HURON COUNTY.

 

Huron County was formed February 7, 1809, and organized 1815.  It originally constituted the whole of the "fire-lands."  The name, Huron, was given by the French to the Wyandot tribe: its signification probably unknown.  The surface is mostly level, some parts slightly undulating; soil mostly sandy mixed with clay, forming a loam.  In the northwest part are some prairies, and in the northern part are the sand ridges which run on the southern side of Lake Erie, and vary in width from a few rods to more than a mile.  Huron was much reduced in 1838, in population and area, by the formation of Erie county.  Area about 450 square miles.  In 1887 the acres cultivated were 139,956; in pasture, 79,944; woodland, 36,032; lying waste, 2,697; produced in wheat, 495,057 bushels; rye, 5,123; buckwheat, 929; oats, 1,035,918; barley, 5,167; corn, 698,536; broom corn, 200 lbs. brush; meadow hay, 34,880 tons; clover hay, 6,837; flax, 20,300 lbs. fibre; potatoes, 108,166 bushels; butter, 982,978 lbs.; cheese, 347,037; sorghum, 2,218 gallons; maple sugar, 23,087 lbs.; honey, 11,672; eggs, 493,179 dozen; grapes, 3,579 lbs.; sweet potatoes, 89 bushels; apples, 35,552; peaches, 4,052; pears, 923; wool, 539,534 lbs.; milch cows owned, 7,756.  School census, 1888, 9,929; teachers, 353.  Miles of railroad track, 138. 

 

Township

And Census

1840

1880

 

Township

And Census

1840

1880

Bronson

1,291

1,092

 

Norwich

   676

1,157

Clarksfield

1,473

1,042

 

Norwalk

2,613

7,078

Fairfield

1,067

1,359

 

Peru

1,998

1,194

Fitchville

1,294

   822

 

Richmond

   306

1,014

Greenfield

1,460

   900

 

Ridgefield

1,599

2,359

Greenwich

1,067

1,376

 

Ripley

   804

1,038

Hartland

   925

   954

 

Ruggles

1,244

 

Lyme

1,318

2,575

 

Sherman

   692

1,223

New Haven

1,270

1,807

 

Townsend

   868

1,405

New London

1,218

1,764

 

Wakeman

   702

1,450

 

Population of Huron in 1820 was 6,677; in 1830, 13,340; in 1840, 23,934; 1860, 29,616; 1880, 31,608, of whom 21,728 were born in Ohio; 3,142 New York; 963 Pennsylvania; 124 Indiana; 76 Virginia; 54 Kentucky; 1783 German empire; 800 England and Wales; 684 Ireland; 201 British America;

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103 France; 69 Scotland, and 3 Sweden and Norway.  Census of 1890 was 31,949. 

Norwalk in 1846. - Norwalk, the county-seat, named for Norwalk, Conn., is 110 miles north of Columbus and 16 from Sandusky City.  It lies principally on a single street, extending nearly two miles and beautifully shaded by maple trees.  Much taste is evinced in the private dwellings and churches, and in adorning the grounds around them with shrubbery.  As a whole, the town is one of the most neat and pleasant in Ohio.  The view given represents a small portion of the principal street; on the right is shown the courthouse and jail, with a part of the public square, and in the distance is seen the tower of the Norwalk institute.  Norwalk contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist and 1 Catholic church, 9 dry goods, 1 book and 4 grocery stores, 1 bank, 2 newspaper printing offices, 1 flouring mill, 2 foundries, and about 1,800 inhabitants.  The Norwalk institute is an incorporated academy, under the patronage of the Baptists: a large and substantial brick building, three stories in height, is devoted to its purposes; the institution is flourishing, and numbers over 100 pupils, including both sexes.  A female seminary has recently been commenced under auspicious circumstances, and a handsome building erected in the form of a Grecian temple.  About a mile west of the village are some ancient fortifications. 

The site of Norwalk was first visited with a view to the founding of a town, by the Hon. Elisha WHITTLESEY, Platt BENEDICT, and one or two others, in October, 1815.  The place was then in the wilderness, and there were but a few settlers in the county.  The examination being satisfactory, the town plat was laid out in the spring following, by Almon RUGGLES [see page 583], and lots offered for sale at from $60 to $100 each.  In the fall of 1817 Platt BENEDICT built a log house with the intention of removing his family, but in his absence it was destroyed by fire.  He reconstructed his dwelling shortly after, and thus commenced the foundation of the village.  In the May after, Norwalk was made the county seat, and the public buildings subsequently erected.  The year after, a census was taken, and the population had reached 109.  In the first few years of the settlement, the different denominations appearing to have forgotten their peculiar doctrines, were accustomed to meet at the old court-house for sacred worship, at the second blowing of the horn.  In 1820 the Methodists organized a class, and in 1821 the Episcopal society was constituted.  From that time to the present the village has grown with the progressive increase of the county. 

In 1819 two Indians were tried and executed at Norwalk for murder.  Their names were NE-GO-SHECK and NE-GON-A-BA, the last of which is said to signify "one who walks far."  The circumstances of their crime and execution we take from the MSS. history of the "fire-lands," by the late C. B. Squire, Esq. 

In the spring of 1816 John WOOD, of Venice, and George BISHOP, of Danbury, where trapping for muskrats on the west side of Danbury, in the vicinity of the "two harbors," so-called; and having collected a few skins had lain down for the night in their temporary hut.  Three straggling Ottawa Indians came, in the course of the night, upon their camp and discovered them sleeping.  To obtain their little pittance of furs, etc. they were induced to plan their destruction.  After completing their arrangements the two eldest armed themselves with clubs, singled out their victims, and each, with a well directed blow upon their heads, dispatched them in an instant.  They then forced their youngest companion, NEGASOW, who had been until then merely a spectator, to beat the bodies with a club, that he might be made to feel that he was a participator in the murder and so refrain from exposing their crime.  After securing whatever was then in the camp that they desired, they took up their line of march for the Maumee, avoiding, as far as possible, the Indian settlements on their course. 

WOOD left a wife to mourn his untimely fate, but BISHOP was a single man.  Their bodies were found in a day or two by the whites under such circumstances that evinced that they had been murdered by Indians, and a pursuit was forthwith commenced.  The Indians living about the mouth of Portage river had seen these straggling Indians passing eastward, now suspected them of the crime, and joined the whites in the pursuit.  They were overtaken in the neighborhood of the Maumee River, brought back and

Page 943

Top Picture

Drawn by Henry Howe, in 1846.

VIEW IN MAIN STREET, NORWALK.

In front in shown the Court-House, and in the far distance the town of the Academy.

 

Bottom Picture

Geo. W. Edmondson, Photo., Norwalk, 1886.

MAIN STREET, NORWALK.

The view is in the resident part of the street.

 

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examined before a magistrate.  They confessed their crime and were committed to jail.  At the trial the two principals were sentenced to be hung in June, 1819: the younger one was discharged.  The county of Huron had at this time no secure jail, and they were closely watched by an armed guard.  They nevertheless escaped one dark night.  The guard fired at and wounded one of them severely in the body, but he continued to run for several miles, till, tired and faint with the loss of blood, he laid it down, telling his companion he should die, and urging him to continue on.  The wounded man was found after the lapse of two or three days, somewhere in Penn township, in a dangerous condition, but he soon recovered.  The other was recaptured near the Maumee by the Indians, and brought to Norwalk, where they were both hanged according to sentence. 

In this transaction the various Indian tribes evinced a commendable willingness that the laws of the whites should be carried out.  Many of them attended the execution, and only requested that the bodies of their comrades should not be disturbed in their graves. - Old Edition. 

The larger part of the Indians that settled on the Firelands were tribes of the powerful Iroquois nation.  Some of them, considering their environment, were noble characters, and years after, when all hostilities had ceased, and as the country began to fill up, were even disposed to hold not only peaceable but friendly relations with the whites. 

The Senecas, who were in the habit of passing through the southern part of Huron county, on their way to eastern hunting grounds, were particularly fierce in appearance, bedecked in their barbaric garb of feathers and skins, but nevertheless were especially friendly. 

On these hunting trips they would trade baskets, trinkets and game with the settlers in exchange for bread, meal or flour.  Strong and disinterested friendships sprung up between some of them and the whites.  Their appearance was so frequent, and their actions so decorous and kindly, that even the children became attached to them, and in some instances strong affections were formed.  SENECA JOHN, the famous chief, used to carry the children of Caleb PALMER, a pioneer settler of New Haven, upon his shoulders.  So strong was their affection for him, that when they saw a band of Indians, they would rush forward with cries of delight.  And when the tall, stalwart form of SENECA JOHN greeted their eyes, they would run to him, climb to his shoulders and ride there on the way to and from school.  The children of the whites and Indians intermingled in their games, and each were on as friendly terms with the others as they were with their own kind.  Mrs. Platt BENEDICT, in her last years, said: "We gained the friendship of those denizens of the forest, and they brought us many, many presents in their own of rude way."

Norwalk, the county-seat of Huron, is a beautiful city of the second class, fifty-six miles west of Cleveland, about ninety-five miles north of Columbus, and fifty-seven miles east of Toledo; is on the L. S. & M. S., W. & L. E., and S. M. & N. Railroads.  It is on what are known as the "Firelands," in the Western Reserve.  On account of its fine streets being well shaded by beautiful trees of that species, it is called the "Maple City."  It is surrounded by a rich farming country, has a fine commercial trade, and considerable manufacturing interests.  County Officers: Auditor, Jonathan S. WHITE; Clerk, Albert M. BEATTIE; Commissioners, Commodore O. H. PERRY, James A. FANCHER, George BARGUS; Coroner, Frank E. WEEKS; Infirmary Directors, James D. EASTON, Uriah S. LAYLIN, Jonathan W. HUESTIS; Probate Judge, Henry L. KENNAN; Prosecuting Attorney, Theron H. KELLOGG; Recorder, Robert A. BLOOMER; Sheriff, Albert NOECKER; Surveyor, Luther B. MESNARD; TREASURERS, Orin S. GRIFFIN, Amos O. JUMP.  Newspapers: Chronicle, Republican, F. R. LOOMIS, editor; Germania, German, George J. Lenz, editor and publisher; Journal, COUCH & BECKWITH, editors and publishers; Reflector, Republican, C. WICKHAM and James C. GIBBS, editors; Experiment and News, Democratic, H. L. STEWART, editor.  Churches: one Episcopalian, three Catholic, one Congregational, two Methodist Episcopal, one Baptist, one UNIVERSALIST, 1 Presbyterian, and 1 Lutheran.  Banks: First National, Theodore WILLIAMS, president, George M. CLEVELAND, cashier; Huron County Banking Company, D. H. FOX, president, Pitt CURTIS, cashier; Norwalk National Bank, John GARDINER, president, Charles W. MILLEN, cashier. 

Manufacturers and Employees. - G. M. CLEVELAND & Co., flour, etc., 6 hands; W. B. LYKE, general machinery, 5; B. C. CARTWRIGHT, fanning mills, idle; E. S.

Page 945

TUTTLE, grain elevator, 2; C. H. GROVE & Co., iron foundry, 3; STEWART Dowel Pin Works, dowel pins, 17; the A. B. CHASE Co., pianos and organs, 160; L. S. & M. S. R. R. Shops, railroad repairs, 80; W. & L. E. R. R. Shops, railroad repairs, 99; Norwalk Machine Works, general machinery, 9; C. H. FULLER, carriages, 9; N. H. PEBBLES, carriages, 5; the LANING Printing Co., printing, 26; Norwalk Electric Light and Power Co., electric light, 3; S. E. CRAWFORD, pumps, 3; Theodore WILLIAMS & Son, flour, etc., 10; D. E. MOREHOUSE, planing mill, 5; C. W. SMITH, planing mill, 10; SMITH & HIMBERGER, doors, sash, etc., 8; F. B. CASE, tobaccos, 23; SPRAGUE & FRENCH, advertising novelties, 225; The Hexagon Postal Box Manufacturing Co., post office furniture, 20; William SCHUBERT, planing mill, 6; BOSTWICK & BURGESS Manufacturing Co., carpet sweepers, etc., 53. - State Reports, 1888.  Population in 1880, 5,704.  School census, 1888, 2,338; W. R. COMINGS, school superintendent.  Capital invested in industrial establishments, $354,250.  Value of annual product, $575,000. - Ohio Labor statistics, 1887.  U.S. Census 1890, 7,195.

Up to 1852, the era of railroads, Norwalk was an academy town.  It was the seat of the famous Norwalk Academy, having been the largest and most famous institution of the kind in all the West, and almost as well known to the pioneers as Yale or Harvard.  The society of the town comprised mostly the teachers and of their families, together with the few families who moved here while educating their children.  Charles H. STEWART, Esq, in an address delivered March 27, 1883, at the farewell reunion of the High School alumni, said:

"Everybody kept boarders; in fact, that was the main occupation of about nine-tenths of our able-bodied citizens during that period.  Board was very reasonable in those days, too.  A young man could get the best room and nicest board in town for from $1 to $1.50 per week.  Mutton sold for two cents a pound, and as everybody kept cows and pigs and hens, which all ran free in the streets, milk and eggs and pork were almost given away.  These rooms were divided up into a large number of smaller ones, where many young men roomed. 

"Our late president, R. B. HAYES, and present Governor, Charles FOSTER, and several of our congressman, were dormitory boys, as they used to call them, who cooked and ate and devised mischief there.  The boys had their bread baked, did the rest of their cooking, and used to live here nicely for 45 cents a week, including room rent, which was $1 a term.  In the fall of the year (as can be guessed), the boys used to live on the fat of the land.  On almost any night, along toward midnight's witching hour, mysterious figures could be seen, surreptitiously gliding into the old school building, with large, mysterious bags on their shoulders.  If you would glide up behind one of them, you would see the contents of those bags disgorged in the ruddy glow of the firelight which lit up the laughing faces of half a score of future senators, congressmen, governors, judges, or-must we say it? - preachers.  There were big watermelons and roasting-ears, and sweet potatoes, apples, now and then a plump pullet from some neighboring roost, and there was a banquet for the gods."

BIOGRAPHY.

Platt BENEDICT, the founder of the town, was born in Danbury, Conn., in 1775, and was a four-year-old boy when the British red-coats came to his native town to do mischief, having burned Norwalk, Conn., on their way.  Perhaps it was this incident that directly paved the way to his founding an Ohio Norwalk.  When he came out here in 1817, he was 7 weeks on the journey coming out, with his family and household goods, the latter stowed away in a wagon drawn by oxen.  He was one of the most sturdy of that strong body of men - the Western pioneers; a man of many virtues.  He lived to the grand old age of 91 years, 7 months and 7 days, which he reached October 25, 1866. 

George KENNAN, the Siberian traveler, when born in Norwalk, February 16, 1845.  His father, now 87 years of age, is probably the oldest living telegrapher in the United States, and taught his son the profession.  He was educated in the public schools of Norwalk, and at the Columbus High School was awarded as

Page 946

PLATT BENEDICT                                  GEO. KENNAN

An Ohio Pioneer.                               The Siberian Traveller.

                                          

night operator in that city.  In 1864, while working as assistant chief operator in the Western Union office at Cincinnati he made application for an appointment on the projected overland line from America to Europe, via Alaska, Behring's Straits and Siberia.  One night a message came over the wires from General STAGER, as follows: "Can you get ready to start for Alaska in two weeks?" "Yes, I can get ready to start in two hours," was the reply.  "You may go," replied General STAGER. 

As a leader of one of the Russo-American Telegraph Company's exploring parties, he spent nearly three years in constant travel in the interior of northeastern Siberia.  The manner in which, in the summer of 1867, he received the first notice of the abandonment of the enterprise in which he was engaged, illustrates the complete isolation from civilization of his party. 

One day he with some others boarded a vessel in the Okhotsk Sea and approached the captain with the remark: "Good Day, sir.  What is the name of your vessel?"

The astonished captain of the bark Sea Breeze, from New Bedford, Mass., replied: "Good Lord! Has the universal Yankee got up here? Where did you come from? How did you get here? What are you doing?"

Having silenced his interrogation battery, the captain gave them a lot of old San Francisco newspapers, in which they learned that the enterprise upon which they were engaged had been abandoned, on account of the successful laying of the second Atlantic Cable; but it was not until the following September that they received official notification and orders to return to America. 

In 1870 Mr. KENNAN again went to Russia to explore the mountains of the Eastern Caucasus, returning to this country in 1871. 

In 1885 he was engaged by the publishers of the "Century Magazine" to visit Russia for the purpose of investigating the Russian exile system.  He in company with Mr. FROST, the artist, spent sixteen months on this work, during which they suffered many hardships.  Extreme cold, fatigue and sickness were but small trials when compared with the constant fear of discovery of their mission by the Russian government, and the heart sickness caused by sympathy for the horrible misery of the exiles.  It required wonderful tact and skill to evade the watchfulness of the Russian emissaries. 

They traveled 1,500 miles through northern Russia and Siberia, visited all the convict prisons and mines between the Ural mountains and the headwaters of the Amur river, and explored the wildest part of the Russian Altai.  The publication in the "Century Magazine" of the results of these investigations filled the whole civilized world with horror and indignation at the inhumanity of the Russian government in its treatment of political and other offenders

Mr. KENNAN is the author of "Tent Life in Siberia, and Adventures Among the Koraks and other Tribes in Kamchatka and Northern Asia." (New York, 1870.)

Among the present citizens of Norwalk is

Page 947

John GARDINER, who has the distinction of being the oldest banker in Northwest Ohio.  He was born in New London county, Conn., September 15, 1816.  In 1834 he entered as a clerk in the Bank of Norwalk, which was then the only bank in Northwestern Ohio, and its business embraced what is now all of 20 counties, extending as far south as Mount Vernon and Bucyrus.  He has largely been identified with the railroads of this region, and other great public interests of a developing nature; has lately erected a beautiful business block in Norwalk.  Gideon T. STEWART, a lawyer here, born in Fulton county, N. Y., in 1824, has been long identified with journalism and the temperance reform; has been thrice the Prohibition candidate for Governor of Ohio.  Through out the war period he owned and edited the Dubuque Daily Times, then the only union daily in the north half of Wisconsin; later it was half owner of The Daily Blade and Daily Commercial of Toledo. 

TRAVELING NOTES.

Mr. C. E. NEWMAN, the librarian of the Firelands Historical Society, an old gentleman, showed me in Norwalk, among the society's possessions, a tin horn which was used, he told me, to summon the people up to church and court; and as he stated by Mr. Ammi KEELER.  He was sexton of the Episcopal church, the first church organized, and which was in the old white court-house, and being also deputy-sheriff he brought it into the service of the law as well as religion.  The old white court-house was removed about 1835, and now forms part of the Maple City hotel. 

 

Edmundston, photo.

A Historic Horn.

A few months after Mr. NEWMAN had shown me this horn, which I had photographed, I was in Mansfield, and called in one evening upon Rev. Dr. Sherlock A. Bronson, at one time president of Gambier.  He was then about eighty years old, the venerable rector of the Episcopal church, who had come from Waterbury, Conn., in 1807; age then six months, of course recollections of the journey not vivid. 

While showing him my various pictures taken for this work, I brought out this one, saying, "This is a photograph of a tin horn used sixty years ago, in the town of Norwalk, to blow the people up to church and to court." "Yes," he rejoined, and to my great surprise added, "I know it, for I am the man that bought and blew that horn."  He then gave me its history.  "In 1827," he said, "I attended an Episcopal convention at Mt. Vernon, and on my way to Norwalk passed through this town, Mansfield, and here bought this horn.  From 1827 to 1829 I was assistant teacher to my cousin in the famous Norwalk Academy.  The Episcopal Society met in the courthouse, where I sometimes read service, and it was my wont to go out upon the court-house steps and blow the horn."  I had supposed we were alone in our interview, but as he concluded I was again surprised - surprised to hear from a dark part of the double room a female voice utter, "I want to see that horn."  Thereupon he left me, taking the photograph, but I never saw or knew who it was that had wanted to see that horn.  And with so much, I close my story of a horn that was not attached to a dilemma. 

The next day I saw in Mansfield another venerable gentleman, Mr. Hiram R. SMITH, who sixty years ago was a resident of Sandusky, and he gave me another item to add to this blast.  "At the starting of Sandusky," said he, "the Sanduskians were called to church by a horn.  It was on a Sunday morning of those times that Bishop Philander CHASE, the founder of Kenyon, landed at Sandusky with two Chinese youths he had brought from the East to Ohio for education. 

Page 948

As the trio stepped ashore the horn rang out on the clear morning air, where upon one of the lads inquired its meaning.  "That," replied the bishop, "is to summon the people to church." "Hoo," rejoined the lad: "New York, Sunday, ring bell for church - Buffalo, Sunday, ring bell for church - Sandusky, Sunday, blow horn."

The people of Norwalk have a natural pride in the fact that General M'PHERSON was once a student at their old academy.  Mr. NEWMAN told me he boarded with him, and he was a very studious, gentlemanly youth, with the highest reputation for capacity.  He narrowly escaped failing to get into the Military Academy.  He had applied for and was expecting the appointment when Rudolphus DICKERSON, the member of Congress through whom it was to come, suddenly sickened and died.  M'PHERSON was then in an agony of suspense.  No one could give him any information whether the cadet warrant for admission into the academy had been granted.  He was already twenty years of age; if delayed a year he would be twenty-one, and too old for admission.  At the last moment by bare accident the warrant was found among DICKERSON'S papers.  As it was, he had to hurry and narrowly escaped getting there in time for examination.

Edmonton, Photo.
Loving Dog and Horse.Norwalk owes its chief attraction to Main street, its principal avenue.  It is built upon for about two miles.  The centre being the business part, with the court-house, school buildings and churches; the ends for residences, and these are lined with maples, planted at the suggestion of Elisha WHITTLESEY, one of the original proprietors. But few streets I know of in the centre of any Ohio town is so dense with foliage as the part of Main street shown in our view. 

At Edmundson'S photograph gallery I saw a picture here copied that exhibited a singular affection between a horse and a dog.  They belonged to the firm of EASTMAN & READ, grocers.  The horse was used for the delivery wagon, and it was the habit of the dog, on the return of the horse from a round of serving customers, to run and give and receive a caress. 

The thoughtful Miss MARTINEAU, wrote that although human beings had been living for thousands of years in the companionship of animals, there was between the two an inseparable gulf, preventing the mind of the one from closely communicating with the mind of the other.  Whether it be so between animals of different kinds or of the same kind is a question. 

Bellevue is a peculiarly located.  It is in Huron and Sandusky counties, part on and part off the Western Reserve, and has a corner also of Erie and Seneca counties.  The town is in the midst of a fine agricultural district, which produces large quantities of cereals and fruits, enriching the people of the surrounding country and making the town a prosperous and wealthy center.  It is sixty-five miles west of Cleveland, about ninety-five miles north of Columbus and forty five miles east of Toledo, and about midway between Buffalo and Chicago on the "Nickel-plate" Railroad, being the terminus of two grand divisions of that line, whose company has here established round-houses and repair-shops.  It has three

Page 949

lines of railways, the L. S. & M. S., W. & L. E. and W. & L. E. and N. Y. C. & St. L. (or Nickel-plate.)  Newspapers: Gazette, neutral, STONER & CALLAHAN, publishers; Local News, neutral, George E. WOOD, editor and publisher.  Churches: 2 Congregational, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Reformed, 1 Catholic, 1 Evangelical, 1 Lutheran and 1 Episcopal.  Banks: Bellevue, Bourdett WOOD, president, E. J. SHEFFIELD, cashier.  City Officers, 1888: Mayor, John U. MAYNE; Clerk, W. H. DIMICK; Marshall, J. P. KRONER; Treasurer, Abishai WOODWARD.  Population in 1880, 2,169.  School census, 1888, 854; E. F. WARNER, school superintendent. 

Manufacturers and Employees. - Joseph ERDICH, cooperage, 25 hands; Fremont Cultivator Co., agricultural implements, 61; MCLAUGHLIN & Co., flour, etc., 13; GROSS and WEBER, planing mill, 6. - Ohio State Report, 1888.  Capital invested in industrial establishments, $156,000.  The value of annual product, $538,000. - Ohio Labor Statistics, 1887.  United States Census, 1890, 3,052. 

Greenwich is eighteen miles southeast of Norwalk, on the C. C. C. & I. R. R.  Newspaper: Enterprise, local, SPEEK & MCKEE, publishers.  Churches: 1 Congregational, 1 Methodist and 2 Friends.  Bank: Greenwich Banking Co., Wm. A. KNAPP, president, W. A. HOSSLER, cashier.  Population in 1880, 647.  School census, 1888, 276. 

Monroeville is an incorporated town about ninety-five miles north from Columbus, fifty-nine miles west of Cleveland and five miles west of Norwalk. Three railroads have a junction here, viz.: L. S. & M. S., W. & L. E. and B. & O., and the "Nickel-plate" crosses the B. & O. four miles north of the town.  It is surrounded by rich farming lands, cereals and fruits being the principal products.  Its educational facilities are superior, and it has considerable manufacturing interests.  Newspaper: Spectator, neutral, SIMMONS Bros., publishers.  Churches: 1 Baptist, 1 Episcopal, 1 Lutheran, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Catholic and 1 Presbyterian.  Banks: First National, S. D. FISH, president, H P STENTZ, cashier. 

Manufacturers and Employees. - BOEHM & YANQUELL, flour, etc., 3 hands; HEYMON & Co., flour, etc., 9; S. E. SMITH, agricultural implements, 6; John HOSFORD, fanning mills, 2. -State Report, 1888.  Population in 1880, 1,221.  School census, 1888, 476; W. H. MITCHEL, school superintendent.  Capital invested in industrial establishments, $30,000.  Value of annual product, $60,000. -Ohio Labor Statistics, 1887. 

New London is ninety miles north of Columbus and forty-seven miles southwest of Cleveland via C. C. C. & I. R. R.   Its early settlers were from New York and New England.  It has one newspaper: Record, independent, Geo. W. RUNYAN, editor and proprietor.  City Officers, 1888, D. R. SACKETT, mayor; J. L. YOUNG, clerk; C. STARBIRD, treasurer; H. K. DAY, marshal.  Three churches: 1 Baptist, 1 Methodist Episcopal and 1 Congregational.  Principal industries are dairying, manufacturer of flour, tile, churn and butter boxes, tables, carriages and wagons.  Bank: First National, Alfred S. JOHNSON, president; John M. SHERMAN, cashier.  Population in 1880, 1,011.  School census, 1886, 295; Jas. L. YOUNG, superintendent. 

Chicago is seventy-five miles north of Columbus and fifteen southwest of Norwalk.  The first building was erected in 1874, and occupied by Samuel L. BOWEBY as a grocery and hotel.  Chicago is an evidence of the rapid growth of the town through the influence of railroads, three divisions of the B. & O. R. R. terminating here and causing the establishment of the town, which has grown to its present proportions not withstanding serious drawbacks by fire and epidemic.  It has one newspaper: Times, independent, S. O. RIGGS, editor and publisher.  Four churches: 1 United Brethren, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Free Methodist and 1 Catholic.  The B. & O. R. R. has machine and repair shops located here.  Population in 1880, 662. 

Page 950

Wakeman is ten miles east of Norwalk, on the L. S. & M. S. R. R.  Newspaper: Independent Press, Independent, G. H. MAINS, editor and publisher. 

Manufacturers and Employees. - J. J. MCMANN, wagon felloes, etc., 5 hands; Geo. HUMPHREY, wagon felloes, etc., 6; S. T. GIBSON, flour, etc., 2; J. R. GRIFFIN, cooperage, 4. - Ohio State Reports, 1887.  Capital invested in industrial establishments, $13,300.  Value of annual product, $15,200. - Ohio Labor Statistics, 1887. 

 

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