AS is recorded in a previous chapter, the
town owes its origin entirely to the selection of its site as
the location of the county seat. After the vote on the
question of relocation was taken in 1854, Samuel
Caldwell gave bond to the county commissioners to
donate for the use of the county a certain specified tract of
land in the northeast quarter of section 3, Olive Township, said
tract being twenty-eight rods in width by twenty-nine in length,
and containing a rifle over five acres. Although the tract
was duly surveyed in the year 1854, the legal controversy that
ensued regarding the location of the county seat, delayed the
establishment of the town for three years. Dec. 6, 1854,
the county commissioners passed two orders in reference to this
tract, the first authorizing Ezra McKee to cause it to be
surveyed into streets and lots, about two and a half acres being
reserved as a public square, and the second as follows:
"Resolved, second, that the name of the town ordered to be
surveyed be Caldwell."
The
name adopted was very appropriate, it being the name of the
owner of the land on which the town was to be located, who was
the son of the first settler in the neighborhood.
Caldwell is too young to possess a remarkable history.
Founded in 1857, its growth was very slow until within recent
years. In 1860 its population was probably not over 125;
ten years later, the census gave it 318 inhabitants.
During the next decade the increase was more rapid, the town
having been reached by the railroad, in 1872, and the census of
1880 showed that 602 persons were residents of the town.
Since 1880 the population has nearly, if not quite, doubled.
The town of Caldwell was surveyed and platted Dec. 20 and 21,
1854, by George Bell, deputy county surveyor, for the
proprietors, Samuel and Joseph Caldwell. The original plat
consisted of forty-eight lots, and embraced eleven and one-half
acres, including the public square. Numerous additions
have since been made, as follows:
Samuel Caldwell's first
addition (lots 49 to 57), surveyed by George Bell, June 26,
1857; ditto, second addition (lots 57 to 83), surveyed by
C. Burlingame, Oct. 1, 1859; John W. Caldwell's first addition
(lots 83 to 91), surveyed by Henry Miller, Mar. 23, 1868;
Joseph
Caldwell's first addition (lots 91 and 92), surveyed by Henry
Miller, Sept. 24, 1868; ditto, second addition (lots 105 to
111), surveyed by Henry Miller, Dec. 7, 1870; J. W. Caldwell's
second addition (lots 93 to 100), surveyed by David Miller, Mar.
8, 1871; Joseph Caldwell's third addition (lots 119 to 125),
surveyed by Henry Miller, Nov. 4, 1871; J. W. Caldwell's third
addition (lots 111 to 119), surveyed by Henry Hiller, Oct. 30,
1871; ditto, fourth addition (lots 100, 101 and 102), surveyed
by Henry Miller, Nov. 9, 1871; ditto, fifth addition (lot 125),
surveyed by Wm. A. Gittings, Nov. 21, 1873; David McKee's
addition (ten lots), surveyed by William Lowe, Sept. 18, 1873;
Joseph Caldwell's fourth addition (lots 126 to 130), surveyed by
David Miller, Aug. 14, 1876; ditto, fifth addition (lots 130 and
131) surveyed by David Miller, July 6, 1877; J. W. Caldwell's
sixth addition (lot 132), surveyed by William Lowe, Apr. 9,
1878; Joseph Caldwell's sixth addition (lots 133 to 143),
surveyed by William Lowe, Mar. 10, 1879; ditto, seventh addition
(lots 143 and 144), surveyed by William Lowe, Apr. 4, 1879;
ditto, eighth addition (lots 145 to 155), surveyed by William
Lowe, May 15, 1879; ditto, ninth addition (lots 155 to 159),
surveyed by William Lowe, Jan. 9, 1880; David
McKee's second
addition (lots 11 to 15), surveyed by William Lowe, 1880;
Joseph Caldwell's tenth addition (lot 159), surveyed by
William Lowe,
May 1, 1880; ditto, eleventh addition (lots 160 to 166),
surveyed by William Lowe, Mar. 29, 1881; ditto, twelfth addition
(lot 170), surveyed by William Lowe, Apr. 6, 1882; ditto,
thirteenth addition (lots 171, 172 and 173), surveyed by L. D.
Merry, Aug. 25, 1882; ditto, fourteenth addition (lots 174 to
181), surveyed by L. D. Merry, Sept. 7, 1882; William W.
Collins' addition (lots 15 to 22), surveyed by David
Miller,
Nov. 15, 1882; J. W. Caldwell's seventh addition (lots 181 to
236), surveyed by L. D. Merry, Apr. 24, 25 and 26, 1883;
Joseph
Caldwell's fifteenth addition (lots 237 to 263), surveyed by L.
D. Merry, May 17, 1883; ditto, sixteenth addition (lots 263 to
269), surveyed by L. D. Merry, Dec. 7, 1883; ditto, seventeenth
addition (lots 269 and 270), surveyed by L. D. Merry, July 23,
1885.
On the 24th of June, 1857, the
county commissioners ordered that lots number 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10, 11, 12, 19, 20, 21, and 24, "as laid out and platted in the
town of Caldwell, which said lots are now the property of said
Noble County," be sold at public auction on the 4th of
July, 1857. The lots were partly disposed of at the
appointed time at prices ranging from $48 to $200.
July 21, 1857, the county commissioners entered into a contract
with William J. Young and Dennis S.
Gibbs for the erection of a court house by those
gentlemen - the first building of any kind begun in the town.
Work was begun soon after and the court house completed the
following year. Meantime a temporary court hose was
erected by Ezra McKee - the building now
occupied by Henry Schafer's tailoring
establishment, on the west side of the square, on the lot across
the alley from the county jail.
While the court house was building the contractors erected a
board shanty, where the street now runs, which was occupied as a
boarding-house for their workmen. The brick from which the
court hose was built were principally made from clay dug from
the ground on which the building stands.
One of the earliest buildings erected was
the house now occupied by Peter Fogle. It
was built by Randall Ross, and the second story
was occupied by him as the office of the Consolidated
Republican. Elijah Stevens, the first
merchant in the town, kept store under the printing office.
Near the same time Fulton Caldwell opened a
store known as the "Merchants Exchange," on Cumberland street, a
short distance south of the corner now occupied by C.
Schafer's store.
In 1858
James and E. G. Dudley and D. S. Gibbs
erected a block of stores - two-story frame buildings - which
are yet standing on the south side of the square, east of the
alley, and between it and the Schafer building.
The building now occupied by R. P. Summers as a
shoe store, was erected by David Young in 1858,
and occupied by him as a saddler's shop.
The county offices were ordered moved to Caldwell early in the
year 1858. The officers took up their quarters in rented
rooms at different places, until the completion of the court
house.
James Johnson,
the first blacksmith in the town, built the house on the north
side of the square, in which U. A. Mills &
Brother now keep a grocery. His shop stood just back of
where the Eagle Hotel now is.
J.
N. Palmer, one of the first settlers of the town,
erected the house now owned by George Rice.
He afterward built the Mrs. Blain house, the
Mrs. Waller house and part of the brick house
at the northwest corner of the square, now owned by
Henry Teener. The last named was the first brick
building in the place, with the exception of the court house.
It was erected about 1860, and was first occupied as a store by
Hillyer, a clothing merchant, Hiram
Dempster, dentist, having his office in the rear.
The present residence of Judge Dilley was
erected in 1858- 9 by Ezra McKee. About
the same time the house now owned by Hon. J. J. Dalzell
was built by Benjamin B. Waller, and soon after
occupied by John L. Shaw; Irvin Belford, William C. Okey,
William H. Frazier and E. G. Dudley,
lawyers, were among the first residents of the place. William
Priestly, lawyer, came not long afterward and erected a
house and an office on the west side of the square.
The first hotel, known as the "Eldorado," was a two story wooden
building, which stood on the corner where the bank building now
is. It was among the first houses built in the town.
It was erected by A. R. Boice and kept by him
for several years. Boice was an oddity -
a very credulous, unsuspecting, unsophisticated mortal, who
became the butt of many a practical joke perpetrated by the wags
of the village. He went West, and is reported to have
become extensively engaged in business there.
The second hotel was kept by J. W. Boggs in the
George Rice building. He moved into the
Eagle Hotel in 1860. The latter building was erected by
William Smith. Boggs and
afterward the firm of Boggs & Daniels continued
the hotel business several years. The present Exchange
Hotel was built by James and Wheeler Stevens,
and occupied by them as a store. James Stevens
sold out to Wheeler Stevens (now a prominent
wholesale merchant in Zanesville) and he to Martin
& Ijams. The latter were succeeded by
Tipton & Glidden. The building was
converted into a hotel by H. H. Moseley and has
been kept successively by him, Thomas Lloyd, Ebenezer
Smith, Thomas H. Young, and J. W. Robinson.
A hotel was opened by 1860
by Hamilton Wiley in the building erected by
the Dudleys. Wiley
afterwards kept hotel in the Waller building,
opposite the Exchange Hotel.
Wheeler Stevens was in the mercantile business here
until about 1863. Richard Graham started
a store about 1862 in the building now Theodore Rempe's
saloon.
Richard Bate
was an early merchant. R. W. Stewart was
the first shoemaker and Benjamin Headley the
second. Chris. Shafer was one of the
first residents, starting the first wagon-shop in town.
The first cabinet-maker was L. B. Gratigney, in
the shop now occupied by Thomas Morris,
wagon-maker. J. N. Palmer was the first
tin-sixth, and had his shop where J. F. Steen's
store now is. The second tin smith was Henry
Palmer, on the corner where the photograph gallery now
is. Jacob and Fred Rose kept a bakery and
a beer saloon in 1860.
The first
drug store was started by Dr. Hull, on the
north side of the square. He was succeeded in 1864 by
F. G. Okey, who is still in the business.
As in most new towns, there were a large number of
transient residents, and comparatively few of the early settlers
remained more than a few years. C. Foster,
ex-county treasurer, who came to the town to reside in August,
1862, gives the following list of heads of families then
resident in the place:
William VanMeter, county treasurer
David Young, saddler
L. B. Gratigney, cabinet maker.
T. W. Morris, county recorder.
Samuel P. Evans, blacksmith.
Mrs. Atherton
James Stevens, merchant (afterward clerk of
courts)
Chris. Shafer,
wagon-maker.
Christian Miller,
teamster
Jacob and Fred Rose,
bakers and grocers.
John L.
Shaw, editor of the Republican.
James W. Boggs, hotel keeper.
Joseph Miller.*
Abraham Stiers, * stone mason.
Richard Bate, merchant.
William V. Dye, clerk for Wheeler Stevens.
Moses Marsh, laborer (afterward merchant).
William McKitrick, sheriff.
Jabez Belford, attorney.
William Priestley, attorney.
Charles J. Jenne, wagon-maker.
B. B. Waller.*
William C. Okey,* lawyer.
William H. Frazier, lawyer.
Wheeler Stevens, merchant.
A. R. Boice, hotel keeper.
J. N. Palmer.*
Richard
Graham, merchant.
Samuel
B. Pugh, carpenter.
Mrs. Fannie Scott.
David Seever's family.
John
W. Tipton, county auditor.
Thomas Moore.
Benjamin
Headley, shoemaker
Abraham Simmons.
C.
Foster.
At that date all
the houses were built around the public square, or within a
block of it, except three or four. The village was small,
muddy, isolated and ugly - far different from the neat and
thrifty, pleasant and prosperous Caldwell of today.
In its early years Caldwell was an isolated and lonely village,
and in the west seasons was almost completely shut off from
communication with the outside world. A hack, running
three times a week between the town and Campbell's Station, on
the Central Ohio Railroad (now the Baltimore & Ohio) furnished
the only public means of travel between those points, twenty-two
miles apart, and also carried the mail. There was also a
horseback mail carried tri-weekly between Caldwell and
McConnelsville. At first Beverly and Lowell, on the
Muskingum River, were the principal shipping points, and from
those places also the merchants obtained their freight.
Afterward nearly all business of this sort was diverted to
Campbell's Station. No town was ever more sadly in need of
a railroad, and none ever welcomed a railroad project more
eagerly than did the Caldwell at the beginning of the discussion
about 1870. Since the advent of the first railroad train
the population and business of the town have increased
three-fold.
All the best business
houses of the town as well as many of the finest residences have
been erected within recent years. The Odd Fellows'
building, three stories, frame, on the east side of the square
was built in 1869 and dedicated July 4, 1870. C.
Shafer's and Daniel Neuhart's brick
blocks, each three stories, on the south side of the square,
were erected in 1872. William Glidden's brick building,
two stories, was erected in 1881, and the three-story bank block
in 1882.
The town is unusually well
supplied with stores and shops of every kind. Its
mercantile establishments, many of them, would be accounted
first-class in a much larger place. Business is on the
increase, and the town is prosperous.
Dec. 29, 1871, the Noble County Bank was organized by a joint
stock company with a capital stock of $40,000. The
stockholders were Honorable W. H. Frazier, Thomas W.
Ewart, Honorable William P. Cutler, General Rufus R. Dawes,
Edgar P. Pierce and C. J. Lund; W. H. Frazier,
president, and E. P. Pierce, cashier.
This bank did a successful business until Mar. 18,
1873, when the Noble County National Bank was organized through
the efforts of W. H. Frazier, Edgar P. Pearce,
and Thomas W. Ewart, with a capital of $60,000.
The stockholders of the National Bank were W. H.
Frazier, Jabez Belford, Jacob Cleary, John S. Craig, John Lemmax,
Samuel H. Phipps, George A. Smith, Thomas W. Ewart, Ezra McKee,
R. P. Summers, Henry Miller, John W. Scott, Henry Large, William
Wilkins, Nancy Craig, Samuel Lindsey, Cephas Lindsey, Martha
Craig, Emma R. Guiler, J. R. McClintock, John L. Morgareidge, O.
R. Morgareidge, William T. Meredith, Flora F. Lund, James M.
Philpot, Stephenson Trimmer and W. W. Collins.
The first board of directors of W. H. Frazier,
John Lemmax, Henry Large, Ezra McKee and George
A. Smith. W. H. Frazier was elected president;
E. P. Pierce, cashier, and Charles T. Lewis,
assistant cashier. August 2, C. T. Lewis
was chosen cashier, vice E. P. Pierce,
deceased. Geo. A. Smith was appointed
cashier in May, 1877, and in June, 1886, was succeeded by
William A. Frazier, who had been assistant
cashier since February, 1884. The bank has been well
managed and is one of the sound institutions of Noble County.
The present officers are William H. Frazier,
president; William A. Frazier, cashier;
William E. Tipton, teller; W. H. Frazier, John
Lemmax, Henry Large, Chris. McKee, and John
McClintock, directors.
The Caldwell Building and Loan Association was organized in
March, 1885, and thus far has been successful and prosperous.
The capital stock is $100,000 in shares of $100
each. The incorporators were W. H. Cooley, W. D.
Guilbert, Stephen Mills, O. T. Wilde, James A. McCoy,
and Taylor Bivans. The first officers
were W. H. Cooley, president; O. T.
Wilde, secretary, and W. D. Guilbert,
treasurer; Stephen Mills, John Emmons, John W. Tipton,
jr., T. C. Kane, A. C. Okey, and John M. Amos,
directors.
The Caldwell woolen
factory, the most important manufacturing establishment in Noble
County, has been in successful operation since May 1, 1885,
under the management of its present proprietors, Bush &
McVay - W. H. Bush, formerly of Beverly, and T.
M. McVay of Caldwell. They began building the
factory in the fall of 1884. The mail building is of
brick, two stories high and fifty by one hundred feet, with an
extension containing the dye house, twenty-five by fifty feet.
The cost of the building was $10,000. The lower story
contains the looms and the hosiery department, while the upper
floor is devoted to the carding and spinning machinery.
All kinds of woolen goods and hosiery are manufactured.
One of the specialties has been a woolen skirt, which obtained
an enviable reputation among the trade. The hosiery
department has recently been added and is likely to prove very
successful. The factory gives employment to about
seventy-five thousand dollars' worth of goods yearly.
In January, 1887, extensive improvements were made, and about
$15,000 in new machinery put in. Automatic spinners have
been added, thereby increasing the capacity fully one-third, and
no doubt will materially increase the force of hands. It
is not only a great benefit to the town, but to the county as
well, as a great deal of the wool used is purchased directly
from Noble County farmers. W. H. Bush is
the son of Joseph Bush, who was formerly engaged in the
manufacture of woolen goods at Renrock, in this county, for
several years.
The flouring mill
near the B. Z. & C. Railroad
____
* Then a
soldier, but his family resided here.Page 301 -
was bought from G. W. Fogle by P. H. Barry, the
present owner, who has remodeled it, and put in machinery for
making roller-process flour. In 1886 L H. Barry & Co.
started a knitting factory, putting four knitting machines into
the mill.
During nearly all of the first decade
of its existence the village was without a school house.
The first school, attended by scholars from the town, was taught
in 1859 by Joseph Purkey in the "old red school
house," a half mile west of Caldwell. For many years rooms
were rented wherever they could be had in the village, and terms
of school taught in them. The schoolrooms were changed so
frequently that it has been truthfully said that the first
schools in Caldwell were held "all over town." In May,
1866, S. B. Pugh was awarded a contract to
erect a school house for the sum of $2,300, to be completed by
December of the same year. The school house then erected
served until the growth of the village had long since rendered
its accommodations wholly inadequate. In 1880 the
corporation, seeing that a new school building was a pubic
necessity, issued bonds and set about the erection of the
present school house. The contract was awarded to
W. W. McCoy, of Marietta, in April, 1880, the
stipulated price being $9,562. The building is of brick,
two stories, large and imposing, first -class throughout.
It occupies the most elevated site in the town, and speaks more
eloquently than words can in favor of the interest in education
and the public spirit which secured to the town so excellent a
temple of knowledge. The school is now under the able
superintendency of E. E. Miller, who is also
one of the school examiners of the county.
The mercantile and industrial establishments of the town were as
follows in 1887:
Bank: Noble County
National Bank; Wm. H. Frazier, president;
Will A. Frazier, cashier.
Bakers: William Wagner and M. Shafer.
Barbers: G. W. Singer & Son, Wm. E. Roach.
Blacksmiths: G. W. Hupp, W. L. Evans, John Kirk.
Boots and Shoes: Dr. R. P. Summers, Knouff & Young (J.
F. Knouff and A. Young).
Cabinet-maker: L. H. McGinnis.
Clothing merchant: Otto Thalheimer.
Dentists: McCoy & Rowley.
Dressmakers: Gibson & Humphrey, Crawford & Danford.
Dry Goods: J. W. Tipton, J. F. Steen, John D. Elliott &
Co.
Drugs: F.
G. Okey, Wall & Simons.
Express Agencies: American, Milton James; Adams, C.
Shafer.
Furniture:
Peter Fogle, S.A. Lafferty.
Grist Mill: P. H. Barry.
Groceries: U. A. Mills & Bro., Thos. H. Young, George W.
Young, Jerome Wehr, Clyde Weight, Peter Fogle.
Hardware: Glidden & Smith, Kain Bros.
Page 302 -
Harness and Saddlery: John Emmons, G.
McGlashan.
Hotels: Exchange, J. W.
Robinson; Eagle, D. L. Archer; Elk, James Parker;
Eureka, S. P. Evans
Insurance Agency: H. E. Peters
Jewelers: E. J. Nay, J. W. Shafer.
Knitting Factories: Bush,
McVay & Co., L. H. Barry & Co.
Livery Stable: Taylor Bivans.
Marble Workers: Billingslea & DeLong, Thomas
Stockwell (established at Olive, 1847
Meat Markets: D. A. Lorenz
Millinery: Mrs. Mary James,
Mrs. Abraham Young, A. Summers & Co.,
Mrs. James McCoy.
Photographer: C. S. Curry
Planing Mills: Stephen Mills & Son, T. H. Morris.
Produce Dealer: C. S. Sargent
Restaurants: F. E. Robinson, Polk McKee, Ben.
Gibson and M. Shafer.
Shoemakers: John Gary, John A. Nace
Tailors: C. Shafer, Jr., Henry Shafer.
Wagon-maker: Henry Wilson
Woolen Factory: Bush & McVay
The town has
also four newspapers, three churches, a good representation in
the legal and medical professions, etc., all of which are
mentioned more fully elsewhere.
The petition for the incorporation of Caldwell Village,
dated Nov. 12, 1869, is signed by sixty legal voters. We
give their names as a matter of interest, showing who were the
residents of the town twelve years after its origin.
J. M. Dalzell, W. H. Summers, R.
Page 303 -
Page 304 -
marshal, F. C. Thompson; street commissioner, David Dyer;
council, J. H. Mills, C. S. Sargeant, G. W. Hupp, W. D.
Guilbert, J. Mason Morgan, J. M. McGinnis.
CHURCHES.
Methodist Episcopal Church -
Presbyterian -
Baptist -
SOCIETIES:
Odd Fellows -
Masonic -
Grand Army -
Sons of Veterans -
CALDWELL DISTRICT FAIR:
Jonathan F. Knouff was born
in Belmont County, Ohio, Aug. 28, 1829. When ten years old
he moved to what is now Noble County, his father, Henry
Knouff (a native of Maryland), settling in Beaver Township,
where he followed farming until his death. The subject of
this notice received a common-school education, and when a young
man engaged in teaching, which occupation he followed for
twenty-two years. He was elected county auditor, and by
re-elections served three terms. In 1878 he engaged in the
hardware business in Caldwell, in which he continued until
April, 1882, when he sold out to Kane Brothers & Wright.
In February, 1883, he purchased the hardware store of Taylor
Brothers, and carried on that business until February,
1886. Originally a free-soiler in politics, he has acted
with the Republican party since its organization. In 1858
he was married to Margaret E. Sproat, a native of
Guernsey County. Their children are Angeline,
Cora M. and Oliver M. Mr. Knouff is a member of
the Odd Fellows' order.
A. P. Jennings,
Judge Jonathan Dilley
John W. Tipton
David Miller
George A. Smith
Chrysostom Foster
W. D. Guilbert
Timothy Cleveland
Benjamin B. Waller
W. H. Bush
BIOGRAPHIC
THE CALDWELL FAMILY *
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