Page 378 -
DOUGLAS CLUB
June 30, 1860, a
Douglass Club was formed in Lancaster.
At a meeting called for that purpose a
committee of five was appointed to report
officers, viz.: W. T. Wise, J. W.
Stinchcomb, A. Brennaman, E. C. Kreider
and Tall Slough. They reported as
follows: G. J. Wygum, president;
John O'Hare, vice-president; Hugh
Cannon, treasurer; W. H. Pugh,
secretary; executive committee: A.
McVeigh, K. Fritter, Wm.
Fismer, J. Plout, J. M. Connell, Newton
Schleich, Pat. Powers, Adam Guseman.
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
The second
public library in the history of Lancaster
was established in the year 1878. The
funds necessary to purchase three thousand
volumes were raised by public subscription.
F. C. Whiley solicited the greater
portion of the subscription and was ably
seconded by Prof. Andrews,
Judge Wright and Kinnis
Fritter, his associate members of the
board of trustees. The control of the
library was vested in the city council, and
a tax has been annually levied for its
support. The president of the council
and the president of the school board are
ex-officio members of the board of trustees.
Professor E. B. Andrews, a scholarly man, was a
warm friend and supporter of the library
from its organization to the day of his
death.
The present trustees are E. B. Cartmell, George W.
Welsh, John G. Reeves and H. C. Drinkle.
The library will soon occupy its new
quarters, a commodious, handsome and
well-lighted room in the city hall.
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HISTORY OF
NATURAL GAS PLANT
Mr. G. W.
Trimble, Superintendent of the Natural
Gas Plant owned by the city of Lancaster,
Ohio, gives the following brief history of
same:
In the spring of 1886 a number of the citizens
organized a company to drill for natural
gas. The first well was located south of the
C. & M. V. Ry., near Maple Street. The
well was drilled to a depth of two thousand
feet and gas was found in the Clinton sand
rock. The well produced about one
hundred thousand cubic feet every
twenty-four hours. They continued to
drill until they reached a depth of two
thousand five hundred feet, but found no
more gas. Soon after that time, two
other companies of our citizens were formed
to sink two more wells. One was
located north and one east of the city,
which when drilled in produced one million
cubic feet every twenty-four hours.
During the winter of 1887 and 1888 the three companies
consolidated and laid pipes over a small
portion of the city and furnished gas to a
few citizens. In April, 1888, the city
proposed to put in its own plant. The
question of issuing bonds to the amount of
$50,000.00 for the construction of such a
plant was submitted to the voters, and out
of about two thousand votes there were but
twenty-five votes against the proposition.
The bonds were issued and the original plant
constructed by the citizens' company was
purchased, for which the city paid
$23,559.47.
On the 18th day of July, 1888, the Council appointed
three Trustees to manage said plant, viz.:
Messrs. Samuel Whiley,
Henry Sieber and Samuel W. Rainey.
The balance of the money after purchasing
Page 380 -
the original plant amounting to $26,440.53
was used in constructing a first-class
plant, including the drilling of two new
wells. In June, 1889, the City Council
issued an additional $25,000 of bonds for
natural gas purposes and there were but
$20,000 of them sold, making a total bond
issue of $70,000.
The plant was kept in first-class condition at all
times out of the earnings of the same, and
in September, 1891, the Board began to pay
off the $70,000 natural gas bonds out of the
surplus accumulated from
the sale of gas, paying as much as $22,500
in one year, and on December 19th, 1895, the
last bond was paid off. They also paid
the interest on the bonds, which amounted to
$20,000. Since the natural gas bonds
were paid, the Trustees have paid all of the
city's bonds and interest as fast as they
matured, including Water Works bonds and
interest. We have five thousand two
hundred fires on the line. The income
of the plant at the present time amounts to
about $50,000 per annum. The expenses
for maintaining the plant is $20,000 per
annum, a net profit to the city of $30,000
per annum. We have single wells that
will produce ten million cubic feet every
twenty-four hours, with a rock pressure when
shut in, of seven hundred and eighty pounds
to the square inch.
The present Board: Messrs. Samuel Whiley, Ed. A.
Dodson and Captain Albert Getz,
and G. W. Trimble, Superintendent,
have had the management of the plant for the
past six years, with Captain J. M.
Sutphen, Clerk.
Lancaster, Ohio, February 22, 1897.
Page 381 -
HOCKING VALLEY
HOP COMPANY
The Hop Company
was organized Nov. 9, 1865, by T. W.
Tallmadge, Dr. O. E. Davis, Dr. H. L. Crider,
Rev. P. D. Schory and General Joab
A. Stafford. The Stambaugh
farm was purchased and fifty-two
acres planted in hops. Drying and
packing houses of approved pattern were
erected and all placed under the direction
of General Stafford.
The business did not prove profitable and in a few
years it was abandoned and the land laid off
in lots, arid what is now known as the
hop-yard addition to Lancaster, was added to
the town. This new addition was made
by T. W. Tallmadge.
Tallmadge was born in Maysville, Ky., and came
with his parents to Lancaster when a small
boy. He studied law with John T.
Brasee, married his eldest daughter, and
for two or three years was his partner.
From Lancaster he moved to Columbus, where
he was largely engaged in real estate deals.
From there he moved to Washington, D. C.
Mr. Tallmadge has always been a busy,
enterprising man full of energy. Two
of his sons are well-known business men of
Columbus.
A BRIEF REVIEW
Lancaster has
always been a lovely place of residence.
Inhabited by an intelligent and industrious
people, the society has always been good,
cultured and refined, numbering among its
members professional men of great ability
and distinction, merchants of high character
and full of enterprise, bankers of financial
ability and of wide reputation. But it
has never been a place for the accumulation
of large for tunes. Men of all classes
have been good livers and
Page 382 -
in comfortable circumstances during their
lives. Many of the merchants
accumulated handsome fortunes, but
unfortunate speculations or business
ventures, or endorsing for friends swept the
bulk of their fortunes away. John
Reber was the only merchant who died
leaving his family an estate worth over one
hundred thousand dollars. We cannot
name another whose fortune reached that
amount at the time of his death, and there
is but one now living whose fortune is rated
higher. Theodore Mithoff
was not a merchant, but an enterprising
manufacturer and banker, and he is the
only one of this class whose fortune at the
time of his death exceeded one hundred
thousand dollars. John T. Brasee
left the largest estate of any professional
man. Henry Stanbery made
investments that brought his family a
fortune after his death. When he was
attorney-general he purchased a lot on High
Street, Columbus, for three thousand
dollars, which recently sold for . seventy
thousand dollars. Jacob Keller,
the Lancaster grocer and miller, is
considered a wealthy man.
The late Noah S. Gregg and Samuel Rogers,
distinguished citizens of Circleville, were
old-time business men of Lancaster.
The widow of Richard Ainsworth
became the second wife of Mr.
Rogers. She was the mother of
Mrs. Joseph C. Kinkead.
Thomas B. Cox
was for nearly half a century a well known
and wealthy citizen of the suburbs and the
owner of beautiful Mt. Pleasant. His
fine grove near his dwelling was the
favorite place for political meetings.
He was a strong Democrat, but he was liberal
with his Whig friends, and always gave them
the use of his grounds. He was a
familiar figure upon the streets of
Lancaster.
Page 383 -
E. B.
Cartmell succeeded Theodore Mithoff
as president of the Hocking Valley
Manufacturing Company. It is a fine
plant, well equipped and well managed.
E. B. Cartmell is his own successful
salesman.
The German element has always been prominent in the
history of Lancaster. The fact that
the first news paper was printed in the
German language, is abundant evidence of its
prominence as early as 1807. The
German language has been in use in one or
more of our churches throughout their
history.
Christian Rokohl, Ed. Shaeffer, J. D. Deitrick,
Jacob F. Beck, and John Herman
were pioneer Germans, and intelligent,
honorable men.
Fred. A. Shaeffer, John U. Giesy, F. A. Steck, M.
Leonard, Charles Bauman, Mr. Witte, Mr.
Gromme, F. J. Boving, Dr. Saxe, G. Steinman,
L. Lobenthal, Rev. John
Wagenhals, Jacob Wetzel,
Rev. Steck, Rev.
Charles Spielman, Joseph
Reinmund, Augustus and
Theodore Mithoff, E. Becker and W.
Binninger were all good business men,
honorable in their dealings and in all
respects first-class citizens. Their
influence has been felt in all circles and
in all measures calculated to improve and
benefit our city.
The income and expenses of the town of Lancaster for
the year 1827, taken as a sample of that
period were as follows:
Amount of income from taxes and licenses, $888.14;
total disbursements, $932.88.
Benjamin Connell, treasurer, and
Gottlieb Steinman, recorder,
certify to this statement. The
population was then less than 2000. At
this time there were no free schools,
teachers being employed and paid by private
subscriptions.
In the year 1876 the total income of the city from
taxes and licenses, other than the school
fund, was
Page 384 -
$30,718.93; the total expenses for same year
in round numbers was $26,610.04. In
addition to this, $25,569.29 was the levy
for school purposes. The population of
the city had in fifty years increased to
seven thousand, and the increase in
disbursements was $51,300 in round numbers.
In the last twenty years the streets of the city have
been improved and the main ones paved with
brick, which causes an additional levy each
year. The city is lighted with
electricity at an expense of about $6000 per
annum. These improvements have added
greatly to the convenience and beauty of the
city, to which the city hall, when
completed, will add its full share.
With all this increase, the tax rate is less than two
and one-quarter cents for a city of eight
thousand inhabitants. But one city in
the state of Ohio has a lower rate.
There are a good number of manufacturing establishments
that have been in successful operation for a
number of years, the Hocking Valley
Manufacturing Company, Eagle Machine
Company, Orman Bros.,
Becker Brewing Company and Delancy
& Son, to which have recently been added The
A. Getz Shoe Factory, The
Lancaster or Godman Shoe Factory,
W. B. Henry's Brick and Tile Works,
Geo. Cowden's Brick and Tile
Works, Alten's Machine Shop, Glass
Works and Denton Shoe Company.
No town is more favorably situated for manufacturing —
near to coal and plenty of natural gas, with
ample facilities for transportation.
Page 385 -
CALIFORNIA
ADVENTURERS
Lancaster
furnished her full quota of men who braved
the dangers of the deep or the privations of
the plains and made their way to California
in 1849, 1850 and 1851.
Many of them achieved distinction in business and in
various pursuits. Those remembered were
Philip Kraner, John H. Tennant, Jesse
B. Hart, John C. Fall, Samuel Crim, Daniel
Sifford, Thomas Sturgeon, Tom Lockhart, Fred
Shaeffer, Levi Anderson, David Rokohl, John
H. Kinkead, and later, R. M. Clarke
and Henry Orman, Jr. Thomas
Sturgeon returned to Lancaster in a
year or two, as did Daniel Sifford.
Samuel Crim and John C.
Fall amassed fortunes and died in San
Francisco. John H. Kinkead
became Governor of Nevada, and R. M.
Clarke, attorney-general of same state.
Mary Creed,
granddaughter of John Creed,
the banker, became the wife of Governor
Lowe of California. General
Thomas Ewing was chief justice
of Kansas. Miss Kendall,
daughter of Ben Kendall,
became the wife of Governor
Sherman of Iowa. C. C. Nourse
was common pleas judge in Iowa.
DISTINGUISHED
VISITORS
Perhaps
Lancaster has been more highly honored than
any city in the state, save Cincinnati,
Columbus and Cleveland, by the visits of
distinguished men of national and world-wide
reputation. The Duke of Saxe Weimar
visited here in 1825, and carved his name
upon the rocks of historic Mt. Pleasant, the
"Standing Stone" of the aborigines.
Governor DeWitt Clinton,
whose name will always be remembered in
history as the father of the canal system of
the
Page 386 -
United States, visited Lancaster in 1825,
and was the guest of Judge Sherman,
then one of the foremost men of the state of
Ohio. Daniel Webster
spent two weeks in Lancaster in 1833, the
guest of Thomas Ewing, then senator
from Ohio. While here, with Mr.
Ewing, he called upon Colonel
Worthington, living three miles south
of town, and upon Nathaniel Wilson,
living three miles west of town at the
historic Locust Grove. During this
visit, Mr. Webster and Mr.
Ewing drove to Chillicothe. On the
way they entered a considerable forest and
found their way blocked by a fallen tree.
Mr. Ewing procured an axe,
with the use of which he was familiar, and
soon cut off a log of the proper length, and
he and Webster rolled it off the
road. Dr. Waddell, late
of Chillicothe, is the authority for this
incident. Mr. Ewing
always had a warm spot in his heart for
Chillicothe, and when the great fire of 1852
devastated that city, he made a very
handsome contribution for the relief of the
sufferers.
Henry Clay was entertained by the
citizens of Lancaster with an elaborate
dinner in the year 1825. Frederick
A. Shaeffer was always proud of the fact
that he once conveyed Henry Clay in
his carriage to Wheeling, West Virginia.
General Jackson was more than once a guest at
Lancaster hotels.
General Wm. H. Harrison was the guest of
Lancaster in 1836, and again in 1840.
In 1836 he was entertained at the country
residence of David Rokohl on the
Columbus road.
James G. Blaine spent the summer of 1840 as the
guest of Thomas Ewing's family
in Lancaster, and was here on two or three
occasions during his public
Page 387 -
career, the guest of Judge P. B. Ewing.
His last mem orable visit was made when a
candidate for the presidency.
Thomas Corwin, Governor Metcalf, General
Leslie Combs and Cassius M. Clay
have been guests of Lancaster.
Later, President Garfield, General
Sheridan, Columbus Delano,
Governor McKinley and W. J.
Bryan
honored Lancaster with their presence.
Perhaps no city in Ohio, with the possible exception of
Cincinnati, has been the native place or
residence of more men who have attained to
honorable and responsible public positions —
many of them achieving a national
reputation — than the city of Lancaster.
General Beecher was for ten years a member of
congress; Robert F. Slaughter,
legislator and common pleas judge; W. W.
Irvin, member of congress and judge of
supreme court; and Charles R. Sherman,
father of John and General W. T. Sherman,
was elected judge of the supreme court in
1823; Thomas Ewing was twice a
senator of the United States, secretary of
the treasury under General
Harrison, and secretary of the interior,
which department he organized under
General Taylor; John
Brough was a member of the Ohio
legislature in 1838, and one of Ohio's war
governors; Wm. Medill, a
member of congress and governor of Ohio;
Dr. Tom O. Edwards, a member of
congress; H. C. Whitman, judge of the
court of common pleas; C. D. Martin,
a member of congress and judge of the
supreme court; John S. Brasee, a
member of the commission for codifying the
laws of Ohio; John Sherman was, and
is to-day, a senator of the United States,
and was secretary of the treasury
Page 388 -
under President Hayes; John W. Noble
was secretary of the interior under
President Harrison; and that eminent
lawyer and courtly gentleman, Henry
Stanbery, was attorney-general of the
state of Ohio, and attorney-general of the
United States under President Johnson;
P. B. Ewing was common pleas judge;
H. H. Hunter was elected judge of the
supreme court of Ohio, but for business
reasons did not serve; Colonel Moore
was governor of Washington Territory;
Charles T. Sherman, for a brief term,
United States district judge for northern
Ohio; General Hugh Ewing, United
States minister to The Hague; Ed. F.
Hunter, common pleas judge, state of
Washington; and John Hunter, chief
justice of Utah Territory. A daughter of
Judge Sherman became the wife of
Governor Thomas W. Bartley; a
granddaughter married Senator Don
Cameron of Pennsylvania ; another,
General Nelson A. Miles, U. S. A.;
another, Judge Samuel Reber of St.
Louis, an old Lancaster man; another,
Judge Granger of Zanesville, Ohio; and
another, T. Ewing Miller of Columbus,
Ohio.
George Sanderson was a major-general of
the Ohio Militia, and W. J. Reese, a
brigadier-general; and General Samuel F.
Maccracken obtained his title as a
militia man.
Tall Slough is the present common pleas
judge.
Wm. T. Sherman was general of the United States
Army; Thomas Ewing and Hugh
Ewing were major generals of volunteers;
Charles Ewing was a brigadier
general of volunteers; Joab
Stafford, brigadier-general by brevet;
N. Schleich, J. M. Connell and C.
F. Steele rose to the rank of colonel;
Willis Clarke and H. H.
Giesy, to the rank of major.
H. B. Reese was paymaster with the rank of
colonel,
Page 389 -
and L. M. Dayton, Sherman's
adjutant with the rank of colonel.
Colonel Granville Moody
was for a few years a resident of Lancaster.
To this might be added a long list of minor officers
and privates, as gallant and brave men as
ever shouldered a musket, whose names are
recorded in the archives of the office of
the adjutant-general of Ohio, and upon the
imperishable roll of fame. Many of
them sleep their last sleep.
"On fame's eternal camping
ground,
Their silent tents are spread." |
Bishops
Merrill, Foster, and Morris,
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and also
Bishop Young, of the Catholic
Church, all eminent men in their churches
and of wide reputation, were once residents
of Lancaster.
The trustees of the Ohio University at Athens, Ohio,
have been the most distinguished men of
southern
Ohio, able men from every walk of life.
Lancaster had the honor of furnishing nine members of
that board. The honorable men thus
distinguished, were, Henry Abrams,
father-in-law of General Sanderson,
Judge Samuel Carpenter,
Judge Chas. R. Sherman,
Hon. Thomas Ewing, General Samuel F.
Maccracken, Hon. Wm. Medill, Dr. M. Z.
Kreider, General Thomas Ewing, and F.
C. Whiley.
Hon. Thomas Ewing was the second graduate of the
University. Hon. John T. Brasee
was one of the graduates.
Wm. Latta and Patrick Effinger were
graduates. Theodore
Tallmadge and E. C. Kreider were
students there; and doubtless others unknown
to the author.
The people of Lancaster are justly proud of their
Page 390 -
city and of the high position it has always
held among the cities of Ohio, and proud of
the many distinguished men whose fame has
shed lustre upon their beloved city.
The situation of Lancaster is beautiful and romantic.
Mt. Pleasant, the beautiful and historic
mountain, "renowned in song and story", the
finest landmark of the Hocking valley, is
within the corporate limits. At its
base, for a hundred years, was the favorite
camping ground of the Indians. At its
base, John Leith, a pioneer of
this county, asserted that he sold goods as
a young clerk for a Pittsburgh trader in
1765.
The exploits of Wetzel and his companion, detailed by
General Sanderson, is one of
the interesting and highly romantic legends
of the old mountain. The pretty story
of General Reese and his
sweetheart, Elizabeth Sherman,
is more than a legend, and will always
interest lovers of the romantic.
Judge Biddle, of Indiana, a
former law-student of Lancaster, made this
story and Mt. Pleasant, the subject of a
beautiful poem.
This monument methinks
should sacred stand
As did majestic nature pile it
here—
Untouched by civilized or savage
hand. |
Horace P. Biddle.
Mt. Pleasant,
and the twenty-seven acres of which it is a
part, would make a beautiful park, and in
this way it could be preserved for future
generations. As it is, it may be soon
despoiled of its timber and become a barren
rock. It has been suggested as a
beautiful spot for a monument to General
W. T. Sherman.
The Boys' Industrial School of Ohio is one of the
attractions of Lancaster. Situated in
a romantic and beautiful country, it is the
admiration of all visitors.
Page 391 -
It is now in the fortieth year of its
existence. It was founded by
Charles Reemelin, of Cincinnati.
He visited, while in Europe, a reform school
at Mettrey, France, which he thought came
near perfection. On his return to
Ohio, he induced the Ohio Legislature to
pass a law organizing a school upon the
model of the French school.
Governor Chase appointed him the first
acting commissioner, his associates being
John A. Foote and James D. Ladd.
The first two are dead; the last named lives
in poverty in Beatrice, Nebraska. The
writer was one of the Lancaster committee
that escorted Governor Chase
and the commissioners, while viewing the
proposed location, as were also General
Sanderson, L. Lobenthal, Henry Miers,
and John D. Martin.
Three miles, the last half of the route, was through
the woods. The twelve hundred acres
was all in timber, except one hundred acres
where the buildings now stand. Mr.
Reemelin gave much of his time to
starting the institution; but his principal,
Mr. Davis, and Colonel
Jaeger, the steward, were responsible
for details. Mr. Reemelin soon
tired of the burden and resigned. The
governor appointed George E. Howe,
acting commissioner and superintendent, in
which capacity he served for more than
twenty years. He laid the foundation
for the greatness of the institution and
made for himself enduring fame. He
lived to see twenty-two states organize like
institutions upon the Ohio model; and five
of the men he had trained made
superintendents, viz.: Frank
Ainsworth, of Indiana, C. W.
Ainsworth, of South Dakota, Dr.
Buck, of Kansas, Kilvington,
of Tennessee, and Drake, of Missouri.
Mr. Howe was succeeded by J. C. Hite,
G. S. Innis,
Page 392 -
Charles Douglass and D. M. Barrett,
the present incumbent.
Colonel Jaeger, Van Hyde, Berry, C. M. L. Wise man,
A. Levan, D. B. Kumler, Captain Roby, Will
Scott and C. D. Hilles, the
present incumbent, have been stewards.
The grounds and buildings have cost the state over
$400,000, and the annual outlay now exceeds
$100,000 for expenses and new buildings.
The buildings are all comfortable and convenient —some
of them quite fine. The new church is
a model of taste and comfort, and equals any
structure of the kind outside the large
cities. The school began with
twenty-two inmates, now there are about
eight hundred.
Lancaster is a name that is as old as English history,
known "From time whereof the memory of man
runneth not to the contrary." The
houses of Lancaster and York were rival
claimants for the throne of England, and the
contest was styled the "War of the Roses."
Lancaster has been the name of a town and
county of England from its earliest history,
and there are numerous towns, cities and
counties of that name in the United States.
The red rose is the emblematic flower of Lancaster, and
has been such from the birth of the house of
Lancaster. Let us hope that it will
always be the favorite flower of Lancaster
people, and that it will grow in favor as
the years roll round and continue to bud and
blossom upon our lawns, cemeteries and
parks. The antiquity of the rose is
unquestioned, for we read that it bloomed
upon the plains of Sharon. But
Solomon's taste for flowers was never
gratified by the sight of a bunch of
American beauties. His was
Page 393 -
"The modest wild rose of
the vale,
Its face turned up toward the sky,
Sends perfume on the summer gale,
And breathes to all with fragrant sigh."
This closes our
history of Lancaster and its people.
The author makes no claim to literary merit, but hopes
that he has recorded facts and incidents
pertaining to the history of Lancaster and
its old citizens, that will be read with
interest by all into whose hands this book
may fall.
Imperfect as it is, the work has been a labor of
gratitude and love, and the author wishes to
assure his friends and neighbors that, in
the preparation of the book to which he now
asks their generous consideration, he has
been constantly guided and encouraged by a
grateful remembrance of the kindness and
confidence of the people of Lancaster for
forty-three years, and his love for the old
town, where his children were born and
educated, and where the wife of forty years
lies buried.
"We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts,
not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best."
|