenty-five years.  His daughter, Sarah, was a small girl at the time he lived here.  She married John Julian, of Madison Town ship in 1825.  They were the parents of Isaac Julian, of Madison Township.  Mrs. Julian is now a resident of Circleville, O.  She has passed her ninety-fifth year.  She is undoubtedly the oldest person living who lived in Lancaster as early as 1804.

THOMAS REED

     Thomas Reed came to Lancaster from Chillicothe previous to the year 1829.  He was originally from Harrisburg, Pa., and was born Nov. 29, 1800.  He was immediately employed as clerk by Henry Matthews & Company.  Mar. 18, 1830, he was admitted as a partner.  In the year 1832 General Reese purchased all interest in the store except that of Reed, and the business was thereafter conducted under the

Page 116 -
name of Thomas Reed & Company. In the Ohio Eagle of 1833 appears an elaborate advertisement by this firm.  The Ohio Eagle of that year contains another interesting notice of Mr. Reed, viz., his marriage to Rebecca Arnold, June 25, Tuesday, 1833, the Rev. Jno. Wright officiating. January, 1836, Reese and Reed dissolved partnership, Reese continuing the business.  Some time in the forties, Thos. Reed, in company with Asa Clarke, carried on a store in Baltimore, O.  After retiring from the management of business, he clerked in various stores of the town.  His last positions were with the firms of Little & Dresbach and Lyons & Son.  Mr. Reed was a man of integrity, a splendid man physically, and an obliging, polite and popular merchant.  He died September 29, 1860.  Mr. Reed was in business on the Arnold corner as late as 1840, upon his own account.

SOME LOCAL HAPPENINGS.

     In 1827, June 24, Jacob D. Deitrick, General George Sanderson, George Ring, George Browning and E. B. Thompson were the managers of the Masonic celebration of that day.  G. Steinman provided a grand dinner, and in the evening a grand ball was given at Steinman's Assembly Hall.  Judge Charles R. Sherman was one of the guests.
     E. B. Thompson was sheriff of the county in 1828.  He married a Virginia girl, a niece of General Samuel Effinger.  In the year 1833 he was auditor of Fairfield County, O., and died soon after.
     The mail facilities of this period compared with the present were very poor indeed.  There was an eastern mail three times a week, a mail to Cincinnati twice each week, a mail once each week to Marietta. Co-

Page 117 -
lumbus was a very small town and the city of Chicago had not then been heard of.  Daily papers were unknown here and the merchants and professional men were content with weekly or tri-weekly papers from Baltimore or Philadelphia.  The local papers were small and contained but little news and but few local items.  The Ohio Eagle did not mention the visit of Daniel Webster in 1833.
     An independent fire company was organized in Lancaster in 1833.  P. Van Trump was the captain, and Samuel Herr first lieutenant, Samuel Evans second lieutenant, George Hood engineer, and second engineer, John C. Fall.  The company was certainly well officered.
     The Lancaster Mechanics' Beneficial Society was in existence in 1833.  How long it had existed and how long it continued to exist we are not able to state.  Daniel Sifford was president; H. F. Blaire, vice president; R. O. Claspill, secretary; and Benjamin Connell, treasurer, all good mechanics and good men.  With such officers it must have been beneficial and useful to mechanics.

PUBLIC LIBRARY

     In 1834 a good library was in existence in Lancaster.  May 25th, 1834, the directors issued a call for a public meeting, which was signed by Thomas Ewing, William J. Reese, Robt. McNeill, John T. Brasee, Hocking H. Hunter, M. Z. Kreider, George Reber, P. Van Trump, Henry Stanbery, William Medill and Samuel F. Maccracken.  A board of directors that we may safely challenge the State of Ohio to equal either in character or intellect.  This was the beginning of the intellectual era of Lancaster, a period without a parallel in the history of the city.

Page 118 -

HOCKING VALLEY RAILROAD

     In 1833 the citizens of Lancaster were alive to the value of railroads, new as the system was in the United States.  They called a public meeting, prepared a petition asking for the grant of a charter and forwarded it to the Legislature.  The road was authorized by the Legislature.  The proposition was for a double track road down the Hocking Valley to Parkersburg, Virginia.  The idea was to make the northern terminus at Lancaster, connecting with the Lateral Canal soon to be completed.  We cannot trace the history of this project any farther, and conclude that it was soon abandoned.  Thirty-two years later the matter was revived, and the result is well known, a good railroad down the Valley.
     This proposition shows us how the people of that time valued their canal system, proposing, as they did, to make their town the terminus of a railroad because it was the terminus of a canal.

GENERAL W. T. SHERMAN

     General Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio, Feb. 8, 1820.  He was the son of Judge Charles R. Sherman and Mary Hoyt, his wife.  His father died when he was but nine years old, leaving his widow with eleven young children.  Hon. Thos. Ewing proposed to adopt "Cump," as the boy was called, and the mother consented. The sacrifice was not so great, as Mr. Ewing lived near by.  Here he was the playmate and schoolmate of P. B. Ewing and his sister, Ellen (his future wife), and he was a member of this home until sent to West Point in 1836, at the age of sixteen years.  An old subscription paper for the expenses

Page 119 -
of a fourth of July celebration, dated June 12, 1836, has his signature attached.
     Graduating with honors, he entered the army as a lieutenant of the Third Artillery.  And the year 1846 found him stationed at Ft. Moultrie, South Carolina.  Robert Anderson was his captain, and Colonel Wm. Gates was commander of the post. Sherman was the junior first lieutenant of Company G.
     In April of this year he was assigned to recruiting duty, first at Pittsburgh and finally at Zanesville, O.  While engaged in this duty, on his way by stage coach from Cincinnati to his post in Pittsburgh, he stopped at Lancaster and attended the wedding of his school mate, Mike Effinger.  This was in the month of June, 1846.  Arriving in Pittsburgh, he found an order as signing him to Company H, Third Artillery, under orders for California.  He shipped at New York for Monterey, Cal., by way of Cape Horn, where he landed January, 1847.
     In January, 1850, he returned to the East with dispatches for the War Department.  He was given leave of absence for six months and on the first day of May, 1850, he was married to Ellen B. Ewing, daughter of Thomas Ewing, then Secretary of the Interior.  Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Thomas H. Benton, President Taylor and Cabinet were guests. Sept. 6, 1853, he resigned as lieutenant in the army and became a member of the banking firm of Lucas, Turner & Company, he to take charge of a branch to be established in San Francisco.  Thither he proceeded on the 20th day of September, reaching San Francisco Oct. 15, 1853.
     On the first of May, 1857, Lucas, Turner & Company closed up their business and quit San Francisco.

Page 120 -

Page 121 -

Page 122 -

Page 123 -

Page 124 -

LANCASTER AND GENERAL SHERMAN.

Page 125 -

HON. JOHN SHERMAN

Page 126 -

Page 127 -

JOHN BROUGH

Page 128 -

Page 129 -

CAPTAIN JOHN A. DUBBLE

Page 130 -

LANCASTER BAR - 1830 TO 1850

Page 131 -

Page 132 -

SCHOOLS

THE LANCASTER ACADEMY - LATER HOWE'S ACADEMY

Page 133 -

Page 134 -

HISTORY OF THE SCHOOLS OF LANCASTER, O.

Page 135 -

Page 136 -

Page 137 -

Page 138 -

Page 139 -

Page 140 -

HIGH SCHOOL

Page 141 -

Page 142 -

SCHOOL SUPERVISION
By John L. Tuthill, 1876

Page 143 -

Page 144 -

Page 145 -

MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD

SUPERINTENDENTS SINCE 1876

Page 146 -

BOARD OF EDUCATION IN 1876

Page 147 -

WESLEY NEWMAN

CHARLES NOURSE

Page 148 -

M. A. DAUGHERTY

JOEL S. PARSONS

Page 149 -

DR. JOHN WILLIAMS

Page 150 -

Page 151 -

JOHN REBER

Page 152 -

Page 153 -

Page 154 -

DARIUS TALLMADGE

Page 155 -

Page 156 -

HOCKING H. HUNTER

Page 157 -

Page 158 -

JACOB ULRICK

Page 159 -

Page 160 -

JOHN T. BRASEE

Page 161 -

Page 162 -

 

Page 163 -