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THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
A9TOR. LENOX AND
T1LDEN F(HNDATIdNf
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A STANDARD HISTORY
OF
Springfield and Clark County,
Ohio
An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention
to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial,
Educational, Civic and Social Development
Prepared Under the Editorial Supervision of
DR. BENJAMIN F. PRINCE
President Clark County Historical Society
ASSISTED BY A BOARD OF ADVISORY EDITORS
VOLUME I
ILLUSTRATED
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1922
trft
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Copyright
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1922
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FOREWORD
In the prospectus announcing the proposed publication: A Stand-
ard History of Springfield and Clark County, Dr. Benjamin F. Prince,
"The Grand Old Man of Wittenberg," and for many years president of
the Clark County Historical Society, says: "As editor, my task will be
to direct the collection of all historical material that should have a perma-
nent place in the records of the city and country," and in order that the
local editorship may be of the most representative character, Gen. J.
Warren Keifer, Judge Francis M. Hagan, and W. H. Rayner of Spring-
field; Edward W. Williams, New Carlisle; Edward P. Flynn, South
Charleston, and T. A. Busby of South Vienna, were invited to act as
advisory editors.
When the publisher's representative, Rolland Lewis Whitson, came
into the community, he found excellent response from them all, and
Doctor Prince alert to every inquiry. When in the course of human
events, it becomes the privilege of a community to tabulate its record,
the matter of co-operation is a prime necessity. At the beginning a
caddy en route to the country club said : "Springfield is the best town of
60,000 population in the United States of America," and that spirit char-
acterized all from whom inquiry was made while tarrying in the com-
munity. In the bibliography of the county is much stored-up information,
_ and something has been absorbed from all of it. Where data has been
-^- taken bodily, credit is given for it, and clippings preserved at* the rooms
V- of the Clark County Historical Society have been available, as well as the
~" files of local newspapers.
A Some excellent reminiscent articles have been found in newspapers,
written by men and women who have passed from earth, and it is due
them that credit should be given them for their contributions to the
j future of their community; such names appear in connection with the
*T information gleaned from the articles. Some one says: "It is through
<\1 art, music and literature that the past lives' again ; the artist, the musician
and the writer make the great tapestry in the loom of history," and the
scheme has been to draw something from all of them.
It has been fittingly said : "The state that is not proud of its history
<ZV ^^ soon ^ave no history t0 be proud of," but Clark County has an unus-
ed ual background in local history. "For ye have not passed this way here-
tofore," says Joshua, in sacred history and it is true of the settlers who
came into the Mad River wilderness 120 years ago. Those Kentuckians
cast their nets on the other side of the ship, and their "catch" is a goodly
heritage; the fascination of exploration fastened its grip on them, and
because of their activities Clark County is now able to review its past
history.
Springfield and Clark County have registered progress at almost every
turn of the wheel of fortune, and after the lapse of 120 years — 1801 to
1921, the community is taking stock again ; it has been as long in prepara-
tion for this summary as Noah was in building the Ark, which weathered
the worst storm ever recorded on the pages of history. While the gleaner
iii
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iv FOREWORD
has had access to all publications assembled by the Clark County Histori-
cal Society and the Warder Free Library, he has found the waysides
flanked with much first hand information, and feels indebted to Miss
Alice Burrowes of the library; W. E. Lucas of the City Hall; E. W.
Hawkins of the Farm Bureau, and Howard Johnson of the Sunday
School Association for special assistance rendered, beside many who are
mentioned in connection with data secured from them.
While the Bible injunction: "Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow,"
looks into the future one who links today with yesterday must live in
retrospect, and facts have been obtained from so many sources that to
credit every whit of tabulated information would be an utter impossibility.
Mr. Lucas, Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Johnson offered favors in the way of
personally conducted excursions, and since "Seeing is believing," they
rendered most helpful service.
Like the statistician, an historian does not need to possess an imag-
ination; while a great deal of fiction may be written around one single
fact, he must deal with the facts as he finds them. While folklore may
not be accepted as history, those who know local conditions unconsciously
reflect local history. While some who have aided are not yet old, they
have had a comprehensive understanding of things, and in most instances
facts have been verified with little difficulty.
A forecast of the future depends upon a knowledge of the past, and
it is said that when an aged man with an unimpaired memory dies, it is
like burning a book from the library :
"Yes, it is a trait of Aged Men
To talk about Away Back When,"
and while many unwritten chapters in Clark County history are already
consigned to oblivion — buried with the pioneers who developed the coun-
try, one is often surprised by the fund of stored-up information possessed
by succeeding generations ; folklore — word of mouth from father to son,
mother to daughter; traditions of the family are a reliable source of
information.
There is always some one who knows or who has laid aside a news-
paper, and the gleaner in quest of information seems unerringly guided.
"In the multitude of counsellors there is safety," and one need not dwell
in the long ago in order to write about the past in any community.
While stopping in Springfield, the publisher's representative mailed local
post cards inscribed : "Bryan, Lima and Springfield, these three abide,
but the greatest of these is Springfield," and this zigzag journey across
Ohio has been pleasant pastime ; it has meant personal contact with some
wideawake citizens.
Thomas Bailey Aldrich says:
"My mind lets go a thousand things
Like dates of wars and deaths of kings,
And yet recalls the very hour — "
and that is true of aged persons interviewed in Springfield and Clark
County ; the difficulty is to marshal one's mental battalions in such preci-
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FOREWORD v
sion that they may bear at once on all quarters of the field, but since
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread/' there are venturesome spirits
who undertake such tasks.
While fiction may be a rivulet of text leading from the noisy haunts
of the world, winding along through pleasant old literary gardens redo-
lent with the choicest of intellectual blossoms, history may at least be the
log across the stream that catches some of the drift of the ages; it has
been the province of all concerned to dislodge some of the accumulated
debris, and send it adrift again down the river — the River of Time. —
The American Historical Society.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
"In the Beginning." The Highway to Springfield, Clark
County 1
CHAPTER II
The Adam of Clark County: John Paul. 6
CHAPTER III
Simon Kenton a Citizen 13
CHAPTER IV
When Clark Became an Organized County 18
CHAPTER V
In the Wake of the Moundbuilders 29
CHAPTER VI
Exit Shawnee — Advance Civilization 36
CHAPTER VII
Springfield : Its Past and Present 47
CHAPTER VIII
Geology — Its Relation to Clark County 64
CHAPTER IX
The Streams of Clark County 75
CHAPTER X
Agriculture : The World's Oldest Occupation 79
CHAPTER XI
The Progress of Clark County Agriculture 87
CHAPTER XII
Diversified Products of Agriculture 95
VI
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TABLE OF CONTENTS vii
CHAPTER XIII
Clark County Vital Rural Problems 100
CHAPTER XIV
Forward Movements in Agriculture 107
CHAPTER XV
The House of the Lord in Clark County. 126
CHAPTER XVI
In 1921 — Status of Religious Development 135
CHAPTER XVII
Catholics in Clark County 147
CHAPTER XVIII
The Sunday School in Clark County 152
CHAPTER XIX
Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations 157
CHAPTER XX
Salvation Army in Springfield 164
CHAPTER XXI
Clark County Public Schools— J. M. Collins, Superintendent. .165
CHAPTER XXII
The Springfield Public Schools : High Schools 175
CHAPTER XXIII
Wittenberg — The College and Seminary 189
CHAPTER XXIV
The Newspaper in Clark County , . .204
CHAPTER XXV
Clark County Highways : The National Road 212
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viii TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXVI
Clark County Good Roads Council 223
CHAPTER XXVII
Transportation — Its Relation to Industry 228
CHAPTER XXVIII
Springfield: Its Varied Industries 239
CHAPTER XXIX
The Open Door — The Tavern, the Hotel 253
CHAPTER XXX
Clark County Official Roster — Its Court 260
CHAPTER XXXI
Postal Service — Clark County Postoffices 278
CHAPTER XXXII
Finance — The Wealth of Clark County 287
CHAPTER XXXIII
Clark County in the Wars 297
CHAPTER XXXIV
The Second War with England — Later Wars 313
CHAPTER XXXV
Civil War: War of the States 324
CHAPTER XXXVI
The Clark County Bench and Bar 342
CHAPTER XXXVII
Materia Medica in Clark County. 351
CHAPTER XXXVIII
Springfield — Its Form of Government 362
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CHAPTER XXXIX
Public Utilities in Clark County 377
CHAPTER XL
The Water Supply of Springfield 383
CHAPTER XLI
The Organized Fire Department 387
CHAPTER XLII
Lighting Systems in Springfield 395
CHAPTER XLIII
Out-of-Door Pleasure in Springfield Parks 399
CHAPTER XLIV
Real Estate — Some Homes in Clark County 406
CHAPTER XLV
Mad River — Clark County Historical Societies 416
CHAPTER XLVI
Foreign Born Citizens in Clark County 421
CHAPTER XLVII
The Hospitals in Clark County 425
CHAPTER XLVIII
The Stage — Moving Pictures 432
CHAPTER XLIX
Temperance and Prohibition in Clark County 437
CHAPTER L
Music in Springfield and Clark County 448
CHAPTER LI
Secret Orders in Clark County 458
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CHAPTER LII
Organized Labor in Clark County 461
CHAPTER LIII
Welfare Work in Clark County 466
CHAPTER LIV
Springfield Chamber of Commerce 484
CHAPTER LV
Libraries in Clark County 486
CHAPTER LVI
Clark County Books and Writers 495
CHAPTER LVII
Intellectual and Civic Life — Springfield and Clark County. .507
CHAPTER LVIII
Intellectual and Civic Life — Continued 515
CHAPTER LIX
Supervised Sports in Clark County 523
CHAPTER LX
Yarnfest in Springfield Chamber of Commerce 527
CHAPTER LXI
Leftover Stories— The Omnibus Chapter 537
CHAPTER LXII
Yesterday and Today in Clark County 542
CHAPTER LXIII
God's Acre — Clark County Cemeteries 552
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INDEX
Adams, Charles F., II, 127
Adams, George W„ II, 313
Adams, James, I, 426
Adams, S. E., I, 427
Ade, George, I, 99
African Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion, I, 160
Agle, George C, II, 175
Agricultural education, I, 93
Agricultural machinery (1920), I, 103
Agriculture, I, 79-86; progress in Clark
County, 87-94, 100-125; diversified
products of, 95-99
Akron school law, I, 176
Alexander, Warren D., II, 44
Allen, E. L., I, 103
Along the National Road in the Long
Ago (illustration), I, 217
Alsheimer, Charles J., II, 97
Altick, Arthur R., I, 29; II, 22
Altick collection of antiquities, I, 29
Ambrose, James R., I, 369
American Red Cross, Clark County
Chapter, I, 337, 338
American Seeding Machine Company
(illustration), I, 246
American Trust and Savings Bank,
Springfield, I, 290
Anderson, Harry, I, 91
Anderson, Harry R., II, 379
Anderson, J. Fred, II, 400
Anlo, I, 21
Anthony, Charles, I, 332, 347
Anti-Tuberculosis campaign, I, 429
Appleseed, Johnny, I, 121, 122
Arbogast Family, II, 179
Architecture in Clark County, I, 407-415
Armstrong, Cyrus, I, 554
Arnett, Harry, II, 155
Ashburner, Charles A., I, 365
Associated Charity, Springfield, I, 513
Athe-ne-sepe (see Mad River)
Bacon, Charles H., II, 35
Bacon, Jane D., II, 36
Baker, Arthur H., II, 309
Baker, Benson A., II, 80
Baker, G. W., I, 237
Baker, Harvey A., II, 94
Baker, Jessie F.. II, 250
Baker, Jonathan, I, 130
Baker, Jonathan D., I, 535
Baker, Moses, 1, 130
Baker, Scipio E., II, 249
Baldwin, Henry, I, 429
Baldwin, John W., II, 339
Baldwin, Jonah, I, 56
Ballard, Charles E., II, 408
Ballinger, Homer W., II, 295
Bancroft, Phraortes E., I, 59; II, 236
Bancroft, Robert G. II, 237
Banks (see Finance)
Banks in Springfield, I, 289-293
Baptists in Springfield, I, 141
Bartholomew, Ella R., II, 402
Bartholomew, Oscar N., II, 402
Barton, Clara, I, 425
Baseball, I, 523
Basketball, I, 525
Bassett, A. H., I, 416
Bateman, Henry E., II, 369
Bauer, Charles, II, 237
Bauer, Charles L., I, 223, 448, 452
Bauer, Vinnie, II, 239
Bauer, Walter B., II, 343
Baumgardner, Clifford H., II, 374
Bauslin, D. H., I, 53, 126, 197
Baxter, Edward W., II, 230
Bayley, William, II, 103
Baylor, Alvin L., II, 258
Bean, Mrs. H. H., I, 337
Beattytown, I, 27
Beaupain, August L., I, 365
Bechtle Mound, I, 31
Bell, Read L., II, 196
Bell, Virgil A., II, 375
Bell Telephone Company, I, 380
Bench and Bar (see also County Judi-
ciary), I, 342-350
Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks, in Springfield, I, 460
Berding, C. M., I, 149
Berry, James B., I, 367
Bethel Township, I, 20, 22
Bevitt, Bessie F., I, 456
Bibliography (see Books of Clark
County)
Billow, George W., I. 404
Billy Sunday tabernacle (1911), I, 127
Binnig, Fred W., II, 89
Birch, T. B., I, 53
Bird, Wallace G., II, 161
Birthplace of Gen. Frederick Funston,
New Carlisle (illustration) I, 332
Bishop, Spalding W., II, 406
Bitner, William H., II, 410
Black, Andrew C, I, 433
Black, Robert S„ I, 369
Black's Opera House. I, 433
Boehme, Raymond G., II, 357
Boggs, William K., I, 318
Boggess, Carey, I, 177
Books of Clark County, I, 494
Bookwalter, Francis M., II, 140
Bookwalter, John W., I, 433, 500
Booth, Evangeline, I, 164
Bowlus, Charles J., I, 363
Bowlusville, I, 22
Bowman, Samuel A., I, 343, 346, 515
XI
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XH
INDEX
Boy Scouts of America, Springfield,
I, 160
Bradley, Horatio S., II, 172
Brain, Belle M., I, 501
Brain, Robert D., I, 501
Brain, Robert, Jr., I, 456
Braun, Frank J., II, 234
Braun, Leo, II, 235
Breckenridge, Mrs. S. R, I, 155
Bretney, Charles V. H., II, 269
Bretney, Harry V., II, 270
Bretney, Henry, II, 269
Brewster, Rebecca, I, 162
Bricklaying Class, Night High School
(illustration), I, 183
Brighton, I, 25
Buchwalter, Edward L., II, 9
Buchwalter, Luther L., II, 10
Buchwalter, Mrs. E. L., I, 512
Brosey, Harry M., II, 148
Brosey, Minnie H., II, 149
Buck Creek (Lagonda), I, 76
Buckeye Incubator Company, II, 302
Buckley, Daniel A., I, 148
Buena Vista, I, 25
Buena Vista Tavern (illustration), I, 254
Buffenbarger, Warren K., II, 74
Burbank, Prof., I, 452
Burleigh, Brown, II, 283
Burk, John W., II, 194
Burnett, Jacob R., I, 45
Burnett, William R., I, 363; II, 94
Burnette, A. G., I, 363
Burnham, Martin T., II, 231
Burrowes, Alice, I, 491, 499
Burt, Nathaniel C, I, 500
Busbey, Hamilton, I, 53
Busbey, T. Addison, II, 18
Bushnell, Asa S., I, 236, 251, 267, 290,
397, 419, 479; II, 12
Bushnell (A. S.) home, I, 411
Bushnell, Mrs. Asa S., I, 141, 420; II, 14
Bushnell, John L., I, 290; II, 14
Bushnell (J. L.) home, I, 411
Bushnell Building (illustration), I, 292
Butler, Simon (See Simon Kenton)
Byrer, Charles E., I, 298
Cad Band, Springfield, I, 455
Calvert, Thomas L., I, 267, 268; II, 16
Campbell, Alexander, I, 144
Campbell, David H., II, 218
Campus scene, Wittenberg College (illus-
tration), I, 190
Carlisle, Mrs. E. A., I, 517
Carmony, Elmus J., II, 319
Carnegie Science Hall, I, 199
Carr, A. E., I, 365
Carr, John L., II, 333
Cartmell, Joseph B., I, 337, 338; II, 316
Cartmell, P. M., I, 458
Cary, Waitstel, Springfield hatter, I, 539
Caspar, T. J., I, 417
Cassilly, Michael P., I. 147
Catholic Cemeteries, I, 560
Catholic priest, first to visit Springfield,
I, 147
Catholic welfare work, I, 478
Catholics in Clark County, I, 147-156
Cemeteries outside of Springfield, I, 561
Central Engine House, Fire Department
(illustration), I, 388
Centralized schools, I, 168-170
Century of women's activties in Spring-
field, I, 514
Champion City (Springfield), I, 50
Chapman, John, I, 121
Charleston, I, 25
Chase, Clarence A., II, 404
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Cir-
cle, Springfield, I, 512
Cheney, Milton, II, 69
Chicken thieves, I, 540
Chief of Police, Springfield, I, 368-371
Children's Pageant at Ridgewood (illus-
tration), I, 185
Chills and fevers, I, 359
Chinese residents in Springfield, I, 423
Cholera at New Carlisle (1832-33), I,
360
Christ Church, Episcopalian, Springfield,
I, 141
Christadelphian Society, Springfield, I,
144
Christian, L. H., I, 177
Christian Science practitioners, I, 361
Churches (see Religion)
Church of the Brethren Sunday School,
Donnels Creek, I, 156
Church of the Heavenly Rest, Spring-
field, I, 141
Churchill, B. P., I, 318
Cincinnati bank failure, I, 244
Cincinnati, Sandusky and Cleveland Rail-
road, I, 233
City Building (illustration), I. 364
City Federation of Women's Clubs,
Springfield, I, 511, 512
City of Roses (Springfield), I, 50
Civil War, I, 324-341; officers from
* Clark County, 329
Dark, Alexander, I, 501
Clark, Charlotte S., I, 473
Clark, George Rogers, I, 3; (sketch of).
5; (illustration), 4; on Knob Prairie
Mound, 30; his battle at Piqua Shaw-
nee village, 299
Clark County, Ludlow line across, I, 4;
John Paul, its pioneer, 6, 7; organiza-
tion of, 18; townships, 20-28; travel-
ers in, 133; in the wars, 297-312; con-
tributions to World's War, 336; his-
tories of, 495-504; cemeteries, 553-562
Clark County Bar Association, I, 342
Clark County Boys' Corn Club, I, 114;
(1921) (illustration), I, 104
Clark County Centennial (1880), I, 308,
310
Clark County Children's Home, I, 469-
471; (illustration), 470
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INDEX
Xlll
Clark County church budget (1921), I,
127
Clark County Court of Appeals, I, 269
Clark County Detention Home, I, 474,
475
Clark County Dry Federation, I, 442
Clark County Fair (1921), I, 109
Clark County Fair Association, I, 107
Clark County Fair Grounds, I, 402
Clark County Historical Society, I, 44,
417, 421
Clark County Home, I, 439, 466-468
Clark County Horticultural Society, I,
121, 122
Clark County Infirmary (illustration), I,
467
Clark County Interchurch World Sur-
vey, I, 135
Gark County Juvenile Court, I, 474
Clark County Medical Society, I, 351-
352
Dark County Memorial Hall, I, 276
Clark County Memorial Home (illustra-
tion), I, 472
Clark County Public Health League, I,
477
Clark County Sunday School Associa-
tion, I, 152
Clark County Temperance Society, I,
441
Clark County Veteran Memorial Asso-
ciation, I, 416
Clark-Tecumseh monument, I, 418, 437
Clarke, Ada, II, 102
Clarke, Oliver, I, 289; (illustration), 290
Clarke, Oliver C, II, 119
Clarke, Oliver T., II, 399
Clarke, Willis B., II, 102
Clary, Osman C, II, 229
Class scene, Wittenberg (illustration),
I, 193
Clerks of the County Court, I, 271
Cliff Park, I, 402, 404
Clifton, I, 24
Coberly, Mrs. Elizabeth, veteran Sun-
day School teacher, I, 154
Coffin, E. G., I, 363
Cogswell, George O., II, 49
Cold Springs, I, 23
Cole, Arthur E., II, 349
Cole, John M., II, 191
Cole, Milton, I, 363; II, 190
Collins, Joseph M., I, 167; II, 271
Columbia Street Cemetery, I, 554
Commonwealth Power, Railway and
Light Company, I, 398
Concord, I, 24
Congregationalism in Springfield, I, 143
Congressional districts, I, 268
•Constantine, Barbara, II, 84
Constantine, Charles W., I, 363; II, 84
Cooper, Edna, II, 240
Cooper, Josiah K, II, 239
Cooperative Reaper Factory, I, 245
Corcoran, William J., II, 216
Corn crop in Clark County, I, 95
Cornwell, Mary, II, 278
Cornwell, Owen L., II, 277
Corry, Homer C, I, 102, 484; II, 398
Corry, Lee B., II, 241
Cortsville, I, 24
Cotter, George S., I, 383, 385
Country Life Commission, I, 105
County Auditors, I, 272
County Building (illustration), I, 366
County-City normal school, I, 173
County Commissioners, I, 274
County Coroners, I, 273
County fairs, I, 107
County Health Commissioner, I, 276
County jails, I, 262-264
County judiciary, I, 269-271, 342
County official roster, I, 269-275
County organization (1818), I, 261
County Probate Court (Constitution
1851), I, 349
County Recorders, I, 273
County School Superintendents, I, 274
County seat fixed, I, 261
County Surveyors, I, 273
County Treasurers, I, 272
Courlas, Jerome P., II, 296
Courthouse, Springfield (illustration), I,
260
Courthouses, I, 260-265
Crabill, John, II, 160
Cradlebaugh, Henry S., II, 382
Croft farm, I, 439
Cromwell, John C, II, 81
Crossland, Albert K., II, 146
Crossland, Emma M., II, 147
Cross roads rural school (illustration),
I, 169
Crowell, J. S., I, 502
Crowell (J. S.) home, I, 411
Crowell, Mrs. J. S., I, 492
Crowell, Silas, I, 417
Crowell Publishing Company, I, 252,
464, 502, 504; (illustration), 503
Cumming, E. H., I, 347, 507
Cushman, James, I, 369
Cutler, Menassah, I, 2
Dairy industry, I, 91
Daugherty, John, I, 441
Davies, Mrs. F. L., I, 162
Davis, Cary S., II, 324
Davis, Emory F., II, 397
Davis, Golden C, II, 44
Davis, Harry L., I, 251
Davis, John H„ II, 87
Davy, Clare S., II, 79
Davy, Jesse O., II, 78
Day Nursery. Once the City Prison
(illustration), I, 476
Dayton and Belle fontaine military road,
I, 314, 315
Deam, John W., II, 61
Deaton, Edwin P., I, 469; II, 219
Deaton, Nathan E., II, 387
Debienville, Celoron, ascends Big Miami
River (1749), I, 494
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XIV
INDEX
Decline of markets, I, 296
Deitrick, Joseph E., II, 72
Delinquent tax sales, I, 409
Demint, James, I, 9, 10, 54, 55, 362, 383,
438, 441, 553
Demint, Mrs. James, I, 12, 15
Demint family, I, 9-12
Devht, William F., I, 344
Dial, E. G., I, 177
Dial, George S., II, 185
Dialton, I, 27
Dick, John, I, 559
Dickey, John L., II, 384
Diehl, Warren W., I, 339: II, 38
Dillahunt, Peter A., II, 251
Dinkelacker, E. D., I, 164
Disciples of Christ, Springfield, I, 144
Distilleries, along Mad River, I, 439
District Common Pleas Court (Constitu-
tion 1851), I, 349
Dolly Varden, I, 26
Domer, A. J., II, 257
Donnel, Jonathan, I, 21, 561
Donnelsville, I, 21, 22
Doom, Lemuel N., II, 221
Dorst, John L., I, 159; II, 309
Doty, E. M., I, 157
Doyle, John A., II, 143
Drake, Daniel, I, 356
Drake, J. Elmer, I, 95
Drake, Sarah A., II, 144
Drake, Theodore T., II, 390
Drake, William M., II, 144
Drayer, A. H., I, 469
Dresher, E. E., H, 254
Drum, Simon H., I, 316
Duffey, A. L., II, 254
Dunlap, Albert, sketch of, I, 355
Durbin, I, 27
Durst, J. R., I, 107
Dyer, Albert W., II, 168
Eagle City, I, 22
Eakins, Irvin, II, 321
Eakins, Mary E., II, 321
Eddy, Mary Baker, I. 361
Education; recognized by Ordinance of
1787, I, 2; Catholic high and grade
schools of Springfield, 149; public, in
Clark County, 165-188; typical pioneer
school, 166 ; public supervision of rural
schools (1914), 167; centralized and
rural schools, 168-173; remedy for il-
literacy, 172; Springfield public
schools, 175-188
Edwards, Jonathan, I, 177
Egg stories, I, 537
Eglinger, Albert, II, 244
Eichelberger, James T., II, 211
Eighteenth Amendment, becomes effec-
tive, I, 442
Elder, Robert, II, 334
Electric lighting company, first in
.Springfield (1883), I, 397
Elliott, John C, I. 318
Elliott, John S., II, 392
Elliott, Nora W., II, 392
Ellsworth, W. J., I, 177
Elwell, Wilbur E., II, 154
El wood Meyers Factory (illustration),
I, 243
Enon, I, 23
Epizootic (1872), I, 359
Ervin, L. M., II, 222
Esplanade, Springfield (illustration), I,
57 230
Evans, C. HL, I, 182
Evans, Charles W., II, 375
Exchange Club, Springfield, I, 519
Fagan, Sibyl S., I, 456
Fahien, Herman J., II, 48
Fairbanks, Charles W., I, 245
Fairbanks Theater, I, 434
Fall, Chancey, I, 316
Famous guests at Springfield hotels, I,
259
Farm Bureau of Clark County, I, 112,
113, 114
Farmer, The, I, 204, 205
Farmers, income of (1920), I, 91
Farmers Institute, I, 103
Farmers National Bank, I, 295
Farming vs. citying, I, 98
Farrar, William M., I, 86
Fassler, Jerome, I, 243
Fay, Edgar A., I, 143; II, 281
Ferncliff Avenue (illustration), I, 400
Ferncliff Cemetery, I, 557-560; (illustra-
tion), 557
Ferncliff Cemetery Entrance (illustra-
tion), I, 558
Ferncliff Hall, Dormitory for Young
Women (illustration), I, 195
Fidler, Harry B., II, 209
Finances of county, I, 287-296 ; expenses *
of Springfield city government, 367
Finley, James B., I, 132
Finfrock, Arthur W., II, 288
Fire departments, State laws regulating,
I, 393
Fire Prevention Society, Springfield, I,
393
Firey, M. J., I, 442
First bank in Ohio, 1, 289
First Catholic school in Springfield, I,
148
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Spring-
field, I, 145
First circuses, I, 538
First county school act passed (1821),
I, 166
First disastrous fire in Springfield
(1840), I, 387
First electric lighting company, Spring-
field (1883), I, 397
First labor union in Springfield, I, 463
First National Bank, Springfield, I, 290
First silo in Clark County, I, 92
First Springfield directory (1852), I, 491
First Sunday School in Springfield, I,
153
Digitized by
Google
\
INDEX
3GT
First Women's Christian Temperance
Unions in Ohio (Springfield), I, 446
Fisher Maddux, I, 12, 56, 58, 262, 264,
266
Fisk, M., I, 141
Fleming, James, I, 363
Flint, A. E., I, 159
Foley, James, I, 109
Foos, Griffith, I, 10, 12, 14, 51, 80. 406
Foos, William, I, 242
Foos Engine Company (illustration), I,
250
Football, I, 523
Foreign born citizens of Clark County,
I, 421-424
Forgy, I, 21
Fort Tecumseh, I, 291; site of Piqua
(Pawnee) Village, 307, 400
Fortnightly Club, Springfield, I, 512
Foster, Clarence J., II, 301
Foster, Fred, II, 350
Foster, Joseph W., II, 302
Foster, William, II, 301
Fountain Square, I, 62
Fox drives (1921-22), I, 120
Francis, William, II, 205
Frankenberg, Mrs. George, I, 438
Frankenstein, Godfrey N., I, 522
Frankenstein's Niagara Falls, I, 432
Fraser, Fannie, II, 383
Fraser, George W., II, 383
Fraternal homes of Ohio, I, 479-484
Fraternal homes, Springfield, I, 458, 459
Free and Accepted Masons in Clark
County, I, 458
Freeman, Henry E., II, 304
Frey, George H., I, 247, 405; II, 33
Frey, George H., Sr., I, 378
Frey, I. Ward, I, 236, 404; II, 32
Frock. J. D., I, 365
Fry, Clara A., I, 179
Fry, E. R, I, 472
Full dress costumes, I, 542, 543
Funderburg, Frank E., II, 150
Funk, Isaac H., I, 502
Funs ton, Frederick, native of New Car-
lisle, I, 330; death of, 333
Furry, John E., I, 363; II, 226
Gallagher, Katherine E., II, 368
Gallagher, Michael, II, 368
Galloway, James, I, 121
Galloway, Rebecca, I, 40
Garver, Helen B., I, 179
Garver, John N., II, 120
Gaynor, Thomas L., II, 326
Geddes, James L., II, 307
Geology in Clark County, I, 64-74
Gerhardt, Paul T., II, 123
German, John, II, 176
German Lutherans in Springfield, I, 143
German musical societies, I, 453-457
German township, I, 23
Gilbert, Charles F., II, 223
Gleason, John, I, 95
Golden Arch, I, 224
Golden bridal couples, at Springfield
Yarnfest (1921), I, 531
Golf, I, 523
Good, Frank E., II, 179
Good, John M., II, 418
Good Family, II, 178
Good Roads Council, I, 223
Goode, James S., I, 363
Goode, John M.. I, 363
Goodfellow, Milton B., II, 243
Goodfellow, Moore, II, 243
Goodfellow, Roy A., II, 242
Goodfellow, Samuel, II, 243
Goodfellow, W. E., dancing master, I,
541
Goodrich Rubber Company, I, 224
Goodwin, J. P., I, 363
Gordon, William, II, 224
Gotwald, Luther A., II, 358
Gotwald, Robert C, II, 359
Gowdy, John H., II, 65
Gram, Ed, II, 346
Grand Army of the Republic Art Loan
and Midwinter Fair, I, 417
Grand Army of the Republic Burial Plot,
Ferncliff Cemetery (illustration), I,
552, 559
Grand Army of the Republic, Mitchell
Post, I, 460
Grand Opera House, Springfield, I, 433
Grant, A. W., I, 247
Grant, George D., II, 364
Great Miami, ancient river bed of, I, 67
Great Miami Valley, first crop of corn
in, I, 96
Greeks in Springfield, I, 424
Greenawalt, Samuel E., I, 472; II, 25
Greene township, I, 24
Greeneville Treaty, I, 8, 20, 45
Greenmount Cemetery, I, 554, 555
Griggs, Edward H., I, 514
Groeber, John, II, 131
Groeber, John, Jr., II, 132
tGrube, Adam, II, 186
IGrube, George P., II, 187
JGrube, Perry A., II, 201
Hagan, Francis M., I, 345, 348, 362, 419;
II, 431
Hagan, Mrs. F. M., I, 514
Halsey, James S., I, 486
Hamma, Charles B., II, 248
Hamma, M. W., I, 197
Hamma Divinity School (illustration),
I, 196, 197
Hanna, T. J., I, 363
"Hard cider" campaign (1840), I, 266
Hard surface roads, I, 213-215
Hardick, Prof., I, 452
Harford, Edward, II, 280
Harmony, I, 25
Harmony township, I, 25
Harper, E. L., I, 244
Harris, James H., II, 52
Harrison, Charles F., II, 197
Harshman, Jonathan, Jr., II, 264
Digitized by
Google
XVI
INDEX
Harshman, Laura H., II, 264
Hartley, Frank A., II, 402
Hartzler, Daniel, I, 291
Hartzler (Daniel) farm (now Fort
Tecumseh), I, 308
Hatfield, Charles S., II, 209
Hawk, O. E., I, 408
Hawke, O. T., I, 168
Hawken, Henry G, I, 456
Hawkins, Emin W., II, 34
Haynes, R. A.f I, 444
Hays, Charles O., II, 227
Hayward, Harry B., II, 61
Hayward, James A., II, 60
Hayward, R. F., I, 267
Heaurae, John S., II, 46
Hebrank, Harry E., II, 317
Heckert, Charles G., I., 53, 199
Heindel, Albert D., II, 86
Heisey, Paul H., I, 202
Hellenic Union Club, I, 424
Helwig, John B., I, 194
Hendershott, Isaac, I, 352
Henkle, Saul, I, 139, 153, 441, 468, 486,
507, 554
Hennessey, I, 23
Henry Family, II, 179
Henry- Arbogast Families, II, 179
Henry L. Schaefer Jr. High School (il-
lustration), I, 181
Henthorn, Ellis, II, 101
Herald of Gospel Liberty, I, 133
Herron, J. W., I, 177
Hertzinger, J. K., I. 168
High School, Springfield (illustration),
I, 178
High Street M. E. Church, I, 414
Highways of Clark County, I, 212
Hildreth, S. P., I, 86
Hill, Arthur R., II, 304
Hill, H. M., I, 365
Hill, W. D., I, 363
Hinkle John R., II, 156
Hinkle, Margaret, II, 225
Hinkle, Michael Way, II, 225
Hiser, Charles H., II, 25
Hiser, Daniel B., II, 24
Historical and biographical volumes, I,
497, 498
Historical Atlas of Clark County (1875),
1,497
Historical societies of Clark County, I,
416
Hockdoerfer, Richard, I, 53
Hodge, Asa W., II, 193
Hodge, Bertha, II, 193
Hodge, Thomas D.. II, 370
Holden, L. E., I, 53
Holman, Edward P., II, 79
Home Telephone Company, I, 381
Homes in Springfield, I, 407
Honey Creek, I, 77
Hoppes, John J., II, 136
Horr, Calvin A., II, 263
Horse thieves, I, 538
Horses, I, 110
Hospitals in Clark County, I, 425-431
Hosterman Publishing Company, I, 464
504
Hotels and taverns, I, 253-259
Houck, Edwin L., II, 286
Houck, Edwin S., I, 365; II, 287
Houck, George, II, 286
Household matters of the olden times,
I, 544
Houston Bank of South Charleston,
failure of, I, 291
Howard, Maurice, I, 150
Howard, Solomon, I, 177
Howe, Henry, I, 299, 300, 496
Howe, H. H., I, 495, 496
Humberger, Gaylord R., II, 310
Humphreys, John, I, 9, 14, 51, 406
Hunt, John, I, 173; oldest college grad-
uate in the United States, 530
Hunt, J. M., I, 363
Hunt, Richard A., first Springfield
physician, I, 355
Hunter, Charles N., II, 381
Hunter, Laura E., II, 382
Hunter, Samuel F., I, 52, 249; II, 125
Hurt, F. W., I, 176
Husted, I, 23
Hutchings, Stanley R., II, 40
Hutchins, Thomas, I, 39
Hyslop, W. W., I, 107, 109
Igou, Lureatha, II, 203
Igou, Peter F., II, 203
Inauguration of President Dr. Recs E.
Tulloss (illustrations), I, 200
Income taxes, I, 293
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
Home (illustration), I, 480
Independent Order of Odd Fellows in
Clark County, I, 458
Indian trails, I, 212
Industries, early, I, 55, 56, 82, 239, 525,
535
Innes fallen Greenhouse, I, 124, 125
Intellectual and civic life, I, 507-522
Interchurch Survey, I, 421
International Fat Stock Show, I, 111
International Harvester Company (illus-
tration), I, 241
Interurban electric service, I, 236-238
Ireland, George E., II, 262
Iron Moulders' Union No. 72, I, 463
Italians in Springfield, I, 423
Jackson, Charles F., II, 294
Jackson, J. A., I, 177
Jackson, May H., II, 181
Jarboe, Elizabeth J., I, 15, 17
Jewish Congregations in Springfield, I,
144
Jews in Springfield, I, 421
Johnson, Anna B., I, 511
Johnson, Floyd A., I, 223, 227
Johnson, Frank C, II, 139
Johnson, Howard, I, 152, 155
Johnson, James G, I, 343, 349
Digitized by
Google
INDEX
XVII
Johnson, James G., I, 267
Johnson, James, Jr., I, 363
Johnson, Richard M., I, 315
Johnson, Robert, II, 138
Johnston, Floyd A., II, 27
Jones, Clement L., II, 422
Jones, Elmer, I, 107
Judd, Delbert S., II, 166
Juergens, Arthur R., I, 452, 453, 455
Juergens, Charles A., I, 454
Junker, Henry D., I, 147
Jurists, distinguished, I, 343
Jurors, women as, I, 344
Juvenile Court, I, 270
Kain, George I., I, 135
Kauffman, Benjamin F., II, 264
Kauffman, Michael, I, 421
Kay, Charles S., I, 507; II, 414
Kay, Clarence H., II, 117
Kay, Isaac, I, 139, 182, 504; II, 413
Kearney, James, I, 147, 148
Keifer, Benjamin W., II, 409
Keifer, Horace C, I, 332
Keifer, J. Warren, I, 11, 53, 81, 247, 268,
300, 325, 331, 332, 343. 494, 500; II, 3
Keifer, W. W., I, 36, 44, 307, 477
Keifer Camp No. 3, Spanish War Vet-
erans, I, 332
Keller, Augusta E, II, 201
Keller, Charles M. F., II, 200
Keller, Ezra, I, 142, 189, 191, 192; (death
of), 193, 557
Keller, Katherine M., II, 201
Kelley, Oliver H., I, 112
Kelly, Edwin S., II, 8
Kelly (E. S.) home, I, 411
Kelly, Oliver S., I, 243, 363t 432; II, 6
Kelly, Oliver W., II, 7
Kelly Family, II, 5
Kelly Fountain, L 58
Kelly Lake, in Ferncliff (illustration),
I, 560
Kelly-Springfield Motor Truck Com-
pany, II, 307
Kelly-Springfield Tire Company (illus-
tration), I, 248
Kent, A. Richard, I, 352; II, 314
Kenton, Elizabeth J., I, 15, 17
Kenton, Simon, I, 9, 13-17, 132
Keyser, Leander S., I, 53, 502
Kindle, Louis, I, 559
King, David, II, 300
King, Robert L., II, 194
King, Robert Q., II, 192
Kinney, Mrs. M. E, I, 446
Kirkpatrick, Donald. I. 152; II, 305
Kirkpatrick, T. J., I, 363
Kissell, Harry S., II, 31
Kitchen, Stephen, II, 361
Kiwanis Gub, Springfield, I, 518
Kizer, Thomas, I, 88
Knight, George H., I, 234
Knights of Columbus, Springfield, I, 150
Knights of Labor (Mad River) Assem-
bly, I, 464
Knob Prairie Christian Church, I, 128-
130
Knob Prairie Mound, I, 29
Knob Prairie Mound at Enon (illustra-
tion), I, 30
Knott, Peter, II, 51
Kobetanz, John H., II, 88
Kohl, Jacob L., II, 131
Kramer, John F., I, 444
Krapp, George P., I, 500
Kunkle, Albert H., I, 343; II, 16
Kyle, Agnes, I, 170
Labor Temple, I, 461
Lagonda, I, 27
Lagonda Avenue Congregational Church.
Springfield, I, 143
Lagonda Chapter D. A. R., Springfield,
I, 313, 515, 517
Lagonda Club (illustration), I, 516
Lagonda Club Building, I, 517
Lagonda Creek (see Buck Creek)
Lagonda United Brethren Church, I, 143
Lambert, LeRoy, II, 377
Large Skull Penetrated by Tree Root
(illustration), I, 34
Law Library, Springfield, I, 493
Lawrenceville, I, 24
Laybourn, Lewis J., II, 378
Laybourne, Clarence E, II, 218
Learn, Herbert A., II, 164
LeBolt, Gus, II, 347
Leffel, George M., II, 129
Leffel, James, first Springfield inventor,
I, 242-243
LeFeyre, R. M., I, 483
Lehman, John, I, 141
Leonard, A. B., I, 442
Liberty Loans, I, 288
Libraries of Clark County, I, 486-493
Limestone, I, 69
Limestone City, I, 23
Limestone Cliffs, I, 67
Lincoln, Abraham, I, 324-326-331
Lind, Jenny, I, 448
Link, A. J., I, 356
Link, Constantine, II, 308
Link, Joseph, II, 308
Lions Club, Springfield, I, 519
Lisbon, I, 25
Little Miami Railroad (1846), I, 231-232
Littleton, John C, II, 55
Littleton, J. Howard, I, 155; II, 259
Live Stock (1921), I, 109
Lloyd, John U., I, 353, 354, 355, 494
Local Rain Fall, I, 384
Locke, Mrs. D. R., I, 479
Logan, Olive, I, 508
Lohnes, Edwin, Mad River Township
(illustration), I, 115
Loney, J. M., I, 149
Long, Edgar H., II, 214
Long, T. T., I, 159
Lorenz, Adolph, visit of, to Springfield,
I, 356
Lowry, David, I, 51, 87, 228, 406
Digitized by
Google
XV111
INDEX
Lowry, J. Edwin, II, 144
Lucas, Richard S., II, 417
Lucas, William £., II, 246
Ludlow, Abraham R., I, 442; II, 106
Ludlow, Cooper, II, 107
Ludlow, Jason S., II, 109
Ludlow, John, I, 239; (illustration) 240;
290, 416, 497; II, 108
Ludlow Family, II, 107
Ludlow Papers of 1871, I, 497
Lupfer, Edgar N., II, 72
Lutheran Church in Springfield, I, 141
Lutherans Outside of Springfield, I, 142
M. & M. Building (illustration), I, 413
Mad River, I, 75, 76
Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad
(1832), I, 231, 232, 233
Mad River Baptist Church, I, 131
Mad River City (Springfield), I, 50
Mad River Township, I, 23
Mad River Township Sunday School
Convention, I. 156
Mad River Valley Bank, I, 289
Mad River Valley Dental Society, I, 361
Mad River Valley Pioneer and Historical
Association, I, 416
Madison Township, I, 25
Mann, Horace, I, 130, 133
Maps (early) of Springfield and Clark
County, I, 496, 497
Market house, Springfield, I, 62
Markets and labor for farmers, I, 114-
117
Marshall, T. R., I, 49
Martin, John H., II, 54
Martin, Oscar T., I, 346; II, 171
Martin, Paul C, I, 537; II, 171
Mason, Samson, I, 12, 268, 347
Masonic Home, I, 479
Mast, P. P., I, 363, 504
Mast (P. P.) home, I, 410
Materia Medica in Clark County, I, 351-
361
Martinson, Thomas, II, 336
Mattinson, Thomas E., II, 379
Mayor, duties of, I, 365
McBride, Richard, first Springfield post-
master, I, 281
McConnell, John B., II, 96
McCord, George E., I, 177; II, 318
McCoy, W. E., I, 113
McCultoch, Hugh R., II, 355
McCulloch, William, II, 354
McCulloch, William P., II, 355
McCullough, E. J., II, 159
McDonald, Frank L., I, 481 ; II, 268
McGarry, J. R., I, 363
McGilvray, Charles F., I, 363; II, 415
McGraw, Thomas F., I, 416
McGregor, Margaret H., I, 456
McGregor, Thomas R., II, 98
McGrew, Elizabeth E., II, 341
McGrew, John B., II, 342
McGrew, Samuel F., II, 340
Mclntire, A. K., I, 402
Mclntire, Benjamin B., II, 198
Mclntire, William D., II, 293
Mcintosh, W. H., I, 497
McKee, Elza F., I, 342, 484, 493; II, 401
McKenna, John, I, 369
McKinley, W. B., I, 236
McKinnon, Daniel, I, 19
Medway, I, 21
Meenach, Joseph J., II, 386
Mellen (George H.) Company, I, 124
Mellinger, Harry, II, 207
Mellinger, Harry S., I, 225
Memorial Arch, entrance to Snyder
Park (illustration), I, 302
Memorial Hall (illustration), I, 275, 276,
435
Men's Literary Club, Springfield, I, 515
Merritt, Alice, II, 228
Metal industries, I, 243
Meteoric shower, I, 72
Methodism in Springfield, I, 137
Methodists, organize in Springfield, I,
130
Mexican war, I, 316
Miami Indians, I, 37t 38
Military square, I. 262
Mill Run, I, 77t 78
Millegan, M. L., I, 53
Miller, Earl N., II, 115
Miller, Elwood, I, 429
Miller, H. T., I, 157
Miller, John, II, 287
Miller, John C, I, 363, 505
Miller, John E., II, 114
Miller, Joseph, II, 329
Miller, Joseph J., I, 363
Miller, Mary, II, 287
Miller, Orion P., II, 132
Miller, Reuben, I, 561
Miller, S. S., I, 72, 73, 8<H 122, 142, 239
Miller, Samuel, I, 504
Miller, Mrs. Willis H., I, 501
Milligan, Melvin L.. I, 363; II, 135
Milling in Springfield district, I, 249
Mills, Wilham, II, 29
Mills, William, Sr., II, 29
Mills, William C, II, 30
Mitch, Lemuel, II, 208
Mitchell, Ross, I, 154, 317, 407, 425
Mitchell and Thomas Hospital, I, 425
Mitchell Post G. A. R., I, 328
Modern newspaper, I, 209-211
Montanus, Philip E., II, 106
Moorefield, I, 23
Moorefield Township, I, 22
Moores, William H., II, 147
Moores Lime Company, The, II, 147
Morean, Gilman J., II, 240
Morgan, Ion A. P., II, 348
Morgan, John, I, 256
Moses, Marion C, II, 152
"Moss-Covered Bucket," I, 441
Mother Stewart (see Eliza D. Stewart)
Mother Thompson (see Mrs. E. J.
Thompson)
Moundbuilders in Clark County, I. 29-35
Digitized by
Google
INDEX
xix
Movies (see Stage)
Moyer, Aaron J., II, 122
Moyer, Rebecca, II, 122
Mulliken, E. W., I, 157
Munchel, John, II, 253
Municipal golf links, I, 525
Municipal swimming pools, I, 525
Murphy, Mrs. J. W., I, 512
Music in Clark County, I, 448
Muster day in Springfield, I, 315, 314
Myers, Harvey E., II, 71
Myers, James A., II, 20
Myers, John E., II, 389
Myers, Wilbur J., I, 107; II, 21
Myers, William, II, 396
Myers Hall, Wittenberg (illustration),
Nagley, Vernie, II, 75
National Hotel, I, 258
National Road, I, 216-223, 253, 255, 256
Natural gas, I, 395, 396
Nave, Jacob P., II, 50
Nave, Mrs. John G., II, 91
Nave, T. T., II, 91
Nave, Margaret E., II, 91
Needle Work Build, Springfield, I, 513
Neer, Dorothy, I, 426, 427
Neer, Luther, II, 67
Negro as a citizen, I, 375
Negro riots in Springfield, I, 371-376
Netts, George W., II, 41
Neve, Juergens, I, 53
New Carlisle, I, 21; postoffice, 282;
cholera at (1832-33), 360; its public
water system, 386; fire department of,
394
New Carlisle Progress Club, I, 520
New Carlisle Sun, I, 205
New Champion factories, I, 245
New Light Christians, I, 130; in Spring-
field, 139, 140
New Moorefield, I, 22
Newlove, Henry O., II. 366
Newspapers in Clark County, I, 204-211
Nichols, Clifton M., I, 500
Nicklin, John S., II, 82
Nightingale, Florence, her natal cente-
nary, I, 351, 425
Ninety-nine year leases, I, 409
Nolte, Augustus B., II, 278
North Hampton, I, 27
Northern Heights School, Springfield,
1,468
Northwest Territory, I, 3
O'Brien, John, II, 299
O'Brien, Patrick E., II, 299
O'Brien, Richard E., I, 369, 370: II, 245
Octogenarians at Yarnfest (1921), I, 530
Odd Fellows Home of Ohio, Springfield,
1,481
Oesterlin, Amelia, I, 471
Oesterlin Orphans' Home, I, 471-473
Oglevee, John F., I, 267
OUarra, Stanford L., II, 351
Ohev Zedukah congregation, I, 422
Ohio, population of, 1910, 1920, I, 28
Ohio Building Association League, I, 407
Ohio Fuel Supply Company, I, 396
Ohio Gazetteer, I, 494
Ohio Knights of Pythias Home (illus-
tration), I, 482
Ohio Masonic Home (illustration), I,
459, 479
Ohio Pythian Children's Home, Spring-
field, I, 483
O. K., origin of word, I, 256
Old Courthouse, erected 1819-22 (illus-
tration), I, 263
Old folks in Chamber of Commerce (il-
lustration), I, 528
Old homestead (illustration), I, 543
Old Mill, New Carlisle (illustration),
1,22
Old Orpheum Theater, I, 436
Old-time rural homes, I, 408
Oldest silver service in Clark County,
I 538
Olinger, Jasper W» II, 213
Olive Branch, I, 21
CKMealy, J. J., I, 148
O'Mealy, Patrick, I, 148
Ordinance of 1787, I, 1, 2
O'Reilly and Morse telegraph offices con-
solidated (1849), L 378
Organized labor m dark County, I, 461-
465
Ort, Granville L., II, 90
Ort, Samuel A., I, 194
Otstot, Sarah, II, 157
Owen, E. D., I, 141
Packham, Frank R., II, 265
Packham, Maxmilla, II, 266
Paist, Charles, I, 25, 26
Paist, Isaac, I, 432
Parker, Adam B.f II, 363
Parrott, Joseph, farm, I, 468
Parsons, Edgar E., I, 175, 365, 366; II,
279
Parsons, George W.f II, 279
Parsons, Israel, II, 279
Parsons, John C, I, 474; II, 280
Parsons, Robert S., II, 221
Paschall, Alma, I, 500
Patrick, William I, 438
Patton, Richard D., II, 195
Paul, John, pioneer of Clark County,
I, 6-8, 20, 36 .
Paul, John, Jr., 1,8, 96
Paul Family, I, 7, 8
Peat, Joseph S., I, 26
Pennsylvania House, I, 255, 427
Peoples Light and Power Company, I,
397
Perrott, Stanford J., II, 276
Peters, Nathaniel F., II, 421
Peters, Theodore, II, 422
Petticrew, Charles E., II, 232
Petticrew, Charles L., II, 42
Pfeifer, John, II, 412
Digitized by
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INDEX
Pierce, Charles H., II, 305
Pierce, Jonathan, I, 407
Pierce, Roscoe, II, 306
Pigeon Express, I, 378
Pike Township, I, 27
Pinkered, Nathaniel, I, 165
Pinkered School, pioneer of county's
public system, I, 166
Pioneer doctor, I, 357, 358
Pioneer mothers as physicians, I, 357
Pioneer suggestions (illustration), I, 55
Pioneer times in Clark County, I, 54
Piqua, I, 8, 39; destruction of, 45; Clark-
Shawnee battlefield, 299-306; second
Shawnee town, 301
Pitchin, I, 24
Plattsburg^ I, 25
Pleasant Township, I, 24
Plummer, John L., II, 30
Polite surgical operations, I, 356
Pomona Grange, I, 111
Pork packing industry, I, 229
Poss, Joseph A., II, 342
Post, J. D., I, 268
Postal employes retired, I, 286
Postal savings, I, 284
Postal Telegraph and Cable Company,
1,379
Postoffices, in Clark County, I, 279-286
Presbyterianism in Springfield, I, 139
Presbyterians (1808), I, 131
Presidential campaign (1920), I, 266, 267
Press (see Newspapers)
Price, Evan C, II, 166
Prince, Benjamin F., I, 31, 154, 189, 417,
316, 419, 498, 499. 500; II, 433
Prince, Grace, I, 197
Printz, Daniel, I, 73
Probate judges, I, 270
Prohibition (see Temperance)
Prout, George R., II, 292
Prophet, The, I, 300
Prosecuting Attorneys, I, 270
Public Square, Springfield, I, 54
Public utilities in Clark County, I, 377'
382
Quaker communities, I, 26
Quinn, Edward J., I, 148
Quinn, William B., II, 362
Race Track, Clark County Fairgrounds
(illustration), I, 108
Raikes, Robert, I, 153
Railroad stations (illustrations), I, 233
Railway mail service (1846), I, 280
Raup, Fannie M., II, 329
Raup, George S., II, 256
Raup, Gustavus P., II, 327
Raup, Mitchell W., II, 267
Rawlins, Albert M., II, 48
Rawlins, Isaac B., II, 47
Ray, W. C, II, 214
Rayner, William H., I, 29, 31, 42, 418,
499, 505; 11,429
Rea, John R., I, 369
Real Estate in Clark County, I, 406-415
Realtors' Convention (1921), I, 408
Recitation Hall, Wittenberg College (il-
lustration), I, 192
Reeder, Albert, I, 26, 226
Reeser, Charles A., I, 124
Reeves, William H., I, 144
Regent Theater, I, 434
Rehe, Joseph M., II, 47
Reichard, Cora A., II, 381
Reichard, George W., II, 380
Reid School, I, 173
Religion in Clark County, I, 126-164
Rescue pise of 1857, I, 316-323
Revolutionary soldiers buried in county,
I, 313 ; memorial to, in Femcliff Ceme-
tery, 517
Reynard, J. F„ I, 384
Reynolds, Rosetta, I, 163
Richison, Rush R., I, 429, 477; II, 234
Ricker Memorial Hospital, I, 429
Ridgely, Charles T., II, 167
Ridgely Trimmer Company, The, II, 166
Ridge wood School, Winter Scene, (illus-
tration), I, 187
Ridgewood Select School, I, 188
Rinehart, Joseph H., II, 422
Rinehart, Levi, I. 289
Robbins, Rev. Chandler, I, 176; II, 117
Robbins, Chandler, II, 118
Robbins, Douglas, II, 119
Robbins, William H., II, 119
Robbins Family, II, 117
Roberts, Charles A., II, 57
Roberts, J. William, II, 77
Roberts, James W., II, 69
Robinson. Chandler, I, 177
Rockel, W. M., I, 502
Rockway, I, 27
Rockway School, rural (illustration), I,
167
Rockwell, William M., I, 498
Rodgers, Charles K, II, 105
Rodgers, James L., I, 177
Rodgers, John H., I, 159
Rodgers, Richard H., II, 104
Rodgers, Robert, I, 355 ; II, 104
Rodgers, Robert S., II, 104
Rodgers, William, II, 104
Rogers, William A., I, 500
Root, Harley G., II, 282
Rose City Radio Association, I, 520
Roses, Springfield center of production,
I, 122
Ross, Elmore P., II, 298
Ross, Elmore W., II, 298
Ross, Mrs. E. P., I, 338
Royal, I, 25
Runyan, Mrs. George, I, 501
Runyan, William M., II, 407
Rural Free Delivery, I, 284
Russell, Glenn, II, 276
Ruthrauff, J. Mosheim, I, 197
Ryan, F. S., I, 168
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Salt famine (1825), I, 229
Salvation Army in Springfield, I, 164
Sanderson, Edwin J., II, 360
Sanitation in Springfield public schools,
I, 186
Saunders, Frank D., II, 63
Savings Deposits, I, 293 •
Savior, H. M., II, 343
Scarff, W. N., I, 97, 112, 121
Scarff (W. N.). home, I, 411
Schaefer, Carl A., II, 395
Schaefer, Henry L., II, 394
Schaefer, Leonard, II, 393
Schindler, Peter A., I, 154, 155
Schools (see Education)
Schuckman, Fred, I, 369
Schumacher, Christopher, I, 438
Searlott, George, I, 25
Second District Tubercular Hospital, I,
429
Second Lutheran Church, Springfield, I,
142
Seever, Isaac N., I, 88
Sellers, Maurice M., II, 196
Selma, I, 26
Sentinel, The, I, 205
Seth, I, 27
Seventh Day Adventists in Springfield,
I, 144
Shaffer, Elmina, I, 473
Shatzer, C G., I, 196
Shaw, Cyrus, II, 56
Shaw, Findlev W., II, 170
Shawnee Indians, I, 36-46
Sheaff, James M., II, 391
Shellabarger, Samuel, I, 268, 345, 490
Shepard, Anna, I, 429
Shepherd, Caroline, I, 446
Sheridan, George V. N., II, 356
Sheriffs, I, 271
Sherlo, Garrett, II, 165
Sherrin, Paul, I, 96
Shipman, James, I, 315
Shouvlin, Patrick J., II, 139
Showers, H. S., I, 363
Shuey, Edwin L., Jr., II, 174
Shuirr, Walter A., II, 255
Shuirr, Warren R., II, 93
Shumaker, John T., II, 59
Sieverling, William H., II, 260
Silos in Clark County, I, 92
Simpson, Edward W., II, 110
Singer, Reinhold, I, 455
Skibo Castle, I, 419
Slager, Albert L., I, 442
Slager, Arthur L., I, 137
Slough, William H., II, 288
Smallwood, Mrs. Walter, I, 137
Smith, Edward H., II, 229
Smith, Henry E., I, 143
Smith, James, I, 9
Smith, James G.f II, 256
Smith, John A., I, 177
Smith, Peter, I, 131, 133, 353, 354; first
Clark County author (1816), I, 494
Smith, Riley, II, 36
Smith, Samuel, I, 175
Snyder, David F., I, 91
Snyder, David L., I, 400
Snyder, John, I, 400, 426
Snyder, J. J., I, 363
Snyder distillery, I, 116, 440
Snyder farm property, I, 88
Snyder Park, I, 400; (illustration) I,
401; 404
Snyderville, I, 23
Soap making, I, 85, 86
Social Service Bureau, Springfield, I,
475-478
Social standards in Springfield, I, 509
Society of Friends, Springfield, I, 144
SoUs, I, 68, 69
Soldiers' Aid Society, Springfield, I, 513
Soldiers Monument and some Springfield
homes (illustration), I, 140
Sorghum industry, I, 84, 85
South Charleston, I, 26; postomce, 282;
fire department of, 394; history of,
498; clubs, 521
South Vienna, I, 25
Southern Apartment Building, Spring-
field, I, 412
Sowers, John W., II, 322
Spanish- American war, I, 331-333
Spanish influenza (1918), I, 358
Spencer, Malcolm E., II, 403
Spining, Arthur M., II, 376
Spinning, Mary, I, 457
Spinning, Pierson T., II, 21
Spinning Wheel (illustration), I, 52
Sports in Clark County, I, 523-526
Sprecher, Samuel, I, 193
Springfield, James Demint founder of,
I, 10-12; original plat of, 12; popula-
tion of, 27 ; Shawnees in, 41 ; chart of,
48; past and present, 47-63; first pub-
lished account of (1816), 50; incorpo-
rated, 53; early streets, 58; the mar-
ket, 59-62; in 1870 (illustration), 60;
city of roses, 124 ; first school in, 165 ;
private and public schools, 175-188;
city charter granted (1850), 176; high
schools, 177-184; industries (1919),
251 ; hotels, 256-259; postoffice in, 279-
280; postmasters, 281-282; mail deliv-
ery in, 282; banks, 289-293; its cen-
tennial, 362; city charter adopted
(1850), and mayors, 363; city man-
ager system, 365, 366, 367 ; expenses of
city government, 367; police depart-
ment, 368-370; its water supply, 383-
386; full paid fire department estab-
lished (1904), 387; the "volunteers,"
387-391; full organization, 391, 392;
lighting systems in, 395-398; parks,
399-405; cemeteries, 402; fraternities,
458,460; historical works, 498; clubs,
512-514; artists, 522
Springfield and Clark County War Serv-
ice (War Chest), I, 336, 337
Springfield Bar and Library Association,
I, 342
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Springfield Building and Loan Associa-
tion, I, 409
Springfield Buildings (illustrations), I,
508
Springfield Centennial, I, 362, 418, 420
Springfield Chamber of Commerce, 1,
484
Springfield City Hall, I, 414
Springfield City Hospital, I, 426, 427
Springfield Coke Company, I, 395
Springfield Country Club, I, 520; (illus-
tration), 524
Springfield Day Nursery, I, 475
Springfield Free City Hospital (illustra-
tion), I, 428
Springfield Gas Company, I, 397
Springfield Gas, Light and Coke Com-
pany, I, 396
Springfield High School, I, 415
Springfield Kiwanis Club,. I, 518
Springfield Library Association, I, 488-
489
Springfield Light, Heat and Power Com-
pany (1909), I, 398
Springfield Lions Club, I, 519
Springfield Lyceum, I, 486
•Springfield Maennerchor, I, 454
•Springfield Manufacturers' Association,
1,251
Springfield News, I, 206
•Springfield Orpheum, I, 454
•Springfield Osteopathic Society, I, 361
•Springfield Planing Mill and Lumber
Company, The, II, 253
Springfield Postoffice (illustration), I,
278; volume of business in (1899-
1921), 283
Springfield RoLary Club, I, 518
Springfield Street Railway, I, 236
Springfield Sun, I, 204; illustration, 207
Springfield Telephone Exchange, I, 380
Springfield Township, I, 27
Springfield Trades and Labor Assembly,
1,461
Springfield Traffic Association, I, 237
Springfield Tribune, I, 461
Springfield Y. M. C A. Building (illus-
tration), I, 158
Springs, I, 70
Sproat, Ebcnezer, I, 86
St. Charles Borromeo Church, South
Charleston, I, 150
St. Raphael Catholic Parish, I, 148, 149
Stackhouse, W. H., I, 102; II, 172
Stage, The, I, 432
Staley, P. H., I, 474
Staley, Paul A., II, 419
Stallsmith, Emma, II, 364
Stallsmith, Isaac, II, 364
Stanage, C. W., I, 452
Starrett, Henry R, II, 320
Starrett, Levenia R., II, "321
State banks, I, 289
State Fair in Springfield, I, 110
State recognition, I, 267
State Representatives, I, 268
State Senators, I, 268
Steele, Archibald, I, 132
Steele, John, I, 140
Sterrett, W. H., I, 214
Stewart, Charles R, II, 273
Stewart, David W., II, 53
Stewart, Eliza D. (Mother), I, 437, 445,
Stewart, E. W., II, 188
Stewart, Fred G., II, 189
Stewart, Perry M., II, 416
Stewart, W. A., first chief of police,
Springfield, I, 368, 369
Stiles, Clara C, II, 366
Stiles, Solomon B., II, 365
Stokes Township, I, 25
Stoll, Omar W., II, 226
Stoner Adam, II, 82
Storms, Henry, I, 25
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, I, 327
Streams of Clark County, I, 75-78
Stuart, Dora R, II, 428
Stuart, William J., II, 428
Sturdevant, Charles, I, 177
Suabian Saengerchor, I, 455
Sugar Grove Hill, I, 27
Sugar Grove Hotel, I, 256
Sugar making, I, 82-84
Sullivan, Dennis, II, 204
Summers, Augustus N., I, 267, 343; II,
270
Summers, John W., II, 323
Sun, Gus, I, 434, 435, 436
Sun Publishing Company, II, 356
Sun Theater, I, 434
Sunday School in Clark County, I, 152-
156
Sunset Gvic League, I, 520
Taft, Eleanor, I, 163
Tax payers, I, 287, 288
Taxable property, I, 287, 288
Taylor, A. E., I, 177
Tecumseh, the Shawnee warrior (illus-
tration), I, 37, 39, 42, 300, 314, 315
Tecumseh Hill, I, 307
Tehan, Edward A., II, 39
Tehan, George W., I, 147; II, 372
Tehan, John, II, 372
Tehan, Maurice R, II, 373
Telegraph service in Clark County, I,
377-379
Telephone system, I, 379-382
Temperance and Prohibition in Clark
County, I, 437-447
Temperance developments, I, 441-444
Temple Chessel Shad Ames, I, 422
Thacker, James, I, 26
Thomas, Abraham, I, 305, 306
Thomas, Edgar S., I, 469-471
Thomas, John H., I, 425 ; II, 352
Thomas, William S., II, 353
Thompson, Mrs. R J. (Mother), I, 445
Thompson, John, I, 137
Thompson, W. O., I, 103
Thome, Isaac H., II, 338
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Thornton, E. P., I, 12
Thorpe, I, 25
Thorpe, William R., II, 215
Tiffany, Earl W., II, 58
Tillable land (1900, 1910, 1920), I, 90
Tindall Robert A., II, 76
Tittle, Harvey M., I, 280; II, 24
Tittle, Walter, I, 53, 522
Titus, Morton S., II, 158
Todd, Arthur J., II, 134
Todd, James, II, 133
Todd, Tames, II, II, 134
Todd, James M., I, 363
Todd, John H., II, 134
Todd Family, II, 133
Toledo war (1835), I, 315
Torbert, James L., I, 363
Toronto Reaper and Mower Company,
1,244
Townships, organization of, I, 20-28
Trade and Labor Assembly, Springfield,
I, 464, 465
Transportation, I, 228-238
Transportation for the farmer, I, 102
Travelers' Club, Springfield, I, 512
Tremont City, I, 24
Tressler, Victor G. A., I, 53, 427; II,
312
Trimmer, David W., II, 66
Trostel, George W., II, 153
Trout, Albert, 11,337.
Trout, John, II, 336
Troxell, Paul E., II, 369
Troxell, William, II, 362
Trumbo, Joseph B„ II, 112
Trumbo, Silas, II, 112
Trumbo, William C, II, 111
Trust, Harry, I, 135, 143, 162; II, 177
Tuberculosis Hospital (illustration), I,
430
Tullis, Van C, I, 107
Tulloss, Rees E., inauguration of (illus-
tration), I, 200, 201; II, 11
Turner, F. B„ I, 481
Turtle, Albert, II, 255
Twentieth Century Literary Club, Ca-
tawba, I, 520
Twine Binder, I, 244
Typesetting and typecasting machines in-
troduced, I, 464
Typical Springfield greenhouse (illustra-
tion), I, 123
Typographical Union No. 117, I, 464
United Presbyterians in Springfield, I,
140
United States Military Reservation
(Fort Tecumseh), I, 307
Universalist Church in Springfield, I, 141
Urquhart, Hector, II, 252
rqutu
stler,
Ustler, Clarence A., II, 330
Van Tassel, W. H., I, 369
Villa, I, 22
Village marshals, I, 367, 368
Virginia Military Land Grants, I, 20
Vorhees, John H., I, 490
Waddle, William T., II, 212
Walker, Arthur H., II, 215
Walker, James C, I, 329, 369; II, 274
Wallace, Edward S., I, 363
Wallace, W. C, II, 149
Walsh, Leo M., I, 148
Walters, Isaac N., I, 133
War of 1812, I, 314, 315
Ward, Isaac, I, 404
Warder, Benjamin F., sketch of, I, 491
Warder, Benjamin H., I, 249, 290, 407,
486; (illustration), I, 487
Warder (B. H.) home, I, 410
Warder, William. I, 555
Warder Free Public Library, I, 426; il-
lustration, 490; 491
Watkins, Fannie P., I, 162
Watson, Pauline, I, 456
Watts, Elmer A., II, 315
Weaver, Chauncey I., II, 128
Weaver, John S., I, 177
Weaver, W. L., I, 268
Webb, Grace C, I, 196
Webb, James S., II, 28
Webb, Joseph, II, 424
Weekly, John W., I, 177
Welfare Work in Clark County, I, 466-
472
Welsh, James L., I, 444; II, 113
Werden, William, Springfield's best
known landlord, I, 258
West, Eli, II, 355
West County Ofl&ce Building, I, 414
Westcott, Burton J., I, 363, 365; II, 15
Western Union Telegraph Service, I, 378
Wetherbee, Ralph H., II, 247
Wetmore, Ralph, I, 456
Wheat, Benjamin B., I, 143
White, Addison, I, 317, 318, 321, 323
White, W. T., I, 177
White, William, I, 343, 345
White, William N., I, 267
Whitely, Amos, I, 243
Whitely, William N., I, 242, 245, 247, 395
Whitely Reaper Company, I, 245
Whiting, Junius F., II, 331
Whittridge, Worthington, I, 522
Wier, W. H., I, 177
Wiggins, Lida K., I, 501, 505, 511
Wiggins, Robert, II, 99
Wigwam, Springfield, I, 433
Wild game in Clark County, I, 117-121
Wild lands, I, 80
Wild pigeons, migration of, I, 118
Wildcat banking, I, 289
Wildman, Alvin E., II, 332
Wildman, G. W., I, 110
Wildy, Thomas, I, 458
Willard, Frances R, I, 438
Williams, Clarence S., I, 53
Williams, Edward W., II, 345
Williams, Hiram W., I, 233
Williams, J. C, I, 6, 7
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INDEX
Williams, Jerry K., II, 167
Williams, Milo G., I, 177
Williams, Victor, I, 452
Willis, Fred W., II, 64
Wilson, Gilbert L., I, 500
Wilson, Lavinia, II, 426
Wilson, Timothy, II, 217
Winger, Amaziah, I, 513
Winger, George W., I, 456; II, 290
Winwood, Mrs. George, I, 513
Wireless telegraphy, I, 379
Wise, Charles R, II. 92
Witmeyer, Webb W., I, 518; II, 337
Wittenberg College, I, 134, 142. 189;
sports at, 525
Wittenberg College, Entrance and Cam-
pus (illustrations), I, 403
Wittenberg Football Team (illustration),
I, 193
Wittenberg, one Commencement Day
(illustration), I, 202
Wolff, Jacob, I, 421
Wolfson, Israel, I, 421
Women's Benevolent Society, Springfield,
1,513
Woman's Crusade, I, 444
Women as jurors, I, 344
Women's Christian Temperance Union,
first in Ohio (Springfield), I, 438, 446
Women's Relief Corps, I, 508
Woodward, Robert C, I, 51, 88, 491, 496
World's war, I, 333-341
Wormwood, Albert, I, 483
Worthington, Ruth A., I. 512
Worthington Chautauqua, Springfield, I,
512
Wright, Leonard S., II, 75
Writers of Clark County, I, 494
Yake, Milton, II, 405
Yarnfest in Springfield Chamber of
Commerce (1921), I, 527-536
Young, Charles A., II, 244
Young, Edson K., II, 324
Young Men's Christian Association,
Springfield, I, 157-160
Young Men's Literary Association, I,
487
Young Men's Literary Club, I, 518
Y. W. C A. Building (illustration), I,
161
Young Women's Christian Association,
Springfield, I, 162, 513
Zimmerman, Carrie M., II, 286
Zimmerman, Isaac, II, 284
Zimmerman, John 1^, I, 155, 197, 491,
492; II, 424
Zimmerman, Joseph C, I, 197
Zimmerman, Samuel, II, 372
Zimmerman Library, Wittenberg College,
I, 197; illustration, I, 492
Zirkle, Ralph, I, 456
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History of Springfield and
Clark County
CHAPTER I
"IN THE BEGINNING." THE HIGHWAY TO SPRINGFIELD:
CLARK COUNTY
Swift as a weaver's shuttle time hastens into eternity. Father Time
turns the hourglass once again, and the world looks backward over the
pages of history.
In the procession of events marking the history of the world, it is
apparent that some know the story of the Garden of Eden better than
they know the beginning of local history. To those who follow the
developments of human affairs, what happened to Christopher Columbus
at the court of Spain is a well known story, and every school boy is
familiar with Capt. John Smith of the Jamestown Colony and how he
was rescued by the dusky Pocahontas.
In 1920, the whole world followed the unfolding of the Tercentenary ;
the landing of the Pilgrims had paved the way for the future in the New
World. The thirteen little republics by the sea encountered the difficulties
of the Revolutionary period, and President Grover Cleveland's epigram:
"It is a condition and not a theory we are facing," has applied to many
situations in community development before Clark County was on the
map of the world.
It was Confucius who said: "Every day cannot be a festival of
lights," and this great Chinese philosopher carefully planned the future.
He took time to save time, and his autobiography reads : "At fifteen I
entered on a life of study; at thirty I took my stand as a scholar; at
forty my opinions were fixed; at fifty I could judge and select; at sixty
I never relapsed into a known fault ; at seventy I could follow my heart's
desires without going wrong," and thirteen centuries later another Chi-
nese writer said : "The Universe is but a tenement of all things visible :
darkness and day, the passing guests of Time." and what more is
history?
"There was a tumult in the city, in the quaint old Quaker town," and
the Declaration of American Independence, July 4, 1776, presaged local
possibilities that had not entered into the thoughts of the American Revo-
lutionary soldiers. The Ordinance of 1787 opened up hitherto undreamed
of opportunities ; the Northwest Territory was an acquisition presenting
unlimited advantages. It excited comment from contemporary states-
men, Daniel Webster saying: "We are accustomed to praise the law-
givers of antiquity ; we hope to perpetuate the fame of Solon and Lycur-
gus, but I doubt whether one single law of any law-giver, ancient or
modern, has produced effects of more distinctly marked and lasting char-
acter than the Ordinance of 1787. We see its consequences at this
moment, and shall never cease to see them perhaps while the Ohio shall
flow."
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2 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
It was the Rev. Menassah Cutler, a Congregational minister of Con-
necticut who went to Philadelphia on horseback from his home when it
seemed that the passage of the ordinance would fail, and urged upon
Congress the wisdom of the measure. In the British Parliament Lord
Chatham said: "For solidity of reason, force; of sagacity and wisdom
of conclusion under a complication of difficulties, no nation or body of
men stand in preference to the General Congress," and since that time
the ordinance has been likened to a second Constitution of the United
States, guaranteeing many things to the Old Northwest. It was in reality
the first new territory added to the Union, the people of the thirteen
original states being emigrants themselves, and the areas hitherto added
being contiguous territory already dominated by them.
Under the provisions of the Ordinance of 1787, the territory north
of the Ohio was to be formed into three or five states, and while the
older states had English names, American names were given to them.
The area in question extended from the Ohio and Mississippi rivers
northward, and embraced 265,878 square miles which was subsequently
divided into five states : Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and
a small tract lying east of the Mississippi in Minnesota. The area of
Ohio is 39,964 square miles with only Indiana being smaller, and in the
Old Northwest are some of the most important cities : Chicago, Cleve-
land, Detroit, Cincinnati, Columbus, Toledo, Milwaukee, St. Paul, Min-
neapolis, Indianapolis, Dayton and Springfield.
The Old Northwest has furnished both the opportunities and the men ;
the seven presidents from the area are: William Henry Harrison,
Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin
Harrison, William McKinley and Warren G. Harding. While the area
is foremost in its agriculture, it is varied in its industries; and manufac-
turing has claimed much attention. Some of the greatest manufacturing
and commercial interests in the whole country are within this area of the
United States, and for many years it has had the center of population.
Several times it was in Ohio, and it has been as long crossing Indiana as
the Children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness; it may never
cross the Mississippi, and thus the consumers in the United States mar-
kets are easily reached from Springfield.
The Ordinance of 1787 recognized the necessity of schools, and of
education and with human slavery excluded, the better class of emigrants
was immediately attracted to the territory. Bancroft credits Thomas
Jefferson with great activity against slavery, while a later writer asserts
that if the slaveholder had realized the full consequences of this prohibi-
tion of slavery clause in the ordinance, his opposition would have been
more strenuously directed against it. He did not realize what great power
was being given the Northwest — this guarantee of property and personal
rights. Hitherto the advance in civilization had been along the Atlantic
Coast southward, and now the institution of slavery was an obstacle
encountered in that direction. While only a few Quakers ever penetrated
into the wilds of Clark County, they led in the exodus from the Caro-
linas to the Northwest Territory. They settled in numbers a tittle far-
ther south, and the stronghold of the Quakers within the United States
is in the Old Northwest.
By way of resume, the Ordiance of 1787 opened up the frozen North-
west; what was^then spoken of as the Northwest Territory, has since
been designated as the Old Northwest in contradistinction of the newer
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 3
states and the Canadian Northwest, and this area occupies an unique
place in American history. While the Jesuit and French explorers were
active in parts of it, Ohio was peopled by emigrants from the older
states, the cosmopolitan population thus explained : The spirit of adven-
ture, and a stern determination to make the most of the broad and fertile
lands lying west and north of the Ohio stimulating alike the sturdy Vir-
ginian, the liberty-lovjng Jerseyman, the tolerant Pennsylvanian, the
thrifty New Englander, and the aggressive Englishman to quit their old
homes and seek others in the wide expanse of wilderness west of the
Allegheny Mountains.
The historian, E. O. Randall, says: "The Northwest Territory was
the great back ground of the Revolution, and the soil of Ohio was the
scene of the struggle for existence," and it is understood that local his-
tory had its inception August 8, 1780, when Gen. George Rogers Clark
invaded the hunting grounds of the Shawnees adjacent to Mad River
and destroyed their villages, driving them out of their strongholds now
within the bounds of Clark County. While he was busy on the frontier,
there was as yet no designated Northwest Territory, and while Governor
Arthur St. Clair played a losing game with the Indians in the wilderness
days of Ohio history, there was a second Washington in the West who
regained much of the lost territory.
Great Britain and France both wanted a foothold in the new country,
and both incited the savages of the West, while Gen. George Washington
was in command of the Revolution along the Atlantic Coast. As a pre-
cautionary measure, General Washington detailed General Clark to look
after the frontier, and at Piqua Village along Mad River he regained
much valuable territory. No man in American history gave greater
promise than Clark, but after investing his own fortune he became
desperate and listened to the importunities of the enemies overseas. As
far as local history is concerned, he was the right man in the right place,
since with his "rough riders" he was able to break the backbone of the
British intrenchments, and thus the Northwest was secured and pre-
served to the United States, and in due process of time Clark County was
placed on the map of the world.
Through the efforts of General Clark the area now known as the
Old Northwest was recognized in the treaty of 1783, closing the War Of
the Revolution, although there was continual friction between the United
States, and the mother country, until after the War of 1812 — the second
war with England. While Patrick Henry as governor of Virginia, acted
as an advisory friend to both, he counselled General Washington not to
relinquish any soldiers from the Colonial Army, and thus General Clark
was reduced to the necessity of raising his own volunteer troops, begin-
ning his western expedition with 200 Virginia and Pennsylvania back-
woodsmen. His conduct encouraged General Washington who was com-
batting British forces along the seaboard, and needed all of his men.
It is said that few citizens of Clark County today realize the full
importance of the battle against the Shawnees, as fought by General
Clark, although it had more to do with giving to the United States its
territorial character than any other military engagement ; had it not been
for this battle, it is suggested that the Northwest Territory would have
been British. A treaty was under consideration fixing Ohio as the bound-
ary of the British possessions, but the overthrow of the Shawnees enabled
the United States to claim the territory. Through its patriotic governor,
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4 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Virginia claimed much of the territory secured by General Clark, and
thus the Virginia military land grants enter into local history. The Ohio
Gazetteer describes them as a body of land lying between the Scioto and
Little Miami rivers, and much of it has become valuable in the course
of time.
Because of indefinite terms in its original charter of lands from a
former King of England, the State of Virginia claimed all the American
George Rogers Clark
continent west of the Ohio, but finally among several other compromises
and conflicting claims which were made subsequent to the attainment of
American Independence, she agreed to relinquish all her claims to lands
northwest of the Ohio in favor of the general Government, upon condi-
tion that the land now described as guaranteed to her. Virginia then
appropriated the above described lands from which the state undertook to
satisfy the claims of her troops employed during the Revolutionary war.
The Ludlow line across the map of Clark County defines the western
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 5
boundary of the Virginia land grants, there being later reference to
Ludlow and Symmes as local surveyors.
The life of Gen. George Rogers Clark is bounded by the year 1752
and 1818, his birthplace being Virginia. In 1775 he became a Kentucky
backwoodsman, being associated with the scouts Simon Kenton and
Daniel Boone, and while in 1780 he effected the overthrow of the Shaw-
nee Confederacy on Mad River his various activities spread over Indi-
ana and Illinois as well as western Ohio. In 1905 a monument was
unveiled for him at Vincennes, Indiana, just 100 years after the first
settlement by the French. While he lingered a year after the formal
organization of Clark County in 1817, he may not have known that it
was named in his honor.
In 1783 the Virginia Legislature granted to General Clark a tract
of 8,049 acres, and to his officers and men 140,000 acres in Indiana, and
later when Virginia conferred upon him a sword, he replied: "When
Virginia needed a sword I gave her one! she now sends me this toy.
I want bread/' It is reported that he spent his last days in poverty at
Clarksville, Indiana, on part of the land granted him by the Virginia
Legislature. Although once engaged to a young Spanish woman, General
Clark never married; when he knew more of her father, he declined,
saying: "I will never be the father of a race of cowards."
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CHAPTER II
THE ADAM OF CLARK COUNTY: JOHN PAUL
The best an historian can do is to approach accuracy ; while there are
sins of commission, they cannot be worse than the sins of omission in
writing history.
History is well defined as the record of transactions between different
peoples at different periods of time, and some one has said that not to
know what happened before one was born is to remain always a child.
It is the mission of the true historian in Springfield and Clark County
as well as in the rest of the world, to delve into the great past in an effort
to unravel the tangled threads in the history of all the yesterdays.
It is said : "The roots of the present lie deep in the past, and the past
is not dead to him who would know how the present comes to be what
it is," and most people of today are interested in the firelight stories of
other days; they enjoyed the stories heard at mother's knee — the tradi-
tions handed down from father to son. and time was when word of
mouth had greater significance — Clark County and elsewhere, than it
has today. It is well understood that Gen. George Rogers Clark and
his army of Pennsylvanians and Virginians, with recruits from Kentucky
were the first white men on the banks of Mad Riven and it is little
wonder that a few years later the settlers should locate in that vicinity.
"When a community finds that it has an historic background, it has
taken a long step on the pathway of progress. To those who have real-
ized this, and have called upon art, music and poetry to make the past
live again, much gratitude is due; the artist, the musician and the poet
make the great tapestry of history loom large and colorful behind us —
our lives are enriched, and we strive to play our parts more worthily.
When not only great national achievements, but all the varied and char-
acteristic life that has been lived on the shores and mountainsides, in the
river valleys, and on the frontiers of this broad land shall become the
favorite themes of our artists and poets, then there will be established
in the heart of the American youth a love of home and country that has
a sure foundation."
The Mad River Valley west from Springfield is rich in historical
interest, and there is no spot in Clark or surrounding counties with bet-
ter background in military history. Mad River has the honor of being
first is many things, and great human interest attaches to the use of that
numeral; who is not thrilled at the first cry of the new-born babe; the
first tottering steps of the child ; the first short trousers on the boy ; the
first long skirts on the girl (the present day length of the skirt is not the
standard); the first day at school; the first consciousness of strength;
the first blush of beauty; the dawn of love; the first earnings of labor;
the accumulation of capital ; the first sermon, client or patient ; the first
battle; the first sorrow — in short, the opening incidents in every life
produce thrills distinctively their own, and it is the story of human inter-
est, the battle for recognition in the world, although possibly out of pro-
portion to that belonging to a thousand greater things.
The Story of John Paul
There is an authentic story to be found in the files of The New
Carlisle Sun, January 16, 1908, and written by J. C. Williams, that John
6
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 7
Paul was among the Kentucky squirrel hunters who accompanied Gen-
eral Clark into the area now known as Clark County, and while in the
vicinity he visited the forks of Honey Creek, and was greatly impressed
with its fertility. The Ordinance of 1787 seemed to open up possibilities
before him, and within a few years he began the long wagon journey in
search of the beautiful valley that had been rescued from the Shawnees
by General Clark. From Fort Washington, which later became known
as Cincinnati, the family began its journey to the north with much
uncertainty.
The journey was fraught with hardships, but this doughty Kentuckian
had formed a liking for the place where under the leadership of General
Clark, he had skirmished with the Indians in company with squirrel
hunters, which group of wilderness fighters corresponded to the famous
Rainbow Division in the World war. This wilderness adventurer fol-
lowed the course of the Miami from Cincinnati to Dayton, when unerring
instinct led him to go up the stream that had been the scene of battle —
he was ascending Mad River. It was a hazardous journey, and at night
the Indians prowled around his wagon. While John Paul was sleeping
others of the party were on guard to prevent ambush ; they did not wish
to lose their lives by a night attack from the treacherous redskins, and
alertness was their only hope.
After many harrowing experiences en route, the Paul family arrived
at the spot with which paterfamilia had been impressed while a soldier
in the army of conquest under General Clark ; while Honey Creek is not
tributary to Mad River, it was along this stream that John Paul built his
cabin — the first domicile occupied by a white family in what is now
Clark County. While it is a little bit hazy, the story goes that this immi-
grant family located on Honey Creek in 1790 — ten years after General
Clark had visited Mad River, with John Paul among his soldiers. Feel-
ing the need of protection for his family, the cabin was hastily constructed
on a slight knoll, and a stockade was built around it.
Mr. Williams who rescued the story from oblivion, heard it from the
lips of Benjamin Suddoth whose death occurred in 1906, and who had
lived for thirty years with the Paul family in Clark County. It seems
that the Pauls left Kentucky in 1787, and that in 1790, when they were
living peacefully on Honey Creek suddenly a war whoop was heard, and
while the entire family was outside the stockade clearing and planting
some ground, the Indians surprised them. They hurried toward the
stockade for defense, but were intercepted and in quick succession the
father and mother and three of their children fell to the ground mortally
wounded, while a son and daughter made their escape and reached the
cabin in safety. The story goes that the son, John Paul, Jr., undertook
to assist his father who had fallen, but the dying man gasped: "Save
yourself, I am dying; you cannot do anything for me," and strange as it
seems, he escaped without injury from the Indians.
Under the excitement of the moment, and in their anxiety to secure
the scalps and get back to cover,* the Indians did not notice the son and
daughter who made their escape to the cabin. From a port hole in the
cabin, the redoubtable son John with his trusty musket began firing, and
an Indian engaged in scalping his relatives fell writhing by their bodies ;
another flash, a whiff of smoke and the second Indian was dying with
their victims. This so terrified the attacking party that they gathered up
their dead and retreated to the cover of the timber, leaving the five mem-
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8 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
bers of the Paul family minus their scalps and dying outside the stock-
ade, where the son and daughter were afraid to try to rescue them. For
two days the brother and sister stood guard, watching from the port
holes inside the cabin.
When the Indians did not appear again, they ventured forth and
buried their dead on the spot where they had fallen — a family God's Acre
on Honey Creek, before there were other white settlers within the area
now known as Clark County. John Paul, the Revolutionary soldier, who
had invaded the wilderness with General Clark died in the defense of
his family and his cabin; while it required heroic courage, the brother
and sister continued to live there, and while Indians were often seen
skulking along the creek, they were never again molested although Sud-
doth relates that the young man often approached the door of his cabin
with an Indian thrown crosswise on his saddle, and pierced by a ball from
the same trusty musket with which he had defended himself when the rest
of the family met death outside the stockade surrounding the cabin, the
first primitive American dwelling within the area now known as Clark
County.
It is related that John Paul, Jr., continued to live at the family home-
stead until 1851, when he died at the age of ninety-one years, and Benja-
min Suddoth who lived there with him died in 1906 in New Carlisle.
Mr. Paul lies buried in the New Carlisle Cemetery where a marble slab
marks' his last resting place. In verifying his story as related to Mr.
Williams, Suddoth accompanied him to the site of the original Paul cabin,
and the place of the first massacre by the Indians, Mr. Williams desig-
nates the place as one mile northwest from New Carlisle, and later owned
by Fissel Brothers and operated as a nursery. A brick house marks the
site, and there is spring water near it — something that always influenced
settlers in locating their homes when coming into new country.
It is said that many Indian arrows were found in the locality, show-
ing that the spot was not unknown to the Shawnees who skulked along
the stream hunting and fishing, and here John Paul, Jr., became an active
man in the community. His father had cleared and planted a small plot,
and he increased it and with his labor and his gun he provided for his
needs — thus keeping the wolf from the door, and identifying himself
with forward movements. He was one of the founders of the first church
on Honey Creek — Honey Creek Prairie, and while his domicile was in
Greene County and later in Champaign, there is no question but that he
was the first bonafide settler who survived the ravages of the frontier in
Clark County. Mr. Williams relates that Suddoth was a responsible
character, and the story thus perpetuated is a connecting link between
the present and the past in Clark County.
The Greenville Treaty
While General Clark had destroyed the Shawnee Village known as
Piqua, August 8, 1780, and John Paul who was with him seems to have
become the first settler ten years later, it was not until after the Green-
ville treaty between Gen. Anthony Wayne and the Indians that many set-
tlers ventured into the new country. The Greenville treaty was effected
in 1795, and in 1796 there is record that Kreb and Brown were on Mad
River. They planted corn and cultivated it for other settlers who seem
to be simultaneous, David Lowry coming from Pennsylvania while the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 9
others were Kentuckians. Lowry joined a surveying company of which
Israel Ludlow was the chief engineer, and when he met Jonathan Donnel
they looked over the country together. They reached Mad River together
on a Saturday evening, and spent Sunday wandering along the stream.
The country was wild, and camping in it caused them to think of settling
there. They met Patten Short of Cincinnati who had acquired the land,
and who was in need of help in surveying it.
Cincinnati was then headquarters for everything, and when the sur-
vey was completed the young engineers selected their land, and when
Short followed the Miami back to Cincinnati, they remained on Mad
River. An ax and an auger constituted their tools, but they remained
to end their days in Clark County. They were many years ahead of
Horace Greeley, who exclaimed: "Go west, young man, and grow up
with the country." Within four years after the Greenville treaty, there
were fourteen Kentucky families along Mad River; they built a block-
house as a refuge from the Indians, and among them were John Hum-
phreys and Simon Kenton. It seems that Humphreys and Kenton
advanced a little farther up the stream, and simultaneously with them
came James Demint who settled on the site of Springfield. While the
settlements were not separated by distance, Demint knew nothing about
the settlers on Mad River. He was the first settler on Lagonda or Buck
Creek, and because Springfield was developed on his land, he was the
first man to go on record in the community.
There are conflicting stories about Capt. James Smith being con-
ducted as a captive through the Mad River Valley as early as 1760,
another account saying 1772, when he was being taken to Fort Duquesne
by the Indians. Thomas Williams was another prisoner taken as captive
through the locality, and when in 1796 he related the story on his return
from Fort' Duquesne, not much credence was attached to it. He was
regarded as a western Arab who owned no land and spent his time in
the forest. He visited the different settlements to dispose of furs, and to
obtain a supply of ammunition. The historian finds so little data on
which to base conclusions, that he is reminded of the ancient story of
when the nations of the earth were given their religions; they inscribed
their sacred creeds on metal, parchment or stone save the Gypsy who is
reputed to have written his upon cabbage leaves when the donkeys were
browsing in that direction, so meager is the record left behind them.
Thomas A. Edison had not yet perfected his method of perpetuating the
human voice, and the world will never hear the conversation carried on
between Adam and Eve in the Garden, when they were learning to dis-
tinguish between right and wrong — the dawn of conscience in human
existence.
The Demint Family Story
It was in his inaugural address, March 4, 1801, that President Thomas
Jefferson first used the phrase, "Entangling alliances," that has since
become so hackneyed, and it was at that time that civilization began its
encroachments upon James Demint. In 1799, he had built a cabin on the
site of the Northern school in the City of Springfield, and for two years
he was unmolested save by chance visitors. To all intents and purposes,
he was an Adam in the Garden of Eden, since he had no knowledge of
the settlers on Mad River. There was little "squatter" sentiment among
the pioneers, as they seem to have come into the community as permanent
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10 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
citizens. There is less hunter and trapper tradition than is common to
the frontier in any locality.
The community spirit was awakened when Griffith Foos happened
along at the Demint cabin while prospecting for a location. He, too,
was a Kentuckian and as a guest of the Demints, he found "Col." John
Daugherty temporarily lodging there. It was by accident that he dis-
covered the lonely habitation, on his return journey from a visit among
the settlers on Mad River. Mr. Foos in coming from Kentucky had
followed the Scioto River to the vicinity of Franklinton, now Columbus,
but had not been suited with conditions; there was malaria, and leaving
his family he explored the Mad River locality. He had passed within a
short distance of the Demint cabin without discovering it, and on his
return journey he spent some time there. When he learned that Demint
was thinking about laying out a town, he became interested in it. There
was cheap land in prospect, and he wanted to aid in developing a com-
munity.
While living in Kentucky, James Demint was employed as a team-
ster with a surveying party, and he had some knowledge of the require-
ments. He is described as a rough, fearless, warm-hearted frontiersman,
an essential characteristic among settlers. In entertaining strangers, he
entertained a community builder unawares, and on St. Patrick's day the
three Kentuckians, Demint, Daugherty and Foos began the survey of
Springfield. In writing this review, it is well to quote, "In the begin-
ning," because of contemporary settlements, and yet nothing had become
a matter of record until Springfield was on the map of the world.
Since James Demint began developing Springfield in 1801, to A. D.
1921, many "boosting" programs have followed each other in quick
succession; in the time that Noah spent in building the Ark, Springfield
is ready for a comprehensive history. On a fly leaf in the first Spring-
field directory issued in 1852, Henry L. Schaeffer penciled the following
definite information: "At a meeting of the Clark County Historical
Society December 2, 1913, John W. Parsons, who claimed to be the
second oldest native of Springfield then living, related that he distinctly
remembered the James Demint log cabin, and that it stood on the hill
where the female seminary later stood, and where the Northern school
now stands, and not at the foot of the hill as is generally supposed; he
further stated that it was a double log cabin, or rather two cabins con-
nected by a roof extending from one to the other."
The whole situation is summed up in the lines:
"Cling to thy home! If there the meanest shed
Yield thee a hearth and shelter for thy head,
And some poor plot, with vegetables stored,
Be all that heaven allots thee for thy board,
Unsavory bread, and herbs that scattered grow
Wild on the river brink or mountain brow,
Yet e'en this cheerful mansion shall provide
More heart's repose than all the world beside!"
None will gainsay the statement that in the development of civiliza-
tion, the home has been a strong factor. While none would detract from
the glory of James Demint as the founder of Springfield, the names of
some of his contemporaries have been perpetuated, while he has no
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 11
descendants in the community. While for a time he knew the full mean-
ing of personal liberty, it was not long until the community of interests
changed conditions about him. When groups are thrown together, com-
munity problems arise; when others arrived on the scene of action, it
became necessary to establish "metes and bounds," and the original
plot of Springfield was the solution of the difficulty entailed by the
advance of civilization. William Cowper says, "God made the country,"
while it develops that three men were concerned in making Springfield.
It is said that all history had its beginning in the country, and local
investigation bears out the assertion. Demint was isolated with a chance
guest in his cabin when Foos arrived, and then it was a community.
"Rights and privileges" are settled by law, and Demint was no longer
"monarch of all he surveyed," although he maintained his residence north
of the stream — Lagonda or Buck Creek, while Foos located on the oppo-
site bank, where in June he opened the first tavern and continued to main-
tain an open door in the community until May 10, 1814, when he aban-
doned it for other occupation. He recognized the necessity of affording
shelter for others, if the community was to increase its population. This
log cabin hostelry was on Main at Spring Street, and two years later
Archibald Lowry was offering public entertainment in Springfield.
The Bible says : "The sins of the fathers shall be visited upon their
children," and the question arises as to what generation now holds forth
in Clark County. According to Bible usage, there are about three gen-
erations in a century, and the names Lowry, Donnel, Humphreys and
Foos are still heard in the community. The pioneers were given to early
marriages, and perhaps there are five generations to the century in local
history. It is known that Mary Heckawelder, born April 16, 1781, was
the first white child born in Ohio, and that Jesse Chapman was the first
white child born in Clark County. There is a Chapman Creek in com-
memoration of the Chapmans, and some have connected the story of
"Johnny Appleseed" with this Chapman family. His name was Chapman.
There were many settlers round about when, in 1801, James Demint
conceived the idea of locating a town, planning to have the business cen-
ter along Lagonda Creek, but he anticipated wrong since the town went
south from the stream. In commenting on the situation, Gen. J. Warren
Keif er remarked : "It was not much of a survey — just a few streets on
either side of Buck Creek." In making this survey, it is understood
that Demint was advised and assisted by Daugherty and Foos, and "My
Old Kentucky Home" is apropos, although they never heard the melody.
They all became identified with the community. Daugherty is described
as tall and slender; he had a large head, thickly covered with black,
bristly hair ; he had black eyes with long lashes, and heavy eyebrows.
He chewed tobacco to excess, and there was a copious flow of saliva, but
nothing is said about poor Mrs. Demint who entertained him in her
cabin ; it does not require vivid imagination to see the sputter on the green
fire logs, as he sat about the hearthstone.
It is said that Colonel Daugherty could make a good off-hand speech,
that his style was easy and his words appropriate, and there is frequent
mention of him in later community development. In 1820, he moved from
Springfield to a farm south of town, and in 1832 he died; he was a
kaleidoscopic character — a typical Kentucky gentleman. He died full
of honors, having served as Springfield postmaster, and having built the
first really pretentious house in the town. He achieved political honors,
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12 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
having represented the district in the State Legislature, defeating some
of the most prominent citizens — Maddox Fisher and Gen. Samson Mason,
both losing the race against him. While some are inclined to credit Mrs.
James Demint with the honor of naming Springfield, another woman
lays claim to that distinction, and nothing is known of her more than
that she died within a few years, and that she was buried in the Demint
Cemetery on Columbia Street.
While the original plat of Springfield became a matter of record in
Greene County, local abstracters of titles have copies of all conveyances
made while the area was in Greene and Champaign counties, as well as
in Clark County, and the name of Mrs. Demint does not appear in the
transfers. The plat was withheld from the records for a time, and she
may have died without leaving her signature. The advent of Griffith
Foos was clothed in adventure ; it is said that he came from Franklinton
on horseback, and that while prospecting along Mad River toward Urbana
had discovered Pretty Prairie which is now divided by the line separting
Clark and Champaign counties, and here he changed his course and
came across the Demint cabin on his return. It was three months before
he resumed his journey. Meantime he had prepared a shelter, and estab-
lished his home in Springfield.
When Mr. Foos returned to Franklinton, it was to bring his family
to Springfield, and thus he made the first wagon tracks into the new
town from that direction. He had troubles en route as the Big Darby
was swollen, and in crossing it the party rode the horses, and a rope was
attached to the wagon while a man swam beside it to keep it from turning
bottom-side upward in mid stream. There was not a vestige of a road
or the suggestion of a bridge, and it required four and one-half days for
the party to cover the distance of forty miles, but Mr. Foos was a man
of emergencies, and Springfield benefited from his activities. On Novem-
ber 25, 1921, E. P. Thornton, who knew him, said: "My father lived on
East High Street where the Episcopal stone church now stands (Christ
Episcopal Church), and Griffith Foos lived in the next house east from
us. I saw him often; he sawed his own wood, and I tried to help him.
He said he and I were the only industrious boys in town; he was tall,
and very old ; he had long, gray hair, and he told me about buffaloes and
deer roaming along Buck Creek."
The original plat of Springfield was bounded by North, East, West
and South streets, and there were eighty-two lots. Mr. Foos who was a
patron in advance secured twenty of the lots, and he was always a booster
for Springfield. In the beginning Columbia was Main Street, and Main
was South Street, but when the national road was built Columbia was
low, and Main Street was shifted one square south in order to conform
to it — this great artery of travel going through the town. There were the
good old names of intersecting streets, Main and Market, and time has
worked other changes in the map of Springfield. Spring and High streets
were given suggestive names, and Limestone was not named because of
the underlying building stone, but because it was part of the trail along
which many settlers came from Limestone, now Maysville, Kentucky.
The casual observer attribues the name to local natural formation.
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CHAPTER III
SIMON KENTON A CITIZEN
While the cyclopedias in the Warder public library credit Simon
Kenton to Kentucky, it is known that he ended his days in Ohio, and
that he was once a resident of the area now known as Clark County.
Because he was a frontiersman and a recognized scout, like his con-
temporary, Daniel Boone, he is regarded in the light of a world char-
acter. He was born April 3, 1755, in Fauquier .County, Virginia, of
Scotch-Irish parentage. A monument of light gray sand stone standing
eleven feet high in Oakdale cemetery at Urbana, is sacred to the memory
of Gen. Simon Kenton.
In life, Simon Kenton was a roving character, and in death his body
was not allowed to rest in one grave. It was in 1820 that he removed
from Clark County to an eighty-acre farm in Logan County, and at the
time of his death in 1836, he was drawing a pension of $20 a month, per-
haps because of his service in the Second war with England. Simon Ken-
ton was buried in a lonely spot near his cabin, and on a stone were carved
these words : "This is the cornerstone of Simon Kenton ; do not remove
it." A Bellefontaine editor of the period, William Hubbard, paid him
the following tribute:
"Tread lightly! This is hallowed ground! Tread reverently here!
Beneath this sod in silence sleeps the brave old pioneer
Who never quailed in darkest hour, whose heart ne'er felt a fear.
Tread lightly then, and here bestow the tribute of a tear!"
There are several stanzas of the poem to be found in an earlier Clark
County history.
In 1865, almost three decades from the time of his death, the body
of Simon Kenton, or what remained of it, was exhumed at the instiga-
tion of friends, and that explains the presence of the Kenton monument
in the Urbana cemetery. The isolation of the grave in Logan County
is given as the reason for the removal of the body to Urbana, the Ken-
ton home in Clark County having been in Moorefield Township when it
was part of Champaign County. While Simon Kenton died in Logan
County, his home was still along Mad River. He was buried on a grassy
knoll and around the grave was placed a rude picket fence. A rough
stone slab at the grave bore the following inscription: "In memory of
Gen. Simon Kenton, who was born April 13, 1755, in Culpeper County,
Virginia, and died April 29, 1836, aged eighty-one years and sixteen
days. His fellow citizens will long remember him as the skillful pioneer
of early times, the brave soldier and the honest man."
It was nineteen years after the removal of the body of Simon Ken-
ton from Logan to Champaign County until, in 1884, the State of Ohio
erected the monument at his grave. It bears the dates 1775 and 1836,
the boundary years of his life, and the decorations on the four sides —
the heads of an Indian, wolf, bear and panther — suggest the aggressive
character of the man thus tardily honored by the Commonwealth of Ohio.
While the slab at his grave said Simon Kenton was born in Culpeper
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14 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
County, the account in Howe's History gives it Fauquier County, Vir-
ginia, but the two accounts are agreed as to the date of his births-
just another instance about which there is conflicting information.
On April 24, 1910, the Springfield Sunday News carried an inter-
esting communication from Mrs. Emancipation Proclamation Busbey
of South Vienna, who quoted from The Cincinnati Mirror of 1836, deal-
ing with the death of Simon Kenton, and she had clippings from The
Cincinnati Commercial and Cincinnati Gazette, and from The Ohio State
Journal in reference to the removal of the body in 1865, establishing the
date as December 1, when the body was reinterred at Urbana. When
the body was exhumed, the skeleton was in a good state of preservation ;
the different parts were carefully collected and placed in a small box
which was later placed in a walnut coffin. There was a silver plate bear-
ing the inscription, Gen. Simon Kenton. Except a fragment which was
preserved as a memento, the old coffin was left in the grave in Logan
County.
As part of the removal ceremony a public service was held in the
First Presbyterian Church of Bellefontaine, and after the religious fea-
ture conducted by Reverends Wood, Fee and Varlo, there was a memo-
rial service in which the speakers were: Judge M. C. Matthews of
Piqua, chairman of the commission appointed by the General Assembly ;
J. B. Turtle and Governor Charles Anderson. In a reminiscent way, Gov-
ernor Anderson said that in 1819 Simon Kenton had visited his father's
home, and that as a small boy he had placed his hand into the lottery
urn and had drawn for Kenton his share in the public lands. Col. James
Godman was another speaker, followed by W. T. Coggeshall, the father
of Mrs. Busbey, and editor of The Ohio State Journal, in which he
sketched the life history of the man thus honored so many years after
his demise. In brief manner she reviewed the whole story of the life
of Simon Kenton as written by her father.
Because of an untoward incident in his early life, Simon Kenton
became Simon Butler. He had a rival in an affair of the heart, and
challenged the young man to fight — to settle the matter according to
frontier custom, and he lost in the conflict ; two years later he repeated
the challenge with similar results and again he suffered the taunts of his
rival who, because of superior strength, remained the favored suitor.
While it all happened in Virginia, this detail is repeated because it throws
light on the character of Simon Kenton. Love was his ruling passion
and a third time the rivals met in mortal combat, Kenton resorting to
strategy in subduing his hated rival. After entangling his long hair in
some nearby bushes, he was able to punish him severely, and fearing
that he might die, young Kenton become a refugee — a wanderer on the
face of the earth — and that explains his removal from Virginia, his
sojourn in Kentucky and later residence in Ohio. In his extremity,
he joined an expedition on the Monongahela and descended the Ohio, and
away from the scenes of his troubles he became Simon Kenton again.
While Simon Kenton "loved and lost" in Virginia, that is said to
be better than not to have loved at all, but he loved again. It is related
that he came into the Mad River country in 1799 with John Humphreys,
and that when Griffith Foos visited the Kentucky colony while pros-
pecting in the vicinity, he was directed to their habitation further
up the stream and missed it, thereby locating the Demint cabin, and
a year later the Jarboe family in which there was a young woman named
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 15
Elizabeth arrived whom Kenton had known in Kentucky. However,
it was not until December 11, 1818, that she became Mrs. Simon Kenton.
While some writers have credited Mrs. James Demint as being the
woman who suggested the name of Springfield — a field surrounded by
springs, Mrs. Elizabeth Jarboe Kenton claimed the honor while engaged
in conversation with R. C. Woodward, who in 1832, was a fellow
passenger by stage with the Kentons from Springfield to Urbana, when
they were returning from a visit in Kentucky to their home in Logan
County. Judge G. W. Tehan had filed away a magazine article in
the Delineator for August, 1904, by Landon Knight, entitled : "Elizabeth
Kenton/' in a series: "Great Women of Pioneer Times," which throws
light on the identity of the woman thus claiming the honor of naming
the settlement now the City of Springfield. The Jarboes lived on Mad
River about four miles from the town, and there is not much evidence
in support of the theory that Elizabeth suggested the name of Springfield.
It was in existence seventeen years before her marriage to Simon
Kenton, who was then a man of forty-six, and sixty-three years old
when she married him. Not many young girls of that period were
sufficiently romantic to officiate in christening a community.
It is known that Simon Kenton lived on Mad River, and that he
lived for a time in Lagonda where he operated a rude mill, but he
was not suited to the crowd and as the settlers gathered about him,
he went to the frontier again. While he wandered about and attained
to the ripe age of four-score and one years, John Humphreys, who
accompanied him from Kentucky, attained ninety-four years in the
vicinity of Springfield. Because he was an Indian fighter, Kenton was
a picturesque character, and the revised cyclopedias should connect him
with the history of Ohio, although part of his life was spent in Ken-
tucky. When there was no warfare to engage him, he would try farming
again, but nature had not designed him for that occupation. When he
came into the Mad River country he had the reputation of b«ing the
greatest Indian hunter and fighter of the period, which secured for
him due recognition. While in Kentucky he was overshadowed as a
frontiersman, by Daniel Boone, but in Ohio he soon became the most
popular hero of the country.
While Kenton had known the Jarboe family in Kentucky, when he
knew them again it was on Mad River, and the Virginia experience
was repeated — Elizabeth had another suitor. While Kenton was grow-
ing old, Elizabeth was a much younger woman, and his calls were under
the guise of inquiry about her father who had returned from Kentucky
to Maryland before Elizabeth and her mother had joined a brother
on Mad River. In the meantime Reuben Clark had established a
friendship with the fair Elizabeth. While he had never scalped an
Indian, smiles and blushes welcomed him. While the hero of Indian
wars swore that he cared nothing about the girl, he said : "She is lots
too good for Rube Clark/' With him, anything was fair in war,
and in love he applied the same tactics. He realized that he must win
the girl or move again.
Kenton was in command of the local militia, and -Reuben Clark
was subject to his orders. Therefore, that ambitious youth found
himself promoted, and assigned for duty in a distant part of the country.
If he did not lose his scalp, it was among the probabilities that he
would never return to Mad River. Having thus tactfully disposed of his
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16 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
rival, the experienced warrior began a siege of a different nature. The
absence of Clark weakened the resistance on the part of the girl, who
did not fully understand the situation with the aspiring young officer
who had thus been removed from her. In time there was a wedding
in the Jarboe home, and when the fiddlers began the music the hale
old warrior with the blushing Elizabeth led the dance — an early festivity
in the history of Clark County.
While the future seemed to hold for the Kentons only the promise
of happiness and prosperity, the honeymoon had not ended when clouds
appeared that darkened the rest of their lives. In his younger days
General Kenton had located rich lands in Kentucky, and while that
country remained a wilderness there was no question about the validity
of his title. However, when the tide of emigration set in and thousands
of settlers arrived, those human gadflies whom Sergeant Prentice desig-
nated as "peripatetic lawyers," began an examination of records, thus
scenting profit for themselves and ruin for others. Kenton was ignorant
concerning legal formalities, it was his intention to claim the property,
but the title to one tract after another was declared void until he found
that he had nothing. Believing himself rich he had sold some of the
land for a trifle, and now judgments in excess of what he had received
were piled up against him.
The claims against Kenton were the basis of much persecution,
and like a common criminal he was pursued from pillar to post, being
compelled to do time in prison because of his generosity toward others.
In those years of sorrow and disaster, Elizabeth was faithful to her
obligation. While the squalid poverty she was compelled to endure was
enough to have crushed this sensitive, high-spirited woman, it was as
nothing compared to the mortification of seeing her husband branded
as a criminal, and to make ends meet she became a teacher by day
and late at night she sat at the spinning wheel; she did weaving and
sewing for the pittance allowed her by others, and many were the deli-
cacies she carried to the incarcerated warrior. The old hero said that
only for her consolation and sympathy, he never would have survived
the long agony of humiliation.
While it is difficult to visualize the foregoing as belonging to Clark
County history, the magazine referred to says: "At last, when human
malice could no longer prevent it, General Kenton's prison doors were
opened and he was restored to his family a free man, and we may
imagine the joy that reigned in that bare little log cabin on the out-
skirts of Springfield." While they were poor, the Kentons divided
the little they had with a horde of old hunters, nondescript wanderers
and even with Indians who did not hesitate to seek their hospitality,
notwithstanding the fact that the general had made war against them.
Indeed, he deeply resented some of his treament at the hands of the
Indians. Finally, Elizabeth prevailed upon the General to go to Ken-
tucky and ask the state to restore to them some land that had been
forfeited for taxes, hoping thereby to replenish the family exchequer.
Whether or not she suggested the name of Springfield, she was an
heroic frontier woman.
Simon Kenton went on foot to Kentucky, and when he reached
Frankfort the old man who had made that capital a possibility wandered
unknown, and an object of idle curiosity. When General Fletcher
finally recognized him, the news spread that Simon Kenton was in
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 17
town. Arrayed in a new suit of clothes, the next day he occupied the
speaker's chair in the General Assembly, and listened to much oratory
about himself. While there were eulogies and high-sounding resolutions,
the Legislature did nothing but restore to him the worthless land, and
yet it was a proud day when he came riding back to Springfield on the
fine horse presented to him by General Fletcher. The pension he received
was later secured for him by friends, from the general government.
While it was small, in the hands of the prudent Elizabeth it served to
keep the wolf from the door, and the story has already been told of
the residence of the family in Logan County.
History is .replete with stories in the life of Simon Kenton, but
because his career neither began nor ended in Clark County, only those
of local significance have been chosen in this narrative of his adventures.
It is known that Elizabeth Jarboe lived on Mad River from 1800 until
the time of her marriage eighteen years later, and since they left Clark
County in 1820, sufficient tribute has been paid them. When Simon
Kenton was growing old, she nursed him with a tenderness that a
mother bestows upon a child; she was holding his hands and whisper-
ing words of comfort when the shadows descended, and the soul of
Simon Kenton passed — but the future is conjecture. That long ago,
Clark County had few native sons and daughters who distinguished
themselves, and the story of Elizabeth Jarboe Kenton is an inspiration;
she never recovered from the effects of the Wow — the loss of her
distinguished husband.
VoL 1—2
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CHAPTER IV
WHEN CLARK BECAME AN ORGANIZED COUNTY
As long ago as 1790, all of Southwestern Ohio was in Hamilton
County, and Fort Washington was the logical center of the community.
Cincinnati sustained that relation many years later, until internal improve-
ments changed conditions in the country.
By proclamation of Governor Arthur St. Clair, August 20, 1798,
Ross County was organized with Chillicothe as its administrative center,
and the area now in Clark County was transferred with it. On April 30,
1803, Franklin County was set off from Ross, and May 1 or one day
later, Greene County was placed on the map drawing territory from
both Hamilton and Ross, and until March 1 two years later this area
was in Greene County. It remains for the student of local geography
to locate Springfield, when its outline was established March 17, two
years before the organization of Greene County. It is readily under-
stood why Demint's plat of Springfield was withheld from the records
for a time. Since Mrs. James Demint died within a year, her signature
was unnecessary in establishing the purchaser's right to property.
While the first Constitution of Ohio remained on the statutes, there
were many changes in county boundaries, and since any area comprising
400 square miles of territory could effect county organization, there
were as many changes on the map of Ohio as the World war rendered
possible on the map of Europe. On March 1, 1805, Champaign County
came into existence, embracing the territory lying north from Greene
County, and since the area extended north forty-two miles over a
scope of territory twenty-five miles wide, it provided for trouble in
the future, the area embracing 1,050 square miles of territory, while
400 square miles was the requirement.
When Champaign County came into existence, Springfield became
the seat of government, and the first court was held in the home of
George Fithian. However, county buildings were not erected because
Urbana laid claim to the court privileges, and the citizens of that town
were active in the removal of the seat of government. The Ohio
Gazetteer of 1816, which contains the mention of Champaign County,
says the name is descriptive — that it was applied because of the gen-
erally level and "champaign" face of the country, and since at that time
Clark was included, some of the "champaign" faces may still be in the
community. That was before the wet and dry issue in the country.
The Gazetteer says of original Champaign County, that part of the
land is rather elevated and rolling, and later it lost ten townships to
Clark, the new county coming into existence December 25, 1817, after
twelve years as part of Champaign County. While the Ohio Assembly
granted the request on Christmas day, the government of the new
county was established January 1, 1818, with 2,097 voters concerned
in Settling the question. Champaign County had numbered 10,485 inhab-
itants— too many people for one county, but since then there is a
changed conception of density. The tax duplicate of the whole county
had reached $2,445,557, and as yet no transcript is available of the
amount of taxable property transferred to Clark County. In the office
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 19
of the county auditor is a bundle of papers yellow with age, but no
one has busied himself to determine the original Clark County tax
duplicate ; it would involve some computation, and the papers are fragile
already.
New counties were continually being placed on the map of Ohio
until a second constitution was written, doing away with the custom,
and Clark finally obtained its "place in the sun/' with twelve square
miles surplus territory after securing territory from Champaign, Madison
and Greene counties. While the final e was dropped in the name, it is
understood that the new county was named in honor of General George
Rogers Clark, who wrested the area from the Shawnees. The Ohio
Assembly was inclined to honor Revolutionary patriots, recognizing the
fifteen counties to the northwest which constitute the military group on
the same day a few years later, and giving to them names of soldiers:
Williams, Paulding and Van Wert, commemorating the captors of Major
Andre, and a dozen other counties named for well-known soldiers.
The fifteen counties were named, February 12, 1820, three years after
the Ohio Assembly had honored the Revolutionary patriot with the
name of Clark County.
Senator Daniel McKinnon
Much credit is due Senator Daniel McKinnon of Champaign County
who was instrumental in securing recognition of Clark County, and he
became one of the first associate judges; as a reward for his effort,
Joseph Tatman, who was then a representative in the Ohio Legislature,
also became an associate judge, the system prevailing early of awarding
honors to those who perform service. While the Clark County ship of
state has weathered many gales, some of the most prominent men in
the Commonwealth of Ohio were interested in launching it. Moses and
Ichabod Corwin, who were members of the local bar, were active in
promoting the organization, and it is said that Governors Kirker, Looker,
Worthington, Morrow, McArthur, Lucas and Vance were all friendly
to the enterprise. The discussion had been before the Assembly before,
and when the new county was recognized the members disbanded to
enjoy their Christmas dinners. Christmas has a double significance in
Clark County.
Broadly speaking, Clark County is in the Miami Valley since the
Big Miami is to the west, and the Little Miami crosses one corner of
the county, and with their tributary streams drainage does not present
any complications at all. It is an irregular oblong with its greatest
length along the Clark-Champaign border, and there is not a straight
line on its boundary; it has four varying widths, and the jogs are
explained by some because land owners were allowed their choice of
remaining in other counties. While it is surrounded by five counties,
owing to the irregularities of outline, Clark is bounded north by Cham-
paign, east by Madison, south by Madison and Greene, and west by
Greene, Montgomery and Miami counties. A study of the Symmes and
Ludlow surveys explains some of the boundary irregularities, and the
Ludlow line across Clark County occasions many survey difficulties.
"Some one walked crooked while carrying a chain," was the off-hand
statement of a Clark County civil engineer, and then he told of John
Cleves Symmes and Israel Ludlow; the Ludlow brothers were Israel
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20 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
and Mansfield, and both had to do with local surveys in early history.
The Virginia Military Land Grants lie east from the Ludlow line
and extend to the Scioto River, including part of Clark, Madison and
Franklin counties, while the Symmes survey extends to the Big Miami,
and Clark Countv engineers have two standards of measurements in the
same county. There is much irregularity connected with the military
survey, soldiers locating where the land suited them and the surveyors
working around them. When General Clark asked for some of this
land, the State of Virginia offered him a sword. When the Government
census was taken in 1820, there were but ninety-four houses in Clark
County, and the towns were Springfield, South Charleston, Monroe
(New Carlisle), Lisbon and New Boston. There had been twenty
townships in Champaign County, but Clark was organized with ten:
Pleasant, Harmony, Madison, Greene, Springfield, Moorefield, German,
Mad River, Bethel and Pike, and owing to the Virginia land grants the
same irregularities are apparent in the boundaries, as are mentioned on
the boundary of the county.
A Study of the Townships
In the United States many of the counties are divided into townships
five, six, seven or perhaps ten miles square, and the inhabitants are
vested with certain powers of regulating their own affairs, such as the
care of the poor or repairing the roads; the township is subordinate
to the county. While the townships and towns will receive due attention,
in this survey everything is written in terms of Clark County. "I am
the vine and ye are the branches," is the relation sustained between the
county and its integral parts, the air and the water being the same in
the different communities.
The trees, the streams and the wild life of the forest know nothing
of boundaries, and yet in a general way everything is given its locality.
There is so much repetition in the description of the different townships
in detail that space is otherwise used, and community movements are
county wide in their significance. In Clark County there is evidence
of the Moundbuilders as well as the American Indians, and while Indians
once came to the doors of the settlers, there are few who relate such
stories today. While the Shawnees and other tribes will always be
regarded with some degree of admiration by the student of United
States history, their story now belongs wholly to the past in Clark
County.
Bethel
Since the Shawnee Village of Piqua was in the area now designated
as Bethel Township, its history begins with August 8, 1780, and it is the
oldest bailiwick, John Paul having located there ten years later, and
there being a number of settlers along Mad River before the end of
the eighteenth century.
When the Greenville treaty was signed in 1795, there was imme-
diate purchase of land, Patten Short of Cincinnati being early to invest,
and Israel Ludlow also recognizing the opportunity. While Kreb and
Brown were squatters, David Lowry and Jonathan Donnel were among
the first permanent citizens; their names are household words in Clark
County history. When they had located their claims, Lowry named z
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 21
stream watering the land for his friend, and thus Donnelscreek and
later Donnelsville became identified with Bethel Township.
While Donnel and Lowry came into the community together as
members of a surveyor's crew, Jonathan Donnel was several years older
than David Lowry. While Lowry gave attention to other things, Donnel
was a farmer, maintaining his farm in a high state of cultivation by his
own labor; he raised grapes and made them into wine long before the
Catawba grape was on the market, or others had learned the wealth of
the soil along Mad River.
In 1812 Jonathan Donnel committed suicide, and although a marker
was procured it was never placed at his grave. Ill health and partial
insanity explain his act, and the circumstances surrounding his death
cast a gloom over the whole community. He hung himself in the spring
house, and for eighty years the marker for his grave lay in the spring
house loft, finally being transferred to the rooms of the Clark County
Historical Society in Springfield.
After an unsuccessful venture shipping pork by water to Cincinnati
and Southern markets, Mr. Lowry spent the remainder of his life on the
farm, where he lived in ease and comfort, his habits and manners free
from the vices so prevalent, such as drunkenness and profanity. The
Lowry home was known for its hospitality, and friends of the family
made frequent visits there. Mr. Lowry used the by-word, "By Grimany,"
so often that it became his nick-name, and at the age of ninety-two
he died a much loved man by the community.
In the chapter on transportation is a detailed description of
Mr. Lowry's attempt to market a boat load of venison hams, soon after
he located on Mad River, and of John Jackson leaving the country by
boat in 1825 with his wife Nellie Lowry. While the Lowry farm carried
the identity of its original owner through many years, the Donnel farm
soon became known as the Keifer homestead, and a contemporary was
William Taylor who came from Pennsylvania. While Kentuckians pre-
dominated in early history, Lowry and Taylor were from the Keystone
state, and both left their mark on the community. The Taylors had
eleven children — five sons and six daughters, and Mr. Taylor secured
enough land to give a farm to each of them.
Other residents of Bethel who came early were: Hughel, Husted,
Minnick, Croft, Brandenburg, McKinney, Confer, Lamme, Leffel, Smith,
Funderburg, Miller, Moorehouse, Wood, Steele, Hersey, Rayburn, Cram,
Phillips, Muzzy, Robbins, Ramsey, Littlejohn, Layton and Keifer.
While the late directory would not show all these names, within a few
years there were many others who are still represented in the com-
munity. '
The community centers in Bethel are : New Carlisle, Medway, Don-
nelsville, Anlo and Forgy or Olive Branch. In the beginning New
Carlisle had the name of Monroe, but when in 1810 William Rayburn
of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, acquired the unplatted property, he changed
the name of the town. It is an old town, having within its borders three
centenary churches and a Masonic lodge organized in 1831, which ninety
years later was building its future home.
New Carlisle is a good residence community, its citizens being close
to Springfield, Troy and Dayton, but its industrial possibilities have not
been developed; the town does not afford labor opportunities, although
the Shellabarger tannery one time received raw hides in exchange for
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
leather, and buggies were once manufactured in New Carlisle. It goes
without saying that the community need is taken care of in a business
and professional, as well as religious and educational way, and it is the
home of many who are retired from business activities.
Medway and Donnelsville have their business and social activities
like the "cities of the plains." New Boston was once a thriving center at
the head of navigation on Mad River; it rivaled Springfield, and for a
time was touted as a possible seat of government in Clark County. The
story goes that it came within one vote, but Springfield had the advantage
of geographical location; it was nearer the center. Today a cemetery
enclosed with an iron fence and with two or three good gravestones in it,
remind the passerby of the town.
The 1920 census report for "Bethel Township including Donnelsville
and New Carlisle villages" indicates a population numbering 3,171, which
shows a decrease of ninety-four persons in ten years. In 1840 the popu-
The Old Mill, New Carlisle
lation was 2,033, and in forty years covering the period of the Civil
war and the reconstruction, it increased by 1,198, showing a population
of 3,131 in 1880, which was within forty persons of the number shown
by the last census. Since Bethel Township has no manufacturing center,
there is not much change in its numerical development.
MOOREFIELD
Since Mad River borders Moorefield Township, and some of the
early settlers located there in 1799, half a dozen Kentucky familes were
in that locality, and among those who came early were. Humphreys,
Ward, Kenton, Richards, Jarboe, Moore, Robinson, Bishop, Cornell,
Crabill, Baner, Foley, McBeth, McDaniels, Shultz, Lemon, Smith, Wood,
Craig, Miller, Cantrel, Reese and Fall.
While in Champaign County, Moorefield was regarded as an aggres-
sive community; there are Congress lands in the west part. The com-
munity centers are : New Moorefield, Eagle City, Bowlusville and Villa.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 23
It is within easy market distance from Springfield, although it borders
Champaign County.
In 1840 Moorefield had 1,073 people, and in forty years its gain was
272, showing a population of 1,345 in 1880, while the 1920 census shows
a population numbering 1,296, and indicating a loss of forty-nine in forty
years against the gain as shown in the last century. In 1920 there were
two more persons in the township than at the last count. Moorefield is
wholly dependent upon its agriculture, and it is not a fluctuating
community.
Mad River
The township takes its name from the river separating it from Bethel,
and because of water power advantages Mad River had mills and dis-
tilleries early ; as early as 1800, James Galloway, who was the first black-
smith, brought his anvil on a "lizard," and he soon acquired 1,000 acres
of land. Most of the settlers claimed an entire section, and why not? —
there were none to gainsay their claims.
Among the early arrivals were: Galloway, Layton, Williams,
McKinney, Woods, Blieu and Campbell, and a little later came Shreve,
Miller, Crawford, Palmer, Baker, Bracken, Cory, Rose, Hoyt, Huff,
Haines, Ludley, Rogers, Broadis, Gillen, Monfort, Daily, Kile, Level,
Shank, and since the river industries are abandoned, Mad River is
devoted to agriculture.
The community centers are: Enon, Husted, Limestone City, Cold
Springs, Snyderville and Hennessey. No town in the county has more
substantial, old-fashioned houses and they stand flush with the street,
than Enon. While it has railroad communication with the outside world,
the station is removed some distance from the town. The unusual
attraction at Enon is the mound which is the largest in Clark County.
The other towns are more accessible than Enon.
In 1840 Mad River had 1,339 residents within its borders, and forty
years later it had gained 473, making a population in 1880 of 1,812,
while the last census shows a population of 2,370, the increase amount-
ing to ninety-three in ten years. There is no decline indicated in the
population of Mad River.
German
Mad River also had part of the early development of German
Township, settlers locating there in 1802, when the Congress lands were
on the market. It was cheap land, and by paying down 50 cents an
acre, the settler was unlimited in acreage. While the name would
indicate German lineage, it is said the settlers were from Kentucky
and lafer from Virginia.
In the stress of wdr time patriotism when the word German was
eliminated from so many communities, there was talk of changing the
name, but wiser judgment prevailed and the traditions remain. Among
the pioneers were: Rector, McKinley, Storms, Adams, Cowshick,
Thompson, Ross, Chapman, Weaver, Oliver, Nicholson, Simms, Peck,
Pence, Over, Bechtel, Munsey, Haller, Keplinger, Knisely, Kirer,
Richards, and Neff. It is said that Mrs. Sarah Rector who was a widow
with ten children was among the early arrivals.
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24 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
The community centers are: Lawrenceville and Tremont City, the
latter originally called Clarksville from the inclination to use the name
of the county in the name of the town.
In 1840 there were 1,667 people in German, and 433 additional persons
gave it a population numbering 2,100 in 1880, while in 1920 it had
dropped back to 1,827, which was a loss of seventy-eight persons in ten
years. Agriculture is the occupation.
Pleasant
While Pleasant Township is removed from Mad River and from
the earliest settlement in the county, in 1803, there was a nucleus of a
community. When Joseph Coffey and sons, Tatom and Joseph, Jr.,
arrived from Pennsylvania, they camped out for three months finally
buildjng a cabin ; a short time later a cousin, Isaac Egmond and family
joined them, and then came McConkey,. Neer, Hedrick, Lafferty, Daw-
son, Runyan, Baugmardner, Abrogast, Gilmore, Hunter, Cartmell, Saylor
and Bimyard.
The greatest elevation of Clark County is found in Pleasant Town-
ship, and with the knolls and the military land grants, there are many
irregularities in local surveys, and yet good farms are found there.
The one business center is Catawba, and because of its distance
from other towns, it has its quota of business and professional citizens.
It is said the main street in Catawba is an Indian trail, and while isolated
all business and social advantages are found there.
In 1840, there were 1,092 people in Pleasant and in forty years the
gain was 489, giving it a total of 1,581 persons in 1880, while in 1920
the number had dropped to 1,268 which showed an increase of fifteen
in the last ten years. The twentieth century does not show much growth
in Pleasant, and the source of income is agriculture.
Greene
When this township was part of Greene County it was called Bath,
but when Clark became an organized county the name was changed in
order to perpetuate its past history. Its first settler, Jacob Garlaugh,
came in 1807, buying Congress land and finding a squatter, Cady Toll,
living on it. While he had cleared an acre of ground and planted it in
turnips, there was no house between the site and Springfield. It was a
wilderness of prairie and forest. Garlaugh was a year in advance of his
family, although he became a permanent citizen.
Other settlers were: Patten, Steele, Cowan and Smith, the latter
coming from Tennessee when he was seventy-seven, and finding two
squatters on the land he had purchased ; they were Fullom and Runyan,
and they had cleared five acres- and built a cabin. In dispossessing
them, it is said that Smith paid them for their improvements. Since
he came in 1811 he was never a citizen of Greene County. Other
settlers contemporary were: Elder, Hempleman, Steepleton, Galloway,
Stewart, James, Samuels, John, Luse, Forbus, Brooks, Bates, Lewis,
Davis, Stowbridge, Wilson and Hansbraugh.
The community centers are : Pitchin, once known as Concord, Corts-
ville and Clifton which is on the Clark-Greene boundary. Because of
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 25
the elective boundary line, certain families clinging to old affiliations,
the business interests of Clifton are in Greene County.
In 1840 there were 1,059 people in Greene Township, and the gain
was 465 when in 1880 the population was 1,524, and including part of
Clifton the count in 1920 reached 1,347, showing a decline of 177
between 1880 and 1920, with a gain of six persons in ten years.
Harmony
While there were squatters prior to 1807, Henry Storms was the
first settler in Harmony Township, and there is a saying that many of
the early settlers there were from New England. Three big investors
in the military lands were McCarthy, Galloway and Wallace, and while
McCarthy did his own surveying, Matthew Bonner did the work for
Wallace ; where there were squatters, it is said the lines were run around
them, and that explains some of the irregularities.
Among the bonafide settlers were : Storms, Troxell, Hawk, Walling-
ford, Foley, Cox, Juda, Goodf ellow, Kennedy, Morris, Eaton, Whiteley,
Rathburn, McMullen, Mayne, Hay, Burke, Pattock, Chenowith, Merri-
duff, Foreman, Weeks, Henkle, James, Golden, Barrett, Chamberlain,
Sprague, Bonner, Ropley, Bordwell, Dynes, Newlove, Osborne, Judy,
Taylor, Lingle, Busbey, Clark, Lloyd, Lutman and Marsh.
Community centers: South Vienna, Harmony, Brighton, Platts-
burg, Lisbon, Thorpe and Royal. Since the township is crossed by the
national road, there are tavern landmarks outside the towns as Buena
Vista. While John Reeder was carrying the chain for Surveyor John
Stewart in establishing Lisbon, he overheard the remark : "Springfield
would probably become a large town if it were not so close to Lisbon/'
When John Nicholson came to Harmony, he brought along a yoke
of oxen, some cows and thirty head of sheep with sufficient grain to
tide him over until he produced a crop ; he planted fifteen acres the first
year, and Harmony has always been a foremost township in agriculture.
The flock of sheep attracted wolves, and Nicholson had his difficulties
in guarding them.
In 1840 the population had attained to 1,645, and in the forty years
elapsing till the census in 1880, when 1,846 were reported, it had gained
201, but forty years later when the census was taken in 1920, showing
a population of 1,802, there was a loss of forty-four although in the
previous decade the township had gained six persons.
Madison
While Madison was once known as Stokes Township, and in Madison
County, its first development was the plat of Charleston, November 1,
1815, it becoming a matter of record February 5, 1816, in London.
September 19, 1818, was the time of the first election in Clark County.
It was held in the home of George Searlott, the hamlet having been in
existence three years. It was named for Charles Paist who was its
first merchant. Because of mail difficulties it was later designated as
South Charleston.
Among the settlers in Stokes, now Madison: Critz, Kelso, Light-
foot, Hedrick, Surlot, Vance, Halsted, Adams, Hogue, Peirce, Reed,
Gatch, Williams, Davison, Molar, DeLong, Hay, Clark, Houston, Hen-
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26 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
dricks, Bingam, McCollom, Elsworth, Sterritt, Trader, Sutton, Cutler,
Woolsy, Rowan, Hempleman, Lott, Wilson and Ludlow.
Community centers: South Charleston is an acquisition, and is
older than the township. Because of its location on the stage route
between Columbus and Cincinnati, it was a busy center in its early
history. Some of the most celebrated taverns were in that vicinity, and
distinguished travelers were entertained in South Charleston. Ii\ 1849
it became an incorporated town. Its "palmy days" were in the time of
the stage coach, and it still has its quota of aged persons who remember
all about it.
One comment was, "South Charleston is a town of strong early
associations," and another was, "Conservative South Charleston." It
is a place of wide, well shaded streets, and commodious homes, although
the townspeople were discussing a recent business reverse, and hoping
the community would speedily recover from it.
It is related that when Charles Paist had the principal business house
in South Charleston an amusing incident occurred, involving a negro,
a plug hat, a roll of butter, a hot stove — and Mr. Paist, who was
chief interlocutor. The negro went into the back room, stole a roll of
butter and concealed it in his hat; because Paist suspected the theft,
he detained the negro by the side of the hot stove much against his
apparent inclination, and soon the evidence was against him. The
stream of melted butter told the story of the theft, and when the negro
finally left the store, the merchant had his confession — no need of other
witness than the melted butter.
A booklet written by Albert Reeder is the source of much infor-
mation about South Charleston. He relates that Fred Stowe, a son of
the writer of Uncle Tom's Cabin, was once in the community with a
governess, and that they played together, fishing and turtle hunting,
and he refers to a rail fence separating the town from an adjoining
woods pasture. In it was a pond on which the boys played shinny in
winter, and the hunters would shoot wild duck from it in summer —
a true story that requires a vivid imagination to comprehend it today.
In the days of grist mills, saw mills and blacksmith shops, there was
a blacksmith in South Charleston whose specialty was mules and oxen,
and in support of the story there was a yoke of oxen drawing a wagon
and a second vehicle drawn by a single ox in shafts passed through
Springfield, November 3, 1921, that attracted much attention.
The first mayor in South Charleston was Joseph S. Peat, and the
marshal was James Thacker; when the boys were noisy on the streets,
he would drive them home — no need of a curfew, and an old account
says, "It is surrounded by a fine grazing and tillable country." There
are attractive suburban homes, and it is the trading center for a large
community. There is a village manager and a commission to take care
of the future, and one measure recently adopted restrains school children
from tying their sleds to automobiles, the fate of three Wittenberg
college girls who were injured in that vicinity prompting it. By practic-
ing economy, notwithstanding the business reverses, the South Charles-
ton village manager and commission is able to function without borrow-
ing money.
Other centers in Madison — Selma and Dolly Varden. Selma has
the distinction of having been peopled by Quakers, there being two
Quaker communities in Madison Township; the Orthodox Friends are
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 27
in Selma, while the Hicksite Quakers or Friends are between Selma and
South Charleston.
The population of Madison . Township in 1840 was 1,115 while
forty years later it was 2,396, showing a gain of 1,281 persons in that
period; in 1920 the census report gives to the area 2,370, showing a
gain of ninety-three in ten years, and there never has been a decline
shown in the number of citizens.
Springfield
While one account says there were twenty townships in Champaign
County, and that ten of them were transferred to Clark County, another
statement is that when there were two townships in Clark County one
was Springfield; it is conceded that the township is named for the
town, and the story of James Demint need not be repeated, although
outside the town among the early settlers were: Smith, Tuttle, Ward,
Beesly, Ricketts, Ritt, Warder, Murray, Hunt, Mulholland, McLaughlin,
Crabill, Shuey and Needham.
Lagonda, which is now within the corporate limits, was on the map
almost as early as Springfield. While Simon Kenton first lived on
Mad River, he later lived in Lagonda. He once operated a mill there,
but avoiding the complexities of civilization, when it became a com-
munity, he went to the frontier again.
The City of Springfield is a story within itself, and other centers are :
Sugar Grove Hill, Rockway, Durbin and Beattytown, sometimes called
Emery Chapel, and all are suburban to Springfield. The city sustains
the relation to the township that New York does to Queens County, or
Chicago to Cook County — the balance of power is in the city.
In 1840 the population of town and township was 4,443, and in
forty years the gain was 20,012, bringing the number to 24,455 in 1880,
although after 1850, when Springfield was incorporated as a city, it had
a separate report from the township, the 1920 report attributing 3,698
people to the township outside the city, which was a gain of 619 in ten
years. In 1920 the city showed a population numbering 60,840, and
since in 1910, it was 46,921, it had gained 13,919 in ten years. In the
century year 1900 the population of Springfield was 38,253, indicating
a continual growth since the beginning of the twentieth century.
Pike
It was homes rather than society desired by the settlers in Pike
Township, and until January 30, 1829, there was no effort made toward
an organization. While it is remote from Springfield, it has its own com-
munity centers, and is equally distant from trading points in Miami and
Champaign counties. Andrew and Samuel Black were early residents,
and the occupation is agriculture.
The community centers are North Hampton, Dialton and Seth,
the latter not shown on the map. While North Hampton once had elec-
tric current from the Springfield, Troy & Piqua Traction Company,
when that was no longer available, it installed its own electric plant and
direct current is furnished consumers for business houses, residences
and the streets, lights furnished from sundown till 9:30 each evening,
the village council hoping to make the plant pay for itself. While other
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28 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
towns have lights, North Hampton is remote from them and must pro-
duce its own electricity, expending $600 in its plant.
In 1840 Pike Township had a population numbering 1,437, and the
increase in forty years covering the period till 1880 was 321, but in
1920 the area had lost 261, showing a population of 1,497, it having
lost 133 in the last ten years.
While each township and town has its problems, under present man-
agement many individual interests have become community concerns,
and they are treated in collective manner; while the little red school
house had its place, consolidation has changed the panorama, and educa-
tional development is described in a separate chapter. While every com-
munity had its first school teacher, he served his day and generation
and the world holds him in grateful remembrance, but community condi-
tions aje different and he would not meet the requirements today.
When asking or conferring favors, men and women do not recog-
nize township, county or state boundaries, although loyalty still actuates
them. In 1900 there were 58,939 citizens accredited to Clark County;
in 1910 there were 66,435, and when the census was computed again in
1920 there were 80,728 people within the borders of the county.
On February 9, 1803, Ohio was admitted as the seventeenth state
into the Union, and according to the 1920 census its population of
5,759,394 represented an increase of 992,273, or 20.8 per cent over
the 1910 showing, and during that decade the entire population of the
United States increased 14.9 per cent, showing the increase in Ohio to
be 5.9 per cent greater than in the country at large, and the 14,293 gain
in Clark County is a fraction greater than the gain in the entire com-
monwealth of Ohio. Forty-nine counties show an increase from the
1910 to the 1920 census, while thirty-nine counties show a decrease in
the number of inhabitants; no boundaries have been changed, and local
conditions account for the fluctuations in the state as well as within
the bounds of Clark County.
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CHAPTER V
IN THE WAKE OF THE MOUNDBUILDERS
While in the bibliography of Ohio Earthworks mention is made of
the mounds and embankments in Clark County, this feature in the
history is adapted from an exhaustive study made by Arthur R. Altick,
who is a collector of Indian specimens and antiquities.
The Altick collection is extensive and embraces all the varieties of
Indian relics seen in the best museums; while some of it was pur-
chased, most of it is a result of personal research in Clark and Miami
counties. Indeed, Mr. Altick has some rare specimens, and among them
are many curios that he secured from the mounds in Clark County.
While scientists recommend that such research should be conducted under
the direction of experienced persons representing state or local organiza-
tions, Mr. Altick has followed his own initiative, always restoring the
mounds to the condition in which he found them. W. H. Rayner has
also made a study of the mounds in Clark County.
Mr. Altick writes : "In the remote ages of the past, the region com-
prising Clark County was the home of a race known as the Mound-
builders. The only records of this once numerous although now extinct
people are the mounds they left, and the articles found within them.
They attained to a higher degree of culture than their successors, the
American Indians, whom the white men found on this continent; this
assertion is corroborated by the fact that pottery executed with con-
siderable artistic skill has been found in the mounds as well as remnants
of coarse cloth, which indicates that the Moundbuilders knew something
about the art of weaving. Copper and stone tablets with hieroglyphic
"drawings; mica and shell ornaments; copper axes and tomahawks, the
metal of which appears to have been subjected to an annealing process
to make it harder; stone pipes executed in the designs of birds, reptiles
and animals, the eyes set with pearls, all have been found upon opening
of these ancient earthworks.
Clark County seems to have been a favored region by the Mound-
builders, doubtless due to its topography, the virgin forests offering
unrestricted hunting grounds, and the numerous springs affording an
unlimited supply of drinking water; it seems that Mad River afforded
fish in abundance at the time that ancient race inhabited the country.
There are about forty mounds located within the county, the largest
of which is near Enon and is known as Knob Prairie Mound. It is on
the 300-acre farm in Mad River Township owned by Frank Werden,
and it is surrounded by a race track; the surrounding country is prac-
tically level, and it is land adapted to agriculture; the sub-soil imme-
diately about it is of a comparatively shallow depth, the material for its
construction evidently having been taken from the surface around it.
Knob Prairie Mound is 200 feet in circumference, 50 feet high and
conical in shape; it covers an area of approximately one acre. A
hedge fence encircles its base, and fruit trees grow on its sides. A hack-
berry graces the top, and in season lilacs blossom there; the mound is
well set in blue grass, with spiral paths leading to the summit and many
visitors climb to the top of it. Knob Prairie Mound marked the Hum-
phrey farm before Werden acquired it, and sight-seers are not regarded
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
as trespassers who come and go without disturbing anything. The
trees and shrubbery found there bear no direct relation to the Mound-
builders; they are an afterthought of the owners who care to beautify
the site, rendering it more attractive to visitors.
Some years ago Knob Prairie Mound was opened, and the investi-
gator says : "We found top soil all the way down for thirty feet when
we came to a cave of curious construction; it was in the shape of a
bake oven, and high enough for a man to stand upright in the center;
it tapered down on the sides. On one side there was a door that evi-
dently had led from a ground entrance into the cave. In the middle
was a pile of dirt and stone resembling an altar ; on it were bones, char-
coal and some pieces of decayed wood. There was one piece of partly
charred wood in a good state of preservation. The wood was preserved,
but the bones would not stand removal ; the investigators then cut their
names and the date on the altar, filled up the excavation and left."
Knob Prairie Mound at Enon
It is said that when Gen. George Rogers Clark was in the vicinity,
at the time of the Shawnee Village of Piqua battle, August 8, 1780, he
ascended Knob Prairie Mound to reconnoiter; he was accompanied by
some of his officers, the mound being in direct line with his march;
from its apex it offered a wide panoramic view of the country. In
1888, in connection with a presidential campaign, a flag staff was reared
at the summit, and charred wood was found by those excavating for it.
The pole was seventy feet high, but alas! one morning there was no
flagstaff. An auger made less noise than a saw, and it was "bored"
out of its commanding position on Knob Prairie Mound. No one ever
confessed his part in the removal of the flagstaff. As well as being a
sepulchral mound, everything points to the fact that Knob Prairie was
a signal or observation point used by the Moundbuilders, as well as
later inhabitants of the country.
Another mound was located two rods east from the intersection of
Spring and Washington streets, within the present limits of the City of
Springfield. It was conical, and 150 feet in diameter at the base, but
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 31
in 1847, when the Dayton & Sandusky Railroad was being built it was
removed, the material being used in ballasting the track; the construc-
tion men found a quantity of human bones in the center of the mound,
as well as what appeared to be the lower maxillary of some wild animal
that had a large crooked tooth in it. The maxillary or jaw bone looked
as if it had been ground away, in an endeavor to make it easily grasped
by the hand; from its shape, it. doubtless served as a war club; when
exposed to the air it crumbled to pieces. An early account of this
mound says : "In 1818, two white oak trees, some bushes and a number
of large stumps covered it."
In the Automobile Blue Book of Ohio is the statement that the
G. A. R. burial plot in Ferncliff Cemetery was the work of the Mound-
builders. While it has been shaped up and rendered more symmetrical,
the fact of its origin is unquestioned. It was a distinctive mound, and
bones were found in it. Within a year about sixty bodies were dis-
covered while workmen were grading Sylvan Hill in Ferncliff, and S. J.
Perrott, superintendent of the cemetery, called Dr. B. F. Prince, of
Wittenberg College, who declared the bones to be those of Indians or
Moundbuilders ; they were badly decomposed, and crumbled when exposed
to the air; the bodies had been buried in groups of five or six covering
a small area around the crest of the hill ; the skulls resembled those of
the Indians, although it is known that the Moundbuilders were active
in that vicinity. They were of medium height, erect, with long well-
developed arms, and they were equally at home in the trees or on the
ground; it is said the high cheek bone of the Indian is lacking in the
facial development of the Moundbuilders. All these bones were col-
lected by Mr. Perrott, and buried in one grave in another part of
Ferncliff.
Although no trinkets were discovered with the bones found in Sylvan
Hill, it was the consensus of opinion that they were of Indian origin,
because the manner of their burial was in accord with the Indian cus-
tom. In October, 1921, W. H. Rayner dug into an Indian grave in
Harmony Township, finding a conch shell drinking cup, bearing out
the theory that the Shawnees who inhabited the country came from the
Gulf region of the United States. For two weeks workmen grading
Sylvan Hill were uncovering bones and making a collection, showing to
the present generation that nothing is known about the final disposition
of their bodies — born but not dead, and the future is veiled in uncertainty.
According to an engineering record made in 1863, the mound in
Ferncliff was five and one-half feet high, conical in shape and thirty-
two feet in diameter; many years ago it was opened by investigators,
a shaft being sunk in the center. About five feet from the apex, a
hard ceiling of baked clay was encountered; the excavators continued
their shaft through this ceiling, finding it a vault or cave ten feet high
and shaped like a bake oven, similar to the one in Knob Prairie Mound.
In this chamber were bones, charcoal and a wooden chain seven inches
long with six links, and made from black locust.
Mr. Altick recently visited Bechtle Mound located about one mile
from Ferncliff, and almost due southwest from it. Bechtle Mound is
750 feet from the south side of Buck Creek, and seventy feet above the
water level of the stream; this mound occupies the east end of a ridge
composed of clay and gravel, and it raises to an elevation of twelve feet
above the surface. It is about 100 feet west from Bechtle Avenue, and
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32 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
300 feet south of the viaduct across the drive in Snyder Park ; the north
and south diameter is approximately seventy feet at the base, while the
east and west measurement is nearly sixty-four feet, the base circum-
ference measuring 210 feet. While it has a rectangular base, it
approaches the cone in shape and the apex is somewhat sunken, most
likely caused by the interior chamber giving away; its summit affords
an excellent observation* point. An unobstructed view may be had of
the Mad River Valley; three oak trees grow on its western slope.
While there is no authentic record as to the exact age of these
mounds, the latest reports from scientists indicate that some of them
are more than 800 years old, their computations based on the erosion
of the elements. The fact that Ferncliff, Bechtle, the cut back of the
Masonic Home and Knob Prairie mounds are in a direct line, indicates
that the builders had some definite object in so placing them ; they could
signal from their summits by fire and smoke, thus establishing a long
line of communication with one another. The trend of this chain of
mounds is northeast and southwest, following the course of Mad River
through Clark County.
Mr. Altick also visited, a mound on the R. W. Newlove farm in
Harmony Township which consists of two elliptical shaped ridges of
earth, resembling a gigantic "wish bone." The area of the two ridges
is practically the same, covering about one acre, the one on the north
being more shallow than the other; the ridge on the south has a ditch
twenty-five feet wide, and from five to seven feet deep; it encircles the
inside of the ridge, and is thrown up on the outside of it. The distance
from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the ridge varies from nine to
thirteen feet, and the height of the ridge varies from four to six feet,
as measured from the land surrounding it. The width at the base is
from twenty to twenty-five feet, and the outlet at the ends of the ditches
is from thirty to forty feet in width, while the two ridges are separated
by twenty-five to thirty feet, the diameter of one being 325 feet, while
the other is 434 feet, indicating considerable activity on the part of
the Moundbuilders in that locality.
The circumference of these two ridges measures 1,025 feet, and the
western half of the north ridge is under cultivation, the remainder of
the area being covered by forest trees and a dense growth of underbrush.
Inside the inclosure of the southern ellipse at the western end, there is
a small mound ; a few years ago a shaft was sunk into it to the depth
of four feet, and the material removed was fine gravel with nothing
unusual in it. It is the only excavation ever made in the ridges, and
the adjacent valley is about three-quarters of a mile in length, with
boggy land extending to Beaver Creek; on the north and west, the
valley is walled by a range of hills. To the casual observer, this seems
inadequate as a means of defense, and the whole valley would be a death
trap for an invading force. About half a mile from this point, the
national road was cut through a similar mound; at the present time it
stands about twenty-five feet high from the surface, and an oak tree is
on its apex; its diameter is nearly 250 feet — a milestone of the ages.
On the eastern slope of this mound Mr. Altick secured three hammer
stones, and one broken spear head that was covered with patina; the
flake marks on it were worn smooth. A square block of white flint
with one corner broken off was also found ; it was covered with patina
and appeared to be of great age; a flint knife and the head of a flint
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 33
knife found there were also covered with patina, this being the color or
incrustation which age gives to works of art. About 300 feet southwest
is another mound nearly three feet high, and thirty feet in diameter.
The apex is sunken about eight inches, most likely caused by the interior
chamber giving away, although there is no indication that the mound
has ever been opened; it is at the western edge of a woods, and part
of it is under cultivation. A large black flint of unusual luster was
secured at this mound.
Accompanied by J. Heber Cusick, Mr. Altick visited another mound
having an elevation of 100 feet above the semi-rolling surrounding
country and covering approximately two acres; to the aborigines it
afforded an excellent observation point; the surface is covered with
wild shrubs and trees, with here and there an open space matted with
wild morning glories and poke plants. On the top is a small level place
which was used as a burial plot by the Indians, or some other race that
roamed over this region in the dim ages of the past. The composition
is almost pure gravel and sand, and the fact that it was used as a place
of burial was discovered as follows: Hedgehogs had burrowed into the
top of the mound, and in throwing out the sand they pulled out human
bones which were found by squirrel hunters; they were in the refuse
thrown out by the hedgehogs, Mr. Cusick having seen them himself.
With further excavations, the two men are agreed that important paleon-
tologic specimens may be found in this mound.
Mr. Altick and Mr. Cusick began excavations at the summit of the
mound, where a perpendicular shaft was sunk eight feet square, and
one foot from the surface in the black leaf mold they found a complete
skeleton lying face downward, in horizontal position ; however, the bones
crumbled when they were lifted from the earth. They excavated another
six inches, carefully removing the sand and gravel in order not to
injure any deposit they might find; the material removed was screened
so that small objects would not escape their notice, and here they came
across another skeleton lying face upward, with only six inches separat-
ing them. It lay in a sandy mixture, and was in better state of preserva-
tion tlian the first skeleton, and while due precaution was taken in
removing it, the bones crumbled as they handled them.
The shaft was then sunk eighteen inches deeper when three more
skeletons were unearthed; they were in excellent condition, the bones
being firm and hard, due to the greater depth at which they found
them. One was the skeleton of a female, one was a child and the other
was a male of gigantic stature. As a matter of comparison, Altick held
up the femur of the male skeleton by Cusick's leg, and it extended eight
inches below his knee ; he is six feet in height. The ribs of this skeleton
had petrified to a grayish slate color, but none would withstand the
contact with the air.
When the shaft on this mound was three feet deep, the two amateur
antiquarians enlarged it by sending out a lateral to the north, and they
found a skull through which an elm root had penetrated ; it was an inch
in diameter, and its fine roots were matted and twisted within this bony
enclosure. The high cheek bones and low receding forehead were very
pronounced ; the skeleton was in standing posture, while the others were
all in horizontal positions. In all the skeletons exhumed, the most per-
fectly preserved portions were the teeth; it was a peculiarity of the
aborigines that their teeth were worn almost to the maxillary bones, and
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34 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
yet the remarkable thing about them was their excellent condition. No
cavities were found, and yet they were teeth of old persons as indi-
cated by their worn condition.
Other skeletons found in this lateral were those of little children, as
indicated by the size of the bones and the thickness of the skulls; some
of the bones were from persons of larger stature; at this point the
interment ranged in depth from one foot and a quarter to four feet.
The aborigine usually buried his dead with the implements of war or
the chase near the body. In the great Madisonville cemetery there have
been instances where nothing was found buried with the skeleton, but
had these investigators enlarged their excavations they might have dis-
covered some unusual things. Five years later they visited the mound
. again, finding the shaft well overgrown with shrubs, red pokeberry plants
and morning glory vines; clearing away the accumulation they began
digging again.
Shows the Large Skull Penetrated by the Tree Root
The lateral running north was extended, and two flints were found;
one was a magnificent black, oval flint, seven and one-half inches long;
it was two inches wide at the widest point, and one-quarter of an inch
thick. It was too long and too large for an arrow or spear head, and was
probably used as a knife. The workmanship on it is of superior type,
the flaking being smooth and true ; the other specimen was chipped from
gray colored flint rock, three and three-quarter inches in length, and one
and three-quarter inches in width at the widest point; it was three-
quarters of an inch thick, with a barbed head and blunt point. Its size
and shape indicate that it had been used as a spear head. These two
specimens were found in screenings taken from the earth twelve inches
below the surface, where the outline of a skeleton was plainly dis-
cerned, but there were no bones in condition for removal.
At a depth of two feet in this same lateral a stone ax and a banded
slate gorget were unearthed. The ax is six inches long and three inches
wide, with a one and one-half inch groove at the top which is five-
sixteenths of an inch deep, made from a hard grained, grayish colored
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 35
rock; there is also a groove running lengthwise on the top edge of the
ax, three and three-quarters of an inch long with a depth of one-
sixteenth of an inch. It is a beautiful specimen, highly polished, and
shows very excellent workmanship. The banded slate gorget is a piece
of armor defending the upper part of the breast, and this one was four
inches long, and two and one-quarter inches in width, being one and
one-half inches at the narrowest portion; it was three-eighths of an inch
thick, with two holes three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter piercing
approximately the center, and the mounds in Clark County are an
unending source for scientific research.
In 1840, says an old account, William Parker found the tusk of an
elephant or some similar animal along Buck Creek near the Foos mill;
while it was partly decayed, it was prehistoric and raises the question
about the earlier wild life of the forest. It is recommended that archaeolo-
gists should note on charts the positions of skeletons, and the imple-
ments found with them, and that the mode of burial should be recorded
— whether side by side, or the limbs drawn or distended, such details
aiding in determining the period and the conditions under which the
subjects had lived in the world.
Present day knowledge of the Moundbuilders is meager, and limited
to the articles of culture found in their ancient earthworks; by careful
analyses, the archaeologist arrives at a degree of accuracy in his con-
clusions, and thus the world has its knowledge of prehistoric races.
Skeletons in half-charred condition crumble readily, and it seems that
burning their dead was a custom among the Moundbuilders. While
the Indians often burned their prisoners at the stake, there is no record
that they ever burned their own dead, and the conclusion is easily reached
that the, bones found in these Clark County mounds are from the
skeletons of the Indians. This conclusion is further supported by the
fact that the bones were found near the surface and not at the base, as
was the custom among the Moundbuilders.
The Indian was a lazy fellow, but that charge is not laid at the
door of his predecessor, the Moundbuilder. The State of Ohio is dotted
with about 400 mounds, monuments to the enterprise and industry of an
extinct people; the Indians have utilized these mounds as a burial
place for their dead, and investigation develops the fact in almost every
instance that the skeletons lie near the surface. A great deal is still
to be learned about the earliest inhabitants of the country; nothing is
known of their language, their laws, their religion, nor by what names
they were known while living on the earth.
Some hitherto unopened mound may yet reveal a "Rosetta Stone," or
some other means of deciphering the unsolved mysteries of a long extinct
race — the key to the situation may yet be found in Clark County, and
the world will be ready to receive the story.
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CHAPTER VI
EXIT SHAWNEE— ADVANCE CIVILIZATION
It used to be said that travelers gained their impressions of the towns
through which they were passing from the tin can dumps to be seen
from the car windows, and tourists following the National road from
the east gain certain information about Springfield before they reach it
from the United States Tire Company sign — a huge book a few miles
out of town. This advance history reads: "Springfield was once the
hunting ground of the Shawnee whose great chieftain was Tecumseh,
who flourished his sword at Fort Miami, and stopped the massacre of
defenseless prisoners." Those sign writers owe it to a community to be
well informed on local history.
A Smithsonian Institute estimate of the Shawnee Indians reads:
"The Shawnees were the Beduoins, and I may almost say Ishmaelites
of the North American tribes; as wanderers they were without rivals
among their race, and as fomentors of discord and war between them-
selves and their neighbors, their genius was marked ; their original home
is not known with any measure of certainty," and thus the primitive
race as found along Mad River in the Revolutionary period is veiled in
obscurity. Since then almost one and one-half centuries have cycled by,
and time does not shed more light on the Shawnees.
In a review of the local situation in the light of history, before a
meeting of the Clark County Historical Society, December 6, 1921,
W. W. Keifer said the white race was the third nationality to people
the hills and dales adjacent to Mad River. He reviewed the story of
Capt. John Smith being carried through as a prisoner by the Indians
in 1772, of John Paul coming into the community in 1790, and the
awful fate that awaited him, and of the subsequent settlers, saying that
when General Clark came in 1780 he only tarried long enough to rout
the Indians. It was not until after the Greenville treaty in 1790 that
many settlers ventured into the community. Chillicothe and Piqua
villages were the strongholds of the Shawnees, and when General Clark
and his army approached Chillicothe they fled to Piqua, where they
made their final defense, witnessing the overthrow of the Shawnee
Confederacy.
An early writer says: "The territory of Ohio furnished an ideal
home for the Indian. The climate was excellent, the streams abounded
with fish and the forests with game; the red deer was abundant, and
the buffalo and elk were found in considerable numbers in certain por-
tions of the state. These and other large animals furnished food for
the Indians; their hides furnished the covering for their lodges, and
clothing for their bodies. The waters of the state at certain seasons of
the year were alive with myriads of wild fowl, of which we can now
have no conception as to numbers. These added greatly to the suste-
nance of the Indians. No portion of the country was more favorable
for forest life," and narrowed down to Clark County the above is in
harmony with the Keifer assertion : "Ohio and Clark County are highly
favored as to climatic conditions. While the Moundbuilders and the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
37
Indians had their turn, the people of today are satisfied with existing
circumstances, and we have every advantage."
As a short resume of Indian history, the Miamis occupied all the
western portion of Ohio, all of Indiana and a large portion of Illinois;
they were once the most numerous and powerful of all the tribes in
the Northwest. They had no tradition of ever having lived in any
other portion of the country and it is evident they occupied their ter-
ritory through many generations. Their principal villages in Ohio were
along the headwaters of the two Miamis, and the Miami of the Lake
(The Maumee) and along the waters of the Wabash in Indiana as
Tecumseh, the Shawnee Warrior
far south as Vincennes. While at the time of the Greenville treaty in
1795 they had been reduced in numbers and power, they were the
oldest occupants of the Ohio territory. Quite different is the history
of the Shawnees, who were wanderers on the face of the earth.
The Shawnee and Mingo Indians had many villages on Mad River;
their villages extended a distance of about three miles and their hab-
itations were only a few rods from each other. Chillicothe village
was in the present limits of Greene County, and the Shawnees there
mingled much with their neighbors along Mad River. In the Shawnee
tongue, Piqua meant "A man formed out of ashes," and the whole
series of Shawnee villages had the same name, and when the Con-
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38 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
federacy was overthrown and the remnant of the tribe removed to
the Big Miami, they retained the name, and thus the City of Piqua — the
Border City in Miami County.
It is said that all of the Indian tribes in Ohio had practically the
same government or tribal organization, but the Shawnees were non-
conformists and in many details they were unlike other Indians. In
some of the tribes there was complete separation of the military and
social government, and the sachem or tribal chieftain represented them
in council ; and in their grand councils the heads of the different tribes
had part, and they were conducted with great ceremony. The sachem
explained the object of the assembly, and each Indian present was at
liberty to express his opinion. When the majority agreed, the sachem
only announced the decision, having no voice in it. When a man once
expressed his opinion it was dishonorable to reverse it. In some of
the tribes the squaw had her separate property, which consisted of
everything in the lodge or wigwam except the implements of war and
the chase which belonged to the warriors. Each tribe had the right
to demand service from all of its male members in avenging wrongs
in time of war. The military council included all able bodied men.
While the Shawnees of Piqua Village were attacked by the expe-
dition commanded by General Clark, it was a law of the tribes that
when they determined upon a war expedition they observed the war
dance, and then started for their objective point. They did not move
in compact bodies as comprehended by present-day military tactics, but
broke up into small parties, each of which took its different way to a
common point of assembly. This was a necessity as they must subsist
upon the game found on the way, and it was impossible to secure quan-
tities sufficient to sustain a large number of warriors on any one line
of travel. They understood and met conditions in their own way ; they
traveled light and fast, and they were dangerous enemies. They would
strike when unexpected, and disappear as suddenly; in this way they
were able to subsist en route and to elude pursuit.
While one writer says: "The Miamis claimed the right of posses-
sion in the territory between the Scioto and the Miamis, and they were
at one time in possession of and entitled to the same, in time the
Wyandots seemed to have been accorded the right thereto," local his-
tory is silent save about the Shawnees. The Delawares and the Iroquois
were established in nearby sections of Ohio, but one informant says:
"The Shawnees held the valley of the Scioto; in fact, they held most
of the territory included in the Hanging Rock Iron Region of a later
day."
In the beginning of history the Miamis occupied the valleys of the
two rivers upon which they impressed their names; the Ottawas the
valleys of the Maumee and Sandusky, and the Chippewas the south
shores of Lake Erie. However, all the tribes frequented lands out-
side their own prescribed territory, and at different periods from the
time of the first definite knowledge concerning them, down to the era
of the white settlement, they occupied different locations. Not long
after Gist's visit in 1751 the Shawnees left the mouth of the Scioto and
established themselves higher up the river and on the waters of the
Miami, building such towns as Old and New Chillicothe. The Shaw-
nees were steadfast friends of the English until Dunmore's War in
1774, after which they became the most inveterate and formidable
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 39
Indian enemy of the British. They- were the last to be subdued by the
English.
The Shawnees of the Scioto and the Delawares of the Muskingum
were always hostile, and during and after the Revolutionary war vari-
ous American expeditions were sent against the warlike Shawnees. The
scenes of these forays and conflicts were in the Upper Valley of the
Scioto. The Bible says: "To the making of many books there is no
end," and there are conflicting accounts of the Shawnees. One writer
says: "In 1779 Colonel Bowman headed an expedition against them
and their Village of Chillicothe was burned; but the Shawnee warriors
showed an undaunted front, and the whites were forced to retreat. In
the summer of the following year General Clark led a body of Ken-
tuckians against the Shawnees; on this approach the Indians burned
Chillicothe themselves and retreated to their town of Piqua, six miles
below the* present site of Springfield. There they gave battle and were
defeated. In September, 1782, this officer led a second expedition
against them and destroyed their towns of Upper and Lower Piqua in
what is now Miami County. Other expeditions from Kentucky were
directed against the stubborn Shawnees of the Upper Scioto Valley
and along the Miami rivers farther west," 1786-8 given as the time
of these conflicts..
The battle with the Shawnees at Piqua Village has been men-
tioned before and will be mentioned again in the military relation of
Clark County to the rest of the world. Thomas Hutchins, who after-
ward became a geographer of the United States, drew a map showing
some of the early activities against the Shawnees along the Scioto and
Miami rivers, and this map was published in London in the time of
the Revolution. Until then the French had made the only maps in
existence. This map locates two Shawnee villages near the head-waters
of .the Scioto, and it records lead mines in that vicinity. Still another
writer relates that while the Shawnees were the dominant tribe along
Mad River, there were Sacs and Foxes, and adds: "The old Indian
town of Piqua, the ancient Piqua of the Shawnees and the birthplace
of Tecumseh, was situated on the north side of Mad River, and occupied
a site on which a town called New Boston was later built," and its
story has already been given in an earlier chapter.
While Tecumseh has not hitherto been mentioned, his name will
always be associated with the history of Clark County. He was born
in the Shawnee Village in 1768, and was only twelve years old when
General Clark and his army invaded the country. It is said that Piqua
Village was a well planned and executed battle, and that the youthful
Tecumseh was carried by the remnant of the tribe to another Piqua on
the Big Miami and after he reached maturity he devoted himself to an
effort to reunite the tribes, and regain the hunting grounds along Mad
River. While he was unlettered and ignorant, he was a statesman
with the same conception of government as is embodied in the Con-
stitution of the United States — in Union there is strength. But he was
doomed to disappointment, never realizing his ambition.
Because of his activities, Tecumseh was designated as the Flying
Panther and as a Meteor, and while he only attained to forty-five
years, his name has gone down in history as the foremost Indian of his
day and generation. While most historians speak of the Prophet as
half brother to Tecumseh, the story is told in Springfield that triplets
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40 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
were born along Mad River and that one died in infancy while the
real name of the Prophet was Elksinatawa or Tenskinatewa — both ver-
sions in one of the local histories. While Tecumseh is the outstanding
character, the Prophet distinguished himself as a soothsayer among
the Shawnees. While the untutored mind of Tecumseh evolved the
brilliant idea of uniting the tribes, and regaining lost territory, jealousy
of his leadership on the part of other Indians weakened his cause; it
was a wonderful conception for an ignorant savage, and while he had
the ability to reason he could not control the cogitations of others.
While he could neither read or write, he originated the idea of banding
all of the tribes together; while it would have been an autonomy, it
would have been a powerful Indian Confederacy.
Tecumseh is described as a man of excellent qualities, impressive
manners and natural eloquence, and while he was married several times,
he sometimes failed in such conquest; when a wife no longer pleased
him he gave her property and set her adrift. Tecumseh once proposed
to a white woman named Rebecca Galloway, saying: "I big chief;
you make great squaw," but his eloquence failed to win her. She
did not want an Indian husband. The chieftain discarded one wife
because she served turkey to guests without carefully removing the
feathers, but he lived five years with the last one — something unusual
for Tecumseh. Whatever the social standard required of warriors, for
the first offense of adultery the squaw had her hair cropped and for
repeated offenses her left ear was removed and so on until she was
sadly maimed for life.
When a warrior became an outlaw and was repeatedly convicted
it became lawful for anyone to kill him; their captives in war and in
their forays were sometimes shot, sometimes burned, and sometimes
adopted and converted into Indians. As a rule the white captives some-
times acquired the woodcraft and habits of their captors. Some of
them became inveterate foes to the white man. While Simon Kenton
was once a captive, it did not influence him that way, although Simon
Girty is mentioned in that class. He was sometimes called the "White
Indian." He once rescued Simon Kenton, although celebrated for his
cunning and craftiness.4 While no Indian surpassed Girty in these
qualities, and he is cited as an example of extreme cruelty, it is said
that he saved many captives from death. It is probable that injustice
has been done him by inaccurate and prejudiced writers. His home
was farther north, in the military group of Ohio counties, but he vis-
ited Kenton in Clark County.
It was so long ago that the Shawnees were exterminated along Mad
River that few stories are handed down from one generation to another
about them, like happens in newer counties, where linger some of the
early settlers. It is likely that the Shawnees went single file about the
country, and yet they were not contemporary with Clark County set-
tlers— they had been driven out of the country. It is related that the
final catastrophe in the lives of the Shawnees who once inhabited the
country along Mad River was enacted in 1846, when about seventy of
them including the women and children were brought from a temporary
reservation in Indiana to Cincinnati and embarked on a steamboat for
St. Louis and the Far West. The story is told that when they were
being deported some marched through Springfield, and all the boys in
town who saw them were Big Chiefs afterward. The Indians are the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 41
romance race, and the child of today stands ready to wear the feathers
and the beaded costumes, little thinking what deportation meant to the
Shawnees.
It was so long ago that it is not now part of the consciousness of
the citizens of Clark County. In World war days platform speakers
decried deportation as the crime of the European war countries. It
does not require any undue stretch of the imagination to gain some con-
ception of the injustice thus perpetrated upon the American Indians.
The migration of the Shawnees from Mad River is ancient history
and yet they were endowed with a love for their country. In some
breasts there is still sympathy for the American Indian. The reserva-
tions were described to the Shawnees as consisting of 100,000 acres of
unbroken forest, with wild animals unmolested. They could feast on
buffalo, elk, deer and other game, and thus they were buoyed up for
what awaited them — the loss of their possessions in different parts of
Ohio and the Old Northwest. While the system was winked at by
the United States Government, it was a hardship for the unsuspecting
Indians.
The Shawnees in Springfield
While Tecumseh is about the only Shawnee whose name is known
in Clark County today, his history is known to the world. While there
is confusion about the word Piqua as the name of the Shawnee village,
the outside citizen thinking only of the present-day city bearing the
name, no one can rob Clark County of the honor of having been the
birthplace of Tecumseh within its classic bounds — Clark and Tecumseh
both being names to conjure with when establishing local prestige because
of them.
The story goes that in the autumn of 1807 a white man named Myers
a few miles west of where the Town of Urbana now stands, while
Clark was still part of Champaign County, was murdered. The tragedy
was attributed to straggling Indians, and this murder taken with the
assemblage of th$ Indians under the leadership of Tecumseh and the
Prophet, created great alarm among the settlers on the frontier. It
was the cause of many returning to Kentucky. The settlers demanded
from Tecumseh and the Prophet the Indians who committed the murder ;
the brothers denied that the crime was committed by their party or with
their knowledge — they did not even know the murderers. The alarm
spread and the militia was called for the protection of the community.
It was finally agreed that a council should be held in Springfield.
Something had to be done to quiet the settlers who were in constant
fear of the Indians. When the time came General Whiteman, Major
Moore, Captain Ward and some others acted as commissioners repre-
senting the white people in the community. Two groups of Indians
attended the council, one from the tribes in Ohio led by McPherson,
and the other brought by Tecumseh from the vicinity of Fort Wayne.
About seventy Indians accompanied Tecumseh. Roundhead, Blackfish
and other chiefs came to the council. It was a strange assemblage in
Springfield, which has since prided itself as a convention city. There
was an unfriendly feeling between the two groups, and each was willing
that the guilt for the murder should be fixed upon the other.
While in compliance with the wishes of the commissioners McPher-
son and his group left their arms a few miles out of Springfield,
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42 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Tecumseh and his followers refused to attend the council unless per-
mitted to retain their arms. After the conference was. under way in
a maple grove in Springfield, fearing some violence on the part of the
Indians present, the commissioners again asked Tecumseh to lay aside
his weapons. The wily chieftain refused, saying his tomahawk was
at the same time his pipe and he might wish to smoke it before the
business of the council was finished, and he made an animated speech
clearly showing that the Myers murder was not chargeable to him or
his party.
When Tecumseh said that his tomahawk was also his pipe, a young
doctor named Brown who had recently located in Springfield, described
by one writer as a tall, lank-sided Pennsylvanian who was among the
spectators, and who evidently had no love for the shining tomahawk
of the self-willed chief, cautiously approached and handed Tecumseh
an old, long-stemmed, dirty-looking earthen pipe, intimating that if he
would relinquish the tomahawk he might smoke it. Taking the pipe
between his thumb and finger, Tecumseh held it up and looked at
it for a moment and then at the owner, who was receding from the
point of danger, and with an indignant sneer he threw it over his head
into the bushes. Nothing more was said about "disarmament," and
the council proceeded with its business, knowing that Tecumseh was
in no mood for levity. A good many things had happened that had
been charged to the Shawnees. Facts were not to be juggled with and
the council must not imagine vain things.
Beside the murder of Myers, a Mrs. Elliott had been shot at while
working about her house on Mad River. She was wearing a sunbon-
net and the bullet had pierced it. Feeling ran high as the council pro-
ceeded with the business brought before it. There had been frequent
alarms, and although false reports were circulated, the people would
assemble and the Foos Hotel was used as a fort, the people gathering
there for protection. Other houses were utilized as places of refuge
and while Tecumseh declared the innocence of himself and party, the
people were not inclined to take chances with him. However, after
full inquiry into the facts, it appeared that the murder of Myers was
the act of an individual and neither group assumed the responsibility.
Thus ended an unusual court of inquiry in Springfield.
While the judges were the commissioners indicated, the principal
speaker at the bar was Tecumseh, whose delivery was fluent and rapid,
and he made a lasting impression upon all who heard him. He explained
the views of himself and the Prophet, saying they had called around
them a band of Indians, disavowing all hostile intentions toward the
United States, and denying that he or those associated with him had
committed any aggressions against the whites. In the course of the
council the two hostile parties became reconciled and quiet was restored
on the frontier. The delegates — the Indians — remained in Springfield
three days, and they frequently amused themselves and others by
engaging in various games and athletic exercises, in which Tecumseh
was usually the victor. His strength and muscular power were remark-
able, and in the opinion of all who attended the council, his physique
corresponded to the high order of his moral and intellectual character.
In the Stone Age
In almost poetic measure has W. H. Rayner written about the
Shawnee, in a paper read before the Clark County Historical Society
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 43
April 10, 1910, and notwithstanding "twice told tales," in using it,
the paper is herewith reproduced. Long before the advent of the white
man in western Ohio, the beautiful wooded hills on the north bank of
Mad River were the favorite resort of successive tribes of Indians.
Here was the Indian Village of Piqua, the birthplace of the renowned
Tecumseh. To the southwest were rudely tilled fields of maize,
which supplied these children of the forest with the only products
for their domestic use not directly provided by the hand of nature.
In this crude attempt at agriculture is seen the first struggle toward
a primitive civilization that would in time have lifted these strange
people out of the depths of barbarism in which they were submerged;
the natural beauty of the locality, together with the unusual resources
that abound, marked this place as one of long continued residence of
the aborigines. Here, centuries ago, lived and thrived the people of
the Stone Age. The varied scenery — the vine-clad bluffs, the wooded
hills, the rippling brook, the undulating pasture land blended into a
picture dear to those children of nature.
In the river were choicest fish awaiting the bone fishhook and
sinew line. Birds of varied hue and sweetest song flitted from branch
to branch, enhanced this very paradise of which they were part. The
forest on the north abounded in game where implements of the chase
were brought into play, when warrior and youth were wont to execute
feats of valor and courage that marked their standing in the tribe, and
christened each anew in memory of every grand achievement. From
out these hills flowed purest streams of crystal water; beneath these
trees roamed dusky maid and lover. On moonlit summer nights were
s.een graceful forms of many dancers, decked with shells and bright
feathers as they moved in stately pace to the trum of the tomtom
or the screeching tone of the reed whistle, while they offered their
chanted praise to the Great Spirit who had showered their lives with
blessings, and permitted them to defend the graves of their fathers.
The domestic scenes enacted on these hills baffle imagination. Here
the squaw in hut, tepee or rock shelter, assisted by her children, gath-
ered the acorns as they fell from the overhanging boughs, dressed and
prepared the game the father and older sons had provided, and shelled
and leached the maize that hominy might not be wanting in the home
over which she presided. At the running brook she tanned the skins
and on the winter days she shaped them into blankets, moccasins and
robes that furnished all the necessary raiment. Among her tasks was
one that seemed the choicest of them all — to grind the nuts and corn,
would take her to the village mill. There with others of her kind, each
one provided with a stone, they ground their common grist and talked
of all the gossip of the tribe — why Turtle Face had turned his back
on the maid Silver Sides.
How strange it was that Running Deer should fail to see how much
in love with him was Weeping Eyes, and more anon until the task
was done, and each one turned homeward with the ashen cake she
had prepared. A glimpse at a central promontory reveals the arrow
maker's shop; here, cross-legged day by day he sat and shaped the
flint, obsidian and quartz and made the shapely, spears and arrow points ;
some he designed for war, others for the chase, and some, no doubt
the choicest of them all, were made for gifts as tokens given in love
and esteem; they were made too fragile for baser use.
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Here, too, by lucky chance a flake unusual in size with edges sharp
as a razor escapes the crushing of the horn-tipped tool, and is eagerly
grasped and safely treasured, wrapped in softest fur. It is the sur-
geon's knife, and oft must come in play in story times of battle, which
must be waged should outer foes attempt to drive them from these
hills that have been theirs since the memory of their oldest man. The
river gravel gave their tools well shaped to the hand, but many of the
best were pecked and rubbed, and show even now the purpose for which
they were designed. The battle ax with groove and pole and edge is
no mean weapon when it is hung with shaft entwined and grown by
nature to its firm embrace; it makes one think of warriors of a
stature grand, who swung such axes to defend their race.
The pestle, conical in shape, was broad of base and fitted to the
hand, was used to crush and grind their meal, to crack their nuts and
problems more complex; to pound the sinews of the legs of deer, thus
furnishing thread for the bone needles they used, and there were celts
or skinners — shapely stones with edge and pole, but made without the
groove and used by hand, they entered into many daily tasks. But
rare and seldom found are stones of slate, fashioned into fantastic shapes,
and drilled with holes which were used on staffs in ceremonial state,
or work as breastplates to indicate the rank of those who bore them,
and some were niched with marks to tell the moons that had gone by
since the wearer became the leader of his tribe.
Under the gravel tops of nearby hills are graves of many hundreds
of these braves. Many were called home in ripened years, but some
were crushed in battle as is shown by their mutilated bones — a legion
of them, so that the spade may not pierce the earth without disturbing
these grim relics of the past, and with these bones are found the per-
forated shells, the legal tender of these olden times. Somtimes the
spade upturns a hollowed stone — the paint box of some coquette of
either sex, for such ornaments were the property of all.
No doubt these people wrought with implements of wood, but if
so they have vanished with the race. Baskets made of bark and lined
with clay were burned with fire, and so was made the pottery of old.
So frail was this that naught remain but broken fragments that tell a
tale of struggling light that the Divine Father had given them, on
which to build a greater destiny. Much has been lost, but enough
remains of these relics of a by-gone race that he who cares to fit his
hand where once theirs lay, to work the pestle as they ground the
grain, to helve the ax that for centuries has been free, to flake the
flint with that prime arrow-maker of old, may cover again those still
beautiful hills and valleys with that strangely natural people who lived
so close to nature that one almqst believes they could not have been far
from Nature's God.
The Clark County Historical Society is to be congratulated upon
the fact that it owns a plot of ground in the very center of that his-
torical locality deeded to the society by the late Leander Baker. (While
Mr. Rayner had the impression that Mr. Baker had given an acre to
the historical society for the site of the proposed Clark-Tecumseh mon-
ument, it was but one-quarter of an acre, and W. W. Keifer, who later
acquired the farm, recognized as the military center, proposes to add
to the plot sufficient ground whenever the monument is a reality, to
allow an approach to it without crossing private property, and to allow
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 45
of some landscape work adjoining it.) Mr. Keifer has now deeded
enough ground to make the plot nearly an acre. This is a beautiful
promontory and affords a view of Mad River and the surrounding •
country.
The time will no doubt soon come when public interest will be so
fully aroused in regard to this old battle ground that a suitable monument
will be erected to not only commemorate the battle between the whites
and the Indians in western Ohio, but also to mark the peaceful abode
of a race who have gone never to return to the land of their fathers.
(Mr. Rayner has studied both the Moundbuilders and the Indians, and
as custodian of the Clark County Historical Society museum he has
imparted much information to others.)
The Greenville Treaty
Because of its direct relation to the early settlement of Clark
County, the Indians agreeing to cease their depredations against the
whites, although the intrepid Tecumseh was not party to it, some men-
tion is made of it. Because Gen. George Rogers Clark had acquired
much local territory, and it had been lost again to the Indians through
the inefficiency of Gen. Arthur St. Clair as territorial governor, President
George Washington, detailed Gen. Anthony Wayne to go to Fort Wash-
ington (Cincinnati) and bring order out of chaos. With his army Gen-
eral Wayne marched northward, stopping and constructing a fort at Green-
ville, and from that point he dealt with the Indian question.
While there were 1,130 Indians assembled, only 143 Shawnees had
part in the proceedings, and Tecumseh who had become a recognized
leader, was not present. Most of the chieftains had been approached
by British agents as had Tecumseh, but their people were so reduced
that they agreed to a permanent peace with the "Thirteen Fires," as
they denominated the original states, and, notwithstanding Tecumseh,
the settlements were soon located on Mad River. Within a year corn
was again growing where the Shawnees had cultivated the bottom
lands before they were driven out of the country.
Judge Jacob R. Burnett, who knew many of the chieftains who
signed the Greenville Treaty, August 3, 1795, and who later helped to
frame the first Constitution of Ohio, and who often stopped in their
villages while traveling his judicial circuit, wrote: "At the time our
settlers were coming northwest of the Ohio, that hardy race were the
acknowledged owners and sovereigns of the land they possessed. The
government claimed no right, either of occupancy or soil, but as it was
obtained by purchase," but subsequent developments do not correspond
to that interpretation. While Piqua Village was destroyed in 1780,
Peter Smith, who located on Mad River in 1804, relates: "The smoke
from the wigwams of the Indians mingled with the smoke from the
cabins of the whites; in the cold winter nights, while the early settlers
watched the blazing logs in the fireplaces, they also watched the door
lest a stalwart might surprise them. In the summer evenings, while
they sat in the doorways enjoying the odors from the forest, they
would peer into the darkness, not quite sure but redskins were stalking
around," and in the creek a few yards from the Smith cabin was a
favorite place for the squaws to harden their papooses by bathing them
in running water. Mr. Smith, who relates the story, is elsewhere men-
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46 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
tioned as the first author of Materia Medica in the Miami country.
Besides being a medical practitioner, he was also a Gospel minister.
Prominent citizens in Springeld trace their lineage through Dr. Peter
Smith today.
Indian Characteristics
In defense of the Indian, someone writes that he did not care to
construct a canoe because it would be stolen from him; he did not
secure more game than his family would consume because it would
be carried away by others. When the missionaries came among them
and they learned integrity, the Indians began constructing canoes which
was the beginning of merchant marine in this country. When they
began to preserve game, it was the forerunner of the packing industry,
and thus it is claimed that business enterprise and civilization itself
are the by-products of missionary effort, although nothing is known
of missionaries among the Shawnees on Mad River.
It was in the summer season that the Indians congregated in their
villages; that was also the season when they went to war, or on their
forays against the white settlers. In the winter season the villages were
practically deserted. It was their custom to separate into smaller par-
ties usually made up of relatives or members of one household, including
the old men, women and children. They would go into different local-
ities and select a spot along a stream of water or by the side of a
lake or spring where in the autumn they would erect a lodgment,
where they might sojourn through the winter. The hunters would
then separate and go in different directions. They would select a camp
where they might hunt or trap without impinging upon each other.
These hunters always kept in touch with the main camp or lodge
to which they supplied meat for subsistence, and thus welfare work
was instilled into the savage long before he accepted civilization. The
Indians changed their camps according to their pleasures or necessities,
but at the end of the season they gathered the results of their efforts
and returned to their villages. They had an understanding of eco-
nomics, since it was their custom to collect the fat of the beaver, rac-
coon and bear in the entrails of animals which the squaws had made
ready, and thus it was transported from the chase to their villages for
domestic use in future.
In the spring of the year when the sap began to run the Indians
put it into the entrails of animals for transportation and preservation,
and thus they utilized materials about them. When they made sugar
they mixed it with the fat of the animals, and they cooked it with
green corn and vegetables, making what they considered a most savory
food. While in a measure they were provident, they often died from
exposure and hunger. They had no means of securing large stores and
never acquired the art of husbandry. When the Indians had plenty
they were extravagant, but they were capable of enduring great hunger
and fatigue. They were often distressed for want of food when there
was a crust on the snow and the noise of walking frightened the game
before them. They often saved themselves from starvation by digging
walnuts and other nuts from under the snow, but poor Lo never wel-
comed the advances of civilization.
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CHAPTER VII
SPRINGFIELD: ITS PAST AND PRESENT
It was George Washington who said: "Citizens, by birth or choice
of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affec-
tion," and perhaps that accounts for the Springfield slogan: The best
60,000 city in America.
The Shawnees only used the area occupied by Springfield for a hunt-
ing ground, and there is no record of the city in their language. To them
the universe centered in Piqua Village. While James Demint knew
nothing of the settlers on Mad River, the country is older than the town
in Clark County as well as the rest of the world; history begins in the
country. While the honors are uncertain, the community was "tipped
off" with a significant name — Springfield. "It was alive with springs —
hundreds and hundreds of them," but it seems that sewers and other
improvements have ruined many of them.
While a recent Springfield visitor remarked: "The town is running
in low gear," one of the most distinguished American citizens, the late
Theodore Roosevelt, would have phrased it: "Strenuous life," and
every effort seems to be put forth in the community. While some of
the vanguards of society sound the alarm, and say the world is going
too rapidly, there are psychologists in the community teaching the citi-
zens how to discover their hidden mentality and physical force, how to
find themselves. There is a tendency abroad to get the most out of
everything— commerce, manufacturing, agriculture, and whether in low
gear or in high tension, the wheels are turning and Springfield is abreast
of other communities.
"Where two or three are gathered together in my name," and since
March 17, 1801, there has been no backward movement. While society
follows the crowd, and some with high ideals become lost in the shuffle,
there has always been high moral purpose in Springfield. In the days
of the grandfathers when strict frugality was practiced in the homes,
there was no congestion of fuel bills and incidentals — when milk and
water bills were unknown, then was the simple life. The profiteer had
not invaded the sacred precinct — but changed conditions followed in
the wake of civilization.
When Springfield had been on the map 120 years, and the civiliza-
tion of the past was tabulated and a matter of record, it was a stormy
morning — the dawn of a newer world civilization, superinduced by con-
ditions of unrest and misinterpretation, and the hopeful ones were look-
ing forward to a noonday splendor of greater achievement. Reconstruc-
tion follows war, and the sanguine individual foresees that the social
upheaval will adjust itself — that the world will not slip backward in its
forward march toward higher civilization. Henry Watterson counselled :
"At this point of peril and trial in our country, there should be no other
thought than of the unstained honor of the heritage of its glory which
we hold in trust, because that lost, nothing else is worth preserving," and
Springfield shares the attitude of others. The spirit of loyalty is not a
minus quantity.
47
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 49
An English settlement expressed in 1770: "Let every kindred, every
tribe," is well understood in Springfield. All the world sends its surplus
population to the United States, "The Land of the Free," and President
Benjamin Harrison said: "The gates of Castle Garden never swing out-
ward." There are Springfield residents who had their difficulties on
Ellis Island, although time was when only the English tongue was heard
in the community. Students of the future needs in this country still
recommend that English should be the language of all who live in the
country. When T. R. Marshall, former vice president of the United
States, and one time governor of Indiana, was in Springfield in October,
1921, he paid tribute to foreigners who came into this country to become
part of it, acquiring the language and discarding their own vehicle of
speech as foreigners.
A Lutheran Church periodical recently said: "Many of the Luther-
ans coming from the eastern states were already using the English instead
of the German language, while others scattering themselves among the
English-speaking inhabitants of Ohio soon became familiar with the
English tongue, and they preferred it to the German in public worship."
From another source are these words: "In the new civilization — the
new order of things that must follow in the wake of the World war, we
may all wish that the whole world spoke English ; we are all enthusiastic
about the mother tongue, and we are assured we will speak the language
of love — the universal heart emotion." Most people respond to environ-
ment, while some live on a plane above it; the settlers thrown together
in the melting pot of the wilderness were usually men and women equal
to the requirements.
However, in order to show that not all the foreigners live in Spring-
field, Mr. Marshall related that when he visited an Indianapolis voting
booth, A. D., 1920, there were "instructions to voters" in five languages
posted on the walls. There were four languages he could not read, allow-
ing him to turn a joke about the defeat of his — the democratic party.
While in Washington, he had entertained distinguished foreigners, and
while an interpreter made smooth translations he would have had more
confidence, had the conversation been carried on in English. The for-
eign-born business men in Springfield speak English to customers, but
use their native tongue when discussing questions among themselves,
leaving the aforesaid customer in uncertainty while still under their
shelter.
In Prospect
When the taps sounded in the year 1921, which is recognized as the
boundary in this research covering the period of 120 years, an enter-
prising advertising firm sent out the following greeting : "In accordance
with our long accustomed privilege, we are sending you in behalf of
Father Time, his bond numbered 1922, for the delivery of one complete
New Year," but this study is in retrospect. A recent cartoon : "Youth
and Age," showing Father Time limping off the scene with the year 1921
under his arm, and lamenting, "It can't be done," is counteracted by
the youth bearing the New Year, 1922, and flying the more hopeful
suggestion, "It can be done," with the slogan, "Whatever you will,"
and that recalls the recent slogan suggested by F. E. Folger, "Share
Springfield's Success."
Vol. 1—4
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50 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
While the name Springfield is enduring, in turn it has been designated :
"Mad River City," "Champion City/' "City of Roses/' and "Home
City," and when its future rests on such enthusiasm as was displayed by
a caddy en route to the golf links, who exclaimed : "The best town of
60,000 population in the United States of America. It's the city of
roses," it seems destined to be a "Continuing City." There are four
Springfields of local significance, Springfield, Massachusetts, having a
population A. D. 1920, of 129,563, while Springfield, Ohio, stand sec-
ond, having slightly outgrown its "slogan" population, and Springfield,
the capital city of Illinois, had 59,183, and Springfield, Missouri, ranks
fourth with 39,620 inhabitants, and yet on first blush very few Clark
County people accord their own Springfield second place in the com-
parison, nor do they think of it as less than half the population of
any other Springfield. A number of persons were asked the relative
question.
While starting the year 1922 right in the First Congregational Church,
the Rev. Harry Trust quoted from Joshua: "For we have not passed
this way heretofore," and that had special significance to James Demint
and his wilderness contemporaries along Mad River. While taking
stock, and placing a milestone along the highway of time — the history,
Springfield and Clark County, it develops that Springfield has had its def-
inite existence longer than the county — that for two years its location
was uncertain, and that it has been in Greene and Champaign counties
before the organization of Clark County — that like vinegar, Springfield
is older than its mother.
In his New Year sermon, the aforesaid minister said that the fascina-
tion of exploration fastens its grip upon the individual, and when those
Kentuckians ventured in separate groups to cross the Ohio soon after
the Greenville treaty was heralded abroad, they established a goodly
heritage. Be it remembered that when the original survey of Springfield
was made, all were Kentuckians who were interested in it. While Demint
and Daugherty were on the ground first, in the light of later develop-
ments Griffith Foos was the man of vision among them. He was the
man who opened the door of Springfield to the wilderness world, and
who is best known to posterity.
While there are times of inertia, a standstill condition is not in accord
with the laws of nature. While the key-npte of the New Year sermon
was, "Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow," there is quite as much sanc-
tity in retrospect. It becomes a sacred duty to establish the connecting
links between yesterday and today in local history.
The first published account of Springfield extant is found in the Ohio
Gazetteer of 1816, which says : "It is a flourishing post town contain-
ing eight mercantile stores, and the mechanical shops usual in such towns,
besides an extensive woolen cloth factory," while the latest directory says :
"Springfield is without natural boundaries and, therefore, has numer-
ous manufacturing sites with proper railroad sidings that can be procured
at a reasonable cost," and beside suitable sites the city offers transporta-
tion, stable labor market and power, with satisfactory living conditions.
Its proximity to the sources of raw material, and the markets for the
finished products; its commission-manager form of government; its fair
distribution of taxes; its healthy climate; its hospitals; its schools; its
play grounds; its churches, musical advantages, parks, boulevards, mar-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 51
kets, streets, banking conditions — an attractive convention city, local
boosters ever enthusiastic about the City of Springfield.
When R. C. Woodward was writing Springfield Sketches, published
in 1852, he said: "There are three old men now living in the com-
munity— John Humphreys, David Lowry and Griffith Foos ; they are all
men of respectability," and from them he gleaned many facts used
promiscuously in this review of the community. All were early and all
were permanent citizens ; two of them represented agriculture, while one
was a citizen of Springfield. The squatter is defined as the link between
the Indian and the white settler, and he was encountered in some locali-
ties; wherever his hat was off he was at home, and he cared little for
progress. He camped on the border line between savagery and civiliza-
tion, and he knew little of the laws regulating society. His occupation
was hunting and trafficking in furs, and when civilization crowded him
he moved to the frontier again. These three venerable citizens had
encountered the squatter in the early days of Clark County history.
The pioneers were compelling forces, and they did not rest on their
oars; they were their own ancestors, and the "sons of their fathers"
sometimes do not accomplish more with all their superior advantages.
However, men and women still start at the bottom and climb to the top
of the ladder of personal achievement; they do it unaided by tailor or
druggist — they are self-made in the fullest meaning, and it is because of
them that Springfield forges ahead today. Among them some still linger
who knew the spirit of the pioneer community builders, and the differ-
ence between yesterday and today — the changed environment has wrought
a changed civilization. It is said that indifference stops the clock in any
community, and while Springfield has its problems, the men of today are
maintaining the high standards of civilization established by the fathers.
Some versifier writes:
"The biographer strives, in recording the lives
Of America's forefathers, to hand
His particular dad all the virtues that's had,
And with faint praise the rest of them brand.
"Now I take it that they, in a sort of a way
Worked together this nation to found;
They put over the deed, and there's surely no need
To carp and cavil and scoff.
Their collective endeavor was sound,
And there's glory enough to go round."
While the pioneers were unequalled for honesty and hospitality, some
who followed in their wake have been noted for their morality and their
intelligence. The chief object of the settler was the care of his immedi-
ate family, and when there was a surplus product he supplied others, and
thus agriculture has supported commerce and manufacturing, and Spring-
field is the most noted city in the world in its manufacture of the imple-
ments of agriculture. A recent platform speaker viewed with alarm
the modern tendency toward the use of machinery, calling it a shadow
on civilization and saying that it "takes the creative joy out of life," and
yet who would want to "backward, turn backward," to the days of the
stage coach and the spinning wheel in local industry ?
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52 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
No less distinguished personage than Lord Northcliffe, who was Eng-
land's and perhaps the world's most traveled citizen, said that the
United States has been transformed within the last generation — thirty
years a generation in the above estimate — and Springfield has advanced
with the rest of the world. Lord Northcliffe said : "The United States
is now almost another country, although the basic element of American
character is the same; while I go to the United States often, and have
watched the gradual changes, other countries and especially those which
have only lately been affected by the newspaper, the moving picture, the
professional propagandist and the automobile have changed much more
suddenly. While many of the changes are superficial, and the superficial
is what meets the eye everywhere, there are certain vast world movements
beginning to show themselves."
The Spinning Wheel — Grandmother's Piano
While it is alleged that the Mother Shipton prophesy appeared in
pamphlet form in 1641, and has been reprinted frequently, its every detail
except that couched in the last two lines:
"And this world to an end shall come
In eighteen-hundred-eighty-one,"
has all been verified, and the street activity is like the country woman
who seldom quit her home, said of the bustle and rush: Springfield is
just like meeting broke all of the time. In his 1921 annual report, Fire
Chief Samuel F. Hunter says under the heading of recommendations:
"The first and foremost thought that we should always keep before us
is the fast and constant growth of our city, such as the industrial plants
that are expanding with larger buildings, and the finished and unfinished
products therein that must be protected; then our mercantile establi9h-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY S3
ments are getting larger and more numerous, with larger stocks to be
protected ; there are more school buildings being built to take care of the
increased number of children; our hospital is being built larger to take
care of the increased demands ; there are new additions and others being
laid out for residences; these dwellings are being built principally of
wood construction, and there are demands for more houses to take care
of the industrial development.
"There are 20,000 buildings of all kinds, principally of wood con-
struction; there are valuable contents, and all are combustible; the city
is growing and new buildings are being erected, thus increasing the fire
hazards," and few men keep closer in touch with city developments than
the chief of the fire department, who stands ready at all times to "give
an account of his stewardship." While in many ways Springfield is a
modern city, there is still something of the old aristocracy — pride in
ancestry. Among the older residents is a degree of familiarity — they
know each other by their Christian names, and they still say John and
Mary. While society is letter perfect in many things, Springfield is past
its transition period, and is recognized as a city.
Outstanding Dates
It was on St. Patrick's day, 1801, that Springfield first claimed "its
place in the sun," but not until January 23, 1827, did the State Legisla-
ture recognize the "incorporated town of Springfield," and not until May
14, 1850, was Springfield incorporated as a city. While it has had city-
manager-commission form of government since January 1, 1914, under
the original form of government James L. Torbet was mayor. It is said
that the coterie who developed the community made enough money to
serve their needs — that they were able to say : "Here it is," rather than
"Where is it?" and yet they did not manifest any ambition for great
wealth.
Local Celebrities
There was a time when there was as much social prestige in the rural
as in the city homes in Clark County ; before the Civil war, New Carlisle
and South Charleston shared social honors with Springfield, and the
farm fireside was a voice in the community, and while the contact is dif-
ferent— they all have their influence today. The reconstruction period
changed conditions, and since 1870 Springfield has been the business
and social magnet, but the world is undergoing reconstruction again.
Clark County names in the hall of fame are : Tecumseh, Mother Stewart
and Gen. Frederick Funston, and many who know them as national
characters, do not associate them with Springfield and Clark County.
In the 1921 edition of "Who's Who" are the following Clark County
names : L. E. Holden of New York, who also maintains a South Charles-
ton residence; Hamilton Busbey of South Vienna; Dr. D. H. Bauslin,
T. B. Birch, C. G. Heckert, Richard Hockdoerfer, Gen. J. Warren
Keifer, L. S. Keyser, M. L. Millegan, Juergens Neve, Walter Tittle,
V. G. A. Tressler, and Clarence S. Williams. This is recognition not
purchased with money, but since the publication two names — Doctors
Heckert and Bauslin, have been stricken from it by fate — the destiny
that rules the world. In the past as well as in the present, many Clark
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54 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
County citizens have been known beyond its borders, but the list appear-
ing in "Who's Who" is corrected every year.
Social Recognition
An old account says that in 1820 there were three leap-year bride-
grooms in Springfield : John Bacon, Ira Paige and Charles Anthony, and
all became active in local business affairs ; they all had children, and were
active community builders. In 1836 Mr. Anthony is listed again as an
attorney, contemporary with James L. Torbet and Samson Mason; the
doctors of that period were Robert Rodgers, Berkley Gillett, Isaac Hender-
shott and Benjamin Winwood ; the ministers were John S. Galloway,
Michael Morley and William N. Raper; John Ludlow was the druggist;
John Wallace and Wolcott Spencer were the merchants, and William
Werden was the hotel man of the town. Robert Lucas was governor of
Ohio. Many people were then locating within the state, and Clark
County was attracting its share of settlers. It was about the end of the
Andrew Jackson presidential administration, and the country was rapidly
adjusting itself.
R. C. Woodward, who wrote "Springfield Sketches" anonymously,
acknowledges having gained much information from Mrs. Walter Small-
wood, who was the most active woman in the community. In 1804 there
were eleven houses in the vicinity of Main and Market streets. Two
Frenchmen, LeRoy and DeGrab, are mentioned as the first dry goods
merchants. Foos and Lowry had taverns, and there was a brewery.
Three of the houses, the Daugherty home, the Charles Stowe store, and
the Lowry Inn, had ornamental stone chimneys, while stick-and-clay
described the others; sometimes the settlers said "stick-and-cat" in
describing the cabin-clay chimneys. The home of Colonel Daugherty
was spoken of as a mansion. It was the finest house in Springfield.
While the Demint cabin was across Buck creek, the Griffith Foos hostelry
was the first house built within the incorporated town of Springfield.
The Public Square
While the stranger in Springfield thinks of the Esplanade as the
public square today, it was the plan of James Demint that the business
should center about the county buildings nearer Buck Creek, and George
Fithian, in whose home the temporary Clark County Court was held in
1805 and who had become interested in Springfield real estate, had the
same idea about it. The four corners at Limestone and Columbia streets,
occupied by the court house, county building, Clark County Historical
Society and the soldier's monument, were designed to remain vacant, with
the business interests centering around them; it was to be a military
square similar to the plan of surrounding towns, but other additions were
laid out and business did not center in that locality. There was a rever-
sionary clause, and to save the property from going back to the Demint
ownership, the county buildings were located there. It is said the first
Demint plat did not become a matter of record for some years, and the
second one not until after his death, and when Sprigman and Lowry
opened an addition they planned a market house, and business went in
that direction. It was on higher ground, and offered better advantages
to the community.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
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Chronology
It is out of the question to correlate all of the facts, and give the
exact chronology of early Springfield. There was a time when grain
was carried on horseback to Lebanon, and thus the settlers had flour.
Within a year or two, James Demint constructed a mill at the mouth of
Mill Run that had the capacity of five bushels of grain every twenty-four
hours, and then people had the home product — white bread when they
wanted it, but the capacity was not long equal to the requirement. When
Simon Kenton had a mill in Lagonda, the settlers talked about going to
Kenton's mill, but his education was not sufficient to manage the milling
Pioneer Suggestions
business ; he said he was wronged by patrons, and he did not remain long
in the community. However, mill sites are numerous in the vicinity of
Springfield. For many years flour mills were operated by water power,
there being mill dams of both log and stone, and the tolls amounted to
fortunes.
In 1807 Robert Rennix built a flouring mill on Buck Creek which was
"considered quite an addition to the comfort and convenience of the citi-
zens," and in April, 1841, S. and J. Barnett built a fire-proof mill with
iron gearing operating five burrs, and the product was 100 barrels of flour
in twenty-four hours. What would James Demint do with such an indus-
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56 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
try? The Barnetts were their own millwrights, and they furnished
power to other industries ; their mill gave an impetus to trade conditions
in Springfield. It was a real asset to the community. While the Barnett
mill was on Buck Creek, Mill Run furnished water power to many indus-
tries, a dozen mills in operation at one time. The Demint mill was the
rift in the clouds — the settlers could have meal and flour without such
long journeys. Water power is still available in Springfield's largest
flour mill — Limestone Street and Buck Creek.
As early as 1805 Cooper Ludlow operated a tannery and asheries
were known to all pioneers ; the Ludlow Tannery was on Mad River until
1812 when it was moved to Springfield. In 1809 there was a powder
mill built by John Lingle and Jacob Cook, but they did not have to con-
tend with the disarmament sentiment broadcast in the world today. A
number of pioneer tanneries were scattered about, some on Mad River
and one at New Carlisle, and the sale of oak bark was a source of income
to many settlers. Oak bark was tan-bark, and skins of animals were
tanned and made into clothing. Thomas Williams specialized on deer
tanned and made into clothing. Thomas Baldwin was an early Springfield
merchant — Stowe and Baldwin, and they had the first two-story frame
business house in town. The first two-story log house was the hotel
property owned by Archibald Lowry.
Jonah Baldwin had part in the council with the Indians in 1807, when
Tecumseh came to town for an adjustment, and for more than half a
century he was a man of influence in Springfield. In 1812, Pierson Spin-
ning came from Dayton, with a stock of goods that had been caught in a
storm between Cincinnati and Dayton, by wagon, and because they would
not sell well in the older community the damaged stock was brought to
the Village of Springfield. It proved such a profitable venture that he
continued the business till 1834, and at one time he was regarded as the
richest man in Clark County. He made frequent horseback trips to east-
ern markets to buy goods, and because of a physical handicap — a perma-
nent lameness, he used a side-saddle for the long journey. He would
visit both Philadelphia and New York, and spend six weeks making the
trip that is now accomplished in twenty-four hours.
In Pierson Spinning's day the merchandise was brought over the
mountains to Pittsburgh in wagons and it was shipped by the Ohio to
Cincinnati and transported again by wagon to Springfield. The cost of
transportation was about $6 per hundred, when wheat was worth 27l/2
cents on the local market. Because of the canal, grain was worth more
on the Dayton market than in Springfield. Mr. Spinning was a con-
noisseur, and while buying merchandise he supplied his own household
with many costly treasures — the Spinning of Springfield today having
many of them. The family had the first cookstove and the first piano
brought into Springfield.
Maddux Fisher was a community builder, coming from Kentucky in
1813 with capital amounting to $20,000; he was a man of unusual busi-
ness ability, acquiring twenty-five lots at $25 each from Demint, and
becoming a booster for the organization of a new county. Recognizing
the possibilities of Springfield, Fisher went to the State Assembly in
Chillicothe and urged that a new county be erected from Champaign,
Madison and Greene counties ; his measure was opposed by Joseph Vanoe
who represented him in the assembly, but the agitation was continued at
his own expense; he lobbied in the interest of Springfield until Clark
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58 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
County became a reality, and then he met and overcame the rivalry set
up by New Boston, now only a memory west from Springfield. When
the news of his success reached Springfield there was a jollification; tar
barrels were burned in the street, and apple toddy was passed to all.
While quick communication had not yet been established, within a week
from that Christmas day, 1817, local government was established in
Springfield. It had been almost twelve years in Champaign County.
When Maddux Fisher was a Springfield business man the first pave-
ment was in front of his store. Fisher's Corner was a landmark for
many years. To the victors belong the spoils, and that long ago a "pull"
was an advantage. He was postmaster himself, and he named personal
friends for offices in the new county. Because of their activities, men
are still rewarded with official positions — Maddux Fisher establishing
the precedent in Clark County. While it has been recited that Spring-
field business went south from the original center because of the loca-
tion of a market house near the Esplanade, one account says there was
a time when it was along Main Street, with only scattered groups of
houses on Columbia and North streets, between Spring Street and Lowry
Avenue, the latter know as Mechanic Street while Wittenberg was then
Factory Street, and the change of name from Market Street to Fountain
Avenue is within the memory of men and women not yet grown old in
the community.
Main was once South, and Columbia was Main, but that change was
made in order that Main Street might be the continuation of the National
Road through Springfield. Main and Market are intersecting streets
in many towns — time honored names in many communities, and the sign
Market Street may still be seen in Springfield. While the street corner
signs in the pavements are permanent, strangers continue asking for
information without seeing them. The name Fountain Avenue is seen
in the pavement, while the name Market Street is still seen on some of
the walls of buildings. Market Street became Fountain Avenue under
conditions that no longer exist, Dr. T. J. Casper using his influence to
effect the change because of the fountain erected by O. S. Kelly on the
Esplanade. It was while Mr. Kelly was mayor of Springfield.
While the intent of the fountain was excellent, its construction was
not well planned, the lower basin not being large enough to catch the
water when enough force was used to display the cascade or spray, and
it was always wet about it. When the Kelly Fountain was installed the
city beautified the Esplanade by planting trees — shade in the center of
Springfield. Lawn seats were scattered about, and they were an invita-
tion to idlers to while away their time in the beauty spot of the town.
The mistake of the plan was apparent, and when the fountain needed
repair it was torn down, and the seats were* removed to Snyder Park.
Instead of pointing with pride to the fountain Springfield citizens were
disgusted with the loafers always assembled there, and it was not an
attraction for visitors.
The Kelly Fountain had a series of water basins, and in the sun-
shine the cascades were beautiful, but coupled with the fact that the
pressure splashed the water beyond the basins, and the people attracted
to the seats reflected discredit on the community, the fountain is now a
memory ; the name of the street requires constant explanation, and some
would gladly return to the time honored designation — Market Street.
The names were not suggestive of the development along them, and
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 59
Factory became Wittenberg because of the college, and Mechanic became
Lowry to perpetuate the name of a settler. The industrial sections are
fringed around the business center, the mechanics and factories still
being component factors, although the early map-makers did not accu-
rately forecast their locations.
In 1839 some one said to P. E. Bancroft, who was the original Spring-
field furrier : "You can do no good out in the country/' notwithstanding
the later trend of business west on Main Street. However, business was
checked in its westward trend owing to the class of citizens encountered ;
the first murder in Springfield was in a cellar under a saloon in that
direction, and the account continues : "The town gradually grew around,
until it enclosed the Bancroft business in the heart of the city." As
Springfield increased in population and business interests, many sub-
stantial improvements were made in the town; as the years passed by,
the citizens were ready to expand their facilities to meet the growing
demands of society.
While there was a time when the people met regularly on Saturday
afternoons to run their horses, and similar orgies — when moral welfare
was not so much of a study as it is today; when drunken sprees wound
up in fights ; when black eyes and bloody noses were the regular accom-
paniments of sports; when the Sabbath was spent in hunting, but there
was always a moral leaven — among all the viciousness and depravity there
were upright men who exerted an influence to stem the tide in the rapid
progress of iniquity, and out of it all came the church and the school —
such necessary adjuncts to the moral and intellectual development of
any community. The same conditions that prevailed in the hamlet exist
in the enlarged community, but more counteracting agencies; more wel-
fare movements offset the seeming vices today.
It is said of the pioneer that his manner was agreeable in his relation
with his family and his neighbor, but that he was stern and unyielding
in discipline — when he said no he meant it. Notwithstanding the Bible
injunction : "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds," there
are men and women who do not read ; who do not contemplate the busy
world programs at all. While men and women are marvelously con-
structed— fearfully and wonderfully made, they do sometimes get into
ruts ; they do not live up to the growing intelligence ; they are influenced
from without rather than from their own initiative, and they are a men-
ace; know thyself and thy limitations does not describe them at all.
President Warren G. Harding says: "Ours is a people with vision
high but with their feet on the earth, with belief in themselves and faith
in God," and the Rev. Hough Houston of Central M. E. Church declares:
"A lack of vision is a waste of life. * * * There are not many great
men compared with the mass. * * * Men of ability are few; abil-
ities are wasted by lack of vision. Riotous living brings individuals to
grief, and causes the waste. * * * Right living enables a community
or nation to live in perfect harmony with other communities and other
nations." Civilization is based on the proposition that the good of the
community is more important than the good of any individual in that
community.
The Springfield Market
It seems that the public market is a time-tried institution; in the
late '30s Clark County farmers attended the Springfield Market, where
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 61
they received 5 cents a dozen for eggs ; ; they received a "fip-and-a-bit"
for butter in pound prints, and 6% cents for a peck of apples. Not
many vegetables sold as there were backyard gardens; tin cups were
used in measuring smearcase, and there were no small market measures.
The modern way of putting up fruit and vegetables in tin cans, glass
jars and paper boxes increases the cost to the consumer, but the advan-
tage is in handling and preservation; the bread sold on the market was
baked in Dutch ovens on the hearth, and the cooking was done in pots
hanging from cranes. The market was in a shed located east from the
Esplanade adjoining the site of the Arcade; it was supported by posts
and open on three sides ; to the south was a swamp, and to the east was
Mill Run.
Think of that market in contrast with the market of today, when the
rental of stalls enters into the question — the price of the commodities.
Butchers had stalls in the shed, and an old account says: "It would
make the mouth of the modern buyer water to see the nice cuts of pork,
beef or mutton which Leuty, Grant and Wragg spread out on their
counters at the prices then in vogue," and the same writer says : "Another
cause of high prices is an increased daintiness of appetite ; nothing satis-
fies but the best the world affords. We send to Tar Cathay* for tea; to
Java for coffee ; to Ceylon for spices, and to Italy for almonds and sweet
oil. The best oranges and grapes come from the isles of the sea," and
all he enumerates may be seen on any market day in Springfield.
The market house today abounds with eating places, while the writer
quoted continues: "When through selling, the marketers would refresh
themselves at Granny Icenbarger's who made and sold ginger cakes and
spruce beer in a two-story shack where the Fairbanks Building now
stands. This woman is said to have been the first baker in Springfield.
She was an industrious woman, and enjoyed a wide acquaintance both in
town and in the country. Her cakes and beer were sold wherever the
people gathered — camp meeting or military group, and everybody stood
ready to befriend Granny Icenbarger. She came into the community in
1812, and in 1839 she died in Springfield.
Granny Icenbarger had a drunken husband content to be known as
the husband of such a remarkable woman ; she was diligent, and a woman
of unblemished character; her name was familiar to all. She was kind
to all, and many a hungry man replenished at her board ; they all stood
ready to patronize and befriend Granny Icenbarger. The husband was
a small, thin man with crooked legs, and when under the influence of
liquor he was very noisy and demonstrative. While he was so bow-
legged he could not head a hog in an alley, he hopped around in the wild-
est manner, and he was the source of a great deal of trouble to this
woman. She was used to seeing him drunk, but when he died and
friends came in, she exclaimed: "La, me, the old man is dead, what a
pity !" and when the candles were lighted, she talked about what it would
cost her to bury him. It is said that making one's own living develops
character, and this woman had supported herself and husband.
In 1848,' a better market house was completed in Springfield costing
$7,800, including the bell and the necessary grading around the building ;
a town clock was purchased by the council, and the drift of business con-
tinued in that direction. Martin Cary, who was the first child born in
Springfield, was the market master; by ringing the bell he opened and
closed the market. Springfield citizens came to market to secure sup-
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62 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
plies for breakfast, and there were few idlers in the community. However,
Samuel S. Miller, whose reminiscences have been drawn from, relates:
"One night, while we slept, one of that kind reached under the cover and
took father's stovepipe-Sunday hat away with apples in it, and he had to
get another from Hubbel, the Main Street hatter."
The City Building
While Fountain Square is but a memory, the Esplanade is a reality,
and the city building facing it was completed in 1890, at a cost of $250,-
000 to the tax-payers of Springfield. It extends from the Esplanade to
Center Street, and is considered one of the finest office buildings in Ohio.
It shelters the city market, affords office rooms for the city officials, and
there is a commodious auditorium once used for many public meetings.
The city manager and all the departments are on the Esplanade side,
while the police department is in the Center Street side of the building.
While the market has always been open three days in the week — two
forenoons and all day Saturday, there has been an effort to increase the
revenue by instituting a six-days' market, which it is argued would stop
the country people from coming, and make of it a market for hucksters
who get their supplies from the commission houses. While the increased
rental would give the city more revenue, it would add to the cost of food
sold on the market.
Those who produce their own fruit and vegetables are opposed to the
six-day market; they need some of the time for production. With the
original market in an open shed, and a market house built in 1848, and
the present building erected in 1890, it is evident that Springfield always
has patronized the public market. The market house built in 1848 had a
hall for public meetings, but it was so close to the machine shops on the
site of the Arcade, that if an orator attempted a speech his voice was
drowned by the sound of hammers in the factory. Sessions held at
night were not thus disturbed, and among the speakers were eminent
men, Stephen A. Douglas and Fred Douglass, the noted colored orator,
both having spoken from that platform.
There was a wood and hay market to the west of the building, and
for years more wood than coal was used in Springfield. In war times
wood was supplied at $6 and $7 a cord, and afterward $3 was the price
of the best beech and sugar four-foot wood in this market. While soldier-
blue overcoats were still worn, many loads of wood were sold in Spring-
field. There were hay scales, and lunch and hot coffee were supplied by
the weigh-master. The creek — the Mill Run of the past, fed by the
springs southeast of town — furnished water in abundance at this market
house. There was a wooden bridge across it, and a quagmire prevented
any streets being extended south of it. In the '50s there was a walk
constructed to the site of the Pennsylvania station, and it was keep on
the walk or mire in the swamp. In Civil war times the effigy of Clemency
L. Vallandingham was submerged in that swamp, but such a feat could
not be accomplished there today.
When the country people would come into that market house, because
the market master rang his bell at 4 o'clock in the morning, they had to be
in readiness the night before; after fixing their horses, and tightening
their wagon covers, they would lie on bedding brought from their homes ;
they would not sleep long until they were wakened by the clatter of the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 63
butchers placing their quarters of beef, pork and mutton ready for the
block when market opened, while visitors might inspect the market, sell-
ing did not begin until 4 o'clock when the bell released everything. There
were Conestogas in Clark County then, and the farmers would come to
market with a bushel of potatoes and a few pounds of butter ; they would
bring apples, cherries and currants or gooseberries; they packed their
eggs in chaff because the roads were rough, and there were no springs
to their wagons. The farmers who attend market today bring their
products in automobiles, and there is constant demand for produce fresh
from the country.
When an aged man with unimpaired memory dies, it is like removing
a book from the library ; many stories of Clark County development have
been buried with the settlers because no record was made of them. S. S.
Miller had written something of early Springfield market conditions that
has been incorporated into the story. In giving a reason for the increased
cost of living, he took into consideration the increased number of con-
sumers, saying the population of the city has out-stripped the growth of
the rural community; the manufacturing industries deplete the number
of soil workers, and lessen the production of foodstuffs ; they think shop
work is less slavish than farm labor, and leave the country.
The community always will have its economic problems; it has been
said:
"Big fleas have lesser fleas, upon their backs to bite 'em,
And lesser fleas have lesser fleas, ad infinitum,"
and why should Springfield constitute an exception? The outstanding
feature in Springfield development is its tablets; while shrines abound
in some localities, the tablets erected about the city are the silent testi-
monials. The tablet at the entrance to the Warder Library tells the
necessary story ; the tablet at the city hospital pays tribute to the found-
ers; there are tablets in the churches, and in Wittenberg College, seem-
ingly an universal method of commemoration in the community.
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CHAPTER VIII
GEOLOGY— ITS RELATION TO CLARK COUNTY
The data used in the study of geology, and its relation to the history
of Clark County, is adapted from a paper written by W. H. Rayner,
from the Ohio Experiment Station Bulletin, and from an interview
with Dean C. G. Shatzer of Wittenberg College, who has made personal
investigation. Dean Shatzer defines geology as an effort to determine
the history of the earth and the origin of its present surface features.
The out-cropping limestone indicates that this region was once an arm
of the sea. It was probably disconnected from the Gulf region. Such
changes have occurred in the topography of the country.
The surface of Clark County is a combination of two things — the
breaking of bedrock from the action of the weather and the rising
streams. This action gives rise to the residual soil. Existing con-
ditions are the result of material carried down by glaciers. Attention
is called to the terraces which everywhere mark the streams flowing
south from the glaciated area, and that is the general direction of the
stream in Clark County. Almost without exception the streams flowing
southward from this area show marks of former floods from 50 to
100 feet higher than those of recent occurrence. Gravel deposits from
SO to 100 feet higher than the present flood-plain line the valleys of
such streams within the glaciated region, and. through much of their
course after they have emerged from it.
In the subjoined list of Ohio streams are mentioned the Big and
Little Miamis and Mad River, and there are many terraces within
Clark County. It is in terraces of this description that so-called palae-
olithic implements have been found, which includes the earlier half of
the Stone Age, the remains belonging to extinct animals and to human
beings. There is no question but this class of terraces was formed by
the floods which mark the closing portion of the glacial period; the
occurrence of human implements in their undisturbed strata connects
the early history of man with the closing scenes of the glacial period.
In the light of the above information any well-directed study of the
glacial period is important as shedding light upon the condition under
which man began his career and upon the time which has elapsed since
the beginning of things.
Scientific investigation reveals the fact that once upon a time this
whole region was under a crust of ice ; it extended from the cold north
across Ohio and Clark County to the Ohio River. When the glaciers
melted the molten. mass mixed with local materials and the result was
the soil formation. It is an interesting study — molten ice mixed with
clay and gravel, and the results are different in different places and
under different conditions. Anything is soil that supports vegetation
and that quality exists in water. The average tiller of the soil does
not understand its chemical composition; he only knows that the alter-
nate freezing and thawing puts it into productive condition.
The relief of Clark County is largely due to moraine deposits; the
knobs about Wittenberg campus cropping out again about Catawba
in the northeastern part of Clark County are the results of terminal
64
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 65
moraines. The market house in Springfield is at an elevation of 979
feet, while the greatest elevation within the county is found in Pleasant
Township, where it ranges from 1,240 to 1,280 feet above the sea.
The wayfaring man leaving the heights east from New Moorefield and
facing the setting sun may overlook the whole of Clark County. As
far as eye can see there is nothing to obstruct the view, and it is a
glimpse not duplicated often in any part of the country, the whole con-
tour sloping in one direction. While Recitation Hall in Wittenberg is
at an altitude of 1,000 feet, and there are higher points on the cam-
pus, the aforesaid traveler looks above it all.
While the United States Survey conforms to base and range line estab-
lished by the government, since the glacial period the erosive action
of the water in the streams and of the weather have combined to shape
the hills and have given them their present surface conditions. While
man may defeat the action of the elements, nature's handiwork is more
or less perfect, conservancy finally correcting its errors. The Ohio
Experiment Station analysis describes the Clinton and Niagara forma-
tions, saying Clark County is covered with glacial drift derived chiefly
from limestone. In the broad valleys of its streams this drift has
been replaced by alluvium and deposits of gravel, the predominating
soils being silty and gravelly clay loams of the Miami and Bellefontaine
series with considerable areas of alluvium, including both black and
first bottoms of Wabash series. They are both first and second bottoms
along Mad River.
The gravelly Bellefontaine soils covering the moraines are generally
naturally drained with the underlying gravel, as are also some of the
terrace and bottom lands, but the intermediate Miami soils are gen-
erally in need of more or less artificial drainage ; the limestone derivation
of all Clark County land has assured the soil of permanent fertility
when properly handled, although farmers are now studying the chem-
istry of the soils and applying the necessary elements. The limestone
cliffs so much in evidence promise the material when the soil requires
such an application. Mr. Rayner writes that the geological formations
underlying any locality have an influence not only upon the animal and
vegetable life on its surface, but may contribute to the comfort, growth
and development of the humanity inhabiting th^t section of the country.
This is specially true where ores, coal or minerals occur in the
underlying strata. But these influences will be found to exist in some
degree where only ordinary geological conditions are found. In the
past people have judged the productiveness of the soil by the prepon-
derance of growth of certain kinds of trees and other vegetation. The
soil of a beech ridge is readily distinguishable from that of a sugar
grove or a section of swamp ash. Many people designate the quality
of the soil by the kind of trees that are found growing out of it. In
turn, vegetation influences and makes possible the animal life; the
soil and underlying geological formations have an influence upon the
pursuits, development and ultimate condition of the human race. It
holds true in Clark County as well as the rest of the world.
<
Latitude and Longitude
The fortieth parallel and the eighty-fourth meridian intersect about
four miles from the northwest corner of Clark County and the average
VoL I— 5
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66 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
elevation is about 1,000 feet above the sea. While the surface is undu-
lating and there is some swamp land, there is but little that will not
ultimately be brought under cultivation. The surface formations are
attributable to the drift period, while the underlying formations are
classed within the upper and lower silurian periods. Beginning with
the unstratified Guelph limestone which crops out with the Niagara at
various places, and extending downward through the Niagara shales or
Dayton limestone, the Clinton series and Medina shales of the upper silur-
ian period, through the Hudson River series, Utica shales and Trenton
limestone of the lower silurian period, all are found at points in south-
western Ohio and seem to be in evidence in Clark County.
The Niagara series which predominates in this locality takes its
name from the outcrop at the Niagara River, where it was first care-
fully studied. It also extends under the Great Lakes and outcrops
again in Wisconsin. It forms the principal underlying strata of the
North Central States. It is rich in the following fossils: Pentamerus
Oblongus, Pentamerous Ovatis, Crinoids, Trilobites and Orthoceras, the
* last frequently of enormous size. There are two methods of determin-
ing the underlying formation of a given locality. The usual method is
to follow the outcrop of the various formations from some remote
point where the lowest anticipated formation is exposed, and noting
the depth and extent of each division. In this way there is reasonable
certainty in determining the underlying geological formations. This
method is not difficult as southwestern Ohio is like an open book to
the trained geologist. Beginning at Point Pleasant and journeying
northward along the Little Miami where the Trenton limestone is the
surface rock, any one who is familiar with the fossils and other indica-
tions of the various series in the ascending scale will be able not only
to determine the series, but to form a good estimate of the thickness
of each general formation.
The other method is by analyzing the drillings of the deep gas and
oil wells. This method has only become available since the develop-
ments in the '80s, but it has served to confirm the conclusions earlier
formed by the older method. In 1885 a well was drilled west of Plum
Street on the south bank of Buck Creek in Springfield, with record
of the following formations: The surface soil and the Guelph rock
had been removed in the process of quarrying, and from the floor of
the quarry was found blue limestone, IS feet; white clay, 3 feet;
Niagara shale, 40 feet; Clinton limestone, 42 feet; Medina red slate,
12 feet; shale rock, 226 feet; gray shale, 37 feet; gray shale, 305 feet;
light shale, 130 feet; dark shale, 230 feet; red sandstone, 76 feet, and
black shale, 24 feet.
It is difficult to understand the conditions that existed in glacial
period. Today the best examples are found in Alaska, Greenland and
the Alps, but they pale into insignificance when compared with the great
ice cap that forced its way from the north, overspreading this region.
The moraines deposited by it, marking the line of its southward approach,
may be traced from Long Island to the mountains in Idaho. It was a
wall of ice thousands of miles long and hundreds of feet deep, its face
melted into fantastic shapes, grottoed and pinnacled, disgorging untold
volumes of water, as the rays of the southern sun held back and
checked this frost king of the north. It has left in its retreat, not the
disintegrated silt of the local rock formation that might or might not
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 67
be available for plant growth, but the assimilation of the distintegrated
granite of the North and the limestone beds of the Great Lakes ii) a
reduced and prepared state, containing every essential element for the
development of the highest standard of agriculture.
After penetrating the various formations as above indicated, the
drill struck Trenton limestone at a depth of 1,140 feet, or about 190
feet above the level of the sea. A year later another well was drilled
to a depth of 2,400 feet, passing through the Trenton limestone into
the St. Peters sandstone, below which was found a light colored mag-
nesian limestone, but as yet no drill in this locality has reached the
igneous rock which underlies the constructive geological series. The
accepted theory is that it is a sedimentary deposit laid down on the bed
of the ocean at a time when the Gulf of Mexico extended to and
included the Great Lakes. It is evident that an uplift came to this
locality about the time of the completion of the Niagara series and
from that time the region has been barren rock or dry ground. A topo-
graphical survey would have represented a level plain, later eroded and
scored by the advancing waters of an approaching glacier of the drift
period.
The rock-walled channel of the Great Miami extends to the western
part of Clark County and at St. Paris, which is the highest point
between the Great Miami and Mad rivers, this ancient river bed was
shown by the drill to have been 530 feet below the present surface and
of an extreme width. While the exact width has not been determined,
it was wider than the valley now enclosed by the hills on either side
of the Ohio. Imagine such a river, with almost perpendicular banks
interspersed at intervals with islands which were monuments of lime-
stone so firm as to withstand the eroding effect of the mighty current
with its many caverns and whirlpools. It was a river vast in the still-
ness of creative times upon which the eyes of man have never looked,
but which fulfilled its mission and ceased to be. However, one of its
islands remains today, the top of which has long been operated as a
quarry a few miles south of St. Paris.
Limestone Cliffs
The gorge of Niagara represents that type of river and the rocky
gorge of Mad River west from Springfield was a feeder for this great
river, just as today it flows into the Big Miami. In the fullness of
time came the glacial period with its moraines that planed, crushed and
ground the limestone, filling the rocky crevices with debris, and as the
glacier receded leaving its surface covered with boulders from some
foreign locality. They filled its rock-hewn river valleys and opened
new water courses for the discharge of the melting floods. Thus over
the limestone plains are scattered beds of sand, gravel and disintegrated
stone that form the clays, layer upon layer, bed upon bed sometimes
with exact regularity, and sometimes in most heterogeneous masses. As
proof of these assertions every boulder-strewn field is a witness. The
identical ledges from which these boulders were detached may be
found in the Canadian quarries today.
In 1893 Mr. Rayner examined the Canadian Geological exhibits at
the World's Fair in Chicago, confirming the theory that Clark County
boulders are but the detached fragments of quarry stone, "rounded and
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68 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
worn by the torrents of the receding glacier. Every gravel bank shows
that each grain of sand was laid in its place by the icy current that
deposited it. Many of the boulders and some of the pebbles are
ground smooth and polished by their long journey, and some of the
surface rock in Clark County is planed and grooved by the ice-clasped
granite of the glacier. Some years ago when workmen were uncov-
ering the surface rock preparatory to blasting for a waterworks trench
in North Isabella Street, very distinct and definite markings were
found, but they could not be preserved, as they were crushed by the
blast.
When the glacier receded vegetation fastened itself upon the hith.
erto barren land, and it is believed by geologists that this section of
the country was inhabited immediately. Evidence has been cited con-
firming the belief, and that animal life was represented; the bones and
teeth of the mastodon are encountered, and one complete skeleton found
in Clark County is being exhibited at Ohio State University, Columbus.
Others have been located that could not be excavated without destroy-
ing them, as related in the chapter on Moundbuilders. The musk-ox was
a companion of the mastodon and a skull and horns were once found
in the swamp in the Mad River Valley, however, in Champaign County.
These skeletons were preserved because the animals mired in the
swamps, and the water level remained above them. No doubt many
others existed in the post glacial period, but skeletons left on the dry
ground soon disintegrated and passed out of existence.
' Humus in the Soil
The summer rain and the frost of winter mellowed and disintegrated
the virgin soil. The rank growth of grassy vegetation in the lowlands
and the hardy pines and cedars in the uplands mingled their fallen
trunks with the sands and clays of the moraines, as evidenced by the
fragments of these woods that are often found in excavating and in
digging wells. They added vegetable mold in ever-increasing propor-
tions, producing a soil of variety and richness seldom excelled in the
most favored localities. However, it does not follow that all the soil
is good in Clark County. While some of it holds an excess of certain
elements they are lacking in other parts, but the knowledge of soil
chemistry relieves the difficulty. Frequently the remedy is at hand
and an analysis of soil constituents determines its needs. The geo-
logical resources are known and it remains for man to utilize this
knowledge.
There are farms in Clark County having valley land so rich with
vegetable mold that ordinary crops do not fully develop. They fire
and die, while on the same farms are clay hills that would afford to
this soil just the elements needed to make it productive and in turn
the hills need the humus that is excessive in the valleys. The owners
will benefit when they exchange part of the soil of each with the other.
(In another part of the country an onion specialist had ah understand-
ing with his sons that whenever they hauled a load of clay and dis-
tributed it as they would manure on the muck, he would pay them
for it.) Great changes have occurred in the soil and the contour
of Clark County since the uplift in the latter part of the upper silurian
period. Nature is the great assayer and assimilator.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 69
Action of the Elements
In some measure the northern half of the United States owes the
continued and sustained productiveness of its soil to disintegration from
freezing. Every particle of sand or soil that is susceptible .to penetra-
tion by water is frozen each winter and is thereby disintegrated and
rendered suitable for plant food. In the South, where frost is infre-
quent or non-existent, the change is readily discernible. Chemical
action is constantly adding to the productiveness of the soil, but humus
is the most active agent in soil nutrition. Not only does decayed vege-
tation return to the soil those elements received by its growth, but it
takes from the air other elements which cannot be secured and com-
bined in the soil by any other method. The roots of the plants pene-
trate the soil and some of them to great depth. As they decay they
leave open avenues through which moisture may penetrate, where it
is stored again against the drought. In a measure animal life also
contributes to soil fertility.
The crawfish and burrowing animals add their part to the changes
and usually to the improved condition of the soil. At the present time
the bodies of fish and domestic animals constitute part of the commer-
cial fertilizers. It is said that every particle of lime in the world has
at some time or other formed the Done or shell of some living organism.
Secondly only to the glacial activity, erosion changes the contour of
Clark County more than any other agency, and at the present time the
process is more destructive than for a long period in past history.
The denuding of the land of the forest growth, the drainage of swamps
and lakes, and the cultivation of the soil have aided the washouts on
the hillsides and the formation of gulleys until land that was culti-
vated a generation ago is pasture land again.
This washout agency will continue its devastating work unless con-
trolled by man. In many parts of the South hill lands are being ter-
raced under the direction of engineers. Notwithstanding all the efforts
of nature, it is a fair prediction that with sufficient man-and-horsepower
— the tractor supplanting the horse, it is possible that the products of
Clark County farms may be doubled and still leave the land enriched
beyond its present condition, and without bringing a pound of com-
mercial fertilizer into it. While limestone has been used from the time
of the earliest settler, the future demands will be greater upon this
recognized necessity. Lime has long been a production of Clark County.
Stone crushers are busy today putting it into shape for fertilizing the
soil of the locality.
Analysis of Limestone
The Guelph rock of Clark County is, analyzed as follows: Carbonate
of lime, 54.13; carbonate of magnesia, 44.37; allumina and oxide of
iron, .56; and silicious matter, .65, showing a 99.71 composition lime-
stone, perfectly adapted to fertilizer requirements. This limestone lacks
only one element necessary to the production of cement. The lower
beds of limestone are stratified and have been used extensively for
building stone. It represents the Niagara series. It is unsuited for
street building purposes, being so soft that it soon grinds into dust, and
is hauled off the streets in the form of slush and at an additional
expense. Springfield has experimented with it, spending thousands of
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70 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
dollars building macadam streets of it. Mr. Rayner one time entered
into correspondence with the department of agriculture in Washington
relative to the advisability of using this stone in street building and
was informed that it would be better to pay freight on suitable stone
than to use it.
While there is an increasing demand for limestone as land plaster,
it may be used as a flux in smelting. The Mad River Valley offers
ideal conditions for an iron furnace. It is midway between the coal
fields and the lake ore, and in the center of an iron-consuming territory
— the valley west from Springfield. The Clinton limestone found in
the southwestern part of Clark County is also lime producing, and
better material for macadam roads than the cap rock and upper series
tried out in Springfield. It marks the lowest series in the upper Silu-
rian period except the Medina shales, found in the extreme southwest-
ern part of the county. The lime deposits are of hitherto unknown
value because they have not been utilized in the past as they will be
in the future. The use of lime as a fertilizer is a recent discovery and
it offers commercial possibilities.
The Use of Sand
In the drift deposit Clark County is provided with valuable sand
and gravel easily available for use. Sand of many kinds is found in
abundance. While it is used in mortar and cement, there are good
grades of molding sand in large quantities within a few miles of Spring-
field. While one of these banks is open, it is practically inoperative
as it costs more to load it into wagons and haul it to town than to
load the sand at the banks farther north where steam shovels are
installed, and ship it to Springfield. Clark County gravel is used in
concrete construction and makes excellent sidewalks. It is unexcelled
for road building and there is local demand for it.
The Clark County clays are a sedimentary deposit of the glacial
period. They constitute a large percentage of the underlying soil and
crop out on many of the hills. A species of kaolin or white clay under-
lies the bogs and small lakes, causing them to retain the water. Doubt-
less some of these clays are suitable for manufacturing the cheaper
grades of porcelain, but it is not known whether or not they exist in
commercial quantities. Clay flower pots are manufactured within the
county and brick and tile making are an important industry. No doubt
terra cotta and clay conduits can be made to advantage.
Because of its geological formation, Clark County is well supplied
with springs of good water. They have aided in the development of
agriculture and the stock raising interests. These springs and spring-
fed streams may yet be utilized in supplying water for irrigation, when
the vegetable gardens need it. There are many ponds and dry holes
ranging in size from 50 to 200 feet in diameter, and from 2 to 20 feet
in depth. These depressions were probably formed by the sinking of
the surface, due to the melting of large bodies of ice which had been
buried in the debris of the drift period. Where the ice was covered
with clay the depression formed a lake, and where it was covered with
gravel there was drainage and it became a dry cavity.
Sometimes the clay bed of a lake overlies a gravel formation, and
by drilling through the stratum of gravel the lake may be drained and
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 71
the land reclaimed for tillage. In 1886, when wells were being drilled
for gas, one was sunk to the depth of 1,800 feet by the Champion
Machine Company, when a vein of salt water was encountered and
cased off, and the drill continued to 2,400 feet, the work prosecuted
under difficulties because of the presence of salt water. What about
drilling again and utilizing the water rich in salt? It stood at the level
of the water in the soil and may be refined for its deposit of salt. No
one recognized its commercial possibilities while drilling for natural
gas or oil.
Boulders an Asset
There remains one geological product that has been regarded in the
light of a detriment rather than an asset. It is the drift boulders so gen-
erally distributed, especially in the western part of Clark County. The
smaller boulders were used by the pioneers in walling their wells, in
building their chimneys and in foundations. In some localities they are
utilized in ornamental construction — walls and chimneys and porches.
Millwrights sometimes used them, but few such millstones are in exis-
tence. One said to have been used by Simon Kenton in his mill at
Lagonda has been builded into a dedicatory monument in Snyder Park.
The Clark County boulder is a long way from its home, and yet many
who have encountered it thought it was a native.
Today the best roads in Clark County are being constructed from
the crushed fragments of these granite boulders. The road builders
have had transported over land and water and left at their doors the
best possible material for building thoroughfares. The boulder also
brought with it some of the semi-precious stones that otherwise would
be unknown in Clark County. Two stones have been found near Spring-
field in which there were numbers of garnets. In many of them jasper
is found, and in the drift gravel agates, porphyry and petrified wood
is encountered frequently. They add to the interest in the study of
Clark County's geological resources, and it remains for the generations
to come to gather from the rocks, the sand and the soil those elements
which nature has bestowed, and which by intelligent use may yet con-
tribute to the comfort and prosperity of man.
Wind and Weather
'Mark Twain discredits the man who talks about the weather with-
out doing anything for it, and John Kendrick Bangs sings :
"The sun and stars move on their way,
In endless courses orderly;
They mark the passage of each day,
In undisturbed serenity."
A local paragrapher commented: "The year 1921 was one of the
warmest on record. It was about three degrees warmer every day than
normal, and the New Year started out like it. The first thirteen days
were ten degrees warmer than normal, and there was little zero weather.
A window card in a Springfield business house reads: The climate is
erratic. Do you know that all fur-bearing animals — domestic and wild
— have unusually long coats of fur. indicating a hard winter?
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72 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
An old account says that on May 6, 1806, a disastrous storm took
the upper story off of the first frame house built in Springfield. It
was the property of Samuel Simonton and when he repaired the wreck
he would not risk a second story. A number of log houses were dam-
aged and much fence was destroyed. While the line of the storm was
only about thirty yards wide, it singled out the one two-story house.
Springfield people were wrought up over Indian troubles as well as
the storm, but after the conference with Tecumseh and others in 1807,
the town moved along in the "even tenor of its way" until a freshet in
1809 disturbed conditions again. Buck Creek overflowed its banks
and the inhabitants became alarmed, and some thinking it a judgment
sent from heaven left the community.
In 1832 Clark County was visited by heavy rains again, and on
February 11, that year: "Buck Creek dashed by proud of its haughty
condition, and Mad River was full half a mile wide; indeed, all the
streams were higher than they had been since 1814," and who knows
about that flood? The flood ninetyf-nine years later, 1913, is well
remembered in Clark County and the Miami Valley, although the dam-
age wrought at Springfield was as nothing compared with the flood at
Dayton.
While there is mention of a meteoric shower November 12, 1799,
there is nothing to connect it with the area now covered by Clark
County, and it must be an error in print since the meteoric shower of
1833 occurred the same month and day, November 12, when the "stars
fell." One account says: "They seemed to drop from all points
straight down like rain when there is a perfect quiet." William A.
Barnett, who came from Butler County to Springfield, describes this
meteoric shower as witnessed there, saying: "We were early risers.
Time was set at 4 o'clock, winter or summer. I was up and saw the
wonderful shower of meteors or shooting stars. We were getting ready
for an early start at corn husking," and since the meteoric display was
widespread it was most likely witnessed in Clark County.
Old settlers in Ohio and Indiana discussed the time when the stars
fell and all were agreed about it. Mr. Barnett was later a miller in
Springfield, originating the famous Golden Fleece brand of flour, and
his story may be regarded as authentic. On April 11, 1833, a tornado
passed near Springfield sweeping off the roofs of houses and laying
waste the forest about the width of a quarter of a mile in its onward
march. In March, two years later, there were three weeks of sled-
ding, which is mentioned as unusual weather conditions. Good snows
for sledding were frequent. Farmers kept two sleds, one for drags to
the woodpile and logs to the saw mill, and the other having thinner
runners with higher knees and cross pieces and standards, was used in
hauling the limbs for firewood, and by adding a bed of loose boards it
was used for general purposes. With straw in the bottom and with
heated brick under the covers, people went everywhere in such sleds.
The above is taken from the reminiscences of S. S. Miller and
he corroborated its accuracy by an interview with William N. Whitely,
who had been caught in the storm riding home from Urbana. As yet
there were no banks in Springfield and Mr. Whitely had gone to
Urbana to procure the money with which to pay for some cattle.
Samuel Lefler was one of a party who went to Logan County to bring
a drove of colts to be distributed among Clark County farmers and
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 73
on the return trip they were caught in the storm. It was a deep snow
and they had difficulty bringing the colts to Springfield. The weather
turned cold and remained* so, and it was an unusual thing for March.
In 1855-6 there was another snow that lay on an unusual length
of time. Many weeks of sleighing were enjoyed, but the carpenters
and blacksmiths had learned the art of making better sleds and sleighs
and there was more pleasure connected with it. People went on long
journeys without fear of the snow leaving, and the vast expanse of
white that covered field* and forest gave promise of something more
useful when spring came again. The water from a well on Limestone
between High and Main streets was frozen. into a mountain of ice,
reaching the spout of the pump and remaining until warmer weather.
When the fire department was called to Wittenberg College the men
suffered from frost-bitten hands, feet and noses, but the coldest time
was in 1864 — New Year's day — the temperature being twenty-one
degrees below zero in the morning, seventeen at noon and nineteen
at night, but notwithstanding the severity, spring came early and many
of the 100-day volunteer soldiers planted corn before going to Camp
Denison in April.
Frost In Clark County
It was the night of June 4 and the morning of June 5, 1859, accord-
ing to S. S. Miller, that "the most disastrous late frost during the
lifetime of the present generation" visited the community. William M.
Cartmell submits the diary dated June 21, 1858, as kept by Charles
Lofland of Catawba, saying: "We have had bad weather for a long
time. It began to snow and rain about the middle of October last, and
since then I have scarcely seen the sun, moon or seven stars. People
are backward with their crops, and some have just finished planting
their corn. The freshets have done a great deal of damage along the
water courses by overflowing the bottoms and carrying off fences, but
there is the finest prospect of small grain and grass that ever was seen
in the country."
Daniel Printz said it was June, 1858, that this country had the dis-
astrous frost that destroyed the corn. He was born that year and his
mother told him it was the year the frost ruined the corn, but Mr. Miller
is very definite in his recollection, saying: "Our folks had a guest
that night. Just as I was making a fire he came down stairs and asked
if there was frost. I told him to look out — that everything was white
and stiff and there was ice that required an ax to break it. When the
sun had thawed out things the disaster was apparent. The corn in the
Donnels Creek bottom that was from twelve to eighteen inches high
fell flat, and the forest leaves turned black. The full-sized pawpaw
leaves dropped off like they do in October.
"Next day was Sunday. Nature wore a pall of grief and the farm-
ers were the mourners. While some used sheepshears to trim off the
frozen plants, in other instances nature did its own surgery and there-
was no dearth of corn at husking time. Those who furrowed between
the rows and planted again had too thick a stand of corn and it did
not ear well. The best corn that year was planted late and was not
through the ground at the time of the frost. Potatoes sprouted up
again, but wheat in the bottoms was ruined, there being a light yield
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74 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
on the high ground. While there were few thermometers then, there
never has been such cold weather in June.
"The winter of 1881-2 was notable, snow falling on the night of
November 15 and remaining throughout the winter. The oldest resi-
dents did not remember a winter of such steady low temperature. The
snow did not melt at noon in the sunshine, and a Springfield milkman
delivered his product from a sleigh for eighty consecutive days. There
have been years without summers and years without winters, but there
always has been seed time and harvest. While the last winter was the
warmest on record, January 12, 1918, is admitted to have been the
coldest day known in Clark County. There was snow, snow, snow,
and traffic was suspended because of it. There were drifts, drifts,
drifts, and the roads were impassable. Livestock walked from field to
field unconscious of the wire fences separating them, and fences were
opened that travelers might go around the drifts, all of which is within
the memory of those who read about it.
"The heat of summer and the cold of winter, the cold, damp days
are forerunners of the springtime. The old couplet reads :
"March winds and April showers,
Bring the t pretty May flowers."
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CHAPTER IX
THE STREAMS OF CLARK COUNTY
The Ohio Gazetteer of 1816 says : "No country in the world is bet-
ter watered with limpid streams and navigable rivers than the United
States of America, and no people better deserve these advantages, or are
better calculated to make a proper use of them than her industrious and
adventurous citizens." The United States Geological Survey shows that
forty per cent of the developed water power in the world is in this
country.
While Springfield inventors turned their attention to water wheels at
the time water was thus utilized for power, the water wheels in the
United States have a combined capacity of 9,243,000 horsepower, and
the countries of Europe where waterways and water power have been
utilized extensively, cannot boast of more extensive development. The
turbine water wheel did much to develop the manufacturing interests of
Springfield when Mill Run furnished the motive power. The overcast
and undercast wheels were known to the settlers, and from the time James
Demint built the first mill in 1803, until steam supplanted water power,
water wheels were essential to industry.
Murat Halstead once said: "The French were truthful as well as
tasteful when they named the Ohio the Beautiful River," and while in
the wilderness days game crossed the stream at the fords in the absence
of floods, all that deals with the Ohio of the long ago ; even the buffaloes
knew the width of the stream that divided and united the valley when
the water was high or low, and the same conditions existed along the
smaller streams. Since the Big Miami as fed by the Little Miami and
other Clark County streams contributes to the Ohio, Clark County is
within the Miami Valley. Beside the Miamis, its principal streams are:
Mad River, Buck or Lagonda Creek, and Beaver Creek which, with their
tributaries, "furnish water power for about twenty-five grist mills,
upwards of thirty saw mills, two paper mills, two oil mills, and seven or
eight carding and fulling mills, all of which are in operation within the
county."
Still another account says: "Mad River is unequalled for fine mill
sites. Its current is rapid, and the water is never so low in the driest
season as to interfere in the slightest degree with the mills that are now
upon it. * * * Within a range of three miles of Springfield are
upwards of twenty good mill seats, occupied and unoccupied. The value
of this immense water power is enhanced by the fact that on the east
and southeast is a tract of country forty miles wide which is entirely
dependent upon this stream and mills," but the student of economic condi-
tions would hardly accept that version today.
In the palmy days of New Boston which is now marked by an aban-
doned cemetery adjoining Fort Tecumseh, west from Springfield, it was
said to be at the head of navigation on Mad River. "In those days Mad
River spread all over creation," but the removal of the timber and drain-
age have changed the situation ; while the water used to be carried away,
now it percolates into the porous soil, and yet Mad River carries more
water into the Big Miami than any other tributary. In his study of the
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76 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
streams of Clark County, Dean C. G. Shatzer has discovered 105 sites
once occupied by mills, and while the ruins of some remain others are
known to have existed. There were saw mills, grist mills, wagon shops,
blacksmith shops and distilleries at frequent intervals along Mad River.
The Shawnees were governed in naming Mad River by the character
of its water — turbulent stream, Mad River, and it flowed with such veloc-
ity that it afforded unexcelled water power; the fall in the stream as
it crosses Clark County is from 8 to 10 feet every mile, and the power to
turn the machinery was available at many points, the term mill site now
almost obsolete in the study of economic problems. The Shawnees built
their wigwams along Mad River, because they liked its turbulent flow;
it suggested to them the anger of the Great Spirit, and being a warrior
tribe its malevolent attitude suited them. The settlers had the same idea ;
they spoke of the Mad River countryside as a synonym of the heart's
desire, and Mad River and Bethel townships which are separated by it
are the earliest settled portions of Clark County.
While Mad River is an interpretation of the Shawnee word Athe-ne-
sepe, the soft Indian language may have its distinct mission; while one
interpretation is "flat or smooth stone," the velocity of the stream would
have that effect. In one of the Clark County books, an Ode to Mad
River reads:
"The rivers how they run
Through woods, and meads and shade and sun,
Sometimes swift, sometimes slow,
Wave succeeding wave they go,
A various journey to the deep,
Like human life in endless sleep."
Buck or Lagonda Creek joins Mad River west from Springfield,
having absorbed Beaver Creek on the other side of the city; it is said
the Shawnees used the word Lagonda, and while the meaning may not
be different is more euphonious, and has been combined with ether
names, as Lagonda Chapter D. A. R., Lagonda Club, Lagonda Bank and
Lagonda Hotel. At least twenty mill sites have been located on this
stream. It is a swift running stream, and when strangers are shown
Buck Creek they inquire about Lagonda.
There was beautiful scenery along Lagonda in its wild state, and the
unbroken limestone cliffs on either side were covered with cedars, ferns,
mosses, flowers and trailing vines. The grape vine hung from the stately
trees on the margin of the stream, and dipped its tendrils in its placid
waters; the sycamore bent its protecting boughs over its banks, while
the sugar maple and hackberry towered above the dogwood, red bud,
pawpaw, spicewood and other small growth lining the stream. "Back-
ward, turn backward, O Time in your flight," and make Lagonda beau-
tiful again.
While Mad River and the Little Miami drain different sections of
Clark County, the general trend of the water courses is to the south and
southwest, the lowest point in the county being found in Mad River
Township, where it is only 325 feet above the low water mark on the
Ohio at Cincinnati. It is said there is fishing in the Little Miami when-
ever the water is not frozen, and while it leaves the county and comes
back again at Clifton, through a gorge there the current is so swift that
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 77
promoters have considered utilizing it in the manufacture of power; it
would be accessible to different cities, but the volume of water is the
question. The scenery is beautiful, and power created there would be
and advantage to Clifton.
While the waters of Honey Creek leave Clark County on the west,
tributary to Mad River are: Muddy Run, Mud Creek, Donnels Creek,
Jackson Creek, Miller Creek, Mill Creek, and Buck Creek which through
its principal tributary Beaver Creek receives the water from Sinking
Creek and smaller streams, and nothing is said about a water shed in
Clark County. There is a Rocky Run, Dry Run and Chapman's Creek,
and drainage is not the perplexing problem— rfall may be had, and parts
of the county do not require artificial drainage at all.
Until the late '30s there were few bridges across the streams in Clark
County, those of primitive style not remaining long, but in 1837 there
was a bridge over Mad River west of Springfield, and in 1838 there was
a bridge at Donnelsville. Some of the early type of covered bridges are
s^ill seen both east and west from Springfield, and the Golden Arch
seems to be a permanent thing over Rocky Run. When there were no
bridges, people forded the streams or crossed in ferries, and drownings
were reported frequently.
The settlers knew all about the grappling hooks that were left in
houses along the streams, and narrow escapes from drowning were the
startling stories told by the pioneers. Swollen streams did not deter trav-
elers, and adventure was part of the plan in developing the country.
An old account says: "Directly through Springfield runs another
stream, small, but swift and unfailing," and while Mill Run is now only
a sewer, someone said: "The beautiful little rivulet, Mill Run, glided
smoothly through the town, dividing it into two sections, the east from
the west ; there was a small valley through which the stream flowed, and
on the west side were two brick, seven frame and many log houses. The
west bank of the run for several rods back was an exceedingly muddy and
miry place. In crossing Mill Run into the east part of Springfield, it
was necessary to wade mud and mire, cross the stream on a foot log and
climb the steep bank on the east side. There were more houses on the
east side, but as on the west they were principally built of logs."
The pedestrian on Main Street would have difficulty locating Mill
Run, although it was once an uncontrolled stream and a terror to the
community. In 1819 two Irishmen named Andrew and Frederick John-
son took the contract from the owners of the swampy land abutting Mill
Run to ditch and drain it. They rendered this portion of the town passa-
ble for man and beast. It was no uncommon occurrence for the stream
to overflow and flood Market Square, and small boats would ply the
street in the vicinity of the Esplanade. Sometimes people were driven
from their homes by Mill Run floods, and they were often water bound
in them.
Because it was a constant menace to property and human safety, in
1877, the Springfield City Council arched Mill Run from the site of the
Arcade, then the Whitely, Fassler and Kelly plant, through the business
center, and the stranger who notes the flow into Buck Creek by an abba-
toir between Fountain and Wittenberg avenues must be told of Mill Run
to know of its existence. This arch is eighteen feet wide and nine feet
high, and was constructed at a cost of $19,669.90, the city paying $582.44,
and the property owners benefited by it paying the remainder. It
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78 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
improved conditions in the neighborhood marked by Main, Jefferson,
Market and Center streets.
While its light is now "under a bushel," Mill Run once furnished the
power for machine shops and factories; it had the necessary fall, and
as many as a dozen industries had their motive power from its swift
flowing current. Mill Run reached Buck Creek through projecting rocks
covered with hanging vines, reaching down and forming a curtain to the
chasm. It was taller than a man's head, and under one side of the cas-
cade was a stream flowing from an aperture. It was a strong current of
remarkably cold water with the flavor of the water at Yellow Springs,
and it deposited a similar sediment, but the progressive age destroyed
the surrounding beauty. From blasting of the rocks the spring water dis-
appeared, and while Cliff Park is an attraction, the wild beauty of that
locality is gone forever.
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CHAPTER X
AGRICULTURE: THE WORLD'S OLDEST OCCUPATION
The fact remains unquestioned that the civilization of any country
does not advance more rapidly than does its agriculture. The pioneers
found that the chemical analysis of Clark County soil required a mixture
of elbow grease and industry — a startling fact, yet nevertheless true, if
they were to dig their living from it. The woodman with his ax, and
the Irishman with his spade, entered into the wilderness question of
economics.
In discussing the early citizens, one writer says: "They left their
homes in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky and settled in the wilder-
ness of the Northwest Territory, where they built their humble cabin
homes and cleared the forests, under conditions that required heroic
courage and great physical endurance." Another writer adds : "Scarcely
had the State of Ohio been formed and received into the Union, when a
crowd of adventurers flocked into its bounds, and located themselves in
places that seemed attractive to them ;" while another writes : "It is the
poor and hard-working element that seeks a home in a new country.
We find the pioneer generally poor but robust, with an energy which
labor increases, and with an endurance that seems to baffle all opposing
forces."
Some more optimistic writer says : "There is a fascination in recall-
ing the times, scenes and actors in life's drama of the pioneer period. The
greater part of the goods transported from the eastern settlements were
brought over the Allegheny Mountains on pack horses. The first year's
subsistence had to be carried that way, and salt was packed hundreds
of miles to meet the wants of the settlers. It was sold to them from
$6 to $10 a bushel. Some of them brought their horses, cows and hogs,
and seeds for planting. Sometimes they carried vegetables and shrub-
bery, and they soon created the atmosphere of home about them. No
roads were laid out west of Pittsburgh, and but few wagons could find
their way over the mountains, and through the unbroken wilderness.
However, the very early settlers in Clark County came from Kentucky.
With only a few exceptions the Mad River Colony were all Kentuckians."
An early writer says: "Roads were soon made, and rough log
bridges spanned the smaller streams; the rivers had their ferries, and
country or general stores began to put in an appearance. They kept a
little of everything, but it was always articles of necessity, as hats, caps,
boots, shoes, chains, wedges, pots and kettles, and all that is duplicated
in Clark County history. While the Ordinance of 1787 made local his-
tory a possibility, and it has been described by one writer as a pillar of
cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and impressed upon the soil
while it bore nothing but the American forest, space does not allow of
further study outside the bounds of Springfield and Clark County. In
the public and in many private libraries are copies of Howe's "History of
Ohio" in two volumes ; Whitelaw Reid in two volumes, and Randall and
Ryan in five volumes, and some of the older single volume histories, and
the general history of Ohio is found in them.
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80 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
The Wild Lands
From 1801 to 1809 the settlers represent Clark County as a beautiful
country. In the area north of Springfield for fourteen miles upon land
that was later covered with thick timber, there were not enough poles to
have made hoops for a meat cart. In 1810, Griffith Foos at his hostelry
in Springfield, entertained James Smith who had been in the vicinity
may years earlier with the Indians, and he described the country to the
north and east as prairies, saying he had started up buffalo and elk there.
There is mention of Smith as a visitor among the settlers on Mad River.
Mr. Foos described the same land as almost destitute of timber — an undu-
lating plain covered with grass and a variety of wild flowers ; there was
a species of wild peas with fragrant blossoms.
In this tract pasture was abundant, and the cattle fed on it. The
time came when this same area consisted of a forest of large trees with
no undergrowth, and it was a well sodded country. Beyond Mad River
was an unbroken forest with trees in great variety, and where not choked
with undergrowth, it was a well sodded country. Prof. Edward Orton
describes the hard wood forests, listing oak, maple, white hickory and
burr oak, saying there were once 200,000 acres of timber in Clark
County. Query : What became of it ? An old account says Springfield
was a poor timber market, and the settlers "wagoned" to Dayton with it.
At the time Mad River was lined with milling and distilling establish-
ments, and Springfield had not yet asserted itself as a city.
There were very large poplar trees west from Mad River, and pump
makers liked poplar for well stocks; it did not discolor or embitter the
water. S. S. Miller tells of a mammoth poplar that fell across the road,
saying that a twelve-foot section had to be sawed off to allow of travel,
and by eye-measure it was six feet in diameter. In the old days of down
timber, how to get rid of it was the settler's problem. Since there was
no market for it, there were log rollings and thousands of trees were
burned in order that the ground might be cleared and turned to some
profit. When Springfield began to expand and utilize such material, it
was only a memory along Mad River. Oak, walnut, ash and poplar were
utilized in building, and there is much valuable walnut in the inside finish
of the older houses today.
The great forests were a standing menace to progress in agriculture;
they must be destroyed and give place to the cultivated fields, and in some
instances the land was worn otjt before the stumps had all disappeared
from it. The settler did not use dynamite in removing stumps but plowed
around them. The farm boy knew what it meant to be struck on the
shins with a root cut off by the plow. It required skill to manipulate a
plow and team, and usually the father had to break the new ground
himself. There was an era of leasing and clearing and making farms,
and log rollings and the whisky jug were part of the transformation.
The dinner was cooked before the fire on the hearth, and prior to 1850
there were few cookstoves in the rural homes; the grandmothers pre-
pared delicacies unknown today.
While the settler cut off the forest as cumbering the ground, the
careful husbandman of today resorts to tree surgery and reforestation,
processes unknown to the generation that went into the forest with the
ax. Tree surgery is recognized as the lasting way to preserve rare trees,
and the trees demolished by storm are restored. A man-made menace is
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 81
an improperly trimmed tree, and that is an art unknown to those who
came into the primitive forest. It is worse than the nature-made danger
in the shape of a tall forest which catches all of the winds; the trees
untrimmed have more resistance.
With reference to the advance of civilization in Clark County some
.one writes : "Unfold the canvas and look upon the changing panoramic
scene. One sees a wild of fine timber and a swift flowing stream.
The Indian settles; the nobler game flees away, and yet deer and wolf
abound; then the settler comes and raises his log cabin, the fields are
cleared and tilled. Look again and you note the growth of a beautiful
and thriving city, and such is Springfield. When nature and human skill
combine they produce the mid-day glories of the later civilization."
While native timber was once used in building, with the passing of
the years changes are noted. When the primitive supply was exhausted,
there was demand for white pine and hemlock and the forests of Michi-
gan furnished the supply, but dealers must range farther and wider for
lumber today ; yellow and white pine from California are now being used
by local builders. While walnut was once used so extensively, it has
vanished with the passing years. Beside timber from the western coast,
the Springfield market handles lumber from Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida,
Alabama and Mississippi. What once went up in smoke on the Clark
County clearings would amount to a snug fortune today.
Charcoal a Local Product
In the reminiscences of S. S. Miller is the story of how a charcoal pit
was filled and burned, and otherwise it is a forgotten industry. He says
the logs were placed on dry brush, and covered with green limbs to pre-
vent the earth from falling between them ; a hole was left at one end for
firing and dry wood was used there. The settler had a shed near the coal
pit with straw for his bed, and one would sleep while another watched
the fire which had to be kept at uniform heat in order to properly char
the logs. Sometimes spits of fire would come through the dirt covering
the pit, and it was necessary to smother it with more dirt; there was
busy work at times for the man who burned a pit of charcoal. There
came a time when there was not such prodigal waste of timber in burn-
ing charcoal, and four-foot wood was stood on end with tapering courses
above the bottom round, and the pile was covered with dirt, smoldering
the blaze in order to char it. The coal pit described by Mr. Miller was
burned in 1837 on land later owned by the Keifers and once the home of
Gen. J. Warren Keif er on Mad River. It was then a virgin forest except
one-half acre that was occupied by a cabin.
This cabin had been occupied by a shoemaker named Fair, and a
leather latch string hung out of his door. When civilization was approach-
ing too near him, and he became tired of such cramped quarters — a coal
pit so near him, he went west — that word then meaning to Indiana. He
had several grownup sons and wanted to better conditions for himself
and family. When his household goods were packed into the wagon
drawn by tw6 small horses, the dog tied underneath the wagon and the
cow to the hind axle, Mr. Fair was unable to fasten an arm chair to the
end of the load with a bed cord, so that it would ride over the feed trough,
and when a drizzling rain began a neighbor offered him a Spanish dollar
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82 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
for it. It was used by Mr. Miller's grandfather until he died in 1844,
and was later treasured as a relic by relatives.
When the Fairs left this cabin by the coal pit the Widow Icenbarger,
who sold homemade ginger bread and beer in Springfield, sent some of
her children there — six of whom were boys, and they secured work
among the farmers. They chopped off much of the timber, and in corn
planting, husking and harvest they were useful in the community. In
time the cabin was too small for them, and they went to Stillwater
in Miami County. As civilization advanced, there has ever been those
who, like Simon Kenton, went into the new country again. While clear-
ing was part of the process, deadening was an earlier stage. A deaden-
ing was a woeful scene. By girdling the trees with an ax in the fall, the
leaves would not come again, and much of it was done to lessen the labor
of clearing the land. It was urged by some that deadening the timber
conserved soil fertility.
There were saw mills along Mad River, and some of the smaller
streams, and poplar was cut into weather-boarding, ash into flooring, and
walnut was used for inside finish and making cupboards. There were
three-cornered walnut cupboards in many pioneer homes. Walnut was
also used by carpenters in making coffins. Then, as now, all ages and
conditions were represented in the passing throng to that bourne from
which there are no returned travelers. Walnut was used for the inside
finish of the Clark County Court House, and it was much admired. For
many years its high price as well as scarcity has been prohibitive of its
use by carpenters. Sugar maple was used by cabinetmakers for the
posts and rails of bedsteads, beech was used for sheathing on buildings.
While the large elms remained the longest^ they were the best for char-
coal. The hickories and walnuts afforded nuts, and there was some
reward for roaming in the forest. When the leaves were on the sky
was hidden, and the varieties of the trees is one of the mysteries.
The Sugar-Making Industry
In an ordinary season the settlers began tapping sugar trees in Feb-
ruary. It required cold nights, followed by sunshiny days to bring the
sap into the trees. Elder stalks were procured from the fence corners
and cleared spots and brought into the house where they were sawed into
the length for sugar spiles — usually about ten inches. One side was
whittled away and the pith removed from the elders. About two inches
at one end was left circular, and the pith was pushed out of it. A three-
quarter inch auger was used in boring holes into the trees, and the end
of the elder was whittled so as to fit into this hole, and through it the
sap flowed into a receptacle for it.
Unless broken while inserting or removing them from the trees, these
spiles were used one year after another, and it saved the trouble of mak-
ing them so often. Sugar troughs were made from butternut trees, or
poplar cut into three-foot lengths, and split and dug out with an ax.
These troughs were smoothed with a foot adz, and were sometimes used
as cradles. Some of the most prominent families used sugar troughs
in which to cradle their children ; being half round they did not require
the addition of rockers. In different camps there were different methods
of handling the sugar water. The iron kettles used in heating the water
for scalding hogs on butchering day, for heating the milk in which ren-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 83
net was used for coagulation in making cheese, in which lye was boiled
in making soap, or in which water was heated on wash day — those iron
kettles served the purpose again in the sugar camp. Settlers were accom-
modating, and sometimes the soap-making kettle was loaned to others in
sugar-making time. Who has not heard the riddle :
"Black upon black, and black upon brown,
Three legs up and six legs down?"
It was a negro astride a brown horse, bringing home the neighbor's iron
kettle on his head in sugar-making time.
A furnace was built in the sugar camp with a shelter over it, and
usually it was necessary to overhaul it at sugar-making time. It was
daubed with clay, and more mud must be mixed and added to it. Dry
wood was sometimes stored under this shelter to be in readiness for
boiling the sap another season. A series of kettles was placed on the
furnace, and as the sugar water thickened from boiling it was dipped
from one kettle to another, and fresh sap started in the end kettle.
Usually the kettles graded smaller as the sap neared the consistency of
molasses; it must be boiled longer before it is sugar.^ Those who date
back to sugar-making days in Clark County also remember the wax-pull-
ing parties in connection with it. Unless care was used, sugar water boiled
over easily, and not only wasted the water and the labor, but put out the
fire used in the process. Sometimes the careful housewife went to the
sugar camp herself, thus averting such misfortune.
Men and boys knew long hours of service in sugar-making. A sled
was used in drawing the sap from the trees to the furnace, and unless
a spigot had been put into the barrel, there was heavy lifting in emptying
the sugar water. It required a well-trained horse in drawing the sled,
or there was waste in transit, the sap splashing from the barrels. A cir-
cular lid inside the barrel did much to save the water. Unless there was
a spigot, buckets were used in emptying the barrels at the furnace, and
fresh kettles were started frequently. Sometimes a barrel or immense
hogshead was used for storage when the water was collected faster than
it could be boiled in the kettles. Sap would run for a few hours, and
then there would be no more sap until after a hard frost. There were no
sugar camps east of Mad River in Clark County.
Sometimes the sugar-making process was finished in the camp, and
sometimes the thickened sap was taken to the house and the boiling
continued there, the kettle suspended from a crane in the fireplace.
The housewife tested the finished product when molasses was desired
by the way a spoonful poured into a cup of water would crackle, and
when it was wanted for sugar it was cooked a little longer to insure
granulation; the pioneer depended upon homemade sugar. According
to the S. S. Miller reminiscence, it was necessary to conceal the loca-
tion of the sugar. In his own home the sugar was stored in a barrel in
the attic. In those days the use of tea and coffee was limited to Sunday
or when there were visitors, and then sugar was placed on the table.
Although it was dark, homemade sugar sweetened the dip made from
milk or cream, and poured over the apple dumplings so common among
the settlers.
When there was a surplus of maple sugar it went on the market at
from 4 to 8 cents a pound, and the syrup sold from 35 to 50 cents a
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84 SPRINGFIELD ANQ CLARK COUNTY
gallon. One Springfield grocer laid in a supply of the syrup, being
told that it would keep till harvest; the syrup fermented and the dealer
"soured," the investment being a loss to him. Sometimes a maple tree
standing alone where it was exposed to the sun, afforded the first flow
of sap and the family had homemade molasses in advance of opening
the sugar camp; the time came when supplies for operating the camp
could be had in the stores, and then came the time when there were few
sugar camps in Clark County. When dug-outs were used in which to
catch the sap conveyed through elder spiles, it was necessary to balance
the troughs to save the water; later metal spiles were on the market,
and sugar buckets were stored from one year to another, and there were
tricks in flavoring the homemade syrup. Maple molasses has been made
with hickory bark flavor, and the epicure was unable to detect it.
It is said the sugar-making process was known to the Indians; they
used the stone hatchet to make the opening into the trees, and conducted
the sap through bark spouts to the bark troughs, where they dropped
the heated stones in boiling the sap. While the crude methods of the
Indians were improved upon by the settlers, the process was unchanged,
and only a few years ago Ohio produced a million dollars worth annually
of maple molasses and maple sugar ; the 1910 report showed that $5,000,-
000 worth of maple products were produced in the United States. In
modern sugar camps the sap is boiled in evaporating pans and passes
automatically along — sap running in at one end and the finished molasses
running out at the other, but the flavor and fragrant odor have not
been improved since sugar camps were the order of the day west of
Mad River in Clark County. The expert Clark County sugar maker
stirred the syrup until it granulated — sampling it frequently, and finally
it found its way into barrels, only small quantities removed at a time,
in the Delftware bowls of other years — but the swiftly passing years
have changed the whole economic process and few today remember the
sugar camps and the old fashioned wax pulling parties. Backward,
turn backward, oh time in your flight.
The Sorghum Industry
As the country expanded a change came over the sugar-making
industry, the cane juice of warmer climates being substituted for the
maple sap, and John Foos and others cast their fortunes with the
Louisiana cane growing industry ; they had the capital and the machinery
to crush and refine it, making a light brown sugar shipped out in barrels
to dealers, but because it dried out rapidly grocers had difficulty with
the weighing and lost money handling it. When the Louisiana sugar
was shipped to Springfield, the barrels were left standing on the side-
walks, and the bees were attracted to it.
Sorghum was once extensively raised by the farmers in German
Township, and the molasses was on the Springfield market at 75 cents
a gallon. The seeds of the cane made good chicken feed, and the blades
were used as foddef; in the middle '60s there was a Leflfel sorghum
mill, and one year when sorghum molasses retailed at $1 a gallon in
Springfield, Joseph Leffel realized $200 from two acres of cane; he
used horse power for crushing, and it is said there would be more cane
grown if there were more mills for grinding it, and furnaces for boiling
the juice; while sorghum has been used for sweetening, it is not a sub-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 85
stitute for sugar. The Leffel sorghum mill was south from Springfield
near a spring, and since then John L. Zimmerman acquired the land and
erected an ornamental summer house at the spring. Contemporary with
the Leffel cane mill, the Rev. Abraham Myers who married into the
Leffel family, operated a sorghum mill near Donnelsville, utilizing the
water in Mad River for power ; he was a graduate of Wittenberg College.
Later the Leffels became interested in turbine water wheels, and turned
their attention to bigger things than the sorghum making industry.
While some of the early day sugar camps west of Mad River had as
many as 500 trees, and the camps were opened every year, there is little
sugar making in Clark County today. It is said that when timber of one
variety has been removed, and the ground is left idle, it will become
covered with other varieties ; the birds transport seeds, and in one way
or another nature always clothes its nakedness. While sugar trees were
numerous west from Mad River, east from the stream were the different
kinds of oak and hickory — varieties suitable for buggy spokes, and
other articles requiring tough wood, but aye, the woodman and his ax
have rendered those ancient • conditions as a story that is told in the
annals of Clark County today.
Another By-Product of the Forest
Just as in the spring the young man's fancy turns to love, the pioneer
woman made the soap to be used in her household for the succeeding
twelvemonth, and it was demonstrated again that "beauty draws smoke."
While ash-hoppers were of various patterns, one was made from barrel
staves or clapboards slanted from a dug-out or sugar trough used to
catch the lye as it was leached through wood ashes; this hopper was
square at the top, the staves being three or four feet in length, and at
the end of the trough an iron kettle was usually partly sunk into the
ground to catch the lye as it treacled through the ashes; in order to
secure their full strength, the ashes were dampened several days before
enough water was poured into the hopper to produce the flow of lye.
The pioneer home soap-maker tested the strength of the lye by dropping
a fresh egg into the kettle; if it floated, the lye was of the proper
strength to cut the grease, and soap-making began in earnest.
The same iron kettle used on butchering day was again utilized, the
soap being made at the same place near the wood pile where the house-
wife could find chips to add to the blaze, when she wanted the soap to
boil a little stronger; the wind was always changing and blowing the
smoke in her face — thus the saying, beauty draws smoke. The refuse
from butchering, and the meat rinds saved from the kitchen, constituted
the soap grease, and when the lye was strong it did not require long
cooking to make soap ; a little salt added to the soap caused it to harden,
and then it was fancy to be used on Sunday; usually it was soft soap,
made for the home laundry. If the Indians knew the art of soap making,
history is silent about it. They did not wear much clothing, and their
ablutions were in the streams.
S. S. Miller writes: "Springfield once had a soap factory located
below the rocks on the south side of Buck Creek, a few rods west of
where Mill Run, the town's storm water stream poured over the rocks ;
it was operated by Mark Smith. As wood ashes were easily procured,
and grease from the nearby slaughter houses, he did a thriving business ;
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86 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
he made two kinds of soap, and the common soap was packed in boxes
containing 100 bars which was wholesaled to grocers, and retailed at
5 cents a bar." Smith also made a scented soap used for the hands and
face, and while he made a success, Springfield has no soap factory
today. While soap is mentioned in the Bible, it is only in the Old
Testament. When wood ashes were no longer possible, soap making
became a lost art in Clark County. However, careful housewives have
methods of using up soap grease, although out-of-door soap making and
ash-hoppers went the way of the world along with the grandmothers
who understood such things.
Ohio the Buckeye State
Why is Ohio called the Buckeye State? William M. Farrar says:
"The usual and most commonly accepted solution is that it originates
from the buckeye tree," but it is found in Kenutcky, Indiana and in
West Virginia, and perhaps elsewhere; its natural locality appears to
be in Ohio, and its native soil in the rich valleys of the Muskingum,
Scioto and Miami rivers; in the early settlement of the state it was
found in abundance, and because of the luxuriance of its foliage, the
richly colored dyes of its fruit, and its ready adaptation to the wants
and the conveniences of the pioneers, it was highly prized by them for
many useful purposes. It was also well known to and much prized by
the Indians, from whose rude language comes its name, Hetuck, mean-
ing the eye of the buck because of the striking resemblance in color and
shape between the brown nut and the eye of that animal, the peculiar
spot upon the one corresponding to the iris in the other." Mr. Farrar
adds: "In its application, however, we have reversed the term and
called the person or thing to which it is applied a buckeye."
It seems that the all-inclusive word Buckeye means all things to
everybody, and in his "Memoirs of the Early Pioneer Settlers of .Ohio,"
published in 1884, Dr. S. P. Hildreth, of Marietta, says: "Colonel
Ebenezer Sproat who had been appointed sheriff, opened the first
court ever held in Ohio, September 2, 1788, marching with his drawn
sword and wand of office at the head of the judges, governors and secre-
tary, made an imposing and august spectacle. Mr. Sproat was a large
and dignified looking gentleman, and he was at once christened by the
large crowd of Indian spectators as 'Hetuck/ or 'Big Buckeye.' From
this, no doubt, originated the name of 'Buckeye/ now applied to the
natives of Ohio, as the phrase was familiar to all the early settlers of
Marietta." While the buckeye tree is not limited to Ohio soil, residents
of other states have their own local designations, and Clark County
residents, may so designate themselves with equal propriety as the
inhabitants of any other Ohio county. Webster says: "A cant name
for a native of Ohio."
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CHAPTER XI
THE PROGRESS OF CLARK COUNTY AGRICULTURE
While all industries are essential to civilization, in the countries where
the methods of agriculture are crude there is not much progress along
any line of development ; the stranger who rides along the well improved
highways of Clark County today in the modern touring car, is hardly
cognizant of the fact that only yesterday very diffefent conditions
existed in this country.
In writing about some waste land several centuries ago, the "Shepherd
of the Hills" rather accurately describes the territory ceded by the
American Indians to the United States Government, through the direct
instrumentality of Gen. Anthony Wayne; in a dissertation on wilder-
ness conditions, barrenness and standing water, the Psalmist David
caught the vision of the Old Northwest, when he penned the words:
*'He turneth the wilderness into standing water. * * * And there
He maketh the hungry to dwell that they may prepare a city for habita-
tion; and sow the fields and plant vineyards which may yield fruit.
* * * He blessed them also that they are multiplied greatly."
If there was a time when the Northwest Territory was submerged,
as scientists assert, and huge blocks of ice traveled slowly down from
the north, nature later shaking off the chill and allowing the heart of
the earth to grow warm when the loosened ice ridges broke away, and
the smitten waters flashed — well, Mad River seems to be the explanation.
The Old Routine
While the theory of crop rotation is being studied today, the old idea
of agriculture was to raise more corn and hogs in order to buy more
land on which to raise more corn and hogs; it was an endless chain
theory that caused some men to become land poor before methods of
intensive farming had claimed attention. Progress and improvement
are more rapid now than at any time in the history of the world, and
it is undeniable that agriculture is keeping pace with other industries.
It is the fundamental occupation and all others are dependent upon it.
An old account says: "One of the peculiarities of the earlier times
was the varied development, and the marked individuality among men;
every little community had its distinguished men/' and that still holds
good in Clark County agriculture.
Of the settlers along Mad River it seems that David Lowry who
came into the community as a member of a surveying party, and
secured a choice bit of land there, lingered longest; the Lowry farm
is known to posterity. When Lowry came in 1796, the area now covered
by Springfield was a plum tree and hazel brush thicket ; while there was
a thick undergrowth, the woods were full of bears, deer, wild turkeys
and other wild game valued by the Indians as well as the settlers, who
were hunters from necessity. In one year Mr. Lowry and Jonathan
Donnel, who were associated in wilderness history, killed seventeen
bears and 1,000 deer, and their venture in shipping venison hams is
elsewhere related. It is said that Mr. Lowry once shot a bear and two
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88 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
cubs in the space of three minutes. The above story is given to posterity
by R. C. Woodward, who admits that many similar stories were told
to him by Lowry and others.
Had Mr. Woodward, who published "Springfield Sketches" in 1852,
written down more of those adventures — hunting excursions and swim-
ming swollen streams, he would have done in a particular way for
Clark County what Henry Howe did in a general way for the whole
State of Ohio. While Mr. Lowry was not a squatter ahead of the
survey, he secured what he wanted, and was among the first to leave
his mark in the wilderness. The brawny settler had activities before
him, and when he had forty acres of cleared land he had made great
progress. In the '20s and '30s, now a full century ago, there were many
improvements and still Clark County farmers "wagoned" to Cincinnati;
they had a little home market, and there was a city of 15,000 inhabitants
who must be fed. When the families lived two, three and four miles
apart, there was little social intercourse — borrowed fire in extremities,
and gradually they "grew up with the country." *
In explaining boundaries and farms, it is said the settlers secured
what they wanted and in the shape they wanted it, and later the sur-
veyors allowed them to maintain their possessions, surveying around
them and officials find the original surveys confusing. Isaac Newton
Seever who since 1876 has been a surveyor in Clark County, relates
that the compass used by Symmes and later by Ludlow was finally
owned by Thomas Kizer. The 1881 History says : "Col. Thomas Kizer,
the veteran surveyor, has in his possession a compass made by Dean of
Philadelphia; this instrument was owned and used by his father, David
Kizer, who obtained it from Col. John Daugherty about 1813. Daugherty
got it from Jonathan Donnel ; this relic is marked : I. Ludlow, 1791 ;
Henry Donnel, 1794; J. Donnel, 1796, and John Daugherty, 1799. These
marks are rudely scratched upon the cover of the instrument, and bear
every evidence of being genuine. There is no doubt but this old compass
was used in making the first surveys in this county, or that it is the
identical instrument used by John Daugherty in laying off Demint's
plat of Springfield, and by Jonathan Donnel on the survey of New
Boston."
Cornerstone and witness trees are part of early history, and Mr.
Seever is familiar with them through doing private as well as public
surveying through many years. When asked about Devils Lanes, he
only remembered one, and it was in Mad River Township; it did not
exist many years. Two men did not agree, and each constructed his
own line fence between them; they would not join each other in build-
ing it. At existing prices of fence building materials, most men would
settle their differences rather than build separate fences. This lane
was in the locality known as Kill-digging, although Mr. Seever did not
know the origin of the term ; it was well timbered country and the timber
in Kill-digging once almost skirted Springfield.
At Preemption Prices
The bulk of the Snyder farm property which has benefited Spring-
field and Clark County in so many ways, was acquired in 1827 when
land was rated at $1.25 an acre; the heirs to the property held it until
Springfield advanced, and land values advanced with it, and those who
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"came early and got plenty," became the wealthy citizens. "While they
endured the privations with which they were encompassed with heroic
fortitudes, and a patience which exalted them, those old time heroes
and heroines could get the necessaries of life at a good deal less cost
than their favored children and grandchildren, and there was any quan-
tity of land available at government price, $1.25 an acre, and excellent
swamp land all but the swamp at 25 cents an acre with twelve months'
time and county warrants at par," but time has worked changes — not
much swamp land in Clark County.
While a recent Springfield advertisement reads: A country home
plus cows, pigs, poultry, fruits and vegetables equals solid contentment
and an assured good living, regardless of employment conditions in the
city, there are Clark County farmers who feel differently about it.
The ad says: Many former Springfield residents are now living in
the country and enjoying the use of fresh milk, cream, eggs, poultry,
pork, lard, vegetables, fruits, etc. Some of them work in the city when
employment is to be had, while others devote their time to producing a
surplus to sell; reports from all over America signify a 1'back to the
farm" movement. Why not join the crowd, and be in the country when
the joyous spring invites the flowers and the buds for your entertainment?
It is a pretty sentiment :
"Under the snowdrifts the blossoms are sleeping,
Dreaming their dreams of sunshine and June."
but farm folk know there is more connected with rural activities than
just awaiting the developing processes of nature. Statistics show that
of the 2,487 farms in Clark County, 1,534 of them are operated by
families who own and live on them, leaving a balance of 953 farms to
be operated by tenants, although an increase in the percentage of rented
farms in Ohio within the twentieth century is noted by the census reports.
In 1900, tenants occupied 27.4 per cent of the farm lands in the state,
while in 1920 it was 29.5, showing an increase of 2.1 per cent of tenant
farmers in twenty years, but the percentage would be greater in Clark
County; when the man operating the farm owns it, he is interested in
its development, as well as in the roads and schools surrounding it.
Some of the wealthiest farmers in Clark County began on rented land,
when they were unable to buy it ; some who bought land since the era of
inflated values are not so fortunate as those who invested before the
World war, and had the advance in the value of farm products in paying
for it. As their flocks increased and their herds multiplied, they met
their payments, while those who paid the higher prices have had to meet
their land payments with declining markets. Corn, beef and pork were
^profitable products, and Clark County farmers had their part in feeding
the world. Diversified farming is recognized as a necessity, and there
is income from different sources and at different times. It is said that
on some farms the mistake has been made of too much expenditure in
elegant homes, and when the farm goes to a tenant he seldom requires
so much shelter.
It is said to be a Pennsylvania idea that a good barn helps to build
the necessary house, while an expensive house built first does not help
build the barn; care of livestock and the grain produced is possible
when barn room is provided, and the revenue is from the farm products.
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90 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
The time to buy land is on the decline of the market, but the time to
sell farm products is on the rising market, and the barn enables the
farmer to take advantage of conditions. While a number of Clark
County farms have been acquired through the succession of heritage,
current expenses must be met and there are some local examples where
the fortune has not been exhausted in the third generation. It is said
there are only two generations between shirt sleeves, but there is no
inherent reason why the third generation should let go of the fortune.
While some Clark County land may only have changed ownership by
inheritance, the future will tell the story.
While the acreage in Clark County is rated at 260,480, something
is to be counted out for the towns and the waste land, and the 1920
census report places the tillable land at 241,540 acres; since the 1910
census estimate the tillable land at 241,631 acres, there is a loss of
ninety-one acres; what is the explanation? In 1900 the acreage under
cultivation was 240,903, but that allows for clearing and bringing more
land under cultivation. Sometimes the fence rows offer the explanation,
the farmer, losing ground to the unrestrained growth of briers and
bushes, but that would hardly creep into the United States Census
report. The value of farm property in 1920 was $42,962,095, which
was an advance of $15,758,015 in ten years, and since the 1900 census
quoted Clark County farm values at $16,930,454, the advance in twenty
years of $26,031,641, throws some light on the economic problem —
the high cost of living, which is usually attributed to the World war.
Beside operating their own land, 115 Clark County land owners
rent other farm land, and sixty-one farms were operated by managers,
and in some instances the owner lives in town and hires the labor on
the farm, managing it himself. Someone remarked: "Now that
every acre is utilized in pasture or cultivated crops, it is hard to reconcile
the fact that only a generation ago some of it was outside pasture;
now somebody utilizes every foot of it." A recent newspaper squib
reads: "If Ohio keeps on in the way she is now going — and has been
going for the last twenty years — it will not be long until we begin to
read about 'abandoned Buckeye farms,' just as we have long been
hearing of 'deserted New England farms/ "
"There is less improved farm land in Ohio today than there was a
score of years ago ; and there is getting to be less every year. In 1900,
according to the census report, there were 19,244,472 acres of improved
land under cultivation, used for pasture and covered by farm buildings;
in 1910 the acreage had decreased to 19,227,969, showing a shrinkage
of 16,506 acres, while in 1920 it had shrunk to 18,542,353 acres, showing
that in twenty years more than 700,000 acres already wrested from the
forests of Ohio has been allowed to revert to brier-grown waste. In
Clark County the conditions are different, in twenty years there being
639 acres additional although a decline of ninety-one acres was shown
in the last ten years. In 1900 it was estimated that Ohio had 4.6 acres
of cleared land to support each inhabitant, while the last census shows
3.2 acres, another potent explanation of the advance in the price of
commodities.
The Dairy Farmer
The law of supply and demand still controls the situation, and with
more consumers and fewer productive acres, there is but one possible
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 91
result — the higher cost of everything. The 1920 census shows the income
of Clark County farmers as follows: from dairy products, $1,011,766,
while the total value of dairy cattle is placed at $1,082,942, and beef
cattle valued at $516,376. The receipts from hogs were $1,085,375,
and from sheep $194,000, showing the bulk of the income to be from
the cattle industry. At the 1922 annual meeting of the Springfield
Milk Producers' Association with more than 100 members present,
all were united in demanding better prices from the milk dealers; it
was decided to change from semi-annual to monthly meetings in order
that the producers may better take care of their common interests;
they had been selling milk at a loss, and some were ready to abandon
the business. At this meeting Harry Anderson was elected to succeed
David F. Snyder as president. Five delegates were elected to meet with
the Miami Valley Milk Producers' Association, and W. N. Scarff
reported a conference with authorities at Ohio State University with
reference to the milk producing situation in Clark County.
Mr. Scarff was advised at the University that Clark County milk
producers should establish a distributing station in order to take care
of the surplus product and Mr. Snyder told of his own activities in
urging legislation in favor of the milk producers; through the efforts
of Ohio dairymen, favorable action was promised, and the Springfield
association will continue its demands. Since farmers are balancing
accounts and studying the cost of production, they are planning to
be on the safe side — hence this agitation of the milk market question.
Beside Mr. Anderson as president, the roster of the Springfield Milk
Producers' Association is: C. W. Lawrence, vice president; George
Winwood, secretary, and Clark Crabill, treasurer. Since 1905 the
association has functioned in Clark County.
It was planned at the meeting to put on a membership campaign
in an effort to enroll every milk producer in Clark County; while there
are 150 members, there are about 500 producers. President Anderson
said: "It is our aim to secure 100 per cent membership in the asso-
ciation; it Will be a formidable one if every producer joins with us."
The association values the service of W. H. Stackhouse, who was among
148 men summoned from all parts of the country by Secretary Wallace
of the Department of Agriculture, to a conference on agriculture. While
Mr. Stackhouse is not a farmer, he is a manufacturer of agricultural
implements, and a former president of the National Association of Farm
Equipment Manufacturers. Mr. Stackhouse had always favored farmers
and the recognition given him at Washington reflects honor on Clark
County.
The milk producers are in favor of dairy inspection by public health
officials, and they will use their own bottles, the dealers saying the aver-
age life of a bottle is about nine trips to a customer. Under a state
law the use of bottles copyrighted by one firm by another is an infringe-
ment, on the same basis as the violation of laws protecting trade marks.
Inspected dairies must show 70 per cent standard requirements, and
score cards indicate the condition of the herds, barns and general sanita-
tion. There is also a movement toward establishing a testing organiza-
tion, to be known as the Clark County Cow Testing Association. Dean
Ivan McKellip of Ohio State University explained the advantages,
saying tests are made twice each month, and thus farmers may deter-
mine which are the valuable animals in their herds; records are filed
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92 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
at the university, and with the National Breeders' Association. The
charter members of the Clark County Cow Testing Association are:
Judge A. H. Kunkle, D. H. Olds, W. W. Garrison, Charles Hatfield,
O. E. Lohnes, Frank Snypp, Floyd Carter, Caleb Jones, Elias Driscoll,
T. L. Calvert, William Nelson and Harry Croutwater.
Some of the members of the organization have been testing cows for
several months, and the new members began immediately. L. E. Valley
of Ohio State University has been making tests an4 within a short
time an association may be formed for daily tests. While bacteriology
is not in all vocabularies, the mastery of bacteria is important to the
health of the community. The Springfield milk distributors have official
bacteriologists whose duty.it is to detect and eliminate bacteria before
the milk is delivered to consumers; as an article of food, milk is most
susceptible to the existence of disease germs. The study of bacteria in
milk reveals some startling conditions.
Demands Upon the Individual Cow
It is estimated by the Ohio Farm Bureau Association that each cow
supplies milk, butter, cheese and other products for five human beings,
beside nourishing her own offspring, and numerous pigs, chickens, cats
and dogs; even motherless lambs sometimes share her largess. Each
cow has her dry period which varies from one to two months, and the
careful dairyman as well as the average husbandman avoids having the
cows all dry at one time. The pioneer mothers who knew nothing of
the commercial butter colors, planned to have the cow turned into clover
early; they liked to deliver yellow butter in Springfield. However,
some of them lived to see the day when the whole milk was sold, and
their supply of butter came from town.
While the milking machine is not in general use in Clark County,
most dairymen have installed it; the expense of installation and the
upkeep are taken into consideration. There is no longer any question
about the use of separators, incubators and manure spreaders, and
wherever milk is produced the silo has demonstrated its usefulness.
In 1896 W. W. Hyslop of German Township installed the first silo in
Clark County; he used it sixteen years, and because it was not standing
where he wanted it in changing his feeding plans, he used the lumber
from it as flooring in the barn ; since then he has installed three other
silos. While many were prejudiced against the silo until after it demon-
strated its usefulness — among them W. N. ScarflF, the day came when
there were fifteen silos installed at White Oaks, and in a paper advocat-
ing the use of ensilage, Max M. Scarflf relates that in 1882, according
to a survey made by the Department of Agriculture, there were only
ninety-two silos in use in the United States.
Within forty years from that survey, there were 700,000 silos in
use in the United States. When Clark County farmers first began
discussing organization thirty years ago, they were beginning to hear
of the wonderful feed, and now silos are scattered to the remote corners
of the world. At White Oaks much forage other than corn is utilized
in the silos, wild grass and weeds serving the purpose, cattle eating it
with avidity. The paper as read before a meeting of the Horticultural
society ends : "Let me impress again the fact that the silo is a necessity
on the American farm today, and that the progressiveness of a man can
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 93
be told by the number and size of his silos.'* While Mr. Hyslop had
the first silo in Clark County, he was also the first man in Ohio to use
silage for beef production; fie finds it an economy since all the corn is
utilized, the composition different from the silage fed to dairy cows.
It is said that Clark County farmers have a progressive attitude
toward improvements; the old methods were all right in their day, but
advantages are being taken of invention; expenses have advanced, and
intensive methods are necessary. Under the old method of feeding and
handling the dairy products, dairying would be unprofitable. Farmers
never fed livestock on such fluctuating markets as since the World war,
and the experiment stations are feeling the difficulty as well as the
farmers. Clark County farmers are advised to study Pittsburgh rather
than Chicago markets, the prize winners at the International Fat Stock
Show being prepared specially for that market. The by-products and
soil fertility are two arguments in favor of livestock production on the
farms of Clark County. Good cattle feeders are like artists and poets —
they are born and not made — and a liking for it assures success. A well
fed steer is a bulletin indicating the balanced ration, and the margin
between the cost and the selling price — that is the essential thing.
Give livestock what they want and when they want it, and there is
little danger of over feeding; the expert judges an animal by the condi-
tion of its hair, and plenty of water is — well, profitable, if the buyer is
due and the. scales are in working order. A lick of salt creates the
demand for water, and some farmers manage to secure good prices for
aqua pura. A stockman came unexpectedly to the farm and had the
coveted opportunity of seeing the steers on pasture. He would buy
them from the field, but the astute farmer knowing the location of the
water trough, engaged the attention of the buyer momentarily with his
car. When he finally rounded up the steers the water had been lowered
several inches, and he footed the bill for it.
The Educated Farmer
While pasture was plentiful and livestock found its own living in
the forest not much attention was paid to it. In the evolution process,
the time came when the land was considered too valuable for pasture,
and "corn and hogs" was the solution of the difficulty ; the wheel turned
again, and dairy farming was recognized as the profitable thing. While
the women had quietly supported the family with the cows and the
poultry, the "corn and hog" farmers requiring all their money with
which to buy more land on which to raise more corn and hogs, and the
pendulum swung again.
Students from Ohio State University won first place in the collegiate
livestock judging contest at the 1921 International Livestock Exposition,
Chicago, the Ohio team scoring 4,178 out of a possible 5,000 points,
winning first honors in placing sheep and horses, and showing knowledge
of all domestic animals. Educators and agricultural experts lament
the fact that the farm is unable to compete with the city in its allurements,
but when farmer boys and girls have opportunities with livestock they
enjoy it. There are schools of animal husbandry and household arts,
and the young people are being educated back to the farm ; business men,
bankers and farm leaders realize that helping farm boys and girls to
solve their new and puzzling problems in agriculture is one of the most
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94 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
effective means of building and strengthening a more dependable system
of economics in America.
A pioneer description of life reads: "We walked on dirt floors
for carpets ; we sat on stools or benches for chairs ; we ate on puncheon
tables, and we had forked sticks and pocket or butcher knives for
knives and forks; we slept on bear, deer or buffalo skins before the
fire, or sometimes on the ground in the open air for beds; we had our
saddles or saddle bags for pillows instead of pillows of feathers; we
had one suit of clothes of homespun which was ample for a year;
we crossed creeks and rivers without bridges or ferryboats; often we
swam them on horseback, or crossed on trees that had fallen over the
streams; the above course of training is the college in which the settler
graduated," and in contradistinction to the universities and colleges
available to the rural families of today.
No longer can the boy of the Clark County farm expect to succeed
by driving his wagon in the rut made by his father, and an education
that enables him to cope with changed conditions awaits him; properly
educating 11,000,000 boys and girls in order to render rural life more
inviting is the task set before the extension workers of agricultural
colleges, and the United States Department of Agriculture.
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CHAPTER XII
DIVERSIFIED PRODUCTS OF AGRICULTURE
From time "immemorial," the "tiller of the soil" has been advised
against having "all his eggs in one basket," and the dairy farmer knows
the economy of having a few hogs following the cattle on pasture. While
it requires different fencing, "hog tight, horse high and bull strong"
is the kind of fence needed on any fafm where livestock is featured,
and the last census shows that Clark County farmers receive an average
revenue of $1,085,375 from swine, with many pure bred herds; in
an ode to the pig, some one writes :
"I love thee! roast or boiled,
Or deep in pie embedded,
Or in the portly sausage, plump and big;
But best of all to sage and onions wedded,
Oh— you Pig!"
In order that the pig may thrive the corn crop is a necessity. The
1920 census shows that Clark County produced 2,582,453 bushels of
corn, and 720,000 bushels of wheat, with small grains and fruits to
supply the demand. As early as 1839 the Ohio Gazetteer and Travelers'
Guide said of Clark County: "Taking its size and secluded position
into consideration, it is one of the most productive counties in the state ;
as yet it has no outlet to market save the country roads, but such is the
fertility of its soil, and the beautiful face of the country interspread
with durable streams, and well watered by springs, that a very large
portion is under a high state of cultivation."
Corn is the most valuable crop raised in the United States, and much
of it is converted into beef or pork before it reaches the market; the
four leading crops: corn, hay, cotton and wheat, represent an annual
value of more than $10,000,000,000, which is 70 per cent of everything
harvested in the whole country. The Ohio Experiment Station Bulletin
shows a steady increase in corn production, with a slight drop in acreage
in the '80s, followed by an increased acreage since that time. Since
more attention has been given to corn again the yield per acre has been
increased, and there is talk about 100 bushels — and actual measurement
confirms it, but in limited acreage under special culture conditions, the
corn clubs showing the highest yield per acre. "Corn is king," and there
are veritable corn kings in the country.
The 1921 corn kings of Ohio as "crowned" by the Ohio State
University Agricultural College were John Gleason of Clinton County,
who produced 113.1 bushels, and J. Elmer Drake of Clark County, who
showed a production of 105.8 bushels of air-dried, shelled corn on ten-
acre plots. Eight Ohio farmers are now listed as producing more than
100 bushels, and this is the second time Mr. Drake has won the honor,
having produced 101.25 bushels the previous year. There was a time
when forty bushels was regarded as a big yield of corn in Clark County.
In more favorable corn years, more farmers attain to the 100-bushel
standard, one Madison County farmer having shown a production of
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96 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
125.64 bushels of corn on a ten-acre tract, and a Muskingum County
farmer attaining to 128.81 bushels, the highest production noted at the
Ohio State University Agricultural College. The different townships
in Clark County have held corn shows, and Paul Sherrin of. Madison
Township who produced 118.5 bushels to the acre is proclaimed the
1921 champion boy corn grower of the county.
Leads the Miami Valley
When Warren County was preparing for its centennial celebration
some years ago, prizes were offered for authentic information as to who
had produced the first crop of corn in the Great Miami Valley, and
Clark County won supplying the information that John Paul, Jr., had
grown corn on Honey Creek in 1792, the area then in Greene, but now
in Bethel Township, Clark County. It has been related that the Paul
family massacre in 1790, occurred while its members were outside the
palisade preparing the soil for planting, the father and mother and
three of the children falling victims to the tomahawk, while a son and
daughter reached the cabin, and according to accounts, this son pro-
duced a corn crop two years later.
While some of the accounts credit Kreb and Brown with growing
the first corn along Mad River in 1796, the John Paul, Jr., narrative
won out in the Miami Valley investigation. The Paul family endured
unusual hardships, and just recognition should not be withheld from
this wilderness agriculturist. When Clark becomes a front line Ohio
county in corn production, it should commemorate this frontier corn
grower who won the laurels for Clark before it had established a name
for itself among Ohio counties. It is related that when Kreb and Brown
were growing their first crop on Mad River in 1796, David Lowry, who
had just come into the community, supplied their table with fish and
game and lived with them. He raised a crop the next year for himself,
and also accompanied the surveyors who laid out the first road from
Dayton to Springfield — that a few years before there was a Springfield.
It is said those pioneers who "consecrated the rich soil of Clark to
the ennobling art of agriculture/' had their camps near the present rail-
road crossing on Mad River, and that it was the most primitive method
of agriculture — the forked sticks and brush, and since Springfield has
become a world center in the manufacture of improved implements of
agriculture, it seems a far cry to stick-and-brush methods along Mad
River. The Indians had grown corn there, the accounts saying that
Gen. George Rogers Clark and his army destroyed several hundred
acres of it in 1780, and mention is made of their green corn festival which
was an annual occurrence.
"For this festival the hunters supplied the game from the forests
and the women the green corn and vegetables from the fields; on this
occasion they not only feasted themselves with plenty, but made offer-
ings and did homage to the Great Spirit for his blessings. (They may
have borrowed the New England Thanksgiving idea instituted by the
Pilgrim fathers.) At this festival each year the council of women of
the tribe selected the names of the children born during the previous
year, and the chiefs proclaimed the names at the festival; these names
could not be changed, but additional names might be acquired by acts of
bravery or circumstances which might reflect honors upon the persons."
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While "the crops grown by the Indians consisted mostly of corn, they
cultivated beans and peas, and they had a kind of potato that captives
among them said "when peeled and dipped in coon's fat or bear's fat,
tasted like our own sweet potatoes."
While W. N. Scarff of White Oaks in Bethel Township paid $100
for ten ears of premium seed corn grown in Johnson County, Indiana, .
by Klore the "corn king" of the United States until someone else
wrested the title, because of his seed and nursery business, he could
afford to do it for the advertising, and yet under the decline of market
prices it was announced that corn belt farmers in 1921 received less
than 5 cents an hour for their labor, and the labor of their wives and
children — statement made by a speaker at an agricultural conference,
but with the eight-hour day — eight hours in the morning and eight hours
again in the afternoon — that allowed of some revenue from corn
production.
In studying economics, farmers are advised to think in terms of com-
modities instead of fluctuating dollars, and they wonder why they must
pay 400 bushels of corn for a wagon they used to buy for 150 bushels;
they pay 350 bushels for a gang plow they used to buy with 125 bushels,
and the corn farmers hit the hardest by the depression have discovered
that the dollar is the common measure of values, and it is what they can
get with their money after all. But after all the housewife who exclaims :
"But as I wield the rolling pin,
Or light and frothy eggs I beat,
I long to watch some hungry him,
Just eat — and eat — and eat."
has discovered the real secret of happiness — the way to reach the heart
of a man, is to tickle his palate with things edible— delicacies, whether
in or out of season.
Some dreamer exclaims: "The farmer has the privilege of going
out in the morning sun, and taking off his hat to the beauties of the
world. God is the great artist who with sunshine, rain and soil and
shower, can combine colors and produce a burst of glory ; the mansions
in the skies are not more delectable than the landscapes, and some of the
habitations of earth. 'The earth is the Lord's/ and yet the hand of man
has rendered some beauty possibilities an offense against the landscape
— nothing cheerful, and all shade and shrubbery a minus quantity."
Too many farm homes fail to combine the artistic sense with the utility
idea, and the environment is unattractive; it was Alexander Pope who
exclaimed :
"Happy the man whose wish and care a few paternal acres bound —
Content to breathe his native air, in his own hallowed ground,"
and in Clark County are such exemplifications — some homesteads that
measure up to the requirements.
HUMORESQUE
It is said an agriculturist must have more money than a mere farmer
— that once upon a time, a farmer was equal to the emergencies, but
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98 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
now that he must know the botanical names of vegetables, and the
scientific names of the bugs that destroy them, as well as the chemical
formula of the stuff that destroys the bugs, he is more than a farmer;
he is an agriculturist. It is a twentieth century conception that the town
man who owns land is an agriculturist — that the real farmer lives in
the country. When a Springfield capitalist designated himself as a
farmer because of land ownership, an acquaintance had his sense of
nicety offended, and inquired why the opprobrium. It is said of some
country folk that they are "city-minded, and of city folk that they are
country-minded," and it is unfortunate that they cannot "change places
with themselves."
While the farmer may not labor as in the past, although seed time
and harvest still impress him, he must know how to manipulate levers,
switches and buttons, and mechanical knowledge is his only salvation.
It is a fast age in which mind is more than matter, and the master mind
solves the problems of progress. Some one writes : "Gradually is all of
the romance going out of country life; we almost shed tears to read
the old home paper, and find that folks who used to go 'visiting* over
Sunday now spend 'week-ends,' " and that social animadversion illustrates
the change from man power to machinery in doing everything. The
man who knows the farm and leaves it, is unable to manipulate the
machinery when he comes back again.
Farming vs. Citying
The oldest good story is about the boy who left the farm and got a
job in the city; he wrote a letter to his brother who remained on the
farm, saying: "Thursday we autoed out to the country club where we
golfed until dark ; then we motored to the beach for the week-end," and
the brother on the farm replied: "Yesterday we buggied to town, and
baseballed all afternoon. Today we muled out to the cornfield, and
gee-hawed until sundown; then we suppered and piped for a while
before we staircased to our room where we bedsteaded until the clock
fived again," and those who know the routine of "feeding sheep and
feeding sheep" understand all about it.
In the People's Forum of a Springfield newspaper was a discussion
of daylight saving, one of the writers saying it was a misnomer — that
it was not in the interest of farmers, but of golf players. Men who
play golf find the hours of daylight insufficient, and since the farmer
works all day and half the night, he uses the lantern for overtime.
Those who breathe the morning air before the sun has warmed it, do
not care to save it, and a wag penned the lines :
"Walk on the street, look at a clock —
Then look at the one in the very next block;
One says five and the other says six —
How shall we straighten this awful mix?
* * * * *
Don't ask me the time — let me alone,
Friends, I'm keeping a time of my own.
♦ * * * *
When it is dark I go to bed —
Get up when the sun's well overhead;
Eat when I'm hungry — don't ride on the cars;
Always go home when they hang out the stars."
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It was Thoreau who said : "Thank fortune we are not rooted to the
soil, and here is not all the world." In one unbroken sentence, Old
Timer raises the question: "How many of us cherish childhood memo-
ries of this new and sparsely settled country, when the only minister
we had was the circuit-rider, and mother spun all our clothes and knit
our socks, and the schoolmaster boarded round with his pupils, and corn
pone and molasses were on the table for each meal, and we had oil cloth
table covers, and we went to the spring for water, and drank out of the
long handled gourd?" What a flood of memories, and with what light-
ning speed they correlate themselves. No place for the voice to fall
when reading that reminiscent inquiry. Better not read it aloud. Old
Timer omitted a cross-cut saw, and the other fellow riding the saw;
no need of a gymnasium under such environment.
In the March issue, 1922, of the American Magazine published in
Springfield, the Hoosier jokesmith — George Ade, says: "Nowadays
we haven't any out-in-the-country. The telephone, the rural free
delivery, and the motor car have co-operated to eliminate distance, until
every villager lives just across the street from the city fellow, and
every farmer next door to the villager. If you were to take an average
working girl of Boston, a girl of corresponding social importance from
any small city in Ohio, and the daughter of a well-to-do farmer in the
corn belt and stand them in a row, attired in their most circus regalias,
each of them short-skirted and high-heeled and hair dressed according
to her own specifications, you couldn't tell which was which, unless the
country girl should betray herself by putting on too much face powder,"
and not long ago in a discussion of city versus country life, the city girl
objected to the country because she wears silk stockings. "Where
ignorance is bliss," but until the city girl visits the country, she cannot be
"wise" about it.
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CHAPTER XIII
CLARK COUNTY VITAL RURAL PROBLEMS
One Clark County rural enthusiast said there is a progressive spirit
among local agriculturists ; they are given to experiment, and apply the
acid test to everything. Another declared they are conservative, and
inclined to cling to time-tried methods of agriculture. Since livestock
or animal husbandry go hand in hand with agriculture, some farm
like the patriarchs, and the "cattle on a thousand hills" in this "neck o'
the woods" belong to the hustling up-to-the-minute farmers; they seek
to maintain land fertility and the standard of productiveness, and the
theory of crop rotation has been reduced to practice throughout Clark
County.
While Arbor day is observed there is also some inclination toward
reforestation ; black locust and catalpa groves are not unusual, and living
fence posts are seen here and there about the country. A staked-and-
ridered fence is a rarity today, and where, or where, is the rail-splitter
of yesterday? While there are regulation fences in Clark County they
are built of wire, and what does the youngster of today know about
fence worms? What does he know of the requisite skill in building a
straight, rail fence, the eye of the master-builder the only plumb bob
or spirit level used in doing it? Who said anything about laying the
fence worm in the light of the moon, or was it laid in the dark of the
moon to keep the timber from sinking into the earth?
The wire fence does not shelter the birds or the beasts in time of a
storm, and lightning sometimes strikes them when they are near it;
the farmers of today would make slow progress with the implements
of yesterday; the reap hook, the scythe and the cradle had their day
in the harvest fields of Clark County as well as the rest of the world.
The arm strong mower — Old Father Time — is always caricatured with the
mowing scythe, but the Clark County farmer has all the advantages of
labor-saving machinery; when in need, Springfield inventors and manu-
facturers take care of the situation for them. The modern hay loader —
W. W. Hyslop using it first — combines so many of the old time operations
that Maud Muller is dismissed from the meadow, although:
"Beneath her torn hat glowed the wealth,
Of simple beauty and rustic health,"
which may still be acquired from raking hay.
While "Early to bed and early to rise," takes care of the daylight
saving question admirably, someone writes:
"The murmuring grass and the waving trees —
Their leafy harps sound unto the breeze —
And water-tones and tinkle near,
Blend their sweet music to my ear ;
And by the changing shades alone,
The passage of the hour is known,"
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 101
the most acceptable way of marking time in the world. The practical
minded settler had a formula for a short winter — borrow money in the
fall that comes due in the spring, in harmony with the Benjamin Frank-
lin philosophy:
"Whistle and hoe, sing as you go,
Shorten your row by the songs you know,"
while many have adopted the Sunshine Philosophy of James Whitcomb
Riley :
"Whatever the weather may be, whatever the weather —
It's the song ye sing and the smile ye wear,
That's a makin' the sunshine everywhere."
Reconstruction Problems
The importance of agriculture in its relation to the problems of
reconstruction, and as the principal foundation of real prosperity, is
more fully recognized today by the nation as a whole, than since the
middle of the last century. While the vanguards are crying: "Beware!
Watch your step/' because every appliance is being utilized to supply
the oil in toil, the country is far from making full use of machinery.
While "Watch your step" may be timely admonition, the agricultural
problem is deeper than is indicated by current discussions which treat
it as an emergency; when Secretary Wallace of the Department of
Agriculture said that legislation in the interest of farmers is not class
or group legislation, he was taking into consideration that agriculture
is the industry that supports all other phases of development. Legisla-
tion in the interest of the farmer benefits the whole industrial group, and
that describes the situation in Springfield most accurately, where the
factories supply the needs of advanced agriculture.
This understanding of legislative needs renders possible the solution
of some of the farmers' problems, which hitherto have been understood
only by those engaged in farming ; the trouble is not with the argument,
but with the application of it by politicians looking out for the farmer
support. What the farmer needs is: adjusted freight rates, unrestricted
markets, credits easily obtained and freedom to organize for marketing
his products to the best advantage. While Secretary Wallace recognizes
progress, he maintains that conditions are "out of balance," and recom-
mends closer co-operation between individuals and groups in agricul-
ture as well as in other industries. While there was rejoicing when the
prices of farm products began to decline, the farmer continued paying
the higher prices for his necessities, and thus the burden of reconstruc-
tion was shifted to agriculture.
While the farmer had the alternative of buying less, when he with-
holds his patronage other lines of business and industry suffer from it.
With the use of improved farming machinery, the acreage under culti-
vation steadily increased for many years, but with the decrease so
noticeable under decline of prices, the question of food supply is being
studied; there must be some method of providing a reserve of food-
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102 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
stuffs, and under such system the farmer need not sell under the pressure
of low prices; there is need of a better system of marketing. In some
of the older countries grain crops are not rushed to market, but are
stacked or put under cover, and are threshed and marketed as there is
demand for them.
The Item of Transportation
In 1921 farmers' purchases were below normal but prices are grad-
ually coming to their standard except the rates of transportation; this
increased transportation cost decreases the price of what the farmer
sells, as well as increasing the cost of what he must buy on the open
market; it catches him both ways, and while he has met the situation
by buying less, he cannot escape the burden of fixed charges when he
must realize on his own products. A dispatch from Columbus says:
"A statewide agitation is being made by farmers to bring about freight
rate reduction, and the movement has reached every county. One farmer
sets forth his position and that of others who are dependent upon the
soil by saying, 'It is difficult, under present conditions, to make the
receipts from a farm meet the expenses ; with the prices that prevail for
farm commodities, it is a matter requiring most careful financiering,
and one of the agencies contributing to this condition is the excessive
freight rates, affecting both the things we buy and the things we sell.
It is the farmer who pays the freight, because with high rates he is
obliged to accept lower prices in order to reach the consumer at all/"
President Homer L. Corry of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce
had a request from the National Council Chamber of Commerce to send
representatives to a conference held in Washington in February, 1922,
and W. H. Stackhouse was asked to represent Clark County. There
are two sides to the question, the railroads maintaining that they will be
unable to continue the carrier business at a reduction of rates. Sec-
retary Wallace cites world wide conditions as an inevitable result of the
World war as at the bottom of the difficulty. He stresses the high freight
rates, and the want of foreign markets, saying it would require some
miraculous transformation for a period of adversity to be turned into an
era of prosperity over night; big crops produced at high cost, with unem-
ployment in other industries which lessens the buying of foodstuffs, are
the immediate causes for present conditions in the world of agriculture.
It is an indictment of modern civilization when, with the unmar-
keted surplus in the United States because of prohibitive shipping rates,
millions of people overseas are suffering for necessities, and others are
starving. There is need of adjustment when the foodstuff production
of 13,000,000 farmers is withheld because of transportation conditions,
thus paralyzing conditions at home and abroad, and business men with
leaders in agriculture are "putting their shoulders to the wheel to lift
the farmer's wagon of state out of the economic mudhole," and thus
restore rural prosperity. One economist said: "The plain facts are
that the farmers in America are up against it. When they have asked
for bread they have been given stones."
There is a difference between promises and performances and the
agencies that must work for the improving of conditions are those in
the hands of the farmers themselves. In periods of depression they
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•SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 103
have greater need of organization, and in the present hour of Amer-
ican agriculture's severest trial the farm organizations have an unlim-
ited opportunity for service. The price the farmer receives for his
commodities has little relation to that paid by the consumer, and more
attention is being given to methods of distribution. When business
manifests bad symptoms, the manager does not wait until it collapses
to apply a remedy and students of the question recognize the need of
the farmer for better organization for the purpose of marketing his
product. He is too much at the beck and call of those who profit at
his expense, and the chances of the middleman will be slim in future.
The Farmers Institute
A news item from Columbus reads: "Aiming toward a concentra-
tion of effort on the weak points of different communities, 352 farmers'
institutes will be held throughout Ohio during the winter months,
according to E. L. Allen, state leader of institutes." Farmers have
shown greater interest, and perhaps because of adverse conditions con-
fronting them. Applications were received by the department for 672
institutes, while only 352 were secured, although about 200 independent
institutes were held, and Clark County had a number of institutes in
different localities. The institute movement started in the '80s and
this year (1922) Ohio has thirty-eight men and fifteen women going
about as institute instructors. Ninety-one percent of these "preachers
of scientific agriculture" are from farms and return to them when
they finish the course as instructors.
The attendance of Clark County farmers at the Farmers' Week
meeting at Ohio State University indicates their interest, the enroll-
ment from the entire state reaching more than 6.000 in the tenth annual
session. In welcoming the visitors, President W. O. Thompson of the
university said : "The hope of today lies in the fact that the American
farmer is more intelligent than ever before," and the fact develops that
Ohio's rural population has made more progress with its problems of
illiteracy in the last decade than have the cities and towns. Beside the
program of lectures, visitors to the university saw exhibits of livestock,
grain and other farm products, beside witnessing the demonstration
of farm implements. While Ohio farmers are using more implements
and machinery than they did ten years ago when the Farmer Week
was instituted, the country is far from making full use of available
machinery. The 1920 valuation of implements and machinery was
$146,575,269, which was an advance of 186.2 per cent in ten years.
In 1921, on the farms of the United States there were 134,169
trucks in use; there were 246,139 tractors, and still there were 17,000,-
000 horses, showing that "horseless" does not yet describe the age.
However, it is predicted that in time the horse will be as unusual in
farming as the bow and arrow in hunting. When farmers realize the
possibilities of machinery the horse will vanish from the fields. Why,
at the Farmer Week a mechanical cow was shown eating silage from
a bin, and giving milk in a continuous stream, and it attracted much
attention. Mechanical mannikins proclaimed the food value of milk
and in the future little will be required of the farmer himself only
to foot the bills.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 105
Country Life Commission
It was President Theodore Roosevelt who established the Country
Life Commission of which Secretary of Agriculture Wallace was named
as a member, and its inquiries sent a wave of amusement broadcast,
and the fourth annual conference of the American Country Life Asso-
ciation held in New Orleans in November took up similar questions.
It discussed the age-old rivalry between town and country which has
long ago been consigned to oblivion in Clark County. What town gent
remarks about the country jake on the streets' of Springfield, or what
gutter-snipe offers to whip the boy from the farm who shows himself
in town? Why are all the doctors located in towns? Do juvenile courts
and other child welfare agencies handle country problems on a par with
those in town? Such imaginary differences do not exist in Clark
County.
A student of the farm problem says: "Let us not deceive our-
selves into thinking that our agricultural problem will be solved if the
farmer is restored to the relative position he occupied before the war.
The farmer cannot hope through future years to obtain in the enhanced
value of farm lands the reward for his heavy toil," and the future
control of the market seems to be the solution. It is reported that
American farmers are leaving the United States for countries where
land is cheaper, just as there was a time when settlers were attracted
to Mad River. The government land at pre-emption prices has all
been taken up, and with the advantages known today few would want
to overcome wilderness conditions in Clark County again. The stories
of John Paul, David Lowry, Jonathan Donnel, Simon Kenton — why read
fiction when such real life stories are a possibility?
The Changing World
While there used to be corn shocks standing in some of the fields
until corn planting time again, where there are twin-cribs and silos that
rule no longer holds in Clark County. In February, A. D. 1922, there
were corn shocks but silos were minus, and it does seem like double
trouble at planting time to have to remove the last crop from the field.
A recent writer declares that the novelist is sure of the reader's tears
when he describes the farm hand who pitches hay all day long under
the hot sun, or the woman who is compelled to mend her children's
clothes, wash the dishes and make the beds — nothing to do but work —
but the fact remains that the happiest folk in the world are those who
work, and the twentieth century gentry who breakfast in bed and work
only when they feel like it, are designated by "trouble shooters" as
the bane of society.
The Clark County pioneers were busy folk — busy all day long —
and while there may be advantages in poverty and deceit fulness
in riches, most men and women of today make some effort to accu-
mulate property, and it is said that whenever a man is born into the
world there is a job awaiting him. The owner always has a job on the
farm — is never out of employment, but with the decline in price of
farm products the wages paid for farm labor declined with it. While
there are apprentices in factories, the story of the "bound boy" belongs
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106 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
to the past, and the man who receives $10 a month with "board and
washing" and worked for his board in winter — what did become of
him?
When the United States went into the world war it seemed to mean
ruin for the farms. The boys and girls rushed to the cities, attracted
by the alluring wages, many of them commanding more than wages,
designating it as salaries. They liked the city with its diversions and
comradeships. They were lifted out of the atmosphere of the farm,
the humdrum of milking cows, planting seeds and doing chores. The
farm house was supplanted by the boarding house. But when the
armistice ended the war and labor was not in demand, when jobs were
at a premium, it changed the picture. When the swivel chair jobs
vanished from the earth, the migration was toward the country again.
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CHAPTER XIV
FORWARD MOVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURE
While the first man in the world was placed in a garden, there was
no hoe awaiting him on the fence, and there is no account extant that he
labored until after he had eaten an apple at the hand of the woman God
had given to him. When knowledge between good and evil was thus
imparted to them, Adam and Eve began hustling for their own livelihood,
and it seems that they turned their attention to agriculture. From that
time on until within the memory of men and women still living, there
was little connected with agriculture beyond the mere humdrum existence.
The log rollings and the raisings were all that brought people into social
intercourse at all.
While the premium list of the Clark County Fair of 1921 designates
it as the sixty-ninth annual event, there is mention of a fair held in South
Charleston in 1850, which seems to have been the first rural display in
Clark County. At that time Jonathan Peirce specialized in raising mules
and Shorthorn cattle, and he was the only exhibitor of thoroughbred
livestock. The stalls for livestock were the fence corners, and that was
two years before there was a fair in Springfield.
Another account says that at the first fair held in South Charleston
in 1852, Mr. Foos of Springfield exhibited trained hogs in a side show.
The local fair secretary, Elmer Jones, has no record further than the
annual catalogue, and if the fair began in 1852, and did not miss any
years, 1921 would be its sixty-ninth annual session. When the first fair
was held in Springfield, a platform was erected and prominent men
entertained the visitors. At this meeting Judge Harrold advocated
better farm improvements, better livestock, and more grain, saying
that Clark should be one of the greatest Ohio counties. Threescore and
ten years later the same ideas are being promulgated before the farmers
of Clark County.
When the 1921 annual report was read it showed revenues amount-
ing to $24,599.37 and passed the board with expenses aggregating $24,-
410.70, leaving a balance of $188.67, showing that, as president for the
last four years, Wilbur J. Myers of Moorefield Township had kept the
finances on the right side of the account — a surplfts rather than a deficit.
At the reorganization meeting W. W. Hyslop of German Township was
elected president; vice president, Van C. Tullis of Pleasant Township;
treasurer, J. R. Durst of Mad River Township, and secretary, Elmer
Jones of Springfield Township. The reorganization meeting was held
the last day of December. All departments of the fair were to be placed
under the management of competent men at a later meeting.
The Clark County Fair Association owns a forty-nine acre tract that
blocks city residence improvements along Yellow Springs Street. It was
acquired many years ago and has advanced in value. It is looked upon as
an excellent building site, but while the association maintains the grounds
in such excellent order it serves as a park for the residents of that com-
munity. There are good buildings, a good race track and a cinder path
for use when racing stock must be kept off the speed track. There is
enough shade, and there are shelter facilities so that many horses are
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 109
wintered there. The stake events attract good horses. In 1921 there
were six stake races and seven class events, but a reduction of speed
events was under consideration by the new board.
The Clark County Fair rivals the Ohio State Fair in its stock exhibits
and race events. In 1921 there were 105 exhibitors of Duroc Jersey
hogs, and 122 exhibitors of Hampshire hogs, with other branches of live-
stock equally well represented. In seasonable years there are fine exhibits
of fruits and grains and vegetables. Both agriculturists and horticultur-
ists contribute to the display. The Farmers' Institute, the Grange, Farm
Bureau and Horticultural Society all promote the success of the Clark
County Fair. The livestock breeders' associations contribute,and again
the fair contributes to them. There are feeders and breeders, and when
one fair is over they begin planning for another. There are organizations
among thoroughbred livestock men except Shorthorn cattle. Only a few
Clark County men specialize with this beef cattle type, and W. W. Hyslop
who introduced the use of ensilage as a feed for beef cattle, belongs to
a Shorthorn association in Greene County.
Clark County farmers have thoroughbred animals of the dairy type,
and wherever there is a dairy there is a silo. While the hog raising
industry seems to be overshadowed by the dairy interests in Clark County,
local farmers sold 61,723 hogs through the Springfield Stock Yards in
1921, and that means more than $1,000,000 revenue from swine. A
newspaper squib says : "The farmer needs more dollars for his hog, the
consumer wants more hog for his dollar, and the real hog is the in-between
— the middle-man." There is a story told that in the '40s — and that means
early history — when Paist & Company packed pork at South Charles-
ton, they only paid $2 to $2.50 a hundred for "hogs on foot." and John
Hedrick who was inclined to speculation bought a quantity of packed
pork, and "wagoned" to Columbus with it, losing money in the_ venture.
His profit did not pay the expense of it.
Another speculator of that period, Seth Smith, brought sixty head
of cattle from Highland County to Greene Township, but he was unable
to get more than $7 and $8 for good milch cows, and lost money. It has
not been a losing venture at all, as Clark is rated as a foremost livestock
county. A number of local farmers are studying the comparative econ-
omy in the different methods of feeding, and some are bringing feeders
from the Chicago Stock Yards. Those cooperating through the extension
service of Ohio State University in the study of feeds are : C. A. Steele,
A. E. Wildman, M. J. Baird, Lewis McDorman, C. R. Crabill, John Ger-
man, E. E. Clark & Comapny, and William Roberts. It is said that 120
Ohio farmers are feeding under Ohio State University supervision, and
results will be reported from the experiment.
Clark County Livestock Legislation
It is of interest to know that in 1832, when James Foley of Moorefield
Township represented Clark County in the Ohio Legislature, he intro-
duced a measure to "prevent unsound cattle from running at large." Mr.
Foley lived many years in Moorefield Township, and honor is due him
because of his public spirit in protecting the owners of livestock; that
long ago cattle run in the woods outside, and cow bells were a necessity.
A shortage in the number of young men enrolling as students in the
veterinary colleges is reported, and an alarming shortage of veterinaries
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110 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
is prophesied. A veterinary always does a good business in Springfield.
There are about 10,000 veterinarians engaged in practice in the United
States and Canada, and fewer students enroll than die of old age. It is
said that when normal conditions prevail again, more young men will be
attracted to the study of veterinary science. While motors and tractors
are supplanting horses, livestock is not yet eliminated from Clark County.
There are breeders of Percheron and Belgian horses, and all kinds
of track horses are bred within Clark County. While track horses are
seldom seen on the roads they are produced for the races, and now and
then a carriage team is seen in Springfield. Pedestrians turn and look
after a team of carriage horses now as they used to turn and look after
automobiles. There are still a number of hitching posts in front of mod-
ern homes in Springfield. In 1921 W. L. Snyder sold a horse for $20,000
that was shipped to Italy. It was Mohawk, Jr., bred by James Clark of
Moorefield Township, the farm known as Mohawk because of the sire
that was kept there many years. Binland, with a trotting record of 2.38,
was the fastest horse ever bred in Clark County. In 1918 he won the
Transylvania classic at Lexington. He was once owned by Mr. Snyder,
but before the record was established. Mabrina Gift, owned by John
Monohan, was the first stallion to trot a mile in 2.20, after being sold to
Buffalo parties. There are horses in constant training at the local fair
grounds, and horsemen are urging fair managers to offer better induce-
ments for speed.
State Fair in Springfield
Before the Ohio State Board of Agriculture had acquired a perma-
nent fair grounds at Columbus, the state fair was held in different coun-
ties, always holding the second session in order to induce local boards to
make necessary improvements, and in the 70s it was held in Springfield.
While W. W. Hyslop said it was in 1869 the first session was held in
Clark County, others say it was 1870, but the concensus of opinion
favored 1871-2 as the years. Clark County had to provide additional
ground to accommodate the fair, and after the two years in Springfield
it was held in Dayton. By that time the permanent grounds were acquired
in Columbus, and the state fair was no longer held in different counties.
Clark is one of the exhibiting counties in the state fair at Columbus,
and it is announced from the Department of Agriculture that it ranks
ninth in the number and value of premiums won in 1921. While Ohio
has eighty-eight counties, only seventy-five of them made any exhibit.
There were sixteen exhibitors from Clark County, and they were awarded
a total of $1,995.23 in premiums classed as follows: Sheep, $213; dairy,
$73 ; poultry, $486.50; farm products, $591 ; horticulture, $25.50; women's
work, $61 ; horses, $120 ; swine, $399, and cattle, $26.63, showing that
all kinds of livestock were shown from Clark County. G. W. Wildman
was the largest individual premium winner, and second place was taken
by Wilson Brothers. Other Clark County winners at Columbus were:
Howard Gerlaugh, Chandler Raup, Laura Larkin, Springfield Dairy
Products Company, Forest M. Baker, Charles F. Hauck, William Fox,
George Grube, Charles Mauneng, Mrs. R. C. Hensel, Howard Scarff, Mrs.
A. A. Gray, M. E. Roberts, S. C. Bell, Chinchinna Stock Farm. Peter
Knott and W. W. Hyslop.
It is estimated that approximately 3,000,000 people attended the dif-
ferent fairs in Ohio in 1921, and since the fair is primarily an educational
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 111
institution, it is deemed advisable to eliminate some of the questionable
concessions. It is said that the judging teams sent out from Ohio State
University College of Agriculture to attend fairs made an excellent rec-
ord, winning first honors at the International Livestock Show and the
National Dairy Show, and second at the National Swine Show. The
dairy products team won four out of five cups offered, including sweep-
stakes, and it was placed first, second and third in individual ratings for
judging butter, milk and cheese, thereby winning eight out of thirteen
medals offered, and Clark County is usually well represented in the stu-
dent body there.
International Stock Show
Clark County is well represented both in exhibits and attendance at
the International Fat Stock Show in Chicago, the 1921 visitors reported
being: Clarence Laybourne, Howard Smith, Merritt Roberts, C. R.
Crabill and Howard Gerlaugh. Some years there are Clark County corn
exhibits in Chicago. The international competitive spirit was apparent
in the intercollegiate livestock judging contest where students from Can-
ada and the United States were rivals in the arena. It was a close race
between representatives of the two countries, Ohio's team of five stu-
dent judges winning 4,178 out of a possible 5,000 points, the Ontarian
Agricultural College with 4,164 points taking second place in the contest.
It was in the horse and sheep classes that Ohio made the best showing
with 1,075 tallies on horses, and 1,164 on sheep. The distance to Colum-
bus renders it an easy matter for Clark County citizens to attend the
state fair, and they are thus familiar with events there. With Farmers'
Week at the University and a week at the fair, in addition to the Clark
County Fair, Clark County farmers are abreast of the times in the world
of agriculture.
Pomona Grange
At the annual meeting of the Clark County Pomona Grange, the offi-
cers chosen were: C. E. Jones, master; C. E. Roller, overseer; Mrs.
Catherine Koontz, lecturer ; Elmer Sigler, steward ; Mrs. Agnes Swallow,
secretary-treasurer; Mrs. Rathburn, chaplain; Russel Ream, assistant
steward; Mrs. C. A. Phares, Ceres; Mrs. Roberts, Pomona, and Mrs.
Weaver, Flora. The Clark County Pomona Grange dates back to the
'70s, and the first organization was at Donnelsville. Among the leaders
in the Grange movement were Samuel Deitrich, J. B. Trumbo, J. B. Pat-
ton, J. B. Crane, R. L. Holman and Rei Rathburn. Cooperative buying
was the underlying principle in the beginning, but gradually the plan
drifted away from business to social features, and the Clark County
Granges at Fremont, Beech Grove, Pitchin, Rockway, South Vienna,
Olive Branch and Lawrenceville are now all community centers of social
activities.
The Grange as organized in the 70s was simultaneous in many Ohio
counties — a farmer's business organization, and as such it was conducted
for years, building halls and thus owning its own property, and there are
a number of Grange halls in Clark County. Since the consolidation of
schools providing better auditoriums in the different townships, the
Granges are inclined to use them as their meeting places, thereby allow-
ing the school property to serve the whole community. When the Grange
became a social center more people were attracted to it. It is understood
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112 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
that the idea of creating an organization limited to those engaged in the
pursuits of agriculture originated with Oliver Hudson Kelley of Massa-
chusetts. In the early '50s Mr. Kelley entered a farm near Itasca, Min-
nesota, but in 1864 he was appointed to a clerkship in the Department
of Agriculture at Washington. In 1866 he was constituted agent of the
department to investigate farming conditions in the southern states just
beginning reconstruction after the Civil war, and he reported: "I find
there is great lack of interest on the part of farmers," and being brought
face to face with the conditions he resolved to institute something to
change them.
Mr. Kelley said: "Where we find one who reads agricultural books
and papers, there are ten who consider 'book farming* as nonsense. After
making a general investigation, I found the circulation of purely agricul-
tural papers was but one to every 230 inhabitants. Their system of
farming was the same as that handed down by the generations gone by ;
of the science of agriculture, the natural laws that govern the growth of
plants, there were ninety per cent who were totally ignorant. There is
nothing now that binds the farmers together, and I think such an order
(The Grange) would act with the most cheerful results." The Hon. John
W. Stokes, acting commissioner of agriculture, very heartily endorsed
Mr. Kelley's plan, and in 1868, backed by a few prominent farmers he
commenced the organization in the different states of subordinate lodges
of the Patrons of Husbandry, now known as the Grange.
In January, 1873, the National Grange was organized in 'Georgetown,
District of Columbia, with Dudley W. Adams of Iowa as master, and
from that time forth the Grange has been a factor in all the efforts
launched to better the condition of the agriculturist. "Father Kelley"
died in 1913, after the success of his labors were a demonstrated cer-
tainty. He saw accomplished by the Grange many things of untold value
to the people, the recognition of the equality of women in all walks of
life — they were admitted to the Grange on the same basis as men. The
enactment of laws for the creation of farming experiment stations which
now dot every state in the Union is an outgrowth of the Grange. The
rural free delivery of mail service, the teaching of agriculture in the pub-
lic schools, and the encouragement of the system of farmers' institutes —
in short, many advances in rural life are due directly to the efforts of the
National Grange. The Grange is non-partisan, non-sectarian, and open
to all rural families. It is the rural community center. The members
meet and discuss issues, formulate petitions and when necessary ask for
favors. When farmers band themselves together and ask for a measure,
it means more than individual effort. The Clark County Pomona Grange
has accomplished much through cooperation. While there are but seven
active Grange organizations in Clark County, there are 878 subordinate
Granges in Ohio, with 102,159 members.
Clark County Farm Bureau
The Farm Bureau office is a clearing house for all Clark County
farm problems. It is a community center for a great many citizens. The
American Farm Bureau Federation grew out of the war time necessity
of speeding production, and in 1916, the bureau was organized in Clark
County. When the United States Government laid its hand on Clark
County, and asked for greater production, W. N. Scarff and others
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 113
became interested in the Smith-Hughes Vocational Law recognizing the
county agent plan, and cooperating with the Council of Defense in an
effort to place town boys on farms, the initial steps were taken, the state
would give $1,500 toward such an organization.
From the beginning Mr. Scarff had been president. At the recent
election C. A. Steele became vice president, succeeding Howard Smith;
Albert Hayes succeeded Stanley Laybourne as secretary, and Asa Hodge
succeeded himself as treasurer. The first farm agent was W. E. McCoy
who remained until February 1, 1920, being succeeded by E. W. Hawkins.
On December 31, 1921, there were 952 members with the number increas-
ing rapidly. While each township is organized the membership in some
is greater than in others, ranging from sixty-three in Pleasant to 132 in
Bethel. These two townships represent the extremes both in geographical
and agricultural conditions. Dean C. G. Shatzer of Wittenberg College
defines geography as including everything connected with the lives and
occupations of men. While Pleasant is in the hill country, Bethel is in
the valley of Mad River.
While the farm bureau membership fee was $1, there were 450 mem-
bers. In 1920 the fee was changed to $10 and the membership has more
than doubled itself. Each township has its local organization, that coop-
erates with the county board, as the county organization is amenable to
the state bureau. The state farm bureau is controlled from the Depart-
ment of Agriculture of Ohio State University, and the farm agent is an
extension member of the university faculty. It is the comment universal
that one engaged in doing research work in local history would cultivate
the acquaintance of the pioneers in order to gain the necessary informa-
tion. There is a saying, "Reading makes a ready man while writing
makes an exact man," and Mr. Hawkins comes into personal contact with
many, and since he keeps an accurate record of his transactions, he is an
authority. He has an unfailing fund of historical information.
The future of agriculture is well taken care of through the Farm
Bureau, Mr. Hawkins coming into personal relation with the boys and
girls through the corn and pig clubs. When he visits a farmstead it
is usually for a conference with the boy, and proprietary interest is
thus fostered in the farmer of the future — he has his corn plot and his
brood sow, and someone is taking note of his operations. A number
of Clark County boys have won special honors both in the county and
state, Charles Cauliflower and Amy Nicklin representing the boys and
girls' pig and food clubs, enjoying a week at the university at the
expense of the Clark County Agricultural Society. John Prosser, Jr.,
won first place in a corn show recently held in Columbus, and Paul
Sherrin has been proclaimed the boy champion corn grower of Clark
County, with a yield of 118.5 bushels, while his brother Cleon Sherrin
produced 113 bushels of corn to the acre.
The Springfield banks financed both the corn and pig clubs, Paul
Sherrin receiving $25 and his brother $15, and first and second prizes
were awarded in each township additional to the county winners. In
1921 there were 134 boys and girls enrolled in the various competitive
clubs in Clark County and it is recognized as the outstanding corn club
county in Ohio, said Guy Dowdy of the Boys' and Girls' Club Depart-
ment of the University. The winners were given a banquet by the
bankers' group who pledged the $400 given in prize money, the spread
l>eing laid at the Chamber of Commerce banquet rooms. The speaker,
Vol. 1—8
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114 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Mr. Dowdy, said : "If you are going to build the right sort of boy for
farming he must have a good foundation, and it is best made by carry-
ing out some scientific methods of agriculture. That is what corn club
work does for him. Farming requires the best brain and brawn," and
statement was made that the Clark County Boys' Corn Club average
production was eighty-six bushels, which is twice the average yield in
the state.
Speaking for the bankers who provided the banquet, George W.
Winger commended the boys, assuring those who did not win prizes
that their efforts had not been in vain, and Gen. J. Warren Keifer gave
a reminiscent story of his own farming experiences, saying his knowl-
edge of agriculture had been to his advantage. Paul Sherrin and Jack
Drake, representing the boys of the club, told how they raised their
corn and spoke of the benefits a boy receives who engages in the com-
petitive work, and they thanked the bankers and the Farm Bureau for
their efforts. Each year brings forth new winners, and in 1920 Edwin
Lohnes of Mad River Township, who produced a fraction more than
118 bushels to an acre, was state champion, that honor going to Mont-
gomery County in 1921, with a yield of 126 bushels.
The picture of Edwin Lohnes, whose success stimulated a number of
Clark County boys to enter the 1921 contest, is shown. Each boy does
all the work himself in producing his plat of corn. The corn show
has become an annual feature in some of the townships, and it is said
visitors frequently remark about better corn at home, but it is only the
exhibitor who wins. A careful selection of the prize-winning ears is
urged, as sometimes the carefully selected sample wins over a better
field of corn. There are domestic and household exhibits, and boys
and girls are in an atmosphere of advancement in everything.
While the Clark County Farm Bureau uses the basement of the
Mad River Bank, when the court house is rebuilt it will be sheltered
there again. The eighty-eight counties of Ohio are divided into twenty-
two four-county groups, and Clark is in group fourteen, associated
with Miami, Champaign and Darke counties, and meetings are held in
the different centers, these counties co-operating in movements in which
they have mutual interests. The State of Ohio appropriates $800,000
for the Farm Bureau extension, and the returns are from improved
methods and better citizenship. On Washington's birthday, 1922, the
Clark County Farm Bureau invited the farmers of the county to wit-
ness moving pictures, two films, "Spring Valley" and "Homestead"
being shown, throwing light on some of the problems of country life,
the entertainment given them in the Fairbanks Theater. The attend-
ance indicated that the effort of the bureau was appreciated and the
social side of rural life is considered in Farm Bureau activities. The
census report shows 11,000,000 boys and girls on farms in the United
States, and the Farm Bureau aids in the club work now being carried
on by the federal department of agriculture and by the colleges of
agriculture.
Review of the Markets
While an optimistic tone is noted in recent business surveys, Clark
County farmers know all about fluctuating markets. Along in the '30s,
when a farmer was coming to Springfield or going to Dayton or Cin-
cinnati, he would tramp out sufficient oats to fill all the linen bags he
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Edwin Lohnes, Mad River Township
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116 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
had and he would collect the vegetables and apples and what butter
his wife had ready, and all was in readiness. It required several days
when the trip was extended to Cincinnati. Before there were rail-
roads drovers went to Cincinnati with livestock, even driving turkeys
from the vicinity of Springfield. When night came on, the turkeys
roosted in the trees, but they were on the ground early in the morning.
David Lowry's experience shipping venison hams by water via Mad
River and the Miami did not prove a success, and livestock was driven
to market.
In that period cows sold for $5 and $10 payable in trade, and $40
was a good price for a horse; trained oxen were from $25 to $30 a
yoke, and dressed hogs brought from $1.25 to $1.50 in Cincinnati.
A veal brought 75 cents, and wheat from the granary brought 35 and
40 cents. The hams of deer brought 25 cents each and the settler gen-
erally sold the hide in Cincinnati. Deer hides were used for patches
in the days when buckskin breeches admitted men to the best society.
When a man cut a bee tree in the woods he was sure of 25 cents a
gallon for the honey. Shelled corn brought 50 cents a barrel, and
when men went out among farmers they received from 25 to 50 cents
a day and their board. The clearing and the harvest field afforded
labor and the sons often went out among their neighbors, and the scale
of wages in war times makes it seem an incredible story. When farm-
ers wagoned to Cincinnati they planned to haul something both ways,
and when the Indians were intimidating the settlers the story is told
that Andrew McBeth and Jeremiah Reese brought a four-horse load
of powder from Cincinnati for Moorefield Township farmers. Although
the Indians did not use guns, they respected them, and Moorefield
Township settlers were taking time by the forelock — in time of peace
they made ready for war.
In the early days the distilleries along Mad River gave the Clark
County farmers a market for their corn. While other mills and dis-
tilleries changed hands often, the Snyder distillery was in operation
through many years. It is described as a hip roof frame with cog
wheels on the roof, and for many years it was the workshop of James
Leffel, who invented the famous turbine water wheel and who is
credited by S. S. Miller as having coined the expression "It is better
to wear out than to rust out," heard so frequently. In the days of
the Snyder distillery, there was a Snyder cooper shop, where many
"old timers" used hoop poles and staves in making barrels. How could
the "wet goods" be marketed only in barrels? There were by-products
then as now, and the slops were used by farmers who furnished cheap
pork on the market.
When the Snyder distillery was in operation, whisky was on the
market at 15 cents a gallon. When capitalists began investing more
money in breweries, rye was used in the manufacture of whisky and f
the price was higher, whatever the quality. When the mast was ripe
in the forests the settlers would round up their hogs and mark them,
each settler having his separate identification and then it was "root hog
or die" until butchering time, and they would round up the stock again,
each settler taking any animal bearing his private mark. They would
pen the hogs and cornfeed them to improve the quality of the lard, and
that casts some light on the low prices. The pork was on the market
without much expense, hogs selling by the head without the trouble
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 117
of weighing them. Live chickens were sold at $2 and $3 a dozen and
turkeys at 30 to 50 cents apieces ; ducks at 25 cents and geese at from
25 to 50 cents. Butter was 7 and 8 cents, and beefsteak was 6 and
7 cents, but who has benefited from it ?
The best paid labor was 50 cents except in harvest, when it reached
75 cents. There was a gradual increase until the breaking out of the
Civil war, when there was an advance because of the withdrawal of
large numbers of able-bodied men from productive industries, and who
will say that history did not repeat itself in that respect when the
United States entered the World war? Between 1840-50 farm labor
reached $16 ft month without board and $12 with board, but in 1862
it had advanced to $18 and $14, or 90 cents a day without and 75
cents a day with board, and by '65 the scale was $26 and $20. with
transient labor in harvest at $1.50 without and $1.25 with board, and
some fabulous prices were recently paid, many farmers unable to secure
labor. One of the diaries consulted says that when 50 cents was the
maximum daily wage men worked from sunrise till sunset, but when
wages advanced to $1.50 ten hours constituted the day.
The hours of labor are shorter in the towns and that explains the
exodus. When a factory man engages to work on a farm he still wants
to regulate his hours by the whistle at the factory. Springfield and
Clark County folk encountered the profiteer while the United States
was at war and they are assured that pre-war prices will never pre-
vail again. While eggs were 3 cents a dozen in reconstruction follow-
ing the Civil war, eggs and butter are two commodities that still com-
mand war-time prices. People have hqard of the difference between
the high cost of living and the cost of high living and that it is the
consumer who pays the freight — the high cost of everything. While
it is said there was an agricultural society organized in Clark County
in 1840, it did not accomplish as much in the way of controlling the
markets as is accomplished by the farm organizations of today. The
society of that period accommodated both Clark and Madison counties,
but there is little known about it. The Institute, Grange and Farm
Bureau have all advanced the interests of agriculture in Clark County.
Game — Wild Life in Clark County Forests
On January 23, 1910, the Springfield News carried a feature story,
"Trapping in Clark County an Established Industry," and "once upon
a time" the Fountain Avenue and Main Street crossing was designated
at Trappers' Corner because of the number of skins handled by
Springfield merchants. The newspaper article begins: "If some of the
conquerors of the air now making such spectacular flights would fly
above the fields of Clark County just at daybreak some morning, rather
an unusual sight would greet their downward gaze. They would see
the frozen and snow-covered areas dotted here and there with trappers
as they made the early morning rounds of their traps. Few except
those who do the trapping realize the scale on which the fur business
is carried on, nor do they realize the amount of trapping done, hun-
dreds of men and boys making good livelihoods by trapping skunk,
mink, muskrat and raccoon. One man in Harmony Township has
realized over $100 every month this winter."
On November 15, 1844, Walter Small wood killed a deer along Buck
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118 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Creek, which was the last one seen in Springfield. George Bennett
had deer hunting dogs that would catch a deer and hold it until he
could "stick it." Once when he had shot a deer and was ready to cut
its throat, it attacked him. One time Ephraim Vance of South Charles-
ton, who was a celebrated hunter, was in the woods at night when a
pack of wolves were howling on his trail. He knew they would tear
him to shreds and started to run for a tree in an open field. Seeing a
haystack, he climbed it, not having time to reach the tree. Driven by
hunger, the wolves were desperate. They surrounded the haystack
growling and fighting through the night, but when daylight came they
sneaked away to their dens in the forest. It was a cold night and
Mr. Vance was almost frozen when he slid off of the stack and went
home for breakfast.
When game was plentiful about South Charleston, the settlers would
send rabbit hams to Cincinnati by Nat Moss, who drove the stage. They
would salt the rabbit hams and pack them in barrels, and Moss, who
was a mulatto, would market them in Cincinnati or Columbus. One
night he was burned to death in Columbus. Albert Reeder relates that
one time when the squirrels were migrating across Lisbon Creek, the
settlers caught them on the water gate. They stood there with clubs
and killed all they could carry home. A squirrel is a timid creature
and it is an unusual story. When wild turkeys were plentiful, men and
dogs would round them up over the open fields. The dogs were trained
to stay under them and keep them on the wing until they were exhausted
and when they would drop the settlers rescued them from the dogs
without apparent injury.
Migration of Wild Pigeons
While the Smithsonian Institute now offers a premium for wild
pigeons, there was a time when they flew across Clark County in such
numbers as to darken the sky. They would form figures and fly in
military precision. A flock of wild pigeons in transit made more noise
than a flock of aeroplanes today. Because of the encroachments of
civilization they have no place to rear their young and they are almost
extinct. There is no rendezvous — the wire fence does not afford a
friendly shelter. While pigeons are domesticated and squabs are on
the market, there was a time when wild pigeons were numerous where
livestock was fed for the market. Even the wild geese and ducks do
not migrate in such numbers as when there were friendly shelters en
route. There used to be cranes along Mad River and the smaller
streams.
When R. Q. King, who was an out-of-door man, lived, he wanted to
have a farm with nothing but cranes on it and there used to be both
white and blue cranes in the forest now Snyder Park. There was a
time when all kinds of wild animals were found along Lagonda Creek
at the mouth of Mill Run. There was a thick growth of trees and
underbrush and the holes in the rocks forming the cliffs afforded hiding
places and everything known to the forest was found within the area
now covered by Springfield. It was always the hunting grounds of
the Shawnees. Who would not like to return to the halcyon days of
nature in Clark County? Even the stork does not make many visits
in some households.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 119
An old account says : "Turkeys were seldom shot, as the ammunition
was too valuable to waste upon them. They were generally caught
in traps or pens, with the lower part or one side left open. Corn was
strewn around and inside the pen and they became easy prisoners.
If the turkey was young it was skinned and roasted on a spit, the
grease being caught in a dripping pan. Stoves were unknown and all
cooking was done on the hearth or over fires kindled out of doors.
In the scarcity of other game, opossums were used for food — the dish
in special favor among the negroes. The skins were prepared for use
by the hunters, and a mark of the cabin was the hides stretched to dry
outside of it. How about the traveler who asked if there were any
Lutherans in the community, and the woman of the cabin said there
were all kinds of skins on the mill — they might be Lutherans.
Deer skins were tanned by Clark County settlers. The hair was
first removed by ashes and water and the skins were then rubbed with
soft soap, lye and the brains of the deer, all these substances containing
alkali. After lying a few days in a steeping vat or trough, the deer skins
were stretched over a smooth, round log from which the bark was
removed and scraped with a graining knife. Such dressing rendered
them soft and pliable, and many of the settlers were skillful curriers.
Bear skins were dressed with the hair on, and they were used for robes,
carpets or bed clothing. While wolves were numerous and panther
screams occasionally pierced the forest, domestic animals were seldom
destroyed by them. Fish were plentiful and were caught in different
ways — hook and line and sometimes with a gig. This is a game for
the boys in boats. Quails came later — seemed to follow civilization.
The department of fish and game reports that deer are still at large
in portions of Ohio, and the biological survey under the United States
Department of Agriculture reports that following two recent mild win-
ters there are thousands of coveys of bob white, Ohio listed among
the states where they have multiplied rapidly, and it is said that Ohio
is soon to have a forest reserve game sanctuary and public hunting
grounds comprising 10,000 acres along the Scioto. The State Depart-
ment of Agriculture has been instructed to acquire it. It is an unpro*
ductive area and hunters and fishermen are promoting the scheme and
doing much to perpetuate nature conditions. Within the last year
140,000,000 fish were produced in hatcheries and distributed in the
rivers and lakes of Ohio. The game conservation and propogation
system established several years ago is yielding returns already, as
indicated in the survey made by the United States Department of
Agriculture.
On November 15, 1921, a news item in Springfield papers read:
"Hundreds of Clark County hunters will journey to the field today in
search of rabbits. The season closes January 1," and 2,410 hunting
licenses had been issued to date, hunters having prepared in advance
for the opening of the season, and for six weeks all farms that are not
posted against them will be the mecca of hunters. In a desultory arti-
cle published January 8, 1922, Dr. J. W. Gunn of Springfield says that
Nimrod has sold his shooting irons, and invested the whole proceeds
in golf stocks, and he quotes: "Behold the fowls of the air, for they
sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns, yet your Heavenly
Father feedeth them," but, like the parable of the sower, that Bible
assertion was made under different conditions in the world.
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120 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
The Recent Fox Drives
The first and second annual fox drives in many localities were
announced in the winter of 1921-22, and while Reynards galore would
be rounded up they usually escaped except one or two unfortunates,
the people in automobiles watching the drives not rendering effective
service when the foxes wanted to go through the lines. The fox
drives were social affairs, the women serving sandwich lunches and
the proceeds being used in community work. There were two sides
to the question, some commending and others condemning it. When
the fox was auctioned off, the churches received the proceeds, $nd peo-
ple thus patronized the fox drives who would not sanction the bull fight.
Along this line of defense one comment was that Clark County was
overrun with ravenous foxes raiding hen roosts and carrying off chil-
dren. The menace does not seem to warrant such defense. The fox
drive was supplemented in some communities by raids on rodents, and
this seems warranted, since in Clark County alone thousands of dollars
worth of grain is destroyed every year by rats. The settlers some-
times took the puncheon floors out of their cabins in breaking up the
rendezvous of rodents. When driven by hunger they would attack
the sleeping family.
While trapping seems to belong to the pioneer period in the history
of Clark County, it is said that the knobs bounded by South Vienna,
Catawba and New Moorefield — the highest portion of the whole county
— still afford good trapping, and hundreds of traps may be seen along
Sinking and Beaver creeks and in the fields of that locality. It is
nothing unusual for one man to look after fifty traps covering an area
of 500 acres. If along the streams alone that number of traps would
cover the distance of two miles, four hours will be spent in visiting
them. The genuine trapper may be seen trudging through the snow
with his gun and the traps thrown over his shoulder. He goes alone
long before the sun rises, and if he meets with success he has a busy
day skinning the animals and stretching the pelts to dry so that he
can dispose of them in Springfield.
It is reported that "Bully" Harrington and David Cuddy of the
Knobs secured eleven skunks from one hole, receiving $30 for the
pelts. Muskrats are found along the stream while mink are found in
hollow trees. Both traps and dogs are used in catching the mink and
raccoons are caught at night with "hound dogs." When a dog strikes
the scent of the raccoon, he soon "trees" it, and many trees have fallen
because of wild animals sheltered in them. Men would chop down
trees for the "coons," who would not do it for the firewood in them.
Opossums are found in hollow logs and are trapped or hunted with
dogs. High water is welcomed by trappers as it drives the animals
out of their hiding places, and when there is snow on the ground any
kind of an animal may be caught more readily. Trapping is good while
snow lasts, the mink being the first animal in and the last out, in the
trapper's parlance with reference to the condition of the fur. When
the snow leaves it loses its gloss, and the pelts are not worth the
trouble of catching the animals. The skunk ranks second and both
are best in the months of January and February.
While boys used to be given guns and told to kill the birds, a
different idea now influences the farmer. A recent bulletin says the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 121
breakfasts, luncheons and dinners of Ohio's feathered folk consists of
about 3,000,000 pounds of weed seeds and other things, and the farmers
of the state will be saved $3,000,000 because of their appetites. The
bulletin is issued by the United States Department of Agriculture. It
is estimated that twenty pounds of weed seed will cover an acre, and
with the seeds and worms consumed by the birds they are an advan-
tage rather than a menace to agriculture. With four quails on each
square mile in Ohio, 600 tons of weed seeds are consumed in the win-
ter months, and the reports of the biological survey indicate that quails
consume 130 different kinds of weed seeds, but, like sin, weeds are not
eradicated without continual watchfulness on the part of the husband-
man and farmer.
Clark County Horticultural Society
The last word is not written about agriculture until horticulture
is given its relative place in farm economics. The Clark County Hor-
ticultural Society was organized February 15, 1896, for the promotion
of horticulture and relative industries. It meets the first Wednesday
of each month, and a basket dinner is a feature of each meeting.
W. N. Scarff of White Oaks farm and nursery has been its president
from the beginning and the present roster is : Vice president, Dr. P. E.
Cromer, with Mrs. Cromer as secretary-treasurer. N. E. Deaton and
Mrs. Scarff are in charge of the musical features. The fruit growers
of Ohio are well organized and the Clark County horticulturists rank
foremost among them.
America has given to the world its principal food plants and long
before the white man came the Indians were engaged in intensive agri-
culture. They made use of nuts and berries, particularly the hickory
nut, walnut and black haw and the cranberry was also used by them.
While the Indians used these things in their wild state, the white man
has cultivated and improved the varieties. The man who plants a fruit
tree is a benefactor, doing something for those who come after him,
and in 1800 James Galloway planted an orchard on Mad River, being
contemporary with Johnny Appleseed, whom tradition says, once vis-
ited Clark County. There is a Chapman Creek and his name was
John Chapman. He was born in 1775 at Boston and died in 1847
at Fort Wayne.
An article in The Survey says: "The tale of John Chapman or
Johnny Appleseed is already taking its#place among the folklore stories
of the continent. For fifty years he went barefoot through the wilder-
ness, clothed only in an old coffee sack with holes for his head and
arms. He sowed orchards. To the Indians he was a great medicine
man. He made his medicine with the first west-flying bees and the
first of the west-blowing wheat." Vachel Lindsay, who affects some-
thing of the Johnny Appleseed character, writes :
"J. Appleseed swept on
Every shackle gone
Loving every slashy brake
Loving every skunk and snake,
Loving every little weed,
J. Appleseed — J. Appleseed."
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122 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
The story goes that Johnny Appleseed visited cider mills in Penn-
sylvania and collected the seeds which he distributed throughout Ohio
and Indiana. When he entered a home he would lie on the floor and
ask if the family wanted a blessing from heaven, and sometimes he
planted the seeds in alluvial soil, returning years later and asking remu-
neration when someone had located there. He was spoken of as a
Christian going to heaven through the Northwest Territory. Were
he going through today a lunacy commission would investigate him.
In the reminiscent notes of S. S. Miller is found the statement that
the berry or small fruit industry in Clark County began at Husted,
which draws from Mad River and Greene townships. Berries thrived
in that locality, many growing raspberries, blackberries and strawberries
as a source of revenue finding a market for them in Springfield. They
were not cultivated at all by the pioneers. The tomato is another deli-
cacy not used for food among the settlers. Clark County farmers who
study the adaptability of the soil, find that undulating land allows of
both agriculture and horticulture, and it is said that the Scarff nursery
has put New Carlisle on the map of the world. While there are other
nurseries, the one at White Oaks is the oldest in Clark County.
Ohio ranks sixteenth as an apple-producing state and plans are
under way among orchardists to perfect an organization for marketing
apples. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is the slogan of the
Apple Growers League, and The Ohio Farmer suggests the slogan,
"Sell Ohio Apples in Ohio." In past years good apples have decayed
in the orchards because dealers were considering quantity instead of
quality. When there were more Clark County forests there was better
protection for the orchards, and half a century ago apples were plen-
tiful and there were many cider mills in operation. The apple-cutting
afforded the social opportunity, the young people of the community
meeting to peel and core apples, and apple butter was made as regu-
larly in the same kettle that was used for soap-making or butchering.
Sometimes there was a brass kettle used in "stirring off" apple butter.
In "them days" a barrel of cider would be supplied to the town
family who wanted it for $1.25 a barrel, and they would be furnished
home-grown apples for their own apple butter. The children on the
farms knew what it meant to pick up apples for making cider. The
load of apples and the cider barrel were taken to the mill and the farm-
ers ground their own apples fcnd squeezed them into pumice in the
press, coming home at night with sweet cider in barrels. It is related
that Frederick Funston, whose grandson became the famous Gen. Fred-
erick Funston, was killed in an accident at a Donnelsville cider press.
The Clark County Horticultural Society makes a study of pruning,
spraying and all that is connected with fruit culture. What has hap-
pened to all the old-time rambo, pippin, winesap and russet apple trees?
Those names were household words years ago.
Millions of Roses
Springfield is known as the greatest plant-growing center in the
world. It is the greatest producing center for roses and small shrub-
bery that may be sent by mail or shipped by express. While there are
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124 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Clark County nurseries that ship their products to all parts of the
world. Millions of roses are shipped from Springfield. The Innes-
fallen Greenhouse established by Charles A. Reeser in 1877 and since
operated by the George H. Mellen Company was the first mail order
house in the world to ship rooted plants, although catalogue houses are
numerous now in Springfield. Mr. Reeser learned the florist business
with Peter Henderson, who deals in seeds, and urged him to propogate
roses and ship the rooted plants. Mr. Reeser later came to Springfield
and demonstrated the possibilities, conducting the business for several
years and making a success of it.
While there are now half a dozen big mail order houses shipping
rooted roses to all parts of the world, using catalogues to secure the
patronage, there are about thirty smaller growers who wholesale their
product to the mail order houses — and thus millions of roses are grown
in Springfield. In the mail order greenhouses very little comes to
maturity; it is the stock they produce, leaving their customers to pro-
duce the roses. At the Innesf alien greenhouses there are 110,000
square feet under glass, and many people are employed in conducting
the ever-expanding business. Some of the other greenhouses are as
large as the Innesfallen, which happens to be the oldest in the world
specializing on rooted roses. Sphagnum moss is used in wrapping the
roots. It is a Wisconsin product that holds moisture, and much care
is exercised in preparing stock for shipment. Roses and ferns are
rooted and shipped in quantities from Springfield.
While much of the rose culture is under roof, hardy varieties are
propagated and they are also grown in the open field. Roses and
ferns predominate in the rooted mail order plants, and the American
Rose Company originated the Teddy Roosevelt, which is a spore from
the Roosevelt fern. While ferns grow wild, the Boston fern is the
first improved variety. Hybridizing is a science in both rose and fern
culture, and thus new varieties are placed on the market. There are
, "infinitessimal nothings" to watch in the life of the florist, and that is
one job in which "eternal vigilance is the price of success."
Springfield is the city of roses — the best 60,000 population city in
the world. The sale of rooted roses has given the city its appellation
and few exhibition roses are shown in local greenhouses that cater to
the mail order patronage. The growers do not allow their stock to
bloom, but hold it back to vigorous growth, leaving the customer the
pleasure of having the roses. While they are grown under glass,
many roses are produced without artificial heat and they do not suffer
from being transplanted to the lawns and gardens. Each mail order
house has its list of customers, but at the Innesfallen greenhouses
when customers do not respond for two years their names are omitted.
The list of names remains in fireproof vaults only when in use, trucks
being provided so that heavy books are pushed in and out with the
minimum of labor, women being employed in the mailing department.
The florist is authority on the chemistry of soils and compost is
always in process. While rotation does not solve the problem, a change
of earth is necessary. When greenhouse dirt goes back to the garden
and undergoes the freezing and thawing process, it may be used again.
Commerial fertilizers and insect destroyers are all familiar topics to
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 125
the florist. While the grain products rob the soil unless fed to live-
stock on the farm, the soil for growing roses must be changed and
while out-of-door conditions are maintained under glass in some of
the departments, the fuel bill enters into the cost of production. The
Innesf alien greenhouses use 1,000 tons of coal a season, and some
war-time coal — high price and poor quality — was being used along with
a better grade. The installation and upkeep are figured in and while
some of the timber was used in construction forty years ago, building
material must be provided frequently. There are repairs necessary
every day, and Springfield florists are abreast of the. times. Because
of them Springfield is known to the world as the center of rose pro-
duction.
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CHAPTER XV
THE HOUSE OF THE LORD IN CLARK COUNTY
In the Bible is this personal experience related, "I was glad when
they said unto me, let us go into the House of the Lord."
The Zealots may supply the missing word in the parody : "For now
abideth these three, the church, the school and the press, but the greatest
of these is the ." This educational triumvirate is within the reach
of all. The report is current that Springfield has sixty-two churches
with thirty different denominations, and it is understood there are no
denominations in Clark County not represented in Springfield. In the
beginning there were only about half a dozen denominations. While only
about seventy ministers are enrolled in the Clark County Ministerial
Association, it is understood there are more than 100 ministers eligible to
membership in it.
The church announcements for Sunday, October 16, 1921, as carried
in the daily newspapers, including both Springfield and outside churches,
shows the following: Lutheran, Christian Science, Brethren, Church of
Christ, Universalist, Methodist, Congregational, Baptist, Presbyterian,
Christian, United Presbyterian, Reformed, United Brethren, International
Bible Students Association, Episcopalian, Christian (Summerbell Memo-
rial), Mennonite Brethren, Evangelical, and some are duplicated among
the colored people in Springfield. Catholics and Spiritualists hold regu-
lar services, and there is frequent news mention of denominations who
do not use space ip the regular church calendar in the newspapers. In
some of the denominations there are many churches, and there are many
missions that seem to be of community nature — undenominational in
character.
It is said the majority of people belong to a particular church for
convenience, and because of environment — not because of the polity at all
— they had certain training and never give further thought to the matter.
They do not read church literature, and are very narrow in their con-
ception of theology, many cannot define Christianity. They know noth-
ing of Mohammedism or Buddhism, and are Christians because they live
in a Christian community. They are amateurs in theology, and intolerant
in many things. The foregoing is an old criticism; churchmen are not
quite such sticklers today. There was a time when predestination was a
war cry, but seldom the word is heard today.
There is a note of evangelism in theology, and in orthodox circles little
is said about total depravity. Once upon a time even the ignorant who
never had studied theology were inspired to discourse, and then much
difference of opinion prevailed, however, when the unpardonable sin and
sanctification were the threadbare topics in the pulpit, the people used to
gather in throngs to hear those sermons of great orthodoxy, and there
were wonderful conversions among them. The theology of Springfield
and Clark County of the present day seems to have been influenced by
contact with the late Dr. D. H. Bauslin, dean of Hamma Divinity School
in Wittenberg College. The Ministerial Association credited him with
being a thinker, and took many suggestions from him.
126
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 127
Doctor Bauslin said from the pulpit that when God's house is cared
for other houses are not neglected, and while students under him will
remember his admonitions to the wives of ministers— dust their clothes
and remind them of the missionary announcements, and then provide
good dinners for them — they felt that he had the grasp on truth. He
interpreted the prayers of the righteous as including body, soul and
mind or spirit, and while his life went out suddenly his influence will be
of long duration. When he discussed the second coming of Christ before
the Ministerial Association none took exception. While it is said that
ministers are called of God, Wittenberg College recently sponsored the
greatest movement known in the history of Clark County — that of stim-
ulating a desire on the part of young men to enter the ministry.
Planting the Church
Wherever the emigrant pitched his tent or opened his temporary
camp, traveling preachers were soon on his trail. There is an old saying :
"Where the Lord erects a house of prayer,
The devil always has his chapel there,"
and those unfamiliar with frontier life have little conception of the hard-
ships of the settlers. It is known that both James B. Finley and Lorenzo
Dow, who were wilderness spell-binders, visited Clark County early.
They were both at New Carlisle, and when Lorenzo Dow was in Spring-
field, some of the citizens climbed into the trees to hear and see him.
The question always will be raised as to whether religion is taught or
caught, and as long as actions speak louder than words people will arrive
at their own conclusions. Like Zaccheus of old, the citizens in the trees
were invited to come down, and the name of that eccentric traveling
evangelist will be emblazoned on the pages of history throughout futurity.
When a community survives a visit from Billy Sunday and his organ-
ized body of Christian workers there is hope for it. In 1911 his taber-
nacle was constructed on South Limestone Street on the site now occu-
pied by the Southern Apartments. The Sunday campaign attracted many
visitors to Springfield. While many indorsed his methods, others were
more conservative and said that ulterior motives influenced him. While
some came long distances, and at considerable sacrifice to hear him, others
remained indifferent to him. There have been many community efforts,
but the Sunday visit is remembered by all.
In every community have been settlers who donated land for churches
and schools and the Clark County church budget for 1921 is said to have
reached more than $250,0)30, and still there are unchurched as well as
over-churched communities. It was said of one pioneer minister that
he began well, but "petered out — did not leave a squirrel track," and
such may be said of many movements. However, one of the psycholo-
gists who visited Springfield offering suggestions to its citizens said from
a pulpit that the reason prayers are not answered is because of lack of
faith and concentration, too many pray with their lips while their minds
are busy with other problems.
In a message to the churches in November, 1921, President Warren
G. Harding said: "The world never before was in such need of right
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128 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
morals, right ideals, right relations among men and nations, right spirit
for meeting unparalleled conditions, and sound religion in personal, social
and public life ; the churches must not fail. Whoever halts the churches
must march forward more swiftly than they have done," and the forward
swing is evident in Clark County. Some of the local ministers attended a
religious convention in Columbus, and the appeal was for a modern inter-
pretation, a modification of ideals and methods. This generation of reli-
gious teachers cannot go along in the old-fashioned methods. There are
developments in the scientific, intellectual and moral world, and Witten-
berg College has recently added the department of religious education.
A newspaper comments says: "We may not reasonably expect to
avail overselves of the telegraph, the telephone, the automobile and the
flying machine in the material progress of the race, and yet think to be
septuagenarians and semi-centenarians in religion and education. The
world outlook is immeasurably broader than it was to our grandparents.
* * * It is certain that the appeals of earlier periods fail to impress
the majority of the thinking young persons of today. What was true in
the old ideas will remain; it cannot be destroyed, but the young person
looks through new eyes at new facts brought forth and impressed by
study, observation and experience.
"Particularly pertinent was the proposition advanced by many of the
speakers at the conference in Columbus, that the rising generation will
have and must have its own conception of truth and conduct-^-in a word
it will not and cannot be made to live entirely on the social and religious
conceptions of previous generations. It will have to blaze its own way
through the great forest of human life. * * * Even in what is usu-
ally called the field of religious evangelism the rising generation will be
compelled to evolve methods and appeals of its own, which will not always
exactly coincide with those of the passing generation. * * * The
people simply lived in a different atmosphere, in a different age, and in a
different period of human ideals ; it is a great problem before the church
to direct and minister to its people. In some particulars the old methods
fall flat, and do not seem to reach the hearts of a new and different gen-
eration."
The metropolitan papers carried the following story apropos the religi-
ous situation : "People seem to go to church these days to gossip about
their neighbors, and to discuss the newest dances, the latest styles and the
best movies or the most sensational novels rather than to discuss religion
and worship God," but it is an individual matter and some will not
accept the criticism. However, "once in grace always in grace," does
not hold in the theology of today. It is admitted that religion flourishes
more in strenuous times, "whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth," and
likewise the population increases more rapidly under such conditions.
Knob Prairie Christian Church
"The groves were God's first temples," and the missionary and cir-
cuit rider had their day. There is a tradition that the mound in Mad
River Township was one of the many altars erected by that mysterious
race known as the Moundbuilders who were sun worshippers, and while
the American Indians had an awe of the Great Spirit — their idea of the
hereafter being the Happy Hunting Grounds, a vague form of religion,
it seems unique that the white settlers should organize the first church in
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 129
the vicinity of this altar — Knob Prairie Christian Church, now located
in Enon. It was organized in the log cabin home of Jonathan Baker in
1806, by Barton W. Stone and William Kinkade of Kentucky. They
had been through revival meetings at Cambridge and Concord, where there
were uiiusual spiritual manifestations — jerking and falling down, the con-
verts having New Light hitherto unknown to them. They called themselves
Christians, and were designated as New Lights. Some one said of the
church, "Its lack of distinctive name operates against it," but because of
the "new light" it drew from all denominations.
In the reminiscent notes of S. S. Miller is this information : "Before
me is a church book yellow with age," and after some further description,
he copied, "Done -at Mad River in the County of Greene,. and State of
Ohio, on the third day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and six (1806), to which were signed the names of four
Cozads, one Taylor, two Jennings and three Smiths, perhaps the first
church record in what is now Clark County. While the copy said
Greene, the county records show that the area was then in Champaign
County. Another account mentions Jonathan Baker and wife; Griffith
Foos and wife ; Daniel Miller and wife, and Judge Layton and his wife as
charter members. The meetings were held in private homes until a log
church was built on land given by Judge Layton near the mound, and
thus Knob Prairie is suggestive — Knob Prairie Christian Church.
In 1807 there were twenty-six members, seven of them from the
Rev. Peter Smith's family. He was an early Clark County itinerant who
had lived in many localities, and who used a pack horse in transporting
his family and household effects. The story goes that he brought twins
into the community, carrying them on either side of the horse — the one
balancing the other. The family increased until there were twelve chil-
dren. Peter Smith was a doctor as well as a minister. His name will
go down to posterity in connection with a work of Materia Medica, the
first publication by any Miami Valley writer. While Stone and Kinkade,
as visiting ministers, organized Knob Prairie Christian Church, Francis
Monfort was the first resident minister. Reuben Daily and Thomas
Kyle were early ministers, and when camp meetings were held, people
came from forty miles away to attend them.
Local Ministers
M. D. Baker and J. G. Reeder were local citizens who became New
Light Christian ministers, and numbered among the members were many
early families : Reeders, Arthurs, Ahteys, Millers, Bakers, Shellabargers,
Hagans, Lowrys, Minnichs, Wilsons, Crains, Keifers and Huffmans.
David Lowry, who was among the first settlers on Mad River and who
attained to old age in the community, was deaf and he sat with the
preacher in the pulpit so he could hear, and John and Newton Miller,
who led the singing, stood together in front of the pulpit. The seats, pul-
pit and door in this original Clark County "meeting house" were of
puncheons, as was the floor, and there were greased paper windows —
very primitive in its construction. While it was a rural church, families
from Springfield attended it, among them the first landlord — Griffith
Foos.
The location of Knob Prairie Christian Chruch was explained by
J. D. Baker. The rough, stony site was in proximity to a spring, and it
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130 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
was along the old Indian trail crossing Mad River at the Broad Ford —
a crossing much used before there were bridges across the stream. This
sect was given to religious enthusiasm, and near-by ytas a grove for the
camp meetings. The church was described by Joel Ebersole who first
saw it in 1831, as an old looking house. The logs had rough baric, and
those at the bottom were large, grading smaller toward the top of the
walls; some of the logs used in the building were the size of telegraph
poles. The chimney of stone and mud was built seven feet high, and
there was no sawed timber used in the construction. The puncheon doors
were about three inches thick, and the clapboards were rived about the
same thickness. It was built to protect the worshippers from the Indians.
It would be an odd structure alongside the church bearing that time-
honored name today.
Succession of Deacons
Unique in the history of the Baker family is the fact that Jonathan
Baker was elected a deacon at the time Knob Prairie Christian Church
was organized, and he served until 1840, when a son, Moses Baker, was
chosen. He did not miss a communion service until 1878, when he was
succeeded by a son, Jonathan D. Baker, who is still incumbent, the office
of deacon having been in the Baker family through three generations, and
extending over a period of 116 years. When Knob Prairie celebrated
its centennial in 1906 it had an unparalleled record — three generations
having served as deacon from the beginning, and that was sixteen years
ago. Knob Prairie Christian Church has Antioch College to draw from,
and it is seldom without a minister. Horace Mann, who was the first
president of ^Antioch College, used to sometimes fill the pulpit in Knob
Prairie Christian Church, and whenever the pulpit is vacant a supply
minister comes from the college.
Church in Springfield
"Where two or three are gathered together" constitutes a religious
service, and in 1803, the first religious service in Springfield was held in
the Foos log tavern, and since Griffith Foos and his wife became charter
members at Knob Prairie three years later, it may have been a Christian
Church gathering, the New Light faction having sprung up in 1801 in
Kentucky. Almost simultaneously, the Methodists began worshipping
in the Pinkered School, and in 1808 the Baptists held service there. It
is said that Reverend Thomas, who conducted the first service in the
Foos tavern, was a Baptist, but denominationalism was not emphasized
at this meeting. Saile and Cobler were other ministers who conducted
service in the Foos tavern.
It is conceded that the Methodists had the first organization within
Springfield proper, and that they continued to use the Pinkered log school
house until 1810, when the New Light Christians built a church on the
bank of Mill Run. It was a log structure, and since they were tolerant —
a creedless church, it was open to all denominations. It was built by
popular subscriptions, and while one man gave the ground it is known
that Griffith Foos gave a young horse valued at $10, towards hewing the
logs and preparing the shingles. It was a community center, and the day
of the raising forty men were there before breakfast. They had come a
distance of from seven to ten miles. While they did not have silver and
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 131
gold, they had an abiding faith, and they realized what such a center
would mean in the community.
The Presbyterians were among those who entered the mission field
early, and in 1808 they were holding services at intervals in Springfield,
It is said that in reconciling some truths, it is better to leave arithmetic
out of the question, and since the first shall be last, the thing that con-
cerns Springfield and Clark Couny churches today is the vineyard. Who
can formulate an almanac or stipulate the church of the future when
the world is in such chaotic condition? The architecture of the modern
church is changed, and while spires still point heavenward on many
Springfield churches, the pipe organ has become the characteristic — the
newer churches minus the spires but furnished with the organs. The
enriched church service renders the organ a necessity.
While the members once had turns in caring for the church, the
janitor is now as much in the routine as the minister himself. Once the
members had turns snuffing the candles, carrying the wood, sweeping and
building the fires, and then the janitor came along and relieved them of
such duties. Since the days of "Daddy" Fitch as janitor of a Catawba
Church, the membership has know better than to come late to a service.
The faithful had held a prayer service, and late arrivals were told as the
janitor locked the church, "Why bless you, meeting is out and the Lord
is gone," and they had no alternative — they went home again. The jani-
tor is less inclined to tolerate late comers than the minister. The Knob
Prairie Christian Church had puncheon benches, but tradition has it
that worshipers once sat on three-legged stools. Pews were introduced
for the use of Norman nobles, but the idea was copied and many families
now rent their pews regularly, although free pews prevail in Springfield.
Vision of Peter Smith
While Peter Smith is mentioned as a member of Knob Prairie Chris-
tian Church, he was later a Baptist. In 1809 while .preaching in Mad
River Baptist Church he had a vision. He heard a voice and the light
shone on his face brighter than the noonday sun. While delivering his
usual sermon, the voice exclaimed : "Go tell the world around ye, what the
Lord has done for thee," the words being repeated three times, and in
1810 he was called to the pastorate of Mad River Baptist Church. While
Baptist services had been held in Springfield two years earlier, the activ-
ities were continued on Mad River, and while no church was built, in
1826 the Mad River Baptist Church had 140 members. They were scat-
tered and the meetings were held in the homes, often in the home of
Samuel Smith, a son of Peter Smith where, after his death in 1816, his
widow continued her residence.
In 1811, Peter Smith, who had come to Mad River in 1804, went on
a missionary journey into Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.
It was an extensive journey for that day, and he was perhaps the first
to go out on such a mission. It is said the song of the circuit rider in
Clark County was :
"No house or land do I possess,
No cottage in the wilderness,
A poor way-faring man am I,"
but mention has been made of Peter Smith in his cabin while Indians
still lurked in the forest. While the Mad River Baptist Church was
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132 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
in existence, dissensions arose — there were diverse views on free will
and predestination. There were frequent church trials for other causes
than doctrinal heresy, which brought on disintegration and final dissolu-
tion. While the church record closed October 10, 1829, the free will
faction continued to meet and hold regular services in the early '30s,
under the ministerial leadership of Reverends Judson, Wallingford and
Dunlap. In a few years they abandoned the field, and the Springfield
Baptist Church is another story.
Simon Kenton and the Missionary
;
It was in 1788 that Simon Kenton, the wilderness scout, first met
James B. Finley, the wilderness missionary, and thirty years later they
met again at the camp meeting on Mad River — it must have been at
Knob Prairie. It seems that Mr. Kenton attended the Sunday service,
and on Monday morning he asked Mr. Finley to retire with him to the
woods. Having gone beyond the sound of the worshipers, Kenton
said: "Mr. Finley, I am going to communicate to you some things
which I want you to promise me you will never divulge," and the cautious
evangelist replied: "If it will affect none but ourselves, then I promise
to keep it forever."
Sitting on a log by the side of the missionary, the general commenced
to tell the story of his heart and to 'disclose its wretchedness, what a
great sinner he had been, and how merciful God had been in preserving
him, amid all the conflicts and dangers of the wilderness. While he thus
unburdened his heart, and told of the anguish of his sin-stricken spirit,
his lips quivered and tears of repentance fell from his eyes. They both
fell on the earth, and cried aloud to God for mercy and salvation. The
penitent was pointed to Jesus by Mr. Finley as the Almighty Savior, and
after a long and agonized struggle he entered the gate of eternal life —
so much for a wilderness conversion along Mad River. It has been
duplicated in many communities.
The account says that Simon Kenton sprang to his feet, and made the
forest ring with shouts of praise to God, in the gladness of his soul
He outran Mr. Finley to the encampment, and his appearance startled the
whole company. By the time the evangelist reached the encampment, an
immense crowd had gathered around General Kenton, who was declar-
ing the goodness of God and his power to save. It was no longer a
secret. When Mr. Finley said: "General, I thought we were to keep
this matter a secret." Kenton replied: "O, it is too glorious for that.
If I had all the people of the world here I would tell of the goodness
and mercy of God." The life and death of General Kenton are else-
where detailed in this history.
His Business Method
A new item dated April 21, 1819, states that the subscriptions for
the ministerial labors of Rev. Archibald Steele for the years 1817 and
1818 are left with him for collection. He can be paid in merchandise,
but the item fails to disclose the particular church he served, although it
was very early — the beginning of organized history in Clark County.
While it antedates the pound party, twentieth century ministers still press
the matter of payment. Rev. Archibald Steele simply established a prece-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 133
dent, and succeeding generations have all been in touch with the financial
question.
As late as 1839 the Ohio Gazetteer and Travelers' Guide says of
Springfield: One Presbyterian Church, one large Methodist meeting
house, one Methodist Reform meeting house, and one Seceder meeting
house, all of which are well attended," showing that some of the earlier
denominations were not then active, and contemporary accounts show
about as much church activity in New Carlisle and South Charleston as
in Springfield. Rhodes, Gatch and Williams were early ministers at
South Charleston, and in 1847 Nat Moss, who "wagoned" to Cincinnati,
unloaded the first church bell there — presumably the first in Clark County,
and for many years it pealed forth its messages of joy and sorrow, its
tones closely associated with the lives of South Charleston citizens. Time
was when church bells were tolled, and hand bills with lines indicating
mourning were distributed, both half-forgotten customs. The bell indi-
cated the number of years, and the bills — obituary notices — left at all
the homes, were funeral invitations.
Qlark County Travelers
While Rev. Peter Smith was the first missionary to leave Clark
County in the spread of the Gospel, going on an eastern journey in 1811,
he died December 31, 1816, and lies buried at Donnelsville. It was in
1825 that Isaac Newton Walters was converted in camp meeting at South
Charleston, and in 1826 he held meetings in Springfield and at Knob
Prairie, and while there are globe trotters galore nowadays, he became
the greatest traveler in the early history of Clark County. When Rever-
end Walters was fifty years old he had crossed the Alleghanies five
times, and had traveled enough miles to girdle the earth five time. He
knew nothing about sleeping car accommodations, but went on horseback
about the country. In the way of statistical information, Reverend
Walters registered 3,396 conversions to his credit, and he performed
1,052 marriages, saying nothing of funerals.
Rev. I. N. Waters was a New Light Christian, and in 1840 he began
publishing The Herald of Gospel Liberty in New Carlisle. It was soon
recognized as the denominational organ, and is still published in Dayton.
Reverend Walters possessed a remarkable ability for speaking out-of-
doors, and large audiences heard him. In 1853, he officiated at the
inauguration of Dr. Horace Mann as president of Antioch College. On
July 1, 1856, Reverend Walters left Springfield on a missionary journey
to New York and Boston. Stopping a few days in Columbus, he was
stricken with hemorrhage and died there. While Springfield churches
now maintain missionaries in foreign countries, Peter Smith and Isaac
Newton Walters were the pioneer missionaries from Clark County. How-
ever, Peter Smith died while it was still Champaign County.
Innovations in Worship
While Peter Smith and Isaac Newton Walters thought of Christian-
ity as a world religion, and bent their efforts toward extending it, the
wireless telephone sermon direct from the pulpit to the home was many
years in the future; the simple life confronted them, and they need not
discuss it. Their audiences were in front of them, and they had no diffi-
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134 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
culties taking up the collections. They had no thought of the church-
man of the future sitting at home in his lounging robe and slippers, and
having the radio service installed so as to hear the sermon. While the
need of invalids was the instigation, the radio service allows others to
enjoy the service without the formality of attending it.
The. center of gravity in religious education has shifted, and psy-
chology now enters into it. The pioneer looked upon the child as a minia-
ture adult, and "feed my lambs" meant just the same as "feed my sheep,"
but today special attention is given to the religious education. Facts of
interest to the gray haired theologian do not have an appeal to the child,
and it is no longer expected to accept predigested mental stimuli without
thinking about it. The child did not need to understand a doctrine; its
business was to commit the fact, leaving the thinking process to others.
The teaching was from without, while in modern religious education the
growth is from within the child. It grows like a flower by assimilation
rather than like a building — one brick of knowledge upon another. Devel-
opment rather than instruction is the modern idea of religious education.
Demand for Ministers
The press has taken up the slogan, "More men for the ministry," and
Wittenberg College has become aggressive in arousing such interest. For
some years there has been a decline in the number of candidates, and
financial reasons enter into it. The church has not encouraged the min-
istry by offering financial inducements, and those with heart inclinations
toward it have entered other lines of human activity. Soul-winning has
not been regarded as a money-making proposition, and the salaries of
ordinary men do not attract geniuses to the ranks — so say those who
study the question. "The Lord will provide," but the sagacious young
man understands his own requirements. Securing, paying and keeping
ministers — three elements enter into it, and the business world is in com-
petition with the church when it comes to offering unlimited opportunities.
The Sabbath day and its proper observance still concerns Clark
County and the rest of the Christian world. While not all the churches
observe the Lenten period by donning sackcloth and ashes, there is a
wholesome regard for the Sabbath. The diversions are of modified
character through Lent, and society folk subscribe to some functions not
practiced by church adherents. Wittenberg officials along with many
churches that do not abstain from social activities, are inclined to
observe holy week, beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with the
Easter service. "Remember the Sabbath" is still in the Clark County
code — the Ten Commandments unchanged, and "Go to church Sunday,"
"Children's Day," and "Mother's Day" all emphasize the teaching of
the Easter religious observance.
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CHAPTER XVI
IN 1921— STATUS OF RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT
In the Union Thanksgiving service conducted in the Covenant
Presbyterian Church in Springfield, the Rev. Harry Trust of the First
Congregational Church, who was the latest acquisition to the Clark
County Ministerial Association and automatically became the speaker,
asserted that America was climbing to spiritual heights by leading the
world in the disarmament conference — that America was being lifted
up in the spirit of sacrifice and was not wholly governed by materialistic
ideas. While Kaiser Wilhelm had imperialistic dreams of world
empire, America was steering clear of that rock of stumbling. While
America for Americans is the national spirit, America aids other nations
— is the big brother in the world.
As a Christian nation, America wants not the guidance of the poli-
tician but the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the comradeship of
all the earth. It was the tercentenary of the first Thanksgiving when
a little band of Pilgrim fathers bowed their heads in humble gratitude
for their little harvest, and if Thanksgiving means anything it is a day
of recollection for the people of the whole United States. The presi-
dent and the different state governors imitate the action of Governor
Bradford of Plymouth by calling upon the people of the nation and
the commonwealths to join in reverent manner, in thanking an all-wise
and an all-seeing God for the manifestations of His favor. With Gov-
ernor Bradford the perils of the land had been greater than the perils
of the sea. Crops had failed, sickness abounded and death had been
in their midst, but the custom established has now become a recog-
nized holiday of rejoicing and home-coming in the whole country.
There were different Thanksgiving groups of religious service, the
Lutherans observing the day in their own churches and special masses
were observed in the Catholic churches. Hundreds of unfortunates
were remembered with well-filled baskets from the churches, Sunday
schools, public schools and the Salvation Army, the Social Service
Bureau furnishing the names of worthy families to the individuals and
the organizations engaged in spreading Thanksgiving cheer, the spirit
of giving being almost as pronounced as at Christmastide.
Interchurch World Survey
The Clark County Interchurch World Survey was conducted by the
Rev. George I. Kain who, in 1920, was a citizen of Catawba. While
county boundaries are established by law, they are not necessarily
community boundaries, and neighborhoods shape themselves regardless
of political surveys. Parish boundaries are governed by affinities and
do not conform to any other arrangement. They overlap- and come
into economic conflict and the purpose of the Interchurch World
Movement was to correct such evils. However, prejudices are not
easily removed and many communities that would support one church
without difficulty still contribute to a number of churches. It is said
that denominationalism may keep some out of heaven, and thus over-
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136 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
churched and under-churched communities still exist, the great eco-
nomic movement failing in its purpose. The map made by the Rev-
erend Kain shows that many families travel long distances to church,
while churches near them languish for need of their support, and the
same thing holds in town as in the country.
While the report of the local survey is not available, since the
majority of Clark County farmers own the land, the decadence of the
rural church is not so apparent, although here and there are abandoned '
churches. It is said of Ohio in general that the clap-boarded, weather-
scarred rural church has joined the one-room rural school, and is rele-
gated to past history. Before there were automobiles and smooth
roads, there was better rural church attendance. The lack of leadership
is the difficulty in some communities. The survey made by the Ohio
Federation of Churches indicates the passing of the rural church, and
attributes it to the changing economic and social conditions — better
roads and ownership of automobiles. The town church is adjured to
take its rural members into consideration.
«
While Clark is not a representative county from the standpoint of
abandoned churches, the secretary of the Ohio Federation reports that
in fifty counties the average is twelve abandoned churches. "The future
should see Ohio dotted with strong, active churches at community
centers, reaching out as far as necessary into surrounding rural ter-
ritory, to fill the place once occupied by country churches ministering
to comparatively small neighborhood groups." Every township has
its religious centers, delegates coming from them to local conventions:
An item recently published says : "The Mill Creek School will be sold
at auction in the near future by the Springfield township school board
and those in charge of the community sale hope to raise sufficient funds
with which to bid in the building. It will then be used as a church and
public meeting place for persons residing in that vicinity. Many farmers
have agreed to put up certain articles and animals for sale, and will
donate a certain percent of the sale price to the fund," and that is just
one of many instances, community centers being formed without denom-
inational control or leadership.
While it is a "sign of the times" that the rural church is to be
abandoned, a squib reads: "But our grandfathers and grandmothers
and for some of us our fathers and mothers still remember the time-
honored building with the bell in the tower that used to ring out of a
Sabbath morning, calling the countryside to worship. Old Dobbin used
to draw the phaeton with the whole family tucked away inside of it.
Today the automobile has become so much a part of the community
life that the whole family attends church in town with more ease than
it used to reach the rural center, and headway along one line means
backward movement along others. The automobile explains the decline
of the village and rural ministry" and the "circuit-rider" presents a dif-
ferent picture today. The parson's wife one time gave away their
secret :
"Where the pot boils the strongest
Is where we always stay the longest,"
but that was in the time when the minister's horse knew all the best
corn cribs in Clark County.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 137
Methodism in Springfield
What Arthur L. Slager writes about one particular denomination
seems applicable to others: "In the search for reliable data as to the
genesis of Methodism in Springfield, it was found that the records
of the early societies of the church, if any had existed, were lost," but
to Mrs. Walter Smallwood is accorded the honor of being the first
active Methodist woman in Springfield. Her husband was a black-
smith who located in the town in 1804 and while he was not active in
church affairs, she was a woman of superior intelligence. She was
the mother of six children and she "brought the mountain to Mohamet"
by instituting religious service in her home. One writer speaks of
Mrs. Smallwood as a morning star in the opening of the religious day.
She was a woman singularly gifted in prayer and for a time her home
was the religious center of Springfield.
The Ohio Conference, including southern Michigan and northern
Kentucky, had no stationed ministers, although as early as 1805 the
Rev. John Thompson was in charge in Springfield. While the groves
were the temples, and the songsters were the birds of the air, the voice
of the minister was seldom heard, but after a time there was preaching
every three or four weeks by ministers of the Miami M. E. Circuit
established in 1800 and reaching from Cincinnati "as far back as there
were inhabitants," and thus Springfield was taken care of, and in
the fall of 1806 a church was organized with "twelve to eighteen mem-
bers." Prior to the time of organization, the Methodists had frequently
held services in the Pinkered School and not until 1814 did they build
a church — just ten years from the coming of Mrs. Smallwood.
Succeeding the Rev. John Thompson in 1807 was the Rev. A.
McGuire, who served through 1808, and then the list of names is not
given, but when the church was built on Market and North streets
the town lots were not enclosed, and people did not follow the streets.
The ground was covered with scrub oak, hazel and plum bushes, and
since there were foot paths people went across lots with torches when-
ever there were services in the evening, the paths leading from all
directions to the church. It was the second house of worship built in
Springfield. At a later period, when "Father Harrison" was the incum-
bent minister, it is related that he talked so loud and thumped the
Bible so vigorously that, hero-worshiper boys were uncertain whether
they wanted to become Gospel ministers or stage drivers.
In the church announcements October 15, 1921, were listed High
Street M. E., St. Paul M. E., Grace M. E., Central M. E., Clifton
Avenue M. E., Story-Hypes Memorial M. E., of Springfield, besides
Fletcher Chapel and Brighton, and there are Methodist churches in
South Charleston, New Carlisle, South Vienna and Catawba, and in
writing of the church in New Carlisle, W. H. Sterrett says the first
meeting house was built in 1820, although a class had been organized
three years earlier. The poverty of the members is assigned for the
reason of delay in building. "So little money was in circulation that
payment for labor was made without passing the coin" and the descrip-
tion of this church will serve for others.
It was frame twenty by thirty, and the roof was of clapboards held
in place by trunks of trees six or eight inches in diameter, and reaching
the whole length of the building; they were weight poles. There were
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138 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
eave-bearer logs which supported the clapboard roof and no nails were
used in it. What few nails were used at all were made by the local
blacksmith out of scraps of iron furnished by the members. The house
was weather-boarded up and down with poplar boards about 16 inches
wide and strips were nailed over the cracks. It was all unseasoned
timber and warped in the course of time. There was a batten door
hung with strap hinges and opened with a thumb latch, both hinges and
latch hammered out by the blacksmith. There were two windows on
each side, with four panes of glass 8 by 10 inches, and the shutters
were of solid boards.
Mr. Sterritt was uncertain how this church was heated, but sug-
gested the fireplace, while some conjectured that warming pans filial
with charcoal served thje purpose. It was lighted by tallow candles
held by sheet iron holders hung against the wall. When the tallow
melted and the candlewick bent over, the caretaker snuffed the candles.
The candle snuffers, made of iron with short prongs with a box to hold
the burnt accumulation, were indispensable articles. Boards were used
for seats with pins for legs that elevated them two feet from the floor.
The child was uncomfortable because it had to swing its feet, and when
a man and his wife entered they parted company at the door. There
were no family pews in the churches of that period. When young men
accompanied young women they separated at the door and lined up out-
side after the service. Had they sat together there would have been
no asking for the pleasure of company on the outside. The seats had
no backs except those in the "Amen corner," designed for the members
alone.
The pulpit, which .was a box with doors, was built on a platform,
and when the preacher entered he closed the doors. They were hung
on strap hinges. There was a small bench and when the minister was
seated only his head was visible. Both Finley and Dow occupied this
pulpit. One time a minister had overlooked bringing his spectacles to
the service, and when he explained
"Mine eyes are dim, I cannot see,
I've left my specks at home,"
the congregation sang the words. Because of the lack of hymn books
they were used to the minister lining the hymns, and they sang, perhaps,
"without the spirit and understanding," and while the New Carlisle
booklet says the minister changed the order by offering prayer, the
stock story relates that he next said:
"I did not mean it for a hymn,
I only said mine eyes are dim,"
and again the congregation sang the words. Because he was without
his spectacles, the New Carlisle minister announced his text "Endure
as a good soldier," assuring the congregation that it was to be found
"somewhere between the lids of the Bible." In 1834 the congregation
had a new church and seats with backs, and it was heated with stoves,
some of the older members objecting to the method of heating, but
"when the wind blows it implants the roots of faith that much deeper,"
and the story is parallel to the one about the deacon who objected to
a chandelier, saying no one could play on it.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 139
In a review of Methodism Dr. Isaac Kay included the name of
Rev. Saul Henkle in a list with the Revs. T. Milligan, J. Davidson,
W. Mitchell, Hezekiah Shaw and William Young, although other
accounts identify him with different denominations. He was an unusual
character. He walked when coming into the community, his wife
with a two-months' old child riding the horse. Dr. Kay writes: "Rev.
Saul Henkle was the first settled minister of the Methodist Episcopal
Church in Springfield. He lived in the Archibald Lowry log tavern
until 1825, and he was most active in community affairs." His min-
isterial life covered a period of twenty-eight years, during which time
he preached almost constantly and was present at almost every marriage
and funeral. In 1827 he edited and published a religious paper called
"The Gospel Trumpet," performing the labor himself at his residence.
One account says that when the itinerant Methodist preacher started
on his rounds, it took him four weeks to fill all his appointments. His
mode of travel was horseback and his dress and equipment most prim-
itive. In his saddle bags he carried a change of raiment, Bible, hymn
book and discipline, his mission being to preach and organize new
classes, but Henkle did not conform to such a list of requirements. He
was a fixture in ^Springfield.
A news item says : "There are about 425,000 members in the 2,500
Methodist Episcopal churches of Ohio, served by 1,160 pastors. Ohio
has more Methodists and contributed more money to Methodist funds
than any other equal territory in the world," the Centenary meeting held
in Columbus in 1919 emphasizing that fact. Like other denominations,
the Springfield and Clark County Methodists are adapting themselves
to the changed methods, giving church night dinners and attracting peo-
ple to the services. Since cornerstones are milestones, Central M. E.
Church seems to represent the original church, its cornerstone bearing
four dates— 1805, 1834, 1862 and 1912— although the first building
was erected in 1814 and is not enumerated in this chronology. Central
and High' Street churches are of modern architecture and each com-
munity has excellent church property. In some instances community
houses are provided in addition to the church property.
New Light Christians
While this denomination had the first house of worship in Clark
County at Knob Prairie, and it had the first church building in Spring-
field in 1810, it only functioned about fifteen years, being abandoned
in 1825 and out of existence till 1881, when a series of meetings was
held in Black's Opera House, and some of the foremost ministers of
the denomination have filled its pulpit. It is known as Summerbell
Memorial Church and is creedless in contradistinction to other churches
bearing the name Christian. Knob Prairie and Summerbell Memorial
#are in line with the theology of Antioch College.
Presbyterianism in Springfield
In 1856, when a settler en route to Clark County was following the
National Road through Columbus, some one asked what church he
affiliated with, and he said he was a Presbyterian. The Columbus man
then assured him: "You are all right; they are alf Presbyterians in
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140 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Springfield." One account says the Presbyterian Church was organ-
ized in 1808 and that in 1860 "it swarmed" and from that time there
were First and Second Presbyterian churches, and in 1920 they com-
bined again, abandoning the numerical names and becoming known as
the Covenant Presbyterian Church, some of the members of Second
going to Oakland, Northminster and to the mission now sustained by
Covenant Presbyterian Church, and with the building epoch now confront-
ing Covenant Church, landmarks of Presbyterianism will be changed in
Springfield. One account says: "The First Presbyterian Church of
Springfield was organized July 17, 1819, with a membership of twenty-
seven," and it seems that the building to be razed on West Main Street
has stood there since 1848, when it was erected at a cost of $12,000,
and some of the foremost ministers of the country served the con-
gregation.
While it was an unprecedented thing, in 1848, the Springfield town
council purchased a clock and installed it in the spire of this church.
In the beginning, Revs. Archibald Steele and Andrew W. Poage were
ministers who came once a month, but on June 11, 1827, Rev. Frank-
lin Putnam was ordained as the regular minister. It seems that Rev.
Saul Henkle sometimes preached for Springfield Presbyterians, and
being an editor of a religious publication, he was interested in the
religious and moral advancement. A pen picture of Reverend Henkle
shows him to be stoop-shouldered, slender and of ordinary height.
He had a pleasant face, his manner denoting his pious calling. While
he was slow of delivery he was an extempore speaker, using choice
words and being both entertaining and instructive without being tedious.
He died in 1837, aged fifty-five years, and coupled with his ability were
as many eccentricities as are often found in one minister. Some of
the Springfield ministers of today do not betray their calling in dress
or manner — would pass muster in almost any line of activities.
United Presbyterians
The Associate Reform Presbyterian Church, now designated as
United Presbyterian, began local activities in 1817, and for nineteen
years it was a branch of the Xenia church, the first minister, Rev.
John Steele, coming from Kentucky and serving both the Xenia and
Springfield churches, drawing the princely salary of $500 for the com-
bined service. When he preached in Springfield he would come on
horseback from Xenia, stopping at a farm house six miles out for
breakfast. He would deliver two sermons and return to Xenia lor the
night. In nineteen years he only failed twice to conduct the service —
once his own sickness and once because of the illness of his wife. A
half dozen ministers intervened before the coming of the Rev. R. H.
Hume, who, since June 1, 1882, has been the incumbent minister.
Mr. Hume has served this church as long as the Children of Israel wan-
dered in the wilderness, and he holds the record for length of service
in Clark County. In the early history, this church held forth in a dis-
tillery, but it is said the spirits above did not mingle with those below,
the church occupying an upper hall, but in 1819 it had its own prop-
erty. It built again in 1839, and its edifice was erected in 1886 that
still shelters this congregation on South Limestone Street.
The Presbyterians are represented in other towns, and, like other
evangelistic churches, they utilize the modern methods, employing the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 141
mission as an instructive means, and saying little about some of the
things once emphasized. It affiliates fully with other Protestant
churches.
Christ Church, Episcopalian
Until 1842 Christ Church was known as All Souls* Parish, having
been organized as a Protestant Episcopal Church in 1834 with seventy
members. A year later a building lot was purchased at the corner of
High and Limestone streets, where a church was built in 1844, that
served the congregation thirty years, when on May 5, 1874, its pres-
ent edifice was consecrated as a place of worship. The organ in Christ
Church was given to the congregation by Mrs. Asa S. Bushnell, who
was a life communicant in it.
The Church of the Heavenly Rest is the second Protestant Epis-
copal Church in Springfield, and it stands as a monument to William
Foss and his wife, who donated the lot and furnished the money for
the building, and contributed much toward furnishing the church. It
was dedicated December 2, 1888, and serves the membership in another
part of the City of Springfield.
Baptists in Springfield
While there were Baptist services held in Springfield early, and a
church flourished for many years on Mad River, it was not until Janu-
ary 29, 1836, that an organization was effected in Springfield. On
May 7, that year, a Sabbath school was organized in connection with
it, and on July 12 a call was extended to Rev. E. D. Owen, who became
its pastor, and on August 23 it was admitted into the Mad River Bap-
tist Association. Three Baptist churches are represented in the
announcement column, aside from a Baptist church for colored people,
new churches being organized in communities remote from the original
church, and the denomination belongs to the early history.
Universalist Church
In 1833 the doctrine of Universalism was preached in Springfield
by Rev. M. Fisk, and there was occasional preaching in school houses
and in homes until 1837, when organization was effected and a building
campaign was launched, a lot being donated on West Washington
Street. Rev. George Messenger was chosen pastor, and preached the
dedicatory sermon and the services are regularly held in Springfield.
The Lutheran Church
While it ranks foremost numerically with a dozen churches in
Springfield and half that many rural churches in Clark County, not
until May 1, 1841, was there a Lutheran church in Springfield. It
was organized by Rev. John Lehman with about forty members, but
when he left the community it became inoperative until 1845, when
Dr. Ezra Keller came to Springfield. He was a Lutheran missionary
and called a meeting in the home of Jacob Schuman, and the first com-
munion was observed January 11, 1846, the service being held in the
Clark County courthouse. A lot had been secured on West High
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142 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Street, and June 14, 1845, the cornerstone was laid for what is still
Lutheran property — the First Lutheran Church — Dr. Keller being the
speaker. In 1869, it was remodeled and still serves the community.
A Sabbath school was organized in November, 1845, and has been in
continual existence. As this church "waxed strong," branches were
established until it serves all parts of the city and county — twelve
Springfield churches, and rural churches at Donnelsville, Bethel and
Sugar Grove, and all are missionary churches contributing of their
numbers and wealth when others come into existence.
The Second Lutheran Church was organized January 13, 1884,
almost forty years after the first communion in First Church, but since
then the missionary spirit has become more active, Second Church con-
tributing to others as it had drawn forty-five charter members from
First Lutheran Church, among them some of the most active Lutherans
in Springfield. Since December 15, 1893, Rev. E. H. Dornblaser has
Served the Second Lutheran Church, he being the senior Lutheran min-
ister in Springfield. He also holds the record in Wittenberg synod for
a continuous pastorate, and Second Lutheran is a missionary church,
having furnished forty-four ministers, wives of ministers and mission-
aries, four of its members now in the foreign field. The Third and
Fourth Lutheran churches were both established in the same year —
1887 — and the Fifth in 1891, but since that time the numerical idea has
not prevailed and St. Luke's and Cavalry were departures.
Coming of the Lutherans
An old account says that among the early settlers of Clark County
came Lutherans from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and North
Carolina, and scarcely had their labors amid the forest scenes begun
when the faithful ministers arrived to hunt up the scattered people
and remind them that the claims of religion were as strong and neces-
sary in their new surroundings as they had been back in the homes
they had left. As early in 1805 there were Lutherans in Ohio, and in
the '40s they were in Clark County with the church and Wittenberg
College. In an early date Croft's Lutheran Chuch was established in
Bethel Township and enrolled as members were the families, Croft,
Snyder, Fross, Shuman, Wildason and Layton.
In reminiscent way S. S. Miller wrote: "Croft's Church was built
in the corner of a field. It had a vestibule ornamented by two large
columns. It had a modern platform, pulpit and pews and there was
a belfry. The ringing of the bell was quite a novelty to us country
boys, who after hitching our horses to the rail fence, waited outside
until the second ringing that would bring the minister and the Croft
family from the mansion," the aforesaid mansion now being utilized
as the Clark County Home and sheltering those who are unable to
take care of themselves. After Wittenberg College was established
it furnished student ministers for Croft's church and Mr. Miller pays
tribute to Dr. Ezra Keller, who founded Wittenberg College. He
started it with little means and but a small church in Springfield to
support it. Sometimes Dr. Keller filled this rural pulpit himself, and
it was a privilege enjoyed by all to hear a man with scholarship suffi-
cient to found a college deliver a sermon. However, he did not live
many years.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 143
United Brethren
It was in March, 1843, that the Rev. Benjamin B. Wheat organized
the Lagonda United Brethren Church with a membership numbering
seventy, at Newcomer Chapel. In 1870 the church erected a building
in Lagonda, Bishop J. J. Glossbrenner preaching the dedication sermon
and while other United Brethren churches have not been organized, a
number of ministers have been sent out from this church. The City of
Dayton is an Ohio center for this denomination.
Congregationalism
While the Congregational Church in America traces its direct lineage
to the passengers in the Mayflower, who landed at Plymouth Rock,
December 21, 1620, this denomination had its beginning in Springfield
when some interested persons began meeting together in 1849, effecting
the local organization April 28, 1850, at a meeting in the City Hall. On
February 28, 1850, a group of people met in the home of Henry E. Smith
and resolved to effect an organization naming it the First Orthodox Con-
gregational Church of Springfield. They secured the services of Rev.
J. C. White, and on April 27, an ecclesiastical council was called and
they formally organized the church the following day, Reverend White
remaining until October, 1854, as the minister.
A building lot was given the newly organized church by W. M. Spen-
cer, and a church was dedicated there April 28, 1853, the sermon by
Rev. Nathaniel Boynton of Cincinnati, who was later National Moder-
ator. It has had some of the most eminent men in its pulpit, E. A.
Steiner being known as a writer as well as platform speaker. In 1883,
a mission Sunday School was organized and Lagonda Avenue Congre-
gational Church resulted from it. In 1886, the first Young Peoples'
Society Christian Endeavor in Ohio was organized in the Springfield
Congregational Church with E. A. Fay as president, and the Pilgrim
Club annually invites him to preside at an anniversary meeting, other
societies being their guests. The First Congregational Church recently
instituted the monthly dinner in connection with the church night service
and it swelled the attendance. While a nominal price is charged, it is
only to pay the expense, and other churches soon adopted the same cus-
tom, looking after the physical as well as the spiritual need, thereby
increasing attendance. This church established a record in connection
with the Near East Relief appeal of Rev. Harry Trust at Thanksgiving,
1921, when it gave $1,209.90, the response a surprise, the money given
under the impulse of the moment when the minister so graphically
described the need in Armenia.
German Lutherans
In the coterie of early churches was the German Lutheran now repre-
sented by St. John's German Evangelical Lutheran and Zion's Lutheran
churches, the organization effected in 1845 with seventy-five members.
For a time meetings were held in the court house, and in private homes.
When they assumed the name St. John's Lutheran Church, they retained
Reverend Schladerm as minister. The property was sold to the Salva-
tion Army when the present splendid edifice was built. In 1867, Zion's
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144 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Lutheran Church went out from St. John's with twenty-three families,
and both have served their respective communities through many years.
Jewish Worship
Since November 25, 1865, when Ohev Zedukah was organized,
Springfield Jews have maintained regular worship, and Temple Ohev
Zedukah, built in 1917, is strictly modern. It was built by the Reform
Jews. While they conform to the "spirit of the law," the Orthodox
Jews observe the letter, worshiping in Temple Chessel Shad Ames.
While Paul, the Apostle, was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, he did not stand
on forms and ceremonies, but rather observed the spirit of the law, and
the Reformed Jews have him as their pattern. Friday evening is their
regular time of worship, and they observe all Jewish feast days. Both
congregations maintain rabbis, and with 125 Jewish families they split
fifty-fifty in their church allegiance.
Seventh Day Adventists
In August, 1878, this sect had it beginning in Springfield when a
series of tent meetings were held, and a number of persons formed a
society to continue regular meetings.
Christadelphian
This society was organized in 1868 in Springfield with a membership
numbering thirty. They still meet in private homes, although at times
they have used public halls. For many years Dr. William H. Reeves
was their leader. They do not engage ministers, but all are free to have
part in the service.
Disciples of Christ
On September 5, 1886, the Disciples' Church of Christ was organ-
ized in Springfield, under the leadership of Rev. Alexander Campbell of
Cincinnati. While the congregation was a long time completing its
house of worship, the church was dedicated in 1894, Governor Ira B.
Chase of Indiana preaching the sermon.
Society of Friends
While both Orthodox and Hicksite Friends are located in Clark
County, their churches are at Selma. The Orthodox Friend or Quaker
Church is in Selma, while the Hicksite Church is between Selma and
South Charleston. There were many Quakers attracted to the North-
west Territory because slavery was excluded, and Wilmington Yearly
Meeting of Friends is their religious center in western Ohio, there being
another Yearly Meeting in Columbiana County. While Quakers are no
longer distinguished by their language or garb, they are a peace-loving
people, and in the days of Under Ground Railroad activities, Selma was
a station. Because of the Quakers there have been many negroes in the
southern part of Clark County. Refugee slave stories are still repeated
about Selma and South Charleston.
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Christian Science
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, was organized in Springfield
in 1890, although a charter was not obtained until 1900, when forty
persons became charter members. For a time meetings were held in
the homes of members, and later Union Hall became the center. While
the church numbers eighty members, about 120 persons attend the service.
The Scientist Church maintains a reading room where literature is avail-
able. A lot has been purchased on East High Street, and a church will
be built. A second group of Scientists meeting in Hotel Shawnee has
acquired the Black homestead, and it will be remodeled as a church
building. This group numbers about eighty persons in its service.
The Church of the Living God, Church of the Brethren, Mennonites
and Apostolic Faith — many denominations of later period, and the Clark
County Ministerial Association is a religious clearing house — a common
ground for all Christians. Meetings are held every two weeks in the
Springfield Y. M. C. A., and while doctrinal questions are sometimes
discussed, the Ministerial Association avoids friction. While the pioneer
type of preacher did not concede many things in order that the "Breth-
ren might dwell together in unity," there is some common ground, and
the Ministerial Association has regard for all.
The spiritual arithmetic — one can put 1,000 to flight, and two can
move 10,000 — shows the value of united effort, is a plea for organization,
and there is a spirit of liberty in the meetings. While ministers "have
no continuing city," some have remained many years in Springfield. The
annual membership fee is 50 cents payable in October, and there is suffi-
cient variety about the programs to attract friends outside the ministry.
The Stranger in the Church
Mention is elsewhere made of the tablets erected in Springfield
churches, and the bulletins issued weekly give out the necessary informa-
tion. When Laura Smith reported her experiences in many churches
several years ago in The Ladies' Home Journal a wave of protest swept
the country, and were she to attend church in Springfield she would
modify her assertions. The church bulletin with the line: "A friendly
church invites you," or "This is the church that always invites you to
come again," would disarm her, and with the minister in the vestibule,
she would have to leave through the window if she escaped attention.
Some of the laity second the efforts of the minister, and the stranger
does not feel himself neglected in Springfield.
It is said that sermons like women's dresses should cover the subject,
and the topics announced October 15, 1921, were as follows: Rev. J.
Bradley Markward, "The Coming of the Kingdom"; Reverend Dorn-
blaser, "Sin" ; Rev. F. E. Learner, "Wanted, Men of Vision" ; Rev. L. H.
Larimer, "Ways to Have a Happy and a Prosperous Church Home";
Rev. Eli Miller, "Walking in Love"; Rev. J. C. Inman, "The Church of
the Brethren — Past, Present and Future" ; Rev. Elmo B. Higham, "Con-
trasts in Christianity and Life" ; Rev. I. W. McLaughlin, "Reception of
Members"; Rev. George W. Osmun, "Has the Church a Creed of Hap-
piness?"; Rev. C. H. LaRue, "A Working Man's Religion"; Rev. Hough
Houston, "The Double Abiding"; Rev. Harry Trust, "We Need Opti-
mists—Are You One?"; Rev. Robert Bruce Smith, "The Christian
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146 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Conception of the Holy Spirit"; Rev. Ryan Adams, "First Things
First"; Dr. Bruce Birch, "Relation of Young People to the Church";
Rev. R. H. Hume, "The Power of the Invisible" ; Rev. Edgar Puntenney
Smith, "Secret Prayer the Royal Road to Spiritual Power" ; Rev. W. C.
Nisonger, 'The Christian"; and while there were other announcements,
subjects were withheld except First Church of Christ, Scientist, whose
leader read the "Doctrine of Atonement."
The subjects under consideration show a wide range of study in
Springfield pulpits; in another Ohio city an invalid who never attended
church read the announced sermon topics in bewilderment, wondering
about the drift in theology. In a local newspaper forum appeared the
inquiry as to whether "the modern cults as founded by Martin Luther,
Simon Menno, John Calvin, John Knox, John Wesley, John Alexander
Dowie, Pastor Russell or Mary Baker Eddy equal or surpass the religion
founded by Jesus Christ 2000 years ago," showing that the laity is
inclined to delve into some of the knotty questions. In an address
recently on "The Humorous Side of the Ministry," a Springfield preacher
emphasized the fact that ministers of the Gospel are human, and that
they possess the sense of humor. One source of amusement to the min-
ister is the laity who assume piety in his presence, a thing that seldom
escapes his attention.
One Springfield minister regretted the fact that ministers as a rule
do not remain long enough in one community to build their own home
or to become enrolled among the citizens in the county history, and
under the spell of the moment he wrote his name on an order — and
here's hoping he may sometime build the house for himself. While
tithing is the Bible plan of giving, and the idea still prevails that when
thieves rob the missionary box, the money goes to the heathen, it is
urged that church members of today give but little more than their
grandfathers gave toward the advancement of the interests of church,
despite the fact that the aggregate wealth is much greater than in
generations past. "A man still may be a respectable member of a
fashionable city church, ride in an $8,000 automobile, and pay 25 cents
a week for his religion; the Christian people of America have been
treating their Creator with less consideration than that which they accord
the waiter in a restaurant."
The churches in Springfield and Clark County have adopted the
budget system, and the finance is arranged at the annual meetings the
every member canvass divides the responsibility, and drives — there are
drives for everything. Church members are used to giving, and com-
munity efforts always rest on the shoulders of those trained in church
financing; the church has recognition from all sources, although not
all who live in the community ally themselves with it. The Grand Old
Man of England, William E. Gladstone, once said: "I go to church
on the Sabbath day not because I believe in religion, but because I love
England," and others have found it difficult to establish the line of
demarcation between religion and patriotism, the love of God not always
predominating the love of country.
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CHAPTER XVII
CATHOLICS IN CLARK COUNTY
The data used in this chapter was assembled by Judge G. W. Tehan,
who says no authentic record of the first Catholics to settle in Clark
County is available; no parish record was kept until August, 1849, the
time of the creation of St. Raphael Parish. The first pastor was
Rev. Father James Kearney; ground had been purchased in 1848, and
the first church of St. Raphael was erected largely through the generosity
of Michael P. Cassilly. Prior to this time the Catholics in and about
Springfield were ministered to by missionary priests.
The early Catholics were always forerunners of transportation, and
about 1835 and during the succeeding ten years a number of Catholic
families located in and about Springfield. Those who came early were
mostly Irish, among them Patrick Rockett, Timothy Riordan, William
Griblenhoff, Nicholas Spanenberger, Wendelin Pappert, L. Cuymus,
Joseph Bauer, John and Francis Creighton, John Doyle, M. Barneat,
Michael Kelly, Adam Hyle, Patrick and John Tehan, Henry Quinn,
John Schutte, David Clancy, Francis Shrimp, John Connors, Joseph
Lebold, Michael O'Brien, Michael Kennedy, and a few others whose
names are unknown.
From 1845 to 1850 there was a great influx of Catholics into Clark
County, among them Patrick and James Hennessy, Peter and Thomas
Lynch, Francis McConnell, Simon Quill, Matthew Green, Michael Con-
dron, Matthew Bolan, Sylvester Digan, Anthony Cavanaugh, James
Quinn, Patrick Clark, William Burns, Hugh Farney, Patrick Casey,
Patrick Meehan, Jeremiah Foley, Bartholomew Doyle, James O'Brien,
Mrs. Bridget Henry, Patrick McDonald, Patrick and Daniel Doyle,
James Owen, Thomas O'Brien, Patrick and Charles Biggins, Henry and
Martin Gibbons, John Flanagan, Matthew and Patrick Carlos, Peter,
Luke, Patrick and John Cox, John Douglas, Andrew Meehan, Patrick
Shinners, Thomas McLane, Lawrence Hays, Michael Murphy, John
Bellow, Thomas Carroll, Michael Dillon, John Sullivan, Hugh Sweeney,
John Kenney, Michael Ging, Dennis and John Shea, Dennis Clancey,
Patrick Dillon, Eugene McCune, Thomas Conway and Michael Hart.
A little later came Anthony Hines, Thomas O'Brien, B. Enright,
Thomas, Andrew and Michael Gallagher, John Maddigan, Peter Seward,
M. Werngartner, James Fitzgerald, M. Monaghan, Patrick O'Brien,
Michael, Patrick and John Bolan, William Regan, Richard Burns, Dennis
Hagan, Owen Gallagher, Michael Condron, Michael Rule, John McGarr,
Francis Daugherty, James Burke, Jeremiah Vronin, Hugh Hart, Peter
and Michael Madden, Christopher Kelly, Joseph Gunder, Andrew Haas,
John Carr, John Milan, Patrick and James North, Michael Dargen,
John and Michael Hughes, Martin Quaid, Daniel Tehan, Thomas Shaw,
William Ford, Richard Walsh, Anthony Ray, and others.
As far as can be ascertained, the first priest to visit Springfield was
Rev. Henry Damien Junker of Dayton, who celebrated Mass in the
residence of William Griblenhoff er ; from 1844 to 1857 he was pastor
of Emmanuel Church in Dayton. The exact dates of his Springfield
visits are unknown; it was a separate mission until 1849, and it is
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148 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
assumed that he had charge from 1844 till that time, when the parish
was created. Father Junker was born in 1809 in France; in early
manhood he came to America and finished his ecclesiastical studies in
the old Seminary in Cincinnati; he was ordained on Passion Sunday in
1834, being the first to receive ordination at the hands of Cincinnati's
first archbishop. His first charge was in Cincinnati, becoming pastor
of Holy Trinity Church, in 1837 he went to Canton, thence to Chillicothe,
attending as missions Circleville, Piketown, Delaware, Columbus and
Portsmouth. In 1844 he was transferred to Dayton; from this center
he attended Bellefontaine, West Liberty, Xenia, Lebanon, and Spring-
field. On April 26, 1857, Reverend Junker was consecrated Bishop of
Alton, Illinois, and October 2, 1868, he died there.
Beside Bishop Junker there were two other priests who attended
Springfield up to 1849; they were brothers — Revs. J. J. O'Mealy and
Patrick O'Mealy. Rev. J. J. O'Mealy was born in Limerick, Ireland, in
1809; he made his studies in Rome, France and Cincinnati. Soon after
ordination he was made Rector of the Diocesan Seminary, then situated
in Brown County; he died in Springfield, October 20, 1856, and was
buried in Dayton.
St. Raphael, 1849
From the year 1849 St. Raphael Parish may date its history as a
distinct congregation, attended by its own pastor. This position was
first filled by Rev. James Kearney; in August, 1849, he began the first
parish register. In 1850 Reverend Kearney was succeeded by Rev.
Maurice Howard, who presided over the destinies of the parish until
1863, when he was succeeded by Rev. J. D. Cogan; he only had the
parish a few months, and in January, 1864, Rev. J. N. Thisse became
pastor.
In 1865-66 St. Raphael was remodeled by adding to its length, and
otherwise beautifying its appointments; in 1867 it wias dedicated by
Bishop Rosencrans. Until 1865 the pastoral residence was in the rear
of the church ; at this time Father Thisse purchased a separate residence. •
Catholic School
The first Catholic school was taught in the basement of the church
in the pastorate of Father Howard; afterward a small frame building
was purchased by Father Thisse. It stood on the site of the present
grammar school building, and served its purpose well for several years.
Up to the year 1868, one priest was able to take care of the people of
St. Raphael and the missions, South Charleston and Yellow Springs;
in that year the numbers had increased to such an extent that it was
necessary to have an assistant pastor. There are now four congregations
in Springfield, and one at South Charleston, making five parishes in
Clark County.
St. Raphael parish is presided over by Monseigneur Daniel A. Buckley
and Rev. Fathers Edward J. Quinn and Leo M. Walsh. St. Joseph
congregation is in charge of Rev. M. J. Loney, assisted by Rev. Charles
E. Spence; at St. Bernard Catholic Church, Rev. J. H. Metzdorf is
pastor, and Rev. Urban Koehl, assistant pastor. St. Mary's Catholic
Church is a new congregation just recently established in the western
part of Springfield, its pastor is Rev. John McGlinchy.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK. COUNTY 149
After the death of Father Thisse in May, 1873, he was succeeded
by Rev. Father William H. Sidley, whose stately and dignified demeanor
and patriotic, civic and charitable activities endeared him to all classes
and creeds; he is affectionately remembered by large numbers of the
citizens of Springfield. He died in 1903, and was succeeded by the
present pastor, Monseigneur Buckley.
St. Raphael Parish has made great strides under the very able leader-
ship of Monseigneur Buckley ; the church erected under the pastorate of
Father Sidley has been greatly improved in the way of plumbing, heat-
ing and lighting; it has marble altars, railings and wainscoting and tile
floors. Today it is the finest church edifice in Springfield. Aside from
his religious zeal, Monseigneur Buckley has shown great constructive
and business ability; he has added materially to the real estate holdings
of the congregation, until it now owns the entire frontage on the south
side of East High Street from Spring to Gallagher, except the Miller
property.
High School Property
A strictly modern and commodious high school building has been
erected on the corner of High and .Gallagher streets, and just recently
a large addition has been added to same, so that now the high school
building is complete in every detail, with study rooms, recitation rooms
and lecture halls, chemics and physics laboratory, gymnasium and
everything that is found in any first class high school building; at the
time of its dedication, a very handsome American flag was presented
to the school by the Hon. Judson Harmon, then Governor of Ohio.
The G. A. R. State Convention was being held in Springfield, and
it was a most inspiring and patriotic sight when Governor Harmon
surrounded by his military staff, and the State Grand Army officials
assembled on the platform erected in front of the school for the flag
presentation ceremonies.
All of the Catholic schools in the city are taught by the Sisters of
Charity; all stand high in the matter of educational requirements. In
1861 the German members of St. Raphael anxious to hear the word of
God in their own language, organized a separate congregation known
as St. Bernard ; this congregation has grown and prospered, and today it
has a new school and high school building, and is erecting a new resi-
dence for its pastor on Lagonda Avenue, adjoining the church.
Beginning with the year 1877, Springfield grew rapidly in population
and business interests; as the population increased the Catholic portion
kept pace with it, and as the two churches and schools became too small,
it was evident that a new church and school were necessary. On
account of the erection of the East Street shops, this increase was
apparent in the southeastern part of Springfield.
In 1881 three lots were purchased on the corner of Kenton Street
and Central Avenue; in 1882 the erection of a large three-story school
house was begun, the first story providing a commodious room suitable
for church service. In October, 1883, the school was opened and
services were regularly held in the church ; it was called St. Joseph, and
Rev. C. M. Berding was the first pastor, while the Rev. J. M. Loney is
the present pastor; he has made numerous additions and improvements,
notably the erection of a commodious personage on the corner opposite
the church.
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150 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
St. Mary's Parish has purchased a tract of ground on West High
Street for school and church purposes; they have erected a temporary
building pending the erection of permanent property.
South Charleston Church
The notes concerning St. Charles Borromeo Church in South Charles-
ton were submitted by Rev. William A Casey, pastor, and relayed by
Judge Tehan. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was first offered there
by Rev. Maurice Howard in 1850, who was then pastor of St. Raphael
in Springfield. At that time there were only three Catholic families
in South Charleston, with some others in the country. In 1849 these
Catholic families came from Connecticut.
As the number of Catholics increased, Father James Blake of Xenia
came to hojd services, saying Mass in private homes and in the section
house of the Little Miami Railroad; in 1854 the congregation rented
Paulding's Hall, and in 1855 they purchased the Presbyterian Church
where for nine months they held forth, but because of defective title
the contract was broken off, and until 1865 they used Paulding Hall
again. In that year a lot was purchased, and a building was completed
one year later, being dedicated by Archbishop Purcell. Rev. John
Conway was minister until 1868, coming from London ; he was succeeded
by Rev. J. A. Marcney who continued it as a mission until 1872, when he
became its regular pastor. He completed the church, adding a gallery
and an organ, pews and altar of Romanesque type.
The records of Borromeo Church begin with the coming of Father
Marcney; they had been kept in Xenia and London. In 1873 came
Rev. John J. Kennedy who continued his residence in London, remain-
ing only from June till November. In February, 1873, Rev. H. Sidley
assumed charge, followed by Rev. James Aloysius Burns, both holding
mission services, but in October, 1874, Rev. William Grennan took
charge of the parish, building a house which was the home of the pastors
of the parish until 1908, when a new one was built on the site of the
original Catholic Church.
In 1877 Father Grennan left, being succeeded by Rev. F. H. Rem-
hawk; then came Rev. C. W. Berding who paid all debts contracted by
the parish, leaving in October, 1881, followed by Rev. Martin L. Murphy;
followed by Rev. M. B. Brown; then came Rev. A. N. Bourion, suc-
ceeded by Rev. I. M. Sullivan; Rev. Joseph Hyland; Rev. James W.
Kelly, who came in 1905, built the new Gothic church costing $15,000
and a residence costing $8,000, and in 1910 came Rev. Alfred D. Dexter,
who died while the resident pastor. Since then Reverend Casey has been
pastor in South Charleston.
Knights of Columbus
A news item says 340 members of Springfield Council Knights of
Columbus took part in the celebration, January 3, of the twentieth anni-
versary of the founding of the council, held in the Knights of Columbus
building, the theme under consideration, "The Man in the Street,"
dealing with moral obligations of the members, and a plea for better
education. The council started with fifty-four members, but Grand
Knight John C. Cashman who was toastmaster reported 667 members,
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 151
the living charter members all present ; a memorial was held for deceased
members. The council was organized December 22, 1901, in the City
Hall. Rev. Father William H. Sidley and John OToole who had been
members before coming to Springfield, co-operating with John Coffee
of Springfield and Daniel Nevins of Dayton, effected the organization.
The Knights of Columbus played an important part in the care of soldiers
in this ^country and overseas in the World war. Many social affairs
are staged by the Springfield Council Knights of Columbus. In the
Dominican Order the mission is the life work of the priests, and missions
are held in all local Catholic Churches. Honoring the memory of Pope
Benedict XV, solemn requiem mass was observed in Springfield.
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CHAPTER XVIII
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL IN CLARK COUNTY
The fifty-sixth annual convention of the Clark County Sunday
School Association was held in South Charleston, May 24 and 25, 1921,
Donald Kirkpatrick, president; C. D. Shelton, vice president; Frank S.
Nichols, recording secretary; E. J. Carmony, treasurer; James L. Welsh,
adult superintendent; Carl Mattes, young people's superintendent; Mrs.
Agnes Swallow, associate young people's superintendent; Margaret M.
Weeter, children's superintendent, and Mrs. A. Y. Edwards, associate
children's superintendent. Since June 21, 1920, Howard Johnson has
been .general secretary of the Clark County Sunday School Association.
The conventions are attended by delegates from the children, young
people, adult and administrative departments, and as many visitors as
are interested to be in attendance.
Until the general secretary was installed who gives his full time to
Sunday school association interests, nothing in definite records were
kept, but the office now has an accurate list of the Sunday schools in
Clark County ; their officers, and an accurate* status of each school. The
association maintains a circulating library where books on up-to-date
methods and teachings may be found; pamphlets may be secured on
every phase of work in the Sunday school, and maps showing the loca-
tion of every Sunday school in the county. The general secretary has
been consulted on graded work; Sunday school architecture, Sunday
school equipment, music and programs for special occasions; when the
secretary has conflicting engagements, speakers are furnished when com-
munities ask for them.
The office of the general secretary is a clearing house for all Sunday
school questions, and within one year he made 200 addresses, and paid
400 visits to Sunday school workers relative to different community activ-
ities; a conservative estimate is that with an increase of 30 per cent
expenditure, the work has been increased 100 per cent in efficiency,
through the purchase of an automobile and the aid of a stenographer.
With transportation at his command, the secretary has no difficulty
securing additional speakers. Beginning with January, 1921, he held
monthly meetings with superintendents; they exchange ideas and receive
much benefit. Rallies are held in all the townships, and the Daily Vaca-
tion Bible School project was tried in 1921, the experiment carried on
at Covenant Presbyterian, First Baptist, Pleasant Street Chapel and
Grace Methodist Episcopal churches. This experiment was conducted
by the Clark County Sunday School Association; thirty-three different
Sunday schools co-operated with an attendance of almost 2,000, the
sessions being held from July 5 to August 12, the association securing
twelve public school buildings in addition to the four churches. In each
vacation school was one paid instructor and two volunteer teachers.
The children attend the vacation schools in the forenoon five days,
and one boy who attended Bible school in the morning and went to the
public play ground in the afternoon, said that if he must give up one
pleasure it would be the play grounds; the vacation teachers receive
preparatory training at an institute conducted by Wittenberg College,
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 153
and a community training school is held under the auspices of the Clark
County Sunday School Association. Meetings are held in some central
location — lecture room of the First Congregational Church in the begin-
ning, with Wittenberg College faculty and Springfield ministers pre-
senting the lessons. When the community training school was inaugu-
rated only five Sunday schools maintained training classes, and forty
schools affiliated in the community effort.
Since the Clark County Sunday School Association placed an auto-
mobile at the service of its general secretary, Mr. Johnson refers to
himself as "One Man on Four Wheels," and it enables him to keep up
with the times. Through the co-operation of Springfield business men,
and a few others, it became a possibility. "The power of God and the
response of men," enabled Mr. Johnson to become familiar with 105
Sunday schools, with a constituency of about 18,000, and to meet many
Clark County ministers and 500 special Sunday school workers.
Mr. Johnson is the first general secretary employed in Clark County.
Like the Farm Bureau agent, writing makes him an exact man, and
although a recent acquisition to Clark County, he has been the source
of much local information.
June 25, 1827
The man who gave the Sunday school to the world was Robert
Raikes of Gloucester, England. He was interested in the welfare of
the poor, and in 1781 he gathered the children together and employed
teachers for them ; he taught Sabbath observance, and others soon caught
the spirit of it. Within five years there were 250,000 children under
Sunday school influence, and today the Sunday school is considered the
most efficient branch of modern church extension service. While the
first church was built in Springfield in 1810, it was not until June 25,
1827, that there was a local Sunday school. In his history of Central
Methodist Episcopal Church, A. L. Slager accords the honor of insti-
tuting the first Sunday school to Rev. Saul Henkle, and presumably
undenominational, and it seems the same man was instrumental in
organizing a Bible society, August 6, 1822 — and thus was he interested
in the community.
While the date, June 25, 1827, seems to be authentic for the begin-
ning of the Sunday school in Springfield, Mr. Henkle who was con-
nected with church publishing business wrote in 1829, saying: "A Bible
society formed in September, 1822, for a while promised to be strong
and healthy, but having been dieted for several years chiefly on annual
reports grew very sickly ; of late, however, it has gained a little strength,
and may possibly live to years of maturity ; though efforts are now mak-
ing to effect its death by poisoning." Mr. Henkle does not state the
time of meeting, and it does not seem to have been regarded as a Sunday
school. Another account credits the original Sunday school to the
Presbyterians, saying they met at the school house in Springfield, and
organized the first Sunday school in town ; it was continued in the scfiool
house until they moved into their own church, and thus its beginning is
shrouded in uncertainty.
Sunday School Army
It is estimated that in the United States there are 60,000 adult Bible
study classes and that 26,000,000 are enrolled in Sunday schools; there
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154 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
are 5,000 adult Sunday school classes in Ohio and 1,552,000 are enrolled
in Sunday school, showing that attendance ranks high, more than one-
twenty-fifth part of that from the forty-eight states. While Sunday
school may be intended for children, many men and women continue
their attendance. California has the largest men's Bible class in the
world; it numbers 2,000, and Springfield has a number of big adult
classes of both men and women.
While 105 Sunday schools are listed, there are about 2,000 Sunday
school teachers in Clark County; from the point of seniority, the honor
goes to Mrs. Elizabeth Coberly of South Vienna who teaches the men's
Bible class ; she was born August 29, 1825, and when the birthday offer-
ing was taken in 1921, she dropped nine dimes, one nickel and one penny
into the collection; she taught a class that day.
Including the Jewish and Catholic Sunday schools who do not affiliate
with the Clark County Sunday School Association, it is estimated that
20,000 out of the population of 80,000 are in Sunday school, and that
is a big percentage. While all denominations co-operate in the work of
the organized Sunday school, the Lutherans have been leaders in the
work of extension. For thirty years Dr. B. F. Prince was engaged in
Clark County Sunday School Association work; he made many tours
of the county as president, and as a speaker when Ross Mitchell was
president. It was before the association owned an automobile, but
Mr. Mitchell had a two-horse carriage, and thus speakers reached the
place of meeting.
Before the graded lesson system was in use the workers advocated
Bible study and morality; they did not do evangelistic work^ but char-
acter building was the course pursued ; the Sunday school is the college
of the church, and through his relation to Wittenberg College Dr. Prince
was enabled to secure speakers among the professors, and among stu-
dents of ability to accompany him. While denominationalism is not
emphasized in county Sunday school campaigning, the fact remains that
Lutherans have been more aggressive than other churches. Recently
other denominations have become interested, and the county secretary
happens to be a Baptist.
While the official roster usually changes more frequently, for nine-
teen consecutive years Peter A. Schindler was superintendent of the
Sunday school in the First English Lutheran Church in Springfield.
He had unusual qualities as an organizer ; when he assumed the duty the
attendance averaged 175, and in ten years it reached more than 1,000,
that number often being present ; as early as 1865, he conducted weekly
meetings for Sunday school teachers; he was in advance of the teacher
training concerted effort today. Mr. Schindler was a natural leader,
being chorister as well as teacher; he could influence an audience and
many Wittenberg College students w£re led into the ministry by him.
Mr. Schindler had the missionary spirit, and he was active in both
city and county Sunday school work ; his tactics appealed to both teachers
and preachers. When the Second Lutheran Church went out from First
Church, he went into it and for ten years was its Sunday school super-
intendent; few men serve twenty-nine years in that capacity. Ross
Mitchell who did so much for county work was among those transferred
from First to Second Lutheran Church. Mr. Schindler always exer-
cised fatherly oversight of boys from the Sunday school, and when two
of them went fishing he investigated; they made a full confession, and
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 155
when he smelled the fish they were frying he yielded to their dinner invi-
tation. "Nothing succeeds like success," and they had "bait" for him.
They were fishermen, and was a "fisher of men."
Another Schindler Story
One time while Mr. Schindler was engaged in county Sunday school
work, he was driving a State Sunday school speaker to a township con-
vention, along the way he said, "Brother, excuse me, I will just have
to have a chew of tobacco," but since the State speaker also wanted a
chew, there was no difficulty about it. Each had been afraid of the
other; why had not Peter mentioned it sooner? The man relating the
story said : "Peter Schindler was a great character ; he was a fine man,
and had a 'world of friends/ " When there was but one Lutheran
Church, he encountered all the Wittenberg College students. When he
transferred to Second Lutheran, G. W. Billow succeeded him and served
as Sunday school superintendent until he transferred to Fourth Lutheran.
Doctor Prince who was the first Lutheran to engage in county Sunday
school activities remained in First till Fourth was organized, when he
transferred to it, and thus the leaders were Lutherans for many years.
The record of Peter A. Schindler was later duplicated by J. H. Little-
ton, who served nineteen years as superintendent of the First Lutheran
Sunday School, and he said this of Mr. Schindler: "He was a wonder-
ful singer, and had a wonderful personality ; he attracted others." John L.
Zimmerman has taught the men's Bible class for thirty years, but Mrs.
S. F. Breckenridge who died in service spent forty-five years as superin-
tendent of the primary department there. While other Sunday schools
do effective work in the community, no other reported such long terms
of service for officers or teacher.
Politicians in Sunday School
While Howard Johnson, as general secretary, is the first paid Sunday
school worker in Clark County, some of the foremost citizens are identi-
fied with Sunday school activities in the different denominations. Two
members of the present board of Clark County Commissioners: J. L.
Welsh and Frank Funderburg, are active Sunday school workers, and
Donald Kirkpatrick, prosecuting attorney, is identified with church and
Sunday school activities. While it was once said to be necessary to lock
the doors to hold the convention until after the collection, a budget system
now takes care of finances, and the county secretary checks up on the
different Sunday schools. Before the day of the educated ministry,
there was not much need of the budget system — no salaries and no
expenses.
The threadbare story of the little girl who explained her disobedience
by saying: "You cannot serve God and Mamma," has been supplanted
by another: "Susie Adams forgets Susie Adams," and W. H. Schaus
will explain the "enthusiasm" of it. When athletics was injected into
the Sunday school, it was said they would have to rob the cradle to
fill some of the positions, but the youngsters became enthusiastic; when
watching a game, a six-year-old exclaimed: "Treat 'em rough," show-
ing that the infantile mind grasps it all. While in one of the township
conventions an expert worker was defined as an "ordinary man away
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156 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
from home," the fact remains that the Sunday school is the great volun-
teer institution which attracts many unselfish workers.
Sunday School Motto
In some of the Sunday schools is this placard: "In time, on time,
every time, and all the time except when ahead of time, and that's a
little better time," and regular attendance is sought by all Sunday schools.
The unique and unusual is resorted to, and December 9, 1921, a Bible
Oratorical Contest was staged at Selma Friends Church by eight young
ladies of the Sunday school, the orations selected from the Bible.
The Church of the Brethren Sunday School at Donnels Creek won
in a Bible reading contest in 1921 against thirty-four other churches of
the denomination in Southwestern Ohio. The average attendance at
Donnels Creek was eighty-eight, and as a whole the Sunday school read
84,672 chapters; eighteen adults had read the Bible through within the
year, and one woman read it five times. A Negro woman who listened
to a sermon, said it "went in at one ear and out at the other," but it
made her better ; when she washed, "the water went through the clothes
and made them whiter," and thus contest reading may be better than
not to read the Bible at all.
The Model Prayer
When Secretary Johnson was conducting the Mad River Township
Sunday School Convention, February, 1922, the Rev. S. Q. Halfenstein,
a Dayton publisher who was filling the Knob Prairie Christian Church
pulpit that day, when leading in prayer asked the audience to join him
in repeating the Lord's Prayer, using the word "debt" rather than
"trespass," saying too many congregations depart from the text when
repeating the model prayer. Since it is the duty of the Sunday school
teacher to instill the habit of Bible study, it was an opportune time for
the visiting minister to teach the correct use of the model prayer — the
Lord's Prayer.
In urging the support of the Sunday school, J. M. Alexander of the
National Sunday School Association said before a Springfield audience
that, "all the great problems are decided between the ages of twelve and
twenty; it is the formative period when the great pull of life comes,
either upward or downward, which determines his future; under the
stress and strain of modern life the home, in a religious sense, is dis-
appearing. Family prayers are a relic of a bygone age, and the last
bulwark in the effort to maintain religion as a vital factor in the daily
life of the nation is the Sunday school," but "One Man on Four Wheels,"
is the precaution taken by the Clark County Sunday School Association
as a safeguard to the future.
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CHAPTER XIX
YOUNG MEN'S AND YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN
ASSOCIATIONS
Springfield was early in its Young Men's Christian Association activi-
ties, effecting an organization in August, 1854, with E. M. Doty as
president; its object was the moral and religious betterment of young
men. Many citizens supported the movement, and there were some dis-
tinguished speakers before the association. A reading room was estab-
lished, and there was the nucleus of a library. While the reading room
was for the use of members, others enjoyed it.
There were eighty members of the original Springfield Young Men's
Christian Association representing the different evangelical churches,
and it did the welfare work of the community. In effect, it was the first
organized charity; it distributed necessities among the destitute, and
much suffering and want were relieved by it. While the records do not
indicate the time it lapsed, the Civil war claimed attention, and those
constituting the membership were eligible as soldiers. Many antebellum
institutions lapsed because their leaders enlisted in the Civil war.
Rallied Again
It was in the winter of 1867-68 that the Young Men's Christian
Association was organized a second time. H. T. Miller, a blind man
from Cincinnati, assisted to organize and install the association again.
E. W. Mulliken became its president, and associated with him were
Dr. Daniel Phillips, Dr. A. S. Dunlap, Nichols and Hastings, editors
of the Republic; J. W. Gunn, G. W. Winger, E. C. Middleton, B. F.
Prince, and many of the Springfield ministers. Through the efforts of
Mrs. Samson Mason and others the new organization had charge of
the books in the first circulating library attempted in Springfield.- In
1868 Doctor Dunlap represented the Springfield association in an Inter-
national convention held in Detroit; in 1870 Mr. Middleton represented
the association in convention in Indianapolis.
The Young Men's Christian Association maintained the public lecture
course of the community, and among the noted speakers were : John B.
Gough, Charles Sumner, Wendell Phillips, Theodore Tilton, General
Woodford, Captain Hall, the Arctic explorer, and Paul B. DuChaillu,
the African explorer. The course was financed by the sale of $5 season
tickets ; each ticket admitted two persons. Tickets were sold in advance,
thus securing money for the entire course. The lectures were delivered
in Black's Music Hall, the religious people then opposed to the designa-
tion as theater. When illness prevented the appearance of Wendell
Phillips, the association hurriedly secured George Kennan who was a
Russian explorer, attracting large crowds in Cincinnati. He later became
popular in Springfield. Mr. Winger had the foregoing data from Doctor
Dunlap of Chattanooga.
In 1887 Organized Again
In its present organization the local Young Men's Christian Asso-
ciation dates back to 1887, having started and suspended twice, but the
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Springfield Y. M. C. A.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 159
charm seems to have been attained in the third effort. It requires
finances to keep any organization intact, and W. J. Fraser, who is still
a Springfield citizen, was the first paid general secretary who devoted his
full time to it. The organization was effected in 1887, in the Clark
County courthouse, and it was sheltered there until it began activities
by increasing its membership, and sought other quarters. From the
beginning, including Mr. Fraser, the Springfield Young Men's Christian
Association has had four general secretaries, Mr. Fraser remaining till
1903; T. T. Long till 1904; A. E. Flint till 1911, and the present incum-
bent John L. Dorst coming at that time.
When the Young Men's Christian Association left the courthouse
it occupied a hall on Market Street (Fountain Avenue), and in 1900
the corner stone was laid for the building; it was completed in 1901,
and there was an entire week of dedicatory service. It was fittingly
launched into its field of usefulness, among the speakers being the world
famous evangelist, Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman, Gov. James A. Weaver
of Pennsylvania, Capt. Richmond P. Hobson, Dr. Henry Barrows of
Oberlin College, and Pres. W. O. Thompson of Ohio State Univer-
sity. Mr. Fraser was secretary through the building period, and Hon.
Asa S. Bushnell was the honorary presiding officer through the dedi-
catory service. Mr. Bushnell and Edwin S. Kelly had each given $5,000
toward the enterprise.
Building for the Future
While the cost of the Young Men's Christian Association building
approximated $70,000, and Dr. John H. Rodgers who was association
president throughout the building period, as well as other citizens of
Springfield, thought the community had built for the future, twenty
years later building plans are under consideration again. The associa-
tion has outgrown its building and a site had been acquired at the south-
west corner of Center and High streets ; its building project was delayed
by war-time activities, its members again being called to arms as in the
'60s when the first association functioned, the whole community expend-
ing its energy and its money in other channels.
Notwithstanding the delay a drive was made for funds resulting
in a $200,000 subscription toward a new building and plans have been
approved for an edifice costing $500,000 to become a reality in the near
future. With $200,000 as a nucleus, and with the building now in use
to be converted into collateral, there will not be tedious delay in begin-
ning the new structure. When a drive was made in March, 1922, for
$30,000, it went uover the top," amounting to $30,559, the whole com-
munity responding to it. In its latest organization, George W. Winger,
who was identified with association work in its first and second efforts,
is its president; he was elected president for the fifth consecutive year,
and being a pioneer Y. M. C. A. man, he will be a valuable member of
the board through its building era again.
The first and second vice presidents of the association are: C. L.
Bauer and Dr. R. E. Tulloss; the corresponding secretary is C. H.
Rhodes; the treasurer is George S. Raup, and the general secretary
Mr. Dorst. The local association entertained the state association in
its annual convention recently, and Mr. Bauer was honored by being
elected its president. In 1892 the Springfield association instituted voca-
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160 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
tional education work in advance of the public schools or other educa-
tional institutions ; the first teacher was a skilled mechanic, D. F. Graham,
and the classes were conducted in a room in a factory. It was the
beginning of night school in Springfield. Men and boys enrolled in
numbers, and since then the association has maintained gymnasiums for
both men and boys.
The Springfield Young Men's Christian Association numbers 1,400
active members and 2,000 contributing members ; for want of accom-
modations it does not push the industrial features, but Bible classes
are maintained with special attention given the Sunday afternoon reli-
gious meetings. Good speakers are furnished, and these meetings are
growing in popularity; they are maintained only through the winter
months. There are only twenty-eight dormitory rooms, but the new
building will house many non-resident members who become residents
of Springfield. The gymnasium sometimes becomes a banquet room,
and the Young Men's Christian Association is the recognized social
center for the young men of Springfield.
Springfield Convention Center
Four times has the Ohio Young Men's Christian Association held its
annual meetings in Springfield, and when the new building is completed
it will become ambitious again. The association met in Springfield in
1891, 1897, 1912, and again in 1921, and the homes of the city were
thrown open to delegates. The Hi Y is an accomplishment of the
Springfield association, there being ninety-eight such clubs with a mem-
bership numbering 2,000 in Ohio. A Hi Y speaker before the conven-
tion, said: "Real religion is a manly thing," and there is demand for
Hi Y secretaries. When the Older Boys' conference was held in Dayton,
a torch was brought from Columbus and a relay of Springfield boys
carried it to Dayton, the torch having been carried between many cities
by members of the Older Boys' conference, as an effective method of
advertising the convention ; the boys were distributed a mile apart, and
each boy ran one mile with the torch, giving it to the boy in waiting;
except running one mile, the boys were carried to Dayton in automobiles.
African Young Men's Christian Association
The Negroes of Springfield support the Center Street Branch of the
Young Men's Christian Association and are active in all departments.
They maintain a Dunbar and Washington debating society, and a Hi Y
club. Their reports are separate from the Springfield association. The
Ohio Young Men's Christian Association is raising $150,000 for the
foreign work of the organization and $4,000 has been asked of the
Springfield association. A summer camp for boys is planned by the
association and special attention is given Y work in Wittenberg College.
If a church has collateral significance — and all real estate dealers point
out the churches and schools to prospective citizens, then the Young
Men's Christian Association is an investment, and attracts people to
the community.
The Boy Scouts
The organization, Boy Scouts of America, was incorporated Feb-
ruary 8, 1910, and it was granted a Federal charter by Congress June 15,
1916, and Warren G. Harding is the honorary president with William H.
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162 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Taft and Woodrow Wilson as vice presidents. Rev. Harry Trust, presi-
dent of the Springfield Boy Scout Association is unable to supply the
data concerning its local organization, but there is considerable activity
among Springfield Boy Scouts. The Exchange Club is financing the
organization, and the local troops observe National Boy Scout week with
enthusiasm. Rallies are held and programs are arranged and there is
an increased interest since the Exchange Club has fostered the Scout
organization. Hikes are enjoyed, and a Scout camp is an assured thing;
the appeal is made through the churches, and eight troops are under
process. In Springfield there are 3,600 boys of Scout age, and other
boys are invited to ally themselves with Springfield Scout organizations.
William Smack is chief scoutmaster and instructor.
In a surprisingly short time Boy Scouts become Junior Y's, and
the Scout oath and Scout law put the boys into the highway toward
good citizenship. "Teachers in the Boy Scout movement must build
Americans who will stand for a united humanity; one of the great
forces for good in the movement is the democratic spirit which per-
meates it. * * * Boy Scout activities kills the influence of the
'gang* spirit, and teaches boys they can be redblooded — that they can be
regular he-men, and still be pure and virtuous." A Scout keeps clean
in body and in thought; he stands for clean speech, clean sport, clean
habits, and travels with a clean crowd. Now that the Exchange Club
is big brother to 'the Boy Scouts, some record will be kept of the
organization.
Young Women's Christian Association
The Young Women's Christian Association, including administration
building, residence and cafeteria, is located at 250 East High Street,
Springfield. It is the outgrowth of work done by the Woman's Chris-
tian Association organized November 6, 1896; it has served the com-
munity in different locations, but since 1913 in its High Street property
that was once occupied by a private educational institution. While the
organization was known as the Woman's Christian Association, Mrs.
Fannie P. Watkins was its secretary for thirteen years, and its mission
was to aid indigent but worthy women. It promoted the moral, social
and physical welfare of women and girls; it cared for children whose
mothers worked, and dispensed the most practical charity. Its first
president was Mrs. Rebecca Brewster, and the leading women of Spring-
field supported it.
Mrs. F. L. Davies reviews the history of the Woman's Christian
Association, saying it was started as a home for girls and later the aid of
the churches was asked by the women supporting the effort; the furni-
ture was secured from the Deaconess Home, and the real organization
was effected in the home of Mrs. Sarah Willis, and a home was opened
on the site of the I. C. & E. Traction station. A group of women
assumed the expense, and every week they went out and solicited the
necessary money. As their needs increased they moved into more com-
modious quarters, and finally enough younger women became members
that the organization was changed and today it is the Young Women's
Christian Association. In the beginning the young women met for
pastime, but they began sewing for the Association and a real spirit of
helpfulness was soon awakened in them. For a time they called them-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 163
selves "Brownies," and then assumed the name: Charitable After-
noon Club.
Mrs. Watkins has been mentioned as secretary of the original organ*
ization, and when it merged with the Y in 1909, Miss Eleanor Taft
served for two years as secretary, and after a lapse of a short time Miss
Rosetta Reynolds was secured, and she remained two years. After
another interim without a secretary, Miss Marjorie Williams assumed
the duties in 1915, and there has been constant growth at the Central Y,
and in its branch departments. The Young Women's Christian Associa-
tion has the supervision of the Clark Memorial Home, Lagonda Center
and Clark Street Branch, and many people frequent the different centers.
The community has pride in the organization and when f unds are needed
drives are made and it is given the necessary financial support. It main-
tains a cafeteria, and a great many patronize it. The annual meetings
are open to the public, one having been held in Memorial Hall, when a
program was given that attracted many visitors. It was in the nature
of a jubilee, the organization having been effected twenty-five years ago.
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CHAPTER XX
SALVATION ARMY IN SPRINGFIELD
While the Salvation Army has been in Springfield since the *90s,
Adjutant E. D. Dinkelacker and wife who have teen at the local post
since July 1, 1921, have no definite record of its beginning; it has a
fluctuating membership, there being twenty-nine enrolled at the time
of the inquiry. The Salvation Army owns its own home at Columbia
and Fisher streets, it having once been the Evangelical Lutheran Church
property. It is centrally located, and there is a standing offer of $16,000
for it ; in time it will be sold and something better suited to the require-
ments will be secured. The Army holds regular street meetings on
the esplanade, and meetings are held in its auditorium.
While the organization in Springfield has never lapsed, it has been
at low ebb and up again; its welfare work is extensive, although it
co-operates with other Springfield agencies — the social service depart-
ment correlating all charities. For a number of years the local Army
has used the unique boiling pot as its symbol, and the citizens assist in
keeping the fires burning by dropping money in it. "It takes a hardened
individual to pass one of those tripods with the pot suspended, and the
woman or man in attendance half frozen under the chill blasts of winter ;
it is the penny or nickel the passerby drops into the pot that swells the
Christmas dinner for those unable to provide it themselves. At Thanks-
giving and Christmas the Salvation Army provides for those who would
pass the day without the holiday cheer.
Commander Evangeline Booth says the story of the Salvation Army
is like the wildest of dreams come true ; the beggar has been raised from
the dust and set among princes. The Salvation Army band is the poor
man's organ ; to the dying outcast it is the heavenly music of the angelic
choir. It maintains 26,181 bandsmen, 750 day schools and 41 naval and
military schools scattered all over the world. The Salvation Army
endeared itself to the soldiers in the World war by its untiring efforts
as a relief agency.
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CHAPTER XXI
CLARK COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS— J. M. COLLINS,
SUPERINTENDENT .
There was an educational provision in the famous ordinance of 1787,
under which the Northwest Territory was organized, and thus Ohio and
the other states carved out of the Old Northwest attracted the best class
of settlers; in Clark County, as in other counties, one section of land
in each township consisting of thirty-six sections is set apart for the
support of the common school; this was written into the first Ohio
Constitution in 1802, and it is still embodied in it although it has been
revised twice — in 1851, and again in 1912; it is decreed that section No. 16
in each Congressional township shall be the school land, and one who
has distinctive remembrance of the three R's as the entire educational
curriculum, is inclined to take some note of the panorama — the evolution
of the educational system in Clark County.
An investment in the mind and heart of the child, is laying up treasure
where moth and rust do not corrupt; the school should develop in the
youth a sense of responsibility for the welfare of the community. In
the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin there is an
income from the land alone amounting to $5,000,000, and from the begin-
ning these states have led the world in educational progress. In Athens '
County, Ohio University occupies one of those school sections, and
since it is the oldest university west of the Alleghany Mountains the
fact is significant. One writer says : "From select to free ; from school-
master to teacher; from academy to high school, education has been no
laggard in the march of progress," and since in the beginning there was
little taxable property there were select schools.
The First School
In 1806 Nathaniel Pinkered opened the first school in Springfield;
it was in a log- school house on the northeast corner of Main and Market
streets, and since this building was used for religious meetings, it was
the community center of Springfield. It is referred to as Pinkered's
school, leaving the impression that it was private property. Without
question it was a subscription school. William Bloxum who was an
early teacher received $1.50 tuition for sixty days for each scholar; it
was customary in such schools to admit younger children as half-
scholars, although no mention is made of it. Some of the burly young
men were inclined to rowdyism, and when they defied Mr. Bloxum he
said he "would have order if he stood in blood to his eye brows; he
gave the ring leader a severe whipping, and there was no more trouble."
It seems that the "Master" had more need of muscle than of mental
attainment, carrying out the saying: "Lickin* and larnin' are inseparable."
The earlier Clark County histories do not carry much information
about the pioneer schools, but there were enterprising teachers who com-
bined training the young idea with other occupations; it was necessary
to "make both ends meet," and an Englishman named Samuel Smith
served as a justice of the peace while teaching school in Springfield.
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166 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
He was a hustling, square-shouldered man of "no ordinary talents," and
"Treat 'em rough," was his method ; he regarded "flogging" as an indis-
pensable part of discipline, and full grown young men and women were
often compelled to stand and receive the savage strokes of his ferrule.
In the language of a popular cartoonist : "Them days is gone forever."
Justice of the Peace Pedagogue Smith had nicknames for boys:
Lucius, Mark Anthony, Julius Caesar, Pompey, etc., and while he was a
man of truth and veracity as far as business was concerned, he had a
passion for telling marvelous stories; had there been such publications
in his day, he would have been a fiction writer. Stories of doubtful
origin were always attributed to Smith; for ten years his school was
regarded as the highest seat of learning in Springfield. Smith's wife, a
tall, sharp-nosed Yankee woman, assisted him in teaching the smaller
children ; the school was in their cabin. One Christmas when Smith was
locked out to compel him to treat, he visited Granny Icenbarger's cabin,
and the youngsters had visions of cakes and apples, but they "reckoned
without their host," for when he came back he climbed to the roof and
dropped brimstone on the fire, laying a board on the chimney. They
soon tumbled out of the windows, and they never locked that justice-of-
the-peace out again.
January 1, 1818
While local government was established in Clark County, January 1,
1818, within a week from its organization, there was no common school
legislation until January 22, 1821, three years later, when an act to pro-
vide for the regulation and support of the common schools was passed,
and in February, 1825, an act to provide for the support and better regu-
lation of the common schools, and finally January 30, 1827, an act was
passed establishing a fund for the support of the common schools, and
until money was appropriated there was little progress. When Nathaniel
Pinkered opened his school, Springfield was in Champaign County, but
under state law the conditions must have been similar in different
counties.
At all events the Pinkered school was the beginning of a splendid
educational system in Springfield and Clark County; the people were
not inclined to live in ignorance. The intellectual and moral conditions
are similar in different frontier communities; settlers are deprived of
many privileges when they come into the wilderness. The church and
the school are regarded as collateral in any community, and as it advances
morally and intellectually, crime and pauperism decrease; in the begin-
ning the school term was usually thirteen weeks, the teacher agreeing
to "keep school," and the parents obligating themselves to send their
children and pay for it. Each school was a separate business enterprise,
and one who mastered the three R's — readin', 'ritin and 'rithmetic, had a
liberal education.
There were no blackboard, maps or other school house fixtures
because there were no school houses; there are few and perhaps none
lingering in 'Clark County today who tell of the dirt floors, greased paper
windows and smoky rooms; what if the school houses did not have
modern advantages? There were no unpleasant comparisons when their
homes were like them. It is a far cry from the style of rural school
building as described by Judge William A. Rockel : "A log was omitted
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
167
for the light, and in this space single window panes were used end to
end, and the windows were so high that the little fellows could only
see the sky; below the windows were broad boards for desks, and the
larger pupils sat there facing the light," contrary to the conditions exist-
ing under the Smith-Hughes law in Clark County at present.
1914 Begins a New Era
While not much is on record about those who "taught the young
idea the use of fire arms," years ago, when he was a young man of nine-
teen, the Hon. Whitelaw Reid was a teacher in Sduth Charleston; he
wore his hair long and was of distinctive type. In an early day teaching
was a stepping stone to the professions, and aged men in Springfield
wielded the birch while acquiring further education. Under existing
conditions, with teaching itself a profession, not so many qualify as
Rockway School — Rural
teachers unless they continue in the vocation ; too many technicalities are
required for young men to use it today as a means of attaining to some
other line of activity. When the writing desks were against the walls
and the children sat on puncheon benches, there were fewer swindles
in the sale of school accessories than at present. "Sufficient unto the day
is the evil thereof," and as civilization advances educational methods
advance with it ; the school is among the greatest agencies of advancement.
It is only since 1914 that there has been public supervision of rural
schools in Clark County, the changed Ohio Constitution in 1912 allowing
the State Legislature to provide for it. Prof. J. M. Collins as county
superintendent of schools, has supervision of all schools in Clark County
outside of the City of Springfield ; he is the first and only superintendent
since the enactment of the law establishing the office; he received his
appointment from the county board of education, which is composed of
five members and under its last organization they are: E. H. Florence,
Grant Neer, C. D. Shellabarger, Ezra King and Harry Mellinger. The
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168 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
board holds monthly meetings and has the oversight of educational affairs ;
it is the plan to keep education out of politics, and professional interest,
experience and competency enter into the consideration when selecting a
school superintendent.
The three assistants to the county school superintendent are: Prof.
O. T. Hawke, who has fifty-one teachers; Prof. F. S. Ryan, forty-one
teachers ; and Prof. J. K. Hertzinger with thirty-five teachers ; the three
districts are east, middle and west, and the South Charleston, Selma
and New Carlisle schools all have local superintendents ; there are super-
visors of music in each subdivision, and Professor Collins as county
superintendent has supervision of all. Under existing conditions, at
little or no expense to himself, a man may educate a family; while there
are free schools it is through taxation, and in establishing the free educa-
tional system, the government was carrying out the injunction of the
father of his country, George Washington, who said: "Promote then
as an object of primary importance institutions for the general diffusion
of knowledge; in proportion as the structure of a government gives
force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be
enlightened," and the public school is the hope of the future.
Advantages of an Education
None will gainsay the statement that a liberal education increases the
opportunities for success ; it paves the way for usefulness and influence
in the community. In the way of professional interest, public school
teachers are required to have thirty-six weeks of Normal training beside
a high school education; the scholarship certificate is not issued until
the teacher has the necessary professional training. When professional
interest and moral conduct warrant it, teachers are exempt from recur-
rent examinations. Their certificates are renewed from time to time as
per requirements. While a good many traditions cling about the one-
room school — the "little red school house," and it has been the theme of
song and story, it is soon to become a thing of the past in Clark County.
There are already many abandoned school houses, the consolidated school
serving the purpose today.
There has been little opposition to the consolidated or centralized
school in Clark County. The first centralized school in Ohio was in
Ashtabula County in 1892, and the system has found favor in many
localities. When the new school code came into action in 1914, many
county superintendents immediately began centralization projects. The
Clark County citizens recognized the advantages to be derived under
the Smith-Hughes law — manual training and domestic science teachers
being partly paid by the state a possibility, and the only way the question
was ever before the voters was for appropriations ; they understood the
issue and supported the measure. Centralization brings high school
advantages within the reach of all.
It is remembered that Governor J. M. Cox called the Ohio Assembly
into extraordinary session, in order to enact the new school code in
Ohio; it has been said: "Governor Cox was keenly conscious of the
great importance of the movement to organize rural life, and he realized
that a high school system commensurate in efficiency with the importance
of rural life and its industries was necessary and fundamental to the
progress of such a movement, and that the country boys and girls were
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not getting a square deal because the so-called system then in use was
inadequate to their needs and interests and failed to reveal to them the
possibilities of rural life and rural activities." The governor vigilantly
guarded the new law against reactionary influences and measures, and
its wisdom has since been vindicated in the minds of Ohio educators.
In writing of centralization, a leading educator says : "It has proved
beyond the anticipation of its most ardent advocates its worth in meeting
the rural conditions. When fully and properly administered, it is a
corrective agency for the readjustment of the affairs of rural life;
fortunate are the children whose heritage it is to have the opportunities
made possible by its provisions, and only the coming years can reveal
the full measure of its benefits.,, The first effort toward consolidation
in Clark County was made at Selma, where four wagons are in use,
although in the county fifty-one trucks are utilized in transporting chil-
dren to centralized schools.
Cross Roads Rural School
South Charleston is now the centr^bVed school of Madison Township,
the school corporation havinsr been abolished and the school is operated
by the township: the countv board of education created a new district
by combining the town and township. New Carlisle still operates its
separate school, althoueh there are some transfers from the townships
near it. It draws from North Bethel and Pike, althoueh Bethel has
another centralized school at Olive Branch or Forgy; the town is Forgy
and the school is Olive Branch. The forty-four schools in Clark County
outside of Springfield accommodate approximately 4,000 pupils, the
monthly statement for December, 1921, showing an enrollment of 4,271
with an average attendance of 3,968, which is 95.12 per cent perfect —
regarded by the superintendent as a good showing; in the whole month
only 174 were late. Those coming in trucks are never late, and thus
centralization eliminates tardiness; in the month of December 3,853
were neither absent nor tardy.
State Superintendent Vernon S. Reigel reports that Clark is the
only Ohio county that never voted on the question of centralization,
although its people voted on bond issues which involved consolidation.
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170 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
In a sense all high schools are centralized automatically, and Decem-
ber 31, 1921, there were only five one-room schools with the prospect
that Fairview in German Township will be the last. It is not situated
to combine well with another school, there being a number of two and
three-room schools which will be continued indefinitely. Aside from
Selma, practically all the centralization has developed under the leader-
ship of Superintendent Collins. Eighth grade graduates receive diplo-
mas and they are encouraged to enter high school and finally go to col-
lege. Wittenberg College is the objective point of many Clark County
graduates.
County Health Supervision
Miss Agnes Kyle, who visits the rural schools and advises with
teachers and pupils relative to sanitary and health conditions, is not
a teacher; she is employed by the Clark County Health Board and
conservation of health is the object. She emphasizes the need of clean-
liness and suggests to parents the proper diet when under-nourished
children are discovered. There are many of them and in homes of
plenty, but their food is not selected with regard to their particular
needs. The health supervisor is not paid from the school fund, although
she does much to increase regular attendance. Slates and slate rags
and sponges are eliminated ; the coat sleeves that were once used to clean
the slates — just allow the imagination full play — and think how much
better it is for the child to use pencils and tablets, with waste paper bas-
kets for the accumulation when it has served its purpose. Aye, some
of the old-time teachers would become bewildered in the school rooms of
today. They would say "Backward, turn backward," but they cer-
tainly served their day and generation acceptably.
There is a rural welfare doctor as well as a rural advisory nurse,
and in case of epidemic it becomes his duty to explain that children
are safe in school because those exposed to disease are in quarantine.
Both Clark County and the City of Springfield had much difficulty
with epidemics in 1921, many being quarantined with scarlet fever and
with smallpox. It is said there are 11,000,000 children in the United
States attending rural schools, and in Ohio sanitary and health con-
ditions— thanks to the magnificent program launched a number of years
ago— are far above the average.
In Retrospect
Along in the early 70s — the reconstruction period following the Civil
war— the country schoolhouses were the community centers. There were
few neighborhood churches and it frequently fell to the lot of the
rural pedagogue to clean a school house on Monday morning that had
served as a Sunday center. If a pupil was backward in his studies
it became the teacher's duty to learn his difficulty; there was no visit-
ing nurse to offer suggestions. When there were subscription schools —
scholars and half-scholars — that was a system of grading, and while
advance has been noted there was some good in the old-fashioned
pedagogical methods. When Clark County teachers boarded around
there was little said about the scale of wages. The high cost of liv-
ing did not disturb them. It was the simple life. While some cling
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 171
to sentiment with regard to the institutions of the past, others accept
the utility side, and a recent versifier exclaimed:
"The little red schoolhouse stands
Just like it always had done —
But I can't grow reminiscent —
I never went to one,"
and while some of the adherents assert that children of the past knew
more at twelve than they know now when they graduate, they do not
take into the account the fact that many studies are being pursued that
were unknown to the children of a generation ago.
If the "pupils in our common schools were much better spellers"
it is because more emphasis was placed on spelling than on any other
accomplishment except "figgers." The teachers of the past were better
writers, much of the handwriting of half a century ago being as
plain as script of today. There were good spellers and good writers
developed in the one-room school houses. There used to be writing
school and the teacher was an adept in ornamental penmanship — could
make a zebra or spread eagle, but where is the man or woman today
who attempts even a slight flourish in his signature? In the old church
records and in some of the family Bibles are excellent specimens of
penmanship. The fellow still exists who can "read readin' readin',
but who cannot read riten readin'." The backwoods school teachers
were welcomed into the homes of Clark County but who would board
the school teacher today? The centralization plan also takes care of
the living necessities of the school teacher.
The Unruly Schoolboy
What has become of the unruly schoolboy who used to terrorize
the school teacher? When brawn rather than brain was the qualifica-
tion of the teacher; when muscular development rather than mental
achievement secured recognition, the boys remained in the rural schools
longer than today, when they are graduated before they are old
enough to intimidate the twentieth century female teacher. While still
in the adolescent period, the boy of that type is now pursuing higher
studies in other schools and change of environment has changed the
"nature of the brute." Disagreeable personality does not assert itself
when the boy finds himself in different environment. A boy who is
a terror at home is subdued by change of scenery. In the centralized
school he may be shifted from pne teacher to another and he loses
confidence in himself.
In the days of better chirography and orthography, the children in
rural schools memorized much of the New Testament, and on Friday
afternoons and in Sunday school they recited it. There were "whisper-^
ing schools" and unless they studied aloud — their lips moved — the
teacher was uncertain about their application. Watch the man on the
car whose lips move while he reads the newspaper; he went to whis-
pering school. He is unable to grasp the thought unless his lips move
in unison with his mentality. Time was when passing the water was
the reward for careful study. Now there are sanitary drinking foun-
tains and individual cup service, perhaps not enforced in all rural
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172 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
communities. When the water bucket was filled at a neighboring farm
house there were boys who wanted to bring the water in order to escape
the humdrum of study.
While spelling schools are reckoned with the habits and customs
of the long ago, one of the rural schools at Rockway held a spelling
school within the year. They used to go many miles to a spelling school,
when district would be pitted against district, and it was wonderful
how they would back their champion spellers. They lighted the way
to spelling schools with torches and later with lanterns. While Web-
ster's Elementary Speller is an heirloom today, it was once a vital part
of the school community. The McGuffy readers had their day, and
there never was any uniformity in mathematics until Ray's Practical
Arithmetic became the standard. Many adults in Clark County learned
what they know of the science of mathematics from Ray's Part III
Arithmetic. It was thumbmarked as far as common fractions. It had
the multiplication tables in it until they were worn by the pupils in
an effort to master them. There were always young people with the
commendable ambition to secure a liberal education. Among the older
men and women are a few college graduates.
Illiteracy; Its Remedy
While it is a vaunted educational system, when the World war
developed the amount of illiteracy in the country, educators began
studying the system. Something was radically wrong when twenty per
cent of the young men entering the army were unable to read and
write, and the 1920 census reports confirmed the war-time discovery,
a Columbus headline reading: "Although in Clark County and in all
of the counties adjoining, illiteracy has decreased during the last decade,
the state educational survey shows that the campaign against ignorance
is not progressing very well. In the decade ending December 31, 1920,
illiteracy among the native-born whites in Clark County was reduced
from .8 to .7, giving it one of the lowest percentages of illiteracy among
the larger communities in Ohio."
The census indicates that both foreign born and colored people
show an increased percentage of illiteracy, while native-born whites
show a decline, and still there is a field for educators. The census
shows 1,009 persons ten years of age and older who are unable to write,
most of them in Springfield, and 509 of them being negroes. Between
the ages of sixteen and twenty only .3 of one per cent are illiterate.
A recent writer says: "Our future leaders who come from agricultural
districts will have had access to the centralized school buildings which
have become community centers, affording the student body practically
every opportunity which the city schools offer to boys and girls. The
centralized school law was at once the most practical and progressive
measure ever written into the Ohio statutes. One may shed a tear as
the little red school house passes into history. It served its generation
well but it did not keep up with the spirit of the times."
Commissioner of Education Tigert announces that the cities average
$40.59 for the education of each child, while the rural child is educated
at an average annual expense of $23.91, the country child having 142
days in school, while the city child averages 182 days, and he points
out this difference as a factor in the movement away from the farms.
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The foregoing is a state condition that does not seem to hold good in
Clark County, where the majority of the farmers are owners of the
land, and it points to centralization as a solution of the difficulty. Good
roads and centralized schools are two big factors in modern rural edu-
cation. Centralization means co-operation, whiie the one-room school
house means divided effort, and Clark is almost fully consolidated and
the question solved itself ; it has not been forced in any community. A
new building is ready for dedication in Mad River, and the schools at
Pitchin, Oak Grove and Moorefield are being recognized as first class
and everything is prosperous in the rural schools of Clark County.
Superintendent Collins keeps in touch with drivers of the wagons and
trucks, looking to the safety of children in transit, and the speed of
the truck does not require children to leave home so early.
On Armistice Day, 1921, the Reid School was dedicated, the occa-
sion attracting many former students and visitors. Superintendent Col-
lins reviewed the history of the public school system, showing its rela-
tion to the Ordinance of 1787, providing for educational advantages.
Wallace Bird and Miss Laura Maxwell reviewed the community his-
tory, and a piano was given the school by Amos Whitely, who was a
guest ; he had been a schoolboy there. The Reid School was a com-
munity center visited by prominent men, President William McKinley
one time delivering a political address there. There is sentiment about
every rural school, and in prose verse some one writes: "How dear to
our hearts are the things of our childhood, when fond recollection pre-
sents them to view! The old district schoolhouse, the pail and the
dipper, the same cud of gum which in turn we would chew! No fear
of a microbe would ever beset us, no state board of health interfered
then at all. We bathed dirty faces in one common basin and turned
to the towel that hung on the wall. The old roller towel, the stiff roller
towel, the germ-laden towel that hung on the wall."
There is a joint county-city normal school which is growing in
popularity. It is a training school for teachers, the state contributing
$1,500 toward the salary of the first teacher and $1,000 toward the sec-
ond teacher, thus relieving the county-city schools of a considerable
share of the burden of maintaining a training school for teachers. Miss
Maggie Hinkle as director has had twenty-five students fitting them-
selves for teaching, and applications have been received from many
others. If printing "is the art preservative, then teaching is the pro-
fession preservative," and it is said: "The future of our country, the
Americanization of our newcomers, and the proper direction of our
civilization are largely in the hands of the public school teachers."
In one of the booklets is mention of Samuel Harvey as a surveyor
and school teacher, who was also author of an arithmetic. His activities
were in the vicinity of South Charleston. Rev. John Hunt, in the clos-
ing days of 1921, a resident of the I. O. O. F. Home in Springfield,
was credited with being the oldest living college graduate from any
American college. In 1842 he graduated from Brown University.
Clark County has had recognition in the fifty-second annual session
of the Central Ohio Teachers' Association, of which Superintendent
Collins is president, and O. T. Hawke of the county schools and E. W.
Tiffany of the Springfield schools hold committee appointments. Clark
County schools were well represented at the meeting held in Dayton.
Dr. T. Bruce Birch of Wittenberg College was one of the speakers before
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174 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
the association. W. H. Wilson of Springfield was chairman of the indus-
trial arts section.
With the co-operation between the public school and the farm bureau,
liberal education is being given in the study of agriculture. There are
evening classes in some of the centralized schools to which farmers
are invited, and soil fertility is a subject under consideration. There
is demand for a practical education, and educators are alert for best
methods. The primary duty of the public school is to prepare the pupil
for self-support, with a knowledge of the origin and use of good Eng-
lish, the essential facts in history, the fundamentals of mathematics,
some familiarity with natural science, the evolution of popular gov-
ernment, civic duties and responsibilities, and in an address given in
Springfield, Judge Frank W. Geiger declared himself in favor of read-
justing the present school system so that children be graded by men-
tality and not by age, saying that 70,000,000 people in the United
States are below the average fifteen-year-old child in mentality.
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CHAPTER XXII '
THE SPRINGFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS: HIGH SCHOOL
A statistical report issued by City Manager Edgar E. Parsons con-
veys the information that 12,987 students are enrolled in Springfield —
10,312 in public schools, 1,796 in parochial schools, 125 in business col-
lege and 636 in Wittenberg College (now 1,220), besides 4,000 pupils
enrolled in Clark County outside of Springfield. In round numbers
there are 17,000 students, beside the great army of adults who keep
up the habits of study. Before the Civil war there was an inclination
toward the private school among the well-to-do families — regarded pub-
lic schools as a form of charity — although when Nathaniel Pinkered
opened school in Springfield there had been no tax levy for that purpose.
Samuel Smith's school was among the early select schools in Spring-
field, that first church erected in 1810 serving as a schoolhouse as well
as a house of worship. At one time Reuben Miller, who was an unusual
character, and James L. Torbert had private schools under the same roof
that were independent of each other. Both taught only advanced pupils,
Torbert advertising special instruction in English grammar. Only a
hallway separated their school rooms, and there is no record of how
they adjusted playground difficulties. Mrs. Ann Warder, a pioneer
Springfield woman, brought an instructor from Pennsylvania to teach
her own children, and some of her friends were privileged to send their
children, and later Mrs. Warder engaged in teaching more advanced
pupils, having as her assistants Mr. Lewis and Miss Armstrong. Miss
Eunice Strong was another who had private school in Springfield. Miss
Parsons was associated with Miss Strong as a teacher.
A Mr. and Miss Elliott and Reverend Presbury had their day and
later came Allen Armstrong and Miss Mary Harrison. Miss Hannah
Haas taught for many years and a sister, Miss Catharine Haas, and
among the primary teachers were Mrs. Lowndes, Miss Lavinia Baird,
Misses Laura and Virginia Miller. Miss Baird taught in her own home,
accepting children who were unable to pay tuition. She was prompted
by the need of doing good in the community. The missionary spirit does
not act so strongly in all teachers. Other private teachers were: Miss
Vicory, Miss Peet, Miss Emma Way, Orin Stinson, Mrs. Anna Foos,
Mr. Cadwallader, Mr. Buchanan, Miss Minerva Aldrich, Miss Gunning,
Miss Smith, Mrs. Woodward, Mrs. Donohue, Miss Finley, Rev. Pingree,
William Wilson, Miss Ebersole, Miss Doolittle, Isaac Lancey, James
Wilson — they all conducted "pay schools."
Some of the pay schools, especially those taught by ministers who
sought this method of increasing their exchequer, incorporated the Bible
in their course of study. Others who had private schools were Miss
Matilda Stout, Mr. McWilliams, William Reid, Jane Reid, Rev. Wil-
liam McGookin, Rev. John Rowe. Miss Anna B. Johnson continued
that line of educational work in Springfield until the Seminary property
on East High Street was acquired by the Springfield Young Woman's
Christian Association. The names of J. Allison Smith, Rev. J. F. Saw-
yer and Enoch C. Dial are found in the list of private educators. While
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176 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
teaching in a seminary, Mr. Dial was a member of the Springfield Board
of Education.
Some of the private schools were personal enterprise without much
thought of the future, but along in the '40s there was more effort
toward organization. There were boarding schools for both sexes. In
1844 Rev. Moore opened a boarding school for girls that was noted
for its examinations and for its literary programs. In 1848 Rev.
Chandler Robbins opened Greenway Institute, which was a boys' board-
ing school, a counterpart of the female seminary. The number of
pupils was limited, and it was a requirement that they board at the
school. The plan was adopted by the professor in order to counteract
what he deemed a serious error in the ordinary modes of education.
Mental discipline was too often attained at the expense of health and
morality. Human happiness depends not so much upon mental acquisi-
tions as upon physical health and moral character. Mr. Robbins later
became identified with Springfield public schools, and Greenway Insti-
tute was later utilized as the first public hospital in Springfield.
Memorable Year, 1850
While Cincinnati had graded schools in 1836 and Akron in 1847,
it was not until 1850 that such plan was undertaken in Springfield. An
act known as the Akron law was extended in 1848 to incorporated towns
and cities, and in 1849 it was further embodied in a general law allow-
ing any town of 200 inhabitants to organize and conduct graded schools.
The city records show that in 1850, two Springfield citizens were
appointed as managers of the public schools. While they had been pri-
vate enterprises supported in part by subscription, there was also an
apportionment of public funds, but disbursed without much supervision.
Almost anyone could qualify as a teacher. There is more red tape con-
nected with it now than at the middle of the nineteenth century.
The private schools must have been conducted in private property
as are other business enterprises today, since in March, 1851, it was
decided by vote to "build two schoolhouses for the purposes of com-
mon schools," and by February, 1853, two lots were purchased and in
January, 1854, contracts were let for the buildings. In April, 1855,
the first board of education was named, as follows : Chandler Robbins,
Joseph Brown and C. H. Williams. Because of the German popula-
tion instruction in German was arranged, although the time came when,
because of propagandi, it was not so popular. Provision was also made
at the beginning for the education of negroes in Springfield.
School Superintendent
The first superintendent of common schools was F. W. Hurt. The
principals were John Fulton and Daniel Berger, with R. W. Morris
and Samuel Wheeler as assistants. In the course of a few years
Chandler Robbins, who had conducted Greenway Institute, became
superintendent. From that time on the office was discontinued and
members, of the school board performed the duties in connection with
the different principals. It is a noteworthy fact that Springfield was
granted a city charter in 1850, and that an educational awakening began
at that time. Although the office of school superintendent was aban-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 177
doned, it was not long until one was employed for part time teaching
and the rest of his time given to supervision. In this class were : Charles
B. Ruggles, Allen Armstrong, John F. Reinmund and Charles H. Evans.
When J. A. Jackson became superintendent of Springfield schools
his entire time was given to it. Since 1875 the office has been filled
by W. J. White, A. E. Taylor, W. H. Wier, Carey Boggess, John S.
Weaver, Mr. Boggess a second time, and since 1917 Superintendent
George E. McCord, who had been teacher in high school for some years.
The board acquired property in 1869 that had been transferred in 1841
to the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was
controlled by the church body as long as a school of high grade was
maintained there, finally reverting back to Springfield. It was in the
Y. W. C. A. building which was erected by popular subscription on
land belonging to the public schools system. The original school on this
site was organized in 1835 by Milo G. Williams, who remained" at its
head till 1841, when the control passed to Chandler Robinson. It passed
from Robinson to the Ohio Conference March 7, 1842, when a denom-
inational high school was incorporated and Mr. Robbins was succeeded
by Rev. Solomon Howard, representing the conference.
While the Ohio conference managed the school, its superintendents
were: Reverend Howard, Rev. John W. Weekly, E. G. Dial, Esq.,
Rev. W. J. Ellsworth and Rev. J. W. Herron. In succession these super-
intendents managed the affairs of the school until 1869, when the prop-
erty was leased to the Springfield Board of Education for public school
purposes. The building was used for two years by the high school when
it again passed into private control, schools for advanced grades being
conducted there in succession by Mrs. Ruth A. Worthington, Misses
Longwell and Talcott and Miss Johnson, already mentioned as occupying
it when the property was acquired by the Young Woman's Christian
Association. In 1849, Rev. Jonathan Edwards founded a select school
for young women that prospered, and in 1852 a charter was secured for
it. For a time it was housed in the First Presbyterian Church, later
acquiring property on the site of- the Northern School, which, in turn,
had been the site of the original cabin home in Springfield.
This school received the moral support of the Presbyterians of Ohio,
and had a season of great popularity. While it was founded by Jonathan
Edwards, when it was installed in its own property it was managed by
John A. Smith as a denominational school for girls. In 1854, the con-
trol was assumed by Rev. L. H. Christian, who two years later was
followed by Rev. Charles Sturdevant, who assumed the indebtedness
of the institution and operated it alone. In 1857, Rev. James L. Rodgers
purchased a half interest in the school, and five years later he
owned it all. In 1871, it was acquired by the Board of Education, and
thus the Springfield Female Seminary became Northern School. Wit-
tenberg College, which came into existence in the period of so many
private schools, is still in the educational field.
Modern High School
While Springfield school history goes back to the log school house
with puncheon floors, slab benches without backs, and windows glazed
with oil paper, since 1911 the high school has been housed in a splendid
new building on South Limestone Street that is patterned after the Con-
Vol. 1—12
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 179
gressional Library in Washington. The Junior High School on West
High Street occupies the building that for many year served as the
home of the high school in Springfield. It is still a community center for
the schools outside of Springfield, and the public school clinics are con-
ducted there. When the new high school was in process of building,
Superintendent McCord was then a science teacher, and he was com-
missioned by the Board of Education to inspect the building, and see
that nothing of inferior material was used in it. Since 1917, his responsi-
bility has been to know that the right kind of training is given in it.
The young idea is taught to shoot under his supervision — the firearms
being of the most approved workmanship. There is every facility, and
since Superintendent McCord witnessed the installation of the equipment,
he is capable of directing the use of it.
It is a far cry from the days of the quill pen to the room equipped
with modern typewriters in the business department ; from the utter lack
of charts and maps to the present day equipment, and Superintendent
Wier once said : "The ethics of the school room and play ground were
taught by the lecture system. It was often illustrated by wood cuts exe-
cuted by a species of free hand movement, that sometimes developed
into an etching in white and blue bordering on black, knd applied epi-
demically. For the proper development of the subject, a secluded
corner of the basement served as the dark room for bringing out the
details effectively," and according to published accounts, the doctrine
of "laying on of hands" is still recognized; within one year there were
ninety-seven cases of corporal punishment. However, the urchin who
gets himself "paddled" now has a champion on the Board of Education
in the person of Mrs. Clara A. Fry.
In the November election, 1921, Mrs. Fry and Mrs. Helen B. Garver
were elected members of the Springfield Board of Education. In 1897,
Mrs. Henrietta G. Moore was a member, and Springfield club women
feel that the franchise is worth while in the recognition thus secured for
women. They sit on juries as well as on the school board. When Mrs.
Fry and Mrs. Garver met with the board, Mrs. Fry remarked: "I
noticed in the annual report that there were ninety-seven cases of corporal
punishment in the high school last year. I do not think it is necessary.
I am not in favor of it." Superintendent McCord replied: "I am not
in favor of it, either, but sometimes nothing else will do; some of them
need it." The women members of the board have been active in its busi-
ness affairs, requiring some business formalities not always observed, and
they do not hesitate in casting dissenting votes. The meetings are held
in the office rooms of the building, and with women on the board com-
petitive bidding is the plan when patronage is given out by the Springfield
Board of Education, a news-writer saying: "The ladies are trying to
save the town a little money." It was in the purchase of typewriters that
the women first "locked horns" with the male members of the board.
While Mrs. Fry went on record as opposed to corporal punishment, Mrs.
Garver established the competitive bidding precedent. A Springfield
club woman remarked: "The women members are to be reckoned with
on the Board of Education."
While the Springfield school board thought it was building for the
future when planning its splendid high school building, within ten years
the crying need was more room. While the contract price for the build-
ing was $270,000, an additional appropriation of $70,000 was made, and
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the investment reached $340,000 without furnishings, and in the office
of Superintendent McCord is some of the furniture from the old build-
ing. With an auditorium seating 1,160 persons, and modern equipment
in all of the departments, considerable money was spent for furniture.
Under Smith-Hughes conditions much equipment is manufactured by
students in the manual training department. When Superintendent
McCord submits a design, the furniture is manufactured in the building.
An old account says: "These were the days of quill pens with the
teacher as maker and mender. While making his rounds of inspection
and correction, the teacher was wont to fix the damaged quills passed up
to him. A good pen knife with proper edge and temper was, therefore,
an essential in the equipment of the master. His skill and speed in the
art of pen-cutting counted for much in his qualifications. He would
thrust quills into his hair till some one wanted them. He would make
quills and write copy," but Superintendent McCord delegates all those
minor details to others.
Children are coming and going, and by shifting the hours of attend-
ance, they are accommodated. There are 292 teachers, forty-eight in
high school and 244 in the grades. High school teachers must be college
graduates, and they must have experience elsewhere. Preference is given
to outside teachers because they sometimes bring new methods. The
high school teacher must have the A. B. degree two years' experience,
although the experience may be gained as a grade teacher. Grade teach-
ers of ability are advanced to high school positions when they have the
requisite qualifications. Junior High School teachers must have college
degrees, and hold state certificates, thus high school teachers may be
employed anywhere in Ohio. All grade teachers in Springfield must be
graduates of an approved high school, and must have two years normal
training. Many local graduates teach in the grades.
Names of Schools
While the Springfield High School is without further designation,
the grade schools are: Bushnell, with eight rooms; Elmwood, with
eleven rooms ; Emerson, with sixteen rooms ; Fulton, with twelve rooms ;
Garfield, with eight rooms; Gray, with thirteen rooms; Jefferson, with
eleven rooms; Henry L. Schaefer Junior High, thirteen rooms; High-
lands, twelve rooms ; I. Ward Frey, thirteen rooms ; Central Junior High,
twenty-four rooms (old high school); Lagonda, eight rooms; Lincoln,
eleven rooms ; McKinley, eight rooms ; Melrose, one room ; Northern,
nineteen rooms (old Springfield Female Seminary) ; Northern Heights,
twelve rooms (old county infirmary) ; Snyder Park Junior High, four-
teen rooms; Southern, eight rooms; Warder Park, thirteen rooms; Wash-
ington, fourteen rooms; Western, ten rooms. While a few names sug-
gest locality, others commemorate individuals both of local and national
repute. Sometimes special favors are thus acknowledged, grateful
recognition being small recompense. The Board of Education, superin-
tendent of schools, business manager, clerk and truant officer have offices
on the ground floor of the high school building on South Limestone
Street.
While there is street car service, the Board of Education has provided
Superintendent McCord with an automobile in which he visits the differ-
ent schools. In 1921, the high school enrollment reached 1,360. with an
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182 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
average daily attendance of 1,212. With an enrollment of 697 in junior
high schools, and with 7,608 pupils in the grades, the superintendent has
10,000 pupils under his direction, and the automobile serves an excellent
purpose. The superintendent is working under twentieth century condi-
tions. The Junior High School receives pupils in the seventh and eighth
grades, and it has been demonstrated that pupils having advance high
school training are apt to remain fmd complete the high school training.
The old idea that high school education was a luxury enjoyed by but
few is thus overcome, and its privileges are shared by some who would
otherwise leave school when completing the eighth grade. A noticeable
feature — there are as many men as women employed in the Springfield
High School.
While the classical schools were the fore-runners of the present effec-
tive high school system in Springfield, and courses of study were sus-
tained in moral philosophy, chemistry, and ancient languages — rhetoric,
criticism, mathematics, elocution, piano, melodeon, French and German,
the teachers of that period would be nonplussed by the outlines of study
pursued in public schools in Springfield. Bible was a text book in the
classical schools, and Superintendent McCord retains it, notwithstanding
the agitation against it. The teachers read from it at pleasure in the
daily routine of service. .While there were substantial educators, there
was not much sentiment for a high school course of instruction until
1873, when C. H. Evans was at the helm. When high school was
inaugurated, sessions were held in the office of Dr. Isaac Kay and in
the Congregational Church ; today an immense army attends the high
school sessions in Springfield.
The course of study contemplates twelve years in public school, and
including junior high one-half the period is spent in high school, if the
pupil is able to make the grade as planned by the Board of Education.
There are two attendance officers — one a vocational officer, and attend-
ance is compulsory until eighteen years of age; the officer must know
why a child is absent, and the industrial situation does not offer much
difficulty. Manufacturers understand the situation, and child labor is not
used in competition with educational opportunities. The war labor short-
age made some difference, children wanting to work when fabulous
wages were paid in the factories. Sometimes there is work for children,
when men do not have employment. Women find employment when
men are idle, and in some homes men get children ready for school while
women work in factories; the vocational officer knows about it.
In high school all teachers do departmental work, and there are
supervisors in the different departments. Teachers specialize in language,
mathematics, science — and the pupils come to their rooms. Their study
periods are passed in the auditorium assembly room, where a supervisor
of study is in attendance. The industrial features claim much attention
in the Springfield public schools; much expense is saved to the Board
of Education by having work done by pupils, and the selfsame pupils are
mastering a craft while doing it. Nothing is done competitively, and
while the Typographical Unions are not favorable to school printing,
the students are not apprentices. A master printer is- in charge of the
department. Modern shops of all kinds are installed in the basement,
and teachers are practical men from the factories. When a good work-
man with teaching ability is discovered, he is offered a position in the
industrial department of the public schools.
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184 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
The high school molders and iron workers make their own equip-
ment, each student spending one and one-half hours in manual training.
This industrial feature holds many boys in school who would enter
factories without completing their high school studies. When the
pioneers needed some article of equipment they made it themselves; the
boys in manual training do the same thing. The Smith-Hughes law
provides for the education of the hand as well as of the head, and the
boy with manual training opportunities becomes independent — does things
for himself. The pioneer necessity was followed by an era of buying
everything, but the pendulum has swung back again ; the boy makes what
he wants instead of buying it.
The study of economic conditions reveals the fact that the boys who
enter manual training come from the homes of working men rather than
professional people. Business and professional people live in certain
localities, and children from such homes take the classical instruction,
while boys from the homes of laboring men consider industrial advan-
tages. The different homes furnish children of different inclinations,
although sometimes the professional man comes out of the industrial
environment; the mechanic springs from the professional or business
atmosphere. It is the duty of educators to supply the necessary technical
training whatever the home influence ; the boys learn theory, and practice
is acquired later. The industrial experiment in Springfield was installed
in 1917, and has proven satisfactory. Girls are given similar advantages
in domestic science and needle work, but the race question enters into it
and some girls are deterred because Negro girls are inclined toward the
household arts. It is an elective course, and girls learn millinery as well
as cookery.
A spinning wheel standi in one of the sewing rooms, and the girls
are thus brought face to face with the changed conditions surrounding
the lives of their mothers and grandmothers. Fruits are canned, and
while the girls are learning how they are also learning why — and that
constitutes domestic science. While mothers know how, they do not
always know why, and thus the next generation will be superior as home-
makers and housekeepers. The arts are taught, and basketry has its
appeal to most young girls. The school cafeteria has demonstrated its
economic usefulness, and with a man and his wife in charge there are no
flirtations. While nearby children go home for their dinners, those
remaining are served in three sections so there is no rush in the dining
rootn, and food is supplied at cost. In order to encourage the use of
soups at the noon-day luncheons, the price was reduced from 5 to 2
cents, thereby encouraging them to have something warm rather than
the cold dishes available. In some cities the" question of validity has
been raised where high schools serve lunches ; a suit has been brought in
Cleveland to test it.
In some of the Springfield schools because of unusual living condi-
tions, lunches of milk and wafers have been served free, the number
availing themselves of the privilege surprising the board. One criticism
has been offered that too little attention has been given to what should
constitute the child's diet, and adults have no knowledge of comparative
food values. The pioneer mother who understood balanced rations had
very little illness in her family, while other families had sickness all of
the time. Domestic science is overcoming that difficulty. When women
plan their menus intelligently digestion is better, and correctives are
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186 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
unnecessary. Along with the better English agitation should come a
better understanding of dietetics.
As early as 1906, the Springfield public schools engaged in the sale of
Christmas seals in the warfare against tuberculosis, and precaution is
taken against contagion of whatever the nature. When children enter
school at six years of age, boys average a pound heavier than girls, and
they are half an inch taller. Statistics show that girls make better aver-
ages in their studies than boys. It was under the direction of Superin-
tendent Boggess that clinics was installed, and pupils are advised in
medicine and dentistry ; special attention is given the eye, ear, nose and
throat at the free clinics. While the clinic was instituted for the benefit
of those who are unable to pay for professional service, the children of
well-to-do families avail themselves of the privilege. There is always a
waiting list with clinics every morning and one afternoon; two doctors
and one dentist give part-time service, and two nurses give full time to
the work of the health department. The nurses visit the different schools,
and when necessary they investigate home conditions. In most instances
parents show a willingness to cooperate with them.
The modern schools have rest rooms provided, and health questions
are considered. While there is some opposition to vaccination, the doc-
tors perform that service at the clinics. A typical monthly report filed
for January, 1922, shows 366 clinic cases attended to, with 297 carried
over from December; eighty-seven new cases with twenty-four cases
discharged, and 332 cases left over for February. Nurses and doctors
visited 166 class rooms within the month, giving seven talks and making
many examinations. The doctors examined 805 students, and the nurses
111, and they discovered 670 defectives. There were eleven dental clinics
with an average of ten pupils receiving attention. Forty-one children
remained out of school from want of clothing, and 257 cases were inves-
tigated by the attendance officers ; some had passed the age requirement,
and others returned to school under compulsion.
Through the business office of the public school an immense volume
of business is transacted — a million dollars in receipts and disbursements
every year, and an auditing committee goes through all the details. The
public school is a vast industrial center, and business methods are neces-
sary in operating it. Superintendent McCord has surrounded himself
with supervisors, teachers and executives, and organization is every-
where apparent. Athletics are duly recognized as elsewhere mentioned,
and when teachers have given a lifetime to service they are placed on a
pension list, the system becoming uniform in Springfield September 1,
1920. While a number of teachers receive pensions, some have taken
employment elsewhere and thus receive both salary and pension. When
a teacher has served thirty-six years, the pension relieves him of further
teaching service. It is known as the State Teachers' Retirement System,
and those planning to take advantage of it contribute four percent of
their annual salaries toward it, thus establishing a savings account for
themselves.
Every question that comes up for consideration anywhere is sure to
come up in Springfield, and with parent-teacher cooperation it seems that
all are amicably settled. While not all finish high school, many who do
attend college, and with Wittenberg available they obtain a liberal edu-
cation without quitting Clark County. With day and night school a
liberal education is a possibility, and with Wittenberg and numerous
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188 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
other colleges at hand, Clark County young people are availing them-
selves of the splendid opportunity. Ohio leads the country with forty-
one young men having availed themselves of the Cecil Rhodes scholar-
ship, and Springfield and Clark County rank high in the number of high
school and college graduates.
Ridgewood School
The Ridgewood Select School was established in 1919, to fill a need
recognized by many parents in Springfield. While it only serves a lim-
ited number of children, it admits of individual attention. It is not a
commercial enterprise, and profits above expenses are applied on build-
ing and equipment. The principal is Miss Marthena Winger. She is
assisted by teachers who specialize in Kindergarten, French, music and
physical culture. The limit is sixty-five pupils and a sufficient number of
teachers are employed to insure personal attention to each child, which
is impossible under average conditions in a crowded school room.
The Ridgewood School is located on North Fountain Boulevard, and
is the result of the plans and efforts of those interested in the project.
It admits both boys and girls from kindergarten to the fourth grade,
inclusive, the course of study being planned to meet preparatory require-
ments. Nature study is related to the seasons, and the school gardens
are cared for by the children under the personal direction of a teacher.
Physical training is given daily, and chapel exercise is of a nature adapted
to the understanding of the children. Children from different parts of
Springfield attend the Ridgewood School, and the experiment is satis-
factory to those promoting it.
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CHAPTER XXIII
WITTENBERG— THE COLLEGE AND SEMINARY
The epigram: "A bigger and better Springfield through a greater
Wittenberg/' is reversible ; it reflects the attitude of the city toward the
college, and of the college toward the city. There is no apparent lack of
loyalty.
There is college sentiment afield, and Wittenberg day is observed in
many communities. The annual report of the Synod of Ohio says of
Wittenberg : "The outstanding institution on the territory of our Synod,"
and the dean of another institution of learning exclaims: "Of all the
colleges of the state, not one has a better balanced faculty than Witten-
berg ; it stands out strongly among the faculties of Ohio colleges." This
sketch of Wittenberg is adapted from an earlier one written by Dr. B. F.
Prince, who as president of the Clark County Historical Society, is
supervising editor of this history: Springfield and Clark County. In
1865, he graduated from the college, and one year later he became identi-
field with its faculty. Since he is the senior member, and has spent more
than half a century in its service. Dr. Prince is sometimes designated:
"The Grand Old Man of Wittenberg."
As early as 1830, there was a sentiment for a Lutheran institution of
learning in the West — then Ohio and Indiana. The Evangelical Luther-
ans realized that if they were to maintain a permanent footing, they must
meet the educational need ; while the church advocated the education of
the masses, the immediate need was the training of ministers. They
wanted a centrally located institution. While the first effort was in the
interest of Germans, they soon recognized the many who were relinquish-
ing the German and learning the English language. While their first
thought was instruction in theology, they soon included the laity who
sought scientific knowledge; they wanted an education fitting them for
the channels of business and trade.
When the Evangelical Lutherans were planning a college. Wooster,
Canton, Xenia and Springfield were under consideration. Rev. Ezra
Keller, D. D., who was representing the Pennsylvania Ministerium as a
missionary and visiting churches in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky,
was a young man of zeal and ability. He was recognized as a theologian
and as a practical preacher. The country was filling up rapidly, and as a
man of vision Doctor Keller recognized the importance of training young
men for the ministry in the territory where their activities were needed.
There was need of leaders both in church and state, and the church must
educate them ; it must educate both the ministry and the laity.
Located at Wooster
When the Lutherans were considering a college, it was the prevalent
feeling that Doctor Keller should become its president ; he was active
in church and community affairs. When the Wittenberg fund amounted
to $10,000, a school was opened at Wooster in 1844, although Doctor
Keller, who then served the Lutheran Church organized in 1841 in
Springfield, thought of it as the logical site of such institution. It was
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 191
farther south and west, and nearer those who would be attracted to it.
While the Lutherans had little money, they had hope and great expecta-
tions. On March 11, 1845, Wittenberg College was chartered by the
State Legislature and located at Springfield. While Doctor Keller
accepted a call to the faculty, it was not as president of the college.
When the college opened at Wooster, there were seventeen students
enrolled in the classical, and four in the theological department; it was
not then co-educational. Two of the divinity students, David Earhart
and Isaac Culler, were licensed by the English Synod, and they entered
the ministry with one year's training; the others, David Harbaugh and
Adam Helwig, transferred to Springfield. After the college had received
its charter and a campus secured, some preliminary work was necessary ;
while "the groves were God's first temples," Wittenberg campus needed
some improvements. It was always a beauty spot — the handiwork of
Mother Nature, yet- Father Time must accomplish something before
school was opened there, and building began on the campus the second
year Wittenberg was in Springfield.
In the Lutheran Church
./
While the First Lutheran Church of Springfield was unfinished, it
was utilized by the college. When school opened November 3, 1845,
there were five students present the first hour with four more enrolling
later in the day. There were seventy students the first year Wittenberg
was in Springfield; there are now more than fifteen times that number
of young men and women in the college. While it is strictly a denomina-
tional school, not all who study in Wittenberg are Lutherans. A recent
survey shows the following denominations matriculated : Adventist, Bap-
tist, Catholic, Christian, Church of Christ, Christian Science, Congrega-
tionalism Episcopalian, Evangelical, Friends, Greek Orthodox, Jewish,
Lutheran, Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Protestant, Moravian, Pres-
byterian, Reformed, United Brethern, United Presbyterian, and sixteen
students who have no church affiliation. While the Lutherans are in the
majority, Wittenberg is a community educational center.
When Wittenberg firfct opened its doors in Springfield, domitory priv-
ileges were furnished in the unfinished church and in private homes;
some of the students furnished their own rooms according to their own
ability. They used heating stoves for cooking, and sperm, corn oil and
lard were used for lighting the rooms. The Simon family undertook
boarding students at the rate of 873^ cents a week, but they soon raised
the price to $1.25 — now the price of a single meal in Springfield. The
simple life then prevailed in Clark County and the rest of the territory
served by Wittenberg College.
Wittenberg College campus includes about fifty acres — hills and dales,
and climbing the hills of .the campus and the hills of difficulty are alike
invigorating, and Doctor Keller was indefatigable; lack of funds did not
deter him. The people in the Great Miami Valley were prosperous in
material things, and the Pennsylvania Ministerium was gratified with
results; it has supplied the missionaries who awakened the religious
interest, and one of them had aroused an educational interest. While
others organized churches, it had remained for Doctor Keller to organize
Wittenberg College. Within a few months he secured the necessary
cooperation in Springfield and Clark County, and all along friends have
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
taken care of the finance ; men and women leave their money to Witten-
berg. It has always had the confidence and support of Lutherans, and
they give their farms toward its endowment. Its charter provides for
theological and scientific education ; the classes and the masses are edu-
cated at Wittenberg College.
A Man of Vision
While Doctor Keller had the necessary vision, he did not possess the
necessary physique; his strength was not equal to the manifold duties
required of him. While he had offered his service as professor of theol-
Recitation Hall, Wittenberg College
ogy, because of the pressure of financial and administrative duties,
the Board of Directors soon imposed upon him the duties of presi-
dent. The college was already established, and housing it was the next
problem confronting the board. Building started on Wittenberg campus
in 1846, and for the first forty years in college history, what is now
Myers Hall was Wittenberg ; the name Myers has been attached in honor
of those who refitted it, making of it a dormitory accommodating more
than 100 students. While it requires climbing to reach it, a happy group
of students finds economic shelter there.
In the spring of 1847, Doctor Keller assumed full financial responsi-
bility ; the builders must proceed with the construction, and they must be
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
193
paid; he would trust to the future. He was the minister in the local
Lutheran Church, and he was now president of Wittenberg College.
The duties were too exacting and numerous for this frail man; the
responsibility reduced his strength, and he fell an easy prey to disease.
In December, 1848, Doctor Keller contracted typhoid fever, and in his
weakened condition his system offered little resistance. On December
29 he died and a grave was made for him in the northwest corner of
Wittenberg campus. The spot was dear 'to him in life, and on New
Year's Day, 1849, he was laid to rest there until the opening of Ferncliff
Cemetery when his dust was transferred; his mortal remains still over-
shadowed by Wittenberg College. They said of Doctor Keller that he
was a Saint in the House of Israel. He had endeared himself to all
who knew him, and in the midst of his usefulness he had been stricken
from them.
Dr. Samuel Sprecher
While Doctor Keller's death produced profound sorrow in the com-
munity, the work he began in Wittenberg College was not allowed to
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Wittenberg Football Team
stop; he would not have wished it. In June, the Rev. Samuel Sprecher
of Pennsylvania responded to the call of the board and assumed the
duties as president of Wittenberg. He proved himself the right man,
having both executive ability and being an excellent teacher. Doctor
Keller had been popular, and the work of his successor was more closely
scrutinized because of it, but he soon demonstrated his capability both
in the college and the seminary ; the board had made no mistake in choos-
ing him to administer the affairs of the institution. An admiring writer
exclaims of Doctor Sprecher: "His was the master mind that lived in
regions of broad expanse of thought and Christian philosophy, and which
he opened to delight those who sat at his feet as learners."
When Doctor Sprecher came to Wittenberg there was unfinished
work. There was an unfinished building and there was money needed
to complete it. While it seemed an impossible task, within two years
he had accomplished it, and in 1851 the first class graduated from the
college. It numbered eight members, four of them ministers, two law-
yers, one physician and one entered upon a business career. While half
the original class entered the ministry, at the present time with 1,500
vacant pulpits in the United States, and with one in eight Lutheran pul-
pits vacant, effort is now being concentrated toward securing students
for Hamma Divinity School. The college is making a drive to induce
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194 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
more young men to enter the ministry. Father and son banquets are
being held throughout Wittenberg territory, with gratifying results.
Hundreds of men and boys attend the banquets, and Wittenberg films
are used by field secretaries, the films showing campus activities and
arousing much interest in the college.
For many years Wittenberg College struggled for its existence ; while
it had slender means at hand, endowments came later, and its history
shows how much may be accomplished in awakening ambition without
lavish expenditure of money. Finance has always been a pressing ques-
tion, and when needed most of it has always been forthcoming. While
cheap scholarships were offered as an inducement, they proved a disap-
pointment to the board. When Doctor Sprecher went into the field to
secure the necessary funds, he also interested Lutherans in the endow-
ment plan; he was building for the future. Coming to the presidency
of Wittenberg College in 1849, and remaining at the helm through the
strenuous days of the Civil war, Doctor Sprecher fully demonstrated his
efficiency; the people then used the word ability. There were not so
many psychologists floating around discussing efficiency.
When the Civil war came . on it reduced the attendance and the
resources of the college. Wittenberg students went to war in such
numbers as to call forth the commendation of the United States Govern-
ment; twice since then has it contributed the flower of its student body
to the call of their country. While the Spanish-American war did not
attract so many, Wittenberg rallied to the call when soldiers were needed
in the World war. The college was founded while the Mexican war was
in progress, and three wars have drawn recruits from it. Doctor Sprecher
remained as president twenty-five years, and a high grade scholarship
was established and maintained by him. He was the embodiment of high
thinking, and he was an inspiration to others.
Dr. J. B. Helwig
When Doctor Sprecher resigned as president in 1874, Rev. John B.
Helwig, D. D., served in that relation for eight years. He was an earnest
worker and built up the institution. While he was president, Wittenberg
became co-educational and young women were admitted to the college
as students, rendering a more extensive and flexible curriculum neces-
sary. The school was iii better financial condition, and when buildings
were needed they were provided ; a building era ensued. The necessary
labor connected with the administrative duties weighed heavily upon
President Helwig. In 1882 he resigned, not wishing to assume the strain
of building responsibilities. Some men have capacity for one thing, and
Dr. Helwig knew his human limitations ; he was not a builder.
Dr. S. A. Ort
The vacancy in the president's office was filled by the promotion of
Rev. Samuel A. Ort, who, for two years, had filled the chair of theol-
ogy. He assumed his duties immediately, and soon secured the neces-
sary building funds. By April the following year construction was
under way; however, the building designated as Recitation Hall was not
ready for occupancy until September, 1886, there being delays from vari-
ous causes. When finally completed, this building meant much to the
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faculty as well as the whole student body. It has an auditorium and
affords better class room facilities. The money for building it was
raised mostly in Springfield and Clark County. It is a community cen-
ter used for many things. The chapel meetings and lectures are held in
this auditorium, and to many college visitors it is Wittenberg.
In the meantime the field of instruction was broadened; in science,
the opportunities became more practical and extensive, there were new
methods of study, and students themselves became investigators. They
were inclined to find out scientific truths — were learning to think things
out for themselves. "Think for thyself one good idea, yet known to be
thine own," and Wittenberg students were learning that, "It is better
far than fields by others sown," and thus education was serving its high-
est purpose. Better working facilities were followed by better results,
and Wittenberg had become a prosperous school. After the women were
admitted the attendance increased, more non-resident students being
attracted to the college, and the housing problem became acute. When
Hamma Divinity School
children quit their homes for an education, the parents want to know
that they are comfortable and in the right environment.
Ferncliff Hall
In June, 1887, the board decided to construct a suitable building for
the co-eds; it was necessary to provide for the young women within a
reasonable distance from the college. Mothers want to know the influ-
ences surrounding their daughters, and Ferncliff Hall, just outside the
campus, was ready for occupancy in 1888; it was opened in September
of that year. Since then applications are made in advance, and many
young women must find other accommodations; the fraternities and
sororities help to solve the housing problem in the neighborhood of the
college. Social life is under college supervision, Miss Grace Clark Webb
coming as the first dean of women. She has charge of disciplinary work,
having assumed her duties in March, 1922. She shares responsibility
with Dean C. G. Shatzer, who has been disciplinarian of the college.
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However, it is said that morality standards are higher among college stu-
dents than in any other group of corresponding numbers. It has been
said, "American colleges are the best expressions of democracy that we
have in this country," and the question concerning the faculty is : "What
kind of men and women will be produced under these conditions?"
Hamma Divinity School
It was in 1889 that the cornerstone was laid for Hamma Divinity
Hall on the Wittenberg campus. In 1890 it was opened, and "supplied
a long felt want," as it enabled young men to pursue special studies in
preparation for the ministry. The teaching force was enlarged, and the
building offered many advantages. It was named in honor of Rev.
M. W. Hamma, D. D., who endowed it. but in December, 1900. it was
destroyed by fire. The college had attained to a point where it could
survive losses better, and in 1901, Hamma Divinity Hall was built again.
Seminary features have been incorporated, and the course of study
appeals to would-be ministers. The legacy left to the seminary by Rev.
Charles Stroud enables it to offer the best possible course of instruction
in theology, and while it has an excellent faculty, it suffered an irre-
parable loss in the death of Dean D. H. Bauslin recently. For years he
had been at the head of Hamma Divinity School, the seminary branch of
Wittenberg. Death came to him in Bucyrus where he had gone to con-
duct the funeral services of an old friend.
The Zimmerman Library
While it is elsewhere mentioned, there is an excellent working library
accessible to Wittenberg College students. It is housed in a stone build-
ing occupying one of the most commanding sites on the campus, and is a
gift from John L. Zimmerman commemorating his brother, Rev. Joseph
Clark Zimmerman. The library affords a restful nook, and a glimpse of
the sunset rewards the tourist for visiting the spot at eventide. It is a
quiet place to commune with master minds, and became a reality there
in 1891-2, with Miss Grace Prince as librarian. Until it had its own
building, the books constituting the library had different custodians, no
one giving full time to the care of them.
Dr. J. M. Ruthrauff
After eighteen years as president of Wittenberg, Doctor Ort severed
that connection with the college; in 1900 he offered his resignation.
Doctor Ort was promoted from the faculty of the seminary to the presi-
dency, and returned to it, occupying^ the chair of theology in the semi-
nary and of philosophy in the college* While he was president the insti-
tution was prosperous, but he desired to be relieved of so much responsi-
bility. When Doctor Ruthrauff was installed as president in 1900, he
was relieved of the duty of teaching; the previous presidents all had
given much time to pedagogics, but as business manager he immediately
began advancing the finances of the college. The growing needs of the
school required an executive to give all of his time to financing the insti-
tution. The Rev. J. Mosheim Ruthrauff displayed commendable zeal,
but his labors were destined to short duration. With suddenness that
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falls to few men, death summoned him and again there was a vacancy
in the presidency of Wittenberg.
Dr. Charles G. Heckert
It was one year from the time of the death of Doctor Ruthrauff until
Wittenberg named his successor ; in the meantime Doctor Ort was acting
president. In the spring of 1903, Dr. Charles G. Heckert, D. D., who
occupied the chair of English and logic in the college, was elected to the
vacancy. He accepted the honor under condition that he continue teach-
ing until the annual commencement time, and his wish was granted by the
board. For fourteen years Doctor Heckert had been an instructor, and
he knew the Requirements of the presidency. While he entered upon the
duties without needing a period of tutelage, he wanted to remain with
the class until it left the college. When Doctor Heckert entered upon
the duties of the presidency, he displayed the same loyalty to the entire
college that he had shown to his classes.
It was at a time of great material prosperity, and under the Heckert
regime Wittenberg advanced in many ways. Through his earnest efforts
the Carnegie Science Hall was secured, and it was fitted up with the
most approved equipment. The building stands as a monument to
Andrew Carnegie, and to Doctor Heckert. He died December 7, 1920,
and after having given many years as professor and as president, he
planned to give his accumulated fortune to the college. Under the terms
of the will his widow was to hold the property her lifetime, and then
it would revert to Wittenberg. She is a business woman, and realizing
that property was then at a very high rating, she relinquished her claim,
accepting an annuity, and thus more money was added to the Wittenberg
endowment fund. While Doctor Heckert was president, he was always
alert and about the last thing that actuated him was a financial drive
that secured $2,000,000, and $500,000 of the amount came from Lutheran
churches.
The Synod report says : "Hamma Divinity School is having the best
year of its history, and is the seminary for the young men of Ohio who
enter the Christian ministry. We are under obligations to support it."
Since Doctor Heckert graduated from Wittenberg in 1886, and from
Hamma Divinity School in 1889, and had since been connected with the
faculty until he became its president, it seems fitting that he should
endow it with the money that had come to him from it. As the sixth
president of Wittenberg College, Doctor Heckert left the indelible
impression of a strong, wise and effective executive, the Synod report
saying further, that under his applied energy and business management
he prepared Wittenberg College for the progressive movement that has
awakened our churches to the value, power, possibility and achievement
that properly belongs to our beloved Wittenberg.
And this further tribute from the Synod report: President Heckert
was more than a scholastic executive or institutional administrator; he
was a living citizen. He recognized his obligation to the Community;
he paid the same with an energetic, sacrificial devotion of himself to his
civilian duty. He won the admiration and confidence of those who
formed the bone and sinew of Springfield's public and community life.
In his duplex position — collegian and civilian, he rapidly expended the
forces of his physical vitality, and hastened the termination of his life.
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His monument was what he achieved: A stronger and better Witten-
berg for God and man was his life objective.
Dr. Rees Edgar Tulloss
The seventh president of Wittenberg College is Dr. Rees Edgar Tul-
loss. In 1921 he succeeded Doctor Heckert. He ^graduated from the
college in 1906, and entered upon a business career in Cadiz. He is the
inventor of a system of shorthand — the Tulloss System — which has been
on the market since 1901, being a copyrighted correspondence course, and
he was invited to become president because of his well known executive
ability. Doctor Tulloss does not sustain a teaching relation to the col-
lege, but he does have the confidence and support of the community.
While he is in the full strength of his manhood, before him is the exam-
ple of six college presidents who gave their all to Wittenberg. In their
zeal for the college, they did not husband their own strength. While one
or two resigned, it was after physical exhaustion had come to them.
The maxim holds : "Better wear out that rust out," but men of today
have learned to "know themselves."
Not so much is required of the executive; earlier Wittenberg presi-
dents were teachers while looking after all other details, and they rested
on Sunday by delivering regular sermons. Dr. Samuel Sprecher served
the college through the most strenuous period, and when Myers Hall then
known as Wittenberg was placed on the campus, the students were called
upon to help elevate the timbers for the cupola. When he had grown
old one of them penned the line: "After this exercise we were treated
to a liberal quantity of Cronk's beer, a mild effervescent then in vogue,
put up in quart stone jugs." That was the first building on the campus,
and it was given the most commanding position; the board had not
investigated the subject of landscape.. Whenever a new building was
to be erected, a committee walked over the campus and located the site
for it without regard to other features.
Until recent years none of the American colleges had given any atten-
tion to the problem of campus planning; the system of locating drives
and placing additional buildings was hit-or-miss, but in view of the
unusual possibilities of the Wittenberg campus, definite landscape plans
have been developed. A number of noted architects and campus-plan-
ning experts have offered suggestions and future development will be
with relation to natural advantages as well as in conformity to the build-
ings already fixtures of the campus. A topographical survey has been
made showing the campus with all walks, buildings, roads, etc., and by
the aid of the maps the advisory board has been able to agree upon
plans for the future development. Buildings in prospect are already
located, and toward the western end of the plaza is to stand a bronze
statue of Martin Luther. President Tulloss says: "This plan repre-
sents the Wittenberg College of the future."
Since that first commencement day in 1851, Wittenberg has dis-
tributed ministers and missionaries over four continents. These grad-
uates have been useful citizens, and some have been community builders ;
they have made themselves known in state and nation. Among them
are manufacturers, business men, lawyers and preachers, and while many
graduated with honors others only spent a year or two and were better
equipped for service. Many have become an honor to themselves and to
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their Alma Mater. The college has meant something to the under-grad-
uates ; it has given them vision and to them it has been a benediction.
When women were admitted other departments were inaugurated, and
from the beginning Wittenberg has maintained an academy. It fits stu-
dents for college, and recently the department of religious education has
been added with Rev. Paul H. Heisey as its first instructor. There are
three literary societies: Excelsior, Philosophian and Euterpean and
weekly meetings are held by all. College students show talent in writing
plays, and the Wittenberg Dramatic Society stages some of them. Stu-
dents with low grades are dismissed from school, and application is the
one method of advancement. The Saturday School attracts manv
One Commencement Day, Wittenberg
teachers outside of Springfield who desire credits and to make up back
work. They are allowed to pursue three studies for which they receive
three semester hours credit. The college maintains a Y. M. C A. and a
Y. W. C. A., and it offers social as well as educational advantages.
While some members of the faculty are Wittenberg graduates, many
of them have taken post-graduate work in other institutions. The pro-
fessors from the beginning have been a high type of scholarship and
manhood, and they have been given to independent thinking and thorough
investigation; that spirit still prevails in Wittenberg. While Doctor
Keller and Doctor Sprecher wrought under adverse conditions, they
imparted inspiration as well as information. It is the spirit an instructor
awakens that counts for most, and while those pioneers wrought under
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disadvantages, their work was not in vain. Improved equipment is the
legacy of the years, and the success desired by Doctor Keller when he
fell on his knees on the campus and prayed for direction from Almighty
God has already been vouchsafed to Wittenberg College.
The Wittenberg Scenario emphasizes the beauty of the campus, and
it is shown to multitudes who gain their first definite knowledge of the
college from it. The films were, prepared under faculty supervision, and
they show every phase of college activity from the opening of school in
the fall to the great Alma Mater festival, and the commencement day
ceremonies. It is an effective method of advertising Wittenberg among
the Lutherans of the surrounding country.
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CHAPTER XXIV
THE NEWSPAPER IN CLARK COUNTY
The question has been raised as to which is the greatest community
influence: church, school or press, and in the May American Magazine
a minister says he stepped out of the pulpit and into the newspapers
because he wanted all of the world, and the only place to find it was
reading the newspapers. Through the syndicated service he is reaching
the readers of many newspapers, and no questions are asked of any;
there, and there alone, are college professors, elevator boys, hired girls
and millionaires. In the newspaper world there is no exclusiveness, no
respectability — nothing but just folks.
A local writer says: "In newspapers, Springfield has always had its
full share. They have been devoted to politics, to agriculture, to tem-
perance and to religion. They have been agencies in helping to fight the
great civic and moral battles which are incident to the life and develop-
ment of a growing and prosperous city. Their influence has not been
confined to mere local bounds, but it has gone out to the broader fields
of human life, and has been favorable to the best statesmanship, the
best religious development, and to the highest type of everyday life.
Our newspapers have, therefore, been useful, progressive and helpful,"
and what Clifton M. Nichols said of the Springfield papers in the
Centennial History of Springfield, describes the New Carlisle and South
Charleston publications in their respective communities.
The Farmer
The old newspaper on file in the rooms of the Clark County His-
torical Society is a copy of The Farmer, bearing date: April 21, 1819,
the subscription price being $2 when paid within four weeks, or $3 when
paid in six months. There were fifty-two issues in the year, and when
delivered in Springfield produce was taken on subscriptions. A penciled
note says : "The date of issue of the first newspaper is clouded, but The
Springfield News, the logical successor of The Farmer, states that it had
its beginning in 1817," making it as old as Clark County itself.
"Printing is the art preservative," and one account says: "The year
1820 marked an important point in the history of Springfield ; the print-
ing press was established then. It is the greatest instrument in spread-
ing light and knowledge, when wielded by proper hands. The first press
was owned by George Smith, and the first publication was The Farmer."
Through the process of evolution, a century later it is the Springfield
Daily News. In reviewing its own history, The News says it absorbed
the following papers: Pioneer, Farmer, Nonpareil, News, Penny Tele-
gram, Advertiser, Citizen, Expositor, Times, Democrat, Republic, Globe,
Globe-Republic, showing that at one time or another there have been
many publishing adventures in Springfield.
The Springfield Sun in an advertisement says: "September 11, 1894,
saw the birth of The Sun. It was located on East Main Street. In 1907
we removed to our present location, 21 North Limestone Street. It
seems to have had an honored ancestry, coming out of the various
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combinations: The Gazette, Republic, Commercial Gazette. Evening
Telegram, American Ruralist, Daily Times, Daily Advertiser, Press-
Republic, Champion City Times, and then appeared The Sun, a writer
saying: "The paper is now with us, demonstrating its strong qualifies
daily." While The Sun is issued. every morning, The News is an evening
paper except for its Sunday morning edition.
The Tribune, official organ of the Springfield Trades and Labor
Assembly, is published every Friday. It is devoted to the interests of
wage earners, and has been published the last twelve years.
The Wittenberg Torch is a newspaper devoted to the college; its
slogan is: "Having light we pass it on to others."
A copy of The Bud, issued September 14, 1901, is on file at the His-
torical Society, Volume 1, No. 8, and it is described as the smallest
newspaper issued locally ; it was 50 cents a year.
The Sentinel, published in South Charleston, is in Volume XLIII,
and since it was owned by the Houston Estate, it has been under litiga-
tion, and was sold to Albert W. Dyer. One report said the paper had
been in existence eighty-two years, and that it has been The Banner, and
The Clark County Republican. At one time Whitelaw Reid and C. F.
Browne, who was known by the pseudonym of Artemus Ward, had The
Sentinel and failed to make it a success. The population of South
Charleston was only 300, and the youthful editors left nothing but debts
behind them. Years later both had better success, and they took care of
their indebtedness. They were unable to pay their board in the South
Charleston Hotel, but when happier days came they settled with Mrs.
Gilbert Peirce, who had accommodated them.
The New Carlisle Sun is issued every Thursday; it uses the slogan:
"Let the Sun shine in your home." and it is in Volume XXII, and
owned and published by Edward W. Williams. His father was once
connected with the paper. A Springfield editorial writer says: "We
venture to say that few counties in the state have any better village
newspapers than has Clark County; the South Charleston Sentinel and
the New Carlisle Sun are conducted by conscientious, competent men
who serve their special constituents constantly and well. The influence
of the country newspaper goes far beyond the community in which it is
printed; it carries to its readers the joys and sorrows of their friends
and neighbors, and keeps the hearts of the people beating in unison."
In a resume of local newspapers in 1901, C. M. Nichols says the
first newspaper was called The Farmer, as were others of the period,
because none but farmers lived in the community. While it was small,
and did not carry much news, its appearance was the event of each
week. "Its news from across the water, and from remote portions of
this country, if only six weeks old was considered quite fresh. European
kingdoms might tumble down and be reconstructed while the special
advices were coming on the sailing vessels to our shores. The printer
was the proprietor, publisher and editor. The paper was a one-man
power, and the Ben Franklin wooden press worked by the editor had
the ink applied by the office boy. Now we have our news in as many
mimjtes, as our journalistic forefathers had theirs in weeks; indeed, we
have our London reports of foreign events nominally four hours ahead
of their occurrence," and in connection with the Springfield Centennial
Mr. Nichols mentioned all the papers that have been absorbed by the
two dailies — The News and The Sun.
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206 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
While printing was discovered in China, and was first used in Europe
in spreading the teachings of the Bible, it has found its way into all parts
of the world. While the first paper in Springfield was published in
a log house, newspapers now occupy commodious buildings designed
for the publishing business. For twenty years — 1870-90, Springfield
supported a German newspaper, but most Germans read English, and
in a panic it suspended publication. When the Springfield News
dedicated its new home, April 11, 1915, it issued a special edition, having
collated much data in refiew, and the public was invited to witness the
starting of the press: Ex-Governor J. M. Cox of Dayton who owns
the paper had arranged with President Woodrow Wilson to press the
button in Washington, and set the press into motion in Springfield.
Visitors who consulted their watches knew the President was on
time in starting the special edition, and as the flag mounted the staff a
band played "Star Spangled Banner"; it was an electrifying spectacle;
that spark over the Western Union Telegraph wire was a memorable
thing in Springfield history; many publishers were present, and seldom
is a newspaper located in new quarters with so much ceremony. Many
copies of the edition of the Springfield News were laid away as sou-
venirs ; they had been given fresh from the press into the hands of the
visitors. For many years the only local news carried by Springfield
papers was gleaned from advertisements and marriage or death notices;
nothing less thrilling than murder or suicide was ever mentioned in the
news columns. While advertisements are still read with interest, the news
column creates the demand for the paper. Sometimes an old paper is
exhibited, and the changed makeup is noticeable to the most casual
reader. The Springfield Republic of August 10, 1880, begins the story:
Clark County's Centennial, on an inside page and ends it on the first
page of the paper — an arrangement not seen today.
In April, 1847, J. P. Brace, an enterprising newsdealer, introduced
Cincinnati daily papers in Springfield; train service was established in
1846, and The Cincinnati Gazette was sold in Springfield at ten cents a
week; it had twenty-six daily subscribers. Mr. Brace sold the business
to John D. Nichols who increased it. While Springfield people continue
to read Cincinnati papers, The Gazette no longer reaches them. Since
1849, Springfield newspapers have had telegraph news service, and local
papers cover the commercial centers, leaving little incentive for reading
outside papers. Local readers knew as much about the League of Nations
or the Disarmament Conference as was carried in the metropolitan
sheets. The News and Sun have the same telegraph service enjoyed by
larger cities. When a riot happens in Springfield, it is breakfast table
talk all around the world in less than twenty-four hours ; the annihilation
of distance shrinks the world, and news goes round it and back again as
quickly as it is known fifty miles, from where it happened ; the capitals
of the world know when an unusual thing happens in Springfield as soon
as it is known in Columbus.
Newspaper Editorials
While the hurried newspaper reader never gets beyond the first page
headlines, conservative readers like to know the policy of the sheet which
is reflected in its editorials ; with the passing of Henry Watterson of The
Louisville Courier- Journal, the editorial writers who gained recognition
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208 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
in the formative period of the newspaper business were numbered with
the past — Watterson, Dana, Greeley. Today the newspaper is the forum,
but the editorials do not reflect the personality of the editors; they are
too often the expression of the business office, or are syndicated
features. Scissors and paste, and not always a wide knowledge of con-
ditions, reflect modern editorials. It is the news rather than the policy
that interests most readers.
Why are there so few platform orators? The newspapers have
robbed them of their orations. When a man delivers a keynote address,
through the syndicated news service the whole country reads it, and he
cannot reach a point where the people want to hear it again. When a
speech has been flashed to every daily paper in Christendom, and the
people have read it they have no. further interest in it. The newspaper
reader scans the printed page, and does not accept all that is before him ;
he is inclined to think for himself, and the "spell-binder" of the past no
longer sways immense audiences the second time with an address. How-
ever, "It is the province of the editorial page to crystallize and reflect
public opinion."
While Springfield papers are metropolitan, and carry the general
news, the papers from other Ohio cities and from New York and Chicago,
are found in local reading rooms: among the factors of civilization —
the forces that make for righteousness, none is more potent than the
great American daily newspaper. The press controls the destiny of the
republic; it makes presidents, senators, representatives, judges; it
inaugurates national policies and solves problems of international law.
Indeed, it was fortunate for one Ohio printer that his birthday was the
first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 1920, because the
whole United States honored him with its highest gift — the presidency.
He was an Ohio publisher — Warren G. Harding, and the "also ran,"
Gov. James M. Cox, was a Springfield publisher, and thus the newspaper
is a force in the political world.
Half a century ago many publishers were politicians; they would
acquire the ownership of a paper, and when they had accomplished their
purpose with it they would dispose of it. When a newspaper becomes
trading stock, its readers shut their eyes and long for changed conditions.
When a campaign is ended the paper is on the market again. However,
The Marion Star is said to be the one Harding possession that is not on
the market. The dean of recent American publishers, the late Henry
Watterson, phrased it thus: "The daily newspaper is a necessity which
isn't necessary, unless you are intelligent enough to know that it is a
necessity." It is one side of the triangle — the press, the church and the
school, and when some persons have read a statement in a newspaper, it
settles the question.
The prime purpose of the newspaper is the collection and dissemina-
tion of news; there is responsibility connected with it, and competent
performance has been the study of specialists for many years. The
dissemination of news is one of the most important functions to civilized
society ; it is one of the principal factors in human progress. Advertising
is regarded as more than news ; it is salesmanship as well, and the market
reports — why, "There are gentlemen who wear spats and who never saw
a farm in their lives, but who read the news from the corn belt more
eagerly than the farmers themselves; a cent a bushel one way or the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 209
other may mean five or ten thousand dollars to them." While discrim-
inating readers follow the editorials, Springfield and Clark County buyers
are interested in knowing about bargains, and thus Springfield dealers
utilize the local papers.
The Prime Object
While special local and syndicated articles supply a wide range of
general information, the first and last purpose of the publisher is to supply
the n-e-w-s from the four corners — from the north, east, west and south,
anything that happens is news. Talk about old-fashioned sociability
and friendly visiting — with the newspaper available, why visit a neighbor
to learn the news ? There was a time when men and women went among
their friends to learn what was going on in the community. While some
people think they were more sociable than their posterity, it was because
they wanted the news of the world. They would have settled down to
a newspaper and remained at home.
In a paper read before the Springfield Newspaper Women's Club,
Miss May Ferrenz mentioned other inventions, but described the lino-
type which has revolutionized the printing industry. "Type-setting by
machinery has done more to advance the cause of universal education
than any other one factor since the art of printing was invented;
mechanical composition has reduced the cost of printing books, newspapers
and magazines, and thus placed within the reach of the masses the means
of education. The brains of many skillful inventors, and vast fortunes
have been employed in the work of developing an acceptable substitute
for hand composition." Miss Ferrenz states that in the '80s came the
best results from the Mergenthaler type-setting machine, and that
improvements are frequently made in the use of it.
Although the daily newspaper represents the best value for the money
of any commodity delivered in the home, the average individual knows
less about its production than anything else so essential to his existence.
Who knows how the white stock is obtained on which the news is
printed? Who realizes the expense connected with it? The working
organization of a newspaper naturally separates itself as follows : The
business office closely allied with which is the department of advertising ;
the editorial department reflecting policy ; the news-gathering department
which renders the business office a possibility ; the press room where the
paper is printed and folded, and the circulation department — none of
the other departments effective, unless the paper reaches its readers.
In the matter of departments, useless each without the other. While
smaller papers are not so complicated, and an all-round man may be of
service in any department, on a metropolitan paper one man remains in
one department. At The News and The Sun each man fills his particular
assignment, and leaves other departments alone.
The public is familiar with the business office and with the circula-
tion department, but it is the editorial department that is the "eternal
mystery." Its function is to gather and tabulate the news ; the reporter
gets the facts — "the story," as it is universally known in newspaper
parlance, and he writes it. The editor, who is responsible for what
appears in the paper, censors all "stories," the success of the sheet hing-
ing upon the ability and fidelity of its reporters. While a man may
become an editor through training, the reporter must have a "nose for
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210 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
news," must be able to "scent" a story, and have the courage to encounter
difficulties in obtaining it. He must be trustworthy and conscientious in
using facts; he must have a liberal comprehension and a sane under-
standing. As a final reqyisite, in this day and age of newspaper making,
the efficient reporter must be able to use a typewriter at the rate of fifty
words a minute— otherwise he does not measure up to the requirements.
The editor usually serves an apprenticeship as a reporter; he must
know the community. He must be inventive — have executive ability, and
know what to do in emergencies. The man is lost who hesitates — the
atmosphere of a newspaper office is heavy with emergencies, and the editor
must be equal to them. He must be able, intuitively, to detect the truth
and separate it from non-essential details. Unless it is a commercialized
sheet, and ruled from the business office, the editor directs the trend
of thought in the community. A good newspaper man is sometimes
unpopular; in estimating legitimate news he treads on somebody's toes,
and he dare not have intimate friends ; he may be called upon to publish
a story reflecting upon them.
"To err is human/' and sometimes the doings of humanity do not
read to their credit when written in the newspaper; while fights, thefts,
divorces — innumerable transactions embarrass one's friends, "news is
news," and they suffer the consequences. Few men possess the peculiar
temperament that fits them for effective reportorial work and, therefore,
reporters are — long live the competent, conscientious newswriter. A
daily newspaper is different from the average manufactured product,
since it is made outright in virtually eight hours ; were the time extended
to more than twenty-four hours, it would not be issued daily. Every
department works at high tension, "hurry" being the middle name of
each employe, and when copy leaves the typewriter it reaches the lino-
type— human in its capabilities.
The casual visitor at a newspaper plant is well repaid for his time,
and he goes away with a wholesome respect for it. When he sees a
modern press in operation, and sees the papers printed from one con-
tinuous roll of white stock; when he sees the completed papers, folded,
counted and ready for delivery — well, they usually give him one, and
he lays it away as a souvenir. The modern newspaper is the history of
today and yesterday ; discerning publishers study the features that attract
most readers, and they cater to the wants of the majority ; thus its readers
are responsible for its attitude on all questions.
The newspaper is a great institution — swift winged, and everywhere
present, flying over the fence from the hand of some belated newsboy,
tossed into the counting room or store, shoved under the door of the
surburban home, laid on the work bench in the busy shop, delivered by
carrier to rural patrons, and read wherever it is sold — the newspaper adds
character and luster — shapes the family history. It is such an integral
factor in community life, and people have become so dependent upon
it that a delayed paper demoralizes the whole household, and every
family knows the feeling of impatience while awaiting the coming of
the paper. If you would understand the strong hold the press has on
the community, just answer a few of the inquiries by telephone when
subscribers have been overlooked, or the paper is later than usual ; when
they have looked on the porch roof and behind all the shrubbery, they
begin a systematic inquiry; they want the paper.
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Sometimes a mail pouch is carried by; simply an oversight on the
part of the railway- mail clerk, but it is a real misfortune to those who
miss the paper; after all, human life is but a book with the passing
years for its chapters; the gliding months are its paragraphs; the days
are the sentences, but the punctuation and the proof — usually, others
attend to such details. One's doubts are the interrogation; imitation of
others are the quotation marks, and any attempt at display is a dash —
the final period being death, and from the cradle to the grave the greatest
influence is the printed page.
The newspaper is the most potent agency of education — the advance
guard of civilization. "We the people" are shaping its policy — we are
responsible for it, even though silent about it. It has been said : "Keep
young by associating with young things ; the newspapers are the youngest
— born every day."
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CHAPTER XXV
CLARK COUNTY HIGHWAYS: THE NATIONAL ROAD
"It's a Poor Driver Who Can't Hit a Stump"
It would require careful watching to see a stump in a highway today,
but there was a time when the caption: "It's a poor driver who can't
hit a stump," had its place in Clark County road history. The boast
has been made there are more turnpikes in Clark than any other Ohio
County, although corduroy may still be found under Limestone Street
in Springfield.
Some one defines roads as the arteries through which pulse the agri-
culture and social waif are of the people ; in Clark County frequent inspec-
tion trips are made, and it seems that road building is being reduced to
a science; there is a Good Roads Council composed of Clark County
road builders. In 1801, Griffith Foos made the first wagon tracks into
Springfield from the east, and in 1803, David Lowry and others surveyed
a wagon road between Springfield and Dayton; simultaneously a road
was surveyed east to Franklinton, now Columbus, thus giving to Spring-
field a direct highway east and west, and bringing many settlers into the
community.
In 1804, when the National Road was under consideration in the
United States Congress, President Thomas Jefferson foresaw calamity;
he said it would disorganize the economic measures of the country. The
Thirteenth American Good Roads Congress held in Chicago in 1921, regis-
tered an attendance of 21,000 delegates, and the average daily sales of
road building machinery was more than $2,000,000, showing that Presi-
dent Jefferson was unable to forecast the future. Although Demint's
second plat of Springfield made in 1804 did not become a matter of record
until 1815, it shows that in passing through Springfield this artery of
travel connecting the east and the west was surveyed to connect with
South Street, because it required less grading and in order to conform
to it street names were changed, Main Street once having been South
Street — all the streets shifted far enough south to allow the road con-
necting Springfield with the outside world on Main Street.
The Indian Trails
In the Ohio Archaeological and Historical publications is much data
about the beginning of the highways. It is possible to believe that in the
earliest times the Indians traveled only on rivers and lakes; when they
turned inland they found, ready made and deeply worn, the very routes
of travel which have since borne their name. The beginning of the
history of road making in the central west dates back to the time when
the buffalo, urged by the need of change of climate, newer feeding
grounds and fresher salt licks, first found his way through the forests.
Even if the first thoroughfares were made by the mastodon and the
Moundbuilders, they first came to the white man's knowledge as buffalo
traces, later being known as Indian trails. In Kentucky, from whence
came so many Clark County settlers, the Indians use the word trace
212
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 213
instead of trail, the term used exclusively north of the Ohio. It is said
the routes of the plunging buffalo, weighing 1,000 pounds and capable
of covering 200 miles a day, were well suited to the needs of the Indians.
Another story is told that the wild animal, the dog and th$ hunter
established the trail, the animal pursued by -the dog and the hunter
following the dog, and another version is that the highest points of
land were the routes of travel. One who has any conception of the west
of the long ago, who can see the valleys filled with the plunder of the
floods, can realize that there was but one practicable passageway across
the land, for either man or beast — the summit of the hills.
The argument is summed up in these words: Here on the hilltops
mounting on the longest ascending ridges, lay the tawny paths of the
buffalo and Indian; they were not only highways, but they were the
highest ways, and chosen for the best reasons : The hilltops offered the
driest courses; from them water was shed most quickly, and least dam-
age was caused by erosion. The hilltops were windswept; the snow of
winter and the leaves of summer were alike driven away, leaving little
or nothing to block or obscure the pathway. The hilltops were coigns
of vantage for outlook and signalling. However, an Ohio legislator and
champion of good roads takes exception to the theory that the first
clearings and farms were along the old highways on the hilltops; the
question refers to clearings and not to settlements and towns.
A number of writers speak of early clearings on the hilltops, and it
seems that the first farms were on the hills. In 1900, Archer Butler
Hulbert wrote with reference to the geological and topographical maps,
saying it is not difficult to determine the course of the old highways;
among the several guiding principles he mentions one, saying that the
trails kept to the summit of the water-sheds; even the valley trails as
distinct from cross-country trails, kept well away from the river courses,
often a mile or more back on the highlands, and the idea obtains that
roads have been coming down hill ever since statehood in Ohio; the
first towns as well as the first roads were on the hilltops, and like the
roads the towns have come down into the valleys. The need of power
furnished by the streams led to the building of mills in the valleys, and
about the mills sprang up the villages ; the shrill whistle of the locomotive
finally sounded the knell of the old thoroughfares on the hills. Harking
back to the stories of the moraines, time has worked many changes.
Hard Surface Roads
Wheeled traffic developed with the Roman empire; the Appian way
in Italy led 300 miles from Rome, and it was as durable as time itself.
However, when the first such road was built is unknown; it was long
before the beginning of authentic history. From prehistoric days when
man and mammal trod the paths to the ancient watering places, petrified
bones were found which have gradually risen to the civilized scale, and
as man's wants increased the path no longer served his requirements;
roads became a necessity. Not only the Romans, but the Egyptians and
Carthagenians employed similar material to that in use today; they used
a mineral cement. The Appian Way reflects the National road, con-
. necting the east and west and penetrating many of the best inland cities.
"The decay of civilization is apparent in the decline of its roads," but
that condition does not prevail in Clark County.
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214 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Students of local conditions maintain that Clark County is crossed
by the principal trails between the salt springs on the Scioto and the
Miami Indian towns in western Ohio, the trails later developed into
traveled highways ; portions of the early trails are still visible along some
of the bridle paths in the county. These trails were the main traveled
highways between the salt springs along the Scioto to the Shawnee head-
quarters on Mad River; however, the occupancy of Clark County by the
white settlers and their descendants for more than a century has wrought
such decided changes, that there is now little trace of the trails. The
Indians walked single file and made the paths sooner than if they had
walked two abreast, but at a point in Harmony Township twenty-three
and twenty-nine there is an unimpaired portion of an Indian trail.
W. H. Raynor who studied the question relates that there is a marked
depression, and that the surface had become packed so solid that shrubs
growing wild have failed to take root in this ancient pathway.
The footfall of the ages is as lasting as time itself ; these few faint
traces of the Miami trails indicate a once busy highway among the
aborigines; it does not require much stretch of the imagination to think
of the Shawnees crossing the country from village to village, and later
they traveled in reduced numbers and finally they were extinct. Mr.
Rayner exclaims : "What tragedies have been enacted ; what achievements
have been gained by those who have traveled over this gateway to the
Northwest, may never be written in history, but their footprints have
left the mark that has outlived a century."
In early road building it was no uncommon thing to find human bones
or stone implements in gravel pits in Clark County, supporting the theory
that the Moundbuilders had been ahead of the Indians in the country.
An old account says of the roads about South Charleston, that they
were made solely as avenues of travel, and that they mark no boundaries
of farms or sections ; along the Little Miami the land is undulating, and
the water course intersections of the roads present a scene of confusion.
"Through the wilds of the then new state of Ohio," is descriptive
language applied to 1813, when a settler was prospecting for a home
in the wilderness — that early, an "emigrant family struck a blazed trail
near South Charleston," and the proximity of the Little Miami supports
the theory that streams and springs always attracted settlers.
When the settler found thin ice on a stream he would break it, allow-
ing the pieces to gorge and he would duck them under to strengthen the
ice, thus forming a bridge on which to cross it. When the ice gorge
rested on gravel, a team would be driven across it, and Albert Reeder
says that is the way the first family reached South Charleston. The
Dayton and Bellefontaine road was opened through New Carlisle in
1810, really connecting Fort Washington (Cincinnati), and Fort Meigs
(Toledo), and in the War of 1812, it was a much traveled thoroughfare.
It is conjectured that Hull marched his army, numbering 1300 Ken-
tuckians, over this wilderness thoroughfare, and that in the bush-whacking
days connected with the second war with England, he camped on the
site of New Carlisle.
"O bless you," said W. H. Sterrett, an aged citizen of New Carlisle,
"bless you, yes, the Dayton and Bellefontaine road is older than the
National road — bless you, yes, it was built before the National road was
thought of, and there was heavy traffic between Cincinnati and Toledo."
Strange to say, even Henry Howe fails to tell about it. When the United
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 215
States Government established this military road connecting Fort Wash-
ington and Fort Meigs, and General Hull traversed it — that put New
Carlisle on the map of the world. This was all Greene County then,
and it was though New Carlisle would become the county seat, and when
the town was incorporated in 1830, it was still ambitious about its future.
When this road was built in 1810. it was the short line between two
important military posts; while it went round the swamps and followed
the high ground, as farms were developed the owners put the road on
the section lines, but stretches of it still follow the original survey; they
cut down the big trees and filled the swamps alortg the road, and some-
times timber is still dug up along this — the first improved road in Clark
County. Sometimes it has been called the Dayton and Mad River Valley
turnpike, and when Bayard Taylor who in his day was the United
States' greatest traveler and raconteur was traveling over it, he said
the beauty of the Mad River Valley was unsurpassed in American
scenery.
Along in the period when it required seven days to "wagon" from
Springfield to Cincinnati and return, the farmer who hauled ten barrels
of flour with four horses, had to carry along his feed or come back in
debt to himself, and that presages that there were not always hard
surface roads connecting the Champion City and the Queen City. The
descriptive term "belly deep to a horse" is now as meaningless as that
about hitting stumps. A frontier poet once penned the lines:
"The roads are impassable,
Not even jackass-able,
And those who would travel 'em,
Must turn out and gravel 'em,"
and that is what happened in Clark County. Near South Charleston on
the Cincinnati-Columbus road, there was a corduroy road through a
maple swamp over 100 yards in length that was made by poles and logs ;
by felling trees into the swamp, that "would have broken the heart of
the modern auto tourist — it would have eliminated the necessity of any
speed legislation," but the "pioneers in jolt-wagons knew nothing about
shock-absorbers, now a necessity on automobiles."
Before much had been done in the way of grading and improving
the roadways, the settlers had their mede of adventure. It is related
that when Mrs. Pierson Spinning was a Springfield bride, that after
the birth of her first child in 1813, she mounted a horse with her six-
weeks' old babe and went on a visit to her people near Cincinnati. She
had an irresistible desire to see her parents, and crossing swollen streams
was no terror to her. When the Jarboes came from Kentucky, a dozen
years earlier, Elizabeth Jarboe and her mother coming alone with their
few necessities in a wagon, they had sufficient adventure. Philip Jarboe
had located in Ohio, and the fair Elizabeth despairing of the return of
her father, who had gone back to Maryland, came with the few household
treasures to Mad River ; they made the journey unattended only as they
encountered hunters and trappers, and since their nearest neighbor was
five miles away, they knew how to depend upon themselves in emergen-
cies. When Griffith Foos was bringing his family from Franklinton,
the high waters caused him trouble; the Big Darby was crossed by -a
man swimming at the side of the wagon.
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216 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Road Building Era
While the National Road was begun early in the nineteenth century,
the development was only along its eastern end; in 1832, a charter was
granted the turnpike road between Springfield and Dayton, the develop-
ment from the Dayton end and in 1833 it was completed to Springfield.
It was about this time that the approach to Mill Run alone Main Street
in Springfield received attention. At that time the hope of the future
was the turnpike, and in 1839 the survey was completed from Colum-
bus to South Charleston and Xenia en route to Cincinnati. Samuel
Harvey and Robert Houston of South Charleston had much to do with
promoting this road. In 1842 they completed it. In the years when
travel and traffic was all by wagon and stage, South Charleston had
its share, being on the way between Columbus and Cincinnati. When
the sound of the driver's horn was heard excitement commenced, and a
trip of fifty miles was a big undertaking. However, many Clark County
merchants made the longer trips to the eastern markets on horseback,
being gone from a month to six weeks at a time. The traveling salesman
was unknown, but the improved methods of travel brought him to the
towns in Clark County.
The Ohio Gazetteer of 1839 says : "The National Road runs through
the center of the county east and west, and is in such a state of forward-
ness that a year or two will probably complete it," and in 1841 from
the same source is gleaned the prophesy : "When these two great works
of internal improvement (National Road and Mad River and Lake Erie
Railroad) shall have been completed, Clark County will possess advan-
tages equal to any other inland county of Ohio, and for the extent of
her territory will probably be the richest," and in dealing with develop-
ments "Watch your step" seems a timely admonition.
On December 22, 1911, The Springfield News carried a reminiscent
article written by Mary Bertha Thompson, saying: "Few of the hun-
dreds who enjoy the many beautiful drives about Springfield, or who
pass swiftly through the country on the way to Urbana by the method
of travel in use today, have any knowledge of the historic significance
of the locality or bestow a thought upon the old stage that a few short
years ago rocked and creaked its way over the rugged corduroy roads,
bearing its load of passengers. Heavy and cumbersome of construction,
swung on straps instead of springs, this vanished conveyance presented
a picturesque sight, winding through the virgin forest and along the
banks of streams. Following the line of Indian trails, selecting high
ground and dry ground, through passageways cleared of obstructions,
these old roads were, as a matter of course, irregular. If there was a
bog or marshy place, timber was cut and dragged to the mud hole and
placed in it, crosswise: hence the name corduroy; none too smooth to
ride over even with careful driving, which was not one of the stage
driver's accomplishments, perched upon his seat high above his horses'
backs, twirling the long lash to flick the ears of his leaders."
The National Road
Local students of pioneer conditions say it was the National Road
that brought the cosmopolitan population into Clark County so early;
it was built by the United States Government under the supervision of
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218 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
the War Department, and was under control of commissioners appointed
by the President of the United States, the state legislators or governors.
The project conceived in the brain of Albert Gallatin had its inception
in 1806, although work on the eastern end had been started two years
earlier; it was Gallatin's idea to extend the road from the Potomac to
the Mississippi, through Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio. Indiana and
Illinois, and commissioners to report on the undertaking were appointed
by President Jefferson. While the road had been built to Cumberland,
in 1811 a contract was let for building the road ten miles further, and
thus it came slowly toward the Mississippi.
The National road entered Ohio across the river from Wheeling,
West Virginia, and its course is through the following counties : Belmont,
Guernsey, Muskingum, Licking, Franklin, Madison, Clark, Montgomery
and Preble, and since it is maintained in excellent condition a Lutheran
minister removing from Wheeling to Springfield, A. D. 1922, was only
out of his own home twenty- four hours; his household goods came in
a truck, an experience quite different from that of the pioneer minister
who came through the mud to Clark County. In its early history, many
families reached Clark County over this highway from Pennsylvania,
Virginia and New York and from the New England states, and while
for a time there were distinguishing characteristics, in the lapse of more
than a century amalgamation has obliterated them ; the sons have departed
from the traditions of the fathers — have adopted local methods, and
the passerby is no longer able to say from the style of improvements
that one man is from Pennsylvania and another from Virginia ; the stamp
of Clark County is everywhere apparent, the third, fourth and even the
fifth generation controlling the situation today.
The story of some wasted fortunes in Springfield is in support of
the statement that this great American highway — the National Road,
was never a self-supporting institution. The annual expense of repair
through Ohio was $100,000, and the greatest amount of tolls collected
in its most prosperous year, which was 1839, amounted to only $62,496.10,
and investigation revealed similiar conditions in other states; as early
as 1832, the governor of Ohio was authorized to borrow money for
repairs, and the auditor's reports show that all earnings were thus
expended. Pierson Spinning, who was a Springfield merchant making
annual trips to eastern cities on horseback, welcomed the improvement
and was one of the guarantors. When he became involved, financially,
his Puritanical conscience dictated his own ruin by turning all of his
accumulated property to his creditors, but his wife did not share his
conviction, and since she did not join him in the transfers, she had an
income from her dowery that made her comfortable in her old age.
While Mr. Spinning was thinking of his creditors, his wife was thinking
of herself and her family, and self-preservation is said to be human.
The first coaches run on the National Road were long, awkward
affairs; they were without braces or springs, and the seats were placed
crosswise in them. The door was in front, and passengers had to climb
over the seats ; they were made at Little Crossing, Pennsylvania, as the
Conestoga wagon was made at Conestoga. An old account says: "To
know what the old coaches really were, one should see and ride in them ;
it is doubtful if a single one now remains. Here and there inquiry will
raise the rumor of an old coach still standing on wheels, but if the rumor
is traced to its source it will be found that the chariot was sold to a
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 219
circus, or has been utterly destroyed ; the demand for old stage coaches
has been quite lively on the part of wild west shows.
"These old coaches were handsome affairs in their day, painted and
decorated profusely and lined with soft white plush ; there were ordinarily
three seats inside, each capable of holding three passengers, and upon .
the driver's high outer seat was room for one more passenger, a fortunate
position in good weather. The best stage coaches like their counterparts
on railways of today were named; they had names of states, warriors,
statesmen, generals, nations and cities, besides fanciful names : "Jewess,"
"Ivanhoe," "Sultana," and "Loch Lomond," sentiment being the same
among stage coach passengers as among those who control the trans-
continental transportation lines today, some very euphonious names being
seen on passenger trains. There were stage coach time tables and the
fare between Springfield and Columbus was $2, while it was $3 to Cin-
cinnati.
While there were relays of horses, through passengers had long rides
in the same coach; the stages through Springfield were as elaborate as
along any part of the road, some of them going the entire distance ; their
cost was between $400 and $600, and the harness used on the road was
of mammoth proportions, the backhands fifteen and the hipbands ten
•inches wide; the trace chains were heavy with short, thick links. An
act of the Legislature of Ohio required that every stage coach used for
the conveyance of passengers in the night should have two good lamps
affixed in the usual manner, subjecting the owner to a fine of fi:om $10
to $30 for every forty-eight hours the coach was not so provided;
drivers of coaches who should drive in the night when the track could
not be distinctly seen without having the lamps lighted, were subject
to a forfeiture of from $5 to $10 for each offense, and there were
restrictions about intoxication, and about drivers leaving their horses
without fastening them.
When a passenger purchased a ticket at the office of the stage
company, a way bill was made out by the agent and given to the driver ;
he delivered this to the landlord upon the arrival of the coach; it con-
tained the names and destinations of the passengers, and the money
paid, there being blank squares in which the landlord registered the time
of arrival and departure of the stage. There were no telegraph or
telephone stations, and these reports were the only information on which
to base a schedule. Toll-gate keepers were part of the show along the
National Road, but persons making long trips could pay for their entire
distance, receiving certificates guaranteeing them the privilege of the
road without paying again. The toll-gates were at frequent intervals,
the man a mile from town being unable to escape paying toll.
In the early days, the toll-gate keeper was appointed by the governor
of the state or by the commissioners of the county, and in 1836, $200,000
was paid toll-gate keepers in Ohio, their salaries being deducted from
their collections; they made their reports on the first Monday in each
month. Those exempted from toll were persons going to or returning
from public worship, muster, common place of business, or farm or
woodland, funeral, mill, place of election or commonplace of trading
or marketing within the county. No toll was charged for clergymen or
school children, or for the passage of the stage and horses carrying
U. S. mail, or any wagon or carriage laden with United States property,
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220 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
or cavalry, troops, arms or military stores, or for persons on duty in
the military service of the United States, or the militia of any state.
Many curious attempts were made to .evade paying toll, and laws
were passed inflicting heavy fines for it ; in Ohio, toll-gate keepers were
empowered to arrest those guilty of such attempts, and when fines were
collected they were added to the road fund. Passengers were counted
and the company operating the stage was charged per capita, and at the
end of each month the stage companies settled with the authorities.
Conditions along the National Road were very different from those on
shorter roads and controlled by local authorities. The building of the
road was hailed with delight by hundreds of contractors and thousands
of laborers. Old papers and letters speak of the enthusiasm awakened
among the laboring classes by the building of the great road, and of
the lively scenes witnessed in those busy years ; contractors followed the
road taking up one contract after another as opportunity offered, and
when not busy in their fields farmers engaged in the work with their
teams, and laws were passed for the preservation of the road ; there were
penalties for breaking or defacing the milestones, culverts, parapet walls
and bridges.
The patent lock on the stage has become known as a brake on an
ordinary wagon, the handle of the lock being managed by the driver;
there was dignity about the stage coach, and its great length and weight
with six horses attached, made it as unwieldly to turn or steer as a steam
boat ; the driver used a single line fastened to the bridle rein of the near
lead horse, while the near wheel horse carried a saddle; he could ride
or walk in driving the team, but he always flourished a blacksnake
whip; the teams were usually owned by their drivers who took care of
them themselves, and since they passed frequently every farm boy in the
field knew them. When the roads were heavy, they never made more than
fifteen or twenty miles, the drivers stopping in time to groom their horses
while they had daylight for it. They were turned around to feed boxes on
the wagon, and stood out of doors all night.
There were great wagon yards around the wayside taverns, and
sometimes half a dozen "ships of travel" were over night at the same
place, just as today tourist camps accommodate travelers along the Na-
tional Road either side of Springfield. While the National Road through
Springfield is Main Street, there was rivalry between the north and
south ends in Columbus as to what street would be traversed by it; the
matter was compromised by allowing it to come in on Friend now East
Main Street, and traversing High Street a few blocks, it quits the city
through West Broad Street, but Dayton is not penetrated by the great
highway ; it crosses Montgomery County north of the city. Bridges were
the most formidable item of expense in road construction, and for many
years a ferry boat was used in crossing the Ohio at Wheeling, and the
bridges were not built until 1837 across Buck Creek and Mad River;
while there were two forks of the road west from Springfield, New
Carlisle was missed although the road was an advantage.
While the National Road did not go to already established towns some
of the towns came to it, there being a number of villages either way
from Springfield that grew up along it. There is a stretch of 300 miles
of the National Road in Ohio. The only restriction as to the course of
the road was that it should go west on the straightest possible line
through the capital of each state, and in July, 1830, work began west
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from Columbus. In 1826, the preliminary survey was completed as far
as Indianapolis, the road passing through Richmond, Indiana, along
Main Street and through Indianapolis on Washington Street; however,
it was not completed under Government contract. The eight miles of
road immediately west of Springfield was advertised, the work to be
completed on or before January 1, 1838, the specifications requiring that
the trees and growth be entirely cleared away to the distance of forty
feet on each side of the central axis of the road, and all trees impending
over the space to be cut down ; all stumps and roots were to be carefully
grubbed out to the distance of twenty feet on each side of the axis.
All the timber, brush, stumps and roots were to be entirely removed
from the space eighty feet in width, and the earth excavated in grubbing
was to be thrown back into the hollows formed by removing the stumps
and roots. The proposals will state the price per lineal rod or mile, and
the offers of competent or responsible individuals only will be accepted.
Notice is hereby given to the proprietors of the land on that part of the
line of the National Road lying between Springfield and the Miami River,
to remove all fences and other barriers now across the line, a reasonable
time being allowed them to secure that portion of their present crops
which may lie upon the location of the road. The communication was
signed by G. Dutton. August 2, 1837. and issued by him as Lieutenant
U. S. Engineers, Superintendent of the National Road office in Spring-
field.
When the National Road was completed through Ohio its momentum
had been spent ; it did not mean so much to the Government because canals
and railroads were its rivals, and no further appropriations were made
for it. In 1850, when the road entered Indiana, the Wayne County
Turnpike Company financed it through Richmond, and grading and the
building of bridges as far as Vandalia, then the capital of Illinois, was all
the assistance Indiana and Illinois had from the Government toward
financing it. When the National Road reached the Ohio it improved
the river traffic, but by the time it had crossed the state a number of
internal improvement bills had authorized rival institutions — canals and
railways — a railroad from Madison bringing river traffic from the Ohio
to Indianapolis cheaper than completing the National Road. Instead of
crossing Ohio passengers went down the river to Madison and then by
rail to Indianapolis. It was an unforeseen complication, and a hard-
ship to the road builders.
While the public highway was in the background for a time because
of rival transportation methods, the automobile has restored it to its
prestige in the days of the stage coach. A new bridge across the Scioto
in Columbus rendered necessary by the 1913 flood, has been completed
and the stretch of road west from Springfield has had attention, making
the National Road the great cross-country route that it was when it
was first placed on the map of the world. While it allows egress for
Springfield and Clark County people, many pilgrims follow this ancient
route of travel and it will always retain its identity — the National Road
connecting the Potomac and the Mississippi. From Donnelsville west
the road has been widened, and the covered bridges over Jackson Creek
and Mud Run have been replaced by concrete arches, and farmers along
the way are planning to beautify the boulevard connecting Springfield
and Dayton. It is said that Gen. U. S. Grant, whose centenary has just
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
been passed, was employed as an army engineer on the National Road
west from Springfield at the time of its construction.
While President Thomas Jefferson was opposed to the construction
of the National Road, the man who would "rather be right than be
President/' Henry Clay of Kentucky, was unremitting in his efforts
toward building it. The asphalted road toward Columbus has been made
too narrow to suit motorists, there being only a narrow space between
passing cars, and speeders are a menace to more careful drivers. While
there was a lapse of a good many years between the stage coach and
the automobile, the public highways seemingly abandoned upon the advent
of the railway passenger service, is again used by the automobiles, and
the era of road building since 1900 would alarm Thomas Jefferson.
A twentieth century writer says:
"The easy roads are crowded, and the level roads are jammed
The pleasant little rivers with drifting folks are crammed/*
and the sentiment seems to be apropos of the beginning of the National
Road, an old account saying : "lna moment's time an army of emigrants
and pioneers were en route to the West over the great highway, regiment
foltowing regiment as the years advanced ; squalid cabins where the hunter
had lived beside the primeval thoroughfare were pressed into service as
taverns. Indian fords, where the water had often run red with blood
in border days, were spanned with solid bridges; ancient towns, compara-
tively unknown, becames cities of consequence in the world. As the
century ran into its second and third decades, the National Road carried
along an increasingly heterogeneous population/' and that aids in under-
standing the variety that came early to Clark County.
"Wagons of all descriptions, from the smallest to the great 'mountain
ships1 which creaked down the mountain sides, and groaned off into the
setting sun, formed a marvelous frieze upon it ; fast expresses, too rea~
listicatly perhaps called 'shakeguts,' tore along through valley and over
hill with important messages. Here the broad highway was blocked
with herds of cattle trudging eastward to the markets, or westward to
the meadow lands beyond the mountains. Gay coaches of four and six
horses, whose worthy drivers were known by name, even to the states-
men who were often their passengers, rolled on to the hospitable taverns
where the company reveled. At night, along the roadway, Gypsy fires
nickered in the darkness, where wandering minstrels and jugglers crept
to show their art, while in the background crowded traders, hucksters,
peddlers, soldiery, showmen and beggars- — all picturesque pilgrims on the
Nation's great highway," and those who have passed the "dead line" of
threescore and ten years fully understand about it.
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CHAPTER XXVI
CLARK COUNTY GOOD ROADS COUNCIL
The Clark County Good Roads Council is one of the departments of
the Springfield Chamber of Commerce activities. It has had special
recognition from the State Good Roads Department because of its effec-
tiveness ; it includes all road building organizations in the county. Each
township has three trustees, making thirty members, and being affiliated
with the Ohio Good Roads Federation, it has knowledge of state and
national highway matters. An effort was recently made by the Ohio
Good Roads Federation, the Ohio State Grange and the Ohio Farm
Bureau to launch a cooperative movement in behalf of better roads, the
longest durability with the least possible cost of construction entering
into the consideration, and the Clark County Council was active in the
meeting.
Charles L. Bauer, who was the first president of the Clark County
Good Roads Council, is a member of the State Central Committee Ohio
Good Roads Council, and chairman of District No. 7 which includes
eight counties: Clark, Darke, Preble, Montgomery, Miami, Champaign,
Greene and Fayette. Arthur R. Altick, secretary of the local organiza-
tion, has been invited to assist in the organization of Good Roads Coun-
cils in other counties. The meetings of the Seventh District Council are
frequently held in Springfield, and minutes of local meetings are asked
for as guides in other counties; thus Clark County is recognized as a
foremost road building county. As a stimulant to effort, the Clark County
Good Roads Council offers a loving cup to the township making the
best showing and it went first to Mad River. The township winning the
cup three times consecutively holds it permanently. Since the Springfield
Chamber of Commerce made the Good Roads Council a branch of its
activities, other cities have adopted the plan, and thus town and country
cooperate in a vital question.
The current organization — Floyd A. Johnson, president; B. F. Kauf-
man, vice president, and A. R. Altick, secretary — controls 878 miles of
public road, there being 264 miles of turnpike, 573 miles of township
road only drawing local money, and forty-one miles of inter-county
highway. The Good Roads Council holds monthly meetings, and it has
the confidence and cooperation of all road builders. It favors the pur-
chase of sufficient machinery for the care and upkeep of the roads, and
recommends the opening of gravel pits near them to avoid long hauls.
An editorial in The Sun says : "There is one organization which in quiet
and systematic manner is doing a considerable amount of good for the
people of this community, and it isn't costing them a penny; the Clark
County Good Roads Council — a creation of the Chamber of Commerce
— is a common sense organization. It includes the members of the
Board of County Commissioners and the surveyor, the trustees from
each of the townships, the country road supervisors, and representatives
of various local organizations. They do not ride hobbies; they talk
roads.
"Each township reports on the road improvement progress of the
past month ; the county officials are quizzed on the progress of the county
and state building projects ; crossings and curves which are dangerous are
reported. There is a general interchange of ideas, and they are getting
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224 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
results from the drainage of hillside springs ; they discuss the quality of
gravel, and the time for scraping the roads." The Good Roads Council
has caused the removal of objectionable signs and billboards obstructing
highways; some local advertisers have thought of personal rather than
public welfare in placing signs that cut off the view, and the Chamber
of Commerce, through the Good Roads Council, has instituted a warfare
against it. There are information signs for the benefit of travelers, and
drivers see them without pausing ; it is the signs of local advertisers that
obstruct the highway at times. The Young Men's Business Club of
Springfield is agitating the question of fruit trees planted along the
highways, in the interest of both beauty and fruit production, and
memorial shade trees are being planted in some parts of the country.
On the National Road west of Springfield is the Golden Arch span-
ning Rock Run that has an unusual history. An old account says : The
deep cuts and great fill over Rock Creek where Col. Peter Sintz afterward
made his residence were expensive, but of immense value. The rocky
ravine was mean to pass through with an empty wagon, and when
repairs were made recently the cost was estimated at $85,000, but through
the efforts of the Good Roads Council the bill was reduced to $59,000,
a direct saving to the taxpayers of Clark County. While the passerby
crosses the Golden Arch without seeing it, the problem of draining Aber-
felda and contiguous territory is solved by an arch allowing Rock Run
to carry its waters undisturbed, although at enormous expense.
While there are several main roads leading into Springfield, there
are many short roads that necessitate back-driving because they do not
lead to town. There is no checkerboard regularity about the roads in
Clark County. Judge Golden C. Davis of Springfield says: "People
who drive horses expect those who use automobiles to obey the traffic
laws," in assessing costs against a man who had left a horse unhitched in
the street, thereby causing a congestion of traffic. A Springfield man
said: "If you want to know how many automobiles are on the road
just try blocking traffic ; just have tire trouble in a narrow place, and you
will find that everybody is out that day/' and when there is a block they
all find themselves in a hurry.
The Goodrich Rubber Company of Akron made a survey showing
that the total traffic had increased forty-five per cent with good roads,
and the truck business had increased 171 per cent in a specified time.
The passenger automobile traffic had increased twenty-seven per cent,
and when 2,891 vehicles had passed a given point there were only forty-
six horse-drawn vehicles among them. On a December day in 1921, it
was reported that 1,128 automobiles passed a given point on the National
Road west from Springfield, and not all the automobiles in town that
day were counted. Many families have two or more cars, and 7,000
license plates are issued in Clark County, the tags distributed through the
Springfield Automobile Club. One report estimates 7,500 passenger auto-
mobiles while another says 10,000 automobilies in Clark County, some
of the tags being obtained from the State Department. It is estimated
that there are 1,200 trucks in the county.
The automobile club is effective advertising for Springfield, visiting
motorists thus knowing about the community. With its office in Hotel
Shawnee it serves the traveling public, many stopping in town because of
it. While license numbers must be secured each year, the same number
may be retained by asking in advance for it, L. E. Bauer having had No.
5 continuously, and James M. Cox, whose automobiles are seen in Spring-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 225
field frequently, retains the two numbers 99,998 and 99,999, by asking in
time for them. The license tax helps to maintain the roads in good con-
dition. While there are many accidents, approximately 9,000 persons
having been killed in 1921, it is said that reckless joy-riding is a thing of
the past, and while it has been said: "Lock up every motor car in the
country and we will have good times," not all the community accept the
assertion. Every family that owns a car would object to locking it up,
modern society demanding its service.
While farmers used to object to walking half way to town in leading
their horses past automobiles, the horses are educated now and pass
them without difficulty, the farmers themselves owning cars. They
were prejudiced against them, but ownership makes the greatest differ-
ence in the world. It is said that a greater percentage of farmers use
telephones and automobiles than any other class. While the improved
roads lead up to more highway robberies, road building goes along unin-
terrupted; the highway constabulary installed in many parts of the
country was unknown in the days of daring stage robberies. While
thieves once stole horses and escaped with them, they now steal automo-
biles and are sometimes overtaken by the "strong arm of the law." The
rural constabulary is a mighty force in curbing automobile thefts. When
thieves used to content themselves with stealing horses, farmers were
often sore perplexed in crop times, but the loss of an automobile may be
communicated about the country through the use of the telephone, and
stolen cars are sometimes located by their owners; however, changed
license numbers render them difficult of identification.
Years ago automobile clubs did much to encourage road building all
over the country, but the National Road through Clark County always
has been an incentive. It brought the emigrants, and it still brings the
tourists, and camping places, along with bungalow trailers, indicate future
activities. The National Road has long been an asset to Clark County.
The Good Roads Council regulates the weight and speed of trucks. The
roads are disintegrated under the burdens they are forced to bear, and
the manufacturers of trucks encourage a better foundation in road-
building. "The intolerable automobile ruins the roads," but when speed-
ing is regulated, and the law against over-loading is enforced, the roads
will be more durable. The Ohio Motorist, June, 1920, carried an article :
"Automobiles Help Drained Road," with a sub-title: "System of Drain-
age Well Worked Out Has Proved Successful in Clark County." It is
called the Mellinger Plan, and the article was written by the Clark
County Good Roads Council secretary, A. R. Altick.
The drift of the article is that what drainage will do for highways
has been demonstrated by Clark County Commissioner Harry S. Mel-
linger, a local exponent of highway drainage, the experiment tried out
on the Yellow Spring pike; by the use of side ditches the water level
is below the frost line; when the improvement started, the water stood
in chuck holes and the roads were almost impassable, and the Mellinger
idea of drainage has been widely copied. After completing the drain,
Mr. Mellinger used ninety yards of gravel to the half mile of road
surface, and it was ready for traffic. He drags the road frequently,
maintaining an eight-inch crown, and thus the water escapes at the
sides, the ditches serving two purposes — draining both the road and the
fields along it. When the traffic is heavy, Mr. Mellinger maintains the
grade by adding a light coat of coarse sand with plenty of grit, using
about one yard to fifty running feet, and he finds the automobiles an
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226 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
advantage to the road; the pneumatic tires iron out and compress the
surface into a resisting mass, and one machine following another soon
spreads it.
While automobile traffic has a tendency to wear down the crown,
and scatter the material to the side of the road, a well constructed berm
prevents loss, and the material is scraped to the center again. It acts
as a cement in binding and uniting all road materials, this worn gravel
mixing well with macadam or crushed stone. The state and county
share the expense, and the fifty per cent borne by the county is sub-
divided, twenty-five per cent to the county at large, fifteen per cent to
the township through which the road passes, and ten percent to the
abutting property owners, the road costing the land owners approxi-
mately $3,000 a mile, the entire cost being $30,000, while under the
Mellinger plan roads may be built to cost from $400 to $1,000 per
mile, the drainage being the economy. The Fairchild road is another
example of the Mellinger plan, the surface becoming better every year.
Before gravel was used extensively, farmers used to work the roads by
scraping from the edge to the middle, and the advantage was the drainage
offered at the side by the removal of the dirt, although nothing was
said about it.
People who have lived fifty years and longer, remember the covered
wagons going over the National road with movers from eastern points
to Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. In the 70s there were few buggies or
carriages in use in Clark County; when the Cincinnati buggy was on
the market it enlarged the neighborhood for many families, and it was
enlarged again by the automobile. When the wagon was the only vehicle
of travel, the trips were to town and home again, and when carriages
were first introduced they were heavy, cumbersome affairs; the family
with a two-horse carriage attracted unlimited attention. Those who
speed through the country in high geared automobiles go faster, but
they cannot enjoy themselves better than did the families who were
first to have buggies and carriages.
In the Albert Reeder booklet dealing with South Charleston, he
tells of the fat cattle driven over the Cincinnati-Columbus road and
over the mountains to eastern markets, and he says the meat market
of those days was on wheels — Armour's in miniature, before the days
of the meat trust and refrigerator cars. While every community had
its meat peddler with a one-horse wagon, Mr. Reeder says: "Uncle
Obie Davisson enjoyed a monopoly on this trade ; he drove Old Jack, a
little brown string-halt horse, and many was the pound of meat they
delivered. I remember Old Jack distinctly, his color and other pecul-
iarities," but the children of today have no conception of such a thing;
the meat peddler travels faster, and they use ice when necessary. The
flies used to follow the one-horse wagon meat markets about the country.
While there is a road building schedule, and the Good Roads Council
looks after extensions, it is the policy of the county commissioners who
furnish the funds that roads bearing the heaviest traffic will be appor-
tioned the most money for repairs; the funds are distributed according
to the amount of traffic. Each supervisor is allotted certain roads, and
he is responsible to the commissioners. In order to secure the money
from the state, County Surveyor W. H. Sieverling, and County Auditor
William Mills accompanied the board of commissioners to Columbus,
to present the Clark County needs to the state highway commissioner.
When a county fails to claim its road money within a prescribed time
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 227
limit, it reverts to other counties. The county commissioners make an
annual tour of road inspection, and when mistakes are discovered they
plan to remedy them; sometimes they tour other parts of the country
for road building suggestions.
Floyd Johnson, chairman of the Good Roads Council, after seeing
results in other places, agrees with the Mellinger plan — the important
thing in road building is drainage; good roads can be built and main-
tained economically from gravel and right materials when properly
drained. When the crown of a road is too high the traffic is at the
edge, and there is a sentiment against the high center; it was reported
that 865 miles of roads were paved in Ohio in 1921, and the state is
lifting itself out of the mud in such well planned, practical fashion,
that within a few years all sections will be reached by graded, hard-
surfaced highways. While foot and horseback travel were the only
known methods once upon a time, the wheel age came along and im-
proved roads rendered it a possibility, and the sentiment is: "Let the
good work continue until every community is tied to every other com-
munity by a road which defies all of the elements."
While there were taverns all along the National Road when it was
the only line of transportation, the Werden Hotel was the recognized
headquarters in Springfield. The arrival and departure of the stage was
the event of the day, and there were admiring crowds of spectators.
The stage-drivers were a "swaggering" set of fellows dressed in fetch-
ing clothes, and they swore like pirates ; they would drive up to the
hotel in full speed, crack long-lashed whips and yell at the horses;
sometimes there was a bugler on the box with the driver, and all of the
boys in Springfield wanted to be stage drivers. They were ready to
expatiate upon the points of interest along the way, filling the intervals
with a flow of general information, but "Them days is gone forever,"
because the daily newspaper now supplies the need; however, as the
driver discoursed to those gathered about him, he shifted his quid
of tobacco and spat to punctuate his remarks.
The National Road was not the only stage coach line into Springfield,
the one to Urbana passing down Limestone Street to the ford across
Buck Creek, and up the hill past the one-story tavern with its low roof
line outlined against the sky; its one chimney rising above the center,
and its quaint door-way inviting the imaginative passerby, and R. C.
Woodward tells about going over this line in 1832, when Simon Kenton
and his wife were passengers as far as Urbana, the road to New Moore-
field marking the same route of travel. In 1844, the old road to Urbana
was straightened and made into a turnpike, twenty-five cents toll being
charged from Springfield to the county line; the toll gate was near
McCright Avenue and T. R. May was the keeper ; he was a man with
a cheery word for all travelers, typical of other toll collectors of the
period. Had they kept dairies, they were in position to know the history
of development; they saw the world go by:
"Jolting through the valley,
Winding up the hill,
Splashing through the 'branches/
Rumbling by the mill,
Life's a rugged journey,
Taken in a stage."
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CHAPTER XXVII
TRANSPORTATION— ITS RELATION TO INDUSTRY
If there are two community interests that depend upon each other,
they are the carrier system and the factory ; useless each without the other.
Why invest capital in manufacturing enterprises, unless there is a market
for the finished product? The common carrier gives the producer an
outlet to the markets of the world. ' Through its Chamber of Commerce
every inducement to manufacturers is offered, and since "Springfield
is without national boundaries, it has numerous manufacturing sites;
its railroads enter the city from all directions," and thus transportation
facilities are the boast of the community.
In the beginning the natural highways for travel were the Ohio
River on the south, and Lake Erie on the north, but through Mad
River and the Great Miami the first settlers in Clark County had
egress to the Ohio. David Lowry, who located on Mad ftiver in
1796, built the first scow or flat boat "that ever navigated the Great
Miami from Dayton down," it being understood that it was built in
1800 along Mad River. While it seems like a fairy tale, a scow built
in Clark County finally reached New Orleans by water. Mr. Lowry
was assisted in the enterprise by William Ross.
Mr. Lowry and his neighbor who came with him to Mad River,
Jonathan Donnel, were deer hunters and when Mr. Lowry had accu-
mulated 500 venison hams, he wanted to reach a market; he had come
direct to Mad River with a surveying party from Cincinnati, and he
did not shrink from adventure. While the boat was constructed, and
the venison hams secured along Mad River — the first shipment of pro-
vision from the vicinity of Springfield to the outside world, it was
before Springfield had come into existence, and the scow was worked
down stream to Dayton where barrels for pickled pork and bacon were
waiting them.
While the barrels were made in Dayton, owing to the difficulty of
navigation on the Miami where there was driftwood, the hogs were
driven to Cincinnati; there they were butchered, and the fresh pork
was packed in barrels for shipping to New Orleans. Meat is shipped
in refrigerator cars today, and it is easily understood that the consign-
ment of fresh pork was slightly damaged when it reached the southern
market. However, Mr. Lowry received $12 a hundred, which was less
than he expected in New Orleans. While he lived to be an old man,
he did not try water-way shipping again. Since he was the first local
man to reach the outside world with a local product, the venison hams —
a tablet should perpetuate the story. In 1825, John Jackson, whose
wife was Nellie Lowry, covered part of the distance by water, removing
from Clark County to Tennessee.
While no artificial water-way has ever penetrated Clark County
when Governor DeWitt of New York, who was the great water-way
man of the age, was en route to Hamilton, Ohio, to throw out the
first shovelful of dirt from the Erie canal, a delegation of Springfield
business men met him at the Little Miami and escorted him the remainder
of the distance. The Ohio Gazetteer of 1841 says : "As yet Clark County
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 229
has no outlet to market save the common roads of the country," but
at that time the National Road was bringing everything to Springfield.
The efforts in Congress in the late '30s to substitute a railway for this
great highway were a failure ; at that time the cost of a complete train-
way exceeded the required appropriations to complete it.
In 1825, there was a salt famine widespread in the country, and
settlers who "wagoned" to Cincinnati hauled down twelve barrels of
flour for which they received $12, and they paid $10 for a barrel of salt
to haul back to Springfield. They had $2 for other expenses, but the
"back haul of merchandise for Dayton or Springfield helped them to
make a profit from the trip." Cincinnati was the great business center,
but in 1829, the Miami Canal was finished to Dayton, and the long hauls
to Cincinnati were no longer ' necessary ; the settlers had always gone
in groups so that when their wheels would not turn in the mud, they
could assist each other. While Dayton grew rapidly after the canal
was finished connecting the Great Lakes and the Ohio, and was soon
a rival of Cincinnati, Springfield had the National Road and even now
only Cincinnati and Dayton are larger markets in southwestern Ohio.
While goods from the eastern markets were hauled over the moun-
tains to the Ohio, Cincinnati and Dayton both had shipping facilities
while Springfield only had the National Road; however, passenger
traffic sustained the same relation to the freight business then as it
did later on the steam railway lines; from the standpoint of revenue, it
was a small item. It remained for the heavy wagons to distribute
throughout the West the product of mill and factory, and the rich
harvests of the fields. This great freight traffic along the National
Road created a race of its own; men strong and daring and the fact
that the teamsters of these "mountain ships" had taverns or "wagon
houses" of their own where they stopped, tended to separate them into
a class by themselves. The automobile with its "bungalow trailer"
simply patterns after the moving vans of the long ago.
While some of the National Road description distinctively belongs
farther east, many of those mountain ships that at night were converted
into wagon houses, came as far as Springfield ; they went to Dayton and
to Cincinnati. There were many deflecting lines of the stage, and
travel was as much diversion as it has been in later years. In the
'40s the droves of fat steers weht through Clark County toward the
eastern markets. "They 'hoofed' it, and we boys never failed to ask
how many; the drovers would say 150 to 300," and the next day the
same thing happened again; however, in the '40s the National Road
had a rival in Springfield. In that decade two railroads penetrated
into Clark County. The different generations have the same human
instinct, and a local writer tells about when Paist and Company packed
pork in South Charleston.
The pork packing industry ceased in 1850, but prior to that time
Nat Moss with his big wagon drawn by six horses hauled between
Cincinnati and Columbus, and South Charleston merchants depended
on him for everything. He would take away pork and bring back
merchandise. He had great pride in his outfit, and everything was
kept in spick and span condition. The horses were equipped with
bells over the hames, and they gave a cheerful warning that Nat Moss
was approaching the town. The boys flocked to the street to see the
handsome team and the big wagon; to them the hubs in the wheels
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 231
were as big as flour barrels, and the items of merchandise : New Orleans
molasses, brown sugar, with staple groceries and dry goods, but human
nature is unchanged; let a medicine vender with an ox team, or a
bungalow trailer of a different pattern appear, and every man and boy
in Springfield sees the novelty.
In the old coaching days the passenger and mail coaches were operated
very much like the railways of today; a vast network covered the
land and competition extended into every phase ; fast horses, comfortable
coaches — every appeal for patronage. Some of the stage lines were
operated in sections, the different sections having different proprietors,
and they were all inclined to speculation. Neil, Moore & Company of
Columbus operated hundreds of stages, the Neil fortune coming from
that source; there were trusts in the "good old days" of stage coaches,
and graft still manifests itself in utility operations. About 1850, portions
of the National Road were leased, and in 1854 the stage line from
Springfield to the Ohio River was leased for a term of ten years, $6,105
being the annual rental, but the competition of the railroads was being
felt, and a new order of things was apparent.
Clark County is not far from the center of population in the United
States, and today Ohio is traversed by all of the transcontinental rail-
ways ; the trunk lines go through the state, and where people intermingle
trade results from it. Transportation is fundamental in community
building; it was necessary to the settler, and the evolution of the trail —
the path through the wilderness; the corduroy bridge over a swamp,
to the hard surface road and the railroad — it all reflects the spirit of trans-
portation and the National Road is only an incident along the highway of
progress. Today the busy man in Springfield has an important engage-
ment in some other city; he inquires when a train leaves, and in all
human probability he arrives on time at his destination ; he is guaranteed
exact regularity of performance, but such efficiency of service is not
an over night development. One time transportation depended on the
weather, the wind and the tide — antiquity remote, and then no passenger
trains stopped in Springfield.
Changed Condition
But the dawning of a new era in transportation had already been
heralded in the national hall of legislation ; in 1832, the House Committee
on Railroads and Canals had discussed in their report the question of
the relative cost of various means of intercommunication, including rail-
ways. Each report of the committee for the next five years mentioned
the same subject, until in 1836, the matter of substituting a railway for
the National Road between Columbus and the Mississippi was very
seriously considered. In 1836, the first railroad west of New York
State — the Erie and Kalamazoo, operated with horsepower — was opened
between Toledo and Adrian, Michigan, and in July, 1837, a locomotive
was installed upon it. The next railroad in Ohio was the Mad River
and Lake Erie; it was incorporated in 1832, with a prospective route
from Dayton via Springfield to Sandusky, but the Little Miami was
ahead of it in Clark County, entering Springfield in 1846, while the
Mad River and Lake Erie road was two years later.
In 1846, the Little Miami built a warehouse and an enginehouse
in Springfield preparatory to completing the line, and on August 6, the
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232 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
locomotive Ohio arrived, drawing two flat cars from Xenia. When
the train stopped west of Center Street that summer afternoon, the
engineer blew the whistle and everybody came out to see it. When the
engineer blew the whistle again, there was a stampede among the spec-
tators; they were afraid of an explosion. It was five days after the
locomotive arrived and Springfield people heard the first whistle until
on August 11 the first train came from Cincinnati to Springfield. When
the first locomotive drawing two flat cars was leaving, Springfield boys
followed it along Factory now Wittenberg Avenue through the deep cut,
warning each other of the danger of suction; it was backing out on
a badly ballasted track, and there was not enough speed to create aerial
commotion. No one was swallowed up by it, and finally boys were less
cautious; they ride out of town on freights without thought of danger.
Finally, when the first passenger train arrived it was met by visitors
from every direction; there was great gusto. Talk about frontier
hospitality; the citizens of Springfield gave a dinner in the warehouse,
and the guests were welcomed by Gen. Charles Anthony, one of the
most distinguished townsmen of his day. It was the 'beginning of the
end of the stage coach, although for a few years there were both stage
and railway time tables posted in Springfield. The first agent of the
company was Zimmerman and the second was Wright, but not much
data has been left by any of them. The first locomotive on the Little
Miami to reach South Charleston was called the Brooks; they were all
wood burners, and farmers hauled wood to the railroad while clearing
their land ; free rides were given stockholders, and some of them almost
froze on the first trip over the Little Miami to Xenia.
While construction was begun on the Mad River and Lake Erie
in 1835, it was not until 1848 that it reached Springfield. The Ohio
Gazetteer of 1841, says: "The Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad,
the speedy completion of which there is now no doubt, will enter Clark
County on the north about midway from east to west, and thence pursue
a southerly course to Springfield, thence taking a southwest direction
will follow the general course of Mad River to Dayton," and speaking
further of the National Road and the railroads — "When these great works
or internal improvement shall have been completed, Clark County will
possess advantages equal to any other inland county of the state, and
for the extent of her territory, will probably be the richest; its exports
embody every variety of agricultural products: cattle, horses, hogs and
sheep," and while water power was being utilized and factory wheels
were turning, no mention was made of manufactured articles for export
As yet there was no outlet only the common roads, but much of the land
was under a high state of cultivation.
The Mad River and Lake Erie — the father of Western railways,
reached Springfield September 2, 1848; the first engineer was Peter
Thomas and Seneca was the name of the engine ; it was from the Great
Lakes, and it was another glad day in Springfield; the lakes and the
Ohio were connected, and it gave an impetus to the growth of the town.
The first local agent was A. Cheesebrough, and he was followed by J. B.
Norris. In 1848, Springfield had two railroad trains and two stage
coaches daily, but the stage coach is a thing of the past, although "the
chariot of fire" arrives whenever one out of every fourteen citizens is
returning to town. In connection with the arrival of the Mad River and
Lake Erie, the Springfield Tri-Weekly Republic carried the headline:
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"Arrival Extraordinary. Mad River Railroad Finished," with the infor-
mation: "This morning at half past ten an engine with several cars
attached came into town, and was received with shouts of joy by large
crowds of citizens. We could scarcely believe our ears when we heard
the strange sound of the whistle in the northwest, nor our eyes when
we saw the engine coming ; yet it is a reality. The Mad River Railroad
is completed to Springfield, and the river and the lakes have shaken
hands," and a few days later the same paper announced a letter from
officials of the road, saying that the line between Springfield and Dayton
will be put under contract without delay, eastern stockholders having
concurred in the necessary arrangements. When there were but two
roads they used the same station, but since then there has been no
Union Railway Station in Springfield.
Hiram W. Williams of Springfield who since March, 1921, has been
pensioned by the Big Four Railway Company, has investigated things
for himself and he reports that the Mad River and Lake Erie became
Mill
Fill
Pie ■ !*■
m ..i in
in ■ g |v
4..
Group of Railroad Stations
known as Cincinnati, Sandusky and Cleveland line before it was finally
absorbed by the Big Four; for fifty-one years Mr. Williams was a
locomotive engineer, and for forty-six years he ran trains out of Spring-
field. Theodore Good is another pensioned engineer, and John C. Penders
is pensioned by the Pennsylvania line as a baggage master, having held
different positions in his term of service. In describing the development
of the Mad River and Lake Erie line, Mr. Williams has the idea that
construction was begun at Dayton, and met the improvement from the
other way at Bowlusville near the north line of Clark County. Captain
Bowlus had a store at the point of intersection, and that was the begin-
ning of Bowlusville.
The junction was along Mad River in excellent farming country,
and for a time Bowlusville was an important business center; both the
soil and the railroad attracted settlers, and when the iron bands came
together the settlers planned a barbecue; the governors of Ohio and
Indiana were there, and notables from many points along the way. The
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234 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
ends came together in Clark County, and from that on it made rapid
progress; the Erie Canal carried much freight to Dayton, and this rail-
way opened up an eastern market. The country was now connected
with the outside world in each direction. In 1852 an emigrant train
brought the cholera to Springfield.
Mr. Williams says that the stretch of Big Four Railroad from
Springfield to London was built by popular subscription, Clark County
taking the initiative in the '50s; it wanted a direct line to Columbus.
At London it connected with the Miami now the Pennsylvania, con-
tinuing to the capital city ; however, the road was a failure and did not
pay the taxes till 1872, when it was sold to the company controlling the
Sandusky road, the purchase price of $1 making it within the law. When
the line was finally extended to Columbus it proved an excellent invest-
ment. It was operated in connection with the Sandusky road until both
were absorbed by the Big Four.
George H. Knight who has known the railroad situation in Spring-
field since 1876, and who in 1882 became local agent of the Big Four —
the C. C. C. & I., known as the Bee Line, was with the road when it
absorbed some other local lines, first being the Cincinnati, Sandusky &
Cleveland, then the Bee Line and finally the I. B. & W., all accomplished
within three years and merged into the Big Four. Mr. Knight regrets
that he did not make written note of much that happened then, now
only available in the files of local newspapers. What used to be regarded
as three separate roads are now under one management, and it is
proving an economical arrangement. While the Big Four and I. B.
& W. roads used the Arcade as an office, the Cincinnati, Sandusky &
Cleveland line used the old station until after the consolidation, and
after the fire in the Arcade in 1893, the office was removed to the old
station across the track where it remained until the present passenger
station was built at the foot of Spring Street. When the roads were
merged, Mr. Knight was fortunate in being with the road taking over
the others; he continued his job, while many lost their positions.
While the Cincinnati, Sandusky and Cleveland road was secured
through a tax voted in the '40s, Clark County subscribing $20,000 toward
it, many counties sold out at a sacrifice, thereby losing their stock, but
Clark County was more fortunate; it finally realized on the investment
made by its pioneer citizens who had a vision of the future. While
the Big Four is the only through train service east and west, a spur
line connects Springfield with the Pennsylvania at Xenia, and a lateral
line also connects with the Pennsylvania at Urbana, and thus a passenger
may go to bed in Springfield aboard a sleeper and waken in Chicago
or New York. It was expensive building railroads through the lime-
stone bluffs about Springfield, and early construction entailed a great
deal of engineering to enter Springfield without the expense of tunneling^
In 1855, when the Erie came along it missed the town to avoid the
limestone hills. It was known as the Great Western, and while its
objective point was Cincinnati, it anticipated that Springfield would
build in that direction; the station is Durbin, and it is reached from
Springfield by interurban cars.
When the D. T. & I. road was built by the Whitelys in the '80s,
it was a narrow gauge and used as a coal route from Ironton; when
in the '90s it became standard gauge, passenger service was installed and
now that it is the property of Henry Ford, it is a good freight and
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 235
passenger line. While there is no belt road, the Erie uses the D. T. & I.
tracks in reaching local shippers. Springfield never expanded greatly
in the direction of the Erie station at Durbin. Through its system of
spurs and siding, Springfield shippers easily reach the markets of the
world. "Springfield is without natural boundaries," and through its
steam and electric roads and its "chariots of fire," when an order is
secured the shipping is a matter of choice with manufacturers. It
is said that the automobile with its counterpart of truck has given to
the individual an advantage equivalent to owning a private railroad
with a train ready to start in any direction at any time.
A local writer says: "With the establishment of motor truck lines,
and their increasing use as common carriers, we shall see a revival
of traffic on our public highways which will result in a virtual revolu-
tion in transportation ih a short time. Indeed, there are many students
of the transportation problem who think that is the way out of our
perplexity ; the entire highway proposition is a rising one in this country ;
the person who allies himself with the good roads idea is in harmony
with the progress of events, and is in the vanguard of modern civiliza-
tion." Since the days of war time freight shortage automobiles are
again shipped by railroad; for several months they were driven from
the factories, even women driving new cars when labor was the problem
in the days of the war. Convoys of new automobiles were frequently
seen along the National road and through Springfield.
See America First
In this age of steam, electricity, gasoline and air transportation, the
sons and grandsons have enlarged neighborhood limitations; the third,
fourth, fifth and sixth generations in Clark County are living under
changed conditions. They frequently whirl through space in adjacent
counties, aye, through neighboring states and spend the evening at home
again, while the generations before them seldom left the bounds of
the county. While it is said the railroads speeded up the nineteenth
century and the automobile has done the same for the twentieth century,
the airplane in the infancy of its development surpasses both of them,
and as the telegraph service is allied with manufacturing and trans-
portation, along comes the wireless system with possibilities unlimited
and unquestioned. The community owes everything to steam, electricity,
the automobile, the airplane and to wireless; they have revolutionized
conditions since the days of the pioneers.
With the methods of travel now in vogue, the world is becoming
so small that isolation which was the bugbear of the pioneer is wholly
eliminated ; the Creator isolated the United States of America by placing
it between two oceans, and away from the haunts of man, but now he
flies over it and sails through it, and while the word isolation is still
in the dictionary, it no longer describes conditions in Clark County.
The Springfield Engineering Club is on record as favoring a budget from
the U. S. Congress for the extension of aviation, the newest form of
transportation. It is a step in advance of conditions reported in 1838,
at Lancaster, Ohio, when a board of education refused the use of the
school house to a group of young men who wished to discuss the feasi-
bility of the railroad and telegraph.
A clipping from a newspaper including the refusal of the board of
education reads: "You are welcome to the use of the school house to
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236 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
debate all proper questions in, but such things as railroads and telegraphs
are impossibilities and rank infidelity. There is no work of God about
them; if God had designed that his intelligent creatures should travel
at the frightful speed of fifteen miles an hour by steam, He would
clearly have foretold it through His holy prophets; it is a device of
Satan to lead immortal souls down to hell." The flying machine would
have distressed the board of education so many years ago.
Springfield Facts
In the booklet. Springfield Facts, is the information that the Big
Four has the following divisions: Cincinnati, Peoria, Sanduskv and
Delaware ; the Pennsylvania lines ; Erie Railway and the Detroit, Toledo
and Ironton. There are ten steam roads leading into Springfield, with
thirty-two passenger trains in and out every day ; there are 985 freight
cars in and 1,016 freight cars out of Springfield, showing the immense
amount of shipping, thirty-one freights being loaded and added to the
passing trains, the booklet issued before the recent slump in industrial
conditions. There is no gainsaying the statement that modern life with
its manifold social and industrial activities is dependent upon the effi-
ciency of its transportation.
Springfield Street Railway
It was in the '80s, that P. P. Mast and George Spence installed the
first mule cars in Springfield; they operated on High Street west from
Limestone and past the splendid Mast residence now owned by the
Knights of Pythias, but the electric age was approaching and mule
power was not used many years. In the course of time, Warder, Bush-
nell and Mitchell acquired the Mast-Spence holdings, and the system
was extended to other streets in Springfield. They sold it to W. B.
McKinley — later Senator McKinley, of Champaign, Illinois, who operated
the system for a time, finally disposing of it to the American Railways
Company of Philadelphia. In 1892, Asa S. Bushnell and I. Ward Frey
built the first electric railway operated in Springfield; it was a cross
town line using Center instead of Limestone on the south but making
the same Wittenberg* loop, and in time it was acquired by the American
Railways Company.
In the modern city street cars are the roads; without them it would
not be a city ; it would be a small town. As the city grows its transporta-
tion increases, and with increased distance comes increased rate of
speed; today Springfield would not be satisfied with the horse or mule
drawn car; the people want to reach the center in a hurry. With the
electric service reaching all sections, downtown Springfield will always
have the advantage over neighborhood business centers. The public
transfer corner at Limestone and High streets presents a busy scene
at the hours of heaviest traffic, and while there is no station, passengers
never wait long for a car in any direction. The system operates over
about forty miles of track, with about forty cars in the service.
Interurban Electric Service
The electric lines operating between Springfield and other cities are:
Ohio Electric Railway Company, connecting with Dayton, Lima and
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 237
Columbus ; the Springfield and Xenia line, and in the past the Springfield,
Troy and Piqua and the Springfield and South Charleston roads. New
Carlisle is connected by a spur with the Dayton line, although its citizens
must go a mile from town to obtain the service; the cars once ran into
New Carlisle, but when the trestle bridge across Honey Creek was
condemned in 1912, the cars stopped at the New Carlisle cemetery.
Some of these lines have been operated at a loss, and the companies
seek to discontinue the service. They are operated by receivers, and
deficit rather than surplus indicates the loss in operation, even the Spring-
field Railway Company filing such report with the city manager.
The Springfield, Troy and Piqua line has been inactive with $85,000
preferred .claims and receiver's bills against it, and the South Charleston
line operating one car threatens to discontinue the service. It is owned
by the heirs of G. W. Baker who bought it as a receiver's sale in 1906,
and when he died in 1914 it was operated by the widow; it has fifteen
miles of track, and while there are two cars only one has been in opera-
tion making five round trips with a two-hour service. The D. T. &
I. road runs one train between Springfield and South Charleston, and
with the traction service discontinued South Charleston and Pitchin are
practically isolated from Springfield. The traction line carries freight
from Springfield to both towns. While the property is listed on the
tax duplicate at $60,000, for several years it has been operated at a loss.
"It will be scrapped unless it can be sold, or some other means devised
of operating it." The Chamber of Commerce had become interested
in the situation, although no action had been taken.
There are about 125 electric cars arrive and leave Springfield every
twenty-four hours, and about twenty freights are operated over the
lines; with the steam and electric freight lines, and the trucks carrying
a great deal of traffic, Springfield has shipping facilities. With the
loss of interurban service, Springfield loses much valuable territory
that divides its patronage among other towns; taxes and street assess-
ments are paid by the railway companies, and the jitney bus is sharing
the patronage. While the busses offer cheap transportation, it is because
of competition; eventually their routes and fares will be regulated, and
they will be held to same accounting as the street railway. The bus
operators are asking for zones, and they will secure license and estab-
lish schedules. Even the elevator is a route of travel, and no one wants
to see Springfield return to the level of two-story business buildings;
it would be a waste of time, material, power and wealth, and many
elevators are operated in Springfield.
The Springfield Traffic Association has inaugurated a campaign for
better packing of articles for shipping, "perfect package month," result-
ing in awakening such an interest ; it is hoped to decrease losses by having
better wrapped packages, and all freight in less than car-load lots is
inspected; packages regarded as unsafe are turned back to the shippers
for better wrapping; the railroad and express companies take this
method of scalping claims for damages against them. For many years
Springfield has been a center for the manufacture of products entering
into the construction and maintenance of railways: special track work
consisting of crossings, frogs, switches, stands, signals, curves and intri-
cate layouts by which means the rolling stock of steam and electric rail-
ways and tramways is directed across intersecting tracks, deflected into
passing sidings and around curves or other desired routes, without the
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238 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
aid, action or effort of the operator in charge of the motive power, in
which the rolling stock of steam operated lines differs from all other
propelled vehicles of transportation.
Locomotives and cars moving at the highest rate of speed are held
to the track by wheel flanges averaging only one inch in deptn, and
special construction made up from rails either automatically or other-
wise guide and direct the wheels by these same flanges in deflected
movements, and with as much security as when moving along the straignt
track; the designing and manufacture of special track work embodies
die highest type of civil and mechanical engineering, and the use 01
special heavy and powerful machinery. The Indianapolis Switch and
Frog Company specializes in designs of track specials and tools reducing
the maintenance cost, which is one of the principal items of railway
operations. Without these devices many railroads would have Deen
unable to withstand the period of depression following the World war,
and Springfield is the logical location for this industry.
While the settlers had the long, wearisome journeys to Cincinnati
and to the eastern markets they were highly favored as a community
by being along the National Road, and having many advantages. Trans-
portation contributes much to civilization, and with hard surtace roads,
railroads and interurban lines and with elevators in the high buildings
and with no obstructions in the air, Clark County seems to nave about
all that is vouchsafed to the children of men in any community. While
there are no water ways, and the underground railway service has
long been a matter of history. When discussing speed, some one said :
,fWe do not travel today — we merely arrive," but "Safety first," "Stop,
look, and listen," and almost before the passerby is aware he is in — well,
*• Springfield is only over night from any place at all."
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CHAPTER XXVIII
SPRINGFIELD: ITS VARIED INDUSTRIES
Half a century ago, Dr. John Ludlow, who was a Springfield business
man through its formative and reconstruction after-the-Civil-war period,
uttered these words: "While generations follow generations like the
waves of the sea follow each other the great business of life still goes
on, and the age in which we are now living is truly a progressive one;
it seems that the Lord is leading us as His chosen people. Refinement
and civilization are rapidly advancing, and the comforts of life are
multiplying; it now seems that the genius of the American people has
reached its consummation."
It was in 1871 that the above sentiment was expressed, and what
would be the feeling of the writer were he living today; since oil has
been poured into toil and ease has been supplied in disease, and every
appliance is now utilized to make the machinery run smoothly, who is
to dip his pen into colors lurid enough to write about it ? In reminiscent
vein the pioneer Springfield man wrote: "We see the toilsome sickle
and the scythe laid aside, and the harvest being gathered like pastime;
the toil and fatigue we used to endure have been turned into the business
of recreation and pleasure. We fly in gilded palaces in every direction
over our broad land with the swiftness of light; we are reclining and
sleeping on cushioned seats and spring beds; steam propels our ships
on the ocean; it has brought the distant nations of the earth to cnir
doors.
"The heathen are learning to imitate the progress of our civilization ;
we have added the use of the wonderful telegraph, and time and space
have been annihilated ; we talk with people beyond the seas with tongues
of lightning, and with the same ease as we speak face to face," and
what would Doctor Ludlow have said about the disarmament conference
now in session in Washington, and many other questions that concern
the world today? Fifty years ago he said: "It now seems that the
genius of the American people has reached its consummation." Twenty
years from the time of which he wrote, Springfield was manufacturing
products that revolutioned the farming industry.
S. S. Miller, another reminiscent writer, says : "About September 10,
the farmer threw the grain sack across his shoulder and went forth to
sow; with sturdy steps he strode across the field, scattering the grain
with his strong right hand and arm, so aptly portrayed by the great
painters and immortalized by the Parable of the Sower," but the drills
have long since obliterated that picture ; it only hangs on memory's walls,
and many citizens do not remember it at all. Mr. Miller says: "Of
the old time flouring mills that of Rock Point located on Mad River
half a mile east of Durbin Station was noted for not having any dis-
tillery attachment; it was built by Peter Sintz, Sr., and was operated
by George Grisso who had the reputation for honesty in taking toll, and
made excellent flour. It was a wonder to see the wooden cog wheels
spinning round, and it was a dizzy sight looking out from the attic
window to the race, and see the water rushing into the wheel pit at
the bottom," and mention has already been made of the relation of
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240 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Mill Run through its water power to the early industries of Springfield.
Some men today talk about the overcast water wheels, when water
turned the wheels of industry.
In the formative days of Springfield history, fortunes were seldom
measured by six figures, but business men were looking into the future.
Like the sturdy pioneers on the Clark County farms, there were frugal,
calculating business men in Springfield. An old account says: "One
of the peculiarities of the earlier times was the varied development and
marked individuality notable among men; every little community had
its distinguished citizens ; some higher and some lower in interest ; some
came from poverty and obscurity and worked themselves up to positions
Dr. John Ludlow
of competence, wealth and distinction; they overcame stubborn opposi-
tion," and men on the street mention the names: Warder, Bushnell,
Fassler, Whitely, Kelly, Snyder, Foos, Ludlow, Bretney, Bowman,
Shellabarger, Humphreys, Mitchell, Thomas, Johnson, Mast, Crowell,
Kay, Pringle, Houston, Forgy, Williams, Busbey, Hamma, Miller, Fair-
banks, Gotwald, Bancroft, Anthony, Mason, and they had just begun
mentioning those identified with the development of Springfield.
Newspaper Clipping
"Many persons hereabouts can remember when nearly everybody
was talking about patents — patents on reapers, patents on water wheels,
patents on grain drills, and a thousand other things; now we seldom
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242 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
hear about these inventions on the patent side. In the older days attor-
neys made fortunes on patent litigation — now we seldom hear of a patent
being instituted; it is alleged that the U. S. patent office is the most
backward and antiquated of all the government departments, the salaries
paid to experts being so small that they cannot be retained in the service.
"Manufacturers now depend upon improved facilities, labor saving
devices, perfection of organizations, and advertising for progress and
protection in their business; some inventors of processes even refuse
to patent their ideas, preferring to keep the principles and the processes
secret, and to rely on that secrecy for success * * * Inventive
genius is fickle and uncertain ; success is often sudden and unexpected —
sometimes it never is realized ; the inventive faculty and business ability
seldom exist in the same person," and mention is made of the fact that
Thomas A. Edison swamped $5,000,000 before he attained success;
that others had failed on automobiles before Henry Ford succeeded;
that Mark Twain expended $200,000 and went bankrupt trying to invent
a type-setting machine, and that Cash Register Patterson encountered
many difficulties before Dayton and cash register became synonymous
terms in the business world.
Springfield's First Inventor
James Leffel, inventor of the water turbine, operated a sawmill out-
side of Springfield, the power being furnished by the overflow of water
from the Snyder race along Mad River; while the turbine demonstrated
its superiority over the under and over shot water wheels, Mr. Leffel
was not spared to reap the financial returns accruing from his invention ;
it seems that William Foos backed the enterprise, financially, and that
John Bookwalter succeeded to the Leffel business opportunities. Mr.
Leffel displayed genius in other lines, specializing on fine breeds of
poultry, and winning premiums at the county fair.
Mentioned as local inventors are: James Leffel, William N. Whitely,
John J. Hoppes, Willam Blackeney, Doctor Kindelberger, Clark Sintz,
A. W. Grant and Fuller Trump, and because of the activities of William
Needham Whitely, and a desire to portray his relation to the community
accurately, the following resume is utilized: "About the time Spring-
field was in process of transition from the formless hamlet to the
organized town with its more complex functions, there appeared its
first recognized inventor, and the founder of its metal industries, James
Leffel, whose invention of the 'Leffel Double Turbine Wheel' marked
an important step in the development of water power, and whose foundry
and factory were really the beginning of Springfield's industrial impor-
tance. In the '40s several shops sprang up, among them the Railway
Car Shop of Hatch and Whitely, and the Plow Factory of William
Whitely, brother of Abner Whitely who was one of the partners in the
firm of Hatch and Whitely.
William Needham Whitely
"William Needham Whitely, nephew of William and Abner Whitely,
and son of Andrew Whitely, was born on a farm in 1835. three miles
east of Springfield. He had natural proclivities toward the use of metal
tools, and the contrivance of mechanical devices. He easily gravitated to
the then incipient factory town of Springfield. In 1853 he was well on
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
243
his way toward becoming a highly trained mechanician, as well as pro-
ficient pattern-maker and draftsman. Skill in these handicrafts, com-
bined with the powers of an imaginative and active brain, under the
inspiration of the career of James Leffel, whose achievements had made
such a powerful impression on the youth's mind at a time when impres-
sions were of most effect, led to the invention in 1856, of his Combined
Self-Raking Reaper and Mower, a machine adapted to either grain or
grass harvesting, and which was given the name Champion.
"In the same year, Mr. Whitely prevailed upon Jerome Fassler, a
Swiss of sound mechanical ability and having the painstaking love of
detail and accuracy native to the Swiss character, to join him in the
manufacture of his newly invented reaper. In the next year there came
into the firm two strong and able men, Oliver S. Kelly and Amos
Whitely, and thus was established the Springfield Agricultural Works,
or Whitely, Fassler and Kelly, as the name appeared and later became
famous in the business world. The Civil war greatly promoted the use
of farm machinery, . and the Champion firm grew and prospered, and
Elwood Meyers Factory
Springfield became known to the nation as 'The Champion City/ In
1867 the territory was divided among Whitely, Fassler and Kelly, the
Champion Machine Company organized by Amos Whitely, Robert John-
son and Daniel P. Jeffries, and Warder, Mitchell and Company, com-
posed of Benjamin H. Warder, Ross Mitchell and Asa S. Bushnell.
"Springfield, in the early 70s, had now been definitely committed to
the metal industries with agricultural implements forming by far the
larger part of her output. Refinements and developments of the Com-
bined Reaper and Mower to keep the three Champion Reaper factories
busy, occupied a large part of Whitely's time and energy. The idea of
tapping the coal and iron fields of southern Ohio by means of the Spring-
field, Jackson and Pomeroy Railway, which project had been attempted
with but little success in the middle 70s, thus bringing coal and iron
directly to Springfield by a short haul, now made such a strong appeal
to Whitely that he immediately threw himself into the construction and
completion of this railway with characteristic energy and determination.
The road was opened in the later 70s, and for a time seemed ^to justify
its cost.
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244 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
"In the middle 70s Whitely established a branch factory in Toronto,
Canada, being one of the earliest American manufacturers to extend his
operations outside the national boundaries. The Canadian branch was
known as the Toronto Reaper and Mower Company, and it was a suc-
cessful enterprise until sold, in 1879, to the firm of Massy, Harris and
Company. In fact, the acquisition of the Toronto Reaper Company was
a decisive factor in causing the Massy, Harris Company to locate in
Toronto, and thus it influenced favorably the growth of Toronto, and
gave impetus to the expansion of the Massy Company which is today the
leading Canadian-British implement company.
1884 — The Twine Binder
"In the early '80s improved and modernized factories and mass pro-
duction became increasingly important, and about 1884 the type of self-
binder known as the 'Twine Binder' was well settled and adapted to
production on a 'one design' basis. It now became vitally important to
meet the tremendous manufacturing competition centered around Chi-
cago, the West now having rail transportation was open, and vast wheat
production beginning, raw materials flowed freely into Chicago factories,
and their finished product was closer to the wheat growing states.
"Whitely's business associates could not agree to embark in the plan
of expansion which he had in mind, to equalize the advantages Chicago
possessed and to meet the changing conditions in the trade; so in the
first years of the '80s, he undertook single-handed, not only the design
of machines for the three Champion factories, but also the building,
equipping and organizing his vast new plant known as the East Street
shops. In 1886 Mr. Fassler and Mr. Kelly retired from the business.
The East Street plant was famous not only for it size and equipment,
but for its inclusion of malleable iron foundries and steel works in the
factory group as well, thus forming the most complete production cycle
from raw material to finished product, of any factory of the time.
"A period of transition from wood to steel reaper construction fol-
lowed the establishment of so modern a plant, which could thus produce
steel machines as easily as competitors could wood-type reapers. Whitely
was far in advance of his day in pre-visioning the coming of all steel
machinery. The period of change from wood to steel was the time also
to make many innovations in the general makeup of the mower and
binder. In 1886 he hftd just completed two machines of markedly
advanced design which were to be known as the Whitely Ail-Steel Binder
and Mower, when the Knights of Labor organization threatened the
unionization of his works. Cooperative defense on the part of manu-
facturers was an unknown thing at that t'me, and the threat was met
with single-handed defiance.
Cincinnati Bank Failure
"In Cincinnati at this time there was a banker by the name of E. L.
Harper who was the son-in-law of Swift of the Newport (Kentucky)
Roller Mills. Whitely had been for many years a patron of the Swifts
and of Harper, and in common with many business men in southern
Ohio, he had great confidence in Harper's ability. About two years
previously, Harper had founded the Fidelity National Bank of Cincin-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 245
nati. Secretly he was working to engineer a corner in the Chicago
wheat pit, and was without their knowledge furtively diverting the
resources of the bank and its patrons to the furtherance of his schemes.
He was within striking distance of his goal when suddenly the market
broke, and he was unable to cover his losses.
"Whitely was thus confronted with such varied and apparently insu-
perable difficulties that he was forced to ask for a receiver, and he was
himself appointed. In the campaign of 1884, he had made great efforts
to help elect Blaine, realizing that the time had come when the fate of
American industries was out of the hands of their creators, and in the
keeping of politicians or statesmen. In the campaign of 1888, the strug-
gle over the tariff was renewed, but without decisive results, although
the republicans won. Reaper prices were still going down, and were to
reach their lowest ebb within three or four years. Tlie affairs of the
Whitely Reaper Company (the Champion interests having been disposed
of in 1887 to the Warder, Bushnell and Glessner Company) were wound
up in 1891, and the great East Street plant was sold to Charles W. Fair-
banks of Indianapolis, who, in 1894, converted it into a leased-space
plant housing various industries. In 1901 the major portion burned down
and was never rebuilt.
"Whitely's subsequent activities led him into the natural gas fields of
Indiana — a lure that attracted many eastern manufacturers in the early
*90s, and in 1892 he built a factory in Muncie, Indiana. These shops
burned in 1894, and in 1897 Whitely returned to Springfield. He was
instrumental in bringing about a revival of operations in what was
known as the 'New Champion* group of factories, which is now divided
among the American Seeding Machine Company, the Foos Gas Engine
Company and the Champion Chemical Company.
"In 1904 Whitely built a plant in the west end of Springfield which
was instituted as a Cooperative Reaper Factory, financed largely by
farmer assistance. William N. Whitely was a man of large affairs,
dominant and decisive, resourceful and able, at all time generous, kindly
and sympathetic, largely living a Spartan existence, frugal and simple
in his tastes. He was not in the least given to self-indulgence or personal
extravagance. In body and mind massive and impulsive, he was always a
tremendous worker. He was almost without a peer in industry, and
indefatigable application to the activities that absorbed him to the ulti-
mate benefit of the community and country he loved with a pure and
fervent patriotism.
"Mr. Whitely had those imaginative qualities of mind, that power of
personality and magnetic fascination which combined with gentleness
and modesty in personal intercourse, always makes a strong appeal to
American hearts ; vigorous and virile, facing forward ready for the next
best thing. Indomitable, tenacious and unembittered, in 1911 he passed
out not having reliquished that fortitude of character that is the guerdon
of the invincible."
In the home of the son, W. N. Whitely, Jr., are many scrap books
filled with clippings from newspapers, and in the hearts of Springfield
friends are many kindly reminiscences; stories are told reflecting the
character of this unique citizen. They say a man born on the Charleston
Road put Springfield on the map of the world. Like other having initia-
tive, Mr. Whitely was not influenced by friends; he did not allow an
idea time enough to develop and accumulate until some improvement was
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 247
added, and the cost of production was ahead of the revenue from the
invention itself. He was working 2,000 men when labor troubles arose,
and people still discuss a $4,000,000 business failure in 1887, and its
lasting effect on the community. Gen. J. Warren Keifer assumed to
straighten out the entanglements, and later George H. Frey was in con-
trol when the holdings were disposed of to C. W. Fairbanks.
The original Whitely, Fassler and Kelly manufacturing plant was on
the site of the Arcade, and the dissolution there saved valuable property
to the partners withdrawing from the enterprise. ' It is said that when
the panic of 1893 swept the country, Springfield had not yet recovered
from a panic of its own, but with its varied industries it has many
wheels turning, and when prosperity abounds local industries share in it,
"Springfield is without natural boundaries and, therefore, has numerous
manufacturing sites with proper sidings that can be procured at a rea-
sonable cost. Our railroads enter the city from all directions, which
makes it possible to secure satisfactory locations in all sections." What
if it is a "low gear" community? The conservative business men do not
wish to breast another local panic. While Mr. Whitely had an ambition
— wanted the biggest shop in the world, he did not wait the time and
season, and in the face of local labor difficulties he imported men from
Baltimore. It was winter when he built the East Street shops, and
salamanders were used to prevent the walls from freezing. He did not
figure the expense, and they say of him that he lived in the future.
Many who are active in Springfield industry today only know of
W. N. Whitely as a story that is told, although he was the most aggres-
sive manufacturer ever in the community. He made the profitable wheat
crop a possibility, and revolutionized conditions in agriculture. Many
who knew and understood the man are gone the way of the world, and
those in active life today do not fully appreciate the mentality of one
who continually grappled with problems that may bring their monetary
reward in future. Mr. Whitely's tomorrow may be in the dim distance,
but ideas originated by him are still earning money for others. When
the town planned to erect a monument to the man, his son said the sound
of machinery would suit his memory better, and while some of those
associated with him live there will be discussion of the activities of Wil-
liam Needham Whitely.
While it is said of Mr. Whitely that he "made and broke Springfield,"
the price of wheat following the Civil war awakened within him a desire
to help farmers to help themselves, and thus Springfield became an
agricultural manufacturing center; until the manufacture of farm imple-
ments gave the town an impetus, the rural population balanced the city.
While agriculture has not receded, manufacturing made great strides in
advancement, and Springfield has been dominant, the fact recurring that
it was in existence before the organization of Clark County.
While Springfield is the city of roses, it is the Kelly Springfield tires
that advertise the community today. When A. W. Grant invented the
solid rubber tire for vehicles, he had little thought of rubber being util-
ized in the famous Kelly Springfield tire, and of the fortune wrapped up
in it. While Springfield has its reverses, it has its seasons of prosperity.
It is said : "They leave Springfield to hunt jobs, and they come to Spring-
field to hunt jobs." While the last census report shows a population of
60,840, if none left the town it would be 100,000, but it is "give and
take," and a shifting population affects all other towns. Springfield did
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 249
not engage in the manufacture of the munitions of war, and the labor
attracted to other cities has not yet returned to Springfield. The "plow-
share industry did not lend itself to the manufacture of swords^ and
pruning hooks are not readily converted into spears— the Bible
prophesy against the war time industry. Springfield's appeal is to agri-
culture—not to warfare, and there have been no war time profiteers
among its manufacturers.
While Mad River furnished water power to innumerable distilleries
and flouring mills, and Mill Run accommodated the "power" needs of
Spnngfield settlers, the chronology of local manufacturing really begins
with the foundry built by the James Leffel Company, and put into opera-
tion January 1, 1840. In 1845, they had the second foundry, and since
then manufacturing has been the keynote in Springfield history. The
Barnetts had a flouring mill on Buck Creek where they had utilized the
water to more purpose, and in 1846 they supplied power to Leffel and
Richards who. built a cotton mill in Springfield. When they extended
their power service to others, it was dominated a "fast age," and steam
and electricity were still in the future. While many men had seen steam
lift the tea kettle lid, they did not stop to think of the power thus gen-
erated; did not utilize the idea, and while industry started on a small
scale, there has been constant development in Springfield. Forty per
cent of the world's output of manufactured goods is produced in the
United States, and a little observation shows that Springfield has its
quota.
In his 1921 annual report, Fire Chief Samuel F. Hunter says:
"Under the heading of recommendations is the first and foremost
thought— the fast and constant growth of our city, such as the indus-
trial plants that are expanding with larger buildings, and the finished
and unfinished products therein that must be protected," and this sum-
mary includes the Bretney tannery which has been owned and operated
through three generations: Henry, Charles, and now it is Harry V.
Bretney, which is spoken of as the oldest industry in Springfield, oper-
ated without change of .name or location. In 1850, the form of govern-
ment was changed and Springfield obtained a city charter. It is said
that 1851 was an era of prosperity — the citizens of that time were
boosters, pointing out the advantages in point of location and health
conditions, and in 1921 men were saying it had more points in its favor;
a better group of business and professional men, and there is no hindrance
to its development.
As late as 1856 milling was still the principal industry, there being
seventeen flouring mills in and around Springfield, and distilling was
still a profitable industry, but there came a revolution in industrial condi-
tions. When local inventive genius busied itself, manufacturers turned
their attention to improvements for planting, cultivating and harvesting
with the result that the fame of Springfield as a manufacturing center
spread to world markets, and some of the strongest firms in the country
were organized in Springfield. Benjamin H. Warder was a man with
vision who surrounded himself with other men of ability, creating for
them the necessary opportunities ; it was Warder and Mitchell, and later
Warder, Bushnell and Glessner, and all accumulated fortunes. Mr.
Warder was a financial wizard, and all associated with him accumulated
property.
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Mr. Warder found Ross Mitchell as bookkeeper in a distillery on Mad
River, and offered him a responsible position, advising him to take out
life insurance and borrow money on the policy, thereby securing property.
The Greenawalt and Schuey factory buildings resulted from the Mitchell
investments, and when Asa S. Bushnell became interested in the firm
Warder, Bushnell and Glessner, he developed the same business ability.
No man associated with the upbuilding of Springfield touched more lives
in helpful way than Benjamin H. Warder. It was the Springfield of the
past upon which the Springfield of today is built, and some who have
been prominent are still leaders in the community ; it is customary to wait
until a man is dead before hanging garlands about his memory; some
are active today whose names have not been long in the directory.
The 1920 census report based on 1919 figures, gives Springfield 206
manufacturing plants with 15,459 persons employed as compared with
1914, when war was started by the German nation, when there were 253
industries, although only 9,946 persons were employed in local factories.
In 1919 local factories paid out $17,679,000 in wages and salaries, and
put $67,759,000 worth of goods on the market. Since then the output
has been reduced; war conditions disorganized both manufacturing and
* agriculture, and now that people are studying the cost of production a
conservative period is in prospect ; a slump in agriculture means a general
depression since Springfield industries produce implements of agriculture.
Economic students say : "Readjustments and reconstruction are not com-
plete ; difficulties embarrass and industrial disturbances threaten ; there is
urgent need for work, economy and saving," but in his Thanksgiving
proclamation, Governor Harry L. Davis says : "We are passing through
a period while coupled with hardships, bids fair to mark the beginning
of an era of lasting prosperity."
A directory of those engaged in manufacturing is as impractical as a
list of those engaged in mercantile pursuits, but many articles are manu-
factured in Springfield; the building trade is more active, showing an
increase of 30 per cent over 1920, and while some factories are increas-
ing their output, the old law of supply and demand seems to function.
While a degree of optimism prevails, most local manufacturers agree that
increased activity will be slow for a few years. Women have entered the
field of industry ; the publishing industry offers them special opportunity.
When the typewriter entered the business world, the woman accompanied
it ; stenography and typewriting are relegated to her in many offices, and
some women are successful as managers, and hard work seems to sum up
the situation whether with men or women.
The Springfield Manufacturers' Association holds frequent meetings;
they discuss subjects of mutual interest, and they understand ethical
requirements; it is unethical to interfere with the organization of other
manufacturers. While workmen may leave of their own accord, it is
unethical for one manufacturer to offer special inducements to secure an
employe of another factory. When a man is efficient he is given advan-
tages, and floaters are not sought at all. The Manufacturers' Associa-
tion of Springfield does not hold open meetings, and in its effort to
stabilize labor it has been interpreted wrong sometimes; each man sees
the business from a different angle, and the meetings are for mutual
benefit just as the Springfield Purchasing Agents or any similar organ-
ization meets in council. The Manufacturers' Association has its legal
advisor who sits in the meetings. The consensus of opinion is : "Spring-
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252 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
field is in the front rank of cities ; business and industry are on a sound
basis, and are gaining every month."
Most Springfield industries have been operated by local capital — "born
and raised" in Springfield — showing that the greatest development has
been from within, which is of permanent nature. "With this agricultural
implement interest as a basis, there have developed here many other
important industries," and the labor question partially solves itself when
similar industries assemble in a community. When a man leaves one
factory, there are others that afford similar employment. The same thing
holds true in the printing industry ; by assembling many publications, the
Crowell Publishing Company is able to hold skilled labor in Springfield.
One local enthusiast says: "I believe Springfield is more universally
known than any other American town." There has always been coopera-
tion; every traveling salesman sent out by one factory has been told to
put in a word of recommendation for the goods made by other factories ;
every dealer who came to town was taken round to the other shops.
Springfield is the best 60,000 city in the United States.
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CHAPTER XXIX
THE OPEN DOOR— THE TAVERN, THE HOTEL
An old account says: "Speaking of taverns on the old National
Road west of Zanesville, but one tavern was opened in the first decade
ot this century. Griffith Foos' tavern at Springfield, which was doing
business in 1801, prospered until 1814," and the fact develops that when
Mr. Foos happened along in March that year, he found a guest in the
James Demint cabin. Mr. Demint was a host rather than a landlord, his
guest being Col. John Daugherty of Kentucky. He was a Kentuckian
and Mr. Foos was a Kentuckian. The three Kentuckians were sheltered
there till June when Mr. Foos had a cabin ready to open as a hostelry,
going back to Franklinton along the Scioto for his family. He was the
first landlord in Springfield.
In 1803, Archibald Lowry opened a two-story, hewed log hostelry in
Springfield, dividing the patronage with Mr. Foos. While James Demint
did not entertain as a means of subsistence, his was an open door in the
community and it is said of the tavern keepers of that period, that they
were not in business for profit so much as they were community builders.
They maintained an open door for prospective settlers, and when the days
of the stage coach along th6 National Road were numbered, the landlord
of the past thought he saw an end to the public hostelry. He did not
realize that the railroad traffic would greatly increase his opportunities.
Every home was an open door in pioneer days, and S. S. Miller tells of
a dinner guest who said : "Tank ee, ma'am, my dinner," to his mother
when he was leaving, and the children repeated the courtesy among them-
selves many times.
The life along the National Road was very different from that in
other counties, there being a continuous stream of people migrating along
it; some of the old taverns are intact, as Buena Vista east from Spring-
field. In Springfield and in some of the other towns are some of those
old wayside places, and only a few years ago others were razed in mak-
ing way for modern improvements. These taverns were scattered along
the way only a few miles apart, and many travelers stopped within the
wagon yards who slept in their own shelter, sometimes in the open air
along with their weary horses. In winter time the men slept on the
floors of the wagon houses; in summer they carried their own cooking
utensils, and in the suburbs of the towns along the road, they would pull
their teams out into the roadside and pitch camp, sending into the villages
to replenish their stores.
Almost every mile of the road's length those wagon houses offered
hospitality, and there is mention of a number within the borders of Clark
County. Hundreds of people were engaged in freight traffic along the
National Road, and in these houses were fireplaces before which they
could lay their blankets on winter nights ; there was less of privacy than
is demanded by travelers today. Travelers liked the taverns at the out-
skirts of the larger towns because the rates were lower, and the surround-
ings were more congenial, especially to the covered wagon type of movers
seeking the frontier. These houses were unpretentious frame buildings
with watering troughs and barns for the horses ; a hundred tired horses
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
have been heard munching their corn in a single wagon house yard at the
end of a long dayt A century later the horse is almost unknown along
the National Road
The bar and the fireplace were fixtures, and one account says many
of the fireplaces were seven feet in length and nearly as high, with capac-
ity for a wagon load of wood; with a great fireplace at the end of the
room lighting up its darkest corners as no candle could, the taverns along
the National Road where the stages stopped for the night saw merrier
scenes than any of their modern counterparts witness; and over all their
merry gatherings the flames of the great fires threw a softened light, in
which those who remember them best seem to bask as they tell about it,
and farther east there was much gayety among the city folk who went
for a social evening to those wayside taverns,
The Type of Landlord
The old Revolutionary soldiers who so frequently became landlords
in New England, did not keep tavern in the West ; only one Revolu-
Buena Vista Tavern. Still a Landmark
tionary veteran was landlord along the National Road. It bred and
brought up its own landlords who were fit to rule in the early taverns,
securing from forest and stream much of the food served to those pio-
neer travelers over the rough highway : it was many years before the
road bed was what it is today. It was this type of landlord that objected
to improving the National Road, fearing that an accelerated means of
locomotion would cheat them out of their business, and in time the land-
lords along the improved roadway had the same general apathy relative to
railway transportation — it would deprive them of their means of liveli-
hood. Taverns were always meeting places for the public, and this was
particularly true in the West ; the public house was the only place avail-
able that would accommodate a meeting.
While the Eastern landlord was frequently busy with official duties,
the Western landlord engaged in collateral professions which rendered
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 255
him valuable in the community; the jovial host at the National Road
tavern often worked the farm on which his tavern stood; some of the
landlords farther East owned slaves which carried on the work at both
the tavern and the farm; the Western tavern keeper often operated a
country store in which he had a bar, selling "strong waters to relieve
the inhabitants." Whisky — two drinks for a "fippenny bit," was the
"strong water." In this way the National Road bred its own landlords,
young men whose lives began simultaneously with that of the road
worked upon it in their teens; in middle life they became teamsters and
contractors, and they spent the autumn of their lives as landlords of
its taverns, which they purchased with the money earned in working
upon it; several well known landlords were prominent contractors, own-
ing their share of the great six and eight-horse teams which hauled
freight to the Western rivers. S. S. Miller tells of a meeting in the
town hall of New Carlisle in 1848, when a man who owned a farm
east of Forgy was seeking an appropriation to complete the road, but
by that time the railroad was changing conditions in Clark County; the
grading stopped at the west line of Springfield Township, and recent
complaints have been made about that stretch in the National highway.
When Clark County local government was established, January 1,
1818, there were three hotels in Springfield: Ludlow, Ross and Norton,
and like all other tavern keepers they catered to movers ; they had big
sheds and barns and were prepared to care for wagons and teams,
many families enroute spending the night in wagons as a matter of
economy. As tavern keepers along the National Road outside of Spring-
field are mentioned the following: Gabriel Cox, John Rudy, Emanuel
Mayne and Isaac Chamberlin. In 1835 the Buckeye House was opened
in Springfield with a man named Hadley as landlord; it was built by
Pierson Spinning, who was one of the guarantors of the National Road,
as an investment, and in 1837, after losing his fortune, Mr. 'Spinning
operated the tavern himself.
The Pennsylvania House
Among the best known taverns along the National Road was the
Pennsylvania House which stood about one mile west from the center
of Springfield; it was among the early hostelries. The westward emi-
gration from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia drifted
to the Pennsylvania House; all who traveled by turnpike heard of
it, and in time stopped in it. The name of the wayside inn was well
chosen; when Pennsylvania emigrants saw the friendly sign it was
irresistible to them. It warmed their hearts, and one of them exclaimed :
"The word Pennsylvania is music to our ears; it is a fresh reminder of
'Home, Sweet Home/ " and it was for the entertainment of man and
beast. It was surrounded by large trees with only enough cut away
to allow the immense architectural structure to rear itself; there was
ample yard for the accommodation of wagons and teams. The sign,
"Pennsylvania House," was hung on an oak with the top cut off. and
when the tree decayed the sign was placed on the house.
There was a long porch in front of the Pennsylvania House, and
David Snively was the landlord ; near it was the Traveler' Rest, kept by
Samuel Shurhan, and Sugar Grove, kept by Daniel Leffel. There were
hazel thickets interspersing spots of cleared land, and there was a field
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256 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
used for muster and it had a race track in it. While there were taverns
on either side of Springfield, William Werden who operated the National
in the down town district was said to be the most popular landlord in
Ohio. When emigrants were passing along the National Road the Penn-
sylvania House with its barnyard filled with white canvas-covered wagons,
laden with all kinds of household goods : washboilers, copper kettles and
feed troughs on behind, always attracted them.
The wagon trains and the sign, "Pike's Peak or Bust," would in-
terest and amuse the young people of today; the human part of the
caravansary consisted of grandfathers and grandmothers ; men and women
of middle age, and children of all ages — babes at the breast, and not-
withstanding the chilly nights they slept in the wagons; they were used
to it. In every company were some who sat by the warm fires in the
taverns, and told stories of the old homes, and of their hopes and fears
for the future. When an emigrant said he had left a good neighborhood
farther east, but his growing family needed more elbow room, the land-
lord assured him he would find good people where he was going; when
he told of leaving a community because of the neighbors, the landlord
said he would find just as bad people in the new country. "He who is
a good neighbor has a good neighbor," and thus it was an ever-shifting
panorama unfolded before the eyes of the tavern keeper of the long ago.
In one company of emigrants seeking shelter at the Pennsylvania
House was John Morgan of Franklin County, Pennsylvania; he was
100 years old, and his wife was ninety-five ; their friends carried rocking
chairs along and made them comfortable in the wagon. They liked it
better than the uncertain tavern accommodations; they went to Center-
ville, Indiana, where both died four years later. Because of their age,
Landlord Snively offered them rooms at the Pennsylvania House. The
well loaded six-horse schooner shaped wagons with jingling bells on the
harness were frequently sheltered in this wagon yard. When Daniel
Leflfel had the Sugar Grove hostelry in the vicinity of the Masonic Home
at the west edge of Springfield, it is said that he sold whisky and made
the traveling public welcome.
While Sugar Grove had its place in National Road history, along
in the time of whig party activities, Mr. Leflfel changed the name of his
hostelry. When whig political meetings were common a delegation wagon
was fitted up in a neighboring county, an eccentric, whig not versed in the
rules of orthography inscribing a banner OH Korrekt, and it attracted
so much attention that Mr. Leflfel recognized his opportunity. While
"OH Korrekt" was on every tongue, he utilized the initials O. K. on a
sign, changing the name of his hostelry. The traveling public soon knew
the story, and since then O. K. is unlimited, business receiving an official
O. K. without relation to Springfield history. Gen. J. Warren Keifer
who related the story said that when the O. K. sign would grow dim,
Landlord Leflfel would touch it up with fresh paint, the hostelry remain-
ing open until after the railroads came to Springfield. It*was torn down
some years ago.
Springfield Hotels
While thirteen hostelries in Springfield today receive transient guests,
the official hotel Red Book only lists five : Arcade, Bancroft, Bookwalter,
Heaume and Shawneee as first class, and only the Bancroft, "Heaume and
Shawnee are absolutely fireproof — a consideration in first class hotels. Only
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 257
the Arcade bears the name by which it has always been known in the
community. Hotel Imperial occupied the site of the Shawnee, and
before it was the Willis House. The St. James Hotel followed the Im-
perial, and it was razed to give space to the Shawnee. In the name of
this hostelry the Indians once so numerous along Mad River are com-
memorated. The Lagonda House occupied by the Champion Hotel Com-
pany is now the Bookwalter. The Palace Hotel is now the Esplanade. The
Buckeye is in the vicinity of the old Pennsylvania House, and still car-
ries that designation by some of the older people of Springfield.
While the landlord and landlady may yet enter into the social life of
Springfield, personality does not seem to count for so much in this
economic age — service the single requirement. Sometimes the landlord's
wife is housekeeper, and looks after the comfort of guests ; sometimes she
superintends the kitchen and dining room service. The woman who has
trouble with a single servant in a private home, would find little pleasure
in managing the hotel retinue; as to the guests, and making them feel
at home — make them comfortable, and leave them alone. The way a
guest may find out who is "boss" is to "start something," and he soon
learns all about it; the landlord and hotel clerks have sufficient oppor-
tunity to study human nature.
While there is cafeteria competition, the Bancroft and Shawnee hotels
maintain dining rooms, while the European plan obtains in other Spring-
field hostelries. In many communities table dTiote days are relegated
to the past, the self-service tea rooms and cafeterias having supplanted the
time honored dining rooms; the waiter and the accompanying tip are
thus eliminated, and a homelike atmosphere pervades everything. One
need not be accompanied by an escort, and one may talk with others
without the formality of an introduction. One may choose his own menu,
and no one is to blame but himself. In communities smaller than Spring-
field, where cafeterias are impractical, one may have table d'hote serv-
ice and leave as much change for the waiters as his better nature dic-
tates— or he may demand food instead of so much service. There are
men and women who remember the tavern *bell, whether or not the
landlord may operate his dining room at a profit.
The old hotels had barrooms, and they still talk about the "pitcher
and bowl belt," while Springfield's modern hostelries have all sanitary
advantages. The war time cost of living struck the hotels, and one who
desires shelter had just as well not argue the question. The average
landlord knows the traveling public better than he knows the immediate
community; it is to his advantage to be able to speak the names of
guests who come again. When they are among strangers all of the
time they like to feel that they have met a friend. Springfield is really
a Sunday town with commercial travelers; in 1892, the city entertained
the Ohio 'State Democratic Convention and it had ample hotel capacity ;
since then it has been rated as a convention city. It has entertained many
state meetings without over-taxing its capacity. The hotel is for the
man away from home, and hotel guests of today, would hardly compre-
hend the situation when the National Road brought all of the travelers
to Springfield.
Some one writing of that period, says: "The wagoners ate at the
table with other guests — travelers, ladies, gentlemen, whatnot, for they
were just as good as anybody else, but it was unusual for them to
occupy either bed or room in the tavern ; they carried their own beds in
the form of mattresses, containing all the clothes necessary for warmth
Vol. 1—17
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258 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
and, being rolled together and strapped, the roll was placed in
front of the wagon, the cover being tightly drawn over it. These
rolls of bedding were brought into the tavern in the early eve-
ning, but stacked in the corner of the barroom until bedtime, when
they were unrolled and straightened out on the floor, the places being
chosen by pre-emption, "first come first served," and from supper till
bedtime, these barrooms were the scenes of frolics.
At least the manifestations are different if the pleasures are unchanged,
and today hotel managers are again considering the question of how
to reach more of the travelers over the National Road; while railway
transportation took them off of it for a good many years, the automobile
has brought them back to it. While a hotel's best advertisement is the
service rendered its guests, Springfield hotels resort to signs along the
highways ; so many pass through en route across the country, and the
name along the highway is their first knowledge of the open door await-
ing them. How to reach the automobile travel is a matter of concern
to landlords everywhere, and automobile tourist camps are being estab-
lished in many parts of the country. There is one on either side of
Springfield, and while the average stay in camp is one night, sometimes
people linger a few days enjoying the trips into Springfield.
Dr. and Mrs. H. F. Beer opened the camp east from Springfield, and
it is provided with water and lighted with electricity; it is a convenient
camp for cross-country travelers. There is a store on the site where
travelers obtain supplies, and the profits take care of the expense ; campers
do not pay for the privilege only through their patronage of the store.
Sometimes in the summer the camp is not large enough to accommodate
the tourists, their automobiles being lined up outside along the road.
There are camp guests from every state in the Union, and it is a fine
advertisement for Springfield. The camp guests sometimes attend Spring-
field theaters, returning there for the night; some of them have bunga-
low trailers, while others accommodate themselves to the close quarters
of the automobile. The National Road has come into its own again,
as an artery of cross-country transportation.
The Outstanding Landlord
It was in 1819 that William Werden who became Springfield's best
known landlord came into the community ; in his day he welcomed many
strangers. Mr. Werden was a native of Delaware. While he had two
or three stands before he was permanently located, his sign in front of
the National was a stage coach and horses in full speed, and travelers
never missed it. It was suspended from a post at the outer edge of the
walk, and passersby could not fail to see it. People who remember Mr.
Werden also remember his unique sign — his appeal to National Road
travelers, and here is the suggestion — Springfield landlords desiring to
attract automobile tourists, should utilize the automobile as he did the
stage coach and horses. However, nothing is more picturesque than the
horse painted on a sign.
The office and the barroom in the National Hotel was about twenty
feet square, and here travelers mingled ; the entire hostelry was not larger
than a house required today by an ordinary family. Some one said:
"Werden's tavern was the stopping place for a line of stages, and it was
the favorite hotel in all this region of country. When a weary traveler
stopped at his door, Mr. Werden was the first to meet him and conduct
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 259
him into the house; his muddy leggings and boots were removed by a
servant, and clean slippers were supplied him. Cleanliness was observed
and there was no doubt of the welcome." The frequent attentions of
the polite host, and the warm glow of the fire caused the stranger to
feel at home. Bountiful meals were prepared under the direction of
Mrs. Werden; there were clean beds and a good night's rest, and why
would not travelers come again? While serving the public as a stage
coach landlord. Mr. Werden accumulated sufficient funds to live in
retirement, although under President Andrew Jackson he was postmaster
in Springfield.
In his South Charleston booklet, Albert Reeder says that the old
Willis tavern sheltered Tom Corwin and Henry Clay when they were
en route to Columbus to lobby before the Ohio legislature; it was buik
of rough logs, and in it was one room prepared for lodging prisoners.
This room was a veritable jail inasmuch as the doors were bolted and
the windows were barred, and many culprits were confined there when
being taken to Columbus ; when the roads were muddy these taverns were
welcome landmarks to the wayfarer. There was much ado about dis-
tinguished visitors in the days of the primitive tavern keepers ; as long ago
as July 24, 1830, the man who "would rather be right than be president/'
Henry Clay, was dinner guest at Hotel Hunt in Springfield; it was
on a Saturday, and a delegation of Springfield citizens met him six
miles out on the Yellow Springs road and escorted him into town.
The reception committees in charge of events today may receive an
inspiration from that first Springfield delegation doing the honors for
Mr. Clay. There were citizens on horseback, and there is no mention
of his mode of travel. However, when he had finished his dinner he
made a speech, leaving soon after by stage for Columbus ; it seems that
he usually went by South Charleston. On June 12, 1833, Daniel Web-
ster had dinner in Springfield, en route by stage to Cincinnati, and on
November 6, 1843, John Quincy Adams, covering the same route, was
a dinner guest in Springfield. He was three years in advance of the
first railroad train, when distinguished citizens more frequently traveled
about the country. In 1852, Louis Kossuth, the great Hungarian patriot,
was a guest at the Buckeye House, and he made a speech from the porch
to the crowd flocking about to see him. In 1852, Gen. Winfield Scott
who was the whig candidate for the United States presidency stopped
in Springfield, the guest of Mrs. Drum, widow of a captain who was
killed while the Americans were taking the City of Monterey, Mexico.
His remains lie buried in Greenmount; it was a military funeral, and
attracted many visitors to Springfield.
When Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton) visited South Charleston, the
tavern keeper carried him on his hand from the stage. South Charleston
had many distinguished visitors, since it was on the stage line direct
between Columbus and Cincinnati; for years Dan Johnson had a black
bear chained in front of his tavern, and while it was regarded as a
pet, the guests were never intimate with it. Smith's tavern, Armstrong's
tavern, Shockley's tavern, Miami House were open doors, and the Funston
Tavern in New Carlisle — the birthplace of Gen. Frederick Funston is
still a landmark there. American or European plan, the traveler is still
accommodated who sojourns temporarily in Clark County: "Springfield
has no natural boundary limitations," and railway trains and automobiles
bring the world to Springfield.
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Courthouse
(Now being: rebuilt after a disastrous fire)
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CHAPTER XXX
CLARK COUNTY OFFICIAL ROSTER— ITS COURT
It has been said that civilization is a product of government; it is
the result of man's success in raising himself above the level of the beast ;
an increased knowledge of the general plan, and of the details of the
system under which Ohio is governed, cannot fail to develop in its
citizenry a wholesome respect for its government.
The history of Clark County is the history of a manhood and woman-
hood that, from the days of the first log cabins along Mad River and
Buck Creek, have had no superiors; it is a group of most accommodat-
ing officials that is found in the county building, and in Memorial Hall
used temporarily for the sessions of the court while the Clark County
courthouse is in the hands, of the building cpmmittee. Since February
26, 1918, the temple of justice had been in ruins until the closing days
of 1921, when workmen were restoring the edifice to usefulness. The
high price of building material explains why it was a wreck so long. The
existence of the Clark County Memorial hall enabled the county board
of commissioners to delay their rebuilding program, although it did not
prevent inquiry and criticism.
The military square elsewhere explained as planned by James Demint
for the county buildings has thus been occupied; the Clark County
soldiers' monument graces one of the corners, while the Historical Soci-
ety occupies the building opposite the present county building, leaving
the other corner to the courthouse and the jail adjoining. The building
had been in ruins three years when reconstruction was begun, and a
news item reads : "The ruins were appropriated by large flocks of
pigeons; now that workmen are moving about the building, they have
measureably disappeared," and it seems that the public is not taken
into the confidence of the contractors doing the work of repair, one
comment being: *'At the rate at which the new courthouse construction
is progressing, it will take a half century to complete it," and that is
another instance of history repeating itself. The first Clark County
courthouse was a long time in process before the county had the use
of it.
When Champaign County was set off from Green County in 1805,
Springfield was temporarily the county seat and the following year a
session of court was held ; it is understood that it assembled in the home
of George Fythian who lived on the square designed for county use, and
Robert Renick was tried for killing an Indian; he borrowed the gun
from the Indian and took advantage of him ; the community was divided
in its sympathy, but jurists still recognize that state of affairs. It was
a treacherous Indian, and Renick outwitted him ; he had lived among the
Indians and knew their methods of warfare. The settlers had suffered
extreme cruelties at the hands of the Indians, and there was prejudice
against them. Renick was associated in business with James Demint.
The next session of court was in Urbana, and none was held in
Springfield again until after the organization of Clark County; while
the Ohio Assembly recognized Clark County, December 25, 1817, and
local government was established January 1, 1818, for the first four
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262 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
years court was held in the John Hunt tavern. On March 2, 1819, the
Clark County commissioners met and gave public notice that on March
22 they would receive proposals and establish the site of the court-
house; however, no action was taken until April 12, when a written
proposition was filed by Maddux Fisher and others, requesting them
to build a courthouse on this military square in the Demint plat; they
pledged themselves to pay $2,215 toward it. Mr. Fisher had already
devoted much time in lobbying before the Ohio Assembly in the interests
of Clark County; the sessions were then held in Chillicothe.
This military square as seen in Springfield and neighboring towns was
designed for palisade purposes, when the Indians were still a menace,
and while in other towns it remains an open square, Clark County utilized
it by locating the county buildings on it. Col. John Daugherty, who assisted
James Demint in the original survey of Springfield, was authorized to
locate the point of intersection at the corner of Limestone and Columbia
streets, and measuring from the. center he located the courthouse on
the northwest quarter-square; it has since been supplemented by office
buildings on two of the other corners, one corner utilized by the loca-
tion of the soldiers' monument — the tribute planted there by Clark County.
While a number of Clark County citizens subscribed to the fund for
building the first courthouse, Maddux Fisher paid $300 toward it, and
the commissioners adopted the plans submitted by him. He was employed
as building superintendent with John Ambler acting with him ; he expected
this courthouse to last always ; the brick were furnished by Jesse Temple
whose kiln was in the east part of the town, and the walls were grouted
with liquid mortar; when the walls and roof were completed, there
were no more funds and the building stood for two years. When an
appropriation of $3,972 was made finally, some thought it bankrupted the
county. In the early history of Springfield this public square and vicinity
was designated as Sleepy Hollow, because the trend of business was away
from it.
While Maddux Fisher was a Springfield business man, and there is
a Fisher Street commemorating him, he may be justly designated as
the father of Clark County; he secured its organization and donated
toward its improvement; he gave his time and his money. He was
interested in the Sleepy Hollow community, and in 1825 he built a
residence property on North Limestone Street; it had high ceilings, and
was the most pretentious mansion in Springfield. Mr. Fisher was a
Methodist, and his home was open to the itinerant preacher; he was
generous in his hospitality. While he was of medium height he was not
corpulent; he had dark skin, dark eyes and dark, glossy hair, and he
dressed in the straight-breasted black broadcloth worn by men of affairs
in his day ; after the strictest sect he was a Methodist.
Mr. Fisher's polished silver headed cane was his constant companion ;
he carried a silver snuff box in his vest pocket, and used it frequently;
while he had a Southern accent, he was a good conversationalist. Mr.
Fisher was born in Delaware, but lived in Kentucky before coming to
Springfield. The man who really placed Clark County on the map of
Ohio died October 26, 1836, aged sixty-five years. The name of Maddux
Fisher is inseparable from the history of Springfield and Clark County.
He was a man with initiative and backed his efforts with his money.
While Sleepy Hollow had the promise of the courthouse, it would
mean little to Clark County without a jail; why sentence a man to
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Old Courthouse, Erected 1819-22
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264 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
imprisonment with no place to incarcerate him, and Old Virginny — the
part of Springfield west from Mill Run, guaranteed the expense of .build-
ing it in order to secure it, and it was located between Main and Colum-
bia on Fisher Street. It was sixteen feet square, built of logs and the
people west of Mill Run paid for it. The jail was in advance of the
courthouse, being finished in 1818 while court was held in the Hunt
cavern; the first jailer was Abraham B. Mereness, and he chained a
black bear near by to intimidate the lawless people in Springfield. When
a Negro named Jackson was imprisoned, he tore the door off of this
jail and cast it into Mill Rim, now an enclosed stream in that vicinity.
He did not manifest much respect for the bastile in Old Virginny. The
black bear did not influence him in the first jail delivery.
The second, jail was built on the quarter-square now occupied by
the soldiers' monument; it was made of oak timbers hewed square, and
the logs were bolted; it was all wooden and there were several thick-
nesses of the floor, the ceilings not quite so thick ; it was two-story and
enclosed in brick veneer with an extension later to accommodate county
offices, and it was used until 1869, when the spot was dedicated to the
purpose of a soldiers' monument. In 1850, the third jail was begun
on the site of the Federal Building on Spring and High streets ; it was
of stone and brick, the labor performed by the day with the county com-
missioners watching the progress as building inspectors; it was com-
pleted in 1852, and was pulled down in 1880, the material being used again
in the present jail structure adjoining the courthouse on the northwest
quarter-square of the Demint military square designed for the use of
Clark County. Like the people confined in it, the jail has been migratory.
As a resume of jail history: the first log structure was finished in
July, 1818, and in March, 1819, an order on the Clark County treasurer
was issued by the county commissioners in favor of Walter Smallwood,
James Norton, Henry Rogers and Waitsel Cary for the sum of $80
which they had expended in building the Clark County jail. There is
no record that Maddux Fisher and others were reimbursed when they
advanced money in building the courthouse. When the second jail
was built, the old one was sold at auction, bringing $24, but there is
no record of the use that was made of it further than the statement that
it was sold to William Wilson. With the door on Mill Run, it was
in need of repair. Deliveries have been part of jail history, an attempt
being thwarted A. D. 1921, when saws were found in the possession of
prisoners.
While work on the first Clark County courthouse was begun in
1819, with Maddux Fisher who had its success at heart in charge of
the building program, it was not completed for several years; from
1818 to 1822, court was held in the John Hunt tavern, and while Jesse
Temple furnished the brick, it is related that a fifteen-year-old boy who
lived with Griffith Foos hauled the sand. On April 17, 1821, the com-
missioners met to consider plans for completing the courthouse; the
walls and the roof were in readiness. A contract was let to John Dallis
to lay the floors and make the windows, and with other inside work the
money secured amounted to $1,498; for some unknown reason he "dilly-
dallied," and the building was not completed until 1827, but it is a differ-
ent generation that has figured time against the repair contractors A. D.
1921, a news item reading: "Rumblings of discontent are being heard
over the slow progress being made by the Prescott Construction Company
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 265
in the rebuilding of the Clark County courthouse." However, January
1, 1923, is the time limit of the contract, and all the commissioners can
do is to protect the county against further expense.
The Clark County court history seems to be one expense after another,
the amount of $4.50 having been paid Nathan Adamson in 1827, for
drawing the plans for a cupola ; it was a piecemeal affair, Charles Stew-
art building it and receiving $480 for it; when workmen were razing
the present structure, they unearthed part of a metal eagle now in the
rooms of the Historical Society which may have adorned this first
cupola. When the courthouse was finally enclosed in 1827, through
John Ambler the Clark County commissioners granted the privilege to
the Presbyterian Society, and other religious organizations, of using the
structure, reserving the right to plaster it at any time; there was still
another expense in prospect. A lock was provided, and the key was
given to Mr. Ambler as custodian.
In 1828, a bell was purchased for the Clark County courthouse,
and on Saturday, October 25, it was rung for the first time; it was the
first bell in Springfield. The jailer rang it every morning at 5 o'clock,
and again at 9 o'clock in the evening. While curfew is a later story,
this courthouse bell was the signal by which many arose and began
their daytime activities ; the citizens appreciated it. When the * first
courthouse was finally completed, it had cost Clark County taxpayers
$7,500, and The Western Pioneer, a Springfield newspaper, said: "We
have a courthouse which in point of neatness and convenience, will
not suffer in comparison with any other courthouse in Ohio."
In 1868, the Clark County commissioners erected the east county
building supplemental to the courthouse, and the county offices were
there until 1904, when they were removed to the west county building;
the Clark County courthouse was never large enough, the second one
which is now being remodeled being of the assembly type and not planned
for utility purposes ; when it is open again, the interior arrangement will
be different. The departments now housed in Memorial Hall, and the
Farm Bureau housed in the basement of the Mad River Bank will be
restored to the courthouse for shelter. At the time of the fire, Feb-
ruary 26, 1918, the improvements on the four quarter-square corners
represented an expenditure of $200,000, and at the high cost of build-
ing material the repair alone was awarded to the Prescott Construction
Company at $214,421.50, .the amount being in excess of the original
investment. The "burned courthouse had become a specter, and the com-
munity was on tiptoe awaiting developments.
It is remarked that the old saying : "When in Rome do as the Romans,"
should be controverted — should read, when in Washington do like George,
and thus integrity would be preserved, but there is a superfluity of
"nuts," in otherwise perfectly good political machinery. While some
officers of the law would go through fire in the discharge of their duties,
still they are criticised for laxity ; they are condemned when they should
be commended, and such treatment hardens thepi. When the old time
town meeting gave way to the march of population, the machinery of
democratic government lost something; group antagonism is one of the
problems of civilization, and talking things over face to face is a method
of preventing discontent; more often than is realized, history turns
on the friendly debate of the question.
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266 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Prior to the 1920 Clark County election when women voted for
the first time, the "hard cider" campaign of 1840, stands out in history.
Maddux Fisher had something to do with naming the first county offi-
cials, and Clark County voters always have exercised their prerogative;
they have conducted some exciting campaigns, but on Thursday, June
18, 1840, the citizens of Springfield and Clark County built a log cabin
on Main Street, in honor of "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too." Meetings had
been held and speeches had been made, and since Gen. William Henry
Harrison was expected in Springfield that day, between 15,000 and
20,000 people were out to hear him. It was a fine day except for a short
rain storm, and "Everywhere and especially on Main Street, 500 flags
and banners flapped in the morning breeze; all was excitement, and the
whole scene was greatly enlivened by the inrush of coaches, wagons
and horsemen with flying banners from all points of the compass."
It was a big day in Springfield; there were long processions march-
ing, and a table was spread 1,000 feet in length; food was furnished
for all, and at 1 P. M. the crowd journeyed east on the National Road
to meet the distinguished visitor. When the general who was candidate
for president reached Springfield he heard of the death of his son and
injury to a grandson, and immediately began his homeward journey,
others supplying his place on the program that afternoon; in 1921,
Gen. J. Warren Keifer formally returned the visit of General Harrison
by going to North Bend to address an audience assembled to honor
him by unveiling a monument sacred to his memory. At the time General
Harrison visited Springfield, a pole was raised in South Charleston, and
a keg marked "hard cider" was mounted on top of it ; there was a sign
beneath the keg: "To Kinterhook, 500 miles." Martin Van Buren lived
in Kinterhook, New York. Springfield has been the storm center in
a number of campaigns, but when "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," was
the watch-word, music entered into the campaign plans extensively.
Both the Eighteenth and the Nineteenth Amendments to the United
States Constitution figured extensively in the 1920 presidental campaign,
and Article X in the League of Nations was analyzed in every political
gathering ; for the first time the women aroused themselves to the duties
and privileges of citizenship; they were face to face with ballots say-
ing nothing of bullets, and they had their political headquarters with
campaign literature adapted to their requirements, their campaign of
education was carried on so extensively that there was no way of deter-
mining who had cast the discarded ballots. The women demonstrated
their efficiency at the polls, even though they left umbrellas and pow-
der puffs in the voting booths. On the threshold of their new life,
Clark County women were alert to their opportunity. While handling the
ballot had hitherto been regarded as a man's job, and "Votes of Women"
placards had always inspired mirth, to the women of Clark County as
well as others it was a pleasant reality.
Tariff vs. Free Trade was not the campaign issue; there were free
silver republicans and gold standard democrats ; the wets and drys were
not limited to any one political party, and why should those 1920 first
voters commit themselves? The League of Nations was the political
bone of contention, and like their husbands the women were divided
on the question; all of the winds were blowing — pitiless publicity was
promised, and in the face of the franchise for women platform orators
were at a loss, they had no precedent, and did not know just where
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 267
to place the votes cast by the women. In addressing voters and voteresses,
citizens and citizenesses, the spell-binders all stumbled over I, thou,
he, she, it, we and they in an effort to befog the issues, and sometimes
the "pettyfoggers" succeeded in doing it.
It was urged by the femininist that she did not wish to think only
along sex lines, and when women entered politics they demanded from
"mere men" the same degree of welcome they had been accorded in
their research clubs; the average woman desires true equality; she is
inclined to investigate, and to vote with an understanding; she wishes
to mingle with men — not on a sex basis, but a basis of mentality. The
illiteracy reports from the World war aroused the womanhood of
the country, and they said they would foster education as well as pro-
mote reform legislation. While compulsory education may result from
their franchise, the womanly women will retain their womanly graces
while exercising the prerogatives of citizenship.
Equal suffrage disclosed the fact that in many instances from time
out of mind, women had influenced the family vote; in Clark County
some houses were divided, and in some precincts it was simply more
ballots without changed results. There had been no precedent, and
all was uncertainty; the ward-heelers did not know where to fortify;
they did not know how many republicans had democratic wives, and
one man attending a democratic meeting alone, saying it was not his
wife's day, was seldom an isolated example ; while there were few parades
in the 1920 campaign, there were many political meetings. Older voters
remember the delegation wagons when flag poles and torch light pro-
cessions made everything spectacular. In 1844 the whigs, who supported
Clay and Frelinghuysen, reared a flagstaff 120 feet long at High and
Market streets, and in 1888, a similar staff was raised on the Mound
at Enon, which was "bored" down the following night because an auger
made less noise than a saw ; the women themselves were the "spectacular"
feature, and through some influence the use of intoxicating liquor was
eliminated, and prohibition may be credited to the American women.
There are two sides to every question; the name of Vallandingham
was once heard in Clark County; there were Knights of the Golden
Circle, and there were abolitionists before there were prohibitionists ; law
and order has always been in the ascendancy. It is urged by some that
government begins in the home ; that it expands to the state and nation,
and that finally the church is the controlling influence; however, in a
community where not all of the citizens are identified with the church,
there is some question about it. The government of the family, school,
state and nation must be vested in some recognized authority, and here
is where politics enters into consideration.
State Recognition
Clark County has furnished one governor for the State of Ohio,
Gov. Asa S. Bushnell having been elected in 1896, and served four
years; it has furnished the state three supreme judges; William N.
White serving from 1864 to 1881, a period of seventeen years; Augustus
N. Summers from 1904 to 1911, a period of seven years, and since 1911,
the incumbent is James G. Johnson. John F. Oglevee was state auditor
from 1881 to 1887; R. F. Hayward has been sergeant-at-arms in the
State Senate, and Thomas L. Calvert has been secretary of the State
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268 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Board of Agriculture; in 1921, T. L. Calvert was elected state assembly-
man.
In the whirligig of time, and through the Gerrymander system,
Clark County has been in the Tenth, Fourth, Eighth, Seventh, Eighth
again ; repeated in the Fourth ; a third time in the Eighth Congressional
districts, finally remaining in the Eighth District through several differ-
ent county combinations; in 1890, the county was in the Tenth again
remaining only two years when it was thrown again into the Seventh, and
since 1892, Clark County has been in the Seventh District, grouped
with Madison, Fayette, Logan, Champaign, Union, Greene, Warren and
Clinton — there being nine counties associated in one Congressional Dis-
trict, maintaining a representative has been in the United States Congress ;
sometimes the Representative has been a Clark County citizen. It has
secured its quota whatever the combination ; in 1835, Samson Mason ; in
1861, Samuel Shellabarger ; in 1877, Gen. J. Warren Keifer; in 1897,
W. L. Weaver; in 1905, General Keifer again; in 1911, J. D. Post, and
through the Gerrymander it has both gained and lost in the passage of the
years. General Keifer reflected honor upon his constituency by being
speaker of the House of Representatives when he was in the United
States Congress.
State Senators
While Clark has had to share senatorial honors with other counties,
it has sent the following to the Ohio Assembly in Chillicothe and later
in Columbus; in 1818, George Fithian; in 1822, James Cooley; in 1826,
John Daugherty; in 1829, Samson Mason; in 1831, Abraham R. Col-
well; in 1833, Charles Anthony; in 1835, John H. James; in 1841,
Alexander Waddel ; in 1848, Harvey Vinal ; in 1852, John D. Burnett ;
in 1858, Saul Henkle; in 1862, S. S. Henkle; in 1868, Gen. J. Warren
Keifer; in 1874, Alexander Waddel; in 1880, Thomas J. Pringle; in
1886, T. J. Pringle ; in 1892, D. W. Rawlings, in 1898, John L. Plummer
and in 1904, Orrin F. Hypes.
State Representatives
The Clark County representatives in the Ohio Assembly have been:
in 1817, Reuben Wallace; in 1820, John Daugherty; in 1823, Samson
Mason; in 1825, James Foley; in 1826, J. A. Alexander; in 1829.
Charles Anthony; in 1831, Ira Paige; in 1833, W. V. H. Cushing; in
1838,. Alexander Waddel; in 1840, Aquilla Toland and S. M. Wheeler;
in 1842, John M. Gallagher and Isaac Houseman; in 1846, Samuel
B. Williams ; in 1848, Jesse C. Phillips and Henry W. Smith ; in 1849,
John D. Burnett; in 1850, James Rayburn; in 1852, Samuel Shella-
barger; in 1854, William Goodfellow; in 1856, John H. Littler; in
1858, Andrew D. Rogers; in 1860, John Howell; in 1862, R. D. Har-
rison; in 1866, Henry C. Houston; in 1868, Perry Stewart; in 1870,
J. K. Mower; in 1872, Benjamin Neff; in 1876, J. F. Oglevee; in
1880, N. M. McConkey and E. G. Dial; in 1882, John H. Littler;
in 1886, George C. Rawlins; in 1890, John F. McGrew and D. W.
Rawlins; in 1894, George Elder; in 1896, Chase Stewart; in 1898,
W. B. Rankin; in 1902, CX F. Hypes; in 1904, Earle Stewart; in 1906,
James Hatfield; in 1917, T. A. Busbey and in 1921, Charles S. Kay.
While some of the sons of Clark County have served their con-
stituency in the halls of state and nation, others have been content
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with local honors; while the literary world is rife with published
books calling themselves "Mirrors" and "Looking Glasses." purport-
ing to be revelations in political and society circles, both in Europe and
America, the great danger confronting Clark County is the fact that
so many good citizens seem indifferent about voting; while a Law
Enforcement League has been organized, it is more important that law-
abiding citizens have their part in selecting the officials. While the
majority of people read something of the national and international
news, when it comes to vital questions at home some are ignorant;
they do not know the legal requirements at the hands of those whom
they elect to positions of trust and responsibility.
However, when it comes to expressing a personal preference at
the ballot box, the United States leads the world; the 1920 census
indicates a population of 60,886,520 persons who have attained to their
majority — are voters; of these, 31,403,370 are males and 29,483,150
are females, and the lethargy of voters is about the same in different
localities. In 1884, when James G. Blaine was a candidate for presi-
dent, the people of Clark County rallied to an unusual degree, the
plug hat brigade marking the campaign, and again in 1896, when voters
were journeying to the front porch on Canton, and in 1920 many went
to the "front porch" or to "Trail's End" again. Harking back to 1840
again, S. S. Miller tells of the enthusiasm injected into the campaign
by residents of New Carlisle who used the slogan: "Keep the ball
rolling." It was a wooden ball ten or twelve feet in diameter — a won-
derful specimen of the cooper's art. and it attracted much attention
when rolled through the streets. In every campaign there is some out-
standing feature, and the effort is to arouse all the voters — and voteresses.
County Official Roster
It is understood that the judge and the prosecuting attorney are
the terror of evil-doers in any community; however, the judgeship is
regarded as the honorary elective position in county history; in 1818,
when court was held in the Hunt tavern, there were three judges —
one chief and two associates; it is said the grand and petit judges
were inherited from English custom, and in the early days the Clark
County Circuit Court was served by non-resident Common Pleas judges :
Orin Parish, Joseph H. Crane, George W. Holt, Joseph R. Swain,
Baldwin Harlan, James M. Smith and Moses Barlow. The Clark County
Common Pleas judges in their turn are: in 1845, James L. Torbert;
in 1852, William A. Rogers ; in 1856, William White ; in 1875, James
S. Good; in 1885, Charles R. White; in 1890, F. M. Hagen; in 1891,
John C. Miller; in 1901, J. K. Mower; in 1906, Albert H. Kunkle;
in 1912, F. M. Hagan and in 1914, Frank W. Geiger.
Court of Appeals
The Clark County Court of Appeals has only been in existence
since the 1912 change in the Ohio constitution; it was organized in
1913, and is one in a group of eleven counties: Franklin. Fayette,
Madison, Greene, Clark, Champaign, Miami, Montgomery, Shelby, Darke
and Preble, this group of counties being known as the Second Ohio
Appellate District, and court is held twice each year in each county.
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270 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
All Courts of Appeal are composed of three judges who sit together;
they serve six years, one retiring each second year, and senior honors
are accorded always to the judge whose term expires soonest. Nat-
urally the more populous counties have more business, but the busi-
ness of each county is transacted within its own borders. The Court
of Appeals is really a continuation of the old Circuit Court except its
change of name, and its increased or enlarged jurisdiction. The judges
in the Second Ohio Appellate District are : Albert H. Kunkle of Spring-
field ; H. L. Ferdening- of Dayton and James I. Allread of Columbus.
Probate Judges
Under the first Constitution of Ohio, 1802, the associate judges of the
Court of Common Pleas in each county had jurisdiction in matters of
probate, according to Section 5, Article 3, of the Constitution, and only
since the adoption of the second constitution have there been Probate
judges. Under the Constitution of 1851, a Probate Court was established
in each county, according to Section 7, Article 4. and the Clark County
incumbents are : in 1852, James S. Halsey ; in 1857, James L. Torbert ; in
1859, John H. Littler; in 1870, Enoch G. Dial; in 1876, John C. Miller;
in 1891, William M. Rockel; in 1897, J. P. Goodwin; in 1903, F. W.
Geiger; in 1914, George W. Tehan and in 1921, Harry G. Gram.
Juvenile Court
The law provides that the affairs of the Juvenile Court may be ad-
ministered by the Probate judge, Common Pleas judge or an insolvency
judge ; because the Clark County Juvenile Court was instituted by Judge
F. W. Geiger while he was Probate judge, when he was elected Com-
mon Pleas judge he transferred it from Probate to Common Pleas
jurisdiction ; with him it is a missionary service. Judge Geiger is the
Ben B. Lindsay of Springfield, and criminal offenders under eighteen
years of age are dealt with in separate court, therefore not becoming
hardened from association with adult criminals. The Detention Home
opened in June, 1908, is operated in connection with the Juvenile Court.
Miss Carrie B. Hershey is probation officer, and she deals with youthful
Clark County delinquents.
The Juvenile Court operates in conjunction with the State Board
of Charities, and juvenile records are frequently suppressed in the inter-
ests of the future of the offenders. Boys and young men are sentenced
to the Boys' Industrial School at Lancaster, and the Mansfield Refor-
matory. Girls are sent to the Industrial School at Delaware and the
Woman's Reform School at Marysville. There is an Ohio Council of
Child Welfare, and there are many local charities promoting it. The
Juvenile Court is a safeguard for youthful offenders. All who are con-
nected with the Detention Home come under civil service regulations.
Prosecuting Attorney
While the construction placed upon the statutes seems to be a matter
of personal opinion of some particular officer of the law, taken as a
whole the Clark County official roster is made up from good, honest
citizens. Sometimes the fault is in the law itself, and yet efficiency
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prevails in the administration of local affairs. While the manner of
transacting business is Jiot specified in the constitution, some things
of an administrative character are implied; men elected to official posi-
tion have little difficulty in construing the law governing the conduct
of their particular offices; the Board of Clark County Commissioners
is the real governing body, always assuming authority in emergencies.
Intimately associated with the judge of the court is the prosecuting
attorney ; in order that the judge may hold court he is a necessity. Until
1835, prosecuting attorneys in Ohio were appointed by the state; since
then they are elected by the people, and those who have served in Clark
County are: Hiram Bacon, Zepheniah Piatt, George W. Jewett, Samson
Mason, Charles Anthony and James L. Torbert, all of whom are men-
tioned in older histories without time limit; in 1848, William White;
in 1854, John S. Hauke; in 1858, James S. Goode; in 1862, John C.
Miller; in 1864, Dixon A. Harrison; in 1868, Thomas J. Ptingle; in
1875, Walter L. Weaver; in 1877, George C. Rawlins; in 1881, Walter
L. Weaver; in 1889, Chase Stewart; in 1895. H. W. Stafford; in -1901,
John B. McGraw; in 1907, Lawrence Layborn; in 1913, Charles E.
Ballard; in 1917, Thomas E. Hudson and in 1921, Donald Kirkpatrick.
Clerk of the Court
The clerk of the Clark County court is required to keep the docket,
and all proceedings in books provided for such purposes; in their order
of succession, they are: in 1818, John Layton, although the first court
records are signed by D. Higgins as deputy, and without chronology
are mentioned Thomas Armstrong, Saul S. Henkle and James Halsey;
it seems that when a man had served the county in one capacity, he was
always willing to serve it again; some of the names in the official roster
seem stereotyped, recurring in several different relations. When once
a man allows himself placed in the "hands of his friends," the habit
grows upon him; he is still willing to serve them. In 1851, Harvey
Vinal was elected clerk, and Absalom Mattox served time before 1873,
when the clerk was Edward P. Torbert; in 1881, James H. Rabbitts;
in 1891, D. H. Cushing; in 1900, J. B. Clingerman; in 1906, Fred Snyder
and in 1917, Mont C. Hambright. In an effort to supply some missing
data, Mr. Hambright looked over the old records without results. While
he found the signature of D. Higgins, he was unable to find that of
Layton.
County Sheriff
The sheriff is the chief executor and peace officer of Clark County;
he is provided with a domicile in connection with the bastile; his resi-
dence and the county jail occupy the lot adjoining the courthouse; it
is his duty to preserve the peace; to prevent riots, lynching and all vio-
lent disorders; the incumbents of the office are: in 1818, Cyrus Ward;
in 1819, Thomas Fisher; in 1822, Thomas Armstrong; in 1824, John Alex-
ander; in 1826, William Sailor; in 1830, William Berry; in 1842, Absalom
Mattox; in 1846, Daniel Raffensverger ; in 1848, Henry Hallenback; in
1852, Joseph Mclntire ; in 1856, John E. Layton ; in 1860, James Fleming ;
in 1864, Cyrus Albin; in 1868, E. G. Coffin; in 1872, Cornelius Baker;
in 1876, E. G. Coffin; in 1880, James Foley; in 1884, William B. Baker;
in 1888, A. J. Baker; in 1892, T. E. Lott; in 1896, Thomas Shocknessy;
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272 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
in 1900, Floyd Routzahn; in 1904, William Almony; in 1908, D. D.
Lawrence; in 1912, Stephen Funderburg; in 1916, James L. Welsh
and in 1920, David T. Jones.
The migratory history of the county jail has been detailed, but it
appears that James Foley who was a county commissioner and later
a sheriff was instrumental in locating the jail near the courthouse,
and while new jails have been built several times, accommodates thirty-
eight prisoners; it has two cells for women. While the prisoners are
allowed the freedom of the corridors in daytime, they are locked in
separate cells at night ; one prisoner hanged himself with his suspenders
rather than face earthly justice. For fourteen years John Showers, a
Negro, has been turnkey at the jail and custodian of all prisoners. In
that time Mrs. Showers has been cook for the sheriff's family and for
the prisoners. While the family has a private dining room, the meals
are served the prisoners on a sliding table which is pushed through the
wall, and when the victuals are removed the table is pushed back again.
Some improvements are asked at the jail, but with the courthouse repair
moving so slowly, there is sentiment against it. The prisoners are
utilized in necessary work about the jail.
Much of the material used in building the jail was taken from the
old prison on the site of the Federal building, which was torn down in
1880, and in 1881. when the courthouse was built, it was used again.
Prisoners sometimes dig through the walls, and every precaution is
taken to prevent communication with outside friends who supply them
with tools. It has been suggested that while the courthouse is being
remodeled a prison should be placed on top of it, so that jail deliveries
would not be such an easy matter. Improvements are promised, and a
shower bath will supplant the bath tub, as a sanitary measure. When
a prisoner is admitted a bath is the first thing. When he comes from
a home of refinement he does not exactly relish a bath in the tub used
by all the others, and the shower would be more satisfactory.
County Auditor
The Clark County auditor keeps all of the accounts of the county
commissioners; the auditor is the Clark County bookkeeper, and a
warrant or order from him is necessary before the county treasurer
pays out any funds at all. The auditor prepares the annual tax dupli-
cate from the transfer books. In their turn the Clark County auditors are :
in 1818, John Daugherty; in 1819, David Higgins; in 1821, William
Wilson; in 1826, James S. Halsey; in 1836, S. M. Wheeler; in 1838,
Reuben Miller; in 1856, John Newlove; in 1871, John Oglevee; in
1875, Quincy A. Petts; in 1881, O. F. Serviss; in 1891. E. T. Thomas;
in 1893, L. F. Young; in 1899, A. K. Hahn; in 1905, James A. Linn; in
1909, Albert K. Hahn; in 1915, M. J. Peirce; in 1919, R. W. McKinney,
who resigned in favor of William C. Mills.
County Treasurer
The Clark County treasurer receives all taxes paid for the support
of the state, county and township; he is held to a strict account for
the safety and proper application of such funds. The incumbents are :
in 1818, John Ambler; in 1828, Cyrus Armstrong; in 1846, William
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 273
Berry; in 1847, S. B. Williams; in 1855, William C. Frye; in 1859,
Theodore A. Wick; in 1863, Thomas R. Norton; in 1867, T. A. Wick;
in 1871, Richard Montjoy; in 1872, William S. Field; in 1873, William
C Frye; in 1875, John W. Parsons; in 1879, W. S. Wilson; in 1883,
J. W. Parsons; in 1887, George W. Collette; in 1891, J. J. Goodf el-
low; in 1895. J. M. Todd; in 1899. P. M. Stewart; in 1905. C. W. Arbo-
gast; in 1909, Ralph B. Miller; in 1913, Frank A. Crothers; in 1917,
W. C. Trumbo and in 1921, R. A. Goodfellow.
County Recorder
The Clark County recorder is charged with the safekeeping of all
records, deeds, mortgages and other instruments affecting the title to
lands; the incumbents of the office are: in 1818, David Kizer; in 1825,
Saul Henkle ; in 1835, Isaac Hendershott ; in 1842, Isaac Lancy ; in 1847,
Saul Henkle; in 1848, Robert Beach; in 1853, John H. Thomas; in
1856, Isaac Hendershott; in 1862, H. S. Showers; in 1863, W. S.
Miranda; in 1864, Ashley Bradford; in 1883, S. A. Todd; in 1891,
M. M. McConkey; in 1897, Joseph W. Allen; in 1903, Frank Mills;-
in 1909, Rooney W. Jones and J. W. Allen; in 1911, GroverW. Flem-
ing and in 1913, Fred G. King.
County Surveyor
The surveyor of Clark County establishes all lines and boundaries;
because of the irregularities of the original surveys, it is a complicated
requirement; he marks corners and records the surveys. The incum-
bents of the office are : in 1818, William Wilson ; in 1830, Reuben Miller ;
in 1836, William A. Rogers; in 1837, Samuel Harvey (Mr. Harvey
was the author of an arithmetic); in 1838. John R. Gunn; in 1842,
Thomas Kizer; in 1860, J. Douglas Moler; in 1863, Thomas Kizer; in
1866, William Brown; in 1870, J. Douglas Moler; in 1872, Thomas
Kizer; in 1878, Chandler Robbins; in 1880, Frank P. Stone; in 1882,
William Sharon; in 1897, S. Van Bird; in 1911, R. J. Netts; in 1913,
S. Van Bird and in 1917. W. H. Sieverling.
County Coroner
The coroner of Clark County is a conservator of the peace; while
the office is usually filled by medical doctors, it is one political preferment
that seeks the man. Sometimes coroners are elected who do not qualify,
and court bailiffs or other available persons are sworn in temporarily
to perform urgent duties. The powers and duties of the coroner are
identical with those of the sheriff, when it is necessary to arrest offenders
or suppress riots; under certain conditions the coroner may take charge
of the county jail, and arrest and imprison the sheriff himself. How-
ever, the prime requisite of the coroner is to hold inquests where deaths
result from unnatural causes, or where the cause of death is unknown;
the coroner takes charge of all valuables or money found on' the body
of such person, disposing of them according to law. The incumbents
are: 1818, John Hunt; in 1828, William Needham; in 1834, Harvey
VoL 1—18
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274 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Humphreys ; in 1838, John Hunt ; in 1854, Morton Cary ; in 1863, Cyrus
Albin; in 1864, Isaac Kay; in 1865, James Fleming; in 1866, Reuben
Miller; in 1868. W. B. Hoffman; in 1870. Oscar F. Bancroft; in 1872,
Biddle Boggs; in 1874, E. G. Coffin; in 1876, James Finney; in 1878,
J. L. Coleman; in 1885, J. M. Bennett; in 1889, J. G. Webb; in 1891,
J. M. Austin ; in 1895, Henry L. Schaeffer ; in 1899, J. M. Bennett, in
1905, J. D. Thomas; in 1909. H. H. Austin and in 1921, A. H. Potter.
County Commissioners
While the board of Clark County commissioners is the real govern-
ing body, its duties are varied and of much importance to taxpayers;
the board has control of all public property ; it may even sell the court-
house. While all other county officials have their duties outlined by
statute, the county commissioners have latitude. They use their own
discretion, usually having legal advice when uncertain about things;
the county auditor is ex-officio member of the board, and he keeps
a record of its proceedings; the sheriff preserves order. The original
board of Clark County commissioners: John Black, James Foley and
Enoch B. Smith assumed the duties in 1818, and upon them devolved
the public improvements necessary.
While John Heaton became a member of the board of Clark County
commissioners in 1820, the records do not indicate the retiring member:
in 1826, John Layton and Pierson Spinning; in 1827, John Whitely; in
1830, William Werden; in 1831, Elnathan Cory; in 1833, Oliver Arm-
strong; in 1834, William Holloway ; in 1840, Melyn Baker; in 1841, Adam
Shuey; in 1842, Robert Turner; in 1847, William Whitely; in 1849,
William Black and Adam Baker; in 1851, Ezra D. Baker; in 1852,
James F. Whiteman; in 1856, Samuel S. Sterrett; in 1857. Daniel O.
Hieskell; in 1858, D. L. Snyder; in 1861, L. B. Sprague; in 1863,
David Hayward; in 1864, E. B. Cassilly; in 1865, Perry Stewart; in
1867, William O. Lamme and Jacob Seitz; in 1868, William D. John-
son; in 1870, N. M. McConkey; in 1872, H. C. Miller; in 1874, J. H.
Blose; in 1875, George H. Frey; in 1876, Edward Merritt; in 1877,
Mark Spence and John Scarff; in 1879, Leon H. Houston; in 1880,
Jonathan S. Kitchen; in 1881, D. C. Cory; in 1882, D. W. Rawlings;
in 1884, W. H. Sterrett; in 1886, C. E. Gillen; in 1889, R. N. Elder;
in 1890, J. H. Dale; in 1891, J. B. Trumbo; in 1895, Milton Cheney;
in 1896, Aaron Spangler; in 1897, Jacob Hinckle and J. B. Crain; in
1901, S. S. Twitchell; in 1903, J. H. Collins; in 1905, J. E. Lowry and
Henry Wright; in 1906, N. M. CartmeU; in 1907, J. E. Lowry; in 1911,
Frederick Hertzinger, C. E. Grube and F. H. Mills ; in 1913, J. Quincy
Smith, Charles O. Neer and C. F. Stewart; in 1917, H. S. Mellinger;
in 1921, James L. Welsh and Frank E. Funderburg. (Commissioners
who died in office: Mark Spence, Aaron Spangler and J. H. Collins.)
County School Superintendent
The office of county school superintendent was created by Act of
the Ohio Assembly in revising the school code, and August 1, 1914,
it became effective; the requirements are that the superintendent act as
clerk of the board of education; have charge of the public schools;
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276 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
formulate the course of study; 'conduct teachers' institutes, etc. The
county superintendent of schools is elected by the presidents of the
different village and rural districts boards of education ; from the begin-
ning the Clark County school superintendent had been Prof. J. M. Col-
lins.
County Health Commissioner
The latest acquisition to the official roster of Clark County is the
health commissioner, his jurisdiction including the area outside of Spring-
field; however, the county and city' health commissioner happens to be
one and the same. Dr. R. R. Richison. This office was created in 1920,
and Dr. Richison is its only incumbent. While other county offices are
in the county buildings, and temporarily in Memorial Hall, this office
is combined with the city health office in the city building.
There has been a demand for an increase in the salaries of public
officials along with increased expenses of living, and a general increase
in wages under war time conditions ; with taxes already high, the public
does not favor any increase in salaries. When officials apply themselves,
instead of paying their income to others to do the work for them, it
is urged that they are sufficiently remunerated; men are frequently
re-elected, and some have held the same office several consecutive terms ;
while there are some chronic jurymen and office holders, the Clark
County voters are inclined to "check up" on them. Isaac Hedrick of
South Charleston, who was a constable for more than forty years, holds
the banner for length of time in office even though it was unremunera-
tive.; it is said that he was fearless in the discharge of his duties, and
that is the need in the department of law enforcement.
Memorial Hall
There was need of an auditorium in Springfield that would accommo-
date large audiences, and it was decided that the way to secure a hall
large enough to accommodate the people of Clark County was through
taxation, allowing the entire county to pay for it. This had been the
method of procedure in other counties, notably Hamilton. The Clark
County Memorial Hall in Springfield commemorates the soldiers, sailors
and marines, also the pioneers of Clark County, and it was built in 1915,
by the tax payers of the county ; the agitation of the question was begun
in 1912, and in 1914 the bonds were sold and a site was selected; a
strife developed among different localities in Springfield similar to that
engendered in early history about the location of the jail and courthouse.
When Frank L. Plackard. a Columbus architect, submitted plans
and specifications, Gov. Judson Harmon appointed as members of the
building committee : Gen. J. Warren Keifer, David F. Snyder, Silas Printz,
Harlan Titus and George W. Netts. On July 20, 1914, Miss Leona
Yeazell was appointed secretary to the building commission, with an
office in the Bushnell Building; on the following day the commission
advertised for bids, and September 5, the contract was let to James
Bentley & Company of Toledo; the cornerstone was laid March 1,
1915, and it required two years to complete the construction work;
it was completed June 1, 1916, and since then it is a community center
used by Clark County citizens. While bonds amounting to $250,000
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 277
were sold the final cost of the building was $12,000 in excess of that
amount — war-time prices accounting for it, in the advance of materials.
The Clark County Auditorium seats 2,700 people; it has a good stage,
and the acoustics are satisfactory; the smaller rooms are used by
the G. A. R., the D. A. R., Spanish War Veterans, Clark County
Grange, Farmers' Institutes and citizens' meetings of all kinds. In
the emergency of a courthouse fire, February 26, 1918, Memorial Hall
housed the Clark County court and some of the county offices, saving
the county $12,000 a year in rentals. When Memorial Hall was built,
the county commissioners were: Smith, Neer and Mills, and to them
the building was turned over by the building commission, the commis-
sioners retaining Miss Yeazell as manager.
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CHAPTER XXXI
POSTAL SERVICE— CLARK COUNTY POSTOFFICES
In the Bible Job exclaims: "My days are swifter than a post." The
postal service is known to have been used as early as the thirteenth
century in some countries. When the Constitution was written in 1783,
it provides for the postal system in the United States, although at that
time it was considered as an adjunct to the United States Treasury.
People used to regard letters as present day citizens think of tele-
grams, although their friends were often dead and buried before the
letters reached them; now that practically every family in Clark County
receives daily mail, some of the stories of the long ago are "stranger
than fiction" to the present generation. No news was always good news,
and a letter sometimes disturbed the peaceful tranquility of the whole
community.
While most Clark County residents have postage stamps in their
homes in readiness for the letters when they write them, time was
when they paid postage on receipt of letters; today if a letter is minus
the postage, it is returned to the sender. The story is told of the
man who pawned his hat to "lift a letter." It had been a long time
since tidings had reached from the home folk, and he would make
any sacrifice to have the message. There was no such thing as a postage
stamp, and "Collect twelve cents" was written where the stamp now
marks one corner of the letter. Wafers and sealing wax were used
before postage stamps were on the market.
The system of collecting postage at the time of delivery worked
hardship on many settlers; the law did not remain long on the statutes.
While the settlers were always anxious for tidings, the contents of some
letters meant nothing to them. Now those who write the letters pay
the postage; there was a time when the letter was so folded that the
superscription became the face of the letter; for many years there were
no envelopes, and some ingenuity was required to fold the letter. Neces-
sity always has been the mother of invention ; in time the envelope saved
the necessity of so carefully folding the letter, with one blank side for
superscription.
Now that some parts of the United States have the air mail service,
it seems like a far cry from the day when mail was carried on horse
back by personal messenger, and by stage — and once a week was as
often as any one heard from the outside world. Now that the whole
community reads the daily news and expects them as a matter of course
— news from the four corners of the world, who pays any attention
to the minor details connected with the U. S. mail service? The Star
Route U. S. mail system was introduced in 1882, and like all other
advance measures, it was later installed in Clark County; it served the
community until the coming of rural free delivery. Who knows any-
thing about the rural carriers and their difficulties? Who ever left a
dressed chicken in the mail box for a Christmas gift to the rural carrier?
Whatever the weather he brings you the news of the world. While the
U. S. Mail Department is so organized that it looks after itself, some
people would be greatlv handicapped were the carrier indifferent to
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280 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
their interests. A tablet has been unveiled in the custom house in
Cleveland in memory of Joseph William Briggs, author of the city mail
delivery and collection system. Mr. Briggs conceived the idea while
working as a clerk in the Cleveland postoffice, and he was the first Amer-
ican letter carrier. To Perry S. Heath is due the credit of the rural
mail delivery system. It is a twentieth century product, and the experi-
ment was made at Muncie, Indiana.
Springfield and Clark County
When Assistant Postmaster Harvey M. Tittle began assembling the
following data, he thought it would only amount to a pleasant pastime —
a "little before breakfast job," but going into it thoroughly, he changed
his mind about it. Mr. Tittle has been honored by being named first vice
president of the Supervisory Postoffice Employees' Association held in
Washington, D. C, in 1921, after having served the association four years
as its treasurer. He has been connected with the Springfield office since
1899, and when Civil Service was installed December 1, 1910, he was
the first local employee to be advanced from a clerkship to deputy post-
master. He became deputy January 6, 1911, one month and five days
after the installation of civil service. Although a republican, Mr. Tittle
served in this capacity through the two terms of the Wilson democratic
administration, and Postmaster Charles P. Dunn commended him for
faithful service.
Mr. Tittle was contemplating a comprehensive history of the Spring-
field Postoffice, because he felt that some record of it should be in exist-
ence, and he was asked to make it a county-wide survey adapted for use
in the History of Springfield and Clark County. He takes the position
that no single institution reflects the growth and prosperity of a com-
munity with greater accuracy than does the United States Postoffice, and
a newspaper clipping, October, 1921, gives Springfield fourth place among
seven of the largest offices in Ohio, $140,459.79 being the gross postal
receipts. The offices showing more volume of business are: Cleveland,
Cincinnati and Columbus. In 1820, when the first Clark County census
was made, in this summary of Springfield's advantages, is the line : "And
a postoffice at which mails are received in elegant four-horse coaches,"
and another item from the later stage coach period says: "Springfield,
in a word, is the great crossing place of all the existing mail routes, and
of the principal rail and turnpike roads."
Mr. Tittle writes: In 1804 the first postoffice was established in
Springfield — at that time it was in Greene County — the mail was received
by messenger who carried it on horseback from Cincinnati to a number
of points in this section of the state. This messenger was scheduled to
pass through Springfield once each week. It was a fourteen-year-old boy,
James R. Wallace, who performed this early service. He came from
Kentucky, and later he located in Springfield. He was associated in
business with Pierson Spinning under the name Spinning and Wallace.
In 1820 stage coach mail service was established and it continued until
the coming of the railway mail service in 1846, the second road being
built two years later. In the '30s and '40s. when the mail stage system
over the National Road and convergent lines reached its highest perfec-
tion, the mail and passenger service was separated, special stages being
constructed for hauling the mails. As early as 1837 the Postoffice Depart-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 281
merit decreed that the mails which had been a secondary consideration
compared with the passenger service, should be carried by specially
arranged vehicles, into which the postmaster should put them under lock
and key, not to be opened until the next postoffice was reached, and the
owners of stage coaches took advantages of their mail contracts in an
effort to evade taxation. They demanded other privileges because they
were carrying the United States mails, and the department had to regulate
the service.
These stages were of two kinds designed to be operated on routes
where the mails ordinarily comprised, respectively, a half and nearly a
whole load ; in the former, room was left for six passengers, and in the
latter for three. Including newspapers with the regular mail, the later
stages which ran westward over the National Road rarely carried pas-
sengers. Indeed, there was little room for the guards who traveled with
the driver to protect the Government property; such factor in the mail
stage business did the newspapers become that many contractors refused
to carry them by express mail, consigning them to the ordinary mails,
thereby bringing down upon themselves the frequent savage maledictions
of a host of local editors.
Nevertheless newspapers were carried by express mail stages as far
west as Ohio in 1837, as is proven by a newspaper account of a robbery
committed on the National Road, the robbers holding up an express mail
stage, and finding nothing in it but newspapers. The mails on the
National Road were always in danger of being assailed by robbers ; espe-
cially at night on the mountainous portions, though by dint of lash and
ready revolver the doughty drivers usually came off safely. It is prob-
ably not realized what rapid time was made by the old time stage and
express mails over the National Road to the Central West; even com-
pared with the fast trains of today, the express mails of sixty years ago,
when conditions were favorable, made marvelous time.
In 1837, the Postoffice Department required in the contracts for
carrying the Great Western Express mail from Washington over the
National Road to Columbus and St. Louis, that the following schedule
be made: To Wheeling, thirty hours; to Columbus, 45J4 hours; to
Indianapolis, 65}4 hours, to Vandalia, 85J4 hours, and to St. Louis,
ninety- four hours. Even in the early days speed was considered by the
department as an important factor in the rendering of satisfactory mail
service.
Richard McBride is said to have been the first man to handle the
mails in Springfield. He was immediately succeeded by Robert Rennick,
who was commissioned postmaster on November 9, 1804 and who, in
1806, was brought to trial in the Fythian Court in Springfield for killing
an Indian. He continued in office until April 1, 1824, on which date he
was succeeded by Maddux Fisher; since then no postmaster has served
for twenty consecutive years. In turn, the Springfield postmasters are:
In 1804, Robert Rennick; in 1824, Maddux Fisher; in 1835, Peter Sprig-
man; in 1839, William Werden; in 1841, John A. Crane; in 1845, Cyrus
D. McLaughlin; in 1850, Isaac Hendershott; in 1853 (second appoint-
ment), Cyrus D. McLaughlin; in 1855, William C. Boggs; in 1861, Robert
Rodgers ; in 1866, James Johnson, Sr., was commissioned but he was not
confirmed by the United States Senate ; in 1867, Ellen Sanderson ; in 1877,
Tohn A. Shipman; in 1884, Tames Johnson, Sr. ; in 1887, Francis M.
Hagan; in 1890, Perley M. Cartmell; in 1894, Thomas D. Wallace; in
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282 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
1898, James H. Rabbitts; in 1910, William F. Bevitt, and in 1914, Charles
P. Dunn.
New Carlisle and South Charleston postoffices have been in existence
almost as long as the office in Springfield ; however, the remuneration of
the postmaster depends upon the population and the volume of business,
there being first, second, third and fourth class offices. The first post-
office in Springfield was opened in a small log cabin on the north side of
Main Street and east of Fountain Avenue; it was here the mails were
handled by Richard McBride.
Upon assuming the duties of postmaster, Robert Rennick removed
the office to what was known as Rennick's Mills. The next change
appears to have been in 1839, when Postmaster William Werden removed
the office to the Werden House, Trappers Corner, corner Main Street
and Fountain Avenue ; in 1847 Postmaster C. D. McLaughlin removed it
to East Main near Spring Street. In 1855 William Boggs removed the
office to the Union Block, and in 1861 Robert Rodgers removed it to the
corner of Main and Limestone streets. Within the tenure of office of
Mrs. Ellen Sanderson, the office was migratory, she holding forth at the
South East Corner, Lagonda House and Black's Opera House, respec-
tively. John A. Shipman removed the office from the Opera House to
the Arcade where it remained until it was housed in the Federal building.
In the early day, when the office was small, postmasters were permit-
ted to suit their convenience by removing it. They were required to
furnish quarters in which to conduct the postal business, and the office
may have been located at other points ; however, there is record of those
mentioned. Springfield was recognized as a first-class postoffice January
1, 1880, after having grown step by step from the lower classifications.
In that year $39,291.29 was the gross receipts, and in forty years the
amount has increased greatly, the office now ranking among the most
important in Ohio.
Springfield Mail Delivery
In September, 1879, city delivery of mail was established in Spring-
field, with six regular carriers; there was one substitute carrier. The
carriers were: T. B. Flago, James Bryant, E. T. Ridenour, Cal Reid,
Edward Conway and John Arnett; the substitute was George Zollinger.
Others connected with the office were: John A. Shipman, postmaster;
Charles Showalter, assistant postmaster and money order clerk ; Orin
L. Petticrew, superintendent of carriers ; Theodore H. Brown, mailing
clerk; Walter Limbocker, general delivery clerk; William Rice, stamp
and registry clerk ; Edward Wright, paper distributor ; Hilliard Robison,
janitor. Of these employees, when the character of the office was changed,
the last to remain in service were Theodore Brown and Orin L. Petti-
crew; Mr. Brown retiring August 31, 1920, and Mr. Petticrew's death
occurring January 4, 1921, both being long service men. Mr. Brown
had been in the office fifty-two years, while Mr. Petticrew had forty-four
years of service to his credit.
Since the Springfield Postoffice was established in 1884, it has shown
a steady increase in business; except in panic years the gross receipts
have shown material gain each year. However, the greatest strides have
been made within the last twenty years; since it was designated as a
first-class postoffice in 1879, its growth is indicated as follows, the fig-
ures representing the gross receipts every fifth year: In 1879, $36,629.14;
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 283
in 1884, $53,688.65; in 1889, $70,666.27; in 1894, $99,851.70; in 1899,
$117,696.83; in 1904, $158,594.02; in 1909, $265,186.74; in 1914, $418,-
588.81; in 1919, $1,008,403.04; and two years later— 1921, the receipts
have increased to $1,390,356. 63, showing an advance of $382,953.59 in
the volume of business, and in time of business depression throughout
the country.
The Springfield Postoffice is one of the largest dispatchers of second
class mail matter in the United States; millions of pounds of magazines
are dispatched monthly to all parts of the country. While the volume
has increased from year to year the exact figures are not available, how-
ever, the following figures will show the increase in the volume of this
class of matter handled within the last twenty-two years: In 1899,
3,061,639 pounds; in 1904, 4,859,462 pounds; in 1909, 9,427,499 pounds;
in 1914, 15,640,234 pounds, and in 1921, 30,204,102 pounds. For many
years the postage rate on second class matter was 1 cent a pound to all
parts of the country.
On July 1, 1918, the postage rate was changed to a zone basis, the
whole country being divided into eight zones. Under the present system
the advertising portion of periodical matter and newspapers is charged
on a sliding scale, according to the zone to which it is addressed for
delivery, while the editorial or reading matter is charged with postage at
the rate of \l/2 cents a pound to all zones. While the publishers submit
their own estimates, no periodical passes the postoffice without accurate
measurement of its advertising and its news columns, and a calculation of
the mailing expense; they check their measurements together, and thus
each is anxious to be accurate.
When the postoffice was removed from the Arcade to the Federal
building in 1890, it was believed that the new quarters would be ample
for many years; however, it soon became apparent that the facilities
were inadequate to handle the ever-increasing volume of business,
and in September, 1898, an auxiliary station was established in the
plant of The Crowell Publishing Company; this facilitated the handling
of their own publications, and is still in operation; while copies are
. measured in the postoffice, the bulk of the publications does not reach
it. Several months later the work room in the Federal building was
enlarged by appropriating a portion of the public lobby, and in 1909,
an addition twenty-eight by eighty- four feet was built at the north side
of the main building ; this afforded relief for a short time, but it soon
became necessary to transfer the eleven rural carriers to the basement,
in order to provide additional space for an increased city force.
The continued increase in the business of the Springfield postoffice
again made it necessary to provide additional floor space, and in 1914
the basement of the extension was converted into postoffice work room
with an entrance on Spring Street for the loading and unloading of mail
matter; a mail chute leading from the work room on the main floor to
the work room in the basement was also installed, and while this again
relieved the congestion to some degree, it afforded only temporary relief.
In 1920, the second floor of the main building was remodeled, and con-
verted into an additional work room, an elevator being installed con-
necting the work rooms on the three floors; however, the congestion is
again almost as great as ever, and the problem of providing adequate
quarters can be solved only by the erection of a new postoffice building
in Springfield.
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284 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Rural Free Delivery
On August 1, 1899, rural free delivery of mail service was established
in Springfield ; the first rural carrier was Alden A. Cook ; his salary was
$400 a year, and he furnished his own equipment — a vehicle drawn by
two horses. There are now eleven rural routes from Springfield, an$ .
twenty- four in Clark County, distributed as follows: five at New Carlisle;
two at South Charleston; two at South Vienna; one at Selma; one at
Plattsburg; one at North Hampton and one at Tremont City. The
development of the rural free delivery service not only caused the
discontinuance of practically all of the star routes that operated in the
county, but it also caused the following named postoffices to be discon-
tinued: Anlo, Beatty, Bowlesvilje, Cold Springs, Dialton, Donnelsville,
Eagle City, Hustead, Lawrenceville, Mad River, Orchard, Pitchin, Sny-
derville, Villa and Wiseman.
The star routes formerly supplied mail to postoffices not located on
railway lines, the patrons calling at the offices ; under the rural free deliv-
ery system, the mail is delivered at their doors or in a mail box along the
mail route nearest their homes; sometimes they go a long distance to
the mail box. The rural carriers sell stamps, issue money orders, register
letters and the small postoffices are no longer necessary for the con-
venience of patrons. The eleven routes from Springfield cover approxi-
mately 285 miles, and. all the routes in the county will average more than
twenty-five miles in length; the eleven Springfield routes serve 2,489
families, an average of more than 225 families, and that average will
hold on the other routes, approximately 22,000 persons being served by
rural delivery. Besides daily papers, most rural families receive weekly
and monthly publications ; a pro rata number of letters is written in the
country. Correspondence pertaining to business is heavier in the towns.
Contract postal stations have been established for the convenience
of patrons of the Springfield office; these stations sell stamps, issue and
pay money orders, register letters, accept parcel post packages for
mailing, etc., making it unnecessary that patrons call at the postoffice
for this class of service; the first station was established July 1, 1899,
at the southeast corner of Main Street and Fountain Avenue, and
at 307 West Main Street, those in charge being Theodore Troupe and
Edward Coblentz. There are now eleven postal stations in Spring-
field; most of them are located in the residential districts.
Postal Savings
The first postal savings depository in Clark County was established
October 21, 1911, at the Springfield office, by Postmaster General Frank
H. Hitchcock, but owing to the low rate of interest paid on deposits,
and to the stability of local banks which paid a higher rate of interest,
this depository has not expanded with the same degree of rapidity as
has been the case in some other cities where there have been bank
failures. On July 1, 1917, the Springfield office was made a central
accounting office having under its jurisdiction all other offices in Clark
County, consisting at the time of Bowlusville, Catawba, Donnelsville,
Enon, Forgy, Medway, New Carlisle, New Moorefield, North Hampton,
Plattsburg, Selma, South Charleston, South Vienna and Tremont City.
On March 15, 1920, the county system of central accounting was dis-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 285
continued ; the state was divided, Cleveland becoming the central account-
ing office north and Cincinnati south; the larger offices throughout
the state are designated as direct accounting offices, and they report
to the department at Washington.
While some difficulties were encountered along the National Road
-in an early day, Clark County has been exceptionally fortunate in the
matter of mail depredations; covering a period of almost one and one-
quarter centuries during which the postal service has been in operation
only four arrests of postal employees have been made, three of them
regular and one temporary employee; in 1900, an attempt was made to
rob the vault then located in the Springfield postmaster's office; in it
was stored the greater portion of the stamp stock, but the attempt was
unsuccessful. The robbers were frightened away after they had drilled
a hole near the combination and through the door of the vault.
While the business of the Springfield office has been increasing, in
a measure the same is true of other offices except for the periodicals
piiblished in Springfield. The salaries of local employees, and the
conditions under which they work are also improved; in the old days a
clerk or carrier entered the postal service at from $400 to $500 per
annum, with no assurance of promotion; neither were they protected
by civil service laws, the force being changed with each new political
administration. On January 16, 1883, "An Act to Regulate and Improve
the Civil Service of the United States" was passed by Congress, and
through the establishment of a Civil Service Commission and the pro-
mulgation of Civil Service rules, employees were encouraged to make
the postal service their life work.
In 1907, Congress enacted a law making $600 per annum the entrance
salary for both clerks and carriers, and providing an annual increase
of $100, until the annual salary reached $1,100, and an additional $100
increase was provided for exceptionally efficient employees, approxi-
mately seventy-five per cent attaining to this standard; these salaries
have been increased from time to time until July 1, 1920, when the
present salary scale was adopted and made effective. The entrance sal-
ary is $1,400, with maximum grade for ordinary clerks and carriers of
$1,800 per annum; in addition, there are two grades of special clerks
with salaries at the rate of $1,900 and $2,000 per annum.
There is also improvement in the hours of service; under the old
system, postoffice clerks were required to work as many hours as were
necessary to handle the mail, although carriers have had an eight hour
law for some years. Under the present system all employees except
supervisory officials are scheduled to work eight hours a day; said time
to be divided into tours that will cover a period not to exceed ten con-
secutive hours. These changes have brought about conditions that ren-
der postoffice positions more desirable; they have made it possible to
secure a class of employees that are efficient and reliable. In addition
to the changes affecting the welfare of employees, Congress has enacted
laws providing compensation for employees injured while in discharge
of their official duties, and for their retirement on annuity after reach-
ing a designated age, and having performed a specified number of years
of service.
The following list shows the names and length of service of the
employees of the Springfield office who were the first to benefit under
the retirement law, having reached the age limit, and been retired August
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286 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
20, 1920: Theodore H. Brown, clerk, fifty-two years service; Charles
D. Swaynem, clerk, thirty-six years service; Theodore H. Gugenheim,
clerk, sixteen years service; Isaac Scholes, city carrier, thirty years
service; J. Marion Garst, rural carrier, twenty years service. On Decem-
ber 20, 1921, John N. Bauer, city carrier, was retired on account of
age after twenty-nine years service; for seven years his route had been
in Lagonda. Early in 1922, Daniel E. Brunner, city carrier, and Robert
M. Robison, rural carrier, were retired because of physical debility. Mr.
Brunner had been a carrier thirty-one years, and Mr. Robison has the
same length of time to his credit.
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CHAPTER XXXII
FINANCE— THE WEALTH OF CLARK COUNTY
An important function of the bank in any community is to aid
legitimate business to earn a profit commensurate with the value and
importance of its service; to deny reasonable earnings to industry
is to deny its usefulness; profit is the wage of service. It is to the
advantage of society that business shall be profitable. There have been
radical changes in the economic as well as the social life of .Clark
County. While emphasis is still placed on agriculture, it has a multi-
plicity of other interests.
In 1921, a Springfield bank displayed a window sign saying that
sixty-five per cent of the people die penniless, and it has been said:
"The greatest blessing a young man can have is poverty." While not
all accept the truthfulness of the statement, some die in full possession
of the "blessing." A paragrapher remarks: "This country has reached
the stage where men use the word 'only' in front of ten million dol-
lars," and in Clark County there are those who require six figures in
"setting down" the amount of their riches, saying nothing about the
sequestered fortunes as yet unknown to the income collectors.
The Salvation Army long ago defined its mission as in the interest
of the submerged tenth, but with so many penniless persons there
is more welfare work than can be handled by one organization; this
window sign said that twenty-five per cent of the people have bank
accounts of $1,300, and that nine per cent have a financial rating of
$5,000, and one is left to conjecture the rating of the other one per cent.
A million plus is the highest commercial rating, and there may be as
many billionaires as millionaires in Clark County. Credit is a safe-
guard to business, and some are able to "corner the money."
While Ohio was governed by the Northwest Territory, its residents
paid poll tax ; since its organization as a state, its first and second consti-
tutions levied such taxes for road purposes. While the third constitution
forbade the Ohio Legislature from levying poll tax, an amendment may
change it and the people have been considering the question again. Under
the Ordinance of 1787, which governed Ohio in the interim before its
organization as a state, a law was passed December 8, 1800, providing
that all able-bodied males above twenty-one years old, should pay an
annual tax of 50 cents ; all bachelors not possessed of property valued at
more than $200 paid $2.50 a year, but the Ohio constitution virtually
repealed the law ; the citizens of Ohio never paid poll tax.
The Ohio Gazetteer of 1816 says the tax duplicate in Champaign
County, which then included most of the area now constituting Clark
County, was $2,097,557, and in the office of the county auditor is a
bundle of papers yellow with age — the aggregate of the duplicate of
the ten townships constituting Clark County not having been ascer-
tained from it. While there were not many tax payers when the
area was a part of Greene County, after 1805 until 1818 taxes were pay-
able in Champaign County ; while one session of court was held in Spring-
field in 1806, the machinery of local government was not all in operation,
and taxes were paid in Urbana. The 1920 Clark County tax dupli-
287
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288 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
cate shows a total valuation of $151,066,820, and one year later it was
reported as $143,496,260, indicating a depreciation of $7,500,000 in twelve
months. Clark County, outside of Springfield, is rated at about $55,500,-
000, agriculture representing the principal industry. While in 1801
there was little taxable property in Springfield, 120 years later the tax
duplicate indicated $95,546,460 in collateral in the city. While Spring-
field has about three-fourths of the population, it has less than two-
thirds of the taxable property.
Liberty Loans
The liberal response to the different war loans indicated the fact
that Clark County people believed in letting their dollars work for
them, the agents being the different banking houses, as : American Trust
and Savings ; Citizens National ; Farmers National ; First National ; Indus-
trial; Lagonda National; Mad River National; Springfield Morris
Plan; Springfield National; Springfield Savings' Society in Spring-
field and the Bank of South Charleston, South Vienna Farmers' Deposit
Bank and New Carlisle Bank and National bank; other financial bul-
warks in Springfield are: Springfield Building and Loan Association;
Merchants and Mechanics Loan Association; Clark County Collateral
Loan Company; Springfield Collateral Loan Company and Springfield
Loan Company, and after the above list was supplied by William A.
Luibel, the Security Savings and Loan Company was incorporated, bank-
ing by mail being a feature.
The banks outside of Springfield all cooperated in the different Lib-
erty Loans, and in fact the bankers floated the First Liberty and the
Victory loans; while the general public responded on the second, third
and fourth loans, the masses had to be educated to the necessity; the
farmers were slowest to respond, and they stayed in the game until after
the armistice, leaving the bankers to float the Victory Loan as they had
floated the first one. ,In the First Liberty Loan $1,162,350 were taken by
2,868 subscribers ; the second loan amounted to $2,682,800 taken by 5,819
subscribers ; the third loan of $3,829,250 was taken by 5,691 subscribers,
and in the fourth loan many more realized the necessity —
the amount of $16,674,000 being taken by 11,314 subscribers. In the
Victory Loan the Clark County quota was $2,540,050, and while the
Figuregram was not quite clear, \t is known that the county went "over
the top" again.
The second, third and fourth loans were popular subscription as a
result of better organization, and 25,692 persons had part in them, some
paying in each loan and some being plus subscribers in the Victory Loan.
While Springfield was the loan center, the response was from all parts
of Clark County. It is estimated that those who subscribed- to the Vic-
tory Loan had helped float all the others, and counting them again it
is conceded that 28,694 citizens of Clark County had part in supplying
Uncle Sam with the necessary funds to prosecute the war. There is
a tablet in Memorial Hall inscribed: "In recognition of the patriotism
of the people of Clark County who over-subscribed their war-savings
quota in 1918, this tablet is gratefully erected by the Ohio War Sav-
ings Commission," and the county achieved credit in all of the war
activities.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 289
Early Banking in Springfield
In the archives of the Clark County Historical Society is a paper
written by George W. Winger which contains much valuable data,
and some excerpts are taken from it. The first bank in Ohio was the
Miami Exporting Company of Cincinnati, incorporated April 15, 1803,
with $500,000 capital, and then followed banks in Marietta, Chillicothe,
Steubenville and Zanesville; the first general banking act was passed in
1816, the charters of all banks expiring in 1843, under provision of this
act In 1845, the banking business in Ohio was in a deplorable condi-
tion; wildcat banking was the rule, and bank swindles were frequent.
In the panic of 1837, the Zanesville bank was the only one that did not
repudiate its obligations, and there was a time when conservative men did
not accept bank paper without first investigating the standing of the
bank issuing the money,
As early as 1810, a man named Merryduff who kept a general store
in Lisbon tried writing his own money, and his currency was accepta-
ble to his customers. The people were honest or they would have
imitated his writing, and thereby have caused him to redeem bills
not issued by him. Since that far-off day some Springfield banks have
issued their own currency, emulating the Merryduff enterprise. In 1845,
an act passed the Ohio Assembly which ended wildcat banking in Ohio.
Springfield suffered the inconvenience of the wildcat banking system
until the establishment of state banks in 1845, and more or less up to
the creation of national banks in 1863, that were operated under Federal
authority. Ohio was flooded with worthless currency, but when the
state banks were opened people soon began depositing in them.
The state banks almost eliminated private banks ; they were the banks
of issue, and the corporation banks had their difficulties. In 1847, Spring-
field business men felt the need of a bank and January 25, the Mad
River Valley Bank opened its doors with Levi Rinehart as its presi-
dent, and associated with him in official capacity were: John Bacon,
James T. Claypool, T. R. Nolan, Charles M. Clarke, William Werden
and William Berry. The first depositor was Absalom Mattox, clerk
of the court who deposited $457.75 of Clark County money. The first
loan was $500 secured by a farmer — Adam Baker. While the origin
of banking is lost in antiquity, although it is generally agreed that it
was instituted in the twelfth century in Venice, it is known who made
the first deposit and who availed himself of the borrowing privilege
first 'in Clark County, and "nothing ventured nothing gained," seems
to encourage the habit, although speculation has ruined some enterpris-
ing citizens.
On May 15, 1851, the second bank was organized in Springfield, and
since that time as business has demanded it other financial institutions
have been welcomed in the community. Oliver Clarke who owned much
land now occupied by the city was its president, and in 1860 came the
third bank owned by three brothers — the Foos Brothers; in '1863, the
national banking law was enacted with the dual purpose of providing
currency for business, and to finance the Civil war. On the same day,'
December 3, 1863, the Springfield Bank and the Foos Brothers Bank
begun an effort to secure a national charter; the Foos application was
forwarded by mail, while the Springfield Bank sent its request by express,
reaching the comptroller's office first, and thus February 1, 1864, the
Vol. 1—19
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290
SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Springfield Bank having acquired the title of First National Bank, was
opened with Dr. John Ludlow as president, and while others have
served the present president, John Ludlow Bushnell, is descended from the
first president, his father Asa S. Bushnell and his grandfather, Dr. Lud-
low having filled the position — an unique situation, three generations in
one family holding the same position.
In 1865, the Mad River Bank applied for a charter as a national
bank and as Springfield increased in enterprise and population, the
banks multiplied and they have always met the financial needs; while
deposits were small in the beginning, the discount rate was liberal and
banking always has been profitable in Springfield. January 1, 1870, when
the first public statement was issued the deposits amounted to $646,-
Oliver Clauke, an Early Financier
024.61 in local banks, while fifty years later — 1920 — the bank clearings
in Springfield alone amounted to $91,059,064.28, although a later state-
ment shows a loss in 1921, of $19,321,457.45, the industries of Springfield
running much lighter because of business depression. In times past some
of the captains of industry have been bank presidents : Benjamin H,
Warder and Asa S- Bushnell holding such positions till the end of
their livesf and today manufacturers hold such positions.
Years ago there were men who specialized in the settlement of estates,
but finally the trust companies were organized to handle that line of
business, the American Trust and Savings Bank being first in that partic-
ular field in 1907, and estates are carried through to final settlement by
corporations rather than individuals. The greatest financial test encount-
ered in Springfield came in 1887, when some of its leading industries
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 291
failed, but through careful financiering the banks in Springfield are
still regarded as places where people go to exchange cash for credit,
credit for cash and credit for credit. Money is a symbol of values,
and accounts are collected in different commodities. The Latins called
a herd of cattle pecus, and wealth expressed in cattle was pecunia, and
thus commodities come to have pecuniary value in business transactions.
In the vein of light philosophy, some one remarks: "What we want
to know is what's become of the 'gink' who used to say, 'I do not care
about the money ; it's the principle of the thing,' " and it was Dean D. H.
Bauslin of Hamma Divinity School who remarked: "As long as men
bow down to money they will have no other God." While banks some-
times lose in speculative or wildcat propositions, a bank is known by
the depositors who patronize it, and among Springfield banks are some
who have dealings with the fathers and grandfathers of their present
day depositors. Safety first applies in banking, and while safety deposit
boxes are furnished by all banks, the personnel of the organization enters
into the consideration; while there are tax-dodging investments, the
banks of Springfield have the confidence of investors.
In the World war crisis — a time to try men's souls — the Spring-
field banks have withstood adverse conditions. They have passed safely
through a, period of anxiety, uncertainty and perplexity and only the
Houston Bank of South Charleston succumbed to the unusual financial
strain and it has now paid in full the $500,000 in deposits from local
clients. The failure contemplated $1,750,000 in all, and while it is
said that a fortune runs out in the third generation, in this case the man
directing the enterprise was a brother to those who accumulated the
fortune; while it was an inheritance, the fortune ran out in the same
generation. This failure is regarded as one of the worst bank calami-
ties that ever happened in Ohio, and citizens as well as corporations
have suffered because of the scarcity of funds occasioned by it. The
affairs of the bank were interwoven with other Houston interests, and
meanwhile depositors grow impatient waiting for their money.
It took a long time for the banks to build up the necessary confi-
dence in the minds of depositors, and the Houston failure was a blow
to it, and among the settlers the practice of hiding money in unsuspected
places obtained ; auger holes were filled with money and plugged again.
A Madison township family sold a hogshead of grain after the death
of the father — John Reeder. The buyer found $200 in silver buried in
it; while there may still be honest folk — there was no question about
the ownership of that money, and it was returned to the Reeder family.
Daniel Hartzler who had quarry interests along Mad River, and who
built the mansion on the W. W. Keifer farm now designated as Fort
Tecumseh, was murdered there in 1867, because it was rumored that he
kept money there.
While the bandits who murdered Mr. Hartzler did not obtain much
money, they made their escape with a horse and buggy from the farm,
and the county had a long drawn murder trial as a result ; in these days
of improved highways, holdups are frequently staged in the country,
and people appreciate their banking opportunities; they do not keep
their money. The bandits were in hiding about the barn, and when
Mr. Hartzler entered the house they followed him. While he defended
himself, he was unarmed and unprepared, and when they shot him in the
leg his wife fled to a neighbor's house, and while alone he bled to death ;
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first aid administered at once might have saved him. The bandits had
reckoned without their host, as Hartzler put up a strong defense; he
confused them, and relatives were involved in the difficulty. Circum-
stantial evidence was strong against them as one had his hat when he
was arrested, and the Hartzler episode is still used as an argument in
favor of depositing money "where thieves do not break through and
steal."
Income Taxes
While an income is not an objectionable feature, the income tax has
been the source of considerable study. The local internal revenue and
income tax office is in the Federal Building, and while there is always
someone in charge it is directed from Cincinnati ; there are four revenue
and income tax collecting districts in Ohio, and Springfield and Clark
County are in the group of thirteen counties of the First Ohio Revenue
District. In 1920 the income tax returns from the First Ohio District
were $100,000, and since Cincinnati and Dayton are larger centers than
Springfield, it is haphazard to estimate the amount returned from Clark
County. It ranges from a few cents to vast amounts, and so many con-
siderations enter into it that many require advice in estimating it. The
corporations paying income tax have their own expert accountants, and at
the last minute they leave the report in the Springfield office or mail it
to Cincinnati.
Savings Deposits
It is said that the economic .barometers in the form of savings deposits
are increasing, and when a bank account is once established it has a
tendency to check reckless expenses; \yhile some lay something by for
the proverbial rainy day, there is another contingent that does not look
to the future. The provident man is able to say : "Here it is, boys," when
guests arrive while his less frugal neighbor inquires: "Where is- it?"
when they must be fed. It is the province of the bank to teach frugal-
ity. The descendants of those who came early and applied themselves,
now sit in easy chairs ; they live on Easy Street, and wear horn rimmed
spectacles while those who accumulated the fortune received payment
for their labor in commodities other than money. When money was
scarce they received salt pork and cornmeal in return for their service.
While the pioneers were not stinted in the way of sassafras tea, or in
reading the works of Josephus, there are residents in every community
who have inherited more funds than their ancestry ever gave in to the
assessor. An estate in New York valued at $350,000 in 1867, was allowed
to accumulate — to "grow rich on itself," until it attained to $1,928,700
and without expense to anybody, and thus property advances in value.
However, statisticians are agreed that heirs who come into possession
of money they do not earn acquire accelerated habits in spending it,
and chattel mortgages sometimes follow in the wake of inheritances. The
man who wore the double shawl in winter while accumulating the for-
tune, had as much pleasure as the younger man wearing the modern
overcoat has in spending it; those who have been economical cannot
enjoy reckless expenditures.
When Ross Mitchell who accumulated considerable property began
his business career in Springfield, Benjamin H. Warder advised him
tto take out life insurance and borrow money on the policy to invest in
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294 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
real estate, and it proved to be a good policy; when he died he owned
a good many farms, and a good many business properties in Spring-
field ; since the heirs did not wish a division of property in court, apprais-
ers were chosen who divided it into three groups, and the three daughters
cast lots for it; each had agreed to accept her portion, and all have
been satisfied about it.
While gold is the monetary standard, there was a time when silver
would buy more than the Urbana shinplasters, as some of the settlers
designated paper money ; while values were fluctuating in the reconstruc-
tion period following the Civil war, there has been no question about
the dollar in the wake of the World war. While the war forced the
enlargement of business, and readjustment has been the difficulty, the
dollar has not depreciated ; the wage scale and the prices asked for com-
modities have soared above precedent, but the dollar has had about the
same purchasing power; the profiteer has taken advantage of the sit-
uation in Springfield and Clark County; the area is within the United
States, and it is a widespread condition.
S. T. Russel, of Springfield, has broadcasted a folder; Scientific
Money, which he designates as a system that fixes the value of the
circulating medium so it cannot change, and makes it perfectly elastic
under all conditions. In the booklet he says the World war has ended,
and the business of all countries is struggling to resume normal con-
ditions. The war has taught the people many things, but they were so
accustomed to extravagant customs that they easily lapse back into them.
School children bought thrift stamps, and many of them continue their
savings, and while the Christmas Savings are usually drawn out at the
end of the year, the banks have found some who prefer establishing per-
manent savings accounts. More than half a million dollars was distrib-
uted among Springfield depositors at the 1921 Christmastide, which the
bankers rfegard as a flattering showing, proving that citizens recognize
the value of thrift; unless they became permanent depositors they are
not of much advantage to the bank, but the saving habit is encouraged ;
it was estimated that 5,000,000 Americans had Christmas deposits in
4,000 banks, aggregating $150,000,000, and if some became regular
depositors the system has served an excellent purpose.
A statement appeared in print recently that it costs the National
banks an average of $59 a year to handle $1,000 of deposits, and $1 more
would bring it up to six percent, and that explains why banks pay a low
rate of interest. When a wealthy woman acquired a spendthrift husband,
her friends learned that she "kept up the interest" by not allowing him
to spend the principal. While many small investors in Liberty Bonds
have sold them, it is said they are all retained in Springfield, and the
coupons are now being clipped from them. When people quit saving
money, banking wilf become a lost art, and since the modest depositor
today is sometimes the influential . business man tomorrow — the banks
show uniform courtesy to all depositors. The "Blue Sky" Bureau at
Columbus estimates that citizens of Clark County have lost $684,000 in
the last three years through investments in worthless stocks, when Lib-
erty Bonds would have served their purpose better, and that leads to the
suggestion that the ordinary citizen should consult his banker for finan-
cial information, as he goes to his lawyer for legal advice, or to the fam-
ily doctor — and in the bank this technical service is rendered without
cost or obligation.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 295
The jokesmith's version of Auld Lang Syne is :
"The man to whom you loan a buck,
You'll very often find —
Wants old acquaint — quite forgot,
And never brought to mind,"
but that viewpoint does not reflect the sentiment of a number of Spring-
field citizens who are now and then victims of swindlers; it is safe to
investigate before cashing checks for strangers. It becomes expensive
to make change for strangers who raise their $2 bills to $20, and when
one is unable to establish his identity, a check is of little consequence
unless he can locate an "easy mark." "Honor thy father and thy mother/'
but not a stranger's check — that's the rule in Springfield.
The Farmers National Bank reports unclaimed deposits accumulating
through some years amounting to $299.76, the deposits ranging as high
as $40.31, thist report a requirement every seven years. Since there are
fourteen banks in Clark County, there must be quite a sum of unclaimed
money. After the lapse of eight years a bank is required to pay such
deposits to the county treasurer, and then the depositor may have it when
rendering satisfactory identification. The Farmers National Bank sent
$50 worth of molten silver taken from a cash register that passed through
a fire in a Catawba store to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, in an
effort to realize something from it. Mrs. G. L. Wingate has a souvenir
of an earlier fire on the same site in Catawba — several pieces of silver
melted and run together. Mutilated paper money is redeemed by the
U. S. Treasurer, but this was an experiment with silver.
While it required careful financeering for the banks to float the dif-
ferent loans, and accommodate the requirements of the business world,
Clark County banks, with one exception, were equal to the situation.
There are 7b6 state banks in Ohio, and the end-of-the-year report, 1921,
showed a sound condition. The building and loan associations of the
state report that, in 1921, 205,759 families were assisted toward owner-
ship of homes, and the Springfield institutions had their share in this
constructive program. While the rich and poor frequently change places,
some purse-proud families disappear into oblivion and are never heard
from again. The first human inquiry transmitted by electric agency,
"What hath God wrought?" is answered in the life history of the pio-
neers; in their poverty they planned for the future, while the average
citizen still says, "If life and money hold out," in forecasting it. No
human equation is more uncertain.
Death and taxes — as yet no wizard of finance has devised any means
of escape from them. While the Clark County settler borrowed money
in overcoming wilderness conditions, because of his sagacity and fore-
sight, succeeding generations have loaned it, and some one exclaims:
"If honorable posterity ever meets honorable present ancestry, I fear
unpleasant criminations. I seem to hear thoughtful descendants saying,
bitterly, 'You are far too reckless with other people's property. Who
gave you the right to place mortgage on earth we are to inherit?' This
haunting by posterity paralyzes lovemaking," and there is some property
that has not changed ownership only through succession, but after the
cycle of a century there is none claimed today by the original owner.
Sometimes mortgages have been kept off through two and three genera-
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296 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
tions, notwithstanding the edict: "It is only three generations from
shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves."
Decline of Markets
A newspaper paragraph bearing a Columbus headline, December 1,
1920, says: "Farmers are again becoming borrowers at their country
banks for the first time in five years; the season of ready money with
them is at an end, and pinching of coins will again become common if
present conditions continue. At this time they are borrowing money to
pay taxes. * * * And farm barns and granaries are bursting with
things ready to be sold, if a market for them could be found." There was
a market, but they wanted more money for their commodities. When
readjustment began in the wake of the World war, they were so inured to
inflated market conditions that they borrowed money for taxes rather
than accept the decline of the market.
While war time prices prevailed, Clark County farmers became lib-
eral buyers of automobiles, talking machines, lighting plants and water
systems. They indulged in some of the luxuries their city cousins
regarded as necessities. In their vexation, farmers became students ; they
investigated conditions that when times were better had not concerned
them, and the explanations offered have not always been satisfactory.
However, agriculture, the world's oldest occupation, was the first to
feel the pressure under the reconstruction process. One domestic econo-
mist exclaimed : "The World war taught us to save everything but
money." It is the easiest thing in the world to figure out how other
people can save money ; when everybody was poor, their very necessities
bound them together, and thus the world hears about old fashioned
neighborliness and hospitality.
The almighty dollar has always been the incentive, but minus the ele-
ment of competition the pioneers were not forced to struggle for a liveli-
hood; however, the new name for hard times is the period of readjust-
ment— a rose by any other name would smell the same — and the present
generation now understands it. Those who did not participate in the
development of Clark County have their duties of citizenship in preserv-
ing it; the Clark County as they see it is a legacy from the past genera-
tions in local history.
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CHAPTER XXXIII
CLARK COUNTY IN THE WARS
"in time of peace prepare for war"
Are not the wars of the past sufficient blot on American civilization?
War is the oldest sin of the nations; it has been styled international
suicide.
Many persons accept the trite definition of war given by Gen. William
Tecumseh Sherman: "War is hell." At times civilization seems to
hang in the balance, and the Disarmament Conference staged in Wash-
ington, in the closing days of 1921, was the greatest forward movement
in the history of the world. An English writer, H. G. Wells, said it
summed up the whole future of America in two words : Adventure or
degeneration, and Clark County comes under the dictum: "Humanity
with all its fears, with all the hopes of future years, is hanging breath-
less on thy fate!"
When the time came, at the instance of President Warren G. Harding,
to decide whether international relations should be adjusted by constitu-
tion or conversation, Washington became the capital of the world. Hun-
dreds of millions were watching results, and the great conference was
discussed in every civilized country on earth. While the people were met
to hammer their swords into plowshares, there were axes to be sharpened,
although President Harding said: "The conclusions of this body will
have a signal influence on all human progress, and the fortunes of the
world. This meeting is an earnest testimonial of the awakened con-
science of the twentieth century civilization."
One review of the conference reads: "Diplomacy has always had
her vested interests ; they have seemed permanent. What makes Novem-
ber 12, 1921, so portentous in its invasion of those vested interests; take
the first and most important one — secrecy. Diplomacy has always
wrapped herself in it, but when Secretary Charles Evans Hughes fol-
lowed the opening speech of welcome and of idealism, made by President
Harding, with the boldest and most detailed program of what the United
States had in mind, diplomacy's most sacred interest was for the moment
overthrown," and some have regarded his drastic action as a master
stroke of diplomacy.
While it is true that war makes heroes, it is not necessarily true that
peace makes has-beens, although it has been intimated that war-time
i-deals have suffered the loss of their i's, and have become the worst sort of
deals — that profiteers recognized their golden opportunity. "War is an
economic problem ; if we do not destroy war, it will destroy us," and after
every great war crime waves sweep the country. Now that the World
war has become a matter of history, profiteers are still reaping their
golden harvest; the problem of the honest business man has been to
adjust himself to economic conditions. It was Gen. U. S. Grant who
said: "Man proposes, but God disposes," and succeeding generations
have recognized it as a truth. The world has become used to war, and
the people are uncertain whether they are in the early laps of a new dne
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298 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
or a relapse of an old one, and the "freedom of the seas/' does not guar-
antee the freedom of the world.
While the United States flag never has trailed in defeat, it has been
carried into battle of defense for the whole world. The University of
Chicago has been given $60,000 by a philanthropist to be used in the
excavation of the site of Armageddon, the first battle known to history.
In connection with Armistice Day observance Springfield ministers dis-
cussed such topics as : "The Law of the Jungle," "The rule of Brother-
hood/' "Christianity and Armament Limitation," and "The Vision of a
Warless World," and everywhere men discussed a war to end war. In
future wars it is urged that the safe places will be in the trenches ; the war
of the future will be waged in ways unknown, and some one says the
dickering diplomats and the ambitious politicians will enforce peace among
the nations. While President Harding says the military standard must
not fall below the "line of safety," Gen. John J. Pershing places this line
of safety at 150,000 soldiers with 14,000 of them officers — thus in time
of peace, being prepared for war.
In connection with the 1921 Armistice Day service in Springfield, the
Rev. Charles E. Byrer said it was time for nations and races to think,
work and build together and to believe in each other, and it is conceded
that war does not determine the merit of any question ; instead of solving,
it opens up other problems. Clark County had its christening in a war
of extermination — the Shawnees relinquishing the area, and the soil has
been redeemed not only by the veterans of the Revolutionary period ; by
the soldiers in the War of 1812 ; by the boys in blue in the Civil war —
the war of the states — but again civilization was in the- death grapple
when Clark County boys went overseas in the war of the nations.
Following all of the wars have come the reconstruction periods, when
the best brains and an unlimited amount of money have been necessary;
when cost and selling prices are adjusting themselves after such upheavals,
it requires soldiers of fortune to stand the test of courage and conviction ;
when the wars are over, come the intricate questions of. the aftermath.
It is one thing to inflict a wound, and quite another thing to recover
from it. "In time of peace prepare for war," is not in harmony with
the policy of arbitration. Notwithstanding the recommendation of the
prophet Isaiah with regard to swords and spears, Clark County has had
part in many mortal conflicts. When discussing the problems of recon-
struction, soldiers of the different wars talk about "after our war," and
after every war there is an increased interest in ancestors and family
trees.
It is said that America is already a forest of family trees ; when the
World war soldiers returned from overseas, they were interested in
Mother Country and Fatherland connecting links, in the chains of their
own personal relations — Who's Who in America. Secretary of State
William Jennings Bryan attempted to federate all the nations of the
earth in a peace pact universal, and many had signified their acceptance
of the conditions. War vessels were to be converted into merchant
marine; arbitration was to solve the problems of the nations, and bel-
ligerent powers was to become an obsolete expression among the nations
of the world. The Peace Tribunal at The Hague was to be the solution
of the whole thing. It seemed that the saber had rusted in its sheath, and
that the cannon's lips had grown cold ; that plowshares and pruning hooks
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had played their part in advance civilization, and the "bloody shirt" was
eliminated from local politics.
It is said that with present day munitions of war, a pitched battle
would not last longer than a June frost ; it would be wholesale destruc-
tion, and none would remain to bury the dead. It was thought civiliza-
tion had advanced too far for warfare ever again to sway the country.
When one contemplates the horrors of war, nation arrayed against nation,
one wonders that so many centuries cycled by before the world awakened
to arbitration; the public mind had changed, and in future the battles
of the world would be fought with ballots rather than with bullets. The
average citizen had no conception of a world war — its far-reaching
effects. "Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities ; all is
vanity." Ecclesiastes. Until the World war there had been eat in meat
and wheat and with the rest of the world, Clark County was resting in
comfort and security; the wars of the past had seemingly vouchsafed
such conditions.
The spirit of the colonies was transmitted, and E Pluribus Unum was
the result. When one stops to enumerate the wars through which one's
ancestry and one's contemporaries have passed, one realizes that time is
passing and one wonders when one listened last to the reading of the
Declaration of Independence on a festal day. When the Declaration of
American Independence used to be read as part of every Fourth of July
celebration, there were orations dripping with patriotism following it,
and everybody seemed to enjoy it; when read in the spirit in which it
was written, it is a masterpiece in literature. While it is the document
of the ages, humdrum reading kills it. Those who study the signs of the
times unite in saying that the correct history of the American Revolution
has not as yet been written, and that when it is the Old Northwest — the
Northwest Territory — will be credited with many things ; the great Indian
uprisings were in the Northwest ; the Indians in Ohio were regarded as
a menace, when Governor Arthur St. Clair was unable to deal with them,
and Gen. Anthony Wayne was sent out to quell them.
On the Western Front
In the East where Gen. George Washington was in command, the
War of the Revolution was fought with civilized soldiery, while in the
West Gen. George Rogers Clark had to deal with infuriated savages ; the
Indian would not yield his hunting ground, nor would he vacate his wig-
wam. The American Army naturally regarded the British as the emis-
saries inciting the Indians to ambush and treachery, and it became neces-
sary to overthrow the Shawnee Confederacy centering in Piqua Village
along Mad River in what is now Clark County.
Piqua Village: the Shawnees
In 1848, when Henry Howe was at the site of the battle between the
Shawnees and General Clark in command of his wilderness army on
Mad River, he wrote : "I was desirous of making a sketch of the birth-
place of Tecumseh, and of the place when Gen. George Rogers Clark
fought and defeated the Shawnees. It was in the winter; the ground
was covered with snow, and with benumbed fingers I took a hasty sketch.
A bright, intelligent boy ten years old stood by my side; he h^d been
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300 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
sent by his father, a farmer near by, to point out to me the various objects
of interest, and among them the hill called Tecumseh. Not until on my
second tour of Ohio, and in his own office in Springfield, did I again
meet my once little guide to the birthplace and battlefield. It was Gen.
J. Warren Keifer who since has attained international renown," and
singularly enough, a son of General Keifer — W. W. Keifer of Springfield
— accompanied the peripatetic over the same route January 9, 1922,
explaining in similar way the landmarks designated as the battlefield.
It was three-quarters of a century after the visit of that first historian.
A modern version of the Revolutionary situation is: "Text books
in both England and America should be rewritten; American histories
should not begin all things with the Revolution, and English histories
should remember that the American Revolution is a part of England's
own history," and coming from an English woman visiting in America,
who classifies the foregoing sentiment as propaganda? In an address,
August 7, 1901, in connection with the Springfield Centennial program,
General Keifer reviewed the military history of Clark County — a people
springing from all nationalities and tongues, with varied race character-
istics but finally so amalgamated in blood and character as to boast that
the blood of all nationalities runs in the veins of its citizens. At the time
of the summary, the history of Clark County was almost wholly limited
to the nineteenth century, and the speaker had been active in two wars —
Civil and Spanish American — holding official relation to them. He says
the people responded to all calls of danger and duty, going forth to
uphold constitutional liberty and the national rights of man.
General Keifer says the sons of Clark County fought and died on
every important campaign, and in every great battle in the last 100 years
in which the country was engaged ; the blood of her sons has crimsoned
the soil, and their bones have bleached on the great battlefields of the
Republic. They have heroically borne on high the starry flag of Wash-
ington, the purest and proudest emblem of human liberty, both on land
and sea. Wherever glory in the cause of humanity has been won through
deeds of valor and by bloody sacrifice, Clark County's soldiers and sailors
must justly be awarded a share; this nation stands in first place among
the great powers of the world.
The early inhabitants of this area were soldiers in the defense of
their homes ; the region round about was, on account of its perennial
springs, rich pastures, quantities of fish in the pure waters, wild fruits,
berries and nuts, deer, bear, turkeys and other wild game necessary to
sustain man in a savage state, much coveted by the Indian tribes, and they
fought for it with a desperation seldom witnessed in other parts. At the
Piqua Shawnee Indian Village Tecumseh and the Prophet were born,
and they became the most famous of all Indian war chieftains; they
waged war on the frontier settlers longer than any others of the wild
tribes. While Henry Howe describes the overthrow of the Shawnee
Confederacy at Piqua Village on Mad River, many libraries contain the
volumes, and another version — Bradford's Notes on Kentucky — is drawn
from for the battle, General Clark's returning to Kentucky. General
Keifer says this battle gave more land to the United States Government
than any other engagement in the Revolutionary war, and because the
battlefield is now within Clark County full detail is given, beginning:
"The principal part of Piaua Village stood upon a plain, rising fifteen or
twenty feet above Mad River.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 301
"On the south, between the village and the river, there was an exten-
sive prairie ; on the northeast some gold cliffs terminating near the river ;
on the west and northwest, level timbered land, while on the opposite
side of the stream another prairie of varying width stretched back to
the high grounds. The river sweeping by in graceful bend, the precipitous
rocky cliffs, the undulating hills with their towering trees, the prairies
garnished with tall grass and brilliant flowers, combined to render the
situation of Piqua both beautiful and picturesque. At the period of its
destruction Piqua was quite populous; there was a rude log hut within
its limits surrounded by pickets. It was, however, sacked and burned,
August 8, 1780, by an army of 1,000 men from Kentucky, after a severe
and well conducted battle with the Indians who inhabited it. All the
improvements of the Indians, including more than 200 acres of corn and
other vegetables then growing in their fields, were laid waste and
destroyed ; the town was never rebuilt by the Shawnees.
"The inhabitants of Piqua Village removed to the Great Miami River
and erected another town which they called Piqua, after the one that had
been destroyed, and in defense of which they had fought with the skill
and valor characteristic of their nation." Since Tecumseh was born in
the Shawnee Village in 1768, he was only twelve and had not yet become
the renowned fighter, but the fate of Piqua Village spurred him to action
later, when the battle was spoken of as the Great Miami Slaughter, Mad
River being considered part of the Miami waterway. It is said that
Piqua Village was built after the French pattern, the houses at intervals
for three miles along Mad River, most of the town on the plain above
the stream. The Shawnees. though war-like, were industrious and pros-
perous, but the beginning of the end is thus described : "On August 2,
1780, General Clark took up the line of march from where Cincinnati now
stands (Fort Washington) for the Indian towns."
Plan of Attack
The line of march was as follows: The first division, commanded
by General Clark, took the front position; the center was occupied by
artillery, military stores and baggage ; the second, commanded by Colonel
Logan, was placed in the rear. The men were ordered to march in four
lines, at about forty yards distance from each other, and a line of flankers
on each side at about the same distance from the right and left line.
There was also a front and a rear guard, who only kept in sight of the
main army, in order to prevent confusion in case of an attack by the
enemy. On the march of the army a general order was issued that in the
event of an attack in front, the front was to stand fast, and the two right
lines to wheel to the right, and the two left lines to the left and form a
complete line, while the artillery was to advance forward to the center
of the line.
In case of an attack on either of the flanks or side lines, they were to
stand fast, and likewise the artillery, while the opposite lines wheeled and
formed on the two extremes of those lines ; in the event of an attack being
made on the rear, similar order was to be observed as in an attack in
front. In this manner the army moved on without encountering anything
worthy of notice until it arrived at Chillicothe (situated on the Little
Miami River in Greene County), about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, on
the 6th of August. The army found the town not only abandoned but
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 303
burned or burning, most of the houses having been set on fire that morn-
ing. It encamped on the ground that night, and on the following day
cut down several hundred acres of corn ; and about 4 o'clock in the eve-
ning it took up its line of march for the Piqua towns, which were about
twelve miles from Chillicothe. The army had not marched more than a
mile when there came up a heavy rain with thunder and lightning, accom-
panied by considerable wind.
The marching army was without tents or any other shelter from the
rain, which fell in torrents; the men were as wet as if they had been
plunged into the river ; nor had they it in their power to keep their guns
dry. It was nearly dark when the rain ceased and they were ordered to
encamp in a hollow square with baggage and horses in the center, and as
soon as fire could be made to dry their clothes. They were instructed
to examine their guns and be sure they were in good order; they were
to discharge them in the following manner : one company was to fire and
time was given to reload, when a company in the most remote part of
the camp was to discharge their artillery, and so on alternately until all
the guns were fired and known to be in condition.
On the morning of the 8th the army marched by sunrise; having a
level, open way it arrived about 2 o'clock in the afternoon in sight of
Piqua; the Indian road which the army followed from Chillicothe to
Piqua crossed Mad River about a quarter of a mile below the town ; as
soon as the advance guard crossed the river, it was attacked by the
Indians, who had concealed themselves in the high weeds. The ground
on which the attack was made, as well as the manner in which it was
done, left no doubt but that a general engagement was intended by the
Shawnees. Colonel Logan with about 400 men was ordered to file off
to the right, and march up the river on the east side, and to continue to
the upper end of the town so as to prevent the Indians from escaping in
that direction, while the remainder of the men under Colonels Lynn,
Floyd and Harrod were ordered to cross the river and encompass the
town on the west, while General Clark and the troops under Colonel
Slaughter, and such as were attached to the artillery, marched directly
toward the town.
The prairie in which the Indians were concealed in the weeds was
only about 200 yards across to the timbered land, and the division of the
army destined to encompass the town on the west side found it necessary
to cross this prairie where the Indians commenced the attack, to avoid
the fire of the concealed enemy. The Indians evinced great military skill
and judgment, and to prevent the western division from executing the
duties assigned them, they made a powerful effort to turn their left wing;
this was discovered by Floyd and Lynn, and to prevent being outflanked
they extended the line of battle west more than a mile from the town;
the battle continued warmly contested on both sides until about 5 o'clock,
when the Indians disappeared everywhere unperceived except a few in
the town. The fieldpiece which had been entirely useless before was now
brought to bear upon the houses, when a few shots dislodged the Indians
which were in them. .
An Unfortunate Affair
A nephew of General Clark's who for many years had been a pris-
oner among the Indians, and who attempted to come to the whites just
before the close of the action, was supposed to be an Indian and received
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304 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
a mortal wound ; but he lived several hours after he arrived among them.
The morning after the battle a Frenchman who had been taken by the
Indians on the Wabash a short time before, was found in the loft of
one of the cabins. He gave the information that the Indians did not
expect the Kentuckians to reach their town that day and it was their
intention to have attacked them in the night in their camp with the toma-
hawk and knife, and not to fire a gun.
The Shawnees intended to have made an attack the night before, but
they were prevented by the rain, and also the vigilance evinced by the
Kentuckians in firing off their guns and reloading them, the reasons for
which they comprehended when they heard the firing ; they knew the wet
guns would become rusted. Another circumstance showed that the Indians
were disappointed in the time of the Kentuckians arriving; they had not
dined. When the men got into town they found a considerable quantity
of provisions ready cooked, in large kettles and other vessels, almost
untouched. The loss on each side was equal, about twenty killed. The
French style of village extending along the margin of Mad River scat-
tered the military forces; in many places the houses were twenty poles
apart. In order to surround the town on the east as was his orders, Col-
onel Logan marched fully three miles, while the Indians turned their
whole force against those on the opposite side of the town.
Colonel Logan's party never saw an Indian during the whole action,
which was so severe that a short time before the close Simon Girty, a
white man who had joined the Indians and who was made a chief among
the Mingoes, drew off 300 of his men, declaring it was folly in the
extreme to continue the action against men who acted so much like mad-
men as General Clark's men, for they rushed in the extreme of danger
with a seeming disregard of the consequences ; this opinion of Girty, and
the withdrawal of 300 Mingoes, so disconcerted the rest that the whole
body soon after dispersed; it is a maxim among the Indians never to
encounter a fool or a mad man (in which they included a desperate man) ;
they say with a man who has not sense enough to take a prudent care of
his own life, the life of his antagonist is in much greater danger than
with a prudent man.
Destruction of Crops
It was estimated that at the two Indian towns, Chillicothe and Piqua,
more than 500 acres of corn were destroyed, as well as other species of
eatable vegetables; in consequence of this, the Indians were obliged for
the support of their women and children to employ their whole time in
hunting, which gave quiet to Kentucky for considerable time. The day
after the battle, August 9, was occupied in cutting down the growing
corn, destroying the cabins and fort and collecting horses. On August 10,
the army began its march homeward, and encamped that night in Chilli-
cothe. On the 11th it cut a field of corn that had been left for the benefit
of the men and horses on their return. At the mouth of the Licking the
army dispersed, each individual making his best way home. Thus ended
a campaign in which most of the men had no other provisions for twenty-
five days than six quarts of Indian corn each, except the green corn and
vegetables found at the Indian towns, and one gill of salt ; and yet not a
single complaint was heard to escape the lips of a solitary individual.
All appeared to be impressed with the belief that if this army should
be defeated, that few would be able to escape, and that the Indians then
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 305
would fall on the defenseless women and children in Kentucky and destroy
them. From this view of the subject every man was determined to con-
quer or die. Abraham Thomas, of Miami County, was in this campaign
against Piqua. His reminiscences published in 1839 in The Troy Times
detail some interesting facts omitted in the preceding account. While
it differs it is probably more accurate. In the summer of 1780, General
Clark was getting up an expedition with the object of destroying some
Indian villages on Mad River. One division, under Colonel Logan, was
to approach the Ohio by way of Licking River. The other, to which I
was attached, ascended the Ohio from the falls in boats with provisions
and six-pound cannon. The plan of the expedition was for the two
divisions to meet in the Indian country opposite the mouth of the Licking,
and thence march in a body to the interior.
In descending the Ohio, Daniel Boone and myself acted as spies on
the Kentucky side of the river, and a large party on the Indian side was
on the same duty; the latter were surprised by the Indians, and several
were killed and wounded. It was then a toilsome task to get the boats
up the river under constant expectation of attacks from the savages, and
we were much rejoiced in making our destination. Before the boats
crossed over to the Indian side, Boone and myself were taken into the
foremost boat and landed above a small cut in the bank opposite the
mouth of Licking. We were desired to spy through the woods for Indian
signs. I was much younger than Boone and ran up the bank in great
glee §nd cut into a beech tree with my tomahawk, which I verily believe
was the first tree cut into by a white man on the present site of Cin-
cinnati.
We were soon joined by other rangers, and hunted over the other
bottom; the forest everywhere was thick set with heavy beech and scat-
tering underbrush of spicewood and pawpaw. We started several deer,
but seeing no signs of Indians we returned to the landing. By this time
the men had landed and were busy in cutting timber for stockades and
cabins; the division under Colonel Logan shortly crossed over from the
mouth of Licking, and after erecting a stockade and cabin for .a small
garrison and stores, the army started for Mad River. Our way lay over
the uplands of an untracked, primitive forest through which with great
labor we cut and bridged a road for the accommodation of our pack horses
and cannon. My duty in the march was to spy some two miles in advance
of the main body; our progress was slow, but the weather was pleasant,
and the country abounded in game. We saw no Indians that I recollect
until we approached the waters of Mad River.
In the campaigns of those days none but the officers thought of
tents; each man had to provide for his own comfort. Our meat was
cooked upon sticks set up before the fire ; our beds were sought upon the
ground, and he was the most fortunate man who could gather small
branches, leaves and bark to shield him from the ground in moist places.
After the lapse of so many years it is difficult to recollect the details of
so many dates, so as to make the precise time of duration of our move-
ments, but in gaining the open country of Mad River we came in sight
of the Indian villages. We had been kept all the night before on the
march and pushed rapidly toward the points of attack ; we surprised 300
Indian warriors gathered in the town with the view of surprising and
attacking us the next morning. At this place a stockade fort had been
Vol. 1—20
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306 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
reared near the village, on the side we were approaching it, but the Indians
feared to enter it, and took post in their houses.
The village was situated on a low prairie bottom of Mad River
between the second bank and a bushy swamp piece of ground on the
margin of the river. It could be approached only from three points:
the one our troops occupied, and from up and down the river. General
Clark detached two divisions to secure the last named points, from which
he extended his line to cover the first. By this arrangement the whole
body of Indians would have been surrounded and captured, but Colonel
Logan, who had charge of the lower division, became entangled in the
swamp and did not reach his assigned position before the attack com-
menced. The party I had joined was about entering the town with great
impetuosity, when General Clark sent orders for us to stop as the Indians
were making port holes in their cabins and we should be in great danger,
but added that he would soon make port holes for us both; on that he
brought his six-pounder to bear on the village, and a discharge of grape
shot scattered the materials of their frail dwellings in every direction.
The Indians poured out of their cabins in great consternation while
our party, and those on the bank, rushed into the village, took possession
of all the squaws and pappooses and killed a great many warriors, but
most of them at the lower part of the bottom. In this skirmish a nephew
of General Clark who had some time before run away from the Monon-
gahela settlements and joined the Indians, was severely wounded ; he was
a great reprobate, and was said to have led the Indians in the morning's
attack. Before he expired, he asked forgiveness of his uncle and country-
men. During the day the village was burned and the growing corn cut
down, and the next morning we took up the line of march for the Ohio.
This was a bloodless victory to our expedition, and the return march was
attended by no unpleasant occurrences save a great scarcity of provision.
On reaching the fort on the Ohio, a party of us immediately crossed the
river for our homes, for which we felt an extreme anxiety.
We depended chiefly on our rifles for sustenance, but game not being
within reach without giving to it more time than our anxiety and rapid
progress permitted, we tried every expedient to hasten our journey, even
to boiling green plums and nettles. These at first, under sharp appetites,
were quite palatable, but they soon became bitter and offensive. At
last, in traversing the head waters of Licking, we espied several buffaloes
directly in our track; we killed one, which supplied us bountifully with
meat until we reached our homes. (While the Thomas account says the
battle of Piqua Village was without bloodshed, the Baradford notes place
the loss at twenty on either side — Kentuckians and Shawnees.) Mention
has elsewhere been made of the advanced conditions of agriculture among
the Shawnees along Mad River, but destruction is one of the elements of
warfare. While it has been chronicled in the annals of the Great Miami
that John Paul produceed corn on Honey Creek in 1792, white men
destroyed corn twelve years earlier along Mad River.
It has been detailed that the early settlement was in Bethel Township,
and it has been the privilege of many Clark County citizens to visit the
200-acre farm which is recognized as the site of the great conflict, with a
sign posted at the corner: United States Military Reservation, and it
has been christened Fort Tecumseh. While the writer had known the
story of Tecumseh, it was an unexpected privilege to visit the place of
his birth and to walk in the footsteps of Gen. George Rogers Clark, the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 307
wilderness patriot of the Revolutionary period — the Washington of the
West It is hill slopes and valleys, and an early writer thus describes it:
The sight was beautiful to the eye ; the river swept by in graceful bend ;
the rocky bluffs stood up like battlements; the rolling hills were crowned
with lofty forest trees; the prairies wore a summer robe of luxurious
grasses and beauteous flowers ; the main part of Piqua Village was on a
plain above the stream ; to the south extended broad prairies ; bold cliffs
arose on the northeast, and level timber lands lay to the west and north-
west ; across Mad River was a prairie tract of varying breadth, reaching
back to the rising ground, and the twentieth century visitor will appre-
ciate the foregoing bit of topography.
The Kentuckians were used to attacks from the Shawnees in Ohio,
and after their pilgrimage to the Mad River country when they subdued
the Indians, they enjoyed a time of freedom. They were no longer afraid
their women and children would be taken into captivity. The Indian
meaning of the word Piqua — a man formed out of ashes — was no longer
a terror to them because Piqua as well as Chillicothe had been reduced
to ashes. The Piqua on the Great Miami was soon peopled by the whites
and the name lost its significance. The story of the proposed Clark-
Tecumseh monument belongs to the Clark County Historical Society
Chapter, but in time this shrine of patriotism will be designated in a way
that the chance visitor will learn the story.
While Abraham Thomas later lived in Miami County the tragedy
connected with the attempt of settlement by the Paul family is the only
record of attempted citizenship in Clark County by a soldier who came
to Mad River in General Clark's army. Simon Girty was at Piqua Vil-
lage but lined up with the Shawnees. and there is mention of the activi-
ties of General Simon Kenton in Clark County. Since John Paul, Sr.,
was killed by the Indians, and he was in the Squirrel Hunter regiment
of Kentuckians who visited Mad River with General Clark, his name
should head the list of Revolutionary patriots buried in Clark County.
Burial was given him by his son and daughter who escaped on the day
of the Paul family massacre. (See Chapter II, The Adam of Clark
County: John Paul.) The story of the death and burial of General
Kenton is also elsewhere told, but he is not buried in Clark County.
The 200-acre farm now occupied as a United States Military Reserva-
tion and designated as Fort Tecumseh, was leased by W. W. Keifer,
April 1, 1921, to the state of Ohio as a training place for three machine
gun squads of the Ohio National Guard located in Springfield. The
equipment is stored at Fort Tecumseh and used for rifle practice, and the
maneuvers among the hills sacred to the memory of Gen. George Rogers
Clark are enjoyed by the members of the O. N. G. in Springfield. The
rifle pits supposed to have been used by General Clark while maneuvering
against the Indians are still in evidence. They are on the highest point
of land east from the house, and are twenty-four in number. A few
years ago Mr. Keifer caused two of the pits to be cleaned in a search for
relics, but he obtained nothing of consequence.
A survey of Tecumseh Hill indicates that the Indians established their
village a little above these rifle pits. There are hollowed out stones that
were used for mortars in grinding corn, and when the Clark-Tecumseh
monument becomes a reality Mr. Keifer will cause those stones to be
removed from the woods to the knoll dedicated for monument purposes.
These stones have been bursted by the action of the elements, but they
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308 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
may be placed together again, thus forming perfect caldrons. While
they did not heat the mortars, some of the stones were evidently used for
cooking. Older citizens of Clark County remember Fort Tecumseh as
the Daniel Hartzler farm. He was a wealthy farmer who was murdered
in the house now occupied by the O. N. G., by arrangement with Mr.
Keifer. While part of the farm is cleared, much of it seems never to
have been turned by the plow. While there were mills and distilleries,
and traditions early and late cluster about those hills and dales, the State
of Ohio farms the land after the fashion of Abraham. Isaac and Jacob.
It is excellent pasture land although dedicated to military maneuvers, and
it is the center of historic interest in Clark County.
In 1880 — Clark County Centennial
When the love o'f home and country is firmly established in the hearts
of the youth of America, it is on a sure foundation. Pageants and anni-
versaries centering about civic and national traditions are educators ; they
are community builders. The first American centennial celebrated in this
country was the Declaration of American Independence, July 4, 1876—
the centennial staged in Philadelphia — and it was a gala day in Spring-
field. The town was profusely decorated with American flags, bells were
rung and cannons were fired; the banners and pendants everywhere
betokened patriotic sentiment in the hearts of the citizens.
Ulysses Simpson Grant was United States president. At his suggestion
the people assembled in churches for early morning worship, Springfield
people meeting at 8:30 in Union prayer meetings in the Methodist and
Presbyterian churches. There was a big industrial procession in the streets
later in the day. It was a complete representation of the triumphs of a
century; everything was in retrospect. All the arts were represented in
the street parade ; it was educational and patriotic. The city government,
the secret societies, the choral unions and the citizens forming a line sev-
eral miles in length, and when the procession halted the Rev. H. H. Moore
read the Declaration of Independence — perhaps the last time it has been
read in public in Springfield — and the oration by Thomas F. McGrew
whetted up the interest in such anniversaries, and four years later Clark
County staged a centennial celebration at the battlefield — Fort Tecumseh.
While common usage has eliminated the final "e" in the name of Clark
County, there is little doubt that the Ohio Assembly meant to honor Gen.
George Rogers Clark on Christmas day in 18J7, when formal recognition
was given the new county. The Revolutionary sentiment still prevailed
when on February 12, 1820, the patriotic Ohio governing body recog-
nized the military group of fifteen counties lying northwest from Clark —
Allen, Crawford, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Marion, Mercer, Paulding,
Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Union, Van Wert, Williams and Wood, was
outlined and all were named for Revolutionary soldiers — the spirit caught
from that Christmas day christening of Clark County three years earlier.
They all had their beginning in a splendid setting of patriotism, and their
happy denouement has been in a burst of glory.
In Williams County the warrants issued from the office of the auditor
bear the picture: "The Capture of Major Andre," a copy of the painting
by A. B. Durand, showing David Williams, John Paulding and Isaac
Van Wert dealing with the spy sent out by Benedict Arnold, three of the
military group of counties being named for those captors — all Revolu-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 309
tionary patriots. The picture of General Clark has been widely published,
although not as yet commercialized on county warrants. The word cen-
tennial had not come into general usage until 1876, when many Clark
County citizens went to Philadelphia. Four years later it was used in
connection with another anniversary in Clark County. The word pageant
had not beeen used extensively in 1901, when Springfield celebrated its
centennial, nor a year later when the centennial of Statehood was being
celebrated in Ohio. Many celebrations in 1902, although Admission Day
was in the following February.
The 1880 Clark County Centennial celebration at Fort Tecumseh
attracted 20,000 people, so many going out from Springfield that the rail-
road company constructed a temporary bridge across Mad River. The
twentieth century youngster who thinks in terms of trolley cars and elec-
tricity will think again and understand that more than forty years have
cycled by since the Clark County centennial— the anniversary of the over-
throw of the Shawnee Confederacy by General Clark. There was a sham
battle staged, and they used fence rails on end in building the stockade ;
there were wigwams everywhere, and Mad River was the Shawnee strong-
hold again. The Springfield militia represented General Clark's army,
and there were plenty of volunteers for the part of the romance race —
never any trouble to secure Indians for pageantry. Well known citizens
painted themselves like warriors, and it was a great sham battle. When
it was all over, all wanted to catch the same train back to Springfield.
While it seemed that the streams were fed from unfailing springs,
when the crowd assembled there was a shortage of the water supply, so
many came on horseback and they were sent to Mad River for water.
The horse-drawn vehicles were scattered all about (they did not say
"parked" that long ago), and the visitors were not limited to Clark
County. While there was continuous train service, hundreds walked to
the battlefield. All who had been there a century earlier had walked a
much greater distance. It is related that a bare-footed Negro got into a
"bumble bee's" nest, and "hot-footed" it to safety. Because August 8,
1880, was Sunday the centennial program was enacted the following Mon-
day, and a Miami County visitor present — David Jones, of West Milton —
who wrote the Annals of Newberry pertaining to Carolina history, jotted
down the following lines:
"Last August 8, one hundred years ago,
Near where Mad River's rapid waters flow,
An Indian Village in Clark County stood
Upon a hill surrounded by a wood ;
A splendid scene of upland, glade and glen,
The home of forest women— children, men;
That August morn these forest people rose
As was their wont, from undisturbed repose,
But ere had passed that August morning fair
A thousand guns resounded on the air —
George Rogers Clark, a warrior of renown,
Had with a thousand men assailed the town ;
To its defense the savage warriors flew,
And fierce and awful soon the battle grew."
While the stanzas were published in Miami County at the time of the
anniversary, the clipping had become misplaced and the writer had gone
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310 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
the way of the world. The son, Davis W. Jones, who remembered the
foregoing lines, could not recall the finish, and supplied the following:
"With maddening shouts the slumbering air was stirred,
And musket's roar and rifle's crack were heard ;
But led by one whose prowess ne'er had failed
The steady courage of the whites prevailed;
In wild confusion soon the Red Men fled
And left the forest — still unknown the dead."
Newspaper Summary
A copy of the Springfield Republic, Tuesday, August 10, 1880, carries
a complete story of the Clark County centennial program, estimating the
crowd at from 20,000 to 25,000, mentioning music, addresses, sham battle,
dinner, and burning of the Shawnee village of Piqua. Everything was
quiet, orderly and pleasant, and Major W. J. White, Captain of the
Memorial Association, was chairman of the day and introduced the
speakers. In his prayer, the chaplain, Rev. J. T. Harris, asked God's
blessing upon the exercises and those taking part in them. One hundred
years earlier the savage hordes had been overcome by men of strong arms
and courageous hearts, and the land had been given over to freedom and
civilization.
The address of welcome was given by Gen. J. Warren Keifer, who was
born near the battlefield and who was familiar with every detail that had
been published about it, the response being by Governor Charles Foster,
who said it was the same old story — Clark the best county and Springfield
the best city — and he congratulated the county assembled on its splendid
civilization, its agricultural and manufacturing interests. Capt. D. C.
Balentine reported many letters from friends unavoidably detained, some
of them reviewing the history of Boston which once flourished in that
vicinity. The skull of Black Hoof, who was the friend of Tecumseh, was
shown by a Wapokeneta citizen. The principal thoroughfare of that
town is Blackhoof.
While one historian characterizes the Piqua Village battle as a "blood-
less" victory, it was the consensus of opinion at the anniversary that Gen-
eral Clark lost about twenty men and that the Shawnees lost the same
number. The speakers quoted Henry Howe and said that he had drawn
from Drake's Memoirs of Tecumseh for much information. A folder
sent out broadcast at the time of the anniversary read : "One hundred
years ago the now fertile farms, productive valleys, lofty ledges, and
sparkling springs of Clark County were the homes, the haunts and the
hunting grounds of the Shawnees," and one comment reads: "This is
true, and may I be allowed to add that what is now the great state of
Ohio was then to all intents and purposes a howling wilderness. One
hundred years ago there was not in this vast extent of territory bounded
on the north by the Great Lakes, on the east and south by the Ohio, and
on the west by the Mississippi, a single permanent American settlement.
"Beyond the Ohio looking north and west was everywhere an Indian
country, and at that time all the tribes but one throughout the whole
region were openly at war with the United States. That one was the
Delawares, and the next year they took up the hatchet in favor of the
British. The settlements west of the Alleghenies and those dotting the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 311
wilds of Kentucky were suffering the horrors of the Western Border
War of the American Revolution, a war characterized by rapacity and
blood-tfiirstiness. There had been two expeditions against these warring
Indians, one from Fort Pitt (Pittsburg) in 1778, and the other from
Kentucky in 1779, led by Col. John Bowman against Chillicothe, a Shaw-
nee town in Greene County, and then in 1780 came the Clark campaign
into the same territory — the Mad River country^— and the anniversary
speakers all used the expression : "One hundred years ago."
The Shawnees and Mingoes were described as "horrible hell-hounds
of savage war," and they murdered indiscriminately — the young and the
old, helpless women and children, every age and either sex — and to pre-
vent continual depredations of this character upon the inhabitants of
Kentucky, for as yet no white people had located in what is now Clark
County, the expedition was organized by General Clark, who was per-
sonally known and trusted by General Washington. While the immunity
from the Indians in Kentucky was of short duration, whites did not begin
settling along Mad River for several years. However, there was never
again a battle waged in Clark County. Simon Girty was the Mingo
leader, although he was not an Indian. He was born on an island in the
Susquehanna and he was a renegade from the beginning and was always
a conspicuous character where there were Indian difficulties, although it
is said that he once saved the life of Simon Kenton. Girty was never a
citizen of Clark County — he was just a visitor on Mad River.
There were letters of regret from President Rutherford B. Hayes,
Senator Allen H. Thurman, Senator George H. Pendleton, and many
others, one letter reading : "The battle of Piqua was only the commence-
ment of a long line of conflicts with the savages in various parts of the
Great Northwest Territory ; it awakened the echoes in other places." But
that is departure from Clark County history. It is known that David
Lowry, who located on Mad River in 1796, came directly from Cincinnati
(Fort Washington), where the previous year he had helped pack pro-
visions for the U. S. army in preparation for the expedition under Gen.
Anthony Wayne directed against the Indians in western Ohio, his march
being from Cincinnati to Greenville. When the treaty was effected David
Lowry lost no time in coming to Mad River. While the Indians ceded
much valuable territory in Ohio, Indiana and all of Michigan to the U. S.
Government, Tecumseh, who was then a fearless warrior twenty-seven
years old, did not approve of the treaty and he began his active campaign
of organization among the Indians, pursuing the same tactics still resorted
to by great religious or political leaders.
No Definite Records
It seems that the Soldiers' Memorial Committee in charge of arrange-
ments connected with the centennial program made an effort to gain exact
information from the War Department, but the records had nothing con-
cerning the engagement. It was rumored that an official report was on
file in Virginia, but Thomas F. McGrew was unable to locate it. It is
known that as a military officer General Clark was educated according
to the standards of the time — that he had some experience in war and a
reputation as an Indian fighter. His "backwoodsmen" army was of a
type that has passed from earth, but they had qualities of personal endur-
ance and patriotism. The Shawnees were the most war-like tribes, and
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312 . SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
they were led by Indians of the highest type of strategic prowess. The
battle of Piqua Village convinced the Indians that separate and inde-
pendent tribes could not hold out against the advance of civilization. The
Shawnees and Mingoes combined had lost the stronghold on Mad River,
and from that time forward the Indians realized the need of foreign aid
and confederation.
When the day was ended in commemoration of the Piqua Village
engagement that had cost the Shawnees their wigwams and given to the
United States much valuable territory, in behalf of the Memorial Associ-
ation Major White thanked all who had contributed to the success of
the event, and the Rev. W. B. DePoy of Springfield spoke the bene-
diction. While good people were assembled the "light-fingered gentry"
were also in attendance, and reports say that thieves and pickpockets
reaped a harvest. The bridge across Mad. River to the trains, which were
operated until 8 o'clock in the evening, was the scene of many robberies.
There was such confusion in boarding the cars that women had their hats
torn from their heads, and babies were handed into the cars through the
windows. Cars were crowded and people "hung on by the little finger
and one toe" to the platform in coming back to town. While fifteen rob-
beries were reported and some arrests were made, it was unknown how
much loot was taken by the thieves operating on the train.
While a century milestone had been erected at Philadelphia in the
shape of a centennial exposition, not many such events had been heralded
to the world before the Clark County Memorial Association planned this
anniversary program — the commemoration of the first 100 years since the
overthrow of the Shawnee Confederacy — the exit of the Shawnee and
the inevitable advance of civilization. While Clark County had no soldiers
in the Revolution — because there was no Clark County — a number of
Revolutionary soldiers found their final rest on the bosom of Clark
County in later years, and there is a shrine in Ferncliff Cemetery sacred
to them.
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CHAPTER XXXIV
THE SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND— LATER WARS
While Gen. George Rogers Clark, the "Washington of the West,"
saved the day in what is now Clark County in the Revolutionary period,
his body was not consigned to earth in this community. He lies buried
at Clarksville, Indiana.
In a summary of the past, Gen. J. Warren Keif er said : "There came
to what is now Clark County, as to other parts of the West, some Revo-
lutionary soldiers, bringing with them their patriotism and generally their
poverty. Their love of liberty was put into practice and by example
these veteran soldiers did much to build up peaceful communities. In
1912, Lagonda Chapter D. A. R. erected a tablet in Ferncliff Cemetery
in memory of the men buried in Clark County who fought in the Revo-
lution, and the names Lieut. John Bancroft, William Mclntire, Samuel
Lippincott, Sr., Cornelius Toland, Lieut. Jesse Christy, Elijah Beardsley,
Merryfield Vicory, Capt. Richard Bacon, Stephen Harriman, Lieut. Henry
Dawson, John Craig, George Lane, Jacob Ellsworth, Frederick Brown,
{ames Kelly, Isaac Davisson, Benjamin Bridge, John Kellar, George
IcCleace^, Jacob Ebersole Farnum, James Galloway and Melyn Baker are
inscribed upon it. General Keifer adds the names of William Baird,
Andrew Pinneo, Abraham Rust and William Holmes as having been
local citizens.
While these wilderness patriots had their rendezvous with death in
different communities and they lie buried in different cemeteries, the
Daughters of the American Revolution were fulfilling their filial obliga-
tion when they collated the names. The enduring monument — a shrine
for all time — is located on a southern hillslope in a secluded spot. Not
a drum was heard nor a funeral note, and while all that was mortal had
long ago moldered back to earth in other cemeteries, some of them on
Columbia Street and in Greenmont, and in sequestered vales among Clark
County hills, it was a gracious thing that Lagonda Chapter D. A. R.
should muster them all "in one red burial blent," where posterity hiay
receive inspiration from this silent testimonial to the ages, gallantry in
the wilderness — the men who helped to make the nation.
It is known that some who were with Gen. Anthony Wayne (Mad
Anthony) in his campaign to the Maumee, who were in the Battle of
Fallen Timbers and at the Treaty of Greenville and in other Indian expe-
ditions, settled and died in Clark County. In territorial days, and long
after Ohio was admitted as a state, it was a requirement that all able-
bodied men should muster at least once a year, thus becoming familiar
with firearms and military discipline. In 1792, quite early in the history
of the republic, the United States Congress established militias in the
different states.
Muster Day In Springfield
All able-bodied white men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five
were required to report for service. Later the word white was stricken
out and all male citizens were required to report for military instructions.
The system was continued until after the Mexican war, and every county
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314 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
was thus the home of a regiment. The boy must put on a military cap
and submit to discipline; the incorrigible submitted the same as the
patriotic — it was a universal requirement. When the first plat of Spring-
field was made in 1801 it showed the military or muster square that is
now occupied by the court house, a soldiers' monument and the county
buildings. It was so planned that a palisade constructed there would
afford protection for all the citizens. While the annual muster was a
state requirement, very little equipment was furnished and Clark County
men and boys improvised arms for the occasion. They sometimes used
cornstalks when learning the manual of arms, and the poems "The Charge
of the Light Brigade/' and "Sheridan's Ride" did much to keep alive
the military spirit. Since the Civil war the Ohio National Guard has
supplanted Muster day ceremonies.
While for a time musters were gala days, the training in manual with-
out the use of firearms meant little to the men, and finally they were dis-
continued and later abolished by law. Some distinguished Springfield
citizens of that period — Samson Mason and Charles Anthony — ranked as
brigadier generals in muster ceremonies, and sons of these men later
served in the United States army in war time. The annals of the young
Republic, said General Keifer, are surpassingly bloody. From Lexington
to Appomatox (1775-1865) almost one year out of five, not enumerating
the constant Indian wars, was a year of war. The worthy pioneers acted
constantly in the capacity of soldiers. They were on guard, whether in
field, at home or -at church — they were always alert against attacks by the
Indians. It is known that when the citizens of Moorefield wanted better
protection against the Indians they contributed to a fund and sent Andrew
McBeth and Jeremiah Reese with the McBeth four-horse team to Cin-
cinnati for arms and ammunition ; that long ago the maxim "Trust in the
Lord and keep your powder dry," prevailed in Clark County.
While in times of peace the settlers did not need firearms, it was
known that the Indians had respect for ammunition. Tecumseh had
grown into manhood and he was commissioned a brigadier general in
the Second war with England — the War of 1812, which he incited. He
was the only commander who had power to control his fighters. Tecumseh
was the only commander in charge of American forces who was able to
compel his soldiers to forego the use of stimulants. While he could
neither read nor write, he did not allow the use of whisky when danger
was in prospect. He was a leader in the British army trying to regain
lost territory.
The Northwest Territory was the principal theater of the War of
1812, and while Tecumseh hailed from Clark County he did not represent
local sentiment. The Ohio Gazetteer of 1841, one o{ the earliest records
on the subject, said : "In every vicissitude of this contest the conduct of
Ohio was eminently patriotic and honorable. When the battle necessities
of the national government compelled Congress to resort to a direct tax,
Ohio for successive years cheerfully assumed and promptly paid her
quota out of her state treasury; her sons volunteered with alacrity their
service in the field; no troops more patiently endured hardships or per-
formed better service. Hardly a battle was fought in the Northwest in
which some of these brave citizen soldiers did not seal their devotion to
their country with their life blood."
The Dayton and Bellefontaine road running by New Carlisle that
was opened in 1810, really connected Fort Washington (Cincinnati) and
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 315
Fort Meigs (Toledo), and it was much traveled in prosecuting this war.
It is a military road established by the United States Government, and
General Hull with an army of 1,300 Kentuckians camped at New Carlisle
while en route from Cincinnati to Toledo. It was a wilderness thorough-
fare crossed by a "bush-whacking" army, and in 1813 when Gen. William
Henry Harrison at Fort Meigs was calling for volunteers, as many as
500 men enlisted from Clark County. The first to offer his services was
James Shipman, a Springfield tailor. It takes nine tailors to make a
man, but Shipman went alone. When others were ready their courage
failed, and on the way to the rendezvous at Uf bana Shipman met Thomas
McCartney at the half-way point, and joining Captain McCord's cavalry
at Urbana, they went to Fort Meigs together. While some of the Clark
County contingent enlisted at Urbana — then all in Champaign County —
other Springfield soldiers went to Troy and Piqua for their assignments
in the service. A number of these soldiers returned and spent the
remainder of their lives in the community.
In the course of the War of 1812 many United States troops passed
through Clark County, Ball's Squadron among them, and there were Brit-
ish and Indians in the community, although they found little local sym-
pathy. Tecumseh, who was known as The Flying Panther — The Meteor,
because of his war activities, had a confederate in his brother, The Prophet,
who attracted some attention to himself because of his inclination to fore-
cast events. He was known as Elkswatawa, or Tenskwatawa, and while
some of the books say he was a half brother to Tecumseh, the tradition
prevails in Springfield that triplets were born, that one died, and that
Tecumseh and The Prophet completed the trio.
No one equalled Tecumseh in war-time strategy. Jealousy among the
Indians because of his leadership weakened their forces, and while he
played an important part in the engagement at Fort Meigs beside inciting
the Indians everywhere to action, on October 5, 1813, Tecumsesh met
his death at the battle of the Thames.
The report is current that the man who shot Tecumseh was Richard
M. Johnson, later associated with the administration of Martin Van
Buren as vice president of the United States. An Indian who, witnessed
the affair said: "Tecumseh fell dead and they all ran," and with their
invincible leader removed there was no further trouble with the Indians.
Thus heroically passed the majestic soul of Tecumseh. The final hopes
of the Red Men were interred with his bones. Tecumseh gave his life
for the rights of his race; his requiem was the clash of arms and the
din of battle. It is said that his grief-stricken warriors stealthily removed
his body during the night as it lay under the fitful light of the victor's
campfires, and one biographer says of Tecumseh: "He was the finest
flower of the American aboriginal race." Since the Battle of the Thames
was across the Canadian border, the bones of Tecumseh are not guarded
by the American flag. He died an officer in the British army.
The Toledo war in 1835 had to do with the Ohio-Michigan boundary
difficulty, both states assembling their troops on the boundary, but the
records are silent about Clark County representation. Before the opening
of hostilities peace commissioners arrived from both states, and there
was no bloodshed. There were concessions from both sides, and while
Ohio gained the portage at Toledo, it relinquished all claim to the mineral
counties in Northern Michigan. What Ohio wanted was the frontage on
Lake Michigan, and in 1836 Congress decided in its favor. Otherwise
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316 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Toledo would be in Michigan. The Fulton and Harris boundaries were
the questions in dispute, and a row of townships across the northern
part of Ohio were once in Michigan. Stone markers have been placed
at the southern line of the disputed territory — on one side the word Ohio,
and on the other Michigan. Travelers appreciate them. They are two
miles apart from Toledo west to the Indiana line, and thus Lucas, Fulton
and Williams counties are separated from Michigan counties although
once part of them. It was Governor Willis of Ohio who shook hands
with Governor Ferris of Michigan when they had marked the boundary.
There is some mention of a Reservoir war in Mercer which involved
some other Ohio counties.
The Mexican War
Ask the average Clark County citizen about the Mexican war; when
it began and when it ended, and he will say it has been continuous, think-
ing of the border warfare going on there for several years. However,
in the '40s, the United States was involved in a war with Mexico, which
General Keifer characterizes as a war in which to acquire territory to
devote to slavery. There were but few volunteer soldiers, but Capt.
Simon H. Drum, who was a graduate of West Point Military Academy,
receiving his appointment from Springfield, was killed while a member
of the Fourth Artillery United States Army, September 13, 1847, in the
final assault and capture of the City of Mexico. Mention is elsewhere
made of a visit from Gen. Winfield Scott to the family of Captain Drum
in Springfield. Captain Drum's body lies buried in Ferncliff. The first
railroad connecting Springfield with Cincinnati had just been completed
in 1846, when the Mexican soldiers were carried that far on their jour-
ney. Mexico lies south of the Rio Grande, and Texas was the dis-
puted territory. Since it was slave territory, it strengthened the South
when the United States was again at war.
In 1844, when Chancey Fall of Moorefield was called a whig, he was
also thought to be an abolitionist. It required as much moral courage
then to be an abolitionist as it does now to be a prohibitionist. Mr. Fall
harbored runaway slaves, and because his neighbors were intolerant, he
was tarred and feathered ; they rode him on a rail for it It is said that
a Springfield merchant one time took advantage of an opportunity. A
Madison County settler gave to him the power of attorney to free some
slaves he had left in Delaware; the merchant was not so conscientious
and he sold them, using the money to increase his stock of merchandise.
Slavery was the question dividing the country, and the Rescue Case of
1857, illustrates it.
Rescue Case of 1857
Some years ago Dr. B. F. Prince, a trustee of the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society, president of the Clark County
Historical Society, and professor of History and Political Science in
Wittenberg College, wrote the history of the Rescue Case of 1857, which,
was published in pamphlet form and deals with the fugitive slave ques-
tion, saying : "The years between 1830 and 1860 brought great strain to
the people of the United States; the long border line between the slave
and free states, stretching from the Atlantic on the east to a great dis-
tance beyond the Mississippi River, was crossed by a great many bonds-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 317
men seeking liberty for themselves and for their families. Lines of com-
munication between points were established in all directions in the free
states, where were located friends of the runaway slaves, and when once
the slave had reached a station on the underground railroad, he was
secretly conducted from station to station until he found some place of
fancied security.
"The slaves most timid and fearful of being carried back by their
pursuing masters, did not stop in their flight until they had crossed into
Canada, where they were free from any danger of recapture.,, The
refugees had a chant:
"I'm on my way to Canada, that cold and dreary land —
The dire effects of slavery, I can no longer stand,
I served my master all my days, without a dime's reward —
But now I'm forced to run away, to flee the lash abhorred,"
there being several stanzas, the last one beginning: "I'm landed safe
in Canada, both soul and body free," and there is no gainsaying the fact
that the songs the people sing influence them in their methods.
In communities settled by Quakers there were many fugitive slaves
in hiding through the day, who were carried along under cover of dark-
ness to the next underground station, and the Clark County Quakers in
the vicinity of Selma know about John Cooper whom they sheltered.
He had a dream that he was being pursued, and that day a posse was
after him; they were Kentucky planters and among them was Cooper's
master, but he reached Canada in safety. When the war was over he
came back to South Charleston, and lived with his family in the same
cabin he had left so hastily. At another time a slave was captured, but
the enraged populace arose en masse and shots were exchanged, and
those engaged in the melee were brought to trial in Asbury Houston's
court. The room was packed and the slave escaped, the incident remem-
bered as the riot in South Charleston.
It is related that once when Ross Mitchell was employed as book-
keeper in a distillery along Mad River, some refugees were in hiding
when the* planters arrived in search for them. It was only a thin board
wall that separated them from their pursuers, and as the owners inquired
about their property, the slaves stood in fear and trembling, their eyes
shining through the cracks when Mitchell, recognizing the situation,
picked up a newspaper and stood glancing over it, holding it so the
Kentuckians could not see the frightened slaves, and under the cover
of darkness they went on again toward Canada, that cold and dreary land,
but anywhere was better to them than bondage.
It seems that Champaign, Clark and Greene counties are alike con-
cerned with the Rescue Case of 1857, when Addison White, a Kentucky
fugitive, was employed by Udney H. Hyde of Mechanicsburg. In 1856
he had escaped from his master. While the compromise of 1850 was
intended as a check to the fugitive slaves, its harsh conditions intensified
the friends of the renegades engaged in assisting them to freedom. The
compromise provided for officers of the law following slaves to call upon
citizens for assistance in apprehending them, those refusing being liable
to arrest, and as a result of this measure more slaves escaped to freedom
in the decade between 1850 and 1860 than had escaped in all the years
of previous history. In was in 1856 that Addison White fled from
servitude in Kentucky.
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318 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
White was a man of great physical strength ; he could have disposed
of any number of officers pursuing him in single combat. He was over
six feet high, and weighed more than 200 pounds ; he was muscular and
disposed to defend himself. Mr. Hyde, who employed White, was con-
nected with the underground railroad, and at the time White came along
he had assisted more than 500 slaves en route to freedom, directing,
feeding and transporting them. While living in Mechanicsburg, Hyde
was under suspicion, and in the spring of 1857. he removed fronl the
village to a farm. White's wife was a free woman still living in Ken-
tucky, and his place of hiding became known through letters passing
between them, mailed at the postoffice in Springfield. He wished his
wife to join him at the Hyde farm in Champaign County.
William K. Boggs, Springfield postmaster, discovered these communi-
cations, and gave the information to the United States marshal at Cin-
cinnati. It was discovered that Charles Taylor of Mechanicsburg wrote
the letters for White, and when they were intercepted the officers had a
clew to the whereabouts of the slave. A man named Edward Lindsay
sought employment at the Hyde farm, and while he had little to say he
was an observing person; when he disappeared the officers came, and
thus it developed that he was a spy. On May 21. 1857. B. P. Churchill
and John C. Elliott, deputy United States marshals, accompanied by
Capt. John Poffenbarger, also a deputy for Champaign County, and
accompanied by five Kentuckians arrived before sunrise at the Hyde
home in search of White.
The first to note the approach of the officers was the fugitive him-
self, and White determined not to surrender without a struggle. The
Hyde family lived in a double log house with a loft, the opening to it
large enough to admit one man at a time, and here White secreted him-
self. He was an adept in the use of firearms, and was armed with a
revolver. When the officers discovered the loose boards of the loft which
made the floor, one of them fired through a crack while Elliott mounted
the ladder with a double-barrel shot gun in readiness. When he put his
head through the aperture, the fugitive fired at him striking the gun bar-
rel, the ball glancing and marking his cheek and nipping his ear. At the
time Mr. Hyde was in bed suffering from a broken ankle, but he soon
assumed responsibility, sending a daughter for assistance.
While one of the sons in the Hyde family had been seized, and was
being held by the intruders the daughter soon aroused another son who
lived near and he communicated with friends in Mechanicsburg. He
secured a horse from a neighbor's barn, and in a short time a crowd was
hurrying toward the Hyde farm. When the young girl was leaving to
call her brother, the officers of the law called to her, threatening to
shackle her, but she was fleet of foot and won in the race with one of
them. The Mechanicsburg relief was armed with all kinds of weapons
— guns, pistols, pitchforks and clubs — all of them in sympathy with the
anti-slavery sentiment. When they assembled in the Hyde dooryard,
the officers were nonplussed, until a citizen drew forth his watch and
gave them five minutes in which to quit the homestead. They withdrew
without securing the fugitive, and the friends of White conducted him
to a place of safety. He was removed from place to place, and guarded
with the utmost secrecy.
Mr. Hyde realized that charges would be filed against him for har-
boring a runaway slave, and for several months he secreted himself in
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 319
Ohio and Indiana, notwithstanding the pain he suffered. When he ven-
tured back, spies gave notice of his return ; the authorities were anxious
to arrest such a noted violater of the laws, but he eluded them again.
On May 27, when Churchill and Elliott with a posse appeared again,
Charles and Edward Taylor, Hiram Gutridge and Russell Hyde, the son
who was in charge of affairs at the Hyde farm followed them, and a
controversy ensued. The four men were arrested for obstructing United
States officers in the discharge of their duties, and for harboring Addison
White, the human chattel. They were taken without warrant, a fact
that played an important part in subsequent events, however, they were
allowed to change their clothes in preparation for the journey.
At Mechanicsburg, the four prisoners were given to understand that
if they did not care to proceed further they would be released by the
citizens. They decided to let the law take its course since the officers
said they would be taken to Urbana for a preliminary examination. The
prisoners and their friends alike accepted the statement, but some of the
citizens trailed them. In a short time the officers turned their course
away from Urbana, and there was an altercation along the highway.
One of the pursuing party went to Urbana, and a writ of habeas corpus
threw the matter into the courts of Champaign County. The United
States marshals making the arrest had purposely avoided Urbana, know-
ing the citizens were hostile toward the institution of human slavery, and
against the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law. When the officers
realized they might be pursued from Urbana, they bound their prisoners
and guarded them closely; they were looking for trouble, and Churchill
remarked that no process of any court should stop him ; it would only be
fighters superior to himself.
Armed with the writ of habeas corpus from the Champaign County
Probate Court, Sheriff Clark, accompanied by the town marshal of
Urbana and others, started in pursuit. The entire population in the
vicinity of Urbana and Mechanicsburg was aroused, and every horse
and vehicle available were used in overtaking the officers and their
prisoners. They passed through the eastern part of Clark County, plan-
ning to take a train at South Charleston; they would reach Cincinnati
over the Little Miami, but the writ issued in Champaign County had
been placed in the hands of Sheriff John E. Layton of Clark County.
It was delivered to the Clark County sheriff by State Senator Brand
and Pierce Morris of Urbana, who accompanied him, and Deputy Sheriff
William Compton to South Charleston.
When the news spread in Springfield others joined in the race to
apprehend the officers crossing the county with Champaign County
prisoners. When Sheriff Layton and party intercepted the fleeing offi-
cials, seizing their horses and stopping them, Churchill was not in humor
to be interrupted, knocking down the Clark County sheriff with a Colt
revolver, beating him so badly that he suffered from it the remainder of
his life. Shots were fired, and Elliott later acknowledged in court that
he shot three times at Compton who had snapped a revolver at him. By
this time many Champaign County people were on the scene, among
them Ichabod Corwin, a noted lawyer of Urbana, and other prominent
citizens. In the face of such a gathering, Churchill deemed it wise to
depart without waiting railway transportation. His horses were jaded,
and the prisoners already worn out with the excitement of the journey.
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320 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
The pursuers did not follow immediately as their horses were
exhausted in driving from Urbana, Mechanicsburg and Springfield.
Fresh horses were secured in the surrounding country, and at 9:30
o'clock in the evening every available conveyance left South Charleston
in pursuit of the fleeing officers of the law and their prisoners. Because
of the injury to Sheriff Layton, a warrant was issued by Justice of the
Peace J. A. Houston for the arrest of Churchill and his party. It was
placed in the hands of Constable E. G. Coffin, and the race began.
When the party crossed the line into Greene County, the writ of habeas
corpus was transferred to the hands of Sheriff Mclntire, who joined in
the pursuit. All night long they pressed forward, overtaking Churchill
and party at sunrise in Clinton County.
At the Village of Lumberton, when the officers realized they would
be overtaken, they broke and ran in every direction, even entering houses
while the people were yet asleep in their beds. While some of the abduct-
ing party escaped, ten of them with the four prisoners fell into the hands
of those in pursuit, and all returned to South Charleston. The United
States marshals were arraigned before Justice Houston on a charge of
assault and battery ; they were found guilty, and were bound over to the
Clark County Common Pleas Court, and in the evening of May 28,
Constable Coffin committed them to jail in Springfield. Next morning
they were brought before Probate Judge James L. Torbert, who admitted
them to bail in the sum of $150 each, when they furnished the necessary
sureties, those admitted to bail being Churchill, Elliott and eight others,
the bond being furnished by Dr. Cornelius Smith, David Shaffer, William
Reid, William Anderson, John F. Chorpenning, William Berger and
John Dillahunt.
When Churchill and Elliott were released, they were again arrested
on a warrant issued by Justice James S. Christie when, by their attorney,
J. M. Hunt, they moved to quash the proceedings, the motion continued
until the following day and on May 30, they appeared An court again,
Mr. Hunt defending them and J. S. Hauke representing the state. They
pleaded guilty and waived further trial, Justice Christie binding them
over in the sum of $1,500 each for their appearance in common pleas
court. When they were unable to furnish bond, Constable E. Crossland
committed them into the custody of the jailer. On complaint of William
H. Compton, deputy sheriff, the eight persons associated with them:
Evan B. Carty, Jared M. Trader, Thomas Meara, Samuel B. Garvey,
James Darrell, Theodore D. Bentley, William H. Keifer and John Puffen-
barger were again arrested, charged with aiding and abetting Churchill
and Elliott in their assault upon Sheriff John E. Layton. They were
brought before Justice Christie in the evening, and they passed the night
at the Akens Hotel in the custody of the constable and his assistants.
At the instigation of Compton, a second warrant was issued for the
arrest of Churchill and Elliott, charging them with maliciously shooting
at him with intent to wound him; when brought before the justice they
again pleaded guilty, waiving trial, their bond was fixed at $1,000 each and
in default, they were transferred to the county jail where they languished*
many hours before they were removed to Cincinnati. When they were
taken before Judge Humphrey H. Leavitt of the United States District
Court for Southern Ohio, there was delay over the question as to whether
the State of Ohio or the United States had precedence, Judge Leavitt'
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 321
deciding that at the time of their arrest Churchill and Elliott were in
the rightful and proper discharge of their duties, and thus were not
amenable to state laws. They could not be arrested and detained for
trial in state courts, and they were released, this move causing trouble
in Clark County again. Numerous arrests were made of those aiding
and abetting Sheriff John E. Layton.
"It was a time that tried men's souls," those taken from Clark County
to stand trial in Cincinnati being: Sheriff Layton and Deputies Comp-
ton and Fleming, Prosecutor John S. Hauke, Justice Christie, Attorney
John C. Miller, Constables Temple, Crossland and Brown of Springfield ;
Dr. M. L. Houston and Constable Coffin of South Charleston, and from
Champaign County: Senator Brand, Sheriff Clark and David Rutan.
The general charge against these citizens was resisting the United States
officers in the discharge of their duties ; the cause of action against Doctor
Houston was aiding Sheriff Layton. They were all held to bail in the
sum of $1,500 each, their bondsmen being: James F. Whiteman, A. D.
Rodgers, A. D. Coombs, Rodney Mason and David Compton, and their
trial was set for the following October.
When the Churchill-Elliott party was overtaken at Lumberton, the
pursuing party had two classes of writs : Habeas Corpus for the prison-
ers, and warrants for the United States marshals, the latter being dis-
posed of at South Charleston while it was necessary to return the Cham-
paign County prisoners to Urbana, and the docket of Probate Judge
Baldwin shows that Sheriff Clark conformed to the requirements, pre-
senting Edward and Charles Taylor, Russell Hyde and Hiram Gutridge
in court, and when the name of Churchill had been called solemnly three
times, he failed to appear against them and they were set at liberty.
The writ of Judge Baldwin also bears the indorsement of Daniel Lewis
of Greene County, who placed the four prisoners into the custody of
Sheriff Clark. In the following July, the four were arrested on warrant
of the United States Court and taken to Cincinnati for examination.
While Hyde and Gutridge were dismissed, the Taylors were held under
bond for their appearance in October.
The planter named White from Fleming, Kentucky, who owned the
slave Addison White, was present and testified, saying that intercepted
letters had enabled him to trace his chattel to Springfield, and thence to
Mechanicsburg. Sheriff Clark and Senator Brand of Champaign County
were examined in Cincinnati, and Stanley Matthews, who was United
States attorney, became very bitter in his denunciation of those who would
interfere with officers in the discharge of their duties. When Judge John
A. Corwin of Urbana was called to their defense, a Cincinnati newspaper
said : Judge Corwin, for the defense, made by far the ablest argument
yet heard on either side ; it was an effort seldom excelled if ever equalled
in Ohio courts for pertinency, aptness, logical force and consistency, legal
erudition, bitter denunciation, withering sarcasm, biting mockery and
powerful eloquence. * * * The first allegiance of a citizen of a
state is to his own sovereignty." The conflict had not been between two
sovereignties, but between the deputy marshals and the State of Ohio.
In view of the expense attending so much litigation, efforts were
made to secure a compromise. When $1,000 was paid to Daniel G. White
for the loss of his chattel — the fugitive slave, Addison Whiter-all civil
and criminal action would be withdrawn. The proposition was spurned
Vol. 1—21
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322 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
by many concerned, the men from Clark County being much opposed
to it ; they would fight it, but Mr. Hyde of Champaign County had long
been in hiding and his friends raised the money. Judge Corwin was
authorized to pay $950 to Daniel G. White, and various personal law suits
grew out of the Rescue Case of 1857, most of them brought before the
courts in Cincinnati. George H. Frey was then editor of The Springfield
Republic; in an editorial way he commented on the actions of Churchill,
and he was summoned to court in Cincinnati.
Mr. Frey was assessed $5,000 damage, but Judge Storer dismissed
the case on the ground that a witness cannot be sued in another county.
Mr. Frey also published some reflections on the official conduct of Post-
master Boggs, asserting that the information came from him as to the
hiding place of the slave in transit to Canada. Mr. Boggs brought suit
demanding $6,000, but Mr. Frey entered a counter-suit. Esquires
Christie and Houston were notified of suits brought against them in
Hamilton County, but none of the suits in Hamilton or Clark counties
ever came to trial. They were allowed to languish, and when time had
soothed the feeling of the interested parties, they were withdrawn or
lapsed from want of prosecution. Constable Coffin, who was a conductor
on the underground railroad, suffered arrest in connection with the
Rescue Case and other charges were brought against him. He was called
into court, but the case was deferred from time to time until the Civil
war came on which stopped further proceedings. However, Coffin became
known to the public through such activities and four times he was elected
Clark County sheriff, and three times mayor of Springfield. For eight
years he was warden of the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus. There
is a book on underground railroad activities written by Levi Coffin, who
lived at Fountain City, Indiana ; he was a Quaker.
On July 2, 1857, the citizens of South Charleston held a public meet-
ing in which resolutions were passed declaring they would not resist
the execution of any legal warrant issued by state or nation, but they
objected to high-handed measures of drunken United States officers.
They indorsed the action of Sheriff Layton and the citizens aiding him,
adding: "We will make our town too hot to hold any spy or informer,
resident or foreign, who may be found prowling in our midst endeavoring
to involve our citizens in legal difficulties."
The foregoing expressed the feeling almost universal in Ohio, and
throughout the North. It foreshadowed the dark days when the Nation
would be forced to settle the slavery question. After the purchase of his
freedom, Addison White continued his residence at Mechanicsburg until
he died there. His wife refused to come to Ohio, and he did not return
to Kentucky. While he served two years as a soldier in the Civil war,
and was honorably discharged, those who knew him best felt that he did
not appreciate what was done for him when he was in sore need of
protection. The people of three counties sacrificed for him, Mr. Hyde not
only offering him shelter, but exiling himself until after the fugitive was
freed through purchase, when he could come home again.
The Rescue Case of 1857 brought a number of attorneys into prom-
inence, among them James L. Goode, Rodney Mason, John and Ichabod
Corwin, C. L. Vallandingham, Stanley Matthews, Judge Caldwell, John
O'Neal and George E. Pugh. While the Rescue Case did not have its
entire setting in Clark County, it involved a great number of Clark
County citizens. The Rescue Case and the Oberlin Case stand out in
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the underground railroad history of Ohio ; they will long remain historic
marks of the intensity of feeling engendered by the institution of slavery.
In each case men suffered in their bodies, their private means and their
personal liberties. The rigid enforcement of the law concerning fugitive
slaves aroused the bitterest feelings of hate and prejudice ; it engendered
a constant feeling of suspicion, insecurity and hostility.
In the courts where these cases were tried, the doctrine of state's
rights was urged as against the laws and authority of the United States.
The North had not yet learned the lesson that the supremacy of the gen-
eral Government was paramount — but when South Carolina proposed to
put the idea into practice, well, the Civil war corrected the error. The
Emancipation Proclamation changed conditions, and the Negroes who
come into Springfield and Clark County are not fugitives.
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CHAPTER XXXV
CIVIL WAR: WAR OF THE STATES
While the Revolution and the second war with England are as a story
that is told as far as personal knowledge goes, men and women still linger
who remember all the horrible details q{ the Civil war — the dark days
from '61 to '65 — and that human slavery was the underlying question.
As an outgrowth was the question of state sovereignty, and when South
Carolina seceded from the Union, opinion underwent a radical change
in the northern states. When the gun was fired that was heard around
the world — when Fort Sumter was fired on, April 12, 1861 — Clark
County citizens raised the American flag on houses, shops and stores;
they left their daily routine as Israel Putnam left his plow ; they answered
the call of the country.
War is resultant from conflicting ideas, and the Rescue Case of 1857
reflects the local sentiment. The question of human slavery convulsed
the whole country, and abolitionists were everywhere active. The evi-
dence of internal strife was apparent in the mutterings from all over the
country — it was the time that tried men's souls. While other states
produced opponents of human slavery in the days leading up the Civil
war, Ohio produced some of the most active abolitionists, and their spirit
had response in Clark County. It is said that Benjamin Lundy was the
pioneer of the anti-slavery movement. As .early as 1815 he organized
the first anti-slavery society, and other leaders were: Charles Osborn,
James G. Birney, Joshua R. Giddings, Benjamin F. Wade and Salmon
P. Chase* In 1817 Osborn published The Philanthropist, the first anti-
slavery publication in America. Lundy and Osborn were leaders from
the Belmont-Harrison County locality, that part of Ohio being settled
much earlier than Clark County.
The Election of Lincoln
The time came when legislative compromises were no longer effective,
and when in the presidential campaign of 1860, Abraham- Lincoln was
elected, it was apparent that abolition of slavery would be the next
thing in order; a crisis was confronting the people of the United States. ■
The problems of the ages have been solved on the field of battle; war
has been the solution, and bloodshed has paved the way for many things.
It seems that the events of the ages are not mere occurrences; they are
part of God's eternal plans, and the lessons of the centuries have been
written in blood. In the Civil war the Clark County soldiers wrote their
chapter in United States history along with the rest of the country.
The number of soldiers who enlisted from Clark County is not known
definitely; there were officers, soldiers, and sailors in the regular and
volunteer service who joined the army or navy on the Union side in the
Civil war both at home and abroad; some who enlisted in other places
afterward became residents of Clark County, and the number can only
be approximated; it will reach about 2,550, not counting double enlist-
ments. While some enlisted in the regular army and navy, most Clark
County men belonged to volunteer organizations, as follows : The Thirty-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 325
first Ohio Volunteer Infantry Company K had eighty Clark County
soldiers in it; the Thirty-second Ohio had some Clark County men; the
Sixteenth and Seventeenth and part of the Tenth Ohio Batteries were
from Clark County; the Sixty-sixth Infantry, and the Seventy-first,
Seventy-sixth and Ninety-fourth Regiments had Clark County men, but
the bulk of Clark County soldiers were in the Forty-fourth Infantry,
One Hundred and Tenth Infantry, One Hundred and Fifty-second and
One Hundred and Fifty-third National Guards, and with the One
Hundred Day Regulars under the command of Col. Israel Stough. On
April 19, 1861, the Springfield Zouaves entered the three months service,
and about that time the Washington Guards sprang into existence ; since
then there has been a Gen. J. Warren Keifer in Springfield.
While General Keifer enlisted as a private early in the Civil war, he
was mustered out as a major general. He is one of the very few sur-
vivors carrying that distinction. He was born January 30, 1836, and
while that date fell on a Monday, A. D. 1922, he insisted that Sunday
had rounded out eighty-six years — that on Monday he was turned into
his eighty-seventh year, admitting that few persons are such sticklers for
details. When asked about his plans for the future, the soldier, states-
man and only Ohioan ever honored by being chosen speaker of the
National House of Representatives looked forward with the same opti-
mism that has always characterized him ; when seen at his office on Satur-
day, he was busy. He has a wonderful capacity for endurance, and is
frequently called to Washington in consultation, dining only recently
with President Harding.
A Springfield jurist, Judge F. M. Hagan, says of General Keifer:
"His services to the nation, both in civil and military life, have marked
him as the most distinguished of all the sons of Clark County who have
attained eminence; impartial history will record that as speaker of the
National House of Representatives, his ability justly ranked him among
the first class of all the men who ever have occupied that position. Gen-
eral Keifer remains one of the few figures of the great Civil war whose
achievements stamped them as leaders in that mighty struggle. Ever
since the termination of the war, his services have been at the call of his
country." It is understood that General Keifer participated in twenty-
eight battles of the Civil war. He says : "I enlisted as a private soldier
in April, 1861, and was in the Civil war four years. In May, 1861, I
was made a major of a regiment partly organized from Clark County.
I was in the first battle of the war at Rich Mountain, Virginia, July 11,
1861, and I was also in the last battle wfren Gen. Robert E. Lee sur-
rendered at Appomatox, witnessing his surrender. I was shot four times.
I was mustered out of the Civil war at Washington, June 27, 1865, with
the title of major general."
In response to the direct question, General Keifer said : "Our Civil
war was justified; it was necessary to reestablish our Republic, and to
free the slaves, just as God sent the plagues of blood, of frogs, of lice, of
flies, of murrain, of hail, of pestilence, of locusts, of darkness and of
death to the first born of Egypt, to permit the exodus of the Israelites
from Egypt and from slavery." Wars were justified in times past to
spread religion and to destroy the power and influence of the heathen,
or those of different religion or idolatrous faith. Mohammedism has
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326 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
been spread by the sword, until its votaries outnumber those of the
Christian faith in the world. In modern times Christian as well as
Mohammedan or pagan nations have cultivated the spirit of war — in
times of peace they have prepared for it, as well as in times of war.
While Kaiser Wilhelm invoked the aid of the Almighty God, it was in a
different manner from the prayer of General Washington at Valley
Forge, who said of his troops: "May the Lord protect them and lead
them to victory." The Kaiser said : "The soldier spirit is always culti-
vated by the Almighty War Lord," and he referred to the leaders: "Me
unt Gott."
On March 4, 1865, in his second inaugural address, President Lin-
coln in referring to the divided country, the soldiers of the North and
the South, said : "Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God ;
and each invokes His aid against the other. The prayers of both could
not be answered; they have not been answered; the prayers of neither
have been fully answered, but the Almighty has His own purposes in the
world/' and reverting to the stirring days of 1861, when recruiting officers
were combing Clark County for volunteers, it may be said that few
Ohio counties of like population offered better response, either in the
number or quality of its private soldiers. None would brook disloyalty,
and there was nothing Turkish about Uncle Sam's American Eagle, the
proud bird of freedom ; when it ruffled its feathers and spread its wings,
well, "Thereby hangs a tale."
While President Lincoln faced an unprecedented crisis in American
history, and the people were in doubt and uncertainty, he did not at
once interfere with human slavery. While the new-born republican party
had not taken a direct stand against the slavery question, its leaders
were among the avowed opponents of that institution; when the Presi-
dent declared that the country could no longer exist half free and half
slave, there was ready response from Clark County. When the slave-
holding states led by South Carolina began passing secession ordinances,
Clark County citizens realized that some decisive action was necessary.
Within twenty-four hours after President Lincoln's call for volunteers
Capt. Edwn C. Mason's company enlisted in Springfield in the three
months' service. It was known as Company F of the Second Ohio Infan-
try, fighting under Capt. David King in the first battle of Bull Run, July
21, 1861, many from Clark County serving with this regiment in the
Southwest in the three years' service.
When President Lincoln first called on his countrymen to avenge the
insult to the American flag at Fort Sumter, there was quick transforma-
tion from peace to a state of war; the memory of it is like a passing
dream, but everywhere there were spontaneous meetings. The latent
fires of patriotism were soon aflame, were soon fanned into a glowing
heat. There had been no parallel in history to the rush to arms, when
Grant, Sherman and Sheridan led the way, and Clark County soldiers
braved the rain of shot and shell on many hotly contested fields of strife.
They endured long and tedious marches under the parching southern
sun, through snow, rain and mud and with scanty supply of rations often,
and many times nothing to eat. Some of the Clark County soldiers never
returned ; and they sleep the sleep that knows no waking in the National
cemeteries: Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Andersonville, wherever
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 327
they fell, and some are in unknown graves on hillsides and in the valleys,
where no loving hands place flowers, the final resting places of many
Clark County "boys in blue/' notwithstanding the G. A. R. burial plot in
Ferncliff Cemetery, with its spot sacred to the unknown dead, where
flowers are scattered on recurring Decoration days.
In the Civil war there were many soldiers and sailors in the United
States Army and Navy of whom no records exist, and the same thing
is true in the preceding as well as subsequent wars. "While not a spar-
row falleth, but its God doth know," the unmarked graves never will be
known to the world. While "Times that tried men's souls" is a stock
expression carried over from the Civil war, later generations have experi-
enced similar conditions ; what General Sherman said about war has been
demonstrated again and again in Clark County.
In 1860 the South accepted Abraham Lincoln's election as a direct
menace, and the doctrine of states' rights as paramount to National con-
trol was openly advocated. It was on December 20, that year, that
South Carolina took the initiative in passing a secession ordinance, and
autonomy was the rule until the peace commission met in Baltimore
m 1861, with the far-reaching purpose of safeguarding the Union;
when Jefferson Davis was chosen president of the Southern Confederacy
decisive action was necessary. Sometimes conditions are insurmount-
able, and while meetings were being held and plans of action were being
considered — the gun was fired that was heard round the world. On
April 12, 1861, war was inaugurated following quickly the inauguration
of Lincoln; it was domestic strife with men and brothers fighting each
other.
It was worse than fighting a common enemy — this war to the finish
among the people of one country — and the question was whether or not
the United States should be rent asunder, or remain an undivided coun-
try. There must always be a planting of moral and patriotic ideas before
there is personal or national advancement, and the human voice in appeal-
ing song always has telling effect in stirring people to action. The songs
growing out of the Civil war have no parallel in American history; the
Puritan conscience was aroused by William Lloyd Garrison, Joshua R.
Giddings, Wendell Phillips, John Greenleaf Whittier, Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow, James Russell Lowell and Julia Ward Howe, and the printed
page — poems and song — the winged arrows of God's truth were unlimited
in their effectiveness. As a result there was a revival of the feeling of
accountability to God. It spread all over the country, and Clark County
was in line with the rest of the world.
When Harriet Beecher Stowe's great story, "Uncle Tom's Cabin,"
made its appearance in serial, Clark County men and women read it who
never needed to read it again ; it spurred them to action, and it was the
greatest human agency in bringing about the Emancipation Proclamation.
It is said that those who write the hymns of a nation are responsible for
its religion, and the same holds true of patriotism. Such war songs as
"Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue," "The Army and Navy
Forever," and "Hail Columbia," enable the students of history to
approach Bunker Hill, Lexington and the later American struggles fully
understanding their significance. The assertion has been repeated many
times that the American flag never has been carried into any war without
righteous cause, and it never yet has trailed in defeat.
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328 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Sometimes it is necessary to inspire optimism in order to tide a nation
over a crisis; some of the songs of the Civil war were as effective in
promoting enlistments, and arousing men and women to deeds of sacri-
fice and heroism, as the stimulating patriotic addresses from the recruit-
ing officers. When the men of the Civil war heard the country's call,
some of them were only boys. On January 1, 1863, when emancipation
became the paramount question, there was another call; when the men
of the North invaded the South to remove the shackles of human slavery
Clark County volunteers were among them. It is said there never was
lack of men to fill the quota ; in the four years of war Ohio met every
demand, and Clark County had its part in supplying soldiers. Business
and professional men, college students, mechanics and farmers responded
alike to the call for soldiers.
While the mothers, sisters, wives and sweethearts were filled with
sentiment when the soldiers were leaving for the fortunes of war, they
soon settled down to stern realities. Some one said of the period, "Every-
body knows that had it not been for the loyal women of America we
would be a divided nation today." While nothing was heard about
"surgical dressings/' the women "scraped lint" for the same purpose, and
some of the Civil war women frequented the Red Cross work rooms
again. There are Clara Bartons among them, and surgical dressings do
not disconcert them. No doubt many a maimed arm or leg would have
been saved with better hospital facilities in the Civil war. While there
were army nurses who followed the regiments, they lacked many working
facilities that are now known to humanity. The Sanitary Commission
of the Civil war was unable to afford the relief that has been accom-
plished by later organizations.
News from the Front
While the daily newspapers had not yet made their appearance in
Clark County while the soldiers were engaged in the Civil war, there
were Chicago, Cincinnati and Columbus, as well as New York, papers
being read, although in most cases only the weekly issues. When there
was favorable news there was rejoicing, the people gathering in groups to
discuss it. The women continued scraping lint for bandages ; there were
public and private contributions to the cause until after the fall of
Appomattox. The bravest and best had gone to the front ; the best and
the bravest remained by the stuff, and today the Grand Army of the
Republic would not rob the Woman's Relief Corps of its heritage. While
their numbers are reduced, their patriotism remains undiminished, and
they hold their regular campfire meetings in a hall dedicated to them in
the splendid Clark County Memorial Building in Springfield. ■
While some of the Union soldiers would not review their war rec-
ords, saying that when they were mustered out they would take care of
themselves again, others enjoy meeting and discussing the stirring events.
While some would not claim their pensions because they received no
disabilities, others enjoyed "putting down the war" again. The campfire
meetings are social opportunities, and the men and women who lived
through the stirring days from '61 to '65, enjoy them. On one of the
quarter-squares in the court house group is a stone bearing the inscrip-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 329
tion: "Union Soldiers' Monument erected by Clark County in 1869,"
and the two cannons placed near it are an educational influence to the
young who only know of the Civil war in the pages of history.
Mitchell Post G. A. R., which meets in Memorial Hall, reported 130
members in the closing days of 1921, which represents a number of
transfers from abandoned posts. While a number of Civil war soldiers
do not affiliate with the Mitchell Post G. A. R., posts are maintained at
other points, as New Carlisle, South Vienna and Catawba. When South
Charleston and Enon posts were abandoned, the remaining members were
transferred to Springfield. While the Grand Army soldiers have grown
feeble, and their wives have grown aged with them, their friends look
after their comfort on each Decoration Day, providing automobiles and
assisting them in the arduous duties of laying flowers on all the graves ;
as their numbers decline the graves increase, and in a few years none will
be left of the Civil war veterans to mark the spots :
"Under the sod and the dew, awaiting the judgment day ;
Under the one the blue, under the other the gray."
While many Clark County soldiers distinguished themselves in the
Civil war, they also enkindled a flame of patriotism that manifested itself
in succeeding generations. In 1863, James C. Walker of Springfield
carried the flag over Missionary Ridge, and in 1895, he was decorated
with the Congressional medal. He wears it whenever occasion demands
it, and has been signally honored because of it. Because of having this
special recognition from Congress, the hero of Missionary Ridge was
invited to participate in the burial service of America's unknown soldier
at Arlington Military Cemetery on Armistice Day, 1921, going to Wash-
ington through the courtesy of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Walker has been indorsed by Mitchell Post as a department com-
mander of Ohio. He served through the Civil war as a member of Com-
pany K, Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
Clark County soldiers of official rank in the Civil war are : Colonel
Mason, Capt. James R. Ambrose, Capt. James C. Vananda, Capt. Philip
Kershner, Capt. William H. Wade, Capt. William H. H. McArthur,
Col. Hugh Blair Wilson, Major Charles H. Evans, Col. August Dotze, \
Col. Rodney C. Mason, Capt. S. J. Houck, Capt. William S. Wilson,
Capt. Howard D. John, Capt. Perry Stewart, Capt. Charles C. Gibson,
Col. David King, Capt. Amaziah Winger, Lieut. Hezekiah Kershner,
Lieut. Henry C. Cushman, Capt. Nathan M. McConkey, Gen. J. Warren
Keifer, Capt. Luther Brown, Capt. Nathan S. Smith, Capt. William A.
Hathaway, Capt. Thomas J. Weakley, Capt. Richard Montjoy, Lieut.
William J. Irvin, Lieut. Charles Anthony, Sergt. Charles H. Pierce, Maj.
Thomas W. Bown, Capt. Alfred Miller, Lieut. Thomas E. Stewart, Lieut.
Harvey H. Tuttle, Lieut. Valentine Newman, Lieut. Elijah G. Coffin,
Capt. Asa S. Bushnell, Capt. Charles A. Welch, Lieut. Benjamin H.
Warder, Col. Israel Stough, Capt. James I. McKinney, Capt. Harrison
C. Cross, Capt James A. Mitchell, Lieut. Edward H. Funston, Capt.
Ambrose A. Blount, Lieut. William Hunt, Jr., Lieut. Absalom H. Mattux,
Lieut. Jeremiah Yeazell, Capt. Ralph Hunt, Maj. Henry H. Seys, Maj.
John H. Rodgers, and some who were officers and afterward lived in
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330 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Clark County: Col. R. L. Kilpatrick, Col. Aaron Spangler, Col. James
E. Stewart, Capt. Edward H. Buchwalter, Capt. R. A. Starkey, and
Chap. George H. Fullerton.
When the Civil war was raging at its height in 1864, three-fourths of
the Clark County men within the age of enlistment limit, and more than
one-half of the voting population were in the military and naval service
of the United States. At the time of the Kirby Smith raid, men without
military training and but poorly equipped rushed to camp, and were
hurried to Cincinnati in the defense of that city, among them some of
the most prominent citizens ; they were designated as the Squirrel Hunt-
ers. Clark County men who distinguished themselves in the United
States Navy were: Reed Werden, Joseph N. Miller, and later, Clarence
Williams. They were all graduated from the Naval Academy at Annap-
olis. Some Clark County men graduated from West Point Military
Academy, John Williamson, being in the class with Gen. U. S. Grant,
and Gen. Frederick Funston. born at the close of the Civil war in New
Carlisle, the house in which he was born still being a landmark in the
community, was a West Point soldier. He came into prominence through
the capture of Aguinaldo in the Philippine Islands later.
In summing up Civil war activities, General Keifer says that among
the rank and file were some of the best and bravest, and the Ohio rule
of claiming great men applies to Clark County. All who were born, or
who ever lived in the country, are listed among its distinguished citizens,
no matter where they achieved distinction. However, from Big Bethel to
Appomattox, wherever bloody sacrifices were to be made on river, sea
or land, they were ready to make them; they fought and fell under
McClellan, Rosecrans, McDowell, Thomas, Sheridan, Sherman, Meade
and Grant, and under other equally brave commanders of the Union
Army. Clark County volunteer citizen-soldiers shed their blood at Bull
Run, Antietam, Winchester, Gettysburg, Organe Grove, Fort Donelson,
Shiloh, New Orleans, Iuka, Corinth, Perrysville, Stone's River, Vicks-
burg, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Chickamauga, Knoxville
and hundreds of other fields of carnage, all to preserve the Union estab-
lished by General Washington and his patriot compeers of 1776, and the
Constitution, they died in an effort to destroy the curse of the ages —
human slavery.
It cannot be ascertained how many soldiers and sailors of the Civil
war fell and were buried in the Southland. Some who were buried where
they fell were later transferred to National cemeteries, and in all of them
will be found the names of men from Clark County, both marked on
headstones, and recorded in registers. It is impossible to formulate a
complete list of the soldier dead from Clark County, and those buried
within the county represent many different volunteer regiments. They
belonged to independent companies or batteries, to the regular army or
navy, and to all branches of the military service. Some died in military
hospitals from wounds received in battle, or of disease contracted in
war service, and some died of starvation in southern prisons. The people
of the Civil war period in Clark County performed their whole duty
toward preserving civil and political liberty; it was a war of humanity,
and the result was the overthrow of slavery.
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While Mitchell and other G. A. R. posts still exist, few communities
boast of a major general of the Civil war, and in his book : "Slavery and
Four Years of War/' General Keifer says that as commander-in-chief
he only once executed the death sentence, and that was for the worst
offense a soldier can commit — desertion in the face of the enemy. He
was a nineteen-year-old boy, who escaped with an older soldier who
forged a furlough and went to visit relatives at Philadelphia. He delayed
execution one day, thinking President Lincoln would intervene, and was
reproved by General Meade. The boy was blindfolded, and a firing squad
of six soldiers was called; when the command to fire was given he fell
dead, and later came a commutation of his sentence ; some one failed to
do his duty promptly, and thus occurred a real tragedy.
In recent years General Keifer received a letter from a Confederate
soldier who relates that he fired several shots at him, and that he learned
of his whereabouts through a newspaper article widely copied, detailing
the story of the flag sent to the general which he had lost in the Shenan-
doah Valley. It was left flying over a fort to deceive the enemy while
the troops were being removed ; the Confederates thought the soldiers were
still in the fort, and waited until day break to attack them, finding an
abandoned fort, and fifty-nine years afterward those who captured the
flag returned it to General Keifer. The flag was rescued by Mrs. Mary
Joy Kipp, who carried it away concealed under her skirts, and the gen-
eral planned to have it preserved in Columbus by the Ohio Archaeological
Society, along with other Civil war relics. By using the flag to deceive
the Confederates, General Keifer was enabled to evacuate the fort with
4,000 Union soldiers, when 30,000 Confederates surrounded it.
While the assassination of President Lincoln occurred before the end
of the Civil war, he directed it from humanitarian motives and although
misrepresented and underestimated, many of the people believed in him,
and some one has said : "While in his life he was a great American, he
is an American no longer, he is one of those giant figures of whom there
are very few in history who lose their nationality in death. They are no
longer Greek, Hebrew, English or American, they belong to mankind.
While George Washington was a great American, Abraham Lincoln
belongs to the common people of every land." It was Lincoln who sug-
gested that the Lord must love the common folk because He made so
many of them. Three years after the close of the Civil war, May 30,
1868, is recognized as the first Decoration Day in the United States; it
was suggested by Gen. John A. Logan, and at that time Mrs. John A.
Logan organized the Woman's Relief Corps of America.
It was the great Lincoln who, in a speech at Gettysburg, exclaimed:
"We here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain," and
while decoration in its purpose is a memorial to Civil war soldiers, the
time has come when they have grown feeble and their admirers and
friends assist them in the discharge of their solemn obligation — placing
flowers on the lowly mounds, the resting places of their comrades in
arms. Since then two wars have added younger men to the roll of
veterans. Since 1919, the Decoration Day service presents the spectacle
in many communities of the veterans of three wars marching in the same
procession to lay flowers on the graves of comrades — the battle-scarred
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standard bearers of 1861, the Spanish- Americans of 1898, and the khaki-
clad youths of the World war.
Spanish-American War
While 1898 was a year of uncertainty for the Spanish-American
soldiers in the training camps, for many of them it only meant a year's
absence from their homes, however, they offered themselves a living
sacrifice upon their country's altar. While they are reticent about their
military experiences — say they did not have any — there .was patriotism
in the air when it seemed that Cuba needed them. While "Remember
Buena Vista harks back to the Mexican difficulties in the '40s," "Remem-
ber the Maine" stirred the hearts of all Cuban sympathizers, and there
was military discipline and drill ; the manual of arms and the uniform
awakened universal patriotism.
Birthplace of Gen. Frederick Funston, New Carlisle
When President William McKinley called for volunteers to compel
Spain to assume a right attitude toward Cuba, Springfield and Clark
County contributed the full quota of soldiers and sailors, and others were
disappointed because they were unable to enter the service. Col. Charles
Anthony commanded the Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and Camp
Bushnell was opened for training at Columbus. It is given to but few
men to exhibit a war record through three successive generations, as
was the privilege of General Keifer who, when the Spanish-American
war was in prospect, offered his services again. He was commissioned
major general by the President. Maj. Horace C. Keifer was a member
of the Ohio National Guard, receiving an appointment from the War
Department as captain of the Third United States Volunteer Engineers,
and he was an aide of the staff of General Keifer in Florida, Georgia and
in Cuba. When there was another call' for soldiers in the World war,
four grandsons of General Keifer responded: Joseph W., Oswin,
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 333
J. Warren, Jr., and Horace S. Keifer, and thus has he contributed to
three wars, and born in 1836, he remembers much about the Mexican
war — has lived through four wars.
General Keifer is the only major general of the Civil war to attain
the same rank in a later war, and along with his G. A. R. button he has
worn a service button having four stars upon it. Keifer Camp No. 3,
Spanish War Veterans, is named in honor of Horace C. Keifer who did
service in Cuba. Keifer Camp uses the Mitchell Post G. A. R. rooms
for its meetings. While many Spanish war soldiers did not encounter
actual service in Cuba, some enlisted for service in the Philippines, some
went into the Regular Army and others into the United States Navy,
and it may be said that Clark County— christened for a warrior — has
had its f Jill mede of service in bearing the country's flag to victory on
land and sea.
In connection with the Springfield Centennial in 1901, General Keifer
said : "With all the significant things accomplished at the cost of blood
and treasure in the nineteenth century, future generations will not be
content to mark time over the grave of the past," and it is a coincident
that at the beginning of the World war, he was in Berlin en route to
Stockholm to attend a meeting of the Interparliamentary Union for
Peace. He had delivered his message in Brussels, but he did not arrive
at Stockholm; it was with difficulty that he got out of Germany.
The War of the Nations: The World War
In the class with Gen. John J. Pershing, who led the United States
forces in France, was Gen. Frederick Funston, a son of Clark County
who died while defending the Mexican border in 1916, before the United
States was actively engaged in the great war. Hope centered in Funston,
but he was removed by death when the country needed him most, and
quoting again from an address by General Keifer in 1901 : "Would to
God we could foretell the events and the progress of the twentieth cen-
tury, and write with the pen of prophecy Springfield's history," and
while on Decoration Day every grave was singled out in all of the ceme-
teries; flowers were placed on hallowed spots sacred to absent sleepers,
and there were flowers on the water for all who lay buried in watery
graves, he had not dreamed then of the sad hearts unable to visit over-
seas cemeteries; he had not heard the Flanders Requiem: "And we
shall keep true faith with those who lie asleep, with each a cross to mark
his bed," although in many households today are sad hearts because of
sons, brothers, aye, young husbands who sleep beneath the poppies of
France. The poet exclaims:
"And down in the corn where the poppies grew,
• Were redder stains than the poppies knew,"
and while some Clark County families have had bodies of their soldier
dead consigned to them, others are content to leave them where they fell
in the discharge of patriotic duty.
While some have objected to the use of the word civil in designating
any war, and suggest that instead of Civil war the struggle between the
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334 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
North and South be called the war of the states because the slavery
question involved the free and slave states in conflict, others do not say
World war, but speak of the war of the nations ; a few nations were not
involved, and world includes all. The war of the states and the war of
the nations involve very different warlike conditions; a nation of story-
tellers was a development of the war of the states, but the United States
had become a nation of newspaper readers, and few stories are told of
the war of the nations by the soldiers. Before the advent of the daily
newspaper, young and old alike enjoyed the recitals of their adventures
by the Civil war soldiers who spent the best of their lives in the service.
A grateful republic still holds them in remembrance ; a nation was plunged
into sorrow and debt because of human slavery.
There were northern homes made desolate because of those who lie
buried in the battlefields of the South, and southern firesides had their
own losses, but now the whole civilized world knows the sorrows follow-
ing in the wake of war. In France, Belgium and England there have
been burial ceremonies connected with the bodies of unknown soldiers
in honor of all the unknown dead, and finally there was a ceremony con-
nected with the burial of an unknown soldier in Washington.
Activities in Clark County
While there were recruiting offices and many volunteers, the flaming
signs : "Men wanted for the army," always having a lure for the young
men of the country ; soldier life affords to young men an opportunity of
travel who otherwise would be unable, to see the world, not much thought
had been given as to who was enlisting and leaving the community.
Young men frequently enlisting who were unknown in Clark County.
Sometimes parents favor the army on account of the rigid discipline
it offers, and which they have failed to enforce ; they recognize the manly
bearing that comes from military training; they covet the splendid
physiques, realizing that the manual of arms develops them. While
young men sometimes enter the army to escape unpleasant home environ-
ment, when there was a call to arms it was pure patriotism that prompted
Young America to quit his home, and offer himself upon his country's
altar. The first World war draft called for young men between the
ages of eighteen and thirty-one, and how quickly many of them registered
and put themselves in line for service; when the age limit was raised to
forty-five years none shirked responsibility. Old Company B of the
Ohio National Guard was on the Mexican border patrol in 1916, and
when on April 6, 1917, the United States declared war against Germany
this company went to France ; it is now a machine gun company.
While the United States was last to get into the war — the war of the
nations — and last to get out of it, the policy remains : "Trust in the
Lord and keep your powder dry." Unpreparedness was heard on every
side; the United States was a peace-loving nation. However, Clark
County immediately marshaled its forces when there was a call for
soldiers. While America needs to be fortified, the reformers say it needs
to be purified; they urge that its larger centers were just as wicked,
April 6, 1917, as Paris, London or Rome; they were just as vulgar as
Berlin or Vienna, and that they remain unchanged after going through
the purifying fire of war. Some political economists charge that
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America has held aloof from helping restore the peace of the world
because of partisan reasons, influenced by ambitious political spoilsmen.
The United States was represented at Versailles by President Wood-
row Wilson, and the warring nations sent their representatives to the
Disarmament Conference in Washington. The United States did not
go to Genoa nor to The Hague; it did not assume responsibility for tne
European situation. Some have charged this country with hesitating
as to whether it shall do its duty by the rest of the world or live to
itself; the questions confronting the thinking people are nationalism
and internationalism. Apropos the time, some one said in rhyme:
"Between you and me, in the last year or two,
My ideals are not so sunny;
I'm about on the brink of beginning to think.
We are more or less out for the money."
Under wartime conditions seemingly respectable men abandoned
themselves to making money greedily, but Springfield industries were not
converted into munitions of war channels ; it is urged that while America
was making money, France was shedding blood — that France put up
the men while America furnished the money — and General Pershing
now urges a greater preparedness, saying this country may not be
favored with allies again. It is said that a money-maker enjoys reading
the Prophet Isaiah better than the Sermon on the Mount, and in driving
home the cost of war in wealth alone President Tulloss of Wittenberg
localizes the problem, saying that 961 memorial halls like the one in
Springfield could be built with the money spent each day; the cost of
the great war for one year would have financed 1,752,000 Wittenberg
colleges that long, and that another such war will destroy civilization.
The war cost the United States $24,000,000,000, while the annual prod-
ucts of agriculture are less than $15,000,000,000, and the profiteer is
described in the lines:
"Lean was his purse in time of peace;
Open in time of war —
Full was his purse when the cannons ceased,
Then closed forever more,"
and he remarked: "This soldier bonus is going to be hard on the
country."
An unusual condition followed in the wake of the World war. The
Eighteenth and Nineteenth Amendments were written into the Constitu-
tion of the United States, and accompanying prohibition came the lib-
erated woman ; and the flapper has attracted much attention. It is said
that respectable women copy styles from women who are far from
respectability, and the young people — a generation of butterflies— care
only for excitement, change and money. It is written that a nation or
community, like the individual, will reap what it sows — sow to the wind
and reap the whirlwind. Some of the problematic students say the
world had needed a violent shaking up long before August, 1914, when
Germany started the pot to boiling, and that gross materialism is still
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336 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
the malady ; that humanity still has some lessons to learn — that it requires
a good many reprimands to bring it to an understanding of things.
While arbitration seems the humane thing, the war record of Clark
County is in no sense a reproach to its citizenry. It will welcome uni-
versal peace, even though the League of Nations did not meet all the
requirements. While some people argue that they are in the world, but
not of it, Clark County is in Ohio, and Ohio is in the United States, and
while the United States entered the War of the Nations it was. not
through the motive of conquest. While fireless and wireless are eco-
nomic terms in common usage, the people of Clark County learned
about heatless, meatless and wheatless days after the beginning of Ger-
many's struggle for world supremacy.
Platform speakers frequently urged that with the opportunity for
profit removed from the individual, and greed expurged from the
nations of the earth, the question of war will be settled. The World
war soldiers in France said: "We are good soldiers because we are
not soldiers," demonstrating clearly that the United States troops were
with the Allies for a purpose other than conquest — it was wholly
humanitarian. The United States never has entered war to enlarge its
domain, even though the Mexican war resulted in more slave territory.
When the American flag has been unfurled in war it has been for the
protection of civil liberty. With 81,000 Americans — fathers, sons,
brothers, husbands — who fought, bled and died in France and Flanders;
with 81,000 Gold Star War Mothers in the United States, it follows
that some of this sorrow was visited upon the households of Clark
County. While in time France may forget that the American Expedi-
tionary force was there, the people of the United States have not for-
gotten the visit of Lafayette. When General Pershing stood at his tomb
saying: "Lafayette, we are here," the greeting was "heard 'round the
world."
While Clark County contributed 3,300 men to the World war, and
it is known that 168 of them died away from their homes, there were
heroes and heroines who "carried on" in their absence, all other con-
siderations being subordinated to wartime activities. Clark County boys
received their military training at Camp Sherman and in all the military
training camps about the country. The American Legion .Posts keeping
alive the war memories are George Cultice in Springfield, named for
the first Clark County boy who died in the service, and the Posts in
South Charleston, New Carlisle and Tremont City. And in Springfield
is the Antonio Bailey Post, composed of Negro soldiers, with Robert
Allen as commander. The George Cultice American Legion Post com-
manders are Wallace S. Thomas, Dr. J. H. Rinehart and W. W. Diehl.
There are 'Ladies' Auxiliaries in connection, those eligible to member-
ship being the mothers, wives and sisters of the soldiers.
While 3,300 Clark County soldiers were reported enlisted under the
draft, it is not known how many enlisted in other communities or how
many had entered the army or the navy while the recruiting offices
handled the situation in Springfield. The local recruiting office being in
an industrial center, attracted many young men from outside of Clark
County. The Students Army Training Corps in connection with Wit-
tenberg College attracted many young men, and the naval recruiting
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station in Springfield enrolled many young men from Clark County.
The Motor Transport Corps attracted many local young men; the Kelly
Motor Truck Company supplying many army trucks accompanied by
local men as drivers, and Clark County was touched in many ways by
the war.
It is said the Springfield and Clark County Draft Boards had little
difficulty with slackers. There was excellent community response to
all war measure demands, men and women cheerfully giving their time
to it. Just a few times freedom of speech was curtailed, one man being
"ducked" because of unpatriotic utterances, his fellow workmen attend-
ing to the ceremony. While everybody responded and many sacrificed,
not sufficient record was made at the time to enable full credits to be
given, the community settling back into the even tenor of its way as
soon as the wartime need was ended, the men having taken care of the
financial situation and the women quit their homes for the Red Cross
workshops, the Dorcas of the Bible being multiplied many times in
Springfield an throughout Clark County. They all served many weary
hours, days, weeks and months in their united effort to "make the wortd
safe for democracy."
The Springfield and Clark County War Service (War Chest) was
organized to correlate and finance all Clark County wartime activities.
Its president was Warren A. Myers; vice president, C. G. Heckert;
treasurer, J. L. Bushnell, and when the secretary, J. E. North, resigned,
the duties were performed by F. A. Crothers. The executive committee
members were: P. J. Shouvlin. J. E. Bowman. W. C. Hewitt, R. C.
Bancroft, G. W. Tehan and H. E. Freeman of Springfield, while W. N.
Scarff and John F. Brown had charge of the rural subscriptions to the
fund. An active subscription campaign was launched, reaching 31,936
subscribers, who gave their money without reservation. There were
Clark County boys in the service, and in ten days the amount subscribed
totalled $1,339,247.66, but when the Armistice was signed the amount
was automatically reduced and the amount asked was $892,831.76, but
there was some shrinkage and the amount collected was $703,902.42, the
disbursements being $530,148.03, and when the Armistice stopped the
collection the War Service Commission had a balance of $173,754.39,
which was invested in Liberty bonds and turned over to the City of
Springfield, the income from them to be used.in the support of soldiers.
The Commission or War Chest also turned over a certificate for cash
on deposit amounting to $7,539.69 to be held as a trust fund. It is an
endowment to the City Hospital for the benefit of the service men, the
principal to remain intact for fifty years.
Sometimes the question has been raised as to what was done with
War Chest money, and while the facts have been published some did
not happen to read the reports. The War Service activities in Clark
County began April 1, 1918, the payments falling due June 1. and not-
withstanding the Armistice in November, $703,902.42 was collected,
those having paid in full in advance receiving pro rata rebate. The War
Service paid all the expenses for the Liberty loans, and paid to the*
Clark County Chapter American Red Cross $204,000, and including
memberships and other donations the Red Cross received $350,000 from
Clark County. Under the leadership of H. S. Kissell, chairman of the
Clark County War Savings Commission, the county was awarded a
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338 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
tablet as special recognition. He built up a good working organization
and went "over the top" with $1,760,000, and the tablet in Memorial
Hall tells the story. There were many willing workers, and they reached
every home in Clark County.
Those at the helm of the Clark County Chapter American Red Cross
were : Chairman, Joseph B. Cartmell ; vice chairman, Mrs. H. H. Bean ;
treasurer, Harlan C. West; secretary, John M. Cole, and the following
directors* Mrs. W. S. Thomas, Mrs. W. W. Keifer, Dr. C. L. Minor,
Max L. Kleeman, Mrs. Samuel Altschul, John L. Bushnell, Dr. Ben-
netta D. Titlow, Mrs. E. S. Kelly, A. L. Beaupain, W. C. Hewitt, Dr.
C. G. Heckert, George M. Winwood, Jr., H. E. Freeman, Charles E.
Ashburner, Rev. D. A. Buckley and J. E. Bowman. As the chairman,
it is said that Mr. Cartmell did not say "go" to his associates, but that
when busy himself he said "come" to them, and while the local chapter
American Red Cross received $350,000 from Clark County, $90,000 went
direct to the national headquarters in Washington.
The Clark County Chapter used $10,000 a year in. helping disabled
service men and their families. There were 125 working organizations
in the county, the main chapter occupying an entire building in the down-
town section of Springfield. While all surgical dressings and most of
the garments were made at headquarters, some of the garments and
most of the knitting was done at the homes of the workers and in the
different auxiliaries scattered over "the county. The rural response was
as good as in the towns. There were 18,000 Red Cross members, and
many continue their dues since the war. The church responded to the
call of patriotism, ninety-five percent of the Red Cross workers being
church members. Mrs. Elizabeth Coberly of South Vienna, the oldest
woman in Clark County, distinguished herself both in the Red Cross
workshop and in the War Savings, offering her money without solici-
tation. She knit many pairs of socks for the soldiers.
The activities of the Clark County Chapter of the American Red
Cross was recognized at the National Headquarters, and Mr. Cartmell
says: "It was a wonderful group of workers." There never was a
time when too much was asked of Clark County women ; they abandoned
all social activities, moved by the purpose of winning the war. The Red
Cross workshops made 31,487 garments, 9,167 knitted pieces, 36,088
pieces of hospital supplies, and 287,176 pieces of surgical dressings
Mrs. E. P. Ross had charge of the surgical dressings and while sanitary
precautions were observed, this department was regarded as the most
particular; not all the women learned to make them. While the men
financed the war and the young men enlisted in it, the womanhood of
Clark County responded just as valiantly and as gallantly. With sons
in the trenches why would not Clark County mothers frequent the Red
Cross work shops? The woman who demanded wheat bread for herself
because she had given her sons to the service, did not hail from Clark
County.
While there were 18,000 members of the Red Cross in Clark County
at one time the Springfield Chapter cared for 5,000 "flu" patients. The
city hospital is not open to epidemic diseases, and three emergency hos-
pitals were organized in St. Raphaels and St. Joseph schools and in the
Sunday School room of Christ Episcopal Church, all centrally located
and open to all, and Springfield chapter equipped quarters in Wittenberg
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College for the care of the S. A. T. C. and on every side it was demon-
strated that the American Red Cross is the best mother in the world.
The schools and churches were closed, and for ninety days the Red
Cross cared for the "flu" victims; some of the most active workers died
while ministering to others in the service. While relief agencies were
better systematized in the World war, the Sanitary Commission of
Springfield received a flag in recognition of its services in the Civil war.
They sent many boxes of linen to the front, and daughters of some of
those Civil war mothers went regularly to the Red Cross work shops.
There has been a growing need of Red Cross activities ever since the
organization was established by Clara Barton. It does not confine its
operations to wartime conditions, and the payment of $1 by all who
enrolled in war time will enable the Red Cross to continue its service.
The army of disabled soldiers is growing, since in 1919 it numbered
3,300; in 1920 it had reached 17,500, and in 1921 it numbered 26,300
World war disabled soldiers. They are all in government hospitals, and
the American Red Cross ministers to them. Clark County activities arfe
directed by the Home Service section and are mostly among disabled
ex-service men, securing compensation, placing them in vocational train-
ing, finding positions and aiding them in other ways, and with W. W.
Keifer as chairman the fifth annual roll call was begun on Armistice
Day and continued from day to day, the people urged to give their money
without waiting for a personal request. The sale of Red Cross seals
at Christmas time always meets with response in Springfield and
throughout Clark County. The custom was instituted in 1908 and since
penny seals may be had by all. The fight against tuberculosis is carried
to many households, the sale being a volunteer service.
W. W. Diehl, commander of the George Cultice Post, American
Legion, in Springfield, says that many Clark County soldiers have filed
their application for bonus, the members of the Clark County Bar assist-
ing them gratuitously, the purpose of the bonus being to adjust the eco-
nomic disadvantages that fell upon the soldiers and sailors, and while
General Pershing places Major Charles S. Whittlesey and Sergeants
Alvin York and Samuel Woodfill in front rank as World war heroes,
it is said that heroic exploits were the rule rather than the exception.
Wittenberg College recently received a communication from the War
Department commending the loyal service rendered to the Students
Army Training Corps stationed there, the local unit being composed of
about 250 men who underwent a course of military training almost equal
to that given at West Point Military Academy. The 9,000 school children
of Springfield accepted the quota of $20 each, and through the purchase
of Thrift Stamps they raised $180,000, the school leading for the month
having a flag, and the final winner was the Lincoln School, where the
flag remains because the contest ended, the money having been given to
the Clark County War Service organization.
Little did the people of Clark County think what the murder of an
Austrian Prince in the summer of 1914 would mean to them. They
rested secure in their remoteness ; the farmer continued to till his fields ;
the laborer remained at his employment, and the business or professional
man followed his usual routine with undisturbed equanimity. The
preparation for war in Europe did not concern Clark County until one
nation after another was declaring war against Germany and far-seeing
Americans began to realize the possibility of this nation participating
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340 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
in it, although a campaign cry in 1916 had been: "He kept us out of
war." History does not record another struggle of man against his
brother of equal magnitude with the World war. The world wars before
the beginning of the Christian era were small as compared with it.
The conquests of Alexander were not in a class with the ambitions
of Germany; while the Romans once swayed the world, most of their
great battles pale into insignificance in comparison with the recent strug-
gles on European battlefields. Their successes had resulted from trained
and disciplined legions, armed with superior weapons, against half-
savage, poorly disciplined and inadequately armed adversaries. Where
thousands had engaged in mortal combat, the World war numbered
millions, and the soldiers on both sides were equipped with the latest
death-dealing devices known to modern warfare. It was clearly a case
of diamond cut diamond, although the armed soldiers only numbered
about one-fifth of the actual mobilization. The remotest village and
farm contributed its quota, and some one writes that when the World
war began America was over-run with tramps and that the "work or
fight" policy rid the country of them. However, reconstruction finds
many idle men in the country, and wearing uniforms most people are
moved to sympathy. As a resume of tramp history, it is said that until
after the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia the genus hobo was
unknown in this country. The "flop houses" have been installed again
in Springfield, but industrial conditions have something to do with the
question.
There were not many conscientious objectors and a fine spirit of
patriotism was manifested by the young men within the draft age in
Clark County. After the United States declared war against Germany
all recruiting stations were closed and the local draft board handled the
situation in order to avoid misunderstandings and confusion. While
the boys enlisted for service, when the armistice was signed they wanted
out of it. They tell the story of the Negro who broke ranks, and when
questioned by an officer, he answered: "I 'listed fo' de duration o' de
wa', and now Ps gwine back to Alabam'," and it was an unhappy after-
math. The boys no longer needed on the firing line were needed at
home, and the slow process was a test of patriotism. The red tape of
the War Department exasperated the home folk as well, and when at
the Disarmament Conference Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes
fired another shot that was heard around the world — the cessation of
naval activities — it seemed like the beginning of the end of warfare, and
were the heroic dead able to speak they would ask for an international
peace.
While humanity is thinking of peace, wars come and go and again
the world is a half -wrecked civilization. While Europe had preserved
peace through the balance of power, the great war demonstrated the
futility of such theory. As the war drew to a close there was a wide-
spread hope, based on the passionate desire that from the ashes of so
much sacrifice there would arise a new world filled with righteousness.
Into the maelstrom of war had gone the youth of the world with amaz-
ing prodigality, notwithstanding the prophesy of Isaiah: "Nation shall
not lift up sword against nation."
With an army of 81,000 Gold Star Mothers in the United States, and
the World war costing: $186,000,000,000. and the National debt
increased to $24,974,000,000 because of it ; with the killed in battle num-
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bering 19,658,000, and the deaths from famine and disease reaching
30,470,000, why should not the world listen to Lord Bryce when he said :
"If we do not destroy war. war. will destroy us." A final summary
shows that the United States enrolled 5,016,832 men and women in mili-
tary service during the World war— more soldiers than the entire popu-
lation of North America at the time of the Revolutionary war — and in
the face of it all unemployed men between the ages of eighteen and
thirty-five are again offered an opportunity to join the United States
Army. "Coming as it does at a time of industrial depression, the
announcement of army recruiting is welcome in many sections." The
sale of poppies and Forget-Me-Not tags — something in soldier welfare
necessary — and more young men entering the army.
While the World war slogan of the Americans was "Let's go," and
the English motto was : "Carry on," it was the French who said : "They
shall not pass," and now the French uniform of horizon blue is replaced
by the khaki of the American soldiers. A number of Springfield service
men visited other cities in order to see Marshal Foch when touring this
country, and yet some one says: "The war of yesterday has hardly
ended than it has become necessary to think of the war of tomorrow."
On the third anniversary of the Armistice, America heaped the honors
upon an unknown soldier who gave his life for his country on a foreign
battlefield, and the whole world looks forward to a time when war will
be no more, but until the end of time tribute should be paid to those
who gave their all in defense of the liberties of mankind. It is because
Americans love their country, and have been willing to give their lives
for it, that the United States exists today as the hope of the world.
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CHAPTER XXXVI
THE CLARK COUNTY BENCH AND BAR
The story of the bench and the bar in Clark County is contemporary
with the county history. The first case in the Clark County court was
scheduled in the April term, 1818, and it was brought by John S. Wal-
lace against William Ross and Jason B. Coleman. The action was taken
to collect a promissory note, and the attorney bringing the suit was
James Conley. The judges were Daniel McKennon, Joseph Tatman and
Joseph Layton, none of them Clark County bonafide citizens.
It was Southey who said: "The laws are with us and God is on
our side," and since then it has been the mission of jurists to prove the
assertion. The law literature of Ohio is abundant, and it has been
accumulating since Judge Timothy Walker of Cincinnati wrote "The
American Law." Chief Justice John Marshall of the United States
Supreme Court once said of this country: "A government of laws and
not of men," and there must be some one to interpret the laws — hence
the Springfield lawyers. It was Tom Corwin who said: "You never
know how a jury will decide," and Judge F. W. Geiger told the Clark
County Bar Association they were all playing for different things. When
they do not get all they want in court they sometimes delay its progress
— the mills of the gods grind slow under such circumstances.
Before entering upon the practice of law in Clark County, the candi-
date must pass the state bar examination; he must show literary quali-
fications equal to three years of high school training; he must register
as a law student three years before he is admitted to the Clark County
bar; however, the requirements were not always so stringent. The
Clark County Bar Association meets on the first Monday evening of
each month, and each Monday is recognized as motion day before the
court. There are more than 100 lawyers at the Clark County bar, some
partnerships and some practicing alone. There are some strong legal
combinations, the lawyers of today having educational advantages not
enjoyed by their fathers, and yet in some of the father-and-son combi-
nations there are fathers who have degrees from college.
The 1921 organization of the Clark County Bar Association is:
President, Elza F. McKee; vice president, C. S. Olinger; secretary,
Harry Hull, and treasurer, O. L. McKinney, and in annual meeting the
entire roster was continued although a question was raised about the
organization. While two names had been used, it was decided that the
Springfield Bar and Library Association was the legal name, such organi-
zation having established and maintained a law library. Under the
rules, only members of the Springfield Bar and Library Association are
entitled to the use of the library. The Clark County Bar Association
members may take a $50 share of stock, and pay an annual $5 assess-
ment and enjoy the privilege of the law library, and in that way it would
automatically resolve itself into one organization. Many members of
the bar did not understand the two organizations and since all want
law library privileges they were given an opportunity of taking stock.
Olie V. Gregory, librarian, reported $16,500 insurance on the library.
Until the question was raised only about twenty-five attorneys held
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stock in the library. When the Common Pleas Court was located in
Memorial Hall the law library as secured from the burning Clark County
Court House four years ago, was also opened there. All of the Ohio
reports and those of nearby states are found in it, and through its use
the individual attorney does not require such an extensive and expensive
working library. While books may be removed, the borrower must leave
a card covering his obligation.
Along with other commodities, the law has been commercialized and
attorneys must make money. It has been defined as a "hocus pocus
science which smiles in your face while it picks your pockets," and again
the lawyers say it is not their mission to tell their clients what they can-
not do. but to get them out of their difficulties after they have done cer-
tain things. President Lincoln once said: "In law it is a good policy
never to plead what you need not, lest you oblige yourself to prove what
you cannot," and thus unnecessary confusion is saved the witness. There
is an Arabian proverb: "A secret is in my custody if I keep it; but
should it escape me, it is I who am the prisoner," and from the same
source comes the statement: "A lawyer without history or literature
is a mechanic, a mere working mason ; if he possess some knowledge of
these, he may venture to call himself an architect."
Gen. J. Warren Keifer, who has reflected honor on the Clark County
bar by serving as speaker of the National House of Representatives for
many years, says that education for the practice of law includes knowl-
edge of almost all subjects: ancient, modern, literary, scientific, biolog-
ical, historical, etc., and that continued close application to study is
necessary. It is said that when General Keifer was speaker the Premier
of England, William E. Gladstone, while in the House of Commons
cited and adopted one of his decisions — the rule of cloture, which is a
most useful thing to a presiding officer — the right to close debate, cutting
off obstructive motions and bringing the house to an immediate vote on
the main question. It was a compliment never before paid to an Amer-
ican parliamentarian by an Englishman. It was while the local military-
jurist was a member of the Forty-seventh Congress.
Other Distinguished Jurists
It has been the privilege of the Clark County bar to furnish three
of its members to sit on the bench in the Supreme Court of Ohio, Judge
William White of Springfield occupying that exalted position nineteen
years. A second decisive honor was conferred upon Judge White. when
he was elected judge in the United States District Court, but he died
before ascending the bench. Judge A. N. Summers was on the bench
of the Ohio Supreme Court seven years, and since 1911 Judge James C.
Johnson is one of the six judges who assume the court regalia and
determine matters of statewide importance. While it is an English cus-
tom, the Ohio Supreme Court judges appear in flowing robes, although
they do not affect the wigs worn by English jurists. As did his pre-
decessors, Judge Johnson maintains his legal residence in Springfield.
Clark County now has two judges holding court outside, Judge Albert
H. Kunkle of the Appellate Court being in Springfield in turn with
other counties.
There are case and corporation lawyers in Clark County, S. A. Bow-
man as attorney for Whitely, Fassler and Kelly, having been the first
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344 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
corporation lawyer in Springfield. They were organized to expand the
business of the community, and with them he had great opportunity.
William F. Devitt, who for years was private secretary to William N.
Whitely, holds the record as Clark County court stenographer. He was
among the earliest shorthand writers in Springfield, and he was court
stenographer from December, 1889, until May, 1910, and in twenty-one
years he listened to many arguments. There used to be spell-binders
in court, but since the advent of the daily newspaper the jurors are bet-
ter informed and they are not influenced by oratory.
While the jurors read the newspapers, they did not accept all they
read as facts and many of them easily qualify as jurors. While jury
service is sometimes irksome, the crippled arm of justice is explained
through the want of competent jurors; the better the type of juror, the
quicker he is discarded by the criminal type of lawyer. When reputable,
intelligent citizens avoid jury service it is not difficult for the criminal
to secure a jury suited to his requirements. Business corporations are
beginning to recognize the need of competent jurors if law enforcement
is to be possible, and while legal exemptions are numerous there is a
revolution of opinion relative to jury service. The professional juror
does not stand much show in Clark County ; the time was when men with
time on their hands frequented the court room, hoping to be drawn for
jury service.
Women as Jurors
When women were first admitted to jury service in the September
term of the Clark County court, 1920. five names were drawn from the
wheel and Miss Leona Yeazell, custodian of Memorial Hall, where court
was being held, was an emergency jury woman. There were six women
and six men, and the case was a woman against a man. The opposing
attorneys were John L. Zimmerman and Horace Stafford, and while the
woman won the women jurors did not all support her. Early in the
history of women as jurymen three women were named as members of
the grand jury : Laura Neer, Anna Whitely and Mabel Jones. In these
days jurors discuss the sub-conscious mind, and some witnesses under-
stand psychology, and with a jury informed on the issues of the case
there is little left to the lawyer but its logical presentation. When law-
yers were recognized as orators there was little telegraph news available
in daily papers, and it was first hand information when testimony was
heard in court.
Once upon a time the lawyers at the Clark County bar were in
demand as platform orators, and they discussed the slavery question and
sometimes the temperance question ; they discussed the tariff, and placed
a more or less rigid interpretation or construction on the Constitution
of the state or nation. While there is just as much brain force in the
Clark County bar today, its environment has changed; the intelligent
reader has the same opportunity of investigation, and the sagacious
lawyer realizes his limitations; the printed page has robbed him of his
thunder, and eloquence does not always rescue him from oblivion. While
Springfield lawyers are known on the lecture platform, they are handi-
capped over the lawyers of past generations; they cannot repeat their
addresses indefinitely. A number of Springfield lawyers have dis-
tinguished themselves before the local civic and literary clubs ; they have
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 345
written and read many papers, and language does not hamper them
at all.
While there are criminal and advisory lawyers who do not appear in
court, in Springfield are corporation and private lawyers who have
accumulated considerable property, and it is understood there is not a
lawyer at the bar who would not offer $2 worth more counsel when
asked to take a $3 fee out of a $5 bill, were such an emergency confronting
him ; the average Clark County lawyer takes care of himself in the mat-
ter of charges for his services. A man looking back over the years
said there had been distinguished lawyers at the Clark County bar, and
in an assembly Judge F. M. Hagan once paid tribute to the pioneers,
saying: "An American traveler of rare discrimination toured the world
to test for himself the comparative merits of each region as a place of
residence. %
"Returning to his own land the traveler wrote a book in which he
stoutly declared that all things considered, the portion of this planet
embraced within the Miami Valleys is, because of its natural resources
and beauty and the intelligence, thrift, morality and progress of its peo-
ple, the best place on earth for human habitation. So it is a good thing
to be born and live in Clark County, one of the magnificent cluster of
counties constituting this favored region where one finds opportunity
and incentive. My theme is to tell the traits of some of the lawyers of
Clark County; the time and occasion bids me to limit my discussion to
the lawyers of the past and to briefly tell of their characteristics. Were
I to enlarge the theme, there would be matter for eloquence in telling
about the present bar of Clark County, whose leaders are achieving suc-
cess in the practice of their profession or filling with honor and ability
high judicial positions.
"Transitory indeed is the fame of lawyers won in the practice, resting
as it does mainly in the memory of their associates. Of all the first
generation of Clark County lawyers, but one member of that bar who.
was their contemporary for a few years is now living, and he is with
us tonight. He is a veteran of two wars, renowned as a lawyer, soldier
and statesman who at nearly four score years practices his profession
with unabated vigor ; we greet him in the person of Gen. Joseph Warren
Keifer." (After passing his eighty-sixth birthday, the same may be
said of General Keifer.) Judge Hagan limits his observations to a
group of lawyers with whom he had personal acquaintance: William
White, Samuel Shellabarger, Samuel A. Bowman and Oscar T. Martin.
"William White, who was eight years at the Clark County bar, was
for another eight years judge of the Common Pleas Court, and for nine-
teen years a judge in the Supreme Court of Ohio, and in its reports his
opinions are monuments to him. They repay study for the broad per-
ception of justice and equity which they display, with painstaking care
and conscientious devotion to duty, as well as the choice diction in
which they are couched. Here was a great and gentle spirit unawed by
power and unseduced by gain, filled only with a sense of duty whose
private life was as sweet and lovely as his public career was honorable.
Judge White was called from the Supreme bench to a Federal court, but
he was stricken by death before entering the latter sphere.
"There comes to my mind the great figure of Samuel Shellabarger —
a native of Clark County — raising himself by his own unaided efforts
from humble environment to the first rank of lawyers and statesmen.
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346 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
As a lawyer his early career was in the State and Federal courts in
Ohio, in the closing years of his life it was in the various courts at
Washington, and largely in the Supreme Court of the United States.
Mr. Shellabarger did not have a quick mind but a profound one; he
was eminently a man of logic, second to no other. Having chosen his
premises he moved with irresistible force to a sound conclusion. If
ever a man practiced law because he loved to do it, that was Samuel
Shellabarger. If in his judgment it was necessary, he devoted as much
time in preparing and trying a case involving $100 as one involving
$10,000, and as a member of Congress his legal powers were shown in
framing the great reconstruction acts, together with Thaddeus Stevens
and Charles Sumner. As a lawyer of power, dignity and success he
had few peers in all this land," and while Mr. Shellabarger died in
Washington he lies buried in Ferncliff. While he made speeches in the
Civil war, his last address in Springfield was in connection with the
dedication of the Warder Library.
"Another of the great figures at the Clark County bar and in the
Federal and other courts of Ohio was Samuel A. Bowman, whose life
was mainly spent in Clark County. He was the opposite in intellectual
traits and methods from Mr. Shellabarger. Mr. Bowman did not like
the ordinary tedium of the law ; it required a crisis to arouse his energy
into high action. He had a quick, profound mind, and in addition to
acquired knowledge he had an intuitive perception of legal principles
and their correct application to concrete cases, such as distinguished
that eminent Ohio lawyer, Rufus P. Ranney. When a great question
confronted him in his office or at the bar, he seemed to grasp and master
it and to be able to throw a flood of light through the darkest recesses
of all of its complications. Samuel A. Bowman never held a public
office, nor did he cultivate the grace which brings public admiration.
Because of this he was not so widely known in the State of Ohio as
many men of lesser merit, but he ranked and ought to rank for all time
as one of its greatest lawyers.
"The last to whom I shall pay my humble tribute — Oscar T. Martin
— is one who passed away but a little while ago, after an active life in
the profession in the county of his birth of nearly forty years' duration.
He was of a different type from any of those whom I have mentioned;
a man of perpetual study, given to the greatest care in small or great
matters; systematical and methodical in the highest degree; honorable
in all his dealings; filled with the pride of his profession; he was a
typical American business lawyer, prepared for any duty which con-
fronted him in his profession. Mr. Martin never held or aspired to any
public position ; nothing is more fleeting than the reputation of a lawyer
who has not held a high judicial position or mingled statesmanship with
law. It may be said with peculiar force of our profession as was said
by a poet of all men:
"We pass ; the path which each man trod is dimmed,
Or soon shall dim with weeds;
What is there left of human deeds in endless years?
It rests with God."
"Each generation of lawyers has its high part to play in the great
drama of life; what a precious heritage then it would be for each suc-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 347
ceeding generation to have preserved in some imperishable form the
traits of the great and honored lawyers who have preceded it. When-
ever a great and upright lawyer of any community comes to the end of
his earthly career the duty rests upon those who survive to see that such
traits are preserved, not only in the memories of those who survive, but
in some permanent form as a legacy, for the enrichment of the greatest
profession on earth," and what Judge Hagan says with enthusiasm about
his own line of activity applies with equal force to the whole community.
The annals of the community show Samson Mason to have been
among the early practitioners at the Clark County bar. He was iden-
tified with the development of Springfield, and when he represented
Clark County in Congress he was classed as an aristocrat — a man with
much dignity. He was an able lawyer and carried a gold headed cane
when he appeared in public in Washington. His gold headed cane and
plug hat always attracted attention. Gen. Charles Anthony, who was
an early member of the Clark County bar, was a successful lawyer. He
was bluff and outstanding as a jury lawyer. In his day lawyers played
on the sympathy of the jurors, but in these days of subconscious minds
and psychological tests, no matter how formidable, they are unable to
sway twelve men who have read all of the particulars of the case. The
orator at the Clark County bar must feel the burden of his words or
they fall without impress upon the jury, and "the jury outside the jury
box," who always form their own conclusions. This is the age of calm
reason, rather than disturbed emotion, and the Clark County legal fra-
ternity has adapted itself to the changed conditions. Why should an
attorney at the bar exert himself to the point of frenzy unless he has a
distinctive message?
A case often quoted and copied into the legal reports was tried Sep-
tember 9, 1850, in the Clark County court — David Stewart vs. The State
— and it is cited as the leading case on self-defense by lawyers all over
the United States. While it deals with criminology, the way it was dis-
posed of was a credit to the bar of Clark County. There has been liti-
gation as an outgrowth of blasting and injuring tne flow of spring water,
and when sewers have been constructed the same difficulty has been
encountered, until bubbling springs would now hardly suggest the name
of the town, but it is all part of community development — the limestone
underlying the city rendered heroic measures a necessity. While some
lawyers find too little time for all their activities, and while litigation
remains uncertain, the question is raised as to who patches the seat of
justice, and the humorist, Abe Martin, says the difference between a
world war and a legal battle is that the newspaper readers have to wear
the gas masks, and some- one else inquires why secure a legal education
in order to practice economy ?
In reviewing the history of the Clark County bar, one able jurist
said that E. H. Cumming had been an early Springfield lawyer who after
his marriage laid off the ermine and adopted the garb of the clergy.
While he is the lone example of an attorney leaving the Clark County
bar for the pulpit, a number of others abandoned the profession for
business, among them Scipio Baker, T. F. McGrew, Sr., Randolph Cole-
man and John H. Thomas. However, in conducting constructive busi-
ness they were benefited from their knowledge of law. In the days
when the circuit judges came from other counties there was much diffi-
culty with the Indians in Western Ohio and in Indiana, from horse
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348 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
stealing. As the circuit judges traveled from one court to another on
horseback and fording swollen streams, they were in sympathy with the
settlers who suffered so many losses. There was litigation from the
beginning, and the situation outlined by the Quaker poet, John Green-
leaf Whittier:
"No doubtful balance of rights and wrongs,
Nor weary lawyers with endless tongues,"
seems an utter impossibility.
The word bench is a time honored term, English in its origin. The
judge is a public officer vested with authority to hear and determine
causes, and to administer judgment according to the law and the evidence
introduced by the litigants before him. Before the judge of the court
comes all the woes of humanity, and a well known humorist has said:
"Some folks are so guilty they cannot find a lawyer famous enough to
defend them." When people know themselves innocent, it is said they
are satisfied with a trial before the judge, but when they are guilty they
have eleven more chances of a favorable decision by leaving it to a jury.
While the judge is immovable under the pressure of eloquence, when the
retainer is sufficient the spellbinders at the bar are sometimes able to
influence a jury.
In a figurative sense, the terms bench and bar indicate the judge of
the court and the practicing members of the legal fraternity. In the
Clark County Official Roster chapter all the judges who have occupied
the bench in Clark County are enumerated, while there is a roster of the
present bar on file with the clerk of the court; some of the members of
the local bar have enrolled themselves as patrons of this history in the
biography section. Laws are the necessary relations resulting from the
nature of things, and many matters are settled in court about which there
is no controversy ; it is litigation without the element of contest — simply
an amiable adjustment of matters. Judicial proceedings do not neces-
sarily involve controversy, and thus many prosperous attorneys seldom
appear in court. The mimic dictionary defines a lawyer thus : "The man
who rescues your property from the adversary and keeps it himself."
There are estates to be settled and titles to be cleared, and some law-
yers establish a reputation for accuracy ; they write wills and acknowledge
deeds with never any reverses following them. They are found in the
Clark County bar, and while Judge Ptagan pays tribute to the outstand-
ing attorneys of the first generation, their sons are holding forth today
with the same high moral purpose — some fine legal specimens who give
advice that keeps their clients out of court, and still they are able to com-
mercialize their knowledge ; the differences are adjusted through arbitra-
tion and why should the whole community know the unpleasant details?
In Common Pleas Court one day Judge Geiger exclaimed : "What is the
matter, anyway?" when a young man and his wife were explaining things,
and his wholesome advice seemed to adjust the difficulty. He painted the
picture of a divorced woman with a child, saying: "It is hell to be a
divorced woman."
When there were no skyscraper office buildings in Springfield the
attorneys at the Clark County bar were easy-going, and they used to swap
yarns from their chairs at the curb in front of their respective offices;
it was no trick to carry a chair down' one flight of stairs, and when a
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 349
client accosted one of them he would finish the story before he would
consider any further litigation obligations. Those lawyers of the past
never sullied the ermine, and today there is a high moral standard at
the Clark County bar; some of its members are known in the halls of
state — in the councils of the nation, and a fraternal spirit marks all legal
proceedings. The Clark County Bar Association — the Springfield Bar
and Library Association — affiliates with the Ohio Bar Association, and
the local legal acumen has recognition in other courts. Judge Johnson,
who maintains his residence in Springfield, was named by Newton D.
Baker of Cleveland, who was once Secretary of War, as a member of
the Ohio Committee of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, a national
organization pledged to raise $1,000,000 in tribute, the income to be given
in prizes to the persons who in the opinion of a jury of award have done
most to advance the ideals most associated with the name of Mr. Wilson.
While there are unwritten laws in society, and lynch laws in some
communities that do not require legal interpretation in their execution,
jurisprudence is a systematic knowledge of the laws, customs and the
rights of a citizen in a state or community, necessary to secure the due
administration of justice. A jurist professes, and sometimes writes the
science of law, and while no one enjoys a mirthful aspersion upon his
own calling more than the lawyer, it is said that those sharing office
rooms in Springfield have a multiplicity of keys rather than duplication
of locks on their doors. They are not like the settler who cut a hole in
the cabin door for the cat and a smaller hole near it for the kittens. The
legal light who defined arson as "pizen" did not practice law in Clark
County, although local attorneys long ago settled the question: "May a
man marry his widow's sister?" They answer it by sayirig a Negro house-
maid at the funeral of a woman friend issued the statement that she would
marry the corpse's husband.
While there were associate judges under the original Ohio Constitu-
tion, on the adoption of the second Constitution, March 10, 1851, the
District Common Pleas and the County Probate Court assumed all local
jurisdiction ; from the beginning in 1818 there was a presiding judge sit-
ting with the associate judges, and he was required to hold court in tur-i
in all the counties in the district, and under transportation difficulties the
word circuit had definite meaning. The story of Count Coffinberry, who
belonged to that period and who migrated about Ohio, is known to all
jurists, and his epic in seven cantos: The Capture; the Narration; the
March; the Hazard; the Rescue; the Preparation, and the Conclusion,
is the story of the pioneer in any community. Under the original Consti-
tution the Supreme had both original and appellate jurisdiction, and
important criminal cases were tried before it while the judges were peri-
patetic, still holding court in different counties.
In the early days there was a bell on the Clark County courthouse
and it was used in calling the litigants to court ; in recent years the bailiff
shouts the words : "Come to court," repeating twice, and when he says :
"Hear ye, court is now in session," the "mills of the gods" begin the
grinding process — slow and exceeding fine. When court is in session
those in durance vile know their doom is approaching and while the rain
falls on the just as well as on the unjust, the judge is supposed to possess
his soul in patience while the lawyers quibble over seemingly irrelevant
matters, but that is when Judge Geiger hurries matters.
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350 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
It is well understood that every prisoner at the bar must have the
benefit of the doubt, and conviction must come only when there is no
uncertainty about his guilt; sometimes a lawyer who is a master hand
at cross examination is inclined to forget the rights and privileges of the
witness, and the judge protects him. At all hazards the dignity of the
court must be maintained, although there are vexatious questions in
jurisprudence. There are two sides and the jury must weigh the law
and the evidence; the judge explains to the jury the construction of the
law with reference to particular situations. Obedience to the law is
liberty, and bulldozing tactics are under the bans in Clark County. While
lawyers comprehend, pettifoggers sometimes attempt to blind the jury,
although the judge who charges them is impartial ; the jury must not gain
the impression that the judge has any personal opinion about cases given
to it for settlement. The jury and the witnesses all take the oath : "So
help me, God," and they are impressed with the fact that right wrongs
no one at all. Because of advance information gained through news-
papers, crowds no longer frequent court rooms for such details only in
extraordinary instances. Only the bare facts in the law and the evidence
are now summed up by the most successful attorneys.
While not so much is required by way of qualifications, the shrewd
Clark County lawyer understands that his knowledge is his capital, and
that cold blooded facts are the convincing things — the bread and butter
end of the story. Litigation arises from various sources, and the bench
and the bar alike depend upon it ; from the nature of the case, lawyers
enjoy trials and tribulations. However, there is such a thing as justice
tempered with mercy.
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CHAPTER XXXVII
MATERIA MEDICA IN CLARK COUNTY
The history of medicine is as old as civilization itself ; it is the story
of man in his most vital relations.
While the settlers on Mad River and the early residents of Spring-
field, in the log cabin days of Clark County history, had a bottle of quinine
on the shelf along with their copy of Doctor Gunn, nevertheless they
frequently "worked it off" when they were "under the weather." They
had to have something for "snake bite," and thus something in a jug usu-
ally relieved them, and thus in their day and generation they understood
Materia Medica.
While the settlers may have had spring fever in its most virulent
form, the contagion never has been wholly eradicated although miasma
in most forms disappeared with the marshes, and thus drainage has been
the accomplice of the medical fraternity. While self qures and rest cures
may be fads, before prohibition became universal there were citizens
still who prescribed for themselves in many instances, and now it is said
that some even suffer from lack of medical care because they feel them-
selves unable to pay the doctor, and yet Springfield meets thatJ objection;
there is city and county medical attention upon request, and while there
is no lease on life death is still certain.
While some men are insurable today who are incurable tomorrow,
taken in time disease is baffled by Clark County medical experts. The
French proverb says: "When a man is dead it is no use calling in the
doctor," and the progressive members of the Clark County Medical
Society advocate the advantages of environment — its influence over both
mental and physical conditions — the sunshine, air and temperature are
unmistakable in their relation to health. Monotony is deadly, and the
humdrum of a perfectly ordered life drives a nervous individual to dis-
traction, and it is understood that the most pathetic thing about disease
is the fact that much of it is preventable — an ounce of prevention is better
than all the cures in the world.
On May 12, 1920, the physicians, surgeons and hospitals all celebrated
the centenary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, and the review of
her life shows the extraordinary strides of advancement that have been
made, the nursing and medical profession keeping pace with the rest of
the world. Florence Nightingale is the patron saint. of the hospital, and
the handmaiden of the man of medicine. It is a matter of record that
the Clark County Medical Society was organized March 4, 1838, and
that after a time it lapsed and was organized again, May 31, 1850, the
account of the earliest prganization being, from the pen of Dr. W. B.
Patton and of the later organization by Dr. Isaac Kay, and the account
written by Dr. Henry H. Seys embodies the facts from both the earlier
writers.
While a preliminary meeting was held in March, the original organ-
ization of the Clark County Medical Society was in the Buckeye Hotel
351
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352 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
in Springfield, April 4, 1838; twenty years after the organization of the
county, and not contemporaneous with it. However, there were medical
men before they effected an organization, the earliest one on record dying
while the area was still included in Champaign County. From the begin-
ning, Dr. Isaac Hendershott was president, and he had been licensed to
practice by a medical society organized in 1816 at Dayton. "In those
days not many of the practitioners of medicine were graduates of medical
colleges." The lack of means, distance and difficulty of travel are assigned
as reasons. The ambitious young medical men were compelled to forego
such advantages, and after a course of training under local preceptors
engaged in practice, they obtained a license from the board of censors of
some medical society. Doctor Hendershott and Dr. W. A. Needham of
Springfield were both licensed in Dayton.
The course was outlined by the state, and the board of censors became
an important factor in the medical history of the community; in turn
the Clark County Society had its censors. With Doctor Hendershott
as president; Doctor Smith, vice president; Dr. Robert Rodgers, secre-
tary, and Dr. William Murdock, treasurer, the Clark County Society was
in position to license other doctors. Its board of censors was as follows :
Doctors Berkley Gillette, E. W. Steele and Robert Rodgers. The con-
stitution was signed by Doctors Hendershott, Benjamin Winwood, Gil-
lette, Elias Garst, Rodgers, Murdock, Robert Houston, John C. Stone,
Michael Garst and James Robbins. Later Doctors Harpersette and
Towler joined the society. On April 30, 1838, Doctor Winwood read a
paper: "Progressive Improvement of Medicine in America," and at
another meeting Doctor Garst presented the paper : "The Mucous Mem-
brane of the Alimentary Canal," and while two meetings a year was
scheduled it was a short-lived society. Since April 14, 1840, there is no
record of any meetings.
May 31, 1850'
It was ten years before the Clark County Medical Society was resusci-
tated, May 31, 1850, and instead of two meetings a year since then it
has met twice a month. Some of the earlier society members joined
again, Dr. Robert Rodgers becoming president; Dr. Berkley Gillette,
vice president, with Dr. E. M. Buckingham, secretary, and Dr. G. H.
Runyan, treasurer. Doctors Hendershott and Winwood again affiliated
with the society, and while not engaged in the practice of medicine the
fourth generation of the name George Winwood now lives in the com-
munity. When the Civil war came on Doctor Winwood became a surgeon
in the United States Army. Not much is known of Doctor Hendershott,
who was president of the first medical society. When the second organ-
ization was ready to "offer recognition to other doctors, its censors were :
Doctors Gillette, Jesse Cook, J. N. Stockstill, Runyan and Rodgers.
While the Clark County Medical Society was rejuvenated little more
than three-score-and-ten years ago, none of its members are living today
although some of their names may be perpetuated in the present member-
ship. At the December meeting, 1921, the annual reorganization resulted
as follows : Dr. A. R. Kent, president ; Dr. E. F. Davis, vice president ;
Dr. C. E. M. Finney, secretary, and Dr. F. P. Anzinger, treasurer. While
they no longer license doctors who have not attended medical college, the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 353
censors are: Doctors W. P. Ultes, C. S. Ramsay and C. L. Minor. At
the annual meeting Dr. C. W. Evans was elected delegate to represent
the Clark County Society at the state medical meeting, the local society
being adjunct to Ohio and American Medical associations. Any medical
doctor in good standing in the Clark County Society is eligible to mem-
bership in the state and national associations. However, membership in
the greater societies is possible only through credentials from the local
society.
The Clark County Medical Society has had its periods of activity and
inertia; sometimes questions have arisen about which there was lack of
harmony which resulted in cessation of interest and regular meetings.
The service fee has been one source of disagreement, physicians in
Springfield rating their services higher than other doctors. When there
were fewer people in the community, there were fewer ailments and
fewer physicians, and while there are about 100 physicians in Clark
County only about seventy-five per cent are affiliated with the medical
society. However, there is a capable group of medical men holding
membership today, and excellent papers are prepared and presented at
the regular meetings. Dr. Isaac Kay, who for twenty-six years served
as secretary, having been admitted as a member in 1854, relates that it
soon lapsed and was again reorganized, April 12, 1864, saying that of
the active members of the society in 1850, only Dr. John H. Rodgers
remained in the practice at the time.
Iri 1815 the Ohio Assembly divided the state into medical districts,
and Champaign, which then included the area now known as Clark, along
with Montgomery, Greene, Preble, Miami and Darke counties constituted
the seventh district, and for a time Doctors Hendershott and Needham
were the only licensed doctors in Springfield. Prescriptions were then
unknown, and the doctors dispensed and wrapped their own medicines.
They left powders to be taken every hour, hour and a half or two hours,
and they asked for a tumbler and dissolved something in water, which
was to be taken every half hour or oftener, the patent usually confused
about the conflict of fluid and powders. No one was more in the hearts
of the people than the family doctor in the days of swamps and malaria
along Mad River and its tributary streams.
While Dr. Peter Smith is not mentioned in the medical annals of
Clark County he belongs to local pioneer history. While he died in
1816, and lies buried at Donnelsville, he was the author of a treatise:
"The Indian Doctor's Dispensatory, Being Father Smith's Advice
Respecting Diseases and Their Cure, by Doctor Smith of the Miami
Country." While Peter Smith is mentioned as a minister located on
Mad River, it develops that, in 1813 he published "The Indian Doctor's
Dispensatory," and according to Dr. John Uri Lloyd, a noted author and
antiquarian of Cincinnati, it was the first Materia Medica published in
the West. For many years Doctor Lloyd has specialized in the reprinting
of early works on pharmacy, materia medica and botany, and in the '90s
he made an effort to locate this dispensatory. He searched through Ken-
tucky and Ohio, finally locating a copy in the possession of Gen. J.
Warren Keifer in Springfield. Doctor Lloyd and General Keifer met at
a summer resort, and the discovery of the publication by Doctor Lloyd
grew out of a casual conversation, Eh*. Peter Smith being the grandfather
of General Keifer. The volume was published again, and General Keifer
has the original and a number of copies of it.
Vol. 1—23
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354 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Doctor Lloyd says: "Close following the frontiersmen whose foot-
prints were scarcely rubbed out, and whose rifles had not yet been silenced
in the territory embracing the Ohio Valley, came a band of men who
cleared away the forest, and founded their homes among the stumps,
and Dr. Peter Smith may be numbered among these people. He was a
typical Puritan, an educated, stern man of indomitable will and religious
to the utmost. The end of the war of the Revolution had been consum-
mated before the Indian had departed from the Miami lands where this
man lived," and he repeats some facts already published about Peter
Smith as a pioneer along Mad River. "Peter Smith sought neither fame
nor gold ; he feared no privation — made his mark, and passed away," but
the name, "Peter Smith, the Indian Herb Doctor," was familiar to the
pioneers. The name lingers yet about Western domestic medicine, and
is occasionally seen in orthodox medical publications.
While Peter Smith was born in Wales, February 6, 1853, and had a
migratory life he was educated at Princeton, and he gave some attention
to medicine becoming familiar with the writings of the day, and he
acquired information from physicians whom he met in New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky
and Ohio. He called himself an Indian doctor because he used herbs,
roots and other remedies known to the Indians. He was an original
investigator, and combined the practice of medicine with preaching and
farming. One account says : "In 1804 he again took to the wilderness
with his entire family then numbering twelve children, born in the 'Jer-
seys and on the line of his march through the wilderness, the states and
the territories/ finally settling on a small, poor farm on Donnels Creek
in the midst of rich ones, where he died December 31, 1816," and not
long before his demise, he said: "Men have contrived to break all of
God's appointments but this, 'it is appointed for all men once to die.' "
No photograph or other likeness remains to revive the features of
this picturesque personage: Peter Smith, preacher, farmer, physician,
pioneer, aggressive abolitionist before Wendell Phillips or William Lloyd
Garrison were born, lies buried in a neglected graveyard near Donnels-
ville. Such is the life record of the man who published the first western
book on Materia Medica. The title page bears the imprint of Cincinnati,
printed by Browne and Looker for the author in 1813, and on the title
page is this sentiment: Men seldom have wit enough to prize and take
care of their health until they lose it, and doctors know not how to get
their bread deservedly, until they have no teeth to chew it.
In advertising the volume when it was on the market, Doctor Smith
placed "the price of $1 on the book of advice, well knowing that 75
cents would be enough, but those who do not choose to allow 25 cents
for the advice, may desist from the purchase." In the book the herbs
are given their common names, the writer evidently not being familiar
with the technical names used in botany. In the book he recommends
cold water applications, and here is his sympathy cure for toothache:
"All finger and toe nails trimmed and the pieces laid on rag or paper;
add lock of hair taken from head; gouge or pierce gum of tooth, and
add the blood to nails and hair. Wrap the whole and place in some
bank or gulley, at a place where no creature crosses the stream; the
operator may keep the 'putting away* a secret." Indians have queer
notions. Doctor Smith tried this on himself and others. Query: Who
never tried charming away warts? You rubbed the wart with a stone,
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 355
and then laid it back where you found it. Through the effort of Dr.
John Uri Lloyd, due credit is given a pioneer doctor who lies buried
in Clark County.
In 1824 the medical districts in Ohio were changed, and Clark
was combined with Montgomery alone, with half a dozen doctors living
then in Clark County and it is said that Dr. Richard A. Hunt was the
first physician to locate in Springfield. He was born in 1780 in New
Jersey, and lived for a time in Cincinnati, coming, in 1809, to Springfield.
In 1815 Dr. Job Haines located in Springfield forming a partnership
with Doctor Hunt. In 1813 came Doctor Needham, who located in
Lagonda, the village being called "Pillville" because of him. While he
was buried in the Columbia Street Cemetery, his name was perpetuated
for many years through the inventor, William Needham Whitely. The
doctors soon became numerous, and their names have been given in con-
nection with the organization of the Clark County Medical Society.
Some of the Clark County doctors have aspired to other lines, and
sometimes the office of county coroner is "thrust upon them," when they
would achieve greatness. Doctor Hendershott was postmaster in Spring-
field twice, and he was twice elected Clark County recorder, but when
a physician has acquired the necessary education for the practice of
medicine these days, he remains with the profession. While most physi-
cians practice alone, under the existing conditions a group of doctors fre-
quently congregate on one floor with a common office, and an attendant
who arranges their appointments. In the Medical Society are doctors of
the regular or allopathic, homeopathic and electric schools of medicine —
no quacks or advertising doctors admitted, and while the old school doctors
used to bleed their patients — well, ask some of the patients about the
charges today.
While a member of the Medical Society may distribute personal
cards, he may not quote prices nor promise cures; he is bound by the
code of ethics. While malpractice disqualifies a physician, there are spe-
cialists in the profession. While in modern surgery tonsilitis is described
as tonsilOUTis, Clark County surgeons are a conscientious body of profes-
sional men — capable practitioners — who have fitted themselves for it.
Dr. Robert Rodgers performed the first Cesarean operation on record
in Clark County, and while he was a skilled surgeon the operation caused
undue comment in the community. People had not yet learned the pos-
sibilities of surgery. Dr. Albert Dunlap was another renowned surgeon,
and he was first in Clark County to remove an ovarian tumor. The
patient urged the operation, saying she would relieve herself with a
butcher knife. In the presence of a few Springfield physicians, the
doctor reluctantly performed the operation, relieving the woman of a
forty-five pound tumor, but such operations are of such frequent occur-
rence today that the community reads the mention in the paper, and the
incident is forgotten immediately. While Doctor Dunlap was criticized
in the medical journals for performing an unsafe operation, the people
are now educated up to such things.
This surgical operation brought fame and honor to Doctor Dunlap,
and in 1868 he was elected president of the Ohio Medical Society. He
was twice a member of the judicial council of the American Medical
Association, and in 1877 he became its president. Doctor Dunlap filled
the chair of surgery in Starling Medical College in Columbus, all those
honors being conferred upon him because of his pioneer work in surgery.
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356 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
When Doctors Rodgers and Dunlap began their surgical operations, there
were no hospitals and trained nurses in Springfield. Now they say that
Springfield is in the goiter belt of the United States — that it extends from
Columbus west, including Clark County. The limestone underlying the
country affects the water, and while travelers in the vicinity of Mayo
Brothers Hospital hear much about operations, those afflicted need not
quit Springfield for scientific attention.
It is said that enough Clark County citizens had their adenoids
removed when they were children, and their tonsils removed in ado-
lescence and that enough adults are minus their appendices — vermiform
appendix — well operations are a topic in polite society, and Clark County
folk all know the way to the hospital. It is the house of refuge and the
difference between Springfield as a village and Springfield as a city is
illustrated by the number of children who are born in the hospital.
Under recent conditions, future orators will be unable to speak of the
cottage in which they were born, just as the child inured to a steam-
heated apartment knows nothing of the hearthstone so dear to the older
generations. One of the Mother Goose rhymes revised reads:
"Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he,
He just had a monkey gland 'skewered* into his frame,
And he feels like a boy of three."
When it was known that the famous Austrian surgeon, Dr. Adolph
Lorenz, was paying a visit to the United States in the autumn of 1921,
Dr. A. J. Link visited him in New York and invited him to Springfield.
Local surgeons differed in opinion about the matter, some saying there is
sufficient talent in Springfield. The unusual publicity given Doctor
Lorenz was regarded as unprofessional, and his visit in this country
was regarded by some as a reflection on American surgery. While his
clinics were free, it was known that he was in the United States in the
interests of his countrymen who had suffered much in the war. When
the physicians of Clark County first banded themselves together in a
Medical Society, there were no surgeons among them; surgery was
impossible without surgical instruments. People knew nothing of
bacteriology and appendicitis — well, not much was said about sanitation.
While a new page has been written in the history of medicine since
the publication of Peter Smith's Dispensatory, and Dr. Daniel Drake's
monumental treatise: "The Diseases of the Interior Valley of North
America/' Doctor Drake, a Cincinnatian, there is now no lack of con-
certed action in combating disease. While the pioneer doctor knew little
about anatomy and physiology, he recognized symptoms and applied
specific remedies. Science is the enemy of disease, assures the ease in it,
and a sound mind in a sound body is the ideal sought by scientists, in
their medical investigation. Many Springfield physicians are postgrad-
uates, and the Clark County doctor who does not keep himself abreast of
the times soon finds himself losing patronage. An office practice with
established hours is different from the old system of calls at all hours,
and the signs: "Office business strictly cash," indicate that no bad
accounts accumulate; in this way, service rendered one family is not
charged to another who is better able to pay for it.
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It is said : "The doctor sees all the weakness of mankind, the lawyer
all of the wickedness, and the theologian all of the stupidity," and what
is more terrible than ignorance in action? Error in opinion may be
tolerated when reason is left free to combat it, but wrong diagnosis^-
who has not suffered from it? Years ago everything was bilious fever,
black measles, black diphtheria — malignant disorders — with phthisis and
flux thrown in for good measure. Malaria and pestilence made many
regions uninhabitable, but contagion has been conquered by a study of
the cause and the manner of spreading it. The very name mal-ari-a is
suggestive of impoverished air, and indicative of the attitude of people
toward it. Once typhoid fever was prevalent, but there is not much con-
tagion today because science has reduced it. Bacteria, germs, why the
shortest poem in the English language, "Adam had 'em," was written on
the subject of germs.
In the Garden of Eden, man became wise and Doctor Plaindiet is
still regarded as an exemplary citizen. In Springfield there are conscien-
tious doctors who sometimes recommend sanitary measures rather than
prescribe antidotes for diseases. The man who could not spell rheuma-
tism, and wrote the doctor that he had itch is considerate as compared
with the woman who asked the doctor to administer a stimulant to her
husband, because she wanted to show him her millinery bill. When a
doctor failed to diagnose a case according to the patient's conception, he
decided to throw him into fits — they were his specialty. Another query:
Was it a Springfield doctor who suggested vaccinating the little girl on
her tongue, because the mother had no idea what styles would prevail
when the child attained to womanhood? The child might wish to conceal
a scar. Emergencies usually disclose the necessary qualities.
The pioneer mothers — and their name is legion — were always first at
the bedside of the sick in the community, in the absence of a doctor they
ministered to their needs, concocting their own remedies like the Indian
doctors, they used barks and herbs. They knew all about hoarhound
tea, calomel, jalap and other simple remedies, and neither the heat of
summer nor the blasts of winter interfered with their mission when
chills and fevers were so prevalent — the chills and agues now diseases
of yesterday. There have been mothers who threw their slops from the
kitchen door, and wondered why their children caught all the passing
ailments. Drainage has worked the transformation ; science has rescued
the community.
Now and then a pioneer mother understood the theory of balanced
ration; she served such varied menus of well-cooked foodstuffs that her
family escaped many of the ills of the flesh. While the doctor welcomes
the trained nurse, he is not always in accord with the practices among
neighbor women; when they use common sense they are valuable, but he
does not listen to their traditions. It is said that the dispensary physi-
cians prevail again in Springfield; they write prescriptions, and the
druggist fills them! Some one, writing of old time remedies, said:
"They fed us on tonics from bottles and glasses, and begged us to" try
one more plateful of greens."
While the pioneer doctor's practice extended over a large territory,
and his professional visits led him through unbroken forests when there
were only bridle paths ; while he went through mud and water, he always
relieved distress with or without remuneration for his services, and
those who do not understand should read James Whitcomb Riley's "Rubi-
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358 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY .
ayat of Old Doc Sifers." He would ride both night and day, and he
encountered myriads of mosquitoes. Before drainage removed their
swampy rendezvous, and the sanitary commission objected to the accum-
ulation of effete matter where flies secured filth that caused disease, even
Clark County families were victims of their own ignorance. "Baby bye,
here's a fly; let us watch him, you and I," but the foolish mother has
learned better ; today she "swats that fly." Along in the 70s some inven-
tive genius constructed the screen door, and when flies and mosquitoes
stopped outside, there was relief from some of the infections. The screen
is the "ounce of prevention."
In these days of rapid transit, when the rural family calling the
doctor by telephone asks whether or not he has a self-starter automobile,
it is of interest to follow the pioneer medical man about the country.
While there is no record that Peter Smith had family practice when he
lived on Mad River, Doctor Hunt knew all about day and night travel,
and he knew how many people used slippery elm bark in combating
prevalent disease conditions ; he knew all about the cord wood with which
the settlers paid the doctor and the printer. Clark country was in line
for all the epidemics, and without whisky and quinine some of the set-
lers would have abandoned their opportunities. In the old days of swamps
and snakebites, the air was so poisoned with effluvium that not only
human beings but dogs suffered the consequences ; there was milk fever
and ague in varieties.
When Spanish influenza — the flu — struck Clark County in 1918, and
5,000 persons were suffering at one time, sanitary measures were well
understood, and yet it became epidemic with consequent loss of life. A
knowledge of the mechanism of the human body has. enabled science to
overcome many things. Now that people understand the fundamental
laws of digestion, nutrition and combustion, unnecesary troubles are
obviated. Some of the mechanical devices which yield most, and render
the impossible possible, are as simple and as commonplace as the wire
screen in the prevention of epidemics. There are county and city health
doctors — Springfield and Clark County combined at present — in the
person of Dr. R. R. Richison, and now and then he designates certain
cleanup days, a necessity in some communities. While it is a sanitary
requirement, it adds to the appearance of the town ; however, some fam-
ilies do not stand in need of cleanup suggestions.
Where there are diphtheria and typhoid fever contagions, there is
usually impure water; while there may have been no filth within the
cabin walls, and some of the grandmothers were scrupulously clean
housekeepers, there was sometimes stagnant water and the mosquitoes
and flies had their way about everything. Today there are families who
employ a physician to keep them well, rather than to cure them of ill-
ness. An old account says : "At the time when the settlers were exter-
minating bears, panthers and the vast forests, there was no time to make
war on such small and ubiquitous things as mosquitoes." However,
mosquitoes do not buzz quite so serenely as when neither the doctor nor
his patients suspected their deadly mission as spreaders of disease ; when
there were swamps there were millions of mosquitoes, and drainage
wrought the riddance. The Irishman and his spade presaged many
improvements.
When the Clark County housewives used peachtree limbs and pea-
cock tails to "mind the flies," they did not think of them as deadly
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 359
enemies — only as a nuisance. When the fly was barred, the American
people realized the advantages arising from it ; they were rid of so much
contagion. When the barnyards were cleaned and his breeding places
were removed, many of the diseases the fly used to impart to the house-
hold were no longer prevalent. In Bible times there were hogwallows,
and as long as there are swinettes they will return to them, unless some
precaution is taken against such conditions. Instead of the lullaby:
"Baby bye, here's a fly," "Swat the fly" means more to motherhood
today.
It has been demonstrated that disease is caused by gases generated
from decaying vegetation; while results may not be immediate, it only
requires time for incubation before the people are seized with fevers,
etc., all which may be obviated by removal of the offending substances.
When cellars are regularly cleaned, there is little danger from decaying
vegetation. Home sanitation has had much to do with the changed
health conditions. The pioneers had not studied drainage and other
means of prevention; systems of house ventilation have been installed,
while the cracks in the floor and the open fireplace were the only meth-
ods known to the pioneers. There are tub and shower baths, while run-
ning water was the only bath available to the settler. Years ago, when
the weather was warm, a well-to-do woman said it was time of year to
take a bath again.
There used to be "sickly seasons," and if there was anything in sug-
gestion, the settlers had the benefit. The doctors mystified their patients
by the use of technical expressions: the trouble was resultant from
"vegeto-animalcular" causes, and similar phraseology, meaning that the
people were infected by organisms bred in decaying vegetation, and with
that view of the situation, home sanitation is somewhat responsible
for better conditions. Only for the recent visitation of the flu are Clark
County residents enabled to understand the following: "The fever was
so continuous, and so frightful were its effects, that it is remarkable the
settlers were heroic enough to remain in the new country. They stayed
partly through grim determination; partly through natural indisposition
to move backward; partly through love of the beautiful country, and
partly through that hope springing eternally in the breasts of the pioneers,
to cheer them in their toil and suffering."
Chills and fevers — who even thinks of them today? Only for the
recent visitation of the flu people of today would not understand; they
would have no comprehension of what was endured along Mad River
and in Springfield. While writing one feels the symptoms, but here is
hoping the "gentle reader" escapes the "third-day-ague," or the "shakes"
in any guise, and "spring fever" that ensued so frequently. In the early
morning, before the "shakes" came on, the water buckets were filled by
the most abled-bodied members of the family, and they would be placed
in reach of all; it was common communion, and when the fever would
rise again each one helped himself. When the fever was at its height
people along Mad River wished themselves back in their old homes, but
when they were feeling better they would remain and try it again. Some
were so sick their relatives could not leave them, and each year brought
new neighbors and changed conditions, until finally no one wanted to
leave the community.
In 1872 there was widespread epizootic among horses that crippled
all industries requiring their use, and it left many diseased and imperfect
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360 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
animals, and the effect of the flu has been almost as serious among human
beings — many have not regained their usual strength since having it.
While there are frequent epidemics of measles, scarlet fever, whooping
cough, chicken pox, nettle rash, la grippe, and whisper it — seven-year
itch — and some folks having it three times — bathing and home sanitation
have reduced the awful effects. Along with the chills and agues there
were dental troubles, and when the settlers used to twist out the teeth
for each other they suffered untold agony. While many men and women
never saw a turnkey used by the settlers in twisting out diseased molars
and incisors, knocking out surplus teeth for horses cannot be more bar-
barous than was this twisting process.
In 1832-33 there was a scourge of cholera at New Carlisle that caused
great lamentation, the community having thirty-three deaths, while Spring-
field escaped, and it was then attributed to sanitary conditions. At a
meeting of the town council, July 13, 1832, it was decided to enforce
cleanliness, and there was a day of "fasting and prayer" observed by
many, and there is physiological benefit from abstinence. However, in
May, 1849, cholera broke out in Springfield and "ravaged" until August ;
five died in one day, and in all there were seventy-five victims. Business
was dull, and all were melancholy. That scourge was in proportion to
the flu epidemic, when 5,000 were prostrated four years ago. In 1921,
when the diphtheria epidemic was widespread, the doctors united in sup-
pressing it, the city health doctor inviting co-operation, and it is said
that smallpox will never again scourge the community because people
understand the results of vaccination. Since Dr. Edward Jenner discov-
ered the antidote so general has vaccination become that it is thought
smallpox will never sweep the country again.
The education of the public with regard to personal and general
hygiene has aided in destroying disease, and doctors are winning the fight
through scientific methods, and with the necessary co-operation of the
public better results will ensue in future. The advance in medicine and
surgery has reduced the death rate and added many years to the span of
human life. There is a law of compensation in nature which never fails
to operate, and while modern life contributes endless comforts, the hurly-
burly present-day existence demands its toll, and the brain and nervous
system must have some cessation. Query: Which is the distinguished
professional gentleman — the doctor of today who impresses the family
with the importance of home sanitation, or the medical man of the past
who left so many potions to be "shaken before taken?" When they used
to mix calomel in syrup, and scrape the big spoon with a little one in order
to get all of it, people swallowed the dose in fear and trembling, but they
know more about the symptoms today.
Doctor Robbins was among the early citizens of New Carlisle, and he
was with them through the scourge of cholera. He was genial, and as
he went about astride his horse with his medicine in double saddle-bags,
people were better at sight of him, and Dr. Robert Houston sustained
similar relation to the community about South Charleston. When Dr.
Alfred Jones began practice there, his mother was his secretary and when
people came at night she would raise the window and inquire: "Who
is sick? Who is dead? Who wants Alfred?" But twentieth century
mothers do not assume that responsibility. It is said of Dr. T. G. Farr
of South Charleston: "He took down his shingle years ago," but that
did not stop the demands even though he is four-score years of age.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 361
While Christian Science is not recognized by the medical profession,
there are practitioners in Springfield who effect cures without the use
of medicine or surgery. They claim it is a lost art, known in the time of
Christ and reduced to practice again in 1868 by Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy.
When cures are effected the patients are grateful to Mrs. Eddy. The
Springfield Osteopathic Society has recently been organized, and while
there are local chiropractors they have not as yet effected an organization.
While Christian Scientists, Osteopaths and Chiropractors all practice the
healing art they do not recognize Materia Medica.
Mad River Dental Society
Springfield and Clark County dentists constitute the Mad River Valley
Dental Society, holding monthly meetings and discussing topics of import-
ance, and dentists located in adjoining counties affiliate with them. The
Mad River Society is a branch of the Ohio Dental Society, and the bene-
fits arise from its interest in legislation, influencing the character of bills
introduced regulating the practice of dentistry. Advertising dentists are
not eligible to membership, and while professional standards are main-
tained, up-to-date dentists establish them. This is an age of specialists,
and dentists have their standards of efficiency.
Skin grafting and blood transfusion — the medical and dental profes-
sion meets all the requirements, and while the quack doctor and his cure-
all tactics meet the requirements of some, there are discerning people who
want the advice of reputable physicians and who are willing to pay for it.
However, since people better understand hygiene and sanitation there is
less demand for medical advice in the community. Since men and women
understand their own physical structures better, the knowledge works
both ways; some feel that such unusual complications require attention,
while others rest assured about it. When most Clark County folks grow
ill the material side of their natures asserts itself, and they send for the
man of medicine in whom they repose most confidence. When a new
doctor came into the community — this is a stock story — he would have
himself called out of church or he would be seen riding rapidly out of
town — any ruse to attract attention.
Sometimes when the pioneers called the doctor they also expected to
have to call the minister, and the Irish woman on the witness stand
thought the patient was in danger as long as the doctor continued his
visits; when the doctor is not called the family is under censure. While
doctors do not advertise, when they are successful their patients do it for
them, and when a patient dies the whole community knows about the
doctor. When Clark County doctors used to give calomel there were
salivated mouths unless the patients abstained from the use of acid food-
stuffs, and sometimes they lost their teeth from salivation ; they followed
calomel with quinine, and they held the children's noses in dosing them
until capsules solved that difficulty. Who remembers taking sulphur in
scraped apple or in molasses? Who says: "Backward, turn backward"
in the realm of disease and the methods of overcoming it? While some
of the pioneer doctors were successful in the practice of medicine, the
requirements are such today that they would be unable to pass the censors.
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CHAPTER XXXVIII
SPRINGFIELD— ITS FORM OF GOVERNMENT
In the light of past history, Springfield as a community is older than
Clark as a county, the area once belonging to Hamilton and floating for a
time with Ross before it was finally attached to Greene County. While
stakes were driven for Springfield in 1801, the area was not in Greene
County until 1803 ; in 1805 it was in Champaign County, and December
25, 1817, was the beginning of Clark County history. While in 1806
there was a session of Champaign County Court held in Springfield, it
was without government until 1827, when it became an incorporated town,
and in 1850 it was incorporated as a city.
In 1901, in connection with the Springfield Centennial celebration, one
of the speakers said : "Could we but call the roll of all the citizens of
Springfield, from the day of James Demint to the present, and review
each individual life, how gladly we would look upon the grand drama
thus afforded, in order that due meed of praise might be awarded every
one who has helped to make Springfield," and with its vacillating history
it is little wonder James Demint did not record the original plat immedi-
ately. It would have been recorded in- Cincinnati or Chillicothe because
there was a Springfield two years before the organization of Greene
County; the original plat and the early real estate transfers are a matter
of record in Xenia, although local abstracters have copies of them.
At the time of the Springfield Centennial, Judge F. M. Hagan said:
"Language can but feebly express the thoughts which press upon us as
we contemplate the history of our beloved city ; it seems fitting to glance
over the century of its existence, as upon a panorama flashing with the
speed of lightning before us. As we lift our eyes we see an unbroken
wilderness, tenanted only by wild beasts and savages, and then come the
pioneers of another race, rearing their humble log cabins ; we look again
and behold the primeval forest changed as if by magic to a city pros-
perous and beautiful; the wigwams of the Indians and the huts of the
pioneers have given place to thousands of commodious homes. The
barter of the settlers with the natives of the forests has swollen 'till the
wares made in Springfield encircle the globe ; our traffic is with the ends
of the earth ; the lights of 100 years ago are displaced by gas and elec-
tricity, and instead of the winding trails are miles and miles of streets
along which glide splendid equipages, and the railways connect Spring-
field with the remotest sections." and he reviews the different steps in
city development.
Summing up everything, Judge Hagan says: "All these things are
the heritage of a keen, alert, restless, inquiring, ambitious people filled
with the spirit of the age. Who, under God, has wrought the transforma-
tion from the wilderness to all these things? * * * As they swiftly
pass in review come the sturdy figures of Demint, Foos, Humphrey,
Kenton and Lowry and others joining them year by year, laying their
axes to the roots of the trees and hewing out the beginning of the city,
not forgetting to establish schools and churches ; intelligence, morality and
religion the firm foundations upon which the welfare and happiness of
the community must rest; in the first decade, here and there an infant
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 363
industry arises, prophetic of the future of Springfield," and along with
its industrial development there has been executive progress.
A later writer says : "For more than a century the process of empire
has advanced with marvelous rapidity; the rich alluvial plains of Mad
River and Lagonda Creek were almost the first in the vast wilderness to
the north of the 'Beautiful River' to attract the tide of immigration which
had been held in check by the mighty barriers of the Alleghenies. Every
gift necessary to the maintenance of an enduring civilization has been
granted by nature to this favored region ; if there is one essential lacking
it is the fault of man. * * * Law and the restraints of civilization
may be evils, but they are necessary. * * * Society is still based on
the sacrifice of every personal desire which is not compatible with public
welfare; on the supremacy of law; on the implicit obedience of every
man and every interest, to the exactions which experience has taught
society to require of every man who enjoys the protection of the State."
The citizenry of Springfield that had charge of its development have
been mentioned in various relations, and there is little trace of an official
roster while town government prevailed from 1827 to 1850, when there
was little municipal regulation ; when there were no improved streets or
sewers, and when the fire wood was unloaded in front of the houses;
when cows ran out, and brood sows were common property. In time
civic pride began to develop, and the wood pile was relegated to the alley,
and today the boy who used to operate the bucksaw goes to the gym-
nasium. There was a time when Springfield was noted for mud, and Mill
Run was almost impassable across Main Street. Every town goes through
that period in its history, and thus it appreciates improvements.
In the small town days of Springfield there was local government, and
ambitious citizens developed the community in different directions, new
additions having ambitious promoters and when a market was estab-
lished near the site of the Esplanade, development was in that direction
rather than "Sleepy Hollow," the location of the county buildings. Oi>
March 21, 1850, by vote of the community and by special act of the Legis-
lature, Springfield adopted a city charter, and for sixty-four years it
had a mayor and council form of government, its mayors being: In 1850,
J. M. Hunt ; in 1854, James S. Goode ; in 1857. A. G. Burnette ; in 1861
(for four months), James L. Torbert, and the remainder of the year,
John C. Miller; in 1862, W. D. Hill ; in 1863, J. J. Snyder; in 1864, James
Fleming; in 1868, J. R. McGarry; in 1871 (for four months), H. S.
Showers, followed by J. J. Hanna ; in 1875, Milton Cole ; in 1879, Edward
S. Wallace; in 1881. E. £. Coffin; in 1883. C. W. Constantine; in 1885,
J. P. Goodwin; in 1887/ O. S. Kelly; in 1889. William R. Burnett; in
1893, James Johnsqn, Jr.; in 1895, P. P. Mast; in 1897 (for one month),
T. J. Kirkpatrick, followed by John M. Goode ; in 1899, Charles J. Bow-
lus; in 1901, M. L. Milligan; in 1906, James M. Todd; in 1908, William
R. Burnett; in 1910, Charles J. Bowlus; in 1912, Joseph J. Miller; in
1914, Charles F. McGilvary, who resigned November 10, 1919, being suc-
ceeded by Burton J. Westcott; in 1922, Dr. John E. Furry. Since the
installation of the city manager form of government, 1914, the mayoralty
has been an honorary position, the details of the office being taken care
of by the manager. Mayor McGilvary was the first mayor to co-operate
with the city manager.
One account says : "In 1852 the legislature began the work of classi-
fying Ohio cities, and special forms of government applicable to cities of
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 365
various sizes were established and continued until 1902, when the Supreme
Court of Ohio suddenly found that all municipal governments so estab-
lished were unconstitutional. During all this period Springfield was in
a class by itself and special legislation to suit the whims of various classes
of people and political parties was frequently obtained. At that time the
various departments of city government were looked after by committees
of councilmen and it was frequently observed that when some business
man who had previously taken no interest in politics aspired to a seat in
council, the chug-holes in his street needed filling, and in 1902 a new
municipal code was adopted under which general legislation applicable
to all Ohio cities was made mandatory.
Duties of Mayor
"Under this system the mayor is the executive head of the board of
public service, which is composed of three members and has charge of the
streets, water works and similar municipal affairs," but since January 1,
1914, Springfield has had the City Manager form of government, the
first incumbent being Charles A. Ashburner, who remained until October
1, 1918, when A. E. Carr assumed the duties. Mr. Carr remained as
city manager until July 1, 1920, when E. E. Parsons received the appoint-
ment ; the manager is appointed by the city commission for an indefinite
term of service. Under existing government conditions the city manager
appoints the heads of the various departments in classified service from
the civil service lists, although City Manager Parsons feels that without
civil service restrictions greater efficiency would be a possibility. Civil
service regulations have prevailed since 1883, and its purpose is to correct
the evils of the spoils system so evident in community government ; under
civil service the manager is unable to "hire and fire," and while the
spoils system is abused it is a necessity — choosing the lesser of two evils.
While civil service does not prevail in private business, it seems to be a
safety measure in the management of public affairs.
The city manager system in Springfield has reduced the expense of
operation — has reconstructed Springfield. The city's necessary wires
were on poles, and they were unsightly; now most of them are in con-
duits, and Springfield is a place of safety. What was once Poleville is
now a city beautiful, and it is admitted that under council administration
Springfield did not develop as it has under a city manager. While any
one may aspire to the office of city commissioner, Springfield has been
fortunate in having men who were competent and faithful in the dis-
charge of their official duties, the 1921 organization being: B. J. West-
cott, August L. Beaupain, E. S. Houck, J. D. Frock and H. M. Hill, and
the annual report filed by the city manager indicates a year of progress.
On the theory that after a city passes its 60,000 population mark, Mr.
Parsons expects Springfield to grow rapidly, finally reaching 250,000, the
conclusion arrived at from comparison with other cities. In fifty years
the city had increased from 12,000 to 60,000, and he reasons that the
future developments will equal past history. It is reported that in the
busiest hours on Saturday nights an average of 120 pedestrians and
twenty-two vehicles pass the corner at Fountain and High Street in one
minute, where the same number of pedestrians and fourteen vehicles pass
in one minute ; at Limestone and High, where passengers transfer on the
street cars, the average number of pedestrians passing the corner in one
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
minute was 100, with fifteen vehicles, and at Limestone and Main Street
the number decreased to eighty pedestrians and ten vehicles. These are
the four busy street corners in Springfield, and yet "The picture of grow-
ing Springfield is unfolding day by day," and looking back only a few
years many changes are noted, the public utilities changing industrial
conditions.
When the city hall that shelters the city government was constructed
it seemed to meet the requirements and now the people wonder why a
building with so much waste was ever built, its auditorium useless and its
market inadequate, and yet the "city fathers" thought they were building
for the future. Since city manager form of government is in vogue men
specialize in that line and out-of-town candidates are chosen, the com-
mission expecting them to bring to the office special knowledge gained in
other communities. In order to be efficient he must understand economics
and be able to combine many duties; the fire, police and engineering
departments are controlled by him, and the auditor, treasurer and solicitor
all are appointed by and are amenable to the manager. The city commis-
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sion holds the manager responsible, and it was reported that at a session
of the legislative body recently a visitor asked for the privilege of offering
prayer, and all present bowed while "the people's preacher preaching the
religion of Jesus" offered prayer.
Under the city manager the plan is to remove the business of the city
from politics, no one being allowed to conduct a personal canvass in order
to be elected to the commission, and while foreign managers have been
chosen it is said that the plan secures home rule for Springfield. It
recognizes the people as the sole source of governmental power and
imposes upon each member of the community the duty and responsibility
of actively interesting himself in the affairs of the city. In adopting the
charter the voters of the city made the following statement: We, the
people of the City of Springfield, in order to obtain the benefits of local
self-government, to encourage more direct and business-like methods in
the transaction of our municipal affairs, and otherwise to promote our
public welfare, do adopt the following charter, and copies of it are avail-
able at the manager's office.
Under commission management in 1921 were the following: City
manager, Mr. Parsons; city auditor, Walter J. Barrett; city solicitor, R.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 367
W. Flack; special counsel, E. F. McKee; city clerk and treasurer, Wil-
liam H. Mahoney; chief of police, R. E. O'Brien; chief of fire depart-
ment, Samuel F. Hunter; director of public health, R. R. Richison; city
engineer, William E. Lucas ; director of public service, public safety and
health, Mr. Parsons, and superintendent of water department, George S.
Cotter. The following boards are adjuncts of city government: Sinking
Fund Trustees — M. L. Milligan, Floyd A. Johnston, W. S. Thomas and
Harlan C West ; Hospital Trustees — Robert S. Rodgers, V. G. A. Tress-
ler, Thurston W. Ludlow and Wallace Thomas; Park Trustees — David
Snyder, P. E. Montanus, Allan McGregor and Paul A. Staley; Civil
Service Commission — P. A. Lewis, W. C. Hewitt and Wallace Thomas;
Library Board — John B. McGrew, John L. Zimmerman, Anna B. John-
son, Henry D. Titer and E. L. Buckwalter ; Playgrounds Advisory Com-
mittee— Max L. Kleeman, Allan McGregor, Donald Kirkpatrick, Harry
F. Busey, Frank Luibel, E. E. Parsons and W. J. Neville.
Expense of City Government
While it is an honor to serve the City of Springfield, there is a remun-
eration consideration running close to one million dollars, the operating
costs of the major city departments being $77,000 to the police depart-
ment; $102,000 for the fire department; $19,000 for the health depart-
ment ; $138,000 for the service department ; $100,000 to the city hospital ;
$208,000 for the interest and sinking fund ; $200,000 for the water depart-
ment; $11,000 for Warder Public Library; $44,000 miscellaneous appro-
priations; park and police and firemen's pension funds aggregating
$16,000, the budget estimated on a $90,000,000 tax duplicate, but since
the duplicate is more than $93,000,000 the city has a surplus fund. An
increase in tax rate is incumbent from time to time to meet payment on
bonds for improvements, but many of them will soon be retiring and
there will be a consequent decrease in operating expenses. Until 1945
Springfield will be paying on bonded indebtedness under present condi-
tions, different bonds expiring in that time. Quotas are prepared cover-
ing an entire year's operation expense, and departments are required to
keep within the limits.
While the expense of epidemics is charged to the account of the city,
the commission plans to co-ordinate the departments or groups in order
not to duplicate expenses. When a diphtheria epidemic cost the com-
munity $13,500, it seemed incumbent to curtail expense by avoiding com-
plications. The Nursing Association Executive Committee co-operating
with the city and acting as a board of health. A great deal of expense
in the way of sewer construction is in prospect, the sewers not being
equal to the requirements. The city engineer's report shows that Spring-
field covers 7,059 acres, of which ninety-seven acres is water. With
approximately 15,000 residences, and the combined cost of sanitary and
storm sewers reported at $707,864.92, as the city increases in population
its expenses increase accordingly, and times have changed since the days
when Springfield was a cow pasture — when there were hog wallows along
Mill Run, and there were no paved streets and sidewalks.
In the days before Springfield was incorporated as a city in 1850, the
peace of the hamlet was preserved by constables and later by marshals,
the first marshal, James B. Berry, being incorporated in 1834, assisted
by two deputies. He served three terms and was succeeded in 1842 by
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368 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
John Patterson. At that stage of Springfield history the office sought
the man and the next marshal, John Hendricks, would always have to
be called from his home to suppress violence or make an arrest ; he was
not much of a terror to evil-doers. John Monohan, a Springfield black-
smith, was the next marshal, and while culprits held no terror for him,
when the cholera scourge broke out in 1849 he "broke out"* to escape it
He sojourned in the country until the epidemic ceased, and in turn came
Israel Rockhill and William Brown. When Martin Carey assumed the
duties it was because he sought the office ; he went to the polls at 6 o'clock
and remained all day, asking every voter to support him. Since then
political candidates have been aggressive in Springfield. Later marshals:
Alexander Cole, Benjamin F. Best and Grove W. Green, but in 1867 an
ordinance was passed recognizing the need of a police department, and
that marked the end of the rule by marshal.
First Chief of Police
On October 17, 1867, W. A. Stewart was recorded as the first chief
of police, the ten policemen being : William Donovan, John Cornell, Nat
Creager, Marion Moore, Jacob Mumma, William Johnson, Joseph Deaver,
William Sykes, Robert Christie and Ezra Benzoff. It is said that Chief
Stewart donated his salary, and since the marshal was continued as an
officer in the mayor's court he made his money from attending cases,
receiving $1 and his share of the costs. When the police system was in
its infancy mischievous persons annoyed the force by blowing whistles
calling the officers from their beats, but after the novelty was worn off
they quit it. While the department was becoming adjusted the chief
resigned, some of the "city fathers" not being satisfied with the system
and seeking to repeal it, but the vote of the majority retained it. On
January 23, 1868, Chief Stewart insisted upon resignation, and in April
John E. Donovan, who was marshal, became the chief, but because of
lack of funds the entire force was discharged and four men were elected
to take charge of the city, Joseph Deaver acting as lieutenant with the
same salary as the city paid to John Cornell, H. C. Weaver and J. S.
Newcomb, who served with him in maintaining order in Springfield.
The lieutenant of police reported to' the mayor every morning, and
he reported weekly to the police committee of the city council. When the
department was organized the Union Fire House on Spring Street was
utilized as a station house, a sign over the door saying: "All tramps
lodged here must work one day for the city." The result was that tramps
were never caught the second time and much work was accomplished by
those who were arrested and detained there. The tramps and prisoners
serving sentence were chained in a gang and worked in the quarry now
Cliff Park, where they broke stone for macadamizing the streets and the
roads. When they refused to work they were placed on a diet of bread
and water. Joel Thompson was the first man operating prisoners on the
street, his office being station-house keeper.
Because the marshal was not busy the council increased his duties;
he must ring the City Hall bell, and open and close the polls when there
was an election. About this time two policemen — Deaver and Weaver —
were found asleep while on duty and they were discharged from the
department. When Mr. Thompson made his first monthly report as
station-house keeper he had sheltered seventy-five poor persons over
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 369
night, and the "flop house" in the last winter shows about the same patron-
age. The police department had its financial difficulties, but on Decem-
ber_l, 1868, John R. Rea was installed as chief with a competent force,
although when on December 31 John E. Donovan resigned as marshal, his
successor was not of much advantage in jailing prisoners. The salary
was $25 a year and fees and it did not stimulate much activity. When
the police made an arrest of a drunk they sometimes hauled him in a
wheelbarrow to the station house, followed by a crowd.
While W. A. Stewart is mentioned as the first chief of police in
Springfield, the fact that he served without salary and resigned when
there was dissatisfaction, really entitles John R. Rea to that distinction.
Mr. Rea was succeeded by James Fleming in 1871, who remained at the
head of the department five years. Mr. Fleming was followed by Fred
Schuckman (usually called Shipman), who served until 1884, when he
was succeeded by James C. Walker, the hero of Missionary Ridge. It
was Chief Walker who established the rogue's gallery, which has con-
tinued as a feature of the Springfield police department. The Knights
of Labor difficulty at the Whitely East Street shops occurred while
Walker was at the head of the department. While he operated with a
small force of men. he watched railroad trains and did not allow sus-
picious characters to stop in Springfield. In 1887, Captain James R.
Ambrose was appointed chief of police by Mayor O. S. Kelly.
Following Ambrose, James Cushman becamfe police chief, and it is a
matter of record that he captured every culprit and restored all the
plunder, with a force of twenty-two patrolmen assisting him. John
McKenna was the next chief of police, and while serving the city he
captured two firebugs — John T. Cassels and William H. Myers — who
burned many buildings, mingling with the crowds and watching the
flames. While he suspected them, he spent seven months looking for
evidence and finally they confessed, admitting that they fired the build-
ings just to witness the conflagration. W. H. Van Tassel was the next
chief of police, receiving the appointment in 1895, when P. P. Mast was
mayor. Until Van Tassel was chief the police department always headed
parades in Springfield, leaving opportunity for the pickpocket to apply
himself. When the Masonic Home was dedicated the police were relieved
of parade duty, Chief Van Tassel himself arresting a pickpocket who
was convicted and sent to the penitentiary. When he was chief the "lid"
was on in Springfield.
Under Mayor Good, Robert Stewart Black was chief of police, being
appointed in 1897, and the Sunday baseball question stirring the com-
munity. Each chief seems to have had some special opportunity of dis-
tinguishing himself. However, until 1899, when Richard E. O'Brien
became chief, the heads of the departments were chosen because of
political preferences, and they were men who returned to their previous
occupations after a few years. The preservation of peace, life and prop-
erty was a casual occupation, but "them days is gone forever" in Spring-
field. The advance of Mr. O'Brien from the ranks to police chief marks
the transition of this branch of municipal service from the crude efforts
of workmen unskilled and untrained in the art of combating crime, to
the highly trained specialist. The transitional period was not the matter
of a day, a month, or a year, and that is not saying that any previous
officer was incompetent, nor that inefficiency will never be in evidence
again.
VoL 1—24
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370 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Progress is the watchword, and the office of chief of police is a daily
opportunity of studying crime and criminals. The police officer daily
matches his wits against the shrewdest criminals, and he no longer does
certain things in certain ways because others did things those ways. While
the name O'Brien indicates the nationality of the chief, the place of his
birth is Springfield. Mr. O'Brien is actively connected with the State
Association, and in 1906 he was made its president; in that year the
annual meeting was held in Springfield. About 100 Ohio police chiefs
attended, and a banquet served by the local organization pleased the
visitors. Chief O'Brien is a member of the International Association of
Chiefs of Police and he has served as a member of its executive com-
mittee.
Since the promotion of Chief O'Brien in 1899 the department has
had many changes. When a policeman was wanted the bell on the Spring
Street station was sounded — one tap for the chief, and two for a patrol-
man— and since it was the "honor system," those who wanted to hear
the bell answered the summons. This system had long been a "thorn in
the flesh," and early in his career as chief Mr. O'Brien discarded it, sub-
stituting fire boxes on the beats, where officers could report at frequent
intervals. Since 1902 there has been a city sergeant who keeps track of
all officials on duty. Since 1904 Civil Service has prevailed in the Spring-
field police department, Chief O'Brien himself having served under many
different administrations before the commission-manager form of gov-
ernment was instituted in Springfield. "To the victor had belonged the
spoils," and the policeman's job was at the mercy of a mayor and his
board of public safety.
When Civil Service was established physical examinations were intro-
duced, and the force is on an efficiency basis. There are now forty-four
men in the department and there are few resignations. When a man
has spent twenty years in service he may retire, with a pension, those now
pensioned being: John Stetche, Joseph E. Creager, Owen F. Lawless,
Albert Thompson, S. H. Bargdill, Bartholomew Brenner and S. W.
Bishop. When an officer is pensioned he can no longer remain in the
department, and those eligible to pensions who remain in active service
are Chief R. E. O'Brien, W. S. Norton and Henry Bradford. The pen-
sion is half as much as the salary drawn while in active service, and thus
there is an inducement to able-bodied men to remain in the ranks.
Radio is being considered, Chief O'Brien having been directed by Man-
ager Parsons to have a wireless transmitter placed in the department for
tests, the system being favored in many cities for directing the members
of the force — a step in advance of the method installed by the chief when
he first received his appointment. While now and then an officer may
reflect discredit upon the department, and while Civil Service regulates
the chief's ability in "hiring and firing," as said by both Chief O'Brien
and Manager Parsons — the general public seems satisfied with the service.
In 1921, 2,656 arrests were made, the greatest number in June and the
fewest in December, showing the out-of-door season at a disadvantage
from the standpoint of law and order. There were 452 arrests staged
in June against 113 in December, the ratio being four to one in favor
of cold weather. A policeman makes an arrest when information is fur-
nished, and those who complain frequently refuse to file the necessary
affidavits. Hearsay enters into complaints while facts enter into affidavits.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 371
A newspaper clipping says: "Heads of city departments in which
large numbers of men are employed are known to agree with Manager
Parsons and Chief O'Brien in their ideas regarding the effect of Civil
Service on public employees. They say that while the system is designed
to get good men into positions, and does result in that in most cases, it
makes no allowance for the personal factor or the stimulation of ambi-
tion, and the men sometimes become lazy in their devotion to duty, stay-
ing within the rules but failing to give that extra ounce of effort which
means the difference between success and mediocrity," and the query is
raised as to why the same tests should not prevail in public as in private
employment. While some policemen reflect discredit, a recent news para-
graph reads : "The Springfield force contains many conscientious, honest
fellows who 'guard you while you sleep/ "
While some say that the flu and prohibition are all that the United
States got out of the World war, others say the crime wave sweeping
the country is an aftermath of the war. While the police have been
vigilant, holdups and highway robberies are of frequent occurrence, and
one comment was : "Springfield's answer to the increasing boldness and
number of robberies will be a twenty per cent increase in the police force.
In the old liquor days it was considered necessary to have a police force
of fifty men. * * * Springfield has not yet reached that happy stage
when disarmament is safe/- and a "Voice of the People" newspaper col-
umn allows of some charges being made that are incredible ; they tell of
gambling and make open charges of many things. The grand jury makes
many investigations, and finally the "mills of the gods" get into opera-
tion, grinding both "slow and exceeding fine," and the people wait results
with some intrepidity.
Negro Riots in Springfield
While certain citizens of the United States think of Springfield
because of the nature of its manufactured products, and others from its
great number of periodical publications, the thing that places it on the
map of the world in the mind of the casual newspaper reader is the riots
that have occurred March 7, 1904, February 26, 1906, and March 10,
1921, and all of them heralded to the world through the organized news
service. While exaggerated reports were published, the whole United
States knew of the atrocities through telegraph reports before Springfield
realized the extent of the riots. While scarcely two years intervened
between the first and second riots, the police department won the approval
of the citizens in handling the situation each time.
Rioting is something all police departments dread; it is usually car-
ried on under the cover of darkness, which renders the duty of the depart-
ment more difficult. While it furnishes a policeman with thrilling experi-
ences, it tests his courage and bravery. When an officer goes out to quell
a mob he does not know what may happen and self-control is his best
possession ; a single mistake may increase the fury of the rioters. It is
said few departments know the meaning of the word riot ; they must pass
through one in order to understand it, and Chief O'Brien has been at
the helm of the Springfield ship of state through three furious demon-
strations. If citizens listened to reason there would be no riots, but a
mob once infuriated does not stop to consider anything. Stirred to a
pitch of excitement, men lose consciousness and rush onward, sweeping
everything before them.
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372 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
The risks taken in riots by Springfield policemen will never be known
to others; they battled against odds in numbers, and the scenes will be
remembered by those who struggled from morning 'till night and from
night 'till morning again to restore peace and order. While soldiers were
sent into Springfield to help quell the rioters, the police are entitled to
full credit. The militia was used in guarding and protecting property as
well as citizens from attack, while the police officers battled the rioters
themselves. The presence of the soldiers seemed to incite the mob to
greater violence, and several attacks were made on them. The Springfield
police were more efficient than the guards in dealing with the rioters,
knowing many of them and using persuasion at times. Were a roll of
rioters called today, but there are no accusations —
The First Riot
The riot of March 7, 1904, was precipitated by the killing of Police-
man Charles B. Collis by a Negro— Richard Dixon. There had been
murders of white citizens followed by clemency toward the Negro mur-
derers, and the last atrocity aroused the citizens to the pitch where they
demanded justice, and only a leader was needed to insure a riot. The
officer had been appealed to by the Negro, who was having difficulty with
a woman, and when he was shot down like a dog the conflict that had
been smoldering for years between the whites and the blacks was immedi-
ately raging and whispers of lynching were heard ; the Negro was in the
custody of the County Sheriff while the policeman was dying in the city
hospital. Mr. Collis, who was court bailiff, died twenty-four hours after
the shooting and the news of his death spread like wildfire, arousing
thousands of citizens who were unable to restrain themselves.
Recognizing the spirit of the mob, Sheriff Floyd Routzahn sought
an order from the court to transfer the prisoner to some other county
but he was informed that nothing would come -of the threats which
had been heard time and time again, and when the jail was stormed it
was too late to transfer the culprit. While the police came to the aid of
the sheriff and did all in their power to protect the life of the Negro who
had shot down one of their number, they were overpowered and at 11 :20
the prisoner was taken from the jail by several hundred men. His body
was riddled with bullets and dragged to Main Street and Fountain Ave-
nue, where it was suspended from a telegraph pole. The Negro had shot
the officer twice, and twenty-seven bullet holes were found in his own
body, with several bullets in some of them, when the mob had vented its
fury against him.
While the ghastly sight caused many to shudder, others in the crowd
were unconscious of the fact that a life had been snuffed out, and words
do not describe the scene of men shouting and embracing each other and
sanctioning the work of the mob. It had been a night of terror, the peo-
ple assembling at the jail as early as 7 o'clock in the evening. For hours
they shouted, demanding the life of Dixon to avenge the murder of
Collis. The police were mobilized and they handled the crowd without
difficulty for a time, hoping in vain for the arrival of the militia from
Columbus. The local force frustrated the first attempt to secure the
Negro at 9 o'clock, driving back the mob and arresting two of the leaders,
but the men were in danger. The air was full of stones and bricks
hurled by the rioters and the jail windows were broken; the prisoners
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 373
huddled together in terror as they listened to the cries of the mob and
heard the crashing glass. The Negro realized the situation, and when
another attack was made the police were unable to restrain the rioters.
When the door was battered down, at the point of revolvers the turn-
key lead the way to the cells, and Dixon advanced almost dead from
fright, and, even then the police sought to protect him. When the body
was hanging word was received that troops were in readiness, but it was
too late to prevent the tragedy, although next evening the militia was
needed in Springfield again. AH day the people went about their work
as usual, the rioters waiting for the cover of darkness to resume opera-
tions. They visited the l^vee — the rendezvous of the Negro criminal
population — and applied the torch to five of the worst "dives" in that part
of the city. Shots were fired, frightening the occupants away, many of
whom did not stop in Springfield, and the police were powerless again.
The red flames against the heavens attracted many to the scene, and
when troops finally arrived the destruction was complete, the crowd
remaining until the buildings were in ashes.
While the fire department was out, the mob held sway and the fire-
fighters were not allowed to throw any water. However, when the home
of a widow in that vicinity caught fire, the mob rallied to the aid of the
firemen, saving her property. A similar incident occurred in Springfield
in 1868, when Rat Row was consumed by fire. It was a disreputable
row of houses near the Esplanade on West High Street, and while the
firemen were out there was poor hose connection, and citizens bombarded
the houses with crushed stone lying in the street, breaking out the win-
dows and causing the spread of the flames. Rat Row nor the levee were
never ag^iin the homes of such ruffians, although the earlier destruction
was not the result of rioting. When the mob returned from the con-
flagration at the levee it attacked a group of soldiers stationed at the
Esplanade guarding the City Hall. The soldiers fell back, yielding to
the demands of the rioters until members of the police department arrived,
the militia looking on while they quieted the mob. While there were some
arrests, the sympathy of the people was with the mob and none were
brought to trial. The court had refused to act in the hour of need and
the community had avenged itself.
The Second Riot
Murder of a white man was again the cause of a riot. On the night
of February 26, 1906, a Big Four brakeman named Martin Davis was
shot as his train was leaving. Two Negroes asked if his train were going
to Columbus, and when he answered in the negative they charged that he
was not truthful, and he advised them to seek elsewhere for information.
A shot was heard, and when friends reached Mr. Davis he was dying.
At the time the police were investigating a cutting scrape in a saloon in
East Columbia Street known as the "Jungles." Two Negroes had used
their razors on whites and they made their escape toward the Big Four
Erds. They were arrested as the slayers of Davis. They were Preston
dd and Edward Dean, and when the mob spirit began to assert itself
they were transferred to Dayton. In order to avoid another attack on
the county jail news of the removal of the prisoners was published and
the rioters turned their attention to the destruction of property occupied
by the Negroes, the mob heading for the "Jungles."
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374 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Before the police could be mobilized the torch was applied and six
houses were soon in flames. While the fire department responded, it was
again unable to accomplish anything, the rioters cutting the hose, and
again a call was sent to Columbus, the militia responding more promptly
and the local militia was pressed into service. The rioters would not
listen to the police and more soldiers were sent to Springfield. It was a
night of terror, the mob parading the streets and applying torches in dif-
ferent sections, and the fire department was unable to meet the demands
made upon it. Houses were burned and the occupants fled in all direc-
tions. While the troops were guarding property the officers followed the
mob in an effort to prevent further devastation, and finally taking the
lead in restoring order, and finally when offenders were brought into
court a jury made up of preachers, lawyers, doctors, professors, mer-
chants and manufacturers found them guilty but recommended their
acquittal. Later on other arrests were made and some of the rioters
were committed to the state prison, the community realizing the necessity
of checking the mob spirit in Springfield.
When the two desperadoes were returned to Springfield who had
killed Martin Davis, Dean was charged with murder in the first degree
and Ladd with cutting with the intent to kill, and to the police is ascribed
all honor in securing the evidence and bringing the offenders to justice.
The clemency of the court was advised and Dean was imprisoned for life,
while Ladd was sent to prison for five years. There were thrilling
scenes enacted in both riots, a Negro firing upon his pursuers in the heart
of the business district in the first riot, and escaping into Mill Run sewer,
but the police held back the crowd until they secured him and escorted
him to headquarters. In the second riot one frightened Negro was retir-
ing for the night when the mob surrounded his house, and as the torch
was applied he escaped through a window, running bare-footed to the
mayor's office for protection. As the prisoners who were unused to
prayer entered into the spirit of supplication the night Dixon was taken
from the jail, the Negroes in Springfield resorted to prayer in time of
the riots, some of them unoffending and law-abiding citizens.
For several years Springfield citizens had rested in security, thinking
there would never again be rioting, when on March 10, 1921, the third
riot was imminent and outside aid was asked again. There was a mis-
demeanor involving a Negro woman, and Morgan Parneau was arrested,
when a Negro attorney, Sully Jaymes, led the Negroes in an uprising to
avenge the arrest. The police were active in suppressing the riot, and
Officer Joseph Ryan was shot three times by the frenzied mob. The
former uprisings had been whites arrayed against Negroes, but this time
the blacks were against the whites. However, when the injured police-
man was brought to headquarters the whites assembled in Cliff Park to
plan vengeance against the Negroes, and meanwhile the blacks were
effecting an organization.
When City Manager Parsons ordered the Negroes suspected of shoot-
ing Officer Ryan searched, and when special officers were sworn in and
the Negroes were ordered to disperse, they resisted, saying they would
take no orders from Manager Parsons. Mr. Parsons conferred with
Mayor B. J. Westcott, representing the commission, and with Sheriff
David Jones and a call was issued for troops and half a dozen companies
assembled. There was no further violence and the troops were dismissed,
Manager Parsons calling upon the American Legion for co-operation, and
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until March 21 Springfield was under military law, when everything was
peaceable again.
The Negro as a Citizen
The riots in Springfield have not been incited by the better class of
Negroes, and among them are many highly respected citizens. They are
recognized in business, and some of them receive political appointments;
they are employed in the county offices, and some render efficient service.
It is said the first Negro in Springfield was named Tony and that he had
a tavern on the site of the Lagonda National Bank at Fountain Avenue
and Main Street. It is well understood that the early Negroes of Clark
County were located in Western Ohio by slave owner ancestry, many of
them direct descendants from the master and slave women. Xenia has
long been regarded as a Negro center, and from there many came to
Springfield. Wilberforce College at Xenia is maintained by the Negro
population in Western Ohio, and many Springfield Negroes finish their
education at Wilberforce. Some have graduated from Springfield High
School, and from Wittenberg College, while Wilberforce is available to
all of them.
The Negro educator, Booker T. Washington, said that while it
required 100 per cent white blood to constitute the white race, that ten
per cent Negro blood insured the black race, and with slave owner ances-
try and intermarriage there is considerable mixed blood in Springfield
and throughout Clark County. Recently there is not much intermarriage
and the per cent of white blood is being lowered rapidly in the Negro
race. While some Springfield Negroes claim a population of 25,000, and
insist upon it, a conservative estimate places the number at 10,000, and
the law-abiding ones say the riot reports were exaggerated — and that race
prejudice is dying out in Springfield. Segregation is not enforced
although some communities are recognized as Negro strongholds. They
have churches and lodges, and both Young Men's and Young Women's
Christian Associations, and they are represented in business and the pro-
fessions. While the Negro is proclaimed as an imitator he never copies
from the "poor white trash."
The Negro race is musical, and education enables him to compete with
the white race in many lines of activity. Negroes have always been bar-
bers, and while white-washing was in vogue they usually spread white-
wash in the homes of well-to-do citizens in Springfield. While some are
unassuming and perform an honest day's work, a Negro laundress advised
a newcomer white woman not to be seen washing her own windows if
she wanted to be recognized in Springfield society. Some of the local
families own their own homes, and while they have little knowledge of
the original settlers, it is known that some were early. When Peter Perry
died he lacked only fifteen days of having attained to 102 years, and yet
he knew little of local history. He had come from North Carolina, and
while the slaves are about all dead, many Springfield Negroes have slave
ancestry.
There is a Springfield Branch of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, and at a recent meeting the paper pre-
sented was : "The Disarmament Conference and What It Means to All
American Citizens." The colored business men and women co-operate
in such movements as the "Negro Business Exposition and Bazaar," and
the different denominations promote religious training among their young
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376 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
people. By nature the Negro is religious, although not so many denomi-
nations exist as among the white people. While most Negroes are Metho-
dists or Baptists, a few are Christian Scientists, and the Colored Men's
Council is inclined to celebrate particular dates and events, always hon-
oring President Lincoln and Frederick Douglass with anniversary pro-
grams and sometimes inviting white speakers, although there are platform
speakers among themselves. Springfield Negroes were interested in an
address delivered by President Harding October 26, 1921, in Birmingham,
Alabama, in which he said: "North and South, whites and blacks must
put aside prejudices and set the face of the nation courageously toward a
constructive and permanent solution of the race problem."
The 1920 census report shows 10,381,309 Negroes in the United
States, and of this number 340,260 have migrated north in a decade, and
there must be some cause for the migration. The Negro is an economic
factor in the life of the South, and yet the North offers better living con-
ditions; it is for the students of economics to determine the whys and
wherefores of recent Negro migration. After the Civil war there was
an exodus, followed by another in the '80s, and lately there has been
continuous migration, the unrest more noticeable each vear. The Negroes
like the social conditions North better than South — they like Springfield
when there are no riots in progress.
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CHAPTER XXXIX
PUBLIC UTILITIES IN CLARK COUNTY
While there were toll gates along the National Road, and there were
railroads in Springfield prior to 1850, the noonday of the nineteenth
century had been passed in the onward march long before the modern
improvements that made of civilization a simplified problem had evolved
from the brain of the genius, and the scheme of profit from the owner-
ship of public conveniences had taken hold on the mind of the speculator.
It was the period of the simple life in Springfield. When each family
used candles and lamps, and drinking water from its own private well;
when each family heated its home with firewood bought on the market,
and when each family received all its information from visiting friends —
before there were gas and electric lighting systems, before there was gas
for fuel, and before there were telegraph and telephone systems, before
there was radio — there was no speculation in conveniences Used in the
homes, and then every home was a separate institution, a law unto itself.
Today there are no independent homes, the public utilities rendering
them all dependent, and when the lights go out sometimes there is not
even a tallow candle in the house ; when the heat goes off there is no fuel
in readiness ; when the water fails, there is no well at the kitchen door.
The whole community depends upon the utilities, saying nothing about
the quality of the service. There always has been, and no doubt always
will be men who succeed in promoting business interests of others better
than for themselves, and under existing conditions combinations of capi-
tal— corporations — will continue to profit from their efforts. While on
the face of things it seems that public necessities should be public trusts,
private ownership of public utilities is the prevailing system ; while Gov-
ernment control may be inconsistent with private ownership, there are
those who advocate it and the United States Postal System is a strong
socialist argument.
There is frequent agitation of the question of municipal ownership
of all the commodities — public utilities that are deemed as necessities,
and now the charges are controlled by legislation — by a public utilities
commission determined to eliminate graft, and yet corporations seek to
control them, realizing that the people will pay for such necessities. One
of the first utilities operated in the United States was the Atlantic and
Pacific Telegraph Company, and the first message was transmitted from
Baltimore to Washington in 1840, the query: "What Hath God
Wrought?" as yet unanswered because new possibilities are being
unfolded daily. Telegraph connection along the National Road was
established in 1847 in Springfield, and, in 1852, John W. Parsons became
a messenger boy, and for many years he was office manager of the West-
ern Union in Springfield.
When the line was being constructed along the National Road a
Harmony Township woman said the "new fangled clothesline was too
high," although she admitted that it would dry her clothes — would "blow
them to tatters." The average citizen did not understand the use of non-
conductors, and wondered how the messages passed through those glass
ornaments on the poles, and one asked how the fluid would run up-hill.
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378 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
The Pigeon Express was ahead of the invention of the telegraph, and
although wild pigeons flying over no longer obstruct the view, carrier
pigeons are still utilized in messenger service. In 1848 Ira Anderson
opened a railway telegraph station in connection with the Pittsburg,
Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad, and it was called the O'Reilly line,
being used in the news service of the presidential campaign.
In 1849 George H. Frey, Sr., established telegraph service over the
Cincinnati & Sandusky Railroad Line, known as the Morse code, and in
1864 Mr. Parsons, who had been messenger boy beginning in 1852, and
had grown into the knowledge, was put in charge of the office. In
1861 he and Brainard Lathrop went into the Civil war as telegraph
operators. They were assigned to the Army of the Potomac, and while
stationed in the Washington Navy Yard they saw President Lincoln
frequently. They were often in the same room with the President, and
they listened to his troubled conversation when he was sad-faced from
the weight of responsibility resting upon him. When these Springfield
operators were transferred to the peninsular campaign, Lathrop was
killed by a torpedo the rebels had planted under a telegraph office — so
much for his having learned to be an operator in Springfield.
When the O'Reilly and Morse telegraph offices were consolidated in
1849 Mr. Frey was placed in charge in Springfield, and ever since that
time retrenchment has been the policy of the railroads. In 1863 the
Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company opened an office in Springfield,
and continued until 1880, when the American Union Telegraph office was
opened, and in 1881 all lines consolidated with the Western Union, and
George R. Carter became local manager. In 1910 T. E. Jones assumed
control of the local Western Union, and he lists the following managers :
John W. Parsons, who returned from the Civil war and had charge of
the office jpany years; J. P. Martindale, Jacob Brugger, R. C. Bliss,
George Getches and Mr. Carter. Associated with Mr. Jones is Miss
Bernadine Brugger as assistant, whose time of service began under her
brother, Jacob Brugger.
The Western Union office in Springfield employs sixteen clerks, and
including linemen and messengers there are forty persons employed there.
Mr. Jones relates that the one line established in 1840 has been multiplied
many times, and that it operates a number of overseas cables, and that
the increased business is largely due to the inauguration of the night and
day letter service which has brought the telegraph from the emergency to
the utility class. While for many years nothing but market reports were
transmitted by telegraph because of the attendant expense, now the night
letter is universally used in business correspondence when speed is neces-
sary. It is operated wholly by non-resident capital with Mr. Jones as the
local representative.
When night letters were introduced by the Western Union Spring-
field business men were quick to recognize the opportunity — they were
quicker than the mail service. Correspondence by telegraph was ended
in a few hours that had required days, and it was an important saving of
time, business deals being closed in a few hours that used to "hang fire"
for several days. Life is too short for the old time methods of business
communication; business is transacted on a definite knowledge of the
changing markets, and grain and livestock dealers know the latest quota-
tions. Those who turn first to the market quotations page when opening
a newspaper understand the necessity.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 379
The Postal Telegraph and Cable Company opened its Springfield
office April 4, 1887, with C. A. Winston as local manager, and for some-
time he handled the business alone. However, business increased and
now the office has the full corps of clerks, full retinue of linemen and
messengers, and, in 1890, the Postal absorbed the United Lines Telegraph
Company, continuing the business from the Postal office, and now the
Western Union arid Postal offices, and now the wireless system of com-
munication is being installed in Springfield. The first utility application
of wireless telegraphy is being made by the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton
Railroad in Springfield, and if the wireless station is a success the sys-
tem will be extended in Springfield. The mysteries multiply, and con-
fusion worse confused is the inevitable result, Mr. Jones of the Western
Union relating that a woman sending a telegraph message wished to with-
hold her name, saying that her husband would recognize the handwriting,
and the wireless would be her undoing.
While public utilities continue to attract speculators, an economic
writer says it is to the advantage of society that business as a whole
shall be profitable. The great industries, the railroad corporations and
all public utilities which are the framework of national well-being, never
would have been created under conditions unfavorable to returns upon
the investment; profit is the wage of service. Profit is the spur to
endeavor, and a good profit means good service. Poor profits presage
unemployment, hard times and business mortality. To deny reasonable
earnings to industries including public service corporations, is to deny
their usefulness or right to existence. No doubt the following lines were
penned under the pressure of circumstances: "So far as we are con-
cerned, public utilities officials are welcome to their jobs ; if they make
money the public kicks; if they don't the stockholders kick," and public
or private, people do not give their attention to business without thought
of* gain from it.
The president of a utility company once said: "I shall be disap-
pointed if the company is not on a dividend-paying basis when I appear
again," and without question he expressed an unanimous opinion. It is
a popular impression that the public utility corporation pays the taxes,
but again it is the "ultimate consumer," the patron whether of one utility
or another who really "pays the freight." There is no secret about it,
local and state taxes considered as part of the operating expense of the
corporation, the commission permitting such corporations to collect a
rate which will cover all expenses, and allow of a profit upon the value
of the property used in the service.
While the "gentle reader" of a newspaper may not be able to dis-
tinguish always between legitimate news and propaganda, the telegraph
brings intelligence from the outside world with alacrity, and people know
what happens all round the world as quickly as they learn what occurs in
the next town. When presidential campaigns are being launched in con-
vention, as in 1920 in Chicago and San Francisco, within a few hours the
telegraph, combined with the printing press, spreads the news throughout
all the towns in the country. Because of the network of telegraph lines,
the other towns in Clark County have the information as soon as it is
known in Springfield.
The Telephone System
While some men and women of today feel that they are living through
the greatest age known to history, others regret their activities so soon —
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380 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
think they would enjoy greater advantages in future. Some one exclaims :
"Imagine a pioneer who, about three months after the presidential elec-
tion in 1832, received an eastern newspaper or letter conveying to him
the information that Andrew Jackson had been elected President of the
United States in the previous November. If the settler happened to
be a Jackson man, he donned his hunting shirt and coon-skin cap and
sallied forth in search of the few neighbors of his political faith to com-
municate the glad tidings, to them, and mingle their rejoicings over it.
The news of the result of a presidential election is now known in every
considerable city and town in the United States and the Orient within
twenty-four hours after the close of the polls in the voting preciftcts."
While for some years the telegraph service was limited to birth, marriage
and death notices, the telephone came along and divided the commercial
patronage, and for a time seemed to monopolize local business — all big
fleas have fleas to bite 'em — and that is when the Western Union intro-
duced the night letters, all Bell telephones now being branch offices from
which tolls are collected monthly for night letter service.
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876— the American
Centennial Year — and for sometime Springfield territory was controlled
from the Dayton office managed by George L. Phillips. In 1879, when
the system was installed in Springfield, there were only five subscribers
and the business was handled from the Dayton office. For years the
Bell Telephone Company operated only in the larger cities with but few
patrons; finally the independent companies springing into existence
extended the service to the smaller towns, and into the rural communities.
The Ohio Bell Telephone business in Springfield is managed by E. M.
Staples, and exchanges are operated in Enon, Pitchin, North Hampton
and Tremont City, accommodating 8,640 patrons in Springfield territory.
Since 1883 an exchange has been operated in Springfield. At the end
of the year, 1921, there were 13,380 telephones in residences and busi-
ness places with which Springfield patrons might be connected, and it
is said that the United States with only one-sixteenth of the population
of the world, has two-thirds of its telephones.
While Springfield telephone directories today are almost the same as
city directories — the popular idea once prevailing that the service was
only possible to the rich — the first directory issued in 1883 only had a
list of 250 patrons. It was on a large card, and printed across the top
were the words: Springfield Telephone Exchange. This directory was
the compliment of the J. D. Smith Printing and Binding Company dis-
tributed among patrons, and the Ohio Bell Company still clings to a
copy of it. The subscribers were not then called by number, nor was
the system electric. When one wished to be connected he turned a crank,
asking for the party and the girl at the switchboard turned another crank
to get the party and now the automatic telephone relieves the parties of
all details. Because finance was hard to interest the organizations were
of slow development, but finally the telephone received recognition and
none would be without it. When the name system prevailed, the operator
had to remember all the names in the directory, and now the call by num-
ber simplfies the switchboard requirements.
Before there were telephone wires connecting the homes in Springfield
and throughout Clark County there were signals— codes that were easily
interpreted — a red rag hanging from an upper window always meant dis-
tress ; different colors had different meanings, and the settlers knew when
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 381
they were wanted by the different signals, but all that belonged to some
remote period ; today the Clark County family that is not in communica-
tion with the outside world through the "friend on the wall," is the excep-
tion. Local patronage is divided between the Ohio Bell and the Home
Telephone Company connecting Springfield with Xenia and intermediate
points. The office in Springfield was opened April 1, 1904, and it was
operated by the Central Construction Company till August 20, when the
plant was turned over to the stockholders, and DeLoss Odell was installed
as manager. He came from Dayton in the employ of the Ohio Bell
Company, but he has served continuously as manager of the Home Com-
pany.
The Home Telephone Company was organized by local capital, Gov-
ernor Asa S. Bushnell promoting it, erecting the office building on Center
Street later acquired by the company. The Home Telephone Company
serves eight exchanges in Clark, Greene and Champaign counties, the
local exchanges being Springfield, New Carlisle and Donnelsville. There
has been a merger proposal submitted to the utilities commission, Novem-
ber 16, 1921, and both the Ohio Bell and Home Telephone companies
have been asked to schedule their properties, and an advance in rates is
under consideration. A dispatch sent out from Columbus, November 3,
1921, said there would be no reduction in rates for at least five years,
the opinion broadcasted by telephone men attending a district meeting of
the Ohio Independent Telephone Association. When the public demands
improvements the companies do not favor rate reductions. While the
average citizen thinks of Edison as the foremost inventor, it was Alex-
ander Graham Bell who gave the telephone to the world.
On December 21, 1820, when Daniel Webster addressed those assem-
bled at Plymouth Rock 200 years after the landing of the Pilgrim
Fathers he prophesied that, in 1920, there would be nation-wide communi-
cation. Looking forward 100 years he said: "On the morning of that
day, although it will not disturb us in our repose, the voice of acclama-
tion and gratitude commencing on the Rock of Plymouth shall be trans-
mitted through millions of the sons of the Pilgrims until it loses itself in
the murmurs of the Pacific seas," this quotation being embodied in the
address delivered at Plymouth Rock in 1920, by Senator Henry Cabot
Lodge in connection with the Tercentenary, and on the anniversary day,
at 12:45 o'clock,' when a long distance telephone connection was estab-
lished, he paused while Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts, now
vice president of the United States, greated Governor Stephens of Cali-
fornia, saying: "Massachusetts and Plymouth Rock greet California
and the Golden Gate ; the sons of the Pilgrims, according to prophecy, send
to you the voice that is to be lost in the roar of the Pacific," and through
the wireless methods of communication news is now had from ships at
sea. A Springfield man sits in his home and hears a concert in a distant
city; his instrument is in tune with the waves set in motion — the waves
always in motion, but the man knew nothing about it. The radio sta-
tion at Wright Field at Dayton is installed in service, with a 300-mile
range, and it is still the beginning of the wireless age in history.
Springfield telephone exchanges maintain operator's schools, and a
chief operator assists those unfamiliar with the service, and each day she
learns how many errors are to her account. The automanual system
affords the speed and accuracy of the adding machine, linotype and type-
writer to the telephone service; ease and simplicity of operation insures
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382 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
the best service, and the welfare of the operators is taken into the consid-
eration. It is the Springfield policy to have enough operators to insure
quick telephone connections, and they are urged to be very distinct in
repeating numbers. When there is a fire or some other local disturbance,
all the patrons rush to the 'phone and expect immediate service.
Ice storms are the most destructive enemies of the telegraph and
telephone lines, and when there are such emergencies the lines are over-
taxed by impatient patrons. The patron should not attempt to engage
central in a personal conversation — her times belongs to all — although
she is allowed to give the time of day to a patron. A local manager
says: "If those who use the telephone in Springfield and other com-
munities would discontinue the use of the salutation, 'hello/ a wonderful
improvement in the telephone service would be the result." The word
has no relation to the business, means nothing and is discourteous. No
merchant would allow a clerk to address a customer with that word, and
yet it is the greeting over the telephone frequently.
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CHAPTER XL
THE WATER SUPPLY OF SPRINGFIELD
While James Demint, who lived on the site of the Northern School,
obtained water for domestic purposes from a spring at the foot of the
hill, and Springfield was given its name because of the abundance of
spring water available to settlers and travelers, all this a local condition
in 1801, it is reported in 1921, after the lapse of 120 years, that the
springs are out of commission and Springfield water consumers used
4,150,019,561 gallons of aqua pura taken through a pumping station from
Buck Creek a short distance above the city.
While Demint had the water without price, Springfield citizens pay
more than $125,000 annually, the 1921 water rent amounting to $127,000,
with the springs gone dry and some consumers unable to pay because of
the industrial situation — out of employment for several months, and the
water system is one utility owned by the city. It is operated by the
municipality, supplies all closely built territory, and a few consumers
beyond the limits of the city. The plant was commenced in 1881, and
in 1898 it was improved as it is today. It is under the direct supervision
of George S. Cotter who, since 1908, has been at the pumping station
and knows the system thoroughly. He is a member of the American
Water Works Association. John P. Smith is superintendent of water
distribution, and M. J. Gilmore is inspector of meter and fixtures. There
are seventeen regular employes at the plant, and, since 1910, all are
under civil service regulations.
While the main water works office is in the city building with repair
shop in the basement, the principal pipe yards and general stores are at
the old pumping station and standpipe. Fire alarms are sounded at the
pumping station, and uniform pressure is maintained sufficient for an
ordinary conflagration ; it is increased when there are big fires. A spe-
cial order from the fire chief insures increased pressure, all the depart-
ments being connected by telephone with the pumping station. The
Springfield water supply is obtained from subterraneous sources that
feed Buck or Lagonda Creek, and it flows from the force of gravity to a
receiving well from which pumps discharge it into a single system of dis-
tribution, pressure being equalized by the standpipe. The street eleva-
tions range from 911 to 1,077 feet, and the water is forced from the lower
to the higher levels, or the force of gravity carries it from the higher to
the lower levels, and the visitor who sees the gravel beds through which
aqua pura is strained before its distribution from the pumping station has
confidence in the purity of the water supply in Springfield.
The local water supply is obtained immediately from extensive gravel
deposits in the Valley of Buck Creek, just above its confluence with
Beaver Creek. It drains eighty-two square miles above this intake, the
area including the greatest elevation in Clark County, and from the
springs in these Clark County hills the dry weather flow in Buck Creek
is estimated at 20,000,000 gallons of water every twenty-four hours. In
time of high water it is increased, and Springfield is never without suffi-
cient water in storage. Water and fire are called man's best friends and
his worst enemies, and a study is made of both because of their relation
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384 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
to the development of Springfield and Clark County. The Fire Fighters'
Bucket Brigade needs no introduction in any community.
Local Rain Fall
The average annual rain fall as reported from Dayton, twenty-four
miles away, covering a period of sixteen years between 1904 and 1920
was thirty-eight inches, with a maximum of 47 5/10 and a minimum of
26 9/10 inches, which is regarded as true in Clark County. When the
underground flow of water from the hills about Catawba is inadequate,
the supply from Buck Creek is diverted into a raceway by a concrete
dam less than one mile above the pumping station. It has a four-foot
opening provided with a sluice gate, with different sized pipes to receive
the water in dry periods. This surface water taken from the race flows
over flat land underlaid with gravel which forms a natural filter bed
covering an area of fifty acres. It requires twelve hours for the water
to filter through this gravel from the intake to the receiving well which
is sheltered by a small building adjoining the pumping station.
This filter bed is drained with soft tile having open joints, and a com-
bined length of 4,300 feet. These drains are above the hardpan under-
lying an average depth of twenty feet of coarse gravel ; they form rectan-
gular tunnels of open stone work with four feet of head room, and built
on top of the hardpan. A concrete cut-off wall creates an underground
reservoir in the gravel bed which fills up at night, and is drawn out dur-
ing the day. Springfield is fortunate in its water supply coming through
this gravel filter, and its freedom from epidemics may be traced to the
purity of its water. The receiving well sheltered by the round building
outside the pumping station is thirty feet in diameter, and the station is
suone-story brick building built in 1898. at the confluence of Buck and
Beaver creeks, the water coming from Buck Creek, with its head waters
partly in the knobs of Moorefield and Pleasant townships, sparsely set-
tled pasture land and free from the infection of civilization.
At the time of the 1913 March flood which devastated so many cities,
the water stood four feet deep in the basement of the pumping station,
but the station did not suspend operations. The men worked in the
water and Springfield had its uniform supply of water for domestic
purposes. The coal was under water, but fires were maintained in the
boilers; there are 400 or 500 tons of coal on hand at all times, and not
all of it was under water. J. F. Reynard has been chief engineer since
1910, and for twenty-seven years he had been with the department; he
does not court a repetition of the 1913 flood experience. The station is
operated by three eight-hour labor shifts, and 7,000,00 gallons of water
are available even in dry periods, and it is planned to increase it to
15,000,000 gallons. A basin, with capacity of 2,500,000 gallons of water,
stands filled to the water level in Buck Creek to be drawti on in emer-
gencies. This is called raw water and is direct from Buck Creek, reaching
the basin through a twenty-inch main thus standing level with the flow
in the stream. When the stream is low the water in this basin is some-
times reduced to 1,600,000 gallons, which is much below the normal
quantity.
Mr. Reynard knows when it is wash day in Springfield by the draft
on the water supply ; the demand is much heavier than when the women
are in "their kitchens doing the usual dishwashing, and he plans to fur-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 385
nish sufficient pressure. Some new machinery was needed, and the news-
papers were keeping the people posted, and since the disappearance of the
dooryard "pumping station," and the failure of the springs the com-
munity is interested in the question. In 1921 there were 12,742 con-
sumers attached to the public water supply, with 8,399 families having
their water supply through meters, thus paying for the actual consump-
tion. There were also 976 fire hydrants through which water might be
drawn, and 4,994 tons of coal were consumed in producing the power
with which to force the water into all these places of possible consump-
tion. In order that a consumer in Springfield may have a drink of water,
some one is busy shoveling coal at the pumping station. However, Super-
intendent Cotter thinks the installation of new machinery will curtail the
amount of coal used at the station. Since 1898 there have been improve-
ments in machinery and the latest patents will be installed in the Spring-
field pumping station.
There is an automatic sprinkler installed at the pumping station for
local fire protection, but it never has been tested — acts as a preventive
rather than as an extinguisher — and the standpipe built in 1881 still does
service in Springfield. While it is downtown from the pumping sta-
tion, it is one mile east from the principal mercantile section. It is con-
constructed from riveted steel plates, and has a storage capacity of 592,-
000 gallons. While water must be forced into storage in the standpipe,
gravity removes it, the site being elevated and sometimes the water in
reserve there is turned into the mains. The maximum water consumption
is in the dry summer months when sprinkling is allowed, and August 30,
1920, the station pumped 14,965,000 gallons of water. For about four
hours each Monday morning the rate is 19,000,000 gallons, and the maxi-
mum of 21,000,000 gallons has been reached in the hours when Spring-
field is in the laundry.
April 1, 1921, the records show 961 public hydrants, exclusive of
forty-three Lowry flush hydrants which are seldom .used, they are located
at street or alley intersections. Some water pipes in use forty years are
still in good condition. There are eighteen miles of four and six-inch
pipes in the congested business section, with ten miles of three-inch pipes
in the residence districts for domestic use. "The Parable of the Woman
at the Well," is no longer exemplified in Springfield, and were an
impromptu bucket brigade formed it would have to depend upon faucets
for its supply of water.
Before the water mains were laid cisterns were installed, and seven
of them are still available although seldom used. There are twenty-six
cisterns, and when they were in working condition they had a capacity
of 150,000 gallons. The cisterns still used are regularly inspected by the
fire department. Plans were under way for extension of water service,
a number of private wells having been sealed by the Board of Health for
sanitary reasons. It was planned to use 3,000 feet of six-inch pipe in an
extension in the southwest part of Springfield. In a report issued
August 31, 1921, the National Board of Fire Underwriters endorsed cer-
tain contemplated improvements and advised others.
Superintendent Cotter prepared questionnaires for students in the
public schools, explaining the operations of the water department, and
giving definite information of the manner in which the city supplies
water to its citizens. While all employees of the water department are
under civil service regulations, none are required to attend fires; it is
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386 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
the duty of the department to supply water to the fire-fighters in suffi-
cient quantities. New Carlisle installed a public water system November
1, 1911, and while private wells are still used in 1921. the station had
240 patrons. The drainage problem is negligible, the high banks along
Honey Creek affording sanitary relief, and a man serves part time keep-
ing the plant in order and pumping water into storage. The towns all
have cisterns for storage, and volunteer fire-fighters who know the source
of the supply of water. The water mains are laid about four feet from
the surface although frost seldom penetrates more than three feet, and
the only exposed pipe in Springfield is an eight-inch main over Buck
Creek at Lagonda Avenue ; no difficulty is experienced from frozen water
lines in the streets. As city solicitor at the time of its installation, much
credit is due Judge F. M. Hagan in connection with the Springfield water
sytem — was in position to boost it.
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CHAPTER XLI
THE ORGANIZED FIRE DEPARTMENT
When a blaze was discovered in ancient Springfield the whole com-
munity went to the fire, armed with buckets, dishpans, anything that
would hold water — the analogy between fire and water — well, water
uncontrolled is quite as dangerous, and when her house was on fire a
woman once handed a fireman a jar of water, asking him to take it to a
place of safety. In the days of volunteer fire departments, lines were
forms and buckets of water were passed while hot-headed individuals
pitched furniture out of upper windows, or carefully carried feather beds
down the narrow stairways, mirrors landed in the street, while cushions
and bedclothes were handled as if they were fragile articles.
When there was a destructive fire it was the topic of conversation for
a long time, and with meager protection fires were seldom checked; the
unfortunate families rendered homeless were sheltered by friends until
they could make necessary arrangements. When a home was swept away
by fire, the fellow who managed to become drenched the worst was the
hero. When there was no paid fire department, the volunteer members
relinquished whatever task, and hurried to the scene of the conflagration.
While homes had burned, and families had been reduced to direst want,
the first disastrous fire in Springfield occurred February 21, 1840, when
two general stores went up in flames — the Linn and the Murray stores —
victims of a fire originating in a livery stable. The Republic newspaper
plant was a heavy loser in this conflagration. There have been two
Springfield fires that have been regarded as a benefit to the community- —
Rat Row in 1868, and the levee in connection with the second Negro
riot of 1906 — the fire-fighters being restrained by the populace each time,
until the fire fiend had spent its fury.
Since April 1, 1904, Springfield has sustained a full paid fire depart-
ment with Samuel F. Hunter, chief, and since May 1, 1920. it has been
on a two-platoon basis. Chief Hunter is the seventh in the series, begin-
ning with A. R. Ludlow who was among the earliest organized volunteer
firemen. He served a good many years when there were no records kept,
and in 1870 he was relieved by R. Q. King, who served ten years ; in 1880,
Christie Holloway, who served four years; in 1884, W. M. Moore, who
served one year ; in 1885, E. W. Simpson, who was with the department
twenty-eight years. Mr. Simpson belonged to the fire department when
it was wholly volunteer service, and men worked for the protection of
property — when it was all for glory. When he was elected chief in 1885,
he received $100 a year for his service, remaining in that relation until
1904, when full time paid fire department was established, and he left the
service.
In the days of Fire Chief Simpson, the Simpson Lumber Company
horses were used in emergencies, saving the city the expense of so many
horses. Mr. Simpson operated a lumber yard in a central location, and
one year, when there was epizootic among the horses, an ox team was
used by the fire department, the hose cart was too heavy for man power ;
all this in the days when Mr. Simpson's fire-fighters were designated as
the Neptunes. When Springfield was short of funds, Mr. Simpson once
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 389
carried the volunteer fire department pay roll three months, knowing that
in time he would be reimbursed by the city. Economy was the watch
word, and that long ago the "city fathers" did not think of borrowing
money to meet pay rolls, however, the men who responded must be paid,
and Mr. Simpson took care of them. There were six fire chiefs in the
days of the volunteer fire-fighters in Springfield.
"Them days is gone forever," as applied to volunteer fire-fighters ; as
the demands became more frequent, and life more strenuous, men could
no longer leave their daily toil and answer an alarm. It was incumbent
that trained men be in readiness, and in 1904, when Samuel F. Hunter
became fire chief the system was changed, some of the volunteer firemen
being retained in the organized, full-time service. At different times the
fire laddies had been known as: Utilities, Independents, Neptunes,
Rovers, Silver Greys and Union companies, and the machines were hand
drawn. There were long ropes and stalwart men used their mental and
physical force in reaching the conflagration — human power paving the
way for the horse-drawn, and motorized departments. When the Nep-
tunes and Rovers were rival fire-fighters, feeling ran high; there was
great excitement, and sometimes fights were narrowly averted; in some
natures, the "call of the wild" is not far beneath the surface. It is per-
sonal still with Col. David King of the Neptunes, and Gen. J. Warren
Keifer of the Rovers.
They were all volunteers, and while rivalry stirred them to greater
action, all were distinguished for their zeal and bravery. In those days
water was obtained from Mill Run, Buck Creek and from cisterns —
twenty-eight cisterns installed before there was a water works system in
Springfield. Whenever there was a building with unusual expanse of
roof, there was a cistern as a reservoir, the system still ill vogue in the
smaller towns of Clark County, and seven Springfield cisterns are still
regularly inspected by the fire department; in an emergency water may
be used from them. On April 16, 1898, A. R. Ludlow, who was for
many years connected with the Springfield Fire Department, published a
short history, saying: "The first engine was a force pump mounted on
a box bed 3 by 6 feet in dimensions, with cranks extending out on both
sides; it was operated by four men on either side turning the cranks.
The supply of water was obtained from the nearest pump by forming two
lines from the pump to the engine, the full buckets passing up one line
and the empties down the other.
When a pump gave out the line formed again at the next nearest
pump; the dug wells were then common in Springfield. In this way
the volunteer firemen worked until the fire was extinguished, or the
building was in ashes ; then the plug was removed from the engine, allow-
ing the water to pass out in order not to freeze in the engine. The volun-
teers had three ladders, ten, twenty and thirty feet in length, and they
were mounted on a four-wheel wagon with a rope attached to the tongue,
and the men. swift of foot, soon reached. the fire; this truck for the lad-
ders was strung on both sides with leather buckets and a few lanterns.
In those days everybody went to the fire, the women often standing in
line and passing empty buckets; that custom reverts to the time when
Springfield had about 1,500 inhabitants.
When Springfield finally began growing more rapidly, the fire pro-
tection was inadequate, and the town purchased two new engines — Util-
ity and Independent. When the new engines arrived new fire companies
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390 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
were organized, taking their names from the engines they manned, and
in 1844, when he was but eighteen years old, Mr. Ludlow became captain
of Utility Company. The Utility and Independent were double-decked
engines having suction hose, and they drew water from Mill Run, then
an open stream running through Springfield — now a sewer. When there
were fires, one of these engines was placed at the stream and the other
at the fire ; they were connected by hose, and when the one at the stream
could not supply sufficient water to control the blaze, buckets were used
to supply the deficiency.
While meager records were made in the days of the volunteer fire
department, they were not preserved, but from memory Mr. Ludlow
listd the following citizens : Charles Cavileer, John Bacon, Mack Fisher,
Henry F. Sterrett, William Moore, Sr., Joseph Osborn, William and
Jacob Kills, Reuben Miller, Joseph Davidson, Peter Moody, William
Werden, Leon and P. E. Bancroft, John Householder, John Ludlow,
Joseph Ludlow, Silas Ludlow, John and William Davidson, Martin
Carey, Baker W. Peck, Alexander Downey, et al. After the lapse of
years such lists are never accurate, when there are no records in exist-
ence. Mr. Ludlow speaks of the Lynn and Murray fires in 1840, say-
ing the water supply was insufficient and larger reservoirs were con-
structed, an unusually large cistern being put in at Main and Limestone
streets, and smaller cisterns at other places in the business section of
Springfield.
It was in 1852 — two years after Springfield had incorporated as a
city — that the Neptune and Independent companies of fire-fighters were
organized among the younger men, and new life was thus injected into
. the department. These companies did good service through a period of
several years, and their efforts were appreciated by the citizens. Some
who are remembered are : Jerry Clinef elter, E. C. Mason, T. P. Clark,
Cyrus Albin, H. D. John, William McCuddy and Benjamin Best. (Per-
haps the fire-fighters were called Neptunes, and the Independent was
the name of their engine.) Soon after the Neptunes came into existence,
another company called the Rovers was organized, using the Utility engine
for a time. The Rovers put additional life into the department, both
Neptunes and Rovers being quick to respond to a fire alarm. At this
time the city purchased two new engines of the best pattern on the mar-
ket. The Rovers listed are : A. D. Rogers, David Cochran, R. D. Har-
rison, and Mr. Ludlow was transferred from the Neptunes to this organ-
ization.
When east-end Springfield residents became jealous of those on the
west they formed a fire company called the Wooden Shoe, building their
own station house, active in the move being George Seibert, Leonard
Shaffer, Daniel Huben and John Harrison. At about this time the
Rovers became an independent organization, building a house on South
Center Street and equipping it with new fire-fighting apparatus. This
move brought the Silver Greys into action, and they occupied the house
vacated by the Rovers on Main Street west of Center. The name was
suggestive, this group of fire-fighters being older men, as William Kills,
Benjamin Rogers and Doctor Teegarden — all gray-haired men. In 1864
the Neptunes disbanded, the cily deciding that a paid department would
be less expensive than volunteers paid for their time of service.
When the policy was changed in 1864, the city purchased three Silsby
steam fire engines, employing Charles Riber, Jack Bundy and Sandy Rea
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 391
as engineers, the respective drivers being Charles Weeks, William Walker
and Ezra Tolan, and Mr. Ludlow was continued as chief. In listing his
successors Mr. Ludlow enumerates King, Holloway, Moore and Simpson
as supplied by Chief Hunter, and he includes the name of George Foil-
rath prior to Hunter ; it may be the fault of the copyist. In summing up
the situation in a newspaper article in 1898, Mr. Ludlow said : UI think
with the system of fire alarm now in use, the equipment and the men in
the department, the city can feel safe from fire," and he says further:
"These steamers began to get out of order and they became expensive
to maintain ; the water in our wells and springs became impure, and the
city became clamorous for a water works, which we now have with excel-
lent pressure for fire purposes. Again the fire department was reorgan-
ized; the pressure at the water works was sufficient to furnish all the
water needed for large fires ; the steamers were laid by and held in reserve
in case of accident at the water works," but nothing was said about
steamers by Chief Hunter.
Since 1904 — Full Organization
While a few men had been employed in the Springfield fire depart-
ment for forty years — 1864 to 1904— when Samuel F. Hunter was
installed, the volunteer or "Minute Men" system was abandoned, and
now all firemen who devote their time to the city are on a regular payroll,
and since the introduction of the two-platoon system, May 1, 1920, they
are on duty twenty-four hours and off the same length of time — subject
to emergency calls at all times. The chief is continuously on duty; his
entire time is given to the city, and all firemen sleep with their ears
attuned to telephone calls, responding as quickly at night as to day time
alarms. Under the two-platoon system firemen have home privileges
impossible under previous conditions ; they have opportunity of knowing
their families and sharing in home pleasures appreciated by all of them.
Springfield was equipped with horse-drawn fire-fighting apparatus
when Chief Hunter assumed his duties, but when motorized apparatus
was on the market he was in favor of the change. It was four years
after his appointment until motorized apparatus was introduced in
America, but in 1908 he recommended the purchase, and the following
year the Board of Public Safety ordered a combined motor driven hose
and pumping engine made at Vincennes, Indiana. It was through the
influence of I. Ward Frey that Chief Hunter first considered the change,
and when A. C. Webb demonstrated the motor drawn equipment that
year at the Firemen's Convention in Columbus, he witnessed the demon-
stration. When convinced of its utility Chief Hunter ordered the equip-
ment, installing the first engine June 9, 1909, which proved to be the
forerunner of a complete change of fire-fighting equipment in Springfield.
Because Springfield was among the first cities to install the motorized
system there were many junket visitors who came to study the system
and to note results; all the fire journals, and many magazines carried
Springfield feature stories. Springfield was again on the map of the
world — this time through its motorized fire department; the full change
accomplished in 1916— the city seven years in transition. As motors were
acquired horses were disposed of, and in 1916 twenty-eight well trained
fire-department horses went onto the auction market, some going to other
cities to be used in fire departments and some being sold among Clark
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392 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
County farmers. When a horse has been used in a fire department he
learns the game, and when the alarm is sounded even though he is being
used in some other department — as street cleaning — he always wants to
"beat it" to the conflagration; he is not satisfied with the daily routine
after having been a fire horse.
Chief Hunter told of a sorrel horse named George, saying he was
a most faithful animal and a favorite with the men ; in 1903 George met
with an accident that tested his strength and his knowledge. It was
March 20, when he was in a ladder-truck team of three horses going to
a fire and crossing a railroad track the horses were struck by a train;
two of them were killed instantly, but George — a powerful horse, standing
seventeen hands high, wrenched himself loose from the others by main
force. When the horse escaped from his fallen mates he ran into the
commons, now the park space south of the tracks along Fountain Avenue,
and turning in his tracks he sniffed the air. When firemen approached
him he whinnied as if he would tell them about it. He saved his life
by force and strategy and turned around to watch the denouement.
Although George had grown old in the service, he was sold at auction.
Visitors to the department always asked to see this remarkable horse.
Many successful farmers have adopted the policy of selling animals
before they become indebted to them, thus feeling that they must retain
them because of past service.
Sentiment had no part in the transition from horse-drawn to a motor-
ized fire department. While there was horse-drawn equipment for sev-
eral years after the motor was installed, the motor engine went to all
fires unless a second call came in, when the horses were pressed into
service. The motor. engine replaced the steamer, hose wagon and five
horses; it soon demonstrated its economy. While the fire department
uses eighty gallons of gasoline in a week, it is less expense than feeding
and shoeing so many horses ; there are no veterinary bills, and while tires
deteriorate they do not wear out, because they do not make the mileage.
A run to a fire is not like cross country travel, and while extra horses
were always held in reserve in the department, as yet there are no extra
engines ; from the standpoint of economy the motorized department com-
mends itself. In his 1921 annual report Chief Hunter advocates an
increase in the force, saying the city is growing while the strength of the
department remains unchanged, and he asked for repairs at the engine
houses.
In 1921 the Springfield Fire Department answered 277 calls; there
are nine fire stations, and the man power is : one chief, one superintendent
of fire alarm system, ten marshals, ten lieutenants, thirty-three firemen,
two engineers, one operator, and two assistant operators. The chief asks
for twelve more men. In 1921 the fire losses in Springfield totaled $393,-
467.65, and the department responded to outside calls where the losses
exceeded $4,000. In 1920 the department answered 301 calls, when the
loss only reached $80,000, much less than the last report, some unusually
disastrous fires occurring in 1921, and the alarms were numerous the
following January falling eight under the record number in one month ;
in August, 1916, the department answered sixty-three calls, when a fire-
bug was operating in Springfield. Now and then there is a day on which
there is no fire alarm. Lack of water is the difficulty when the depart-
ment responds to rural calls and to calls in towns lacking the necessary
water service.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 393
In towns where fire departments are maintained reciprocity prevails
and no charges are made by the Springfield department for its service;
in towns not making such preparation, and thereby sustaining an expense,
Springfield charges $50 an hour; the department does not respond to
rural calls unless the charges are guaranteed ; the department cannot wear
out its equipment with no returns, and it must be a responsible person
who guarantees the charges. Sentiment does not govern the situation;
while some persons criticise the department, they would do the same thing
themselves. When they must pay for service, it stimulates other com-
munities to take care of themselves. Chief Hunter had just received a
check for $150 in payment for service rendered in Catawba, the note
accompanying it saying: "We, the Council of the Village of Catawba,
wish to express our thanks to the Springfield Fire Department for aid in
subduing the fire January 13, 1922, which threatened our village," and
the check was transferred to the city manager to be used in defraying
operating expenses of the department.
Under a state law enacted many years ago any township in which
there is no paid fire department may issue bonds amounting to $20,000
for the purchase of fire-fighting equipment, and Mayor Jacobs of Catawba
would recommend that action in Pleasant Township there were two dis-
astrous fires — the Titus store, and the M. E. parsonage, and wiring seemed
to be the difficulty. The need of more cisterns was recognized, and a
campaign of education was being planned for the whole county ; when a
thing is done in Springfield the effect is felt in other communities. The
Fire Prevention Society is sustained by Springfield industrial plants, with
Chief Hunter as its president ; his work in the interest of fire prevention
has been recognized by the Ohio Fire Chiefs' Club, and twice he has
been elected its president. He is chairman of the exhibit committee of
the International Association of Fire Engineers, and was busy planning
for the current meeting in San Francisco.
For eighteen years Chief Hunter has been a member of the Interna-
tional Association, and he usually attends the meetings. Now that fire
prevention is mandatory — is taught in the public schools — people are
learning to be more careful, and Chief Hunter has issued sets of rules
governing the use of stoves and furnaces, open fires, safety rules for
burning rubbish, safety rules in smoking, and safety rules for matches.
It is said that when Henry R. Schaeffer, who for twenty-six years was
a member of the Springfield Board of Education, is near a school house
he always plans to inspect the fire drill, and one day when a state inspector
was at Northern Heights he turned in the fire alarm and stationed him-
self in the main corridor to watch the children evacuate the building. In
a short time he inquired of the janitor about the working of the gong,
to be told that the children had left the building by other exits and were
impatient about returning. The inspector had not "inspected" in that
instance.
In the time Chief Hunter has served the community he estimates that
fire insurance companies have saved almost $2,500,000, which is clear
profit,* showing an average profit amounting to $137,361.60 annually,
because of the excellent protection Springfield property has given in that
period; with fire-fighting facilities, fire-fighters show results, and in his
report the chief urges the installation of sprinkling systems in all public
buildings — hospitals and schools. Out of 1072 buildings inspected, 787
were approved and 285 needed improvements. While the water system
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394 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
was installed at an expense of $88,000 and it is a source of continual
expense in repair and extension, it has been an annual saving of thou-
sands of dollars, and still some one is constantly clamoring for better
service.
New Carlisle has two motor trucks in its fire department, one for
hose and the other for chemicals, and it has twenty men registered in its
volunteer fire department. F. W. Weaver, local fire chief, has consid-
erable pride in the fact that the hose truck was home made, the material
and workmanship donated to the community — built at an actual cost of
$585, while $2,500 is the list price for such equipment. It is equipped
with 1,250 feet of hose, and connections can be establishd with all of the
houses in the town. Sometimes the New Carlisle department answers
calls in the country. Mr. Weaver had been a member of the depart-
ment seventeen years, and since 1919 had been its chief. W. A. Zinna
had been twenty years a fire-fighter in New Carlisle. When the fire bell
rings, the men are on the job— best volunteer fire department in the
state — they said on the street, and while the air pressure system is used
and water is only pumped twice a day except in emergency, the four
wells supply a storage tank that has never been lowered more than seven
feet. Buckets are retained at the department, but they never are used
in New Carlisle.
South Charleston has similar equipment to New Carlisle, and should
Springfield respond to a call from either town it would be on the basis
of reciprocity. On January 3, 1920, Walter E. Reinheimer died in Spring-
field as a result of being overcome by gas November 7, 1919, while
fighting fire. He is the only man to die at his post, although many
have shown unfaltering courage; a fireman dare not think of personal
comfort or shrink from danger; when others are excited, he must retain
his mental equilibrium — must do and dare for those unable to do things
themselves; they safeguard the homes of Springfield.
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CHAPTER XLII
LIGHTING SYSTEMS IN SPRINGFIELD
"How far that little candle throws its beams," and there was a time
when "a light in the window" had significance, although now an effulgence
of light marks the modest as well as the magnificent home and nobody
thinks about "The Light That Failed" under present-day municipal con-
ditions.
At Christmastide, 1817, when it was known in Springfield that the
Ohio Assembly had recognized Clark County, the citizens assembled in
the evening. While there were no municipal lights they made bonfires
and proclaimed the fact; they burned tar barrels, and it is related that
they had spirits which made them ardent — just about the first jollifica-
tion, and the light from the burning tar made the heavens lurid about
them.
As early as 1825 — only eight years after the bonfire demonstration —
the lighting system in Springfield is thus described: Large glass lamps
with double reflectors, costing $25 each, were placed on posts at suitable
points, and there was a contingent fund of twelve-and-one-half cents
raised from each house to pay for oil and wick; the lamps were to be
lighted and cared for free of charge by the persons before whose doors
the posts should be placed, and while that generation may have assumed
the responsibility, who would do it today?
On September 19, 1849, the Springfield Coke Company was organized,
with $5,000 as capital stock. The officers of the company were : Charles
Anthony, James S. Goode, William Foos, Peter Murray, T. J. Kindel-
barger and Joshua Gore, and April 4, 1850, Springfield was lighted by
gas the first time; there is no record of how long the lamps were used
that had been installeda quarter of a century earlier. At that time there
was no thought of discovering natural gas in Clark County.
While Mother Nature has been indulgent in many ways, lavish in her
distribution of other commodities, Clark County did not happen to be
located in the gas and oil belt of the United States. There have been
numerous attempts made to penetrate the earth for those commodities,
and as early as 1865 there was a small quantity of gas discovered in Pike
Township, and in 1890 another gas pocket was located in that vicinity,
but there was never gas in paying quantities. When oil was discovered
in the Lima field in 1885 it stimulated Clark County speculation, but
without results. In 1887 a well was put down in the Frey stone quarry,
now Cliff Park, along Buck Creek, and a pocket of gas was discovered
and it was piped into the I. Ward Frey homestead and supplies the house-
hold except in cold weather, when gas from the city is added to it. The
flambeaux that burn continually in the door yard at the Frey home on
North Fountain Avenue are supplied with gas from this well. Its site
in Cliff Park is marked by an urn.
In 1888 William N. Whitely made an attempt to secure natural gas
near the C. C. C. & L. Railway station, and in 1892 P. P. Mast tried
the experiment in the western part of Springfield. At about that time
wells were sunk at New Carlisle, South Vienna and Brighton, but with-
out satisfactory results; the drill penetrated the earth to a depth of 1,650
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396 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
feet in outside places, and in Springfield the promoters went deeper. Salt
water was encountered at 1,815 feet, and at 2,000 feet Whitely secured
gas that flowed continuously, but it was of poor quality. The drill pene-
trated to a depth of 2,533 feet in one instance, when the well was plugged
and abandoned; it was the Pettigrew well, within fifty feet of Plum
Street and across from the well in the Frey quarry — Cliff Park. It was
put down in 1887, just before the Frey well that still furnishes a limited
quantity of natural gas. In transferring the quarry property for park
purposes the Frey family reserved this gas well for private use.
Doctor Lisle, who was a local chemist, studied the situation ; he saved
samples of the different soil formations and analyzed them. It is known
that Trenton rock must contain dolomite, calcium and magnesium car-
bonates to produce gas, but they were not in the right proportion in the
local territory. While all the ingredients were found that would indicate
the presence of gas, the drill failed to penetrate it. Springfield lost some
industries at the time that were attracted to the gas territory in Indiana,
the Whitelys going to Muncie. Professor Geiger, who was at Witten-
berg, was confident that gas would be reached and tried to influence
P. P.. Mast to try again, but one failure satisfied him.
The following is clipped from a Springfield newspaper, 1921 : "How
many years will it be before we are back burning coal or wood in our
cook stoves, or perhaps using oil burners or electric stoves? Figures
compiled by the State Utilities Commission show that Ohio gas com-
panies sold 16,000,000,000 cubic feet less of their product in 1920 than
they did in 1918, and this year will show a still further decrease, the
commission recognizing that home consumption should come before fac-
tory consumption and reducing the latter by more than 5,000,000,000
cubic feet; the industrial supply will be shut off before the homes are
deprived of natural gas." A Washington head line reads*: "Proceedings
brought by the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, involving the independ-
ence of industrial enterprises and the domestic comfort of the people of
two states upon natural gas produced in West Virginia, were listed for
argument in the Supreme Court."
Eighty-five per cent of the natural gas produced in West Virginia is
controlled by several companies which export into Ohio and Pennsyl-
vania, where the domestic supply has been exhausted, and while some
West Virginia gas is used in Clark County the bulk of the local supply
comes from the Fairfield, Licking and Hocking County field in Ohio, the
serious question being natural gas from any source in the future. Man-
ager E. D. Abbott of the Springfield Gas Company went to Columbus,
where he entered into a contract with the Ohio Fuel Supply Company
to deliver to the City of Springfield 1,750,000 cubic feet of natural gas
in 1922, in consideration of the advance in price from 35 cents to fifty
cents a thousand cubic feet, the rate beginning on Thanksgiving Day,
1921, and the terms were accepted in Springfield.
In 1850, when Sprinerfield abandoned the oil lighting system and
began using artificial gas lights, the product of the Springfield Gas, Light
and Coke Company under the supervision of E. C. Grogan, the service
began April 5, with a rate of $6 a thousand cubic feet; however, the
artificial gas was little used for heating purposes. In time it was reduced
to $1, and now after manv years the rate is raised — this time to 50 cents.
The demand is greater than the supply, and since 1913 there has been
artificial gas in Springfield. The lighting of the city is divided, the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 397
Springfield Gas Company supplying fuel to 953 street lights cheaper than
the city is lighted by electricity. There are 15,000 domestic consumers in
Springfield, and the Ohio Fuel Supply Company furnishes gas in South
Charleston, New Carlisle, North Hampton and Tremont City.
There are some farmers who obtain gas from the pipe lines along the
right of way as a consideration, but the recent advance in the rate causes
conservation; in this way the company accommodates more families —
economical use allowing of it. People now have better appliances for
the use of natural gas; science has revealed that the right combustion
makes better results, and consumers profit from the revelation. The
object of the Springfield Gas Company is satisfactory service, and in its
basement work rooms is an heirloom of the past — the walls being the
cliffs once so prominent there. Instead of walling a basement, it was
necessary to blast the stone in removing it and nature walls it. While
the cliffs wall adjacent grounds, the walls of the gas office basement are
hidden from view only when a visit is made there.
When the Springfield Gas Company was organized along in the '80s,
when it was demonstrated that natural gas did not exist under this area,
only about 500 families installed meters, but in the course of ten years
there were 3,500 consumers ; gas then furnished at the rate of 12J4 cents,
and A. S. Bushnell was president of the company, with J. W. R. Cline as
secretary and general manager. At that time the gas company handled
gas stoves but when the gas rate was advanced the consumers gradually
drifted back to the use of other fuel, the statement indicating a loss of
many families as gas consumers. In the beginning many were afraid of
natural gas. Under existing contract, unless the gas company assures
the people sufficient gas, the rate reverts back to 35 cents. When con-
sumers find their bills increased they do not object so much if the service
has been satisfactory. The life of a public service corporation depends
upon its ability to furnish satisfactory service, and recent winters have
made it impossible for the natural gas company to guarantee its service.
Now that the public is better educated in conservation the gas company
promises better service.
The Electric Age
It is said that electricity was first used in America for stage illumina-
tion February 10, 1879, in a San Francisco theater, and since that time
there have been great strides of advancement in the use of electric cur-
rent. It was in 1879 that Thomas A. Edison invented the incandescent
lamp, and four years later electricity was being used in Springfield.
When the first electric lighting company was organized in Springfield in
1883 W. A. Scott was its president, and associated with him were Philip
Wiseman, Theodore Troupe and Oliver S. Kelly. At that time the cost
of installation was borne by the merchants, and in 1885 the Kinnans-
Wren Company had the first incandescent lamp in their store : it was the
center of attraction, no doubt causing as much excitement as radio in
these days.
When street and store lights werQ installed in Springfield a man with
a ladder came around each day to clean the globes and put in new car-
bons. In 1900 the Electric Light property was sold to the American
Railway Company, and since then it has been operated in connection with
the city street railway system ; in that year the Home Light, Power and
Heating Company was organized, and in 1905 the Peoples Light and
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398 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Power Company purchased the holdings from the American Railways
Company. In 1908 the Springfield Lighting, Heating and Power Com-
pany was organized and purchased the property of the Home Lighting
and Power Company, and in 1909 the Springfield Light, Heat and Power
Company was organized and it now supplies light, heat and power to
11,000 patrons; it has some suburban patronage, and others want the
service.
In the way of street lighting, the Springfield Light, Heat and Power
Company supplies 337 cluster post lights and 735 incandescent street
lights, the current produced in its own plant at Rockaway Street and Buck
Creek. The company has a coal bin with space for more than 6,000 tons,
one side of the bin being the natural limestone formation known as cliffs,
and a little blasting was all that was necessary in making a bin of it.
When the smoke stack, 206 feet high, was constructed in 1920 it was
slightly excavated into the solid stone, and beginning so much below the
level of the street the height of this stack is not appreciated in the com-
munity. In 1920 the company did a "million dollar" business, and it
occupies a site that would be waste land along Buck Creek— exactly suited
to its requirements.
While C. I. Weaver is the vice president and general manager of the
Springfield Light, Heat and Power Company, and George J. Klenk is
the secretary, it is controlled by non-resident capital designated as the
Commonwealth Power, Railway and Light Company, with extensive hold-
ings in many cities. While this is the age of electricity, those who are
dealing in it say that it is still in its infancy — fhat super power is yet to
be developed from it. The State Utilities Commission adjusts the rates
and controls the issue of securities, thus affording protection of possible
investments. While the water power is no longer utilized — Mad River,
once the site of many mills and distilleries — some have advocated the
idea of utilizing its rapid current in producing electricity, and the possi-
bilities of thus utilizing water power at Clifton, a border town on the
Little Miami, have attracted some attention, mention made elsewhere of
the possibility.
When Mr. Weaver entertained the Springfield Rotary Club at a lunch-
eon at the plant of the Springfield Light, Heat and Power Company,
instead of a staid, formal address on some foreign subject, he reviewed
its history, saying that the factories are utilizing more and more current,
and the plant is a real factor in the development of the community. Since
local electricians and scientists have solved the electrolysis problem, a
number of business men have visited Springfield investigating the subject.
The candle burning in the Demint cabin window when Griffith Foos was
prospecting in this vicinity attracted him, and since that time many vis-
itors have been induced to locate because of unusual advantages, and
again the statement that the gas and electric advantages are real factors
in the development of Sprin^ield.
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CHAPTER XLIII
OUT-OF-DOOR PLEASURE IN SPRINGFIELD PARKS
It is related that as early as June, 1803 — only two years after the
original survey of Springfield — Griffith Foos and Archibald Lowry, with
their wives, had grown tired of the density of civilization and they made
a pilgrimage to Yellow Springs. It was no doubt the first recreation
jaunt — the first excursion party out of Springfield. Looking back over
the lapse of years, many citizens have acted upon their suggestion and
have gone "far from the madding crowd," and thus a pioneer custom
— but that was a fault with most pioneers — they did not take "Little
Journeys in the World."
The Foos-Lowry party went prepared with provisions to spend two
or three days — there were no Wayside Inns — and leaving Springfield on
horseback the excursionists directed their course toward Dayton until
they reached Knob Prairie, when they turned southeast and followed
an Indian trail until they came to the springs. They remained two days,
unmolested and unseen by tfie Indians, enjoying the picturesque scenery
which was then in its wild and uninterrupted state. They describe the
site known then only to the Indians as magnificently grand, and while
wandering among the beautiful evergreens and the dense shrubbery they
discovered two wells in a ravine only a short distance from the river.
These wells were three feet in diameter and they had been sunk several
feet in the rock ; they seemed to be artificial, and writing about them in
1852 R. C. Woodward said they were still visible. The Springfield tour-
ists were the first white party to visit the spot, but since then a train of
visitors have gone from Springfield. While they went on horseback,
following a trail, the beaten paths now lead to Yellow Springs.
Writing about love of nature some one anticipates the present-day
public pleasure resort, saying: "You need not own the land — you prob-
ably will not, in the commercial sense. But the true lover of nature owns
the world, and his use of it takes nothing from the ownership or use of
any other person," and that is true of Springfield parks. When Clark
County was covered with timber, there were saw mills scattered about
and Mad River was lined with them. The rapid flow of the water
afforded power and centered the mills along the stream until steam was
utilized, and while the country lying north from Springfield was covered
with timber before it finally became cleared land, when the settlers came
it is said there was "not a sufficient number of poles to make a meat cart"
growing on what was later heavily timbered land — a strong argument in
support of reforestation.
A Washington newspaper headline reads: "Timber in the United
States is being consumed four times as rapidly as it is being grown," said
W. B. Greeley, chief of the Forest Service, before the House Agricul-
tural Committee in urging Federal legislation designed to conserve the
forests. Sixty-one per cent of the timber now standing in the United
States is west of the Rocky Mountains, and at some distance from the
markets. Before the white man wrought destruction, America had
22,000,000 acres of forest, but due to fires, clearing and lumbering five-
sixths of it is already gone ; the country is cutting 26,000,000,000 cubic
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
feet of timber a year and only producing 6,000,000,000 cubic feet, and the
forest preserve idea is being promoted to keep some of the timber, and
in a small way the parks are forest reserves. While Aborfelda is an
unused private tract, there is little scenery more beautiful and the owner
will be a philanthropist when it is attached to Springfield's chain of
parks. It has a natural amphitheater that would seat 100,000 people, and
such a place for pageantry; however, a cloudburst and Rocky Creek
would spoil the picture — sweeping the pageant under the Golden Arch
and depopulating the amphitheater.
Throughout Ohio and the whole country there is an organized effort
along the lines of city beautification and the reservation of rural beauty
spots for public playgrounds; it has developed in Ohio to the point of
Ferncliff Avenue
seeking the necessary legislation, and when carried it will empower
county commissioners to use funds arising from bond issues in the pur-
chase and maintenance of suitable reservations. Through this plan it is
possible that Fort Tecumseh — now a military leased reservation — may
become the property of Clark County. Snyder Park, embracing 21/
acres adjacent to Springfield, is recognized as the Clark County play-
ground, and John and David L. Snyder could not have perpetuated the
family name in any way more acceptable to the community. It was
acquired by the Snyder family in 1827, at the pre-emption price of $1.25
an acre, and through inheritance it remained in the family until it had
advanced in value with the general progress of civilization, and it was a
worth-while gift to the community.
The gift of Snyder Park was accompanied by the transfer of a $200,-
000 government bond as an endowment, the income to be used in the
upkeep, and the Snyder Brothers also placed $25,000 at the disposal of
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402 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
the Park Board for the construction of a Snyder Memorial Bridge across
the stream midway of the park. The Snyder Memorial Arch at the
entrance to the park, dedicated July 4, 1905, was erected at an expense
of $8,000 by the City of Springfield. As Superintendent of Parks, and
in harmony with the general attitude of the community, A. K. Mclntire
has beautified some of the old burial plots long since abandoned for that
purpose and for which the city does not hold undisputed title, the owner-
ship vested in some defunct cemetery association. While the Park Board
does not hold title to such property it has the approval of the community
in improving it — showing both respect for the dead and consideration for
those who live near such burial plots.
Columbia Street and Greenmount are landmark burial plots, but with
only a little attention they are divested of their gruesonleness and many
persons spend leisure hours in them; the gravestones are imperishable,
but the bodies have long since moldered back to earth. Those buried there
were pioneer citizens and there is a feeling against appropriating the
burial spots with which they were familiar to purposes that would disturb
the quiet and beauty — let them sleep through the ages, in lowly beds that
are theirs 'till the end of time. When mothers and children while away
a few hours among the gravestones and in the shade of the trees, it is
not desecration ; it would be their wish in the matter, a resting place for
the living and for the dead, and the Park Board has performed a com-
munity service.
The Clark County Fair Grounds is a forty-nine acre tract also open
to the public as a breathing spot ; the people walk and drive as they like,
and it is of easy access. The old water works property at Lagonda is a
forty-acre tract used by people in that locality as a playground, and under
the Kessler plan it is included in the system of Springfield parks. In 1907
George Kessler, who is a landscape engineer, was brought to Springfield
and he suggested some possibilities unnoticed by citizens. He planned
to beautify the whole course of Buck Creek from the city water works to
Mad River — at least from city's edge to city's edge — and he also sug-
gested certain street improvements that require time; city planning
demands attention. The City Planning Commission is separate from the
park board which pays its bills from taxation, but it may work out ideas
of the commission, however, the board and planning commission do not
always recognize the same possibilities.
Along with the abandoned cemeteries the standpipe square has been
taken care of by the park board, and bordering Buck or Lagonda Creek
is Cliff Park, Wittenberg Campus, Ferncliff Cemetery and Snyder Park,
and Aborfelda, which means beautiful field, is only separated by a mile
from this chain of nature parks — the campus and cemetery controlled by
other agencies — and along the railroad tracks in the heart of Springfield
is a park, restful to the eye, and a place to while away an hour. When
the park board improves the boulevard that may in time supplant the
race now supplying local industrial water power, it will have to acquire
some acreage from Ferncliff Cemetery, or improve land not controlled
by it as in the case of the abandoned cemeteries ; with a cement bottom
through Buck Creek, this may become an automobile thoroughfare of
great beauty.
The grade leading to Wittenberg bridge obstructs the view along
Buck Creek, but a driveway under the bridge connects Cliff Park with
the acreage along the stream now owned by the city connecting it with
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Entrance to Wittenberg
View of Wittenberg Campus
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404 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Snyder Park, except for the holdings of the Cemetery Association. The
abandonment of Wittenberg bridge and the removal of the grade would
be one generation undoing the work of another, but a roadway tunneled
through the grade and away from the edge of the stream is among the
future possibilities. This bridge was secured as a result of continued
effort, and it is a fixture in Springfield. While Snyder Park is a bequest,
Cliff Park was acquired by purchase, although there was a time when it
was proffered to the city.
While serving as a member of the City Council in the old form of
government in Springfield, it was George W. Billow who suggested the
possibility of developing the waste land along Buck Creek, and when the
Frey quarry was abandoned George H. Frey who had no further use for
the hole in the ground from which building stone had been obtained for
many years thought to rid himself of an incumbrance, but at that time
the council did not recognize its opportunity. It would have been a
bequest, although it was a purchase finally. When the Freys operated
the quarry, there were shacks in the low ground occupied by the work-
men. When they were blasting, pedestrians and nearby residents were
warned of the danger, the debris would be thrown for some distance and
sometimes windows were broken by the explosion. At one time the bank
now traversed by Ferncliff Place extended to the edge of the stream, and
it was blasting that rendered Cliff Park a possibility.
The promontory still standing well west in Cliff Park may yet be
utilized as a band stand. It is solid rock with but little earth covering it,
although trees and shrubs grow out of it. With but little effort the ledges
may be converted into stairways, and a shelter may be placed over it.
There were lime kilns in the quarry, the shale being burned that was
found in stratas in the building stone, and it seems that nature takes
care of its own needs. When there was building stone available, and
before the days of the universal use of cement, man was busy preparing
this breathing spot in the heart of Springfield. There is the same out-
cropping of limestone from Cliff Park through Wittenberg and Ferncliff
to Snyder Park — rugged scenery all the distance — and in acquiring it
condemnation proceedings were necessary, the city paying full price for
much of the property, and the chain is unbroken except for about four
acres included in Ferncliff.
As special attorney to assist the city part extension work, George S.
Dial, as assistant to City Solicitor Howard McGregor, stated that $35,000
had been expended acquiring the forty acres connecting Cliff and Snyder
parks, but only an approximation was made of how much was paid for
the Cliff property. When Isaac Ward opened the limestone quarry it
was in front of his home — now the I. Ward Frey place on Fountain
Avenue — but in order to keep his lawn, which is underlaid with limestone,
intact, he soon crossed Market Street, now Fountain Avenue, with the
quarry developments. On August 22, 1839, Isaac Ward acquired 192
acres, known as the John Compton farm, paying $8,000 for it. The dif-
ferent Frey additions to Springfield have been carved out of the Ward
farm, and the story is told that Isaac Ward had one daughter, Jane
Quigley Ward, and by inheritance this property became hers after she
had become the wife of George H. Frey. In 1839, it became the Ward
property and in 1863 it became the Frey property, and I. Ward Frey,
who now owns it, was born there.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 405
Because this property is in the heart of Springfield its history is of
interest in connection with the Cliff Park story. At one time G. H. Frey
offered the tract lying west of Fountain Avenue and north of College
Avenue to Wittenberg with a $12,000 consideration, but the college had
no immediate funds and did not avail itself of the opportunity. It later
paid half that amount for an outlet to Woodlawn Avenue, and the prop-
erty included in that offer is now covered with beautiful homes. When
the quarry property was offered to the city it was a personal matter, but
when it was acquired it was an estate and the heirs sold it to the city.
While it was once the policy of the city fathers to keep down taxes, they
sometimes paid more in the end than if they had availed themselves of
opportunities. Progress is never made while conservatism controls the
situation, although following reckless expenditures is the final day of
settlement.
While the Springfield Park System is a constant expense, it is a
source of pleasure. The payroll is met by endowment and taxation, and
the chain of parks is a splendid adjunct to Springfield, the old and the
young enjoying outings there.
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CHAPTER XLIV
REAL ESTATE— SOME HOMES IN CLARK COUNTY
In a Bible story of Creation is the line: "And the earth was with-
out form and void," and that was the condition encountered by John
Paul, David Lowry, Jonathan Donnel — by all the pioneers on Mad River
— and by James Demint in Springfield. When the earth brought forth
grass speculation began, and today the freeholder and householder make
up the sum total in Springfield and throughout the county.
The settlers had their choice, but when civilization advanced they
would not have known what influenced them. It was all good land in Clark
County although its metes and bounds had not yet been established in
conformity with present day outlines. While agriculture is the oldest
occupation, trade in realty concerns many who never followed the plow,
and its advance has created fortunes. Under the Henry James theory of
single tax, the landowner would pay the running expenses of the Gov-
ernment, but those worst afflicted with accumulitis do not seem to fear
the consequences. Accumulitis is the most contagious of all Clark
County maladies, and when a man acquires one piece of property, he
immediately plans to own something adjoining it.
Springfield and Clark County citizens who are well-to-do acquired
their farms and city homes when they were cheaper, and they have bene-
fited from the advance in values. Sometimes they become land poor by
acquiring property from which there is no income, and when they die
they do not take their broad acres with them. When the law takes hold
of an estate, its division among heirs frequently results in smaller farms;
the larger farms with acreage sufficient to designate them as estates are
rapidly disappearing, and while many Clark County farms are still ope-
rated by the owners, smaller and better tilled farms result from breaking
up the large holdings.' Men who acquire estates have no continuing city,
nor do they hold perpetual leases and no matter how well they may enjoy
possession, the time comes when they must surrender their stewardship,
and like all other trades and professions, real estate has its rising and
falling markets.
The increase in population has much to do with the advance in land
values, and under the improved methods of agriculture even the waste
places are being made to blossom as the rose; what was once seemingly
worthless land has come on the market at fancy quotations. The up-to-
the-minute real estate dealer is always a booster, helping to build up the
•community. While little is said about the cemeteries, he always points
•out the schools and churches as well as city blocks and improved farm
lands. The intrinsic value of land is regulated by what it will produce,
and along with other accomplishments the successful realtor understands
soil chemistry. It takes attention to details to make both ends meet in
land as well as other investments. Some successful men never would
have accumulated had they not contracted debt on realty, and when one
farm is paid for they buy another.
While a few generations ago Clark County farmers bought land for
their sons and daughters, under prevailing prices it is easier to say:
"Go West, young man, and grow up with the country." While some
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 407
prefer high-priced land in Clark County where it has been tested, others
go into the far-country and would not. return under any consideration.
While but few Clark County farms have never changed hands only by
inheritance, there are some well known tracts that are held in the third
and fourth generations. While Jonathan Pierce once owned 3,500 acres
of land in Madison Township, there are still 500 acres that have been in
the family name since 1812, and "Mohawk Farm" in Moorefield has been
in the Clark family three generations, notwithstanding the ultimatum
that fortunes run out in the third generation — that it is only three gen-
erations from "shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves."
Of the 15,190 homes in Springfield, according to the figures of the
Ohio Building Association League, 6,795 are owned by their occupants
while 8,392 are rented, although "for rent" signs are growing more
numerous, housing costs having reached its peak and lower rentals
being promised in future. While 6,798 homes are owned by their occu-
pants, at least half of them are mortgaged, some citizens thinking it
easier to pay interest than rent. When debt represents useful expendi-
ture it becomes an investment, and in time title is acquired to property.
The 1920 census report indicated that more than half of the 24,351,676
families in the United States were living in rented houses, showing the
need of men of vision to advise them.
It is related of Ross Mitchell, who left an estate in Clark County, that
he bought his first property with money borrowed on a life insurance
policy ; when he came into the employ of B. H. Warder, the founder of
the Warder fortune in Springfield, Mr. Warder recommended to him
such an obligation. When one debt was liquidated he contracted another,
and when he died he possessed eighteen farmsteads and much valuable
Springfield property. He acquired the property while it was cheap, and
his posterity is benefited from it. Through good investments he acquired
a competency. He was a connoisseur in many lines, and had collected
an excellent private library.
Architecture in Clark County
While the primitive American dwelling was built of logs, and the log
house predominated for some years in Springfield, it is related that in
1807 Samuel Simonton erected the first frame house in town, and one
account says that William Ross built the first brick house on the south-
east corner of South and Market streets in 1814 — seven years later — but
it seems to be an open question. It was known then as Murdock's Cor-
ner. Mr. Ross was a partner with David Lowry in shipping pork to the
New Orleans market, but Dr. John Ludlow credits the first brick house
in Springfield to John Ambler. In 1815 Ambler built a two-story brick
house at the northeast corner of Market and Main streets, the site of the
Lagonda Bank. It was at once a dwelling, a tavern and a store and a
few years later when Mr. Ambler was county treasurer, before there was
a courthouse in Clark County, his office was in it. In 1869 the building
was taken down and there is no definite record of the Ross house.
When two Springfield real estate men were discussing the lack of
business activity, one quoted: "You can lead a horse to water but you
can't make him drink," saying many were investigating but none were
investing. They were waiting for the drop that seemed inevitable, citing
the examples of men who had bought farms at inflated values, assuming
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408 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
mortgage indebtedness, and who were paying for them with lower prices
for their products, and prices were being held up in an effort to protect
them; the time to buy is on the decline of the market. It is related by
Albert Reeder, in his booklet published in 1910, that the real estate now
occupied by the Springfield Arcade was once offered in exchange for a
cow, and another offer was made of the same plot" to cancel a small debt,
but both offers were declined, and it is agreed that foresight is sometimes
a minus quantity.
Realtors' Convention
When the Ohio Realtors convened in Springfield, October 12, 1921,
they were enthusiastic about local business conditions. The president of
the association, who hailed from Yourigstown, described the live real
estate dealer as a positive asset in the community; when he has the
requisite vision to insure his own success, the community benefits from it.
The realtors assembled were regarded as "the livest wires" in the state,
and President O. E. Hawk, in leaving, commented thus: "In paved
streets, public utilities, character and quality of stores, lighting system,
police and fire protection and other things which go to make a city a
desirable place in which to live, Springfield compares favorably to any
300,000 city. We were royally entertained, and I am sure that every dele-
gate was made to feel at home by the Springfield realtors, who left nothing
undone to make the convention a success." While Paul E. Nollen had
served as chairman of the Springfield Realtors leading up to the conven-
tion, A. A. Helmuth was chosen president, and it was decided that men
in other lines of business would be asked to become associate members,
boosting Springfield along with the realtors. Mr. Nollen was given a
silver pitcher in recognition of his activities in making a success of the
convention.
As the cabin was followed by the frame house, and later the brick
house had its day and the stucco was a happy way of remodeling all of
the others, the builders' art makes beautiful homes a possibility. While
there are some very old houses in Springfield, in the better residence sec-
tions they have been replaced with modern mansions. In Enon there are
many attractive old-time homes that are still in an excellent state of preser-
vation— perhaps more quaint houses in Enon for its population than in
any other Clark County town. There are houses in Enon built low to
the ground, and standing flush with the pavement that hark back to other
days, and the casual visitor is impressed with them. When making the
rounds of Clark County towns, no other town shows that marked archi-
tecture of other years like Enon.
There are old-time rural homes that have served their day and gen-
eration, and yet with Clark County families remaining on their farm-
steads those old homes are not abandoned — and their quaint architecture
renders them most attractive. Some one writes: "The rural fireside —
the furnace-heated home — notwithstanding some of the political spell-
binders seeking the vote of the factory men, is still the hope of the coun-
try." There are many rural homes perched high on natural building sites
where drainage is not a problem; the dooryards and barnlots are dry
because of natural conditions. While the pioneers lacked vision when
clearing their farms, and only a few left any of the original forest to
shade their dwellings, there is a civic spirit manifest today, and people
are inclined to beautify their surroundings both in town and in the country.
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The Pennsylvania plan of building a good barn and allowing it to help
pay for a better house has spread to Clark County; with a good barn,
farm products are cared for better and a saving effected, while the house
is more in the luxury class. When motherhood was more popular and
there were larger rural families the larger house was provided about the
time they were through with it. In 1826 James Todd built a brick house
in Greene Township that is not much altered; it was built when the
country was thinly settled and was considered a mansion. In the days
before community welfare had become an organized charity, it was almost
always the home of some one who could lay claim to no other home. It
was literally a refuge for the lame, the halt and the blind, and in this way
the family was fortunate — here the children were born and lived until
they reached maturity, and went out from choice into their own home —
a privilege not often vouchsafed to families today. Since walls have
ears, there is a wealth of family history in those old rooms. In the Todd
family genealogy there is a description of this house.
Since 1917 there has been a different ruling with regard to the sale
of delinquent tax title land in Ohio, and in Clark County the result is
beneficial. When tax titles were sold as soon as the property was listed
as delinquent, the land sharks were attracted to the sale, but under pres-
ent conditions the delinquent is given four years in which to redeem his
property — save himself. The changed law benefits struggling land
owners, land certified in 1918 not being available to land sharks until
1922, and Auditor W. C. 'Mills notified the delinquents of their oppor-
tunity until finally only about one dozen properties were open to shark
investors ; it was the first opportunity of observing the effect of the law.
The ninety-nine year lease is now incorporated into Springfield real
estate history. The Springfield Building and Loan Association, which
owns part of the realty on which its building stands, obtained the first
ninety-nine year lease on the other side, the owners not caring to dispose
of it. The Bancroft Hotel improvements were made under provisions of
the second ninety-nine year lease operative in Clark County. In speak-
ing of the growing popularity of this system of leasing, H. S. Kissell said
that a lease secured in 1921 would expire in 2020, and such leases require
careful planning in order not to complicate affairs; they must provide
against changed money values within the century; to provide against
changes in currency, it is incorporated into the lease that the money of
the standard weight and fineness fixed by the United States mints at the
time the lease is drawn, and it requires prophetic vision to safeguard an
estate for so long a period. Such a lease provides an annuity, and relieves
the owner of the oversight of such property. There are now a number of
such leases in Springfield.
Some Unusual Homes
While the family planning a new domicile once consulted the car-
penter, and he constructed the house, the modern house requires the
careful supervision of an architect — it is more complicated than the house
once built by the carpenter; it requires the blueprints and relief maps,
and the carpenter is not usually a draftsman. While the building code
controls the style of building, and the modern house in the downtown
section must be fireproof in order to reduce the rate of insurance, there
is a great deal of latitude — both in material and in architecture. All
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four-story business houses must be fireproof, and while Springfield has
frame buildings in its residence districts, it has been singularly free from
conflagration.
In speaking of native materials, Robert C. Gotwald said that the
glacial region afforded sand, gravel and limestone. While Springfield is
underlaid with limestone which used to be regarded as building stone,
this is the age of concrete and crushed stone used in cement still provides
a market for the product of the quarries along Mad River. While
Springfield has few brick residences, stucco is a compromise and is com-
ing into popularity as a finish ; while not entirely fireproof it offers some
advantages over the frame house. There are not many bungalows —
only properties built to sell — that style of building has never been a craze
in Springfield. The bungalow is principally roof and foundation, and
Springfield is not a bungalow town.
Soldiers Monument, and Some Springfield Homes
While Springfield is a city of commodious residences, there are some
outstanding homes and they are in different localities. When the P. P.
Mast home on West High Street was built in the '80s, he thought to
establish a trend in that direction for the better home in Springfield;
while the house cost $225,000, nothing else in its class was built in that
locality. The Mast home was built in the style of the period when house
building was changing from the plans submitted by the carpenter to those
drawn by an architect. Labor was employed by the day, and there is
some expensive built-in-furniture, the sideboard in the dining room being
spoken of as unusual for the period. Mr. Mast was his own building
superintendent. When the house went on the market, it was bought for
$15,000 by the Knights of Pythias and is now utilized as a home for aged
Pythians. It is separate from the K. of P. Children's State Institution,
although controlled by the same lodge. Mr. Mast even built a street
railway past his home, but he was unable to attract expensive residences
to that part of town.
The B. H. Warder home, built in the early 70s — the high priced
reconstruction period following the Civil war — was not so much an effort
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 411
to attract expensive homes Lagonda way, as that he might live near his
own business interests. While it is not in the strictly fine residential sec-
tion, it always has been an outstanding residence property. The Warders
were connoisseurs and this home was a social mecca. It is commodious
still although no longer a Warder possession. In the *90s came the
A. S. Bushnell home of Romanesque architecture, and with its spacious
grounds and wall surrounding it, the picture lingers. While the property
represented an expenditure of $350,000, the time came when it went on
the market for the last five figures in its initial cost — a sacrifice to an
estate, but a benediction to the community.
In 1900, the end of the century period, carqe the J. S. Crowell home
— Colonial or Georgian— of English type, and while built as a cost of
$200,000, the time came when it went to another and at about one-fourth
the original investment. In 1920 came the J. L. Bushnell home of Italian
Villa architecture, and built at an expenditure of $400,000, and occupied
by the builder — an attractive spot — and all over Springfield and in some
of the other Clark County towns, are beautiful and expensive homes.
The Dutch Colonial type of architecture is in favor, and in Ridgewood
some oversight of the class of building holds the residence district to
distinctive architecture. The extremes are seen on East High Street —
Skibo Castle and Italian Villa. The modern house must have the mirror
and powder puff accessories in the kitchen, or the servant girl difficulty
becomes a problem, and society has enough perplexities. It is an old
proverb: "Know thyself," and the modern version includes a knowl-
edge of the habitation.
While there are wide streets and commodious homes in South Charles-
ton and New Carlisle, they do not reflect definite periods. There are
some outstanding rural homes as Whitehall and White Oaks, and innu-
merable comfortable farm homes as there are spacious city residences that
are not departures from custom. While the city has its sewer system,
the drainage is a consideration at the rural homestead. While the ideal
rural condition is reflected in the lines:
"A nice little farm well tilled,
A nice little house well filled,
And a nice little wife well-willed,"
Whitehall, the home of E. S. Kelly, is described as the old-time com-
modious mansion modernized, and a replica of the farm shows it to be
unusual in its appointments. While Whitehall proper is in Greene County,
the estate extends across the Greene-Clark County line, and the business
interests of its owner are in Springfield. While Whitehall was built in
the '50s, it was built for the future.
White Oaks, in Bethel Township, the home af W. N. Scarff, is dis-
tinctive as a farmhouse, and it is not often duplicated anywhere in its
style of architecture. At White Oaks every room is in front, the house
elongated and the view of the road is unobstructed from the kitchen in
one end to the music room in the other, the dining room, living rooms
and parlor in their order, with chambers above, and isolation is not a
feature — the house is not built four-square, with some of the rooms cut
off from the changing world. There is a spacious front porch, and the
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412 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
rear, with western exposure and sleeping porch arrangement, is protected
its entire length with a porch, the approaches bringing the indoor and
out-of-door advantages together — an ideal summer living condition. The
shade at White Oaks renders the lawn inviting, and it is an outstanding
country house.
While the modern apartment building has its distinctive appeal with
no snow to shovel, no furnace to tend and nothing to do in connection
with the housing problem but to mail the monthly remittance, Springfield
families have adhered to the family residence idea until on Washington's
Birthday, 1922, The Southern Apartment Building on South Limestone
Street was opened for ipspection. It is the only fireproof apartment,
and is billed: "The latest and greatest step in Springfield's progress."
It provides for twenty-four families, claiming that a three-room apart-
ment in The Southern is equal in point of convenience to the average
five and six-room house; the kitchenettes are provided with cooking
range, fireless cooker, refrigerator and built-in cabinets, but colony life
leads away from the American idea of the separate family home, and old-
fashioned hospitality is lost sight of when the family no longer has its
separate and distinctive home environment, the restaurant in the building
relieving the housewife from domestic drudgery.
Some one writing on architecture says : "The dweller in an apartment
imagines there is an advantage in a house, and to satisfy the craving for
two stories the builders have made duplex apartments," and in Spring-
field some of the old-fashioned commodious homes have been made duplex
in order to accommodate tenants. While bungalows are not popular in
Springfield, the house-dweller desiring simplification has sometimes
resorted to the bungalow rather than the duplex or apartment. The
woman who keeps house on two floors knows she consumes considerable
time and strength on stairways, and while six rooms may be had with
less expense three rooms down and three rooms up, the modern house-
wife favors more roof and basement foundation thus eliminating
stairways.
Whatever the house, it should harmonize with its surroundings and
those who build houses should understand landscape gardening. The
modern idea is to study inside arrangement leaving outside appearance as
a secondary consideration as applied specially to windows. The furni-
ture was once relegated to the corner, but now the bed is placed between
windows and the sleeper has the out-of-door pure air at all times. While
the bathtub was once a luxury, it is now regarded as a necessity, and
furnace heat, gas or electric light, telephones, the automobile — the modern
house contemplates all of them — and while the wealthy leisure class intro-
duce such things in time they are commonplace, and families in ordinary
circumstances enjoy all of the advantages. When commodities become
common, they are a benefit to society and advance civilization.
In writing on the subject, Mrs. Lida Keck Wiggins of Springfield
says: "Perhaps nothing about the modern steam-heated or furnace-
heated house is more deplorable than the lack of an open fireplace.
Many of the finer houses have chimneys and fireplaces, and order fire-
wood each autumn, the owners being able to provide themselves with this
luxury. * * * Nothing is more soul-inspiring and heart-warming
than a fire of backlogs piled high, and burning merrily. A wood fire is
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414 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
one of the things the majority of mankind has lost out of the real com-
forts; what wonderful dreams have arisen from the contemplation of
the open, roaring fireplace. To sit before such a blaze not only produces
inspiration and beautiful dreams, but it is conducive to a greater friendli-
ness among those who form the circle about it. * * * The fire-place
presupposes comradeship — community spirit, and 'the cares that infest
the way' melt in the warmth of the open fire. * * * The doings of
the day, its pleasures, its successes, its sorrows and even its defeats are
more easily talked over in such a genial half circle of understanding than
in a bleak room without a spark of living fire in evidence. * * * The
open fire! The open road! The open heart!" but why not add:
"Backward, turn backward, O Time in your flight, and make me a child
again."
While some have returned to the customs and comforts of the past,
and the open fire and the candlestick are again in favor, a recent writer
exclaimed: "Our apartments and homes are snug, upholdstered and as
childless as possible. * * * We lounge in overstuffed automobiles
instead of using our God-given legs ; we prefer a pale-pink drapery-hung
feather-bed existence, and we scorn the activities in which the house
apron and the cotton shirt are donned; we keep the Victrola playing
sweet or violent music in order to escape thinking about realities. * * *
Our craving for the comfortable, upholstered life is causing the eugenists
to sound the alarm ; they fear for the future of America," and yet Spring-
field thinks of itself as a conservative, progressive American city. So
much for the home life of the community.
In the way of its community and public buildings, Springfield's archi-
tecture is in keeping with the advance apparent in the study of its private
homes. While the Lutherans outnumber other denominations, as yet
they have no expensive church edifices. Both the Lutherans and Presby-
terians are planning modern downtown church edifices with something
of the institutional ideas incorporated as well as utility; they are to be
community centers with athletic and sport advantages. The Catholic
churches display a distinctive type of architecture, inclining to the per-
pendicular Gothic.
The High Street M. E. Church is of rural English type with a
particularly fine setting, and it has been heralded abroad in postcards.
It is said the Central M. E. is the most expensive church in Springfield.
It is modern Gothic with the turret emphasized, and the church marked
by a spire today belongs to the past in the history of architecture. It
used to be said that spires pointed heavenward, but more detail is now
worked out in windows and built-in organs. The one-room church
auditorium is replaced by the modern building with facilities for accom-
modating all phases in community development, and the sixty Springfield
churches, as the rural and smaller town edifices, are the center of ener-
getic groups of community workers.
The Springfield City Hall, built in the '90s, is the Romanesque type
of public building, and in its day it was a creditable structure. The
West County Office Buildigg is Romanesque, and the remodeled court-
house shows a changed style of architecture, and speaking of the rooms
occupied by the Clark County Historical Society, some one said that if
Dr. B. F. Prince lived long enough a modern art building would grace
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 415
that corner, while the soldier monument will always teach its lesson of
patriotism on the other quarter-square — the military square designed by
James Demint as the business center of Springfield.
Among fireproof office builders are the Bushnell, M. & M., Mitchell,
and the two of more modern construction — Arcue and Fairbanks — and
the Boston and Kauffman stores occupy modern fireproof structures.
The Springfield High School, patterned after the Congressional Library,
is a fireproof structure, and owing to the "Million Dollar Bond Issue of
1921," Warder Park, Northern Heights and the Highland schools are
promised fireproof 'buildings. The State Benevolent Homes located in
Springfield are architectural models, the Knights of Pythias Children's
Home and the I. O. O. F. Home, each costing $500,000, while the Masonic
Home was built at an exepnse of $1,000,000, and thus Springfield is
highly favored ; its institutional life is an asset to the community.
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CHAPTER XLV
MAD RIVER— CLARK COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETIES
While it did not leave extensive record of its activities, it is known
that in 1870 an organization was effected calling itself The Mad River
Valley Pioneer and Historical Association, and its president, the Rev.
A. H. Bassett, said: "To rescue from oblivion interesting facts and
important information would seem a duty which we owe to those who
come after us. The present is indebted to the past, and so the present
should provide for the future. Today has the benefit of yesterday's
observations and experiences; so should today preserve and carry for-
ward its accumulated information for the benefit of tomorrow," and
while there is record of but one meeting after the organization of the
society, it was worth while because in January, 1871, Dr. John Ludlow
read a paper: "The Early Settlement of Springfield," which by many
is regarded as a classic — a comprehensive resume of the past at that
time in Clark County history.
However, while under the spell of the Mad River Valley Pioneer and
Historical Association, the Hon. Thomas F. McGraw prepared a review
of the Shawnee Indian overthrow at the battle of Piqua Village which
was in readiness ten years later when the Clark County Veteran Memo-
rial Association sponsored the centennial and sham battle there. The
anniversary was planned by the following named committee: Captain
Alden P. Steele, Col. Howard D. John, Andrew Watt, D. C. Ballentine
and William H. Grant, who were empowered to appoint sub-committees,
and the McGrew paper was the feature of the anniversary meeting,
August 8, 1880, and held at the site of the battle between Gen. George
Rogers Clark and the Shawnee Indians.
When appearing before the Mad River Valley Pioneer and Historical
Association in January, 1871, just half a century before this summary in
1921, Doctor Ludlow said: "While generations follow generations like
the waves of the sea follow each other, the great business of life still
goes on, and the age in which we are now living is truly a progressive
one. It would seem that the Lord is leading us as his chosen people.
Refinement and civilization are rapidly advancing, and the comforts of
life are multiplying to a wonderful degree. It now seems that the genius
of the American people has reached its consummation.
"We see the toilsome sickle and scythe laid aside and the harvest
being gathered like pastime. The toil and the fatigue we used to endure
in working the transformation have been turned into the business of
pleasure and recreation. We fly in gilded palaces in every direction
with the swiftness of the flight of birds. We are reclining and sleeping
on cushioned seats and spring beds. Steam propels our ships on the
ocean and it has brought the distant nations of the earth to our doors.
The heathen nations are learning to imitate the progress of our civiliza-
tion. We have added the use of the wonderful telegraph, and time and
space are annihilated. We talk with people beyond the seas with tongues
of lightning with the same ease as we speak to them face to face. The
useful and curious art of photography has been invented in our day,
wherein the shadow of substance is made to leave its likeness as types
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 417
upon paper," and with that facile pen wielded in the beginning of so
many things, what would such a man have written with radio demon-
strations about him?
The Mad River Valley Pioneer and Historical Association accom-
plished two things — inspired the Ludlow and McGrew papers, thus taking
care of the historical development leading to the Clark County Centen-
nial, in 1880, and it no doubt fostered the Fourth of July demonstration
in Springfield in 1876, in connection with the first American Centennial
celebration in Philadelphia. However, the community seems to have
husbanded its vital forces to be expended in connection with the centen-
nial observance of its own beginning in history. Another centennial
was drawing near, and in 1897 the Clark County Historical Society was
organized and in readiness for the anniversary of the settlement of
Springfield, which celebration it fostered and carried through success-
fully, enlisting the whole community in it.
There was a Grand Army of the Republic Art Loan and Midwinter
Fair in Springfield, opening December 2, 1895, and closing the first of
January, 1896, and penciled on the margin of a program is the state-
ment: "The organization of the Clark County Historical Society grew
out of this fair," signed R. — perhaps W. H. Rayner. Almost two years
later a folder was issued, dated Springfield, December 15, 1897, bearing
the following statement : "The Clark County Historical Society has for
its object the collection and preservation of information relative to the
history of Clark County and the State of Ohio, and accumulating objects,
relics and art collections of historic value, with such books, papers and
documents of information as may relate thereto," and in its existence
of more than twenty years the Society has collected relics rather than
manuscripts.
For a time the Clark County Historical Society held quarterly meet-
ings, and when interest dwindled it changed to the annual meeting basis
and still a few of the faithful assemble to perpetuate the traditions and
the facts in local history. On December 6, 1921, W. W. Keifer and
Henry L. Schaeffer both addressed the meeting and neither left on file
any manuscript containing the address. Sometimes papers are read and
withdrawn, the writers promising to do further work and file them with
the Society. However, some papers are available for reference and his-
torical newspaper clippings are oh file there. Almost from the begin-
ning the society has occupied rooms in the east county building where
it has a valuable collection of relics, a clause in its constitution reading:
"In order to concentrate and preserve relics of other days many of which
are scattered throughout the county, it is deemed proper to provide a
suitable room or rooms with proper care for the relics of historic value
and open to the general public," and the rooms are kept open from
9 o'clock in the morning until 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
For a time the curio collection was housed in an unoccupied room
on the second floor of the Clark County Courthouse but it rapidly out-
grew the space allotted and the entire east county building was set apart
for it. Mitchell Post G. A. R. with headquarters in Memorial Hall was
active in assembling the relics now in custody of the Historical Society,
the original relics committee being : Ira W. Wallace, O. N. Bartholomew
and Silas Crowell. Dr. B. F. Prince was the first president and has
served continuously. Silas Crowell was the first secretary and T. J.
Caspar was the first treasurer. In its recent working organization it
Vol. 1—27
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418 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
has been Doctor Prince as president; George W. Winger, treasurer,
and W. H. Rayner has been more than secretary. He has been curator,
spending his time from 9 :00 till 4 :00 in the rooms and explaining curios
to the many visitors. When his health forced him to remain away, many
persons called who were unable to see the collection until a substitute
in the person of E. E. Shuirr was secured, who was very familiar with
it. Mr. Rayner was active in adding to the collection, always soliciting
visitors to bring things. In the event of the dissolution of the Historical
Society, some of the relics would revert t9 the donors, but an effort would
be made to house all of them in some public place as the collection has a
distinctive educational value — it connects the present with the past in
Clark County.
"Old Curiosity Shop" describes the museum collection accumulated
in the rooms of the Society, and articles now treasured as relics were
once utility things and necessary in every household. There are candle-
sticks, lamps and lanterns; there are lamps for grease or lard oil — tin
lamps ordered from the tinner and no longer on the market, and the
tin lanterns with punctures for the light — a mere flicker, but when coal
oil was first on the market the price was prohibitive — $1.40 a gallon —
and thus candle molds, spinning wheels, innumerabl articles in the col-
lection reflect methods of living in the log cabin days of Clark County
history. Many things treasured in the rodms of the historical society
were brought across the Alleghenies when the settlers were coming into
the Old Northwest. While the society does not encourage temporary
loans — does not care to assume responsibility for the property of others —
it has many things of intrinsic value from the homesteads of the pio-
neers— the Spinning piano, the first one in Springfield being in the col-
lection. The membership dues are $1 a year and there are incidental
expenses.
The Clark County Historical Society cooperates with the Ohio Arch-
aeological and Historical Society and more attention has been given to
the museum than history. However, when Mr. Rayner has shown a
visitor the collection, he knows its history. The society holds title to
a quarter of an acre of land upon which it is planned to construct a
Clark-Tecumseh monument, the bequest of Leander J. M. Baker, a son
of F. M. Baker, who, by marriage with a daughter of Daniel Hertzler,
came into the ownership of the battlefield. The tract is without def-
inite boundary, occupying a knoll west of the Hertzler mansion now
called Fort Tecumseh because of its military occupation by Springfield
companies of the Ohio National Guard. This knoll overlooks the Valley
pike, railroad and traction lines. To the gift of Mr. Baker W. W.
Keifer, who owns the farm, has donated a half acre to make the approach
and the landscape about it. This tract was the peaceful abode of a
people gone from the land of their fathers never to return, and when
a monument is erected it will show to the world what the wilderness
patriots did for humanity.
Springfield Centennial
Few communities have more centennial occasions than have been
vouchsafed to Springfield and Clark County, the community joining
in the celebration of the first American centennial July 4, 1876, con-
ducting a Clark County centennial four years later and in 1901 the cen-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 419
tennial of the organization of Springfield was observed with a program
continuing one entire week, the historical society cooperating with the
entire community. Since then two centennial dates have been passed
but without demonstration, the admission and the name of the county,
Christmastide, 1917, and the establishment of local government a week
later, January 1, 1918, making five centenary milestones along the high-
way of civic progress.
In 1900 action was taken in the Clark County Historical Society, and
its president, Doctor Prince, conferred with Mayor C. J. Bowlus, Joseph
Spangenberger, president of the Springfield City Council ; John W. Burk,
president of the Board of Trade, and W. H. Schaus, president of the
Commercial Club, and March 13, 1900, the citizens met in the Council
Chamber and organized, naming Judge F. M. Hagan, Doctor Prince,
Dr. John H. Rodgers, Capt. E. L. Buchwalter, John Foos, W. H. Schaus
and D. Q. Fox as a general centennial committee. The committee then
organized, naming Judge Hagan as its president, Doctor Prince, secretary,
and Mr. Fox, treasurer. The deliberations of the committee resulted in
a decision to recognize all lines of business and the professions, as : City
government, the bar, the medical profession, religious organizations, the
press, education, commercial interests, manufactures, labor organizations,
agriculture, fraternal organizations, the military and women's work and
organizations, with competent committees in charge of the different
interests.
On December 3, 1900, all subcommittees were called to meet with the
general centennial committee, when the special duties of each committee
were outlined, and the centennial program was discussed, and at an
adjourned meeting, December 18, the committees reported progress; a
number of people were considering the celebration, desirous of making it
worthy of the city. While the survey of Springfield was made in March,
the celebration was planned for the first week in September, but the
conflict .with Labor Day caused an earlier date to be chosen, the program
beginning August 4 with the Religious Day features. The Clark County
Fair Ground was the place of the celebration, and with Governor A. S.
Bushnell at the head of a finance committee, and I. Ward Frey named as
director, the whole celebration was a success. An interesting feature
of the celebration was the building of a log cabin as a replica of the
Demint cabin, the' first human habitation in Springfield. While the com-
munity built the cabin, its custody was given to Lagonda Chapter D. A. R.,
who furnished it in quaint and ancient fashion, and Skibo Castle, now
the property of C. F. Jackson, is the reconstructed cabin built in the fair
grounds at the time of the Springfield centennial.
The colored woman living in Skibo Castle has many visitors, who are
influenced by curiosity in their investigation, and many have erroneous
ideas concerning it. While it is not in conformity with the style of archi-
tecture on East High Street, Skibo Castle stands as a reminder of other
days in Clark County history. This cabin was removed from 'the fair
grounds by Gustave and William Foos, who then owned High Street
property, and it was a matter of sentiment. While Mr. Jackson does
not regard it is a good investment because it frequently needs repair,
community sentiment seems to be in favor of it — a page from the history
of the past, and the present owner will either discard it or spend a little
money improving it.
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420 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
In the book, "Centennial of Springfield," is a resume of the activities
centering at the cabin at the time of the celebration, written by Miss
Mary Cassilly, who was then historian of Lagonda Chapter D. A. R.,
and she mentions the cradle brought to the cabin, in which Mrs. A. S.
Bushnell, who organized the chapter, had been rocked, saying many
mothers laid their babies in it because of its history. "The fireplace with
the cooking utensils of a century ago was complete in every detail, in fact,
nothing was omitted in the cabin, even strings of dried apples, peppers
and herbs were hanging on the rafters, and there were red wolf skins on
the walls. The cabin looked comfortable and home-like, and in the
evening, when the candles were lighted, it was very quaint and attractive."
On Military Day, when more than 10,000 people were in attendance, a
present, past and a candidate for Ohio governor, Bushnell, Nash and
Kilbourne, visited the cabin, and Governor A. S. Bushnell, who was in the
past tense, said it was the first time such a thing had occurred in the his-
tory of the state. Mrs, James Kilbourne, regent of the Columbus Chapter
D. A. R., accompanied the party, and a reception was held for her in
the cabin, the local daughters wearing caps, kerchiefs and aprons.
The weather was favorable the week of the celebration, the exercises
were unhindered by storm or rain, and many people enjoyed the program.
There was a balance in the treasury when all obligations had been met,
and it was turned over to the Clark County Historical Society. The
project originated, with the Historical Society, and $202.89 was the
amount it received after the successful celebration ended, and surplus is
better than deficit in any enterprise. Springfield had its beginning before
Ohio was admitted as a state, and in 1903 there was a state- wide centen-
nial again, the program ending with Admission Day, February 9, 1903,
the activities centering in Chilhcothe.
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CHAPTER XLVI
FOREIGN BORN CITIZENS OF CLARK COUNTY
While the Clark County Historical Society has investigated many
phases of local development, as yet it has not given detailed attention to
its foreign population: If the present influx of outsiders to Ohio con-
tinues, said a local newspaper, it will not be many decades until native
sons will actually be in the minority. The last Saturdays in the months
of March, June, September and December of each year are fixed as the
days upon which final action may be had on petitions for naturalization.
According to the Interchurch Survey, the foregn-born population of
the United States is about 17,000,000 with 20,000,000 others of immediate
foreign extraction, and since the birth rate among the foreign-born is
higher than that of the native-born, about one-fourth of all the children
in the United States are of foreign parentage. There are about 1,500
foreign language publications, and that explains why foreigners do not
learn to speak English. Mrs. Lillian Russell Moore, once an American
stage beauty, was commissioned by the United States Government to
investigate conditions among possible emigrants before they come to
American, and she recommended more care on the part of the United
States in admitting them. Once the immigrants were from northern
Europe, but recently they are from southern and eastern Europe, and
instead of sending foreign missionaries there is a field in this country.
It has been discovered that about 5,000,000 foreigners in the United
States have refused to take out citizenship papers, and it is difficult to
understand why any one should want to live in this country who does not
want to become a citizen. While many immigrants want to become
Americans, few of them abandon their own language ; they live in groups
and converse among themselves in their native tongues. While many
Clark County citizens are only a few generations from the emigrant, per-
haps the first influx of new blood among the settlers was the Irish, but
they are so identified with community affairs that their alien birth is no
longer considered, although the local Irish population has been much
interested in the advance of Irish independence from England.
Jews in Springfield
When asked who was the first Jew, and when he came to Springfield,
Gen. J. Warren Keifer said : "The* Jews were here early, I want to
tell you ; they have been here pretty continually/' and then he had mental
concept of the first pne, although the name was elusive; it was Michael
Kauffman — an Irish name given to a Jew. However, further investiga-
tion showed that Michael Kauffman followed Israel Wolfson, although
Kauffman is remembered better. He was a clothier in Springfield, but
little is known about Wolfson. Jacob Wolff, born March 31, 1846, in
Germany, is the last of the original Jewish colony in Springfield. He
has been in Springfield since 1866, and is the only living charter member
of Temple Ohev Zedukah, organized in 1869 by Reformed Jews. Mr.
Wolff was once an Orthodox Jew, but long residence in this country has
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422 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
caused him to conform to American customs, to observe the spirit rather
than the letter of the law, and he worships with the Reformed Jews.
There are about 125 Jewish families in Springfield both Reformed
and Orthodox — about fifty-fifty, say representatives of both factions,
and conforming to the census report on average American families, they
number four and five persons to the household. Among early Jews in
Springfield were: Abram Aron, who came in 1853, perhaps not long
after the arrival of Wolfson and Kauffman, and soon after came M. D.
Levy, Louis Stern, Samuel Altschel, Sr., all of them Orthodox until after
a time they became more liberal and affiliated with the Reformed Jews.
While Ohev Zedukah congregation was organized in 1869, the temple
now occupied by it was built in 1917, and it is strictly modern. It has a
pipe organ, and excellent music is furnished by a mixed quartet of sing-
ers, the regular service being held Friday evening.
The Orthodox Jews in Springfield worship in Temple Chessel Shad
Ames, and each congregation maintains a local rabbi. Temple Ohev
Zedukah has Rabbi Simon Cohen, while Temple Chessel Shad Ames is
served by Rabbi Samuel Shapiro. While synagogue is the old-time
designation of the Jewish house of worship, Temple is now in common
usage. The Reformed Jews use the Union Prayer Book for Jewish
Worship, the Hebrew and English rituals being in parallel columns.
Through the social order B'nai B'rith the Ohev Zedukah congregation
keeps in touch with current questions, and in open meeting Rabbi Cohen
discussed the Ku Klux Klan.
While it is said that the Jews constitute two per cent of the entire
population of the United States, they are less than one per cent of the
population in Springfield. The Reformed Jews are best known to the
public, and through long years of residence they are Americanized ; they
conform to local customs. The Orthodox Jews are a later acquisition,
and they are still Oriental in their forms and ceremonies ; however, most
religions are from the Orient, this country only laying claim to Mormon-
ism, Dowieism and Christian Science. They require the kosher to super-
intend their diet, but since it is a matter of education as the Orthodox
Jews become Americanized they are less dogmatic, as in the instance of
Jacob Wolff, who changed his adherence* Most Springfield Jews are
naturalized citizens.
While "Rich as a Jew" is a common expression, and the Jews are
agreed that interest is a great invention, the Jews are not in control of
the finances of the world. While there are occasional outbreaks of anti-
Semitism, the merest propaganda, these attacks are not of religious
inspiration; they arise from the fallacy. of charging the Jew with an
ambition to rule the world. The Springfield Jews cooperate in all com-
munity movements; they were active in all war measures, and they
bought their share of Liberty bonds; they do not hold themselves aloof
from community requirements. The Jews take care of their own unfor-
tunates, contributing to the National Tuberculosis Hospital in Denver,
and to the Jewish Orphans' Home in Cleveland.
When the nation-wide campaign was announced to raise $14,000,000
for the relief of the starving Jews in Russia growing out of war condi-
tions, the Springfield quota was $11,000, and the Jews immediately set
about raising the amount among themselves. Springfield Jews celebrate
the different feast days and holidays, and they always are represented in
Jewish conventions. Their numbers are overestimated because they are
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 423
in business and come into direct contact with the public. There are some
octogenarian Jews in Springfield. The Jewish burial plot is Section G
in Ferncliff Cemetery, centrally located and kept in splendid condition.
Many Jews who die in other cities are brought back to Ferncliff.
It is estimated that ninety per cent of the Jews in the United States
live in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jer-
sey, Missouri, Connecticut, California, Maryland, Michigan and Indiana,
and they are watching developments in Palestine under British and Jew-
ish occupation, and in studying sacred history local Jews say that Jesus
was crucified by order of a Roman Governor — that crucifixion was
unknown among the Jews, and yet — well, the record before Pilate, who
was a Roman, is available to those who wish to know for themselves.
Springfield Jews are interested in Hebrew Union College which has
graduated 250 rabbis, and, under the leadership of Mrs. Simon Cohen,
the women of Temple Ohev Zedukah are raising funds for it.
Chinese Residents
The word citizen seldom applies to a Chinaman ; he is less inclined to
secure naturalization papers than other foreigners. When H. G. Marshall
opened a laundry in Springfield many years ago, people advised him
against it ; they said it would be a losing venture. At that time the Jews
and Chinese were the only foreigners in Springfield. There were forty-
three Chinese in town then, but recently they are fewer in numbers.
While the Japanese open restaurants, the Chinese adhere to laundries.
However, local Chinamen no longer use the old-time "Chinese Laundry"
hieroglyphics; they use pencil and paper, allowing patrons to write their
own names when leaving parcels.
Italians in Springfield
While no statistics are at hand, it seems that Anthony Papania was
the first Italian to locate in Springfield. He came in the '80s, according
to the "best recollections" of local Italians. Among the early families
are Papania, Rosselli and Riggio, and there are perhaps seventy-five
Italian families in Springfield. While Amato, Bosco and Longo are well
known Italian names, they are later acquisitions to the community. Many
are venders of fruit and confections, and while many of them speak Eng-
lish, let a little inquiry be made among them, as this interview, and they
immediately discuss the situation among themselves in Italian. The
Stroller writing for a newspaper told of Joseph Panania, who for twenty
years had been a shoe cobbler, sitting on the bench in one shop until he
used enough wooden pegs to make a tree, and enough metal tacks to
make a railroad iron; he had used miles of shoemaker's thread, and
broken hundreds of needles.
Upon a basis of 300 working days in one year, Papania had averaged
handling five pairs of shoes in a day, and in twenty years he repaired
30,000 pairs of shoes. In that time he had seen hundreds of patrons
come and go, and still people come to his shop who came there twenty
years ago. The little boy with copper-toed boots now brings in his
number ten shoes for repairs, and the little girl who brought her tiny
slipper was bringing a French heeled shoe, and thus not all the Italians
are fruit venders. While most Italian families affiliate with Catholic
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424 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
churches and schools, some have intermarried with Americans and have
educated their children in the public schools. Anthony Cerisi was the
first Italian in Springfield to volunteer in the World war, and the Italians
bought Liberty bonds along with other citizens. Springfield Italians are
musical, and Edward Papania sings in grand opera. He has had special
training in Italy.
Greeks in Springfield
A recent survey of the Greeks in Springfield developed the fact that
the first Greeks in the community were three Lagos brothers, but in
1905, when the Vlahos brothers arrived, they had gone from the com-
munity. There is now a "live wire" community of Greeks, and Jerome
Courlas, who is a leader among them, estimates their number at 250, with
very few Greek women among them. Through the Hellenic Union Club,
Mr. Courlas had accurate knowledge of most Greeks in Springfield.
Because they all belong to the Greek Orthodox Church — a form of
Catholicism — the Greeks mingle more or less with the Bulgarians, Rou-
manians, Servians, Prussians and Armenians, worshipping together in
Columbus and Dayton ; they have no church in Springfield. It is religious
rather than social recognition, and young Greeks begin the naturalization
process as soon as they are located in America.
Many Springfield Greeks have already acquired full citizenship. They
were the only group of foreigners who marched in the war chest parade
when Springfield Red Cross activities were claiming attention. Twenty-
seven Springfield Greeks entered the service in the World war. There
are fifty-seven Greek business establishments in Springfield, ranging
from shining stands to theater management, with confectionery and
restaurant enterprises leading among them. It has come to the time
when the Greeks feed the community. Greece is a small, but populous,
empire, and the ambitious Grecians find better advantages in the New
World. While they enter mercantile pursuits in their own country, the
Greeks in Springfield do not become clothiers or dry-goods merchants.
While Athens is a center of learning, many of the young Greeks secure
an English education at night school in Springfield.
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CHAPTER XLVII
THE HOSPITALS IN CLARK COUNTY
The hospital is a sort of an auxiliary to the medical doctor, and the
surgeon frequently makes of it a life-saving station. It was Florence
Nightingale, born May 12, 1820, who gave to the world the idea of
scientific nursing; she is. the mother of hospitals. The names of Florence
Nightingale and Clara Barton, the Red Cross army nurse, cannot be too
highly honored in any community. The popular understanding of the
word hospital is different from the dictionary definition. Webster says
it is a building appropriated for the reception of sick, infirm and helpless
paupers who are supported and nursed by charity, but that phase of life
is not emphasized in Clark County hospitals. While there are public
and private charities, the hospital is not necessarily a charity. It is a
place where those in need of medicine and nursing receive attention. The
Christian Science practitioner, the osteopath and chiropractic "doctors"
alike recognize the advantages of good nursing, and the hospital serves
an excellent purpose in the community.
While it costs money to have appendicitis, or to be a victim of the
surgeon's blade, nevertheless the hospital is the helping hand held out
to, for and by society. While enterprising citizens sometimes operate
hospitals on a basis of profit, the idea is an outgrowth of the Christian
religion, and under present working conditions both doctors of divinity
and doctors of medicine pay professional visits to Clark County hospitals,
and sometimes the lawyer is consulted there. While the true meaning
of the hospital — its primary mission — is first aid to the injured, excellent
nursing is available and sometimes the homes are unable to supply it.
Physicians recommend efficient nurses, and they get their training at the
hospital. It is only public spirited men who take of enterprises that do
not pay dividends, and the Springfield hospital is operated on a humani-
tarian basis, rather than as a profit-sharing institution; the trend of
popular thought on the subject of disease renders the hospital a necessity.
Although it is a homely adage: "An ounce of prevention is better
than a pound of cure," it is truthful and people are learning to anticipate
and prevent diseases — whether of the will, or of the flesh. There is a
growing appreciation of the hospital, and recognition of its value in the
community. The modern hospital building is X-shaped, giving outside
exposure to all of the rooms ; men and women now turn to the hospital
with confidence and gratitude because of the service it performs for
humanity. The foremost philanthropists in the community foster and
promote the hospitals.
The Springfield hospital story begins in 1886, with John H. Thomas,
who was a prominent manufacturer and a leading philanthropist. The
scheme advocated by Mr. Thomas appealed to Ross Mitchell, who wished
to do something of a community nature, and they collaborated in establish-
ing the Mitchell and Thomas Hospital. In 1887 Mr. Mitchell donated a site
on East Main Street known as the Chandler Robbins school property
valued at $14,000, there being the college building and residence, and the
Thomas Hospital was open for the reception and care of patients. It
affording increased hospital advantages. December 1, 1887, the Mitchell-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 427
Thomas Hospital was open for the reception and care of patients. It
was the first hospital in Springfield, and it was not long until more
accommodations were required for the increasing number of patients.
The Mitchell and Thomas Hospital was near the railroad, and in a
noisy location, and in 1902 activities were begun looking toward its
removal, and in 1903 the cornerstone of the Springfield City Hospital
was laid, the site bounded by York, Clifton and East streets. It has the
morning sun, and crowns a hill away from noise and confusion— an
ideal location. For many years it had been the Sharp family homestead,
and when the property was acquired the buildings were wrecked and a
community hospital now graces that elevation. While charity patients
are received, that fact is not accentuated and the visitor would be unable
to tell a charity patient from one paying for his treatment ; some are in
wards at less expense, while others have private rooms and private
nurses when they request it. The hospital has ambulance service, and it
conducts a free dispensary.
It was December 19, 1904, that the Mitchell and Thomas Hospital was
vacated, and the Springfield City Hospital was opened. On that date
the superintendent, James Adams, transferred a corps of nurses and
eighteen patients to the new building. When the transfer was made and
the name was changed, Miss Dorothy Neer, who is now superintendent,
was operating room supervisor, and Miss May B. Miller, who is assistant
superintendent, was then a student nurse. There was a nurse's training
school in connection with the Mitchell and Thomas Hospital, and Miss
Leila V. Jones was the teacher. Miss Miller entered the training in July
and was removed with the hospital in December. She entered in 1904,
and in 1907 she graduated in a class of five members ; however, she is the
only one who remained in the hospital.
While Miss Neer was moved with the hospital and remained for ten
years in charge of the operating room, she went away for a time and
June 1, 1919, she returned and since then has been hospital superintendent.
She is now the instructor in the nurse's training course which extends
over a period of three years. It is affiliated with the Springfield High
School in the Department of Chemistry. It was founded in 1904, and
since then it has graduated 120 trained nurses. On the days of the
inquiry, there were forty-five student nurses living in the cottages and
assisting in the hospital. There are three cottages for nurses, and fre-
quently graduated nurses return with private patients to the hospital.
It has capacity for 120 patients, and often it is unable to accommodate
all who seek admission.
Springfield is committed to the use of tablets in commemorating
individuals as witnessed at the Warder Public Library, Wittenberg Col-
lege and in many churches, and in the hospital corridor is the following
information: "This tablet is erected in grateful recognition of contribu-
tors to the endowment fund of the Springfield City Hospital," and
chiseled in stone are the following names: Ross Mitchell, John H.
Thomas, John Snyder, Anson E. Moore, Lydia P. Steele, Peter Butzer
and Robert Johnson. While Mitchell and Thomas were honored with
the name of the old hospital, in 1896 John Snyder bequeathed $100,000
in four per cent Government Bonds, and under the terms of the will it is
held as an investment, lesser amounts coming from other donors, and
since April 25, 1898, there has been a board of hospital trustees, some
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428 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
legislation of that date providing for it. There are five members of the
board, and it holds monthly business meetings.
At its December meeting, 1921, of the hospital board Miss Neer
reported 2,445 days' treatment, 1,009 being free and 1,436 being pay
treatments, in all 267 persons treated. Within the month 191 patients
were discharged and 227 treatments were given at the public dispensary.
The cost of treating the whole number of patients was $10,558.31, which
was an average of $4.31 a day per patient, and the business of one month
is much the same in other months. Dr. V. G. A. Tressler, who is a divin-
ity rather than a medical doctor, is president of the board, and while the
annual elections bring frequent changes the trustees are men interested in
the success of the Springfield City Hospital. It has been recognized by
the American College of Surgeons, and by the American Medical Asso-
ciation, and Miss Neer feels that this recognition enables the Springfield
City Hospital to secure the services of the best internes from any of the
colleges, there being three on duty.
As superintendent of the Springfield City Hospital, Miss Neer affiliates
with the community council which correlates all welfare movements.
While there are free beds in the municipal section of the hospital, the
crying need is for more room in which to accommodate patients. While
contagious diseases are not admitted, the city hospital is the helping hand
held out to society. Under the present system of household economics,
the maternity demands upon the hospital are increasing and the time is
coming when the man will not speak of the house in which he was born,
but will refer to the hospital. In 1920 the hospital had 310 maternity
cases and in 1921 there was an increase of seventy-two births, 382 babies
born at the hospital, and "safety first" is the motto. The babies are kept
in a nursery, and to avoid mistake an adhesive tape bearing the name of
the child is placed on its ankle, and the room number of the mother is
on this tape. The name &nd number is also placed on the child's bed,
and the system has been necessary in keeping tally with so many children
there at one time.
When the Springfield City Hospital was completed in 1905 it repre-
sented an investment of $150,000, and there have been frequent additional
expenses. In his annual report, Fire Chief Samuel F. Hunter recom-
mends that an automatic sprinkler system be installed at the hospital, and
especially in the main building where the patients are quartered. It is on
a hill about forty feet above the street level and in winter when it is icy,
it is difficult to get heavy motor-driven apparatus up the hill, the report
reading: "For this reason I believe it is very important to protect this
building with automatic sprinklers." The chief recommends the same
precaution in the public school buildings. With an automatic sprinkler
the hospital would have protection when the fire-fighters were unable
to make the grades with their heavy motors.
It is related that in the '90s the Pennsylvania House, which had been
a landmark since the tavern days along the National Road, was remodeled
by Dr. S. E. Adams and used as a hospital for medical and electrical
treatment of patients, and in connection witfi the American Red Cross
(Springfield Chapter) mention already has been made of three emergency
hospitals operated in Springfield in connection with the flu epidemic.
When the epidemic subsided they were closed, and it is against the policy
of the hospital to receive patients with contagious diseases. An isolation
hospital is a necessity, and the State Fraternal Homes all maintain their
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430 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
own hospitals and isolation department. Where so many aged persons
and so many children are assembled, the hospital is a necessary feature,
and the Ohio Masonic Home is adding an extensive hospital — the Ricker
Memorial Hospital — at an approximate expense of $500,000, and with
capacity for 150 patients. All the modern ideas are incorporated in the
plans of this building.
While more people die of tuberculosis than from any other one dis-
ease, the Clark County Medical Society and all progressive physicians
are united in a campaign of education, and there are popular lectures on
how to combat the ravages of the white plague. In the old days when
tuberculosis was called consumption, its victims had no ray of hope until
fresh air enthusiasts brought it to them. In 1909, the Ohio Assembly
provided for tubercular hospitals, and the Second District, located at
Springfield, embraces four counties: Clark, Madison, Champaign and
Greene, although in the beginning Greene did not accept the offer. Each
county sends its tubercular patients, and has its doctor looking after its
interests.
The Second District Tubercular Hospital embraces fifty-two acres
along the National Road east and just outside the City of Springfield ; it
was once the Kinnane homestead While the farmhouse was not adapted
to the needs of the hospital the location and the topography are ideal. It
is 1,100 feet above the sea level which means pure air, and that is the
necessary feature of a tubercular hospital. There are fourteen cottages
built to accommodate one or two patients, and with the farmhouse con-
verted into a hospital there is room for fifty patients. There is also a
home for nurses and for hospital employees. Unless patients have
reached an advanced stage before entering, isolation is possible and
cures are effected, but the sad thing — they frequently do not come in
time for permanent relief. In the beginning tubercular patients were
transferred from the county infirmaries, but that no longer happens.
They are sent at once to the hospital instead of to the infirmary.
While each county has its medical staff to look after patients con-
signed to the Second District Tubecular Hospital, the superintendent
has usually been a physician who resided there. In their turn the super-
intendents have been : Dr. Henry Baldwin, Dr. R. R. Richison and Dr.
Elwood Miller. Since Miss Anna Shepard, who is a graduate nurse, has
been superintendent, Dr. C. E. M. Finney is the medical attendant,
although he does not live at the hospital. Miss Shepard is both super-
intendent and matron, having full management of the hospital. Miss
Mary Cove has been installed as head of the open air school, and the
fifteen children will wear Eskimo Suits while attending school, the girls
of the Ohio Bell Telephone Company generously providing them. It is
the first attempt at an open air school, but it will allow of mental training
and avoid bad air in a schoolroom. The Baby Camp Fund was drawn
upon for funds to supply the desks, and funds were donated by the
National Woman's League and by the Springfield Kiwanis Club with
which to pay the teachers.
Because of the greater population of Clark County, it secured the
Second District Tubercular Hospital. There would naturally be more
unfortunates in a large center, and the criticism on the management is
directed from other counties. Because of the contagious nature of tuber-
culosis strict sanitation is necessary, and ventilation is the keynote of
the treatment, fresh air a part of the cure. The supervision of diet is
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 431
another thing in favor of the patient. Many tubercular patients come
from homes where no attention is given to diet at all, and corrective meas-
ures sometimes work cures; it requires intelligence to overcome tuber-
culosis. The sleeping porch built into modern homes, and added to others
is doing much to relieve the difficulty.
People who were afraid of the night air have learned its life-giving
properties, and no longer breathe impoverished air; those who take the
necessary precaution at home need not live in a tubercular hospital. The
open porch is a benefaction to any family. The State of Ohio has been
conducting free clinics in different localities, and when the gospel of
fresh air reaches every household there will be fewer cases of the white
plague. The expense of maintaining the Second District Tubercular Hos-
pital is shared pro rata by the counties entitled to its benefits, many
indigent persons being saved by the opportunity of living there and learn-
ing how to take care of themselves. Out-of-door life is urged, and the
campus there affords the opportunity.
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CHAPTER XLVIII
THE STAGE— MOVING PICTURES
From the dawn of human history people have been interested in the
forum, the stage, the athletic field. Some form of amusement or recre-
ation has been regarded as a necessity. In the dim history of the past
man had a desire to amuse himself. He demands more relaxation than
the day affords and his pleasures sometime^ extend far into the night.
The theater is a welcome diversion at the end of the day. "Jack" objects
to "all work and no play" and the playhouse affords respite. It causes
him to forget the "cares that infest the day."
Theatergoers who like good plays usually like other good things and
their field for pleasure is not limited to the stage. When the theater fails
to offer what they like they soon give- up the habit. High class attrac-
tions always bring playgoers from other communities and Springfield's
theater population does not conform to the number of citizens in Clark
County. It is sufficiently distant from Dayton and Columbus to elim-
inate competition in high class performances and when meritorious plays
are given in Springfield the box office receipts usually warrant the enter-
prise; when the theater does not offer what they want there is little
effort to reform the drama other than exercising the prerogative of
remaining away from it. When the theater becomes a physical effort
because of its want of appeal they have recourse to literature and to
music.
An English actress said: "Good drama is as necessary as a bath
and a bath it is for the mind," and the wag added that a "bath" should
not be enjoyed in public, but melodrama allows of variations. Since the
scandal of today becomes the convention of tomorrow, people adjust
themselves to conditions and the high-brow drama is above the heads
of those most in need of a "bath." "The people have minds and hearts
which need food and unless they are given food there is going to be
trouble in the community," and that reverts to the Bible injunction about
feeding the sheep and the lambs — that they have different mental abilities.
While Springfield and contiguous territory ranks as high class theater
patronage, there had to be a beginning and in antebellum Clark County
when the population was scant and the means of travel limited, people
were thrown upon their own resources for amusement.
In those early days simple home talent entertainments and school
house exhibitions always attracted them. At frequent intervals there
were wandering Thespians, but as the forest and native conditions were
overcome by the settlers there was demand for better things and halls,
stages and scenic accessories were the natural sequence. When the
first market house was built in Springfield, it had a hall above for public
meetings and shows, often home talent productions, the Buckeye singers
among whom was Oliver Kelly drawing crowds. There were panoramas,
Frankenstein's Niagara Falls being shown, the people always turning to
such entertainments. The first theater in South Charleston was the
dining room of the Johnson tavern. The tables were removed and it
became a hall and was utilized until Isaac Paist provided another, and
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 433
when business rooms* were built the upper story became the hall in
other Clark County towns.
Black's Opera House
When Andrew C. Black was building an opera house in connection
with his business in 1868, he was under approbrium. He was a Presby-
terian, but a little in advance of the minister and congregation, and one
day he left the service under a scathing denunciation from the pulpit.
In his sermon the minister was condemning wrong-doing in high places,
but since then there has been change of opinion in Springfield society,
and Presbyterians are patrons of the opera. The holdings of Mr. Black
were on the site of the Fairbanks Building, and at that time the realty
cost him $20,500, and he expended $80,000 for the improvements on it —
meaning $100,000 invested. It was a five-story structure with 110 feet
frontage, and the hall or opera house was 90 by 110 feet in dimensions,
and it was a forward stride in the way of Springfield development. How-
ever, when it was ready to be dedicated as a theater, Thomas F. McGrew,
then cashier of the Mad River National Bank, issued the ultimatum in
church that it must be spoken of as Black's Music Hall ; it should never
be designated as an opera house or theater, names that flavored of evil,
although Shakespeare had said the rose would smell the same whatever
he called it.
Black's Music Hall, alias Black's Opera House, was opened February
4, 1869, with the play, "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh." The play was an
attraction so soon after the Civil war, and it drew a capacity house.
The hall had a seating capacity of 1,000, and for many years it was the
play house of Springfield. Since 1847 Mr. Black had been a Springfield
merchant, and the opera house coupled with his business career keeps
alive his. name in Springfield. It was a five-story building, and when
there were no elevators there were not so many corpulent people, stair-
climbing still being recommended as a reducing process. Instead of a
five-story climb, people now reach the ninth floor of the Fairbanks by
the elevator route, and they "get thin to music," when they might reduce
by climbing the stairs from basement to attic.
In 1881 the Grand Opera House was built on Limestone Street, on
the site of the old LefFel Water Wheel industry. It was built by John
W. Bookwalter, with a seating capacity of 1,200, and the advantage of a
ground floor and other up-to-date improvements, and from that time the
Black Opera House was a second-class theater. People would not climb
a stairway when there was a ground floor theater in town. In 1903 the
Black theater and business block burned, and a short time later the Fair-
banks Building arose from its ashes. In 1906 the Fairbanks Theater
opened, and today Springfield has no lack of theater advantages. The
Black Theater had been a play house thirty-four years, and many first-
class shows were staged in it. When it burned it was a "Young Chicago
Fire," a whole row of business houses being destroyed, and the
Y. M. C. A. adjacent was scorched. The property did not lie idle long
until N. H. Fairbanks secured it, and the Fairbanks is a ground floor
theater. It was opened Thanksgiving Day, 1906, and Ben Hur was the
attraction.
In 1884 the Wigwam was erected on West Main Street and was
used as a public auditorium and for campaign purposes until after the
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434 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
building of the City Hall with an auditorium designed for such meetings,
but the flight of time — the City Hall is now an abandoned theater, a
waste place in the heart of Springfield. The hall has been condemned,
and as yet no plan has been devised for utilizing the space occupied by it.
What one generation constructs another destroys, and the age-old ques-
tion is still being debated about the morals of the stage, most people
admitting that it has its place in the world. While not all stage produc-
tions are first-class, the same criticism is offered in other fields. The
stage has the double function, amusement and instruction, and some-
times it shows the best way to acquire happiness. It is not pitted against
the church, and in the main it is an uplifting influence.
In the days of the legitimate drama, some of the foremost actors and
actresses visited Springfield, notwithstanding the crudities of some of the
early theaters, some of the best known players in the United States trod
the boards in Black's Opera House and the Grand, and they still come on
rare occasions to the Fairbanks. Shakespeare once exclaimed : "All the
world is a stage," although he is silent on the question of dressing room
facilities. When Uncle Tom's Cabin used to visit Springfield, the people
turned out to see it, and straight-laced male citizens remember the annual
visits of the female minstrels and burlesque shows, when it required just
a little more courage to be seen in attendance, when they used to talk
about "reserved seats for the bald heads," but the popular conception of
things is changed whether or not the moral aspect, and the little travesty
about "bald heads" is no longer emphasized in the community. Be it
said to the credit of the community, that some of the old-time stage
favorites played to good audiences in Springfield.
While there were street lights in 1850, people used to carry lanterns
when attending performances in the different halls before the advent of
Black's Opera House, and while the American Indian was once fre-
quently featured in legitimate, when the forest no longer sheltered him
he humbled himself to be reflected from the screen, and Buffalo Bill, with
his canvas theater, always attracted the community. There was a time
in Springfield — the penny arcade epoch — when people turned a crank
and watched the moving life through an aperture, would witness the
entire series, but like everything else it only filled an interim while the
processes were being perfected, and now the best actors in the country
are seen in the picture films, however, the movie called the silent drama
does not describe the situation when those about one discuss it and thus
spoil it — destroy the charm of the unfolding drama.
The lexicographer says that a theater is a building appropriated to
the presentation of dramatic spectacles, it is a room, hall, or other place
provided with a platform, and in Springfield are the following theaters
and places of amusements : Fairbanks Theater, playing legitimate attrac-
tions with seating capacity of 1,400; Regent, high-class pictures with
1,600 capacity; Sun, playing high-class vaudeville, 750, and tiow that
everybody attends the moving picture shows, it is difficult to think of
the traveling troupes of other days, and the hardships encountered by
them. There were one night attractions, and there were one week stands,
and there were "barn-stormers" who never played at all on Broadway.
Gus Sun, local authority on theaters states that in 1905, when he located
in Springfield, the only amusement house was the Grand and all com-
munity meetings, conventions, etc., were held in it. However, there was
a stage in the City Hall where shows and political meetings were one time
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 435
held, and Union Hall accommodated some audiences. Since that time
Springfield has Memorial Hall, with seating capacity of 3,000, and the
high school auditorium accommodates about 1,200 perspns, and local
affairs are held in both places, besides a number of lodge rooms which
accommodate fraternal conventions.
Many who once enjoyed the drama as presented in Springfield thea-
ters now enjoy the moving pictures as seen in the Majestic, Liberty,
Princess, Hippodrome, Colonial, Strand and other Clark County towns
have movie houses, the custodian of the opera house in New Carlisle
saying : "We have the swing on the movies." The moving picture thea-
ters flourished in France in 1898, and early in the twentieth century mov-
ing pictures were introduced into the United States, and Springfield was
not slow in conforming to the changed custom. When the industry was
in its infancy there were predictions of ultimate success, while insanity
charges were also laid at the door of picture actors; now the foremost
actors are seen in films.
Reverting to the days of the legitimate drama, a theater manager
said: "It is interesting to listen to the tales of some of the old per-
formers, as they relate their own experiences in the long ago. In the
'60s and 70s Sol Smith Russell, Alf Burnett and the Swiss Family Bell
Ringers played in what was known as 'Variety Houses' throughout the
West, and in the 70s prices were reduced until popular was the term
used in describing them," and Springfield was on their itinerary. The
roller-skating craze which swept the country many years ago was fol-
lowed by the moving picture shows, and today people sit complacently in
front of the most wonderful productions — the rich who have traveled
may see the Alps again, and the stay-at-homes see the world in pictures.
The film has become an educational agency, even the circulation of the
blood being shown before the physiology section in the Springfield High
School, and the developments in the realm of agriculture before the mem-
bers of the Clark County Farm Bureau in the Fairbanks Theater.
While there are still flesh-and-blood actors before the footlights in
Springfield, the films reproduce celebrities from all over the world, and
there is no cheaper method of travel; from a comfortable theater seat
one may see the best there is in art and literature. The habits and cus-
toms of all nations are shown from the screen, and one who sees them
feels like he has traveled in foreign countries. Pictures of travel are
always worth while, and other pictures afford amusement. Before pro-
hibition was nation-wide, men used to leave the theater between curtains
and today there is running water in some' of the theaters. There was a
time when women kept their hats on in theaters, and those sitting behind
could not see the stage, but now theater-goers set an example — remove
their headgear — and some church members see the advantages gained —
learn from the theaters a little consideration.
In the realm of Springfield theaters, Gus Sun is easily the dean; he
has leased theaters and operated them until he owned them. In 1912
he leased the Grand and in 1917 he purchased it, and in 1919 he dis-
mantled it, constructing the Regent on the site, and his theater interests
are not limited to Springfield. Mr. Sun made his theatrical debut in
Springfield in a leased store room in the Fisher Building at Limestone
and Main streets; here he opened the first vaudeville show in Spring-
field, known as the Old Orpheum. It had a seating capacity of 225, and
people on the street say that Mr. Sun was the star actor — that he also
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436 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
swept out the theater — and those same people admire the man who begins
at the bottom and climbs the ladder of success. In the Old Orpheum
were shown the first moving pictures in Springfield. In 1906 there was
a New Orpheum on North Fountain Avenue, and he played in vaudeville
in it. In 1908 he purchased the site of the Wigwam at Center and Main
streets and built the New Sun— strictly a vaudeville house. In 1912 Mr.
Sun purchased the site of his first theater venture — the old Fisher block,
and he built the Alhambra — an exclusive picture house. He has invested
heavily in Springfield theaters, and he has realized on the investment, and
when actors are in distress they find in him a friend.
When a chorus girl playing vaudeville in the New Sun met with an
accident, Mr. Sun staged a benefit performance and the girl in the Spring-
field City Hospital wrote a letter acknowledging the receipt of the money.
When there were labor difficulties and men with placards on their backs
were walking back and forth in front of local theaters, The Gus Sun
Amusement Company was active in the settlement, the operators,
musicians and stage hands who had conducted an eight weeks' strike
returning to work, an arbitration board being suggested by Mr. Sun.
While the Ministerial Association does not favor the Sunday picture show,
there is no open fight, and with Will H. Hays as director general of the
motion picture industry the community does not expect future difficulty.
The Springfield Kiwanis Club listened to an address: "Visual Edu-
cation and Modern Movies," in which the speaker said: "With all of
the splendid books that have been written by our American writers —
books that could be dramatized and picturized — the motion picture people
have found it necessary to resort to their own so-called scenario writers,"
and he voiced a conviction that the standard of scenarios should be raised.
When 20,000,000 Americans witness the films every day, Mr: Hays has
reason for elevating the scenario industry. The children in the Fraternal
Homes were privileged to see Jackie Coogan in "My Boy" as a compliment
from the young film comedian through Harry L. Davis, Jr., son of the
Governor of Ohio. There is a dramatic society at Wittenberg College,
the members writing and producing their own plays under the advisory
supervision of the Department of English. In its development from town
to city the theater has been a strong feature in Springfield.
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CHAPTER XLIX
TEMPERANCE AND PROHIBITION IN CLARK COUNTY
The word abolition meant something in connection with human
slavery, and prohibition means something as related to another thralldom
— slave to drink; the Century Dictionary says: "The temperance move-
ment is a social or political movement having for its object the restriction
or abolition of the use of alcoholic liquors as beverages." While it may
have been social in its aspect, the time has come when it is political in its
significance. The business of making men drunk, promoting crime, dis-
order and dishonor for profit is on the defensive, and if America stands
firm in the enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment, recognizing
women as voters, legalized traffic in spirituous liquors will soon be under
the ban in all countries.
If America fails to enforce its temperance legislation, that will mean
failure in other nations. American leadship in temperance reform is the
hope of the entire world. In the countries of the world where prohibition
is enforced, there seems to be little inclination to return to the liquor
habit, to alcoholic conditions ; the hair tonic consumer has one alternative
— he can drink it or let it alone. In some instances the "easy to take"
nostrums that flood the market in the guise of patent medicines encounter
their difficulties. It has been said : "America began with the Declaration
of Independence and ended with prohibition," but when the temperance
question became a business consideration its death knell was sounded
immediately; it is serious business, even the wet adherents admitting:
"Temperance is no joke," although some jokesmith describes the United
States as dry land surrounded by "three miles of dry water."
Just as the devil hates holy water, it is said the Apostles of John
Barleycorn hate Volstead and the Crabbe Act, and while the taxpayers
are now being burdened with the expense of the Barleycorn funeral —
well, that is an easy way out of the difficulty. The curse has been removed
and in the 1920 presidential election there was no drunkenness at the
election booths, and nobody wanted to see the return of whisky. While
a man's love of wet goods may be equaled by a woman's love of drygoods,
the woman was active in removing the temptation. It was Tecumseh —
Clark County's own Shawnee warrior — who as a military strategist, held
up the temperance torch to the world. The cyclopedia says that in order
to render his warriors "fit" he prohibited the use of whisky and other
demoralizing practices introduced among the primitive Americans by the
whites who encroached upon their hunting grounds. While the German
Government eliminated drink in the World war, it was more than a cen-
tury after Tecumseh took similar action.
When the Clark-Tecumseh monument becomes a reality, along with
his military prowess and political sagacity should be enumerated Tecum-
seh's advance stand on the prohibition question — Tecumseh and Mother
Stewart having blazed the way in temperance progress. In the foyer of
Memorial Hall is a tablet : "Dedicated to the memory of Mother Stewart
by the Clark County W. C. T. U. Eliza D. Stewart was born April 25,
1816, and died August 6, 1908," and some sentiments inscribed are : "Our
Mother Stewart."— The Soldiers of U. S. A. "Our Great Leader."—
437
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438 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Frances E. Willard. There is a quotation from Mother Stewart herself;
and the information that the tablet was placed there August 13, 1916, by
the Women's Christian Temperance Union. As a companion piece to
the tablet honoring this apostle of prohibition is a portrait of the woman
painted by Christopher Schumacher, and in 1918 when the artist was
leaving Springfield the picture was purchased by the Women's Christian
Temperance Union and hung near the tablet. While Tecumseh may not
have had the same moral conviction, nevertheless he enforced liquor
restrictions.
In writing on the temperance question in the Springfield Centennial
History, Mrs. George Frankenberg said: "In the early settlement a dis-
tillery was one of the most welcome inmprovements, and one hundred
years ago the best people considered whisky a necessity." That long ago
there were "snakebites," but conditions are changed and while in the' Bible
story Timothy is reputed to have taken a little for his stomach's sake, the
doctors do not prescribe it today. Most of the grist mills along Mad
River were in reality distilleries; they utilized the water power, and the
surplus grain in the ■community was marketed there. While James
Demint was not located on Mad River, it is said he operated the first dis-
tillery. It was a small one near the spring at the foot of the hill from
his cabin, and one account says: "Like many others he drank as well
as sold, and he was not a temperate drinker."
There is this mention of Demint in an article written by William Pat-
rick of Urbana and published in the Springfield Republic in connection
with the 1880 Centennial celebration, saying that after quitting his home
in Springfield he lived for a time in Boston near the old battlefield, and
commenting as follows : "The old gentleman, although reported an honest
man, had not a very exalted code of morals ; he became addicted to drink
and gaming, and would frequently mount his fine bay horse and start off
to a neighboring town for a spree, always supplying himself with a new
deck of cards with which as opportunity offered, to amuse himself for
small stakes put up by the parties engaged in the game. About the year
1817 Demint had the last round in the course of his life at the tavern of
the widow Fitch in Urbana.
"The writer of this account was an employee about the house and
remembers that on a summer evening Demint ordered his horse put up,
and took a room ; he would receive such persons as would minister to his
chosen pastime, and other amusements. He was addicted to drink ; how-
ever, I do not mean that he would stagger or wallow in the gutter; he
was one of the kind that could drink deeply and not show intoxication.
His great mania being the enjoyment of his cherished game for small
stakes, he followed his accustomed amusements at any points in the village
that would screen him from the lynx-eyed officers of the law. He would
frequently take a nap on a long bench that stood against a partition in
the bar-room, where one evening a little before sundown, the landlady
asked me to waken him for supper.
"Obeying the landlady's request, I went to Demint and shook him
and called him by name. He stirred not, and to my horror I found him
dead. He had gone to sleep to wake no more, and after the excitement
of preparing the body for the cooling board John Fitch, the son of the
old lady, asked me who would go to Boston and inform his wife; it was
about 10 o'clock at night. I immediately answered: 'I will go.' He
ordered the hostler to saddle the dead man's valuable gelding and when
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 439
all was in readiness Fitch said : 'Give me your foot/ vaulting me into the
saddle, saying: 'Bill, be careful that Old Demint does not get on behind
you.' Although I was not superstitious, for the life of me I could not
avoid looking askance during my lonely and melancholy ride that night,
reaching Boston about daybreak and imparting the sad news to his wife.
After partaking of refreshments, she saddled a horse and returned with
me to Urbana. She buried her husband in Springfield."
The Demint story will serve as an object lesson— an 'orrible example,
the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution coming too late in his
casex and in the dawn of the prohibition morning one hears such wotds
as "soused," "stewed," "corned," "pickled," "spifflicated," and where there
are no longer any groups of hilarious drinkers under the influence of
"innocuous stewitude" perhaps there will be improved diction in the com-
munity. While they were not in disfavor, the distillers on Mad River
were engaged in the same business as the bootleggers of today. Senti-
ment has changed and the people are educated against the illicit business.
However, it is said the bootlegger is the one business man who does not
complain of his "overhead expense." It was a saloonkeeper's comment
on false economy, that "Men will complain of the price of cabbage, which
is a family necessity, and buy expensive drinks for all at the bar; they
will spend ten nights in one bar room and think nothing about it."
There was a time in Clark County when whisky was $1 and $2 a gal-
long, and the Indians were excellent customers ; the store keepers would
furnish liquor free to encourage purchases. It has been related that
when Springfield jollified over the recognition of Clark County there
were "spirits" that caused some of the citizens to become "ardent," and
then there were many distilleries. When Philip Jarboe, who preceded his
sister, Elizabeth Jarboe Kenton, came to Mad River about the time Demint
came to Springfield, he constructed, a still and manufactured whisky for
himself and others, affording a market for the surplus corn in the com-
munity. James Demint was not the only victim of drink, the story being
told that when under the influence of his libations, Uncle Hosea Har-
rison "got tight" and lay down on the sidewalk in Springfield to "sleep
it off." Some boys turned a store box over him, lingering near to note
results when he wakened. He rapped on the box, crying: "Where am
I?" and he soliloquized later: "I'm dead and buried and just found it
out." The incident proved to be a lesson for the man, who left the com-
munity, and he afterwards became a minister.
While New Carlisle was a dry town, when the distilleries were run-
ning full blast other towns sprung up in Bethel Township — Donnelsville
and Medway — which made a difference in the majority. In 1808, George
Croft came from Virginia and operated a distillery in Bethel Township
for forty years; two sons were associated with him, while another who
was crippled went from house to house, remaining for a week at a time,
making shoes for the settlers. The Croft farm is now the Clark County
Home ; it had unusual farm buildings, overlooking a valley of surpassing
fertility, with thousands of acres of corn in view — the raw material for
the Croft brand of whisky. One account says the distilleries were so
numerous along Mad River that the air was "murky" from their smoke,
and the money made thereby helped build and support churches. The
Croft mansion was always open to the ministers, and distillery money was
not considered tainted until in the late '50s when the question was raised,
and the agitation continued until the fires went out and after the Civil war
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440 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
there was little evidence of distilleries along Mad River. While churches
still require revenue, it does not come from distilleries ; the women with
forward pews no longer wear crinoline that says: "Whisky, whisky,"
designating them as the wives of the brewers in the community.
In German Township, Charles Rector used the surplus corn in a dis-
tillery for many years, and the fortune accumulated from the Snyder dis-
tillery has been returned to the community through bequests. It is pro-
verbial that the Kentuckian has a corkscrew in his pocket, and there were
many Kentuckians alcng Mad River. In the south side of Clark County
there were many Quakers, and having different convictions relative to
the use of whisky they took action to suppress the vice, stating in the way
of resolution : "They were not to use, make, vend, furnish grain nor fruit
for distilleries ; they would not convey nor aid in conveying liquor ; they
would not furnish vessels to hold it nor timber to make such vessels," and
now that prohibition is established the Quakers* are entitled to credit for
advance action; they were "on the firing line" in the beginning of local
history.
A local writer says: "When Springfield was beginning to build up,
no barn or mill raising or log-rolling was attempted without a good supply
of whisky ; the invited hands would be insulted and never respond again
if the whisky was not provided ; indeed, the women passed liquor to their
guests, and they had real whisky at quiltings, rag-sewings and wool-pick-
ings ; in the afternoon whisky and apple pie were passed. The wool, was
greasy, and since there were no napkins or finger bowls some of the
guests declined the refreshments ; in some of the early homes there was
liquor on the sideboards, in the wine glasses and table decanters. Cherry-
bounce was a favorite drink, and these decanters were filled with it.
There was hospitality, and neighbors were given a drink. When the first
temperance meeting was held in Springfield in the summer of 1831, some
who had kept libations in their hordes signed the pledge; a young man
named Fairchild delivered temperance lectures in the old red brick court-
house ; it was a wonderful meeting.
When the first man signed the pledge, his wife was troubled about it,
saying : "It is right in the midst of harvest ; your men will leave. They
are used to having liquor every day in the field ; in two weeks you are to
have a raising, and who will come, without liquor?" the anxious wife fore-
seeing economic difficulties. The man had the courage of his conviction,
saying: "I am convinced of the sin of intemperance and wonder that I
never saw it in this light," and next morning he called the harvesters
together and told them about the temperance meeting, saying: "Now I
should like to have your assistance in rolling up out of the cellar the
barrel of liquor, and empty it to run down this drain through the orchard
into the pig pasture ; if any man is not willing to work without liquor, I
will pay him off; any who stay and work without, I shall raise their
wages."
It is related that the men helped to empty the cherry-bounce, and when
it reached the pigs in the pasture they ate the cherries from the liquor
and it made them drunk; however, none of the men quit the job, and
coffee was served that day in the field. When the Beaver Creek mill
was raised, the men knew there would be no whisky, but they did not
remain away because of it. While the hogs became intoxicated it is likely
they would not have yielded again to that form of temptation. Once
when a distillery was allowed to drain in a river, the fish nearby per-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 441
formed many curious feats, and ducks on a mill pond nine miles away
were intoxicated from it, and the story is told that when there were
breweries the bees would feast on the waste until they were so drunk they
would not make honey. It is said there is more honey on the market
since the bees no longer "get stewed" and thus incapacitated for making it.
While a cheery seed dropped into a bottle of Scotch may convert the
whole thing into bitters, it is said that Springfield shoppers do not carry
market baskets so carefully now that prohibition is written into the laws
of the country ; the bottles are "conspicuous because of their absence."
When Col. John Daugherty, who was the guest of James Demint at
the time Griffith Foos joined them, was making a canvass among Clark
County voters asking their support of his candidacy for the Ohio Legis-
lature, he rode about on horse back, carrying a jug in one end of his
saddle bags ; his quick perception of character enabled him to reach every
class of voters. While he would not offend a teetotaler by insisting, he
used diplomacy and his knowledge of psychology — he did not know the
term — enabled him to judge what would bring results. It is related that
Joel Walker, who was a harmless character, frequently managed to obtain
a morning dram by offering a bunch of green tanzy at the bar of some
tavern; while not given to drunkenness he was inclined to moderate
drinking ; he spent his time loafing, while his wife and daughter obtained
scanty family supplies. Walker had a brother who lived among the
Wyandotte Indians, but he remained in Springfield; he wore a stout
leather belt in lieu of suspenders, and he would sometimes remove it and
whip his boys with it because they were "so worthless." (This is a chap-
ter on temperance, and such characters are held up as warnings.)
Temperance Developments
In 1829 Rev. Saul Henkle remarked that a temperance society just
formed would hardly live through the winter without the application of
stimulants; he was sarcastic both in his editorial and pulpit utterances.
On February 26, 1833, the Clark County Temperance Society was organ-
ized in the Springfield Presbyterian Church; it adopted a constitution
which was published March 2, 1833, in The Western' Pioneer. This
organization was in conformity with a call issued to people all over the
United States, and its object was to minimize the evils of the liquor
traffic; it was to create broadcast temperance sentiment, and Springfield
entered into the nation-wide movement. In 1835 a Young Men's Tem-
perance Society was organized in Springfield, and in its wake came the
Sons of Temperance, Knight Templars, Murphy Movement, Woman's
Crusade, Women's Christian Temperance Union, and the Anti-Saloon
League, and because of so much attention John Barleycorn is away at
present.
On March 12, 1847, there appeared in Springfield a neatly printed
paper called "The Moss-Covered Bucket," published and edited by A. C.
Lawrence and W. D. Runyan ; it was devoted to the cause of temperance.
The first murder in Springfield was staged in a cellar under a saloon;
the grogshop always has been associated with crime, and there have been
frequent demonstrations against it. Years ago when David Bennett opened
a grocery store at Concord, in order to curry favor with his possible cus-
tomers he tapped a keg of beer, saying to all : "Pitch in," and from that
day Concord has been called Pitchin. On Muster Days liquor was used
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442 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
extensively, and while some regarded it as necessary in the harvest field
as the man and the cradle, others noted the effect it had on the morals of
the community.
There was a time when Springfield merchants kept a jug of whisky
by the water pitcher for the free use of all ; it was just as essential that
they keep one filled up as the other since their customers exercised their
choice, and the evil practice was not confined to stores ; it was the custom
in refined families, including many who professed religion; spirituous
liquors were in the decanters on sideboards and tables, and the social
custom was bearing bad fruit both in town and in the country ; the home
stills were patronized by many citizens. Hence there have been organi-
zations to counteract the influence in the community. Three times has
the prohibition party of Ohio looked to Springfield to furnish a candi-
date for governor, one time nominating a Lutheran minister, Rev. M. J.
Firey; the next time it was a Methodist minister, Dr. A. B. Leonard.
While perhaps the ministers were only temporary citizens, in 1881 the
party named "Cider Mill Abe," a name given A. R. Ludlow because
cider mills were made in his factory — which some thought inconsistent
with his temperance principles, and while there were not that many pro-
hibitionists, "Cider Mill Abe" received 1700 votes in Clark County ; since
then the water-wagon vote has increased in the community.
While some students of economics denominate prohibition as a war
measure, many distilleries, breweries and saloons did suspend July 1,
1919, six and one-half months before constitutional prohibition, the
Eighteenth Amendment becoming effective January 16, 1920, and because
of "the prospect ahead on March 27, 1919, the Clark County Dry Fed-
eration conducted the most spectacular as well as the most effective
parade in its history ; it was a combined eff prt of the churches and Sun-
day Schools, and 9,000 men, women and children marched through the
streets, showing the Springfield sentiment toward the saloons ; since 1885
Albert L. Slager has been local secretary of all the organizations having
as their object prohibition. Only a few years ago Springfield had more
than 100 saloons, and New Carlisle and South Charleston had their quota,
and people were discussing local option and temperance, not daring to
hope for prohibition. Some one said : "Wet your memory on this list of
thirst parlors," and enumerated some of the most famous dives in
Springfield.
It is said that when there were saloons young men frequently had to
be led home, but two years later it is an unusual thing ; the sale of booze
is decreased and drunkenness is so rare that it is noticeable. While
Springfield was automatically dry July 1, 1919, and bone dry January 16,
1920, in that year there were 2,283 arrests, and in 1921 there were 2,656,
but of that number only 234 were for drunkenness in 1920, while in 1921
there were 373 arrests for drunkenness. It is explained through the
activities of the bootleggers, but the community knows that not so many
people are drunk when the booze is handled from suitcases as when it
was shipped by the carload into Springfield.
Straws indicate the way the wind blows, but in June, 1921, when the
Springfield Police Department made 452 arrests, only nine were for
drunkenness, and again in December when there were only 113 arrests,
fifty-nine of them were for drunkenness. The speak-easy keeper is grow-
ing unpopular, and society frowns on the bootlegger, but the Eighteenth
Amendment was written into the Constitution before the women were
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 443
voters ; it was the men who voted the nation dry. While some agitators
say it will be necessary to have all the dry votes into the ballot box in
order to retain the Eighteenth Amendment, as yet none of the amend-
ments have been revoked by -the people ; as people are educated to the
advantages arising from prohibition, they do not want to repeal it. Farm-
ers' sons coming to town do not stand in as much danger from the suit-
case as from the saloon; the bootlegger does not have the same oppor-
tunity once enjoyed by the saloon keeper. While the saloon was once
called the poor man's club, the churches are social centers in a way they
use to exert an influence ; the young men no longer need the
saloon as a social center; the law enforcement people have opened other
door for them.
When it comes to technicalities, there is a difference between temper-
ance and total abstinence ; that the evils of intemperance are as old as
the race was a stock assertion in the mouth of each temperance orator,
and Noah is a conspicuous example of the first drunkard. The first tem-
perance agitation in the United States began in the year George Wash-
ington was elected president, and when old persons say they have heard
temperance lectures all of their lives they are speaking truthfully about
it. While there have been temperance movements all over the world, the
best results have been attained in the United States. Dr. Benjamin Rush
of Philadelphia was the first writer condemning intemperance, and his
dominant note was total abstinence through prohibition. The first tem-
perance work in the United States was in the nature of a reaction against
the use of intoxicants which threatened to produce a nation of drunkards,
and the first actual temperance reform was among the farmers of Con-
necticut; the "wooden nutmeg'* agriculturists would not allow the use of
liquor in the harvest field, ahead of similar action taken in Clark County ^
The jug in the Clark County harvest field is as a story that is told and
that begins : "Once Upon a Time."
Now that the Eighteenth Amendment has been written into the Con-
stitution it seems that bootlegging is becoming the most dangerous menace,
and yet it is a business conducted on the run and will finally spend its
force. There is an element which boasts of drinking when the law for-
bids it, and it is said that cellars that used to have nothing but coal in
them are now wet emporiums; disregard of the law seems to have fol-
lowed in the wake of this one Amendment, and this menace is greater
than the prohibition question. For the first time the losers in an election
in which the majority rules, refuse to accept the verdict. This Amend-
ment was another "gun that was heard 'round the world," and in com-
menting upon it in his presidential campaign in 1920, Senator Warren G.
Harding said : "In every community men and women have had an oppor-
tunity now to know what prohibition means; they know that debts are
more promptly paid; that men take home the wages that once were
wasted in saloons ; that families are better clothed and fed, and that more
money finds its way into the savings banks. * * * In another gen-
eration, I believe that liquor will have disappeared, not merely from our
politics but from our memories."
Those interested in law enforcement are finding out that they must
fight for it as they fought for prohibition, and it is said the Ohio dry
laws are adequate ; the necessary thing is enforcement. At a law enforce-
ment meeting held in Springfield it was urged that a bootlegger in jail
would frighten others — that a fine of $100 does not disconcert them
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444 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
because somebody supplying them pays it; they would pay $1,000 without
stuttering or batting an eye, but the brewers do not lay out jail sentences
for them.
At this law and order meeting they said a bootlegger in jail would be
an effective scarecrow, and James L. Welsh, who had served as Qark
County sheriff, deplored the fact that good citizens will not become prose-
cuting witnesses — neither will they sit on juries, and he said the anony-
mous letter written to the sheriff or chief of police did not help matters
at all. When an official receives a letter, saying: "I can tell you where
there is a still, but my name must not be used," he knows such a spineless
person would not help him suppress vice. People want the officers to
enforce the law, and withhold the necessary information rather than
involve themselves. Prisons should not be in alleys where they are
secluded they should be where the public can see who visits them. If
the public saw offenders taken to jail, and their friends communicating
with them from the outside, it would discourage lawlessness — it would
be pitiless publicity.
The first United States Prohibition Commissioner, John F. Kramer,
of Mansfield, says that suppressing the rum traffic is more deadly than
war — that the percentage of prohibition agents who are killed in the dis-
charge of their duty is several times greater than the percentage of sol-
diers who were killed in the World war; the majority of the moonshiners
and rum-runners who killed them were foreigners who had not taken
out their first naturalization papers. He recommends holding law enforce-
meetings because they create sentiment, and at this Springfield meeting
it was suggested that old saloon signs should be removed in order that
people might forget. Some one said: "When you turn the light into a
rat hole, it destroys it as a rat hole," and publicity is the way to dislodge
criminals and stop the illegal whisky traffic.
The second national prohibition commissioner, R. A. Haynes, says:
"No law can be enforced 100 percent," and the chief obstacles encoun-
tered in the enforcement of the Volstead Act is the apathetic citizen and
lethargic public official. Since officers usually obey public demands, it
must be the apathy of the citizen. When women become bootleggers they
are worse terrors than men, and a number of Springfield women have
operated homebrew establishments. The moral triumph of the age is
prohibition, and a Young Men's Christian Association Sunday afternoon
speaker said : "The American people have amended the Constitution nine-
teen times and never yet have they taken out anything which they put
into it." While it required the action of thirty-six states to insure pro-
hibition, thirteen may undo it, but they would be inviting the censure of
the world. While the bootleggers deliver homebrew, their patrons know
they are buying rank poison, and in time another generation will be at
the front, and in this law and order meeting it was said the officers in
small towns were more inclined to enforce prohibition.
The Woman's Crusade
It was in the 70s that Mother Stewart through her crusade activities
put Springfield on the map of the world. Like John Brown's body, her
influence "goes marching on," when one picks up her book: "Memories
•of the Crusade," which is a thrilling account of the uprising of the women
of Ohio in 1873 against the liquor curse ; the crusade had its inception at
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Hillsboro, December 22, 1873, when Dr. Dio Lewis of Prohibition
Maine delivered a lecture: "Our Girls." The lecture was well attended
and he invited the people to come back the next evening and listen to a
lecture on temperance. He said that with a Christian spirit, energy and
determination the women could close the dram shops of the country, and
the Hillsboro women arose to the occasion; it was then that Mrs. E. J.
Thompson became Mother Thompson, and Hillsboro became a world
community. When the speaker appealed to the women a daughter of
Mother Thompson placed a Bible open at the 146th Psalm into her hands,
and she went forth under that inspiration.
In writing about it Mother Stewart says : "The women fell into line
two by two, and they went to the drug stores, hotels and saloons," and
it was designated as the woman's whisky war; it incited prejudice, and
Hillsboro was regarded as beyond hope of civilization. The impression
was created on the outside that the Hillsboro Crusaders were the wives
of drunken husbands who became wrought up to such a degree of frenzy
that they did many unaccountable things ; they said the women thronged
the streets and crowded into the liquor places, arguing with men about
their business — and that long ago, propaganda was sent broadcast about
the country. It was Mother Stewart who rallied the Springfield women
in similar demonstrations, and women whose voices never had been heard
in public prayed in saloons. Mrs. S. M. Foos stood by Mother Stewart
in her activities, even accompanying her to court where she addressed
juries, opposing counsel .saying it was infamous to bring a female into
court ; she should be ashamed, and be at home about her legitimate duties.
Mrs. Foos, who accompanied Mother Stewart, had wealth, brilliant talent
and social position, and yet she defied society. Mother Stewart boasted
of the fact that she kept the jury awake while addressing it ; she won her
case, and the other attorneys chafed the vanquished lawyer because a
woman had taken a verdict from him.
Because the Women's Christian Temperance Union was the one active
temperance organization in Clark County when prohibition was enacted,
Mrs. Alice B. Limbocker, who is recording secretary of the Springfield
Union, was asked for its detailed history. The Crusade was of short
duration and the Women's Christian Temperance Union seems to be a
better expression of womanhood. Mrs. Limbocker writes: "The first
temperance meeting held in Clark County was in the summer of 1831,
in Springfield. When Newton Fairchilds of Pennsylvania came and
secured the old Court House for a lecture on temperance a goodly num-
ber attended. It was a wonderful meeting and at the close an invitation
was given for men to sign the pledge. (Some of this story has been
drawn from another source.) Oliver Armstrong was the first, and Ben-
jamin Walker was the second man to respond. Benjamin Walker kept
his pledge until he passed away at the age of ninety years. The pledge
was : 'I solemnly promise not to taste or handle any whisky, wine or beer,
or provide the same for any one in my employ. So help me God/ "
This was about harvest time, and whisky was always furnished to
men in the field. Some people were afraid they would not get help, but
not a man refused to work. Benjamin Walker gave his men Metheglin,
his wife, Eliza, making gallons of it. She carried it to the men in the
field in wheat harvest. Metheglin was made of vinegar, brown sugar,
nutmeg and water, and it was very refreshing in warm weather. Other
temperance waves came and went; the Crusade and Murphy movement
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446 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
accomplished great good. Forty-three years after the first temperance
meeting in Clafk County, and close after the Crusade, a call was made
for the Christian women of Springfield to meet in the First Lutheran
Church, June 17, 1874, when they met and organized the first Women's
Christian Temperance Union in Ohio, calling it the Springfield Union.
Two hundred of our best women signed the pledge as charter mem-
bers, and one of the number, Caroline Shepherd, is still a member. Others
are living who are not members. Mrs. M. E. Kinney was the first presi-
dent; Mrs. J. S. A. Guy, secretary; Mrs. Charles Cathcart, treasurer.
After a few months Unions were organized in Donnelsville, Enon, New
Carlisle and Harmony — just a few members at Pitchin and Pleasant
Grove. Soon after these Unions were organized a meeting of the county
was called in Old Temperance Hall and formed an organization. Mrs.
Eliza Stewart, or Mother Stewart as she was best known, was the first
county president; we have no record of the other officers of the county
organization. Of the six local Unions represented in this convention
only one is still in existence — the Springfield Union.
"We now have three Unions in Clark County outside of Springfield :
South Vienna, South Charleston and Dialton. In Springfield are four
white Unions : Springfield, Anna W. Clark, Frances Willard and Mother
Stewart, and the colored Union is called Great Victory, so named for
our first dry victory. We now have 600 members in Clark County, and
241 are members of the Springfield Union, the Mother Union of the
county and the state. The officers of the Clark County Union are : Presi-
dent, Mrs. Anna C. Jackson; vice president, Mrs. Nell Zanders; cor-
responding secretary, Mrs. Ella Woosby; recording secretary, Mrs. Mae
Mart; treasurer, Mrs. Hester Moody, and similar officers in the Spring-
field Union are : Mrs. Cordelia Jenkins, Mrs. Marguerite Strasburg, Mrs.
Eva Keys, Mrs. Limbocker, and Mrs. Jennie E. Puckett.
"The Women's Christian Temperance Union women are working
together in the interest of humanity; our white ribbon stands not only
for temperance, but. for purity in all things. If I were asked what is
needed in the temperance work I would say men. Yes, men who are
Christians and brave enough to see to it that men are elected to office
who will enforce the laws for the betterment of Springfield and Clark
County. The Women's Christian Temperance Union stands ready to
help the men who put their shoulders to the temperance wheel and push
the liquor traffic entirely out of existence.,' In a subjoined note Mrs.
Limbocker says she is a daughter of Benjamin and Eliza Walker, who
substituted Metheglin for whisky in the harvest field. On special days
the Women's Christian Temperance Union meets in a prayer service, the
object being to pray that the right person be put in the right place, and
since many of the members are daughters of Crusaders, they stand ready
to back up their prayers with their money.
While physicians may write prescriptions enabling patients to procure
liquor, the Clark County Medical Society does not care to be classed as
saloonkeepers, druggists or bartenders, and while addressing a Women's
Christian Temperance Union meeting one of them said that beer and
wine are stimulants and not medicines. When the American Medical
Association Journal submitted a questionnaire to physicians a large major-
ity said they did not find it necessary to prescribe liquor to their patients.
The formulate for Metheglin as given by Mrs. Limbocker may be used
as a substitute as in the harvest field emergency so many years ago. Some
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of the distinguished visitors to the United States have been able to sur-
vive while in prohibition territory, and moonlight "hooch" parties in
Clark County are learning that the way of the transgressor gets them
into trouble. Reconstruction of social habits seems necessary in some
instances, and in time prohibition will demonstrate its economic value to
the community. The Woman's Crusade was the beginning of definite
action on the temperance question, and while the Christian Alexanders
have conquered the world for temperance— as goes the United States so
goes the world, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union is like Tenny-
son's Babbling Brook, seems to go on forever; as yet nothing has made
a stronger appeal to the womanhood of the world.
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CHAPTER L
MUSIC IN SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
"Just a song at twilight, when the lights are low/' an old familiar
air — a ballad, how pleasant they are when heard at evening.
It was Confucius who called music: "The sacred tongue of God,"
and 2,000 years later Martin Luther declared: "Music is the only art
that can calm the agitations of the soul," while in the last century the
great Napolean exclaimed: "Music is the art to which the law makers
ought to give the greatest encouragement."
It is known that Springfield mothers sang lullabys before ragtime made
its advent or jazz was even a dream, and folklore songs seem to please
best of all, and on the fly-leaf of a hymnal in a Springfield church are
these words: "The Hebrew song, the German choral and the modern
Christian hymn are alike expressions of the devotions of those who have
loved our God."
C. L. Bauer, who is a music director in Springfield, says: "Music is
the one great outlet for the expression of the human emotions. Indi-
viduals, therefore, when filled with reverence for their Creator, will find
the greatest satisfaction in participating in a church service by the earnest
singing of hymns. The expression of the feelings by music is of great
benefit when indulged in to the utmost ; reverence to the Creator is thus
shown; sympathetic help from Him is thus received, and when entered
into earnestly we are made more receptive for the message that comes
from Him through His minister. Let us, therefore, do our utmost when
singing hymns and thus not only help ourselves, but thereby also encour-
age and assist those who are worshiping with us."
The musical life in Springfield and Clark County is not unlike that
of other localities having similar opportunities and conditions ; it is simply
a part of the great forward movement of the world. It is an easy thing
to think of the boy or girl blowing upon a blade of grass, and where is
the lad who never whittled a whistle out of an elder? The Mad River
settler had such a desire for music that he improvised many crude ways
of producing it the Aeolian harp made from horse hair or silk thread if
they had it, was a soul delight when the pioneer stretched it in the win-
dow and caught the air vibrations. The Shawnees who were along Mad
River in advance of the white settlers made their own music; they danced
around the campfires to the weird strains, and recently there has been
some effort to revive the music of the American Indian ; the Reservation
Indians are singing it in concert tours. The feathers and war paint add
to its realism.
The wail of the man who was deaf, deaf, deaf, reads:
"Yes, music hath power o'er the wide, wide world,
A power that's deep and endearing —
But music now has no power o'er me
Because I have lost my hearing."
In 1845, when the Swedish Nightingale, Jenny Lind, was filling con-
cert engagements in the United States, she traveled by stage, singing
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 449
along the way, and her voice was so sweet that the wild birds took up
her notes ; it was a compliment to the singer when she attracted the birds.
There always was music over the hills and the dales from the time wheri
the angels sang their morning song together — the first stillness of the
morning air — the blending of Nature's sounds is music with a mesmerism
all its own ; the song of the meadow lark, or the note of the first robin.
To keep within the heart the thrill awakened by the woodland sounds is
to remain forever young ; it serves to lighten the hardest task in the world.
The call of the jaybird is suggestive of the out-of-doors ; he is a rest-
less creature and it is natural for him to be on the wing, calling : Jay, jay,
jay, whether or not it is music; the frog, the locust, the katydid and
cricket — each has its peculiar musical note, and begs pardon from all
of the others. Think of the grand chorus on the morning air — the leading
musicians, all in Nature's orchestra. While "Music hath charms to soothe
the savage breast," some highly civilized people are delighted with it.
Some one suggests that the Anvil Chorus dispose of its hammer and use
the proceeds in buying life's necessities. While the "haswassers" may
not all appreciate Mendelssohn, they recognize music in the air — quotation
marks omitted in these days of radio concerts.
In their day everybody enjoyed the concerts given by the old-time
singers, and some one harking back penned th^se lines :
"There's a lot of music in them, the hymns of the long ago,
And when some gray-haired brother sings the ones I used to know
I sorter want to take a hand — I think o' days gone by,
'On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand, and Cast a Wistful Eye,' "
and the classical music — well, it's the old songs that stir the heart. "Any
time is song time, if the soul be in the song," although the musical situa-
tion in Clark County always has been simply this — some liked it, while
others had no inclination toward it. What if some good citizens do enjoy
ragtime — it's music. Prejudice, ignorance, intolerance on the one hand
and hunger for music — an enthusiasm that stopped at no hardships on
the other. Music, however, has won the day; this is a musical nation,
and the development in Clark County is abreast with other communities.
While some still enjoy the old-fashioned, rollicking tunes, supervision
has changed the musical situation in Springfield and the rest of the
world.
There was a time when "Scotland is Burning! Look Out! Look Out.
Fire! Fire!" was a round that was popular — when everybody sang it,
and there was a time when Southern Harmonies—Missouri and Kentucky
Melodies as text books, constituted the musical knowledge of the com-
munity. The young woman who played the "Maiden's Prayer" was an
accomplished musician. The patent or square notes were thought to be
easier mastered, and there are men and women who still call them "buck-
wheat" because their shape resembles the grain. Some one writes:
"If the heart be young, songs may still be sung, i
Sweeter in the meter than they ever were before,"
and another wayside philosopher exclaims:
"In the darkest, meanest things
There's always, always something sings."
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450 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Blessed is the man who has soul to catch the silent music — to live
above the discords of earth life and catch the immortal strains. The
radio simply receives vibrations that always have been in the air, and
while the pioneers were circumscribed in their understanding of things
about them, thinking that any pleasure not an absolute necessity was sin,
whenever the Song Sparrow orchestra started up its musical cadences
with Mr. Cardinal as chief soloist and musical Bob White as the con-
ductor, the hoe seemed to move more rapidly down the long rows of corn;
when the whole earth seemed fair and good why should the settlers stop
their ears — why shut out the woodland music?
Those who now occupy the stage of action are glad their ancestors
were unable to banish music from the world ; the stately rhythm :
"When Music, heavenly maid, was young,
When first in early Greece she sung,"
has no geographical limitations, and many join in the refrain :
"I want to hear the old songs,
I never hear them now —
The tunes that cheer the tired heart
And smooth the careworn brow,"
and when sufficiently urged there are men and women still lingering about
the community who sing them; it was demonstrated at the Yarnfest.
When an aged violinist struck the notes of Nelly Gray the people sang it.
James Whitcomb Riley said :
"Thinkin' back's a thing that grows
On a feller, I suppose;
Older 'at he gets, I-jack,
More he keeps a thinkin' back,"
and that is essential in gathering up the scattered threads in any depart-
ment of history.
When a violinist who played a very old instrument — old enough that
he called it a fiddle — emphasized that fact in securing an orchestral
engagement he was assured : "No one will ever know the difference," but
it seems that in a musical way many persons adhere to the old order of
things. The hymn writers of the past seemed to leave little in the way
of religious training for the hymnologists of the future ; those who write
the hymns of the church have much to do with shaping theology. To the
tune of Duke Street church-goers everywhere sing the line :
"Our exiled Fathers crossed the sea,"
and in the second stanza of the same hymn is this further bit of American
history :
"Laws, freedom, .truth, and faith in God,
Came with those exiles o'er the waves;
And where their Pilgrim feet have trod,
The God they trusted guards their graves,"
and the hymn writers have demonstrated that both religion and patriotism
may be incorporated into the hymns the people sing; while more than
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 451
300 years have cycled by since the time when "Our exiled Fathers crossed
the sea/' music still repeats the story.
In the old days when because of the scarcity of church hymnals the
minister "lined the hymns" by reading a line and then asking the congre-
gation to join him in singing it, a feeble old divine from the pulpit one
day exclaimed:
"Mine eyes are dim, I cannot see,"
and when the congregation sang the words, he explained:
"I did not mean it for a hymn ;
I only said, 'Mine eyes are dim/ "
and again they sang in unison, but as to the origin of songs it is said
that more of them developed in the Civil war than in any other one period
in American history. Historians say that "Nelly Gray" did as much to
• create anti-slavery sentiment as did "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and another
song of the period, "Tramp, Tramp Tramp," while there are Civil war
veterans or sons of veterans to sing it.
In a short time everybody was singing: "We Are Coming, Father
Abraham," and then came the plaintive song: "Just Before the Battle,
Mother," and finally, "Tenting Tonight" was the expression of saddened
hearts ; while people were awed at the prospect of emancipation there
came another song: "Wake Nicodemus Today" that was more joyful,
and just at the opportune time came, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
The words from the pen of Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, with the lilting
chorus, "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah," is recognized as a national air, and
Springfield people frequently sing it. "The Vacant Chair" was one of
the saddest songs coming out of the Civil war — unquestionably the song-
writing period in United States history.
It is conceded that only war and love stir the emotions ; the people do
not sing about the high cost of living, and even woman's suffrage does
not bring forth enduring lyrics ; the world does not sing of the Panama
Canal, which was the greatest engineering feat of the ages and the fruition
of the hopes of many years. Perhaps "Tipperary" and "The Rose of No
Man's Land" will live in history; nothing has come out of the World
war to compare with the songs of the Civil war. While the old-fashioned
singing school had its part in perfecting the congregational singing of
hymns — dignified verse set to stately tunes that revealed the whole plan
of saving grace, the Civil war songs taught patriotism to everybody. The
people sang them with spirit, and the line:
"Take up your gun and go, John"
was an irresistible appeal to the young men of the North.
It is said the curse of modern music is commercialism; that singing
for money is different from singing for love of it. Coleridge says, "Genius
is the power of carrying the feelings of childhood into the powers of man-
hood," and after the singing schools of the past had enabled the people
to sing collectively they soon began sitting in groups in the churches,
and thus was evolved the choir — the "war department" of the church
today. The enriched church service grew out of the trained singers giv-
ing their time and talent to such things. For a number of years music
has been incorporated into the course of study in the Springfield and
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Clark County public schools, and a technical knowledge is acquired while
pursuing other studies. It is known that a fund was created by President
George Washington from which to establish a national conservatory of
music, and recently musicians are investigating it. While Berlin once
swayed the musical world, the discord of war destroyed the harmony
there for Americans, causing this country to rely upon its own resources,
and home talent meets the requirements.
Because of his knowledge of local music, Prof. Arthur R. Juergens
was appealed to, and he writes : "About fifty years ago when Springfield
was only a village, the community could offer little inducement to the
trained musician and thus musical endeavor for the most part was ama-
teurish. Professor Burbank was a painstaking, energetic musician who
gave an impetus to musical activity by organizing a large mixed chorus
in Springfield ; this chorus studied the works of the masters, and gave a
number of high grade concerts. Professor Burbank believed that the
musical training of the child should be principally founded on a knowl-
edge of the subject, and he therefore introduced regular class examina-
tions in theory in the public schools and required memorizing of defini-
tions. As a basis for instruction he used the Lowell Mason Music Series,
a methodical and thorough text book containing much excellent song
material.
When Professor Burbank eventually resigned as teacher of music in
the public schools of Springfield he was succeeded by Professor Hardick,
who continued the same educational policy, these two early musical
instructors perhaps more than any other factor changing the musical
aspect of the town. Professor Hardick was a thorough musician of the
old German school and an excellent piano instructor. Some of the best
Springfield musicians, among them Charles L. Bauer, received from him
their first piano lessons.
Prof. Victor Williams of Cincinnati, the next public school music
instructor, was an excellent violinist and a man of pleasing personality.
Mr. Williams, contrary to Mr. Burbank's method, placed greater emphasis
on tone-quality and expression in the music instruction. He held the
position for a few years and then located in Richmond, Indiana. C. W.
Stanage, who succeeded Williams, was an earnest advocate of the country-
wide movement in favor of more sight-singing instruction in the schools,
thus to some extent side-tracking the Williams method.
In 1892, when Mr. Stanage resigned, came Arthur R. Juergens, a
well trained Cincinnati musician, who was at one time a pupil in the
public schools of Springfield. While he had sortie experience as a school
teacher he had primarily followed private voice teaching and chorus and
orchestra-conducting in Cincinnati ; he had also filled positions as organist
and choir leader in Cincinnati churches. While he believed that the child
should be well grounded in sight-singing and theory, so as to meet the
practical demands of the church and home, yet he placed greater stress
on the refining influence of music and on its importance as a medium for
self-expression.
Mr. Juergens also contended that every normal child can be taught
to sing, and he soon won over a majority of the regular teachers to his
viewpoint. It was a fortunate circumstance that Prof. Carey Boggess,
a man of musical taste and ability, was for almost a generation the super-
intendent of the public schools ; he not only supported the music supervisor
in his endeavors, but also took a lively interest in the musical activity
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 453
of the community. After several years of earnest work on the part of
the regular teachers, word came from the Sunday schools and churches
that the effect of the vocal instruction in the public schools was apparent
in the improved singing in the classes and choirs. Children's choruses
and orchestras were organized in the schools and frequent public per-
formances gave the parents an opportunity to judge of the progress made ;
for many years the children's chorus furnished the music at the annual
high school commencements.
In 1897 a notable school entertainment was given for the benefit of
the fire sufferers of the East Street shops and the local Young Men's
Christian Association. On this occasion a school chorus of over 500
children, dressed in appropriate colored gowns, represented a living
United States flag ; the proceeds of the affair were equally divided between
the fire sufferers and the Young Men's Christian Association. The work
of the high school orchestra attracted attention; it was frequently said
of the performers that they played more like professional musicians than
students. High grade concerts were given by this organization and the
proceeds were used for high school purposes.
A number of local musicians received the first stimulus to enter on a
professional musical career while playing with the high school orchestra ;
some of the students who specialized successfully in music after leaving
the schools are: Ralph Wetmore, Charles Kalbfus, Frank and Ralph
Rigio, Martha Cargill, Jessie Linn, Chester Moffett, Charles Woods,
Orrin Dudley and Kate Cummings. The first text book used during a
period of fifty years was the Lowell Mason Series; then the Cincinnati
Music Reader was introduced, and this was followed by the Model Music
course. In recent years the Harmonic Music course formed the basis of
study ; it is still used in a few of the grammar grades, while the primary
grades study from the books of the New Educational Series, a revised
issue of the original Lowell Mason Series. Lately the Hollis Dann Junior
song book has been added to the seventh and eighth grades.
In 1895 the Board of Education adopted a book for the high school
music classes which was compiled and edited by Arthur R. Juergens;
this book was in use for fifteen years and it proved to be of great value
on account of its song material; in 1920, after twenty-eight years as
musical supervisor of Springfield schools, Mr. Juergens retired from the
service. The school music is now in charge of G. R. Humbarger, a pro-
gressive young musician of Marietta. He frequently contributes to pro-
grams, the whole community being interested in the work of the public
schools. At an educational association attended by Clark County teachers
in 1921 these subjects were discussed : "The relation of the school music
supervisor's work to the community, from the viewpoint of the business
man," "The relation of the music supervisor's work to the other activ-
ities of the school, from the viewpoint of the superintendent," and "The
music supervisor's task, from the viewpoint of one of the most prom-
inent teachers in America."
German Musical Societies
Professor Juergens says of the Musical Activity in German Societies,
that the musical history of Springfield would be incomplete without an
account of the musical endeavor in the German societies. Fifty years ago
when immigration was at its zenith, Springfield was favored by a large
influx of German mechanics who sought employment in the factories ; as
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454 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
most of these immigrants were unable to speak English, they organized
societies among themselves, where they could sing songs in their mother
tongue ; the foremost of these societies was the Springfield Maennerchor,
a male chorus that met once a week to study German songs. It frequently
performed in public, and many of its concerts were of a high order.
The Maennerchor eventually joined the Central Ohio Saengerbund,
a federation of German male singing societies. This organization arranged
big- festivals (Saengerfest) every two or three years; at these festivals
music of merit was performed by mass choruses, orchestras and eminent
soloists. In the early '80s Springfield was chosen as the festival city, and
under the leadership of an active committee and the director, P. E. Mon-
tamus, the city admirably disposed of its task. Prominent directors of
the Springfield Maennerchor at different periods were: Dr. Charles
A. Juergens, J. Sattes, John Reising, Joseph Link, Sr., Mr. Montamus,
Mark Snyder and Arthur *R. Juergens. Under the direction of the latter,
Springfield Maennerchor carried off the prize in a song contest held at
the Chillicothe Saengerfest in 1896, with seventeen societies participating.
The Maennerchor returned from Chillicothe covered with glory, and
upon its arrival in Springfield it marched through the streets behind
Hawken's band with Herman Voges, Sr., the president of the society,
leading the procession and flourishing the laurel wreath, presented to
the Maennerchor, as a mark of respect, by the women of Chillicothe.
One of the most noteworthy concerts given by the Maennerchor was
the one offered in 1897 at Black's Opera House. Mrs. Wentz-MacDon-
ald, the famous contralto, and Michael Brand, the noted 'cello-player
and orchestra leader of Cincinnati, appeared on the program as soloists.
For a half century the Maennerchor was the social center of the German
population, and in 1905, when a rapid decimation of the ranks of Ger-
man pioneers had brought German social life in Springfield to low ebb,
the Maennerchor "gave us the ghost."
Prominent Germans, now deceased, who took an active part in Maen-
nerchor affairs were: Frank Anzinger, Sr.,* Joseph Link, Sr., Leo
Brame, Prof. August Mammes, Martin Kreis, Christian Binnig, and
Edward C. Schmidt. Of those still among the living the following
deserve mention : Herman Voges, Sr., Charles Gasser, Herman Gunder-
man, Louis Miller, and Joseph Schumacher, Sr. In the course of time
other German male singing societies appeared on the scene to compete
for German support. In 1894, under the auspices of the local Elks' Club,
prominent Springfield vocalists organized the Orpheum Society in the
Elks' Club rooms in the Old Zimmerman Building on East Main Street.
The organizers, W. T. Putman, Edwin Arthur, Albert Rawlins and Mr.
Juergens summoned the trained male singers of the city to unite for the
purpose of cultivating chorus music of merit.
Under the leadership of Mr. Juergens, the Orpheum flourished and
soon became the leading musical organization of the city. Singers like
August Mammes, P. E. Montamus, Henry De Leeuw, Frank Hemstreet,
George Frankenberg, George Mellen, and Frank Prothero enrolled, and
the music lovers of the city were soon regaled with concert music of a
high order When the director, Mr. Juergens, resigned on account of the
press of school duties Charles L. Bauer wielded the baton for the
Orpheum, but it disbanded after an existence of two years. Another
society was the Harmonia, organized by Dr. Charles A. Juergens, who
also became its director. After a successful existence of several years
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 455
it disbanded. William Ottenfeld, Sr., was the leading tenor of the
Harmonia.
Eventually the Suabian Saengerchor, founded by Reinhold Singer,
appeared as a rival of the Maennerchor. Directors of this society at
different times were : Julius Trepz, Joseph Bischof berger, John Reising,
Mark Snyder and Mr. Juergens. Recently the name of the society was
changed to Germania Maennerchor. As a result of the war, it too is now
peacefully resting beside its rivals. The choirs of the German churches
of Springfield frequently gave creditable public performances, but the
crowning effort was the big Schillerfest in 1905, given to commemorate
the one-hundredth anniversary of the death of the great German poet,
Friedrich Schiller.
A mass chorus and a large orchestra under the leadership of Arthur
R. Juergens rendered a high grade program, and the festival resulted in
a musical triumph. The two chief and ipost deserving promoters of this
German festival were: Louis Weixelbaum, the deceased German news-
paper editor, and Adam Schmidt, the druggist.
While Mr. Juergens has written of the musical community from the
standpoint of personal observation and participation, Prof. John Reising,
who for fifty years has been a writer and teacher of band music, says
some unique things. Bands in Springfield used to play popular music
long before it was published, the teachers had to write it for them, and
only time-tested music reached publication finally; perhaps that explains
the vitality of early music — only the fittest survived, demostrating its
merit before publication. * Professor Reising enumerated .Turtle's,
Krapp's, Hawkens' Seventh Regiment, Continental and Warder's Veteran
Grenadier bands, and later the Big Six . Band, of which he was the
teache*- and business manager. For years he wrote his own band music
because he could not buy it ; the early Springfield bands all played manu-
script music.
Earl Hawkens is leader of the Cadet Band, organized in 1892, and
contemporary with the Big Six Band, and other recent bands are: Met-
ropolitan, Junior Order, Robbins & Myers and the Yolo Band, the most
active band recently; however, on short notice some of these bands are
still called into action. There have been some good Negro bands in
Springfield as the Alma and Duquesne Blues, Mr. Reising writing much
of their music and sometimes instructing them. Years ago the Salvation
Army had a good band with Mr. Reising as its teacher. Some of the
Springfield lodges have maintained bands, as I. O. O. F. and K. of P.
bands, and some of them played for years. They used to fill concert
engagements, and were often in street parades. Splendid musical talent
is sometimes brought to Springfield, and local musicians have been heard
in other communities. Many Springfield musicians have studied abroad,
but a list is an unwise thing — sometimes names are omitted — but condi-
tions are such in Springfield that a good musical education may be
obtained without the finish abroad.
As early as 1814 William Nicholson taught singing school and public
school in the home of William Ross in German Township, and in 1826
a society was formed for the encouragement of instrumental music, but
that in the time of the sarcastic Rev. Saul Henkle, sometimes a writer,
and he said : "The miserable condition of the instruments and the exer-
tion of blowing brought on decay of the lungs by which it was carried off
in a few months." Mr. Henkle said further : "In 1837 a vocal musical
society was formed, but soon taking the influenza, it lingered for a while
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456 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
and died," and there is record that on November 8, 1849, the Buckeyes, a
quartet band of vocalists, Silas Ludlow, Thomas Dean, Oliver Kelly and
James Wissinger, under the leadership of the bandmaster, L. R. Tuttle,
gave a concert in Springfield. They had a crowded house, and the
concert was a success.
George W. Winger of Springfield is the only survivor of a quintet
who sang campaign songs together in 1860, the others being: Amaziah
and Hezekiah Winger, Andrew Watt and C. S. Ramsey. While as early
as 1840 the people sang campaign songs, as "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too,"
this quintet was perhaps the first musical organization to travel all over
Clark County, and Mr. Winger recalls these words:
"Hark ye, men and maidens, don't you hear the clatter?
How the earth is shaking; what can be the matter?
Horses, sheep and cattle frightened half to death —
Flying through the meadow, till they're out of breath;
Tis Uncle Abe a thundering to the station,
With a load of rails for fencing in the nation.
Chorus :
Conductors' just the man for putting matter through;
Measures six-feet-four— minus boot or shoe —
Legs two Lincoln rails united at the top,
And when the locomotes, you'd think he couldn't stop."
Henry C. Hawken, who was a Springfield band music teacher before
the Civil war, was with Gen. J. Warren Keifer as an army musician.
Later his son, Earle K. Hawken, was a band teacher, and still fills
musical engagements. The Hawken Band frequently plays Sunday pro-
grams in Snyder Park, and in it are some of the original players. 'There
are other father-and-son musicians in the community, Senior and Junior
having been used by Mr. Juergens, and by local music critics — rather
musical reporters in the newspapers.. Anna Marie Tennant writes of
the activities of the Woman's Club, and the Fortnightly Musical Club
in staging musical attractions, and she says Springfield has a number of
music composers, and as an innovation the Fortnightly Club announced
a program by local writers, including: Ralph Zirkle, Robert Brain, Jr.,
Philip Frey, and Robert Brain, Sr., whose violin numbers have long been
recognized. Carl Wilhelm Kern, known as a composer, once lived in
Springfield, and Prof. G. R. Humburger, while not writing music, adapts
it to orchestral use as do Mark Snyder, David Driscoll and perhaps others.
Miss Tennant writes: "Springfield has contributed a number of
talented musicians to the world," and she mentions Francis MacMillan,
violinist; Miss Pauline Watson, violinist; Ralph Wetmore, violinist;
Robert Brain, Jr., pianist and composer; Miss Sibyl Sanderson Fagan,
pianist and whistler, and Ralph Zirkle, pianist and composer. Mrs. Bessie
Foreman Bevitt, who is an organist, once lived in Springfield, and local
mention of Mrs. Margaret Hagan McGregor as organist and musical
director is most complimentary, but every church choir has its competent
leader, and Philip Frey, who gave a recent program, was spoken of as
"Springfield's own pianist." A local news item reads: "The mouth
organ is coming back. * * * The return of the mouth organ means
a step away from jazz," and that form of music has stirred everybody to
command or condemn it, so it must have some merit. There is now a
"Bureau of Industrial Music," in some cities, and Springfield musicians
have their industrial organizations.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 457
While the pioneers whistled tunes, and some of them had fiddles in
their homes, it remained for Pierson Spinning to bring the first piano to
Springfield. It is now in the rooms of the Clark County Historical
Society. Mr. Spinning bought this piano in 1832 in Philadelphia. It
was carried to Pittsburgh in an overland schooner, and from Pittsburgh
it was carried by boat to Cincinnati, and the last lap of transportation
was by wagon to Springfield. Miss Mary Spinning, who played it,
learned music in the school of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe in Cin-
cinnati. She was once the leading musician in Springfield, and her
piano was brought into the community ninety years ago.
While the church spire of the past has been followed by the pipe
organ as distinctive architecture, some of the Springfield singers never
had inquired as to what church was first to install an organ. The church
without an organ is the exception, and when Mr. and Mrs. I. Ward Frey
suggested that Alexander Sykes had been first to play an organ in the
First Presbyterian (now Covenant) Church, and that Rliss Helen McBeth
had played the organ in the Second Presbyterian Church, none questioned
their seniority, and none knew the number of pipe organs installed in
Springfield today. A number of theaters have pipe organs. The second
and third organ has already been installed in some of the Springfield
churches, and some of the best organs are to be heard in Springfield;
the organ in Christ Episcopal Church was given by Mrs. A. S. Bushnell,
and it is spoken of as an excellent instrument. Organ recitals have
attracted large audiences, some of the foremost artists appearing in
Springfield.
Some humorist with a penchant for music recalls that years ago
organ stools could be raised or lowered to suit the player, and all young
girls spent a good deal of time in adjusting the stool. It was a round
seat on a screw, and there was always a tidy cotton scarf over it. In
these days of "canned music," and radio concerts, music is widely dis-
seminated, the farm homes having instruments and youngsters who play
them. A recent platform speaker visiting Springfield charged that under
the influence of a perpetual round of jazz dances, moving picture shows
and aimless automobile riding, the faculty of concentrated and consecu-
tive thinking is in danger of becoming completely atrophied in the com-
ing generation, and Prof J. A. Ness of Wittenberg College characterizes
jazz as jungle /music, saying it is responsible for the barbaric attributes
of modern dances, and in contradistinction is the tribute of a local speaker
before the Fortnightly Club, saying that God is to be found in the music
of the woods and the great out-of-doors.
Here is a neat little parody on a singer of note, reading:
"Said the brook, Tm a singer,
As all will agree;
I will sing till I finally
Reach the high C,'"
and that seems to be the inevitable — those having musical talent usually
give themselves to it. Even violinists keep on playing till they finally
reach the old fiddlers' contest stage, and all unite in the chorus:
"There's a long, long night a waiting
Until my dreams all come true;
Till the day when I'll be going down
That long, long trail with you."
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CHAPTER LI
SECRET ORDERS IN CLARK COUNTY
The church entered the social life of the community early in
its history. The settlers were busy keeping the wolf from the
door, and they did not find time for secret orders until about the middle
of the nineteenth century ; however, the settlers were fraternal since they
always responded to the needs of others. A number of Springfield
lodges own their own homes, and they are behind many community move-
ments as boosters; however, the social and benevolent features are the
primary work of most lodges.
According to data concerning secret orders collated twenty years
ago by P. M. Cartmell of Springfield, the Springfield Lodge Independent
Order Odd Fellows was instituted locally in 1844, and it was the first
lodge in Clark County. This order is based on friendship, love and truth
and three links are the symbol. The first Independent Order of Odd
Fellows Lodge in America was organized April 26, 1819, in Baltimore —
Washington Lodge No. 1 — and Thomas Wildy was its founder. After .
a few years the English charter was surrendered, and the Grand Lodge
of Maryland was organized instead of it. There are now a number of
I. O. O. F. lodges in Clark County.
In 1848 Clark Lodge Free and Accepted Masons was organized in
Springfield, and it ranks among the strongest fraternal orders in Clark
County. While the origin of Free Masonry is lost in the mists and
obscurity of the past, well authenticated reference to it is found dating
almost as far back as the beginning of the Christian era. It was in the
third century that the Emperor Carausius "granted the Masons a charter,
and commanded Albanus to preside over them in person as Grand
Master." The name Free Mason is met with in connection with the
organization of Masonry in England as far back as 1350, although it is
not known just when the title originated. June 5, 1730, is the beginning
of the order in America. Anthony Lodge, organized in 1871, observed
its fiftieth anniversary in October. While the Negro Masons have more
lodges, the older lodges have greater numbers.
In 1872 the Improved Order of Red Men was first instituted in
Springfield, the Lagonda Tribe being followed by other lodges, and in
1893 came the Independent Order of Foresters. In the same year the
Junior Order United American Mechanics was organized with other
lodges from time to time. The Knights of Pythias Lodge had its origin
in a poem written in 1821, in which a loyal friendship is portrayed as
existing between Damon and Pythias. This touching story of friendship
and devotion stirred the heart of Justus H. Rathbone, who read and
re-read the poem in 1857-8, and while he was impressed with it the War
of the Rebellion — the Civil war — delayed things, but finally when he read
the poem and a ritual he had formed to Robert A. Champion, they
immediately began activities. It was in 1864 that the order was instituted
in Washington City, and in 1871, Moncrieffe Lodge was instituted in
Springfield. The Negroes also have Pythian lodges in the community.
There are three Ohio fraternal homes located in Springfield, and
all of them look after both aged and young relatives of members. In
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460 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
1895 the Masonic Home was located in Springfield, and soon after the
I. O. O. F. and Knights of Pythias homes were established. While they
are elsewhere mentioned, they all occupy commanding sites adjacent to
the city, the Knights of Pythias old people being downtown in the P. P.
Mast property, while the children are sheltered in the home on North
Fountain Avenue. In the other homes all are at the same place although
not under the same restrictions. The members of these homes are not
wards of the state, but they are cared for by the fraternities with whom
their relatives have been associated, and who provided for them.
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks instituted a lodge in
Springfield in 1885, and while it is not a beneficiary order it is given to
philanthropy; the brotherly spirit of the order is paramount to all else
in times of grief, suffering and distress. The Order of Elks is distinc-
tively American, and there never will be a lodge outside of the United
States. American patriotism is a foundation stone, and the American
flag lies upon its altar; no Elk's Lodge opens or closes without the
inspiring influence of the American flag. On the first Sunday in each
December every Elks' Lodge in the United States holds its Lodge of
Sorrow in memory of its deceased members.
While the most widely known orders have been enumerated, as early
as 1849 the American Mysteries is listed in Springfield. The Ancient
Order of Hibernians was instituted in 1875 and the Springfield Cen-
tennial Book lists the Grand Army of the Republic Mitchell Post as
instituted in 1881, mentioned already in the military chapter. In the
Fraternal News section of the Springfield papers other lodges are men-
tioned, but the time of installation is not given and secret orders are
destined to remain secret until they give out their own information.
While some of the orders are beneficiary, all are fraternal and charitable,
and many favors are shown without ostentation— let not thy right hand
know about thy left hand and its mission — and widows and orphans have
disclosed kindly ministrations from lodges that otherwise would not be
known outside the membership of the orders.
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CHAPTER LII
ORGANIZED LABOR IN CLARK COUNTY
There are many benefits arising from organization, and those who
labor with their hands are not all who are benefited; however, a labor
writer says: "As unionism grows, the great power placed in its hands
may be misunderstood and diverted to purposes of private profit, thus
forming a veritable labor trust This will not be possible, however, as
long as leaders of the labor movement see fully the needs of wage-
workers, and remain true to their responsibilities."
While "sweatshops" never have been factors in Springfield industry,
union labor does enter its protest and teach the following: "Let every
worker demand goods bearing the union label on its product. The woman
who sweeps the floor can use a union made broom as well as the man
can wear a union made suit of clothes; in making your purchase in a
store, inquire for a union clerk, and make it plain to him that the article
you want must carry the union label. Constant inquiry for union label
goods has made the merchant and manufacturer recognize the demand
for them. Let organized labor continue to demand union goods, and it
will not be long until every article used by man will carry the union
label," and this bit of loyalty to union labor finds its counterpart in the
story of the Shorthorn cattle breeder who ordered roast beef at table
d'hote, and the horticulturalist who demanded that apples be included
in the fruit menu on the same table.
The unemployment of the idle, and the idleness of those who are
employed are problems confronting political economists and expediency
experts, and while the teaching is old that everything comes from land
and labor, the colleges and universities now are studying the situation.
Babson, who writes on the labor question from the religious viewpoint,
says that natural resources, available labor and capital are important, but
they are of little value in the economic structure until they are released
by people filled with the spirit of God. "That is what the study of eco-
nomic history clearly teaches," and he quotes Towson thus : "Materials,
labor, plants, markets, all these things can be adjusted, but the soul of
man which determines his purposes and his motives, can only be con-
verted through religion."
In 1909 organized labor in Springfield established The Tribune as its
official organ and mouthpiece; it is published by C. W. Rich and W. C.
Hewitt. In November, 1913, The Springfield Trades and Labor Assem-
bly acquired the Labor Temple, and since that time The Tribune has
maintained its office there. T. J. Creager, labor union secretary, has an
office in Labor Temple. In 1901 he published the story of local labor
development, saying: "In no direction has greater progress been made
in Springfield than in its manufacturing interests. * * * With the
assistance of the well known high mechanical ability of Springfield's
workmen, it has manufactured products which now reach every civilized
portion of the earth, and have made Springfield known throughout the
entire ^yorld as a city whose products in the line of manufacture in which
it engages are unexcelled. It is universally admitted that the condition
of any community is reflected by the condition of its wage-earners.
"While Springfield has been so wonderfully progressive in an indus-
trial sense, the proportion in which its working people have contributed
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462 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
to its advancement should not be overlooked; without competent labor,
our city could not have progressed ; without competent labor nothing can
be accomplished. In the words of the immortal Abraham Lincoln : 'Cap-
ital is the fruit of labor, and could not exist if labor had not first existed ;
labor, therefore, deserves much the higher consideration/ This city
numbers among its most substantial citizens some of the men who have
for a greater or less period of time worked daily stipulated hours for a
stipulated wage, in the manufacturing and other concerns of the city.
To fully appreciate this fact, one has but to witness one of the annual
Labor Day celebrations on the first Monday in September..
"It has often been remarked by persons witnessing these celebrations :
'Springfield should be proud of her workingmen/ and while conditions
surrounding the working men are not just what they should be, consid-
erable improvement has been made, and that the conditions which now
obtain are as good as they are, can be attributed in a great measure to
the work — educational and otherwise— of the labor organiaztions. These
unions, formed primarily with the object of advancing their members
intellectually, socially, morally and financially, have certainlv accom-
plished a great deal toward elevating the working men and their fam-
ilies to the station in life which they should properly occupy; better
wages, better hours, Saturday half-holidays and better working condi-
tions generally have resulted from their efforts,, saying nothing of the
education of the members on questions about which they should be
informed. It is admitted by those familiar with the subject that the
trades union is one of the best intellectual training schools in existence.
"While the efforts of the labor unions in this city have resulted in
great benefit to the members of the organization, these benefits have not
been confined to them exclusively; the effects of their work have been
felt and enjoyed also by those who have not held membership, contributed
financially, or devoted their time to the work of making these efforts
successful. When the trades union succeeds in securing something of
benefit to its membership, these same benefits must naturally accrue to
the entire craft, including those who are not members of the organiza-
tion. Previous to 1864 there was no organization of labor in Clark
County; in the light of subsequent events, this seems to have been due
to the fact that the industrial conditions prevailing were entirely satis-
factory.
"With the increase of population, and the ever-changing methods of
production and distribution natural opportunities were lessened, and com-
petition grew fiercer and fiercer between investors on the one hand, and
wage earners on the other, developing into a struggle of capital against
capital and labor against labor. (Just at this period the home production
dropped out of the competition, as housewives found they could buy
fabrics cheaper than they could weave them ; the loom was not much in
evidence after the Civil war.) Capital organized to protect and advance
its interests, and for the same purpose its example was quickly followed
by intelligent labor. (Since such great industrial changes grew out of
the Civil war, it is interesting to note the reconstruction labor develop-
ments following the World war.) Today we have on one side an almost
complete organization of employers in the various branches of industry,
and on the other there are countless organizations of labor.
"The organization of only one of these forces — capital or labor —
would mean disaster and ruin to the other; therefore, the organization
of both is necessary to the success of either, and to justly conserve the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 463
rights of all; organization promotes higher civilization; individualism
is maintained, and the strong comes to respect the weak ; our republic
exemplifies the merits of cooperation advocated by organized labor.
Uncle Sam has been a union man from the beginning, and without the
cooperation of the states this greatest of nations could not exist. No
one who understands our form of government would exchange it for
any other. * * * When it is understood that short hours, and wages
based on the value of the thing produced will mean steady and profitable
employment, and enable the consumer to buy back the product he has
created to the extent of that which is his just portion, thus increasing
consumption, then really sound business methods will be understood and
prevail universally; many years of educational work may be necessary
to secure a practical understanding of these principles.
"The labor organizations are seeking to do their share in this direction ;
the union is a school for the workers, while in the meantime they are
endeavoring to secure a sufficient compensation, and conditions that will
enable them to live comfortably." (In the chapter on the industries of
Springfield, mention has been made of the activities of W. H. Stackhouse
i|i Washington, and he is credited with an effort to save the Workmen's
Compensation Law, with organized labor back of it.) Mr. Stackhouse
was called to Washington to participate in the unemployment conference,
and as a manufacturer he represents the interests of both capital and
labor; he is recognized in the councils of the nation. While Springfield
industries are not all unionized, the local unions have been able in a
measure to control wages, and there is little labor friction. There have
been some differences in the building trades, and among the molders and
metal workers in Springfield.
"To the victors belong the spoils," but it is admitted that Civil Serv-
ice does much to correct the spoils system. While Mr. Stackhouse has
done more than any other single man for the labor situation in Spring-
field, he has not always agreed with Samuel Gompers or with local lead-
ers; however, he is a student, and has his facts in hand before arriving
at conclusions. Those who differ from him credit him with honesty, and
the courage of his own conviction. Springfield has been fortunate in
the nature of its industries with regard to the labor question; when a
man can do the work in one factory, he need not leave town to find simi-
lar employment in another. While it is an open shop community, there
have been few labor difficulties. The East Street shops in the '80s had
some serious difficulties. Springfield is an industrial center for printers,
and it offers sufficient employment to bring them into the community in
numbers.
Iron Molders* Union No. 72, organized in March, 1864, with twenty-
two charter members, was the first labor union in Springfield, and some
of its members later held responsible positions. While a few remained
in the "sand heap," others became interested in business for themselves.
The Iron Molders* Union purchased a burial lot in Ferncliff and in St.
Raphael's and Calvary cemeteries to be the final resting place of those
who do not have family burial plots in the community.
While the panic of 1872 caused some of the members to leave Spring-
field, the spirit of unionism did not remain dormant. While the charter
was surrendered, it was taken out again at the time of the re-organiza-
tion in 1878, and until 1896< when this feature was incorporated in the
national body, the local union paid about $4,000 for sick and funeral
benefits ; since 1896 such benefits are drawn from the National organiza-
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464 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
tion. A death benefit of $100 is paid within thirty days, and if the
member had been five years in the union an additional $50 is applied on
his funeral, and the local union pays $50 additional.
The Typographical Union No. 117, organized September 1, 1868, was
the second trade union in Springfield, and it received its charter from
the National Typographical Union. It had seven charter members, and
seldom had more than fifteen members at one time. It had a strenuous
existence, finally dropping out, but on July 28, 1882, it was re-organized
and as printing has become an extensive business in Springfield, it has
flourished again. On October 6, 1890, a resolution was passed abolishing
the practice of paying employees in order for merchandise, and that
throws some light on an economic condition existing in 1827 in Springfield.
About that time a paper mill was built on Mill Run. It was an acqui-
sition to the industries of the town, and operated by local capital. There
was little money, but it offered both employment and a market for rags.
In a short time mill owners opened a store, and the mill hands were paid
in trade. Wheat was taken in exchange for merchandise, and it was
converted into flour, and thus the mill employees obtained their living
from the store without the painful necessity of handling and counting
money; however, in 1890, the Springfield Typographical Union had.
recourse to resolutions because payment with store orders was detrimental
to the craft. The Typographical Union has its own welfare department,
and local printers have been sent to health resorts, and they may have
residence in the Union Printers' Home at Colorado Springs.
In 1894 type-setting and type-casting machines were introduced by
the Hosterman Publishing Company, and in 1896 by the Sun Publishing
Company, and later in the same year by the Crowell & Kirkpatrick Com-
pany, now the Crowell Publishing Company, and now there are many
Mergenthaler type-casting machines in Springfield. The introduction
of the linotype was the greatest epoch in the history of the art preserva-
tive, and while many thought it would cause printers to change their
occupation or seek other communities, it proved a stimulus to the busi-
ness, and Springfield is now one of the greatest publishing centers in the
world.
On August 17, 1882, the initial move was made toward organizing a
Trades Assembly in Springfield, and December 3, 1885, another commit-
tee was appointed of which T. J. Creager was a member, and when the
Trade and Labor Assembly was finally founded in 1890, members of the
Typographical Union became its most active supporters. Since the '90s
new labor unions have been added almost every year. The Mad River
Assembly, instituted April 9, 1883, with seventy-one charter members
was recognized as the largest Knights of Labor Assembly thus far insti-
tuted in the West, and it prospered for a time, its membership
reaching 200 two years later, and it still functions in the community.
The Cigar Makers' Union became active, and the assembly always has
had an active interest in civic affairs in Springfield. It has influenced
state legislation in some instances.
In 1890 the Trade and Labor Assembly began to observe Labor Day;
its purpose is to emphasize the place of labor, and to make the laborers
feel that there is a place for them in the economy of social life. The
observance of the day has become a fixed fact in Springfield ; it has done
much to bind together the various unions in the general brotherhood,
and the success they won in securing shorter hours of labor has bene-
fited others. All advances that have been made for the better condition
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 465
of wage-earners have come through the unions. Labor does the best for
its employer when it does the best for itself.
Through the Springfield Trade and Labor Assembly, organized
labor indorsed the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, Secretary Creager
saying: "Any movement which has for its purpose the abolition of war
has the wholehearted support of the wage-earners of the country, who
must bear the greater portion of the burdens of war." Organized labor
has used its influence toward providing public work in building streets in
Springfield in the period of business depression, and groups of men have
had part time employment, the groups shifting to accommodate others
an3 thus enable families to have necessary money. Because of the
depression the community is losing both immediate and potential produc-
tion, and it is better to have improvements through taxation than to
administer charity to workers who are unemployed, and more than 700
men applied for emergency street employment.
While unions regulate wages, criticism is offered because men will
not accept wages offered them when they are in need of money. A local
writer says: "If we are expert mechanics, musicians or accountants, and
circumstances force us out of our line temporarily, and we are required
to don overalls and get down to common labor, we are bigger men than
if we were to sit around and whine because we cannot find a place in
our chosen work, and refuse to accept anything else." The same writer
continues: "If such fellows would get down to business, and do what-
ever their hands found to do, the capitalistic powers would open their
eyes and see that they are not going to starve in spite of the fact that
the hinges on the factory doors are rusted, and spider webs over the win-
dows shut out the sunlight," and because of the difference in wages it is
found that in times of business depression there are more idle men than
women.
Before the industrial era that was ushered in with the advent of the
steam engine, every little neighborhood was a world to itself, and it
knew nothing about strikes and labor difficulties; the farmer took his
wheat to mill and brought home the flour ; he exchanged his produce for
the things he needed at the store. There was no over-production and no
era of prosperity followed by a period of depression. While nobody
had a great deal, those who were willing to work never went to bed
hungry; then came the industrial development, and the era of the world
markets, and along with it all came the labor question. Now everything
is done by machinery, and without it 3,000,000,000 slaves would be
required to duplicate what is now done by Americans — so says a bulletin
issued by the Smithsonian Institute.
When the chasm between capital and organized labor has been spanned
by the bridge of better understanding, there will be fewer clashes in the
economic world. While under war-time labor conditions there were jobs
for all, the pendulum swung back again; the manufacturers have been
able to ferret out the indifferent, inefficient workers thus reducing their
payrolls without lessening the production, and with the rest of the world
Clark County is again passing through a reconstruction period. While
many men employed in local open shops belong to unions, organized labor
does not control the situation in Springfield. Anything that makes the
home more comfortable, renders life more happy, and has a tendency to
better social conditions is worthy of favorable consideration, and such is
the mission of trade unionism in Clark County.
Tol. 1—30 ,
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CHAPTER LIII
WELFARE WORK IN CLARK COUNTY
In every community there are those who, by reason of age, infirmity
or misfortune, have a claim on society. An economic critic exclaims:
"Organizations for charity! they may be found in every community,
watching over the apparent needs of those who are taught to expect and
receive alms," but who would care for those unable to care for them-
selves, were it not for organized charity? How did the pioneers handle
the question? "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have — " and
it seems that want always has been relieved in society.
Was the woman who was moved to charity and who gave something
to a beggar in order to insure her own good luck a benevolent woman?
It is said that great charitable institutions are founded on the surplus
earnings of active men who did good while earning their money, and
who closed their lives in a burst of philanthropy. They establish founda-
tions, and the good they do lives after them. Those who endow beds in
hospitals are doing welfare work, whether or not they regard it as charity.
There is a fellowship of service, and public spirited, benevolent persons
soon learn to know each other. Sometimes common interests cement
friendships, and the difference in environment makes the difference in
humanity. '
The root word that used to be translated charity has since been
translated love by students of the original script, and through its impulse
the county and state act as broadminded, public spirited benefactors in
the care of unfortunates. Just as the taxpayers of Clark County con-
tribute to schools and the higher institutions of learning, the community
has other coteries of citizens who receive benefits from the county and
state charitable, benevolent and fraternal organizations. In the last
analysis, private individuals constitute the county and state and their
organizations, and there are some comprehensive citizens at the helm in
Clark County.
While some citizens live in their own homes, others live in public
institutions and Clark has not only county but state institutions — there
are many beneficiaries of the county direct, while the state institutions
are all of fraternal nature. While some families send their children to
universities others go to asylums; all are beneficiaries of the county and
state. While some homes are more fortunate, in others there are chil-
dren who are educated in the institutions for the blind, and for the deaf
and dumb and when such advantages are provided through taxation, all
property owners have their part in "sweet charity." While there may
have been frequent need of charity among the pioneers, men and women
then dispensed it on the plan of "Let not thy right hand know what thy
left hand doeth," but in these twentieth century days of organized char-
ity, all welfare workers know of existing conditions, and thus they do
not duplicate in their relief activities.
Clark County Home
When Will Carlton gave to the world the epic: "Over the Hills to
the Poor House," he added to the burdens of those grown old who are
dependent, and Springfield people went in numbers to see the poem
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468 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
illustrated in pictures, although the scenario does not accurately depict
the poem. Because of this poem there is a measure of reproach attached
to life in a county institution ; while some who live in the county homes
never may have read it, others have been deterred from going there
because of it. While people used to say "poor house," infirmary or
county farm, by recent act of the Ohio Assembly the designation has
been changed; it is now the Clark County Home, and that appellation
flavors less of charity.
While some people proclaim that the world owes them a living, those
cared for in the Clark County Home usually have some serious physical
handicap. As early as 1829, the Rev. Saul Henkle, minister and editor
in Springfield and sometime-politician, wrote in sarcastic vein, after
reviewing several failing efforts of literary and religious nature, saying:
"To these may be added a society proposed to be formed for the pro-
motion of Christian charity; this cannot be organized at all, in our
opinion (note the editorial prerogative in the use of the pronoun 'our'),
as it requires a commodity (charity) very rarely to be met with in this
market, and besides this, no man here has any idea that he stands in
need of the article in question, each supposing himself abundantly sup-
plied," but his attitude is not reflected in the community today.
While there always will be both optimists and pessimists — the one
seeing the doughnut while the other only sees the hole in it — the com-
munity as a whole is inclined to liberality. The first benevolent institu-
tion in Ohio was the school for the deaf and dumb, established in 1829
in Columbus, and Reverend Henkle may have had his impressions from
that source. In 1837 came the school for the blind and Clark County
has benefited from both institutions. It was not until 1893 that the
hospital for epileptics was established, but its proximity to Columbus
gives Clark County the advantage of all the state institutions without
much financial burden in reaching them. Children with the handicaps of
blindness or deafness are given such excellent training in the state
institutions that they are enabled to enjoy themselves, and in many
instances they learn to sustain themselves.
In 1833 the Board of Clark County Commissioners purchased the
Joseph Parrott farm of 48.54 acres, now the site of the Northern Heights
School, and it was utilized as an infirmary until 1912 when it became a
school site and the charitable institution sought another location. In
1839 the commissioners bought the tract still owned by the county and
used as the Clark County Children's Home in order to secure wood for
heating the county infirmary, but as Springfield built up and land increased
in value, the county sold the original purchase and acquired a short quar-
ter section of land along the Valley Pike in Bethel Township. In 1912
the institution was transferred from Northern Heights to the Croft
farm, the mansion occupying the site having been built in the time of the
Croft Distillery along Mad River, an old account reading: "The man-
sion was the stopping place for the minister and his party till the first
bell rang. (Mention of the Croft Church elsewhere.) This is the farm
selected by the county commissioners for a new infirmary. The barn
still adorns the hill, but its ancient glory has departed. The bottom was
used to raise corn to make whisky, Mad River being the banner stream
in the state for that business. The Lowry farm adjoining, besides being
good corn land had and still has a noted sugar camp, now used for mak-
ing syrup."
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 469
The Clark County Home as established by the board of county com-
missioners was managed by a board of directors and when it was opened
for inmates in 1836, they were: Joseph Perrin, Charles Cavalier and
Cyrus Armstrong. In 1842 the board was : J. W. Kills, Joseph Osborne
and Levi Lathrop. Records show some of the succeeding directors as
follows: in 1853, Peleg Coates; in 1858, Jasper W. Post; in 1861,
William Eby; in 1864, Alexander Ramsay, and same year J. D.
Stewart; in 1874, J. T. May; in 1876, E. B. Cassilly; in 1877,
Samuel Rhodes; in 1878, John E. Layton, and in the same year Isaac
Kindle; in 1881, Adam Lenhart, and in the same year George W. Alt;
in 1885, John Goodf ellow, and in the same year James Buf ord ; in 1891,
B. F. Flago and same year Charles Butler; in 1892, John Stewart; in
1896, R. J. Beck; in 1897, Marshall Jackson; in 1898, R. B. Canfield;
in 1903, G. H. Logan; in 1904, George Y. Bymaster; in 1905, R. T.
Kelly; and since that time the directors have been: A. A. Huffman,
John Sullivan, J. V. Pence and E. P. Deaton.
Since 1919 JMr. Deaton has been superintendent and his wife has
been matron, and there are usually about 100 inmates of the institution.
Those who are in physical condition are used about the farm and in
the house, but since it is easier for women to secure employment out-
side than for aged men, there are more men than women in the Clark
County Home. The present superintendent had his salary advanced
because he operated the home at a profit, producing many of the necessi-
ties. The men work in the garden and they pick up potatoes and the
women work in the laundry. It is always necessary to have a foreman
who directs their efforts. There are always inmates who create dissatis-
faction, and the superintendent and matron have to exercise judgment
in dealing with them. Insane persons are transferred to the hospital
at Dayton, but many die and are buried here. By virtue of his position
the superintendent is a member of the different welfare organizations
of the county and the state, and he frequently attends welfare meetings.
Clark County Children's Home
The Clark County Children's Home was opened in March, 1878,
utilizing land owned by the county in connection with the infirmary. It
had been purchased for the firewood on it when the infirmary occupied
the site of the Northern Heights school. While the home was begun
in March it was not ready for children until July 5, 1878, and since
that time it has sheltered many of them. The home is controlled by*
a board of managers with a superintendent and matron in charge, and
the 1921 organization is: A. H. Drayer, president; Harry Ester, vice
president, and W. W. Witmeyer, secretary, with Edgar S. Thomas,
superintendent, and Mrs. Emma P. Thomas, matron. From the begin-
ning the superintendents are: Nathan M. Conkey, Rev. Philip Trout,
Adam Lenhart, Benjamin F. Brubaker and Mr. Thomas. Since 1915
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have been in charge of the home. There have
not been many changes in superintendents. Dr. W. B. Patton has been
the physician for many years, the finance being taken care of by the
commissioners.
There are sixty-five acres at the children's home with forty acres of
cleared land, and the timber near the buildings makes it an attractive
spot. While there is not enough pasture, a small dairy is operated and
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 471
the institution is largely self-sustaining. Intensive farming is necessary
and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are adapted to the requirements. By success-
ive plantings they extend the garden period, and they have small fruit
in abundance. When the land was transferred from the county home
to the children's home in 1878, it was valued at $2,600, but it is now
valued at $15,000, although it is not on the market. The improvements
suit the requirements and such a home is a necessity. The home accom-
modates 125 children, and governesses are employed to assist the matron
in the care of them. When Mrs. Thomas goes to the meetings of wel-
fare workers she knows that the home is cared for by her assistants.
Men and women now heads of families look back over their own child-
hood spent in the Clark County Children's Home.
While the land and improvements represent an original investment
of $20,000 and there has been an expenditure of $28,375, with the
advance in the price of realty the home is now valued at $65,000, and
annual reports are made to the Clark County Commissioners and to
the Ohio Board of State Charities. For the fiscal year ending August 31,
1921, the report shows that in twelve months seventy-three boys and
154 girls had been registered, although some did not remain long and
some were returned from temporary homes, where they had not pleased
the families asking for children. Unless they are satisfactory, families-
may return children within a stipulated period of time. The average
for the year was forty-one boys and forty-seven girls, making the com-
paratively low average of eighty-eight children for the year.
While the superintendent and matron have their homes and their
living free, he is paid $90 and she is paid $50 a month, and with all
expenses included the home has been operated a* year for $31,750.39,
being a per capita cost of >$348.64 for each child, which reduced to a
weekly basis is $6.70, or almost $1 a day that Clark County pays for each
child cared for at the institution. While the children are transferred
by truck to Northern Heights School, a hospital had been almost com-
pleted and the board of managers was selecting its furniture. It is not
a permanent home for delinquents, although some are sheltered there at
times. While the best American blood is seldom found in an institution,
lack of capability on the part of the parents explains why some children
are found there." While some are orphans, others have one of the par-
ents living who is unable to care for them ; in some instances parents are
of low mentality and morality and are not allowed the care of their
children. Since the saloon has been banished from the community, Mr.
and Mrs. Thomas recognize higher moral standing and better welfare
conditions. At Christmas time the children are remembered by many
friends in Springfield and throughout Clark County. Sometimes they
are brought to entertainments in Springfield.
Oesterlin Orphans' Home
While the Oesterlin Orphans' Home is within the limits of Clark
County, it is maintained by the Lutheran church and was established in
1904 by Mrs. Amelia Oesterlin of Findlay. She was a Lutheran woman
and in her will she left a fund of $30,000 to the synod with which to
establish a home for orphan children -of Lutheran parentage. When this
bequest was available, the trustees of the fund were influenced by the fact
that Wittenberg College was at Springfield and it offered an opportunity
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
of completing their education while children were members of the Oester-
lin institution. Springfield was already a Lutheran center and the Zim-
merman farmstead in Springfield Township suited the requirements.
There are 108 acres in the Oesterlin Home and the tract adjoins
Lagonda — convenient to Springfield. It is a beautiful site with ever-
green hedges leading from the road to the buildings with hilltop van-
tage, and the Zimmerman farm buildings were ample for the require-
ments. While the place is picturesque, the farm furnishes much of the
necessary supplies; livestock is kept and the children are busy looking
after everything. While farming is carried on, the first care of the
superintendent and matron is the proper training of children. Industry
is part of their education. The Zimmerman farm was purchased in
1905 for $12,000 and $3,000 was expended on the buildings, installing
sanitary requirements and making other necessary changes.
There are fifteen members of the board of trustees of the Oesterlin
Home living in different parts of the country, but within the limits of
fey***
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* ■
Clark Memorial Home
Wittenberg Synod. The 1921 annual meeting was held at the institution.
The organization of the board is: Prof. S. E. Greenawalt, president;
Miss Ida Bartell, vice president ; Rev. Charles E. Rice, secretary, and
W. H. Schaus, treasurer. When the Oesterlin Home was opened, Rev.
A. J. Kissell became the first superintendent, and Mrs. Delia Etta Kissell
was matron. The home was opened in June and she died in December.
Reverend Kissell resigned as superintendent, and Rev. W. M. Havey
and his wife filled the vacancies. In turn they were succeeded, April 1,
1918, by E. F. Fry as superintendent and Mrs. Lillian Fry as matron.
The 1921 report to the Wittenberg Synod was satisfactory.
The report sets forth that "The family is a happy one, dwelling
together in as complete harmony as could be expected under the cir-
cumstances.,, There are twenty-four boys and eighteen girls. Some
are in the grades and others are in the Springfield High School. The
forty-two children come from homes all over the Lutheran territory
in Ohio. The Oesterlin Home family attend the Fifth Lutheran Church
and Sunday school (the church nearest the home), and the children are
catechised and confirmed when they attain suitable age. There are
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 473
more applications than the home can accommodate and more room is
needed at the institution.
The 1921 report says: "The Synod of Ohio heartily recommends
the action of the board of trustees of the Oesterlin Home in planning
to increase the facilities of the home and that our people from all over
the territory be urged to make liberal contributions to the building fund,
etc.,, Many people have been generous, one Cincinnati donor lately
giving a Ford sedan car for the use of the home, beside adding $1,000
to the endowment fund. The Synod of Ohio says: "Oesterlin is our
orphans' home and there is great need that we make it bigger and better ;
it is serving the church in a splendid and Christlike way."
Clark Memorial Home
The Clark Memorial Home at No. 616 North Limestone Street is a
bequest from Mrs. Charlotte S. Clark and is not a county institution. It
had been Mrs. Clark's family residence, and in 1899 she converted it
into a home for aged women, dying there herself. The time came
when Mrs. Clark was without relatives and the home is for other women
similarly situated. Women having relatives are not admitted. A woman
sixty years old pays an entry fee of $300 and $50 is set aside for her
burial expense, the remainder going toward an endowment fund. The
women living there are relieved of all personal responsibility.
While Mrs. Clark was living there was a woman's Christian associa-
tion in Springfield to whom the management was intrusted, and when
the Young Women's Christian Association was organized it succeeded
to the management of the Clark Memorial Home. The property was
remodeled at an expense of $3,000 and $2,000 was expended in furnish-
ing it, and on November 16, 1899, it was opened for the inspection of
the public and for occupants. Miss Elmina Shaffer has been matron
from the beginning and beside Miss Shaffer Miss Julia Tracy is the
only living member who came in on the opening day. She is an active
woman, although alone in the world. The Clark Memorial Home is a
refuge for unfortunates without relatives. Each woman has a private
room and all have the use of the reception hall. They all assemble in
the dining room unless it becomes necessary to serve meals in their
rooms. They assemble each morning for Bible reading, Miss Shaffer
leading unless others volunteer their service.
While Mrs. Charlotte S. Clark founded the Clark Memorial Home
other Springfield citizens have contributed liberally to it. At one time
John W. Bookwalter gave $2,500 to cancel an indebtedness on it. Mrs.
Amaziah Winger and Mrs. Charles Stout have given liberally and there
are tag days and "Harvest Home" days when the public gives to the
home. While there is an endowment, these two days are regarded by
Springfield citizens as their opportunity. The same board managing
the Y. W. C. A. handles the finances of the home. It is a matter of
record that Mrs. David Frantz, in the vicinity of Donnelsville, lived
many years longer than her husband, and while she had property she
ended her days in the county infirmary. It was before the days of
organized charity, and being without relatives she paid her way and
lived in the home provided by the county. Mrs. Frantz would have
appreciated a refuge like the Clark Memorial Home on North Lime-
stone Street in Springfield.
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474 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Clark County Detention Home
In June, 1908, the Detention Home at 122 North Limestone Street
was established in Springfield and from the beginning Miss Carrie B.
Hershey has been probation officer. In dealing with Clark County
delinquents Miss Hershey is doing a community service. Mrs. Alice L.
Stewart is assistant probation officer, and resident in the detention home
are John C. Parsons as superintendent and Mrs. Cora Parsons as matron.
The home has dormitory accommodations and when necessary youthful
charges are imprisoned there. While young children find temporary
shelter, they are immediately consigned to the Clark County Children's
Home. Sometimes a mother goes to the hospital and her children are
temporarily cared for at the detention home.
As probation officer with her office at the detention home, Miss Her-
shey endeavors to influence young women for better living, realizing
that many of them have not had the best opportunities. "A girl will
sell her soul for an automobile ride and a boy to drive it" and many
students of social conditions are agreed that the advent of the Cin-
cinnati cheap buggy in the 70s was the downfall of many young women
who thus escaped friendly observations and deficient home training
explains why many reach the detention home in Springfield. The lines:
"She's more to be pitied than censured,
She's more to be helped than despised.
She's only a lady who ventured
On life's stormy way ill-advised.
Do not crush her with words harsh and bitter,
Do not laugh at her shame and downfall,"
seem to reflect Miss Hershey's attitude in dealing with offenders.
As chief probation officer Miss Hershey is chairman of the clearing
house activities for social service work and thus she represents the Com-
munity Welfare Council of which P. H. Staley is president, and asso-
ciated with him are Miss Dorothy Neer, Miss Elizabeth Miller and Miss
Myrel Reynolds. Miss Marjorie Williams of the Y. W. C. A. is active
in the Community Welfare Council, and Miss Lelia Ogle, who was the
first president, is now doing community work in Cleveland. The council
has many problems and patience and discernment are necessary in han-
dling its affairs. The foreigner comes under its observation and it is
a slow process changing from spaghetti to baked beans as a diet, and
Miss Hershey meets all nationalities in dealing with welfare questions.
The Clark County Juvenile Court, of which Miss Hershey is pro-
bation officer, deals with offenders under eighteen years old, and those
detained in the home range in age from infants to the age limit. The
period of adolescence is the time Miss Hershey sees them and they are
absolutely without social status. They are in need of home training "and
she advises them accordingly. Under normal industrial conditions she
calls on factory superintendents and secures employment for those who
are physically equal to the labor. She has secured employment many
times for fathers and changed the economic condition of the family.
It is her business to investigate conditions and she says that Springfield
always responds to urgent calls for charity.
While the detention home comes under civil service regulations, the
superintendent, matron and probation officer have remained from the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 475
beginning, and a news paragraph reads: "Taking care of the juvenile
delinquents of Springfield and Clark County is by no means a small task,
but Mrs. John Parsons seems to be able to handle the job." Mrs. Par-
sons considers the detention home as a place of protection rather than
as a house of correction. Wayfaring children are placed there to get
them away from the influences that' have caused their trouble and they
are fed and clothed until the Juvenile Court makes final disposition of
their affairs and that ends her relation to them. The Juvenile Court and
detention home are closely associated in welfare work in Clark County
and Judge Frank W. Geiger says : "In dealing with the child delinquent
as distinguished from the adult, the fifst problem is to let the child under-
stand that the court is not its enemy but its friend."
Springfield Day Nursery
While the day nursery was organized July 1, 1920, and was located
on Limestone Street with Mrs. Frizelle as its first matron, it was moved
October 1, 1921, to the City Building on Fountain Avenue — the old city
prison — and it occupies the second floor there rent free. Its mission is
the care of children for mothers who must quit their homes in domestic
service or other day-time employment. When the day nursery was
moved Mrs. Ada M. Clark became matron and she is sensitive about the
prison story, while Miss Anna B. Johnson of the Federation of Women's
Clubs points with pride to the nursery as a better thing than a prison.
The children who attend Northern Heights School are not distressed
because it was once an infirmary.
Mrs. Clark would shield the child from knowledge of the prison and
that demonstrates her qualification as matron. The nursery has capacity
for fourteen children but as yet many working mothers do not under-
stand its relation to the community. Those who can afford it pay ten
cents a day, and only children whose fathers do not contribute to their
support are eligible at the nursery. They are cared for from 6 o'clock
in the morning until 6 o'clock in the evening and whether or not the
child has had breakfast at home, it is fed at 9 o'clock in the morning,
at noon and again at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Nutrition is a study
and a child will thrive on the nursery menu if it is not fed at home at
all. They are frequently put to bed without supper and they are brought
in the morning without breakfast.
The day nursery is financed by the Young Women's Mission and
by the Federation of Clubs of Springfield. The Young Women's Mis-
sion once undertook similar work among the colored people, but they
changed their patronage for better cooperation at the day nursery. While
Mrs. Clark has help, she is alert to the welfare of the children. There
were sleeping babes and little ones in the play room and all seemed happy.
There is a continuous rummage sale in process, many garments of
value being consigned, and when the organizations financing the nursery
are not represented, Mrs. Clark sells the article as patrons ask for them.
In the same building is the Social Service Bureau and it refers many
people to the rummage sale for bargains.
Social Service Bureau
The Social Service Bureau, which coordinates relief work, thus avoid-
ing duplication, is the outgrowth of the original Associated Charities
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organized in 1885 in Springfield. It was deemed advisable to drop the
word "charities" and thus clothe the office with more dignity — help people
to help themselves, to raise the estimate of themselves by those needing
assistance. Social service means all that associated charities meant, and
it does not humiliate those requiring favors. The Springfield Social
Service Bureau is controlled by a board of which W. W. Keif er is presi-
dent, Border Bowman secretary and George E. Kelly treasurer. Other
board members are: B. J. Westcott and F. M. Wallace, with Miss Gladys
Freeman as the executive secretary in charge of the bureau. The waiting
room in the old city prison, now the Social Service Bureau headquarters,
is frequently filled with persons asking relief, and after investigation they
are assigned to the right sources for the needed things.
The welfare workers and social service secretaries of southwestern
Ohio held a two-days' conference in Springfield outlining the work to be
done in the winter months. The meetings were held under the direction
of the Ohio Council of which the local Social Service Bureau is a mem-
ber, and the rehabilitation law providing for vocational training for per-
sons physically handicapped was explained, and the organization of a
Springfield public health nursing association which will coordinate all
public health and welfare work done by semi-official and private agencies
and place the service of these coordinated agencies at the disposal of the
city health department is under consideration. The Clark County Public
Health League, B. F. Kaufman president, has charge of the sale of
Christmas Seals and maintains nursing service beside doing other work
in the fight against the spread of tuberculosis.
When Health Director R. R. Richison filed his annual report for
1921, it showed seventy-six sanitary investigations had been made; water
from sixty wells and springs had been analyzed; the department held 313
public health conferences, and 234 consultations had been made with
physicians; the department had examined 2,187 school children, consulted
with thirty-seven principals and 300 teachers, and 746 parents. It had
given health advice to 595 classes, to 3,594 individuals and had visited
505 homes. Humane Officer J. B. Colbert, representing the Clark
County Humane Society at its 1921 annual meeting, had made 873 inves-
tigations. City Manager Edgar E. Parsons reported 918 cases of diph-
theria placed under quarantine, and the total number of communicable
diseases in 1921 reached 2,467 in Springfield. While diphtheria was
epidemic forty physicians volunteered their service and extra nurses were
employed by the city.
It was January 1, 1920, that the public health commission was estab-
lished in every county in Ohio, but Clark County did not take advantage '
of it till March 1, when Dr. R. R. Richison, who was already city
health commissioner, was appointed, becoming the first incumbent. Miss
Agnes Kyle is his assistant in the county work and as health commissioner
he sends patients to Springfield City Hospital, to Hull Private Hospital,
and to the Second District Tubercular Hospital. The Clark County Med-
ical Society cooperates with the Social Service Bureau in a survey of
disabled persons and the doctors report cases of need among worthy
families, and in some cases the bureau assumes medical bills. The Needle
Work Guild reported a fund of $375 and 832 garments furnished to the
Social Service Bureau and the Jewish women of Springfield instituted
and financed a "Conservation of Sight" week by showing a film in the
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478 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Regent Theater and by having specialists deliver addresses in the public
schools and in .Wittenberg College.
The Catholics of Springfield have their own system of welfare and
the "big brother" movements in men's clubs are in the interest of unfor-
tunate persons. The Eagles Lodge has distributed shoes and most organ-
izations have availed themselves of this offer — have sent needy appli-
cants to the order, and since "winter's first blast brings many calls for
the necessities," and there are responses from clubs, Sunday schools,
churches, and while the philanthropic societies are committed to welfare
work, a great many dispense charity privately and without others know-
ing about it. A Springfield housewife sent home a family lunch by her
washer woman and the fraternal and social organizations do many favors
unheralded to the world.
When it was reported that there were hungry children in the public
schools, Springfield club women arranged for their need and even the
prisoners in the county jail were reminded of Christmastide through
special dinner arrangements. A "flop house" was fitted up in the base-
ment of the city hall as a humanitarian measure when it was known that
men were on the Street with no shelter, and six persons availed themselves
of the privilege the first night. While the cots were without mattresses
they are better than the pavement through the night. A report of the
jobless men in New York says they prefer sleeping in the parks to the
charitable lodgings offered. They are out of work but will not accept
charity.
Through the activities of A. E. Wildman of the Selma Friends com-
munity a carload of flour was shipped from Springfield to the starving
Russians, and the Red Cross and Salvation Army have not ceased to
relieve the needy. There have been charity balls and they have been com-
mended and condemned, and Bethel Mission, composed of Mennonite work-
ers, is doing welfare work in the community. While rummage sales are
regarded as charity, patrons buying cheap articles, "The Sun's Synco-
pator" has found that since the "rich ladies are reducing," they wear their
clothes longer, thus beginning charity at home and rummage sales do
not offer so many bargains.
A man connected with the Social Service Bureau said that the citi-
zens of Springfield do engage in philanthropy, that when the story of a
needy family was reported, as that of a man with ten children asking the
first time for help — well, some one offered them a house rent free, and
many trips were made to the home, and the family slept under warm bed
clothing and had sufficient food, and when an ax was supplied the man
said he could earn enough chopping to supply the need and thus much
relief work is done that is not listed by the Social Service Bureau at
all. Education is the remedy for social evils and in a public address
Judge F. W. Geiger of the Juvenile Court advised against early marriages,
characterizing a "marriage evil" rather than a "divorce evil." Persons
of weak intellect and feeble constitution should not marry and bring
feeble-minded children into the world. It is said that parents are awaken-
ing to the problems of moral and sex education, and the time may come
when delinquency in children will not be the fault of the parents who
bring them into the world. Springfield does not come under the bans of
King Solomon, who said: "Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the
poor, he also shall cry himself but shall not be heard."
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 479
Fraternal Homes of Ohio
It was in the '90s that all eyes were focused on Springfield because
of the location of the Ohio Masonic Home, the Odd Fellows Home of
Ohio, and the Ohio Pythian Home, and since then the city has been the
mecca of many tourists who come to visit friends in these institutions.
While the buildings are elsewhere described — the chapter on homes in
Springfield — these institutions are not local benevolencies only as Spring-
field and Clark County citizens are members of the lodges supporting
them. The Masonic Home was located first, and while the cornerstone
was laid in 1892, it was not occupied until 1895. As early as 1888 com-
mittees were sent to inspect sites and investigate inducements in Ohio
and report to the Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons, and when the
committee visited Springfield Asa S. Bushnell, recognizing what such
a home would mean to the community, gave $10,000 toward it.
The Bushnell bequest was a strong influence with the committee-and
an option was secured on the Leffel farm of 154 acres and finally a plot
of 223 acres skirting Mad River for one mile and along the National
Road was secured, the agrarian rights insuring that nothing will be
constructed to obstruct the view. Masonic Hill affords a vista unequalled
in beauty, not only overlooking Mad River but in every direction. It has
excellent buildings and more are promised and while the farm is ope-
rated it is to supply the necessities — not necessarily to support the insti-
tution. The field and gardens are productive and the dairy affords fifty
gallons of milk every day. About 100 hogs are butchered and 600 hens
are kept on the farm. The poultry yards are well equipped and there
is shelter for all livestock and machinery. A small flock of sheep is kept
and the members of the home are furnished with the best of everything.
In 1921, 2,127 visitors registered at the Ohio Masonic Home and
there were many who failed to register. In treading the corridors vis-
itors are shown a room fitted up by Mrs. D. R. Locke in memory of
her husband, the once famous newspaper correspondent — Petroleum V.
Nasby. A donor may have his name on a door and many Masons are
thus commemorated by relatives. Superintendent F. D. Saunders has
much pride in showing the home to visitors. Mrs. Lottie L. Saunders
is matron and they exercise parental and fraternal interest in the com-
munity of 200 aged and young persons sheltered there. Service is not
required of those enjoying the comforts of the home only as they volunteer,
the old idea that a "child must earn its keep" not considered in institu-
tional life any longer. While discipline is enforced, it is done in kindly
manner.
The children from the Masonic Home attend graded school at Rock-
way and high school in Springfield. Since there is no nearby church,
the religious educational department of Wittenberg College has opened a
Sunday school there, furnishing the superintendent and student volun-
teer teachers — the home supplying transportation in the form of inter-
urban railway tickets. All of the children and many of the students
attend the session of the Sunday school in the home chapel, and every
Sunday afternoon a preaching service is held in the chapel. In 1921
ten Springfield ministers were Masons and they volunteered their serv-
ice in turn at the home. It is one big household — not inmates but mem-
bers, living in the Ohio Masonic Home. In discussing the beauty of
the surroundings, and of the interior decorations, Superintendent Saun-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 481
ders said that when brains were mixed with colors the results were satis-
factory. In the dining room and reception halls special attention had been
given to the color schemes, and the whole ensemble is attractive.
In 1921 there were 163,477 Masons reported in Ohio and the Ohio
Masonic Home receives $1 a year from each member for its mainte-
nance, and a hospital costing $500,000 is in process beside the splendid
buildings housing those who are in health. The new institution is one
of the most complete hospitals in the country. The dormitories for the
children are supplied with swimming pools and gymnasiums and cleanli-
ness and self-respect are possible under such environment. The children,
who are well born, have suffered the loss of parents, and at the Ohio
Masonic Home they have every possible advantage. When it was known
that the home would be located in Springfield an ovation was given
Mr. Bushnell by the citizens. There was a band serenade and the whole
community joined in honoring one of its foremost citizens.
Odd Fellows Home of Ohio
It was in a Rebekah Assembly that the plan of an I. O. O. F. home
in Ohio was organized in 1891 and in 1892 a committee from the
Daughters of Rebekah visited Grand Lodge and presented the matter.
The Springfield people immediately laid plans to secure the institution
and the Fay farm of seventy-nine acres was available, but since then a
farm of 300 acres on the Clifton pike has been acquired and it supports
the home. The home lies northeast and the buildings overlook Spring-
field. The Grand Lodge expended $73,000 in building and the home
was dedicated October 27, 1898. While it was originally planned as a
home for children, later on aged men and women were included and it
is supported by a per capita tax on all I. O. O. F. lodges in Ohio.
While the RebekaHs are not assessed, the Rebekah lodges have volun-
tarily furnished the home. The buildings are of red brick with tile
roof and cupolas. There are terraced lawns well set in shrubbery and
the home is an imposing picture. The property is valued at $150,000
beside the 300-acre farm which supports it. Each year the home uses
200 head of hogs and forty beeves, and the farm furnishes grain and
vegetables as well as poultry. There were eighty men and fifty women
and 200 children, and Mr. and Mrs. Frank L. McDonald were superin-
tendent and matron. The children attend Sunday school at North Min-
ster Presbyterian Church and they attend public school in Springfield.
When in physical condition the adults all come to the dining room
for their meals. The aged people require more discipline than the chil-
dren and when they are not "livewithable" they are dismissed from the
home. The superintendent and matron may train children, but the aged
people do not invite such attention. Their habits are established and
conformity is not easy for them. Chapel exercise is conducted each
morning and sometimes Springfield ministers are present. In 1916 a
history of the home was published and it is dedicated to Mr. and Mrs.
F. B. Turner, who for many years were superintendent and matron, and
who are called father and mother of the home. Mr. and Mrs. M. W.
Battlefield were superintendent and matron before Mr. and Mrs. Turner,
and Mr. and Mrs. McDonald succeeded them, assuming the manage-
ment April 1, 1919, and they feel the importance of training the children
and caring for the aged sheltered there. As the children complete their
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 483
education they quit the institution, equipped for making their own way
in the world. Improvements are made as needed and comfort is in evi-
dence at the I. O. O. F. Home of Ohio.
Ohio Pythian Children's Home
It was in 1892 that the Grand Lodge Knights of Pythias began to
agitate the question of a state home and the old McCreight homestead
was on the market at the edge of Springfield. Mr. Bushnell and P. M.
Cartmell did much toward attracting the location, and the P. P. Mast
home was available for the aged Pythians and the Pythian Sisters. By
this time the spirit of giving was developed in Springfield and the site
for the children's home was purchased by the community at a cost of
$25,000, and in 1894, the first cottage was built, and from time to time
there have been additions, and in 1^21 there were 242 children enrolled,
and from the beginning 1,129 children had entered the institution. For
twenty-five years Mr. and Mrs. R. M. LeFevre were superintendent and
matron and when they left the places were filled by Mr. and Mrs. Albert
A. Wormwood, who had been familiar with the institution for many
years.
Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood had retained some of the governesses
employed by Mr. and Mrs. LeFevre, and beside the public school oppor-
tunity all had careful training at the home. While there are eighty-four
acres in the McCreight farm, which was purchased, the Board of Mana-
gers sold forty-two acres to the Ridgewood addition, and with twenty-
five acres in campus and the rest in gardens, the home is supplied with
vegetables and poultry although it has no dairy or farm. Forty children
from the K. of P. Home were in the Springfield High School, and as the
result of a fund established for that purpose the three making the highest
grades are given college advantages. The first superintendent and
matron were Thomas H. Collins and his wife, who did not remain long
and the LeFevers, who succeeded them, were known to everybody in
Springfield. Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood reared their own family before
assuming the responsibilities at the home. They are the embodiment of
father and mother, and nine governesses assist them.
There is a band and an orchestra in the Children's Home, and they
frequently visit the downtown home and entertain the aged Pythians
with music. While devotions are conducted every day at the home, the
children attend the Fourth Lutheran Sunday School and some remain for
the church service. A Young People's Society Christian Endeavor has
been organized at the home, and there is enough music talent to enliven
the service. As Mr. Wormwood led the way through the corridors and
into the rooms, he was greeted by the children, who would cling to him
as they would to their own father and mother, had not a rude fate robbed
them of home environment and parents. The children in the fraternal
homes of Springfield are given careful training, and while they are under
strict discipline they understand the meaning of courtesy — would put to
shame many children reared by their own parents. Springfield has a
rare privilege— three state fraternal homes — and all are training future
citizens who will become useful men and women. There are children
and aged people in all of the homes, and the community is advertised by
them all over the country.
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CHAPTER LIV
SPRINGFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The constitution says: "The name of this organization shall be the
Springfield Chamber of Commerce; its object shall be to promote the
commercial, industrial, agricultural, civic and moral welfare of the City
of Springfield, the County of Clark, and the State of Ohio. * * *
This organization shall not affiliate with any political party, or religious
denomination," and the by-laws read: "All persons, firms or corpora-
tions interested in the advancement and prosperity of Springfield and
adjacent territory, are eligible to membership in the Springfield Cham-
ber of Commerce."
Some one has said: "Of living creatures, business men are nearest
sane; their philosophy is as accurate as their multiplication table," and
in the main the Springfield Chamber of Commerce is an association of
business and professional men. "The business man knows the weakness
of propositions, the danger signs, the failings of men; he knows how
much statements should be discounted, and herein lies his value to the
world." The organization of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce
(1921) is: Elza F. McKee, president; George F. Metcalf, vice presi-
dent; Edward Harford, treasurer; C. E. Hansell, manager, and Arthur
R. Altick, secretary, and on the business stationery is this statement:
"Member of Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America."
In its re-organization, 1922, Homer C. Cony became president, Mr.
McKee becoming a member of the board of directors, and the Springfield
Chamber of Commerce has been an unfailing source of information in
assembling data for a Clark County history. In a folder the question is
asked and answered: "Why do you serve meals at the Chamber of
Commerce?" and in the dining hall there is a veritable "round" table,
about which "everything under the sun" is threshed out, and sometimes
when the gleaner of historic data had been in a quandary while investigat-
ing some particular subject, before the meal was finished some one dis-
cussed it — the pros and the cons, the lights and the shadows — a free
lance discussion, and without a single inquiry the whole thing was made
plain at one sitting. While some one designated it as the "knocker's
table," saying the "rough necks" assembled there, it was always the
first table to be filled, and those surrounding it all seemed to have good
digestion as well as mental assimilation.
The official answer to the query, "Why do you serve meals?" is:
"It has been pointed out that the social features of the Chamber of
Commerce should not predominate ; the members have so expressed them-
selves. However, by practically a unanimous vote they have expressed
themselves as being in favor of certain social features, especially meaning
the dining room; it has been a gathering place for those who desire to
talk over things of a business or civic nature, and as such has justified
its existence. The daily contact of men at the noon lunch time is con-
sidered necessary in that it makes for closer cooperation, and a clear
and more sympathetic understanding. The dining room is not operated
at a loss, and it is the intention to run it as long as that basis can be
maintained," and other social features are : men's parlor and card rooms,
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 485
and these privileges are available to the members at all times. On the
subject of "cliques," the folder carries the information that any organ-
ization—civic, commercial, religious, fraternal — is run by those who are
vitally interested in its activities, and who devote time to its affairs.
There were two earlier organizations having similar missions in
Springfield, the failure of the East Street Shops in 1887 impressing upon
the business men of the community the necessity of concerted action, a
"four million dollar failure," being a serious matter. In order to induce
firms to locate in Springfield, and utilize some of the empty buildings, it
was necessary to inaugurate some definite city enterprise and in 1889 a
number of business men organized the Springfield Board of Trade, with
Clifton M. Nichols as secretary. The board of trade functioned until
1904, when it was absorbed by the Commercial Club. A younger and
perhaps more active and aggressive group of men became interested, and
it adopted the motto : "Make Springfield Flourish."
The time had come when "single-handed extremity was organization's
opportunity," and the Commercial Club had a social side as well as busi-
ness outlook, and posted in business vestibules was the following notice,
still to be seen in the city : "As members of the Springfield Commercial
Club we are not permitted to make any contributions without the indorse-
ment of that organization," and the Chamber of Commerce indorses the
idea — simply a protection against churches and lodges seeking donations —
and the appeal through the business manager is a saving of time and
money. The Commercial Club functioned until January 1, 1919, when
it merged into the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, and it is a com-
munity forum — a center of influence in Springfield.
Every successful business is in a constant state of reorganization; it
is a sign of weakness when the management is completely satisfied with
methods, and taken from the Ten Commandments of the Chamber of
Commerce are these thoughts : It must be organized democratically, with
the right to learn by making mistakes ; it must be free from the domina-
tion of money, giving the right of way to character and intelligence; it
must be non-partisan, non-sectarian and non-exclusive in purpose and
practice, and progress is only possible when there is mental hospitality to
new ideas. The Springfield Chamber of Commerce is fortunate in hav-
ing a business manager who possesses the ability to do two thihgs at one
time, few men having the qualities combined in Mr. Hansell. While he
does not overlook any social opportunity, he secures his business proposi-
tion at the same time.
As the year 1921 was passing, for a week there had been a bulletin
in the lobby: "Open house New Year's Eve, December 31, 1921. Be
sure and come, one big time for all," and this bulletin reflects the attitude
of the Chamber of Commerce toward the community — a social center —
and in the review of the year prepared by Mr. Hansell and Mr. Altick, it is
cited that many things have been accomplished through cooperation, and
within the year 648 different meetings were held in the rooms, and dem-
onstrating the fact that the Springfield Chamber of Commerce is a com-
munity of interests center. Within the year 29,821 meals had been
served, and about the dinner tables have been held many important con-
ferences ; it is the business center of Springfield.
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CHAPTER LV
LIBRARIES OF CLARK COUNTY
There is no place where personality or individuality manifests itself
more than in the library ; there are chosen friends, and there are chosen
books. The library is a sanctum sanctorum where none but chosen
friends presume to enter, although some families in the world fill up
their shelves without thought of the consequent culture or mental devel-
opment. However, the modern library is more than a store house for
books ; it is more than a mere distributing agency for good literature ; it
is more than a community information bureau — it is all these, and more
— it is a great educational institution second only to the public school
itself. In the multiplicity of its functions, the library is helpful contact
with the home and society.
The public library has come to be a perpetual evangel holding out to
humanity the choicest things that life offers ; a community of readers is
not a community of mobs, murderers and malcontents. What a happiness
would come to Andrew Carnegie to witness the long procession of peo-
ple of every station whose lives have become richer and fuller by his
munificence in distributing libraries. What of Benjamin H. Warder, who
has given Springfield such an institution? On a tablet in the entry of
the Warder Free Library is the information: "The library has been
erected in memory of Jeremiah and Ann A. Warder by their son, Benja-
min Head Warder. It is given to the people of Springfield for their full
enjoyment, and is left in their charge forever. It was dedicated June
12, 1890."
In 1829 Rev. Saul Henkle, who was an expert with a "wet blanket,"
penned the lines : "A library society formed in 1816 was soon threatened
with death by starvation, and by the overseers of the poor it was sold
out, but soon after died in a state of feeble childhood," and he adds:
"A library society, brother and successor to the above, formed say 1820
or 1821, it has been nearly frozen to death in an empty case, but of
late has got into trousers, but it is still very delicate," and later he sums
up everything, saying : "A sort of fatality seems to attend the benevolent
and literary societies which have been gotten up in this good Town of
Springfield."
Few later writers have been such masters of sarcasm as Rev. Saul
Henkle ; he was writing 100 years ago, and some of his statements would
be censored today. The constitution of the Springfield Lyceum was
adopted November 13, 1841, and the avowed object of the organization
was to secure for Springfield a public library, among the other advantages
of the town. While the annual membership dues were $3, the Springfield
clergymen were granted the privileges of this library without expense;
they were honorary members. The lyceum president was James S.
Halsey, and its secretary was Edward M. Doty. There were annual and
life members of the library thus organized, and the association functioned
until 1849, when there is no further record of its activities.
While this Lyceum Library was in existence, members were allowed
to introduce out-of-town visitors who were accorded reading room privi-
leges for the period of two weeks. The smoking restrictions were the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 487
same as today, and while the gleaner was copying the above information
in the Warder Free Library, a young man said he was going outside to
smoke. In the Lyceum Library no conversation louder than a whisper
was allowed in the reading ropm, but there was nothing said about the
privilege of sleeping vouchsafed to patrons of the Warder Library. In
the winter of 1843 a Young Men's Literary Association was formed
similar to the Lyceum and it assembled a small library. In 1847 it affil-
iated with the Springfield Lyceum, and there were no longer two separate
societies. Perhaps the books were worn out as nothing is known of
Benjamin H. Warder
them, and in 1867 Mrs. Samson Mason headed a movement among
Springfield women for the organization of a small circulating library.
When this circulating library was ready for patrons, its management
was given into the hands of the newly organized Young Men's Christian
Association. It was a popular movement and many families contributed
books from their own collections to it. The Y. M. C. A. was in an
upper room on East Main Street and a reading room was opened in con-
nection with the library there. While it was not like a public library,
it was a nucleus of books, and plans were formulating for a library.
While substituting for W. H. Rayner in the rooms of the Clark
County Historical Society, E. E. Shuirr looked through the newspaper
files for any mention of a library, and in The Springfield Republic of
February 15, 1871, he found the following: "We are glad to learn
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488 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
that some interest is manifested in the community on the subject of a
free public library." On that evening an oyster supper was to be held
in the Congregational Church, at which Rev. A. H. Ross was to give an
address: "Ought Springfield to have a free public library?" The meet-
ing was well attended, and reasons were given for and against it, the
main one against it being the way to raise the money to run it.
The present Springfield Library Association movement had its active
beginning February 22, 1872, when fifty men were asked to take $5
shares of stock, and it was planned to capitalize the association at $10,000
with a capital stock of $50,000 as a possibility. While the shares were
placed at $5, there was no limit to the number and Benjamin F. Warder
took fifty shares, paying $250 into the treasury. Washington's Birthday,
1922, was the jubilee anniversary of this meeting. John Foos, Ross
Mitchell, John H. Thomas, B. F. Prince, only a few men living who
were active in library affairs half a century ago, but George W. Winger,
who became treasurer, still has the original subscription list. He con-
tinued to handle library funds through the building period when Mr.
Warder, who was the heaviest subscriber, finally made the Warder Free
Library a possibility. While a tablet tells the storv, the library building
was a magnificent thing for Benjamin Head Warder to give to Spring-
field.
Everything comes from small beginnings, but Springfield was a grow-
ing city and the different library efforts only met a temporary requirement
— they did not supply the permanent need. The Republic of March 16,
1871, carried a half column on the subject of a public library — what
Springfield needs, and giving numerous reasons in its favor. In its issue
of March 22, the same paper said : "Much has been said recently about
the establishment of a free public library in Springfield," and it refers to
a meeting at which several gentlemen met in an informal manner and
discussed methods for bringing about the desired result. It was unani-
mously conceded that it would be better to relieve the Young Men's
Christian Association of the charge of the library — especially so, as its
members desired to be relieved. Plans were discussed and the matter
was left in the hands of John H. Vorhees, Cyrus A. Phelps and Henry
C. Rogers, and persons interested were requested to talk the matter over
with them. The Republic of March 23, said: "It is proposed that the
new Library Association shall be entirely separate and distinct from every
other society or association. Plans were mentioned of ways to raise
money for the project; the manufacturers and leading business men,
though, were not then ready to make adequate subscriptions, having a
little item of $20,000 to pay in the near future to the Columbus, Spring-
field and Cincinnati Railway Company.
The plan proposed provided for a free library : it was a auestion to be
decided whether the library should be free or whether a fee should be
asked, and April 6, The Republic said: "Now that the election is over,
some thought and action (we hope) may be given to the project for
establishing a free public library. The plan generally agreed upon is one
for raising an annual fund by securing subscriptions of $1 a month to
the amount of $1,500 or $3,000 for the first year. A committee has pre-
pared a constitution and a meeting will be held at an early day. We urge
all good citizens to be on the lookout for this meeting and take pains to
attend it. Suitable rooms can be obtained for the library in the Opera
House if action can be taken in time. We suggest that a meeting be
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held at as early a day as possible after the return of Mr. Vorhees from
Washington, he being chairman of the committee."
The Republic of April 27 says the plan favored is a room free to all
in a central location, and amply supplied with books, magazines, reviews
and journals sustained by an annual subscription until the time when a
permanent fund of $50,000 or $100,000 is practicable, and two days later
a meeting was held in the counting room of The Republic when it was
decided to solicit subscriptions; a few leading citizens resolved to meet
the issue at once by purchasing or erecting a building suitable for library
purposes. The issue of June 6 says : "The circulating library will con-
tinue in the same room," perhaps the Gunn Book Store. In the issue
of July 19 is an article written by Nickliffe (was it Clifton Nichols?)'
in which he expresses a hope that the library question will soon be taken
up "with the spirit and energy for which our Champion City is famous."
The issue of October 25 mentions a letter and says little was done
through the summer, and the issue of October 31 says "Mechanic" is
invited to call on A. C. Black or the editor of The Republic — something
about a "certain letter," and it makes the statement that Mr. Black is
ready to take the lead in organizing a library. On November 2 there
was a meeting in Mr. Black's office, attended by Judge Leavitt, E. C.
Middleton, Captain A. P. Steele, Mr. Russell, Cyrus A. Phelps, Henry
Rogers, James A. Cashman, Henry E. Shepherd, Thomas F. McGrew
and a number of other gentlemen. Mr. Black and Mr. Cashman were
authorized to solicit subscriptions, and to draft others, and November
21 The Republic said the solicitors were out and that the response was
favorable, and December 11 appeared the statement that the enterprise
was still on its feet, the Lagonda mechanics standing good for $400 and
the Whitely, Fassler and Kelly shops assuming $600 in subscriptions.
It seems that library activities ceased through the holiday period,
but January 19, 1872, The Republic announced a meeting of all persons
connected with the public library enterprise in the office of D. R. Hoster-
man — the old Board of Trade rooms (showing that there was a Board
of Trade prior to the East Street Shops failure) at 7 o'clock the next
evening. Mr. Black reported $3,000 obtained from the working men
and mechanics of the city, there being about 250 subscriptions. The
levy was explained by Mr. Bowman, and a committee was named : Samuel
A. Bowman, John Foos and B. H. Warder, to report a plan of organiza-
tion. Another meeting was announced for the following Saturday night.
Mr. Black, W. A. Scott, Thomas Sanderson and G. W. Winger were
constituted a committee to solicit further subscriptions. At the next
meeting five incorporators: Judge Leavill, T. F. McGrew, A. C. BJjtck,
B. H. Warder and John H. Thomas, and Friday, February 2, 1872/ the
following announcement appeared in The Ohio State Journal in Colum-
bus : "The Springfield Library Association filed its certificate of incorpo-
ration with the Secretary of State on Thursday; its capital stock is
$20,000, divided into shares of $5 each," and the name of John Foos
was added to the list of incorporators.
There were frequent subsequent meetings and the following were
chosen directors: John Foos, Benjamin H. Warder, William A. Scott,
A. C. Black and James Cashman. In the organization of the board Mr.
Foos was elected president; Mr. Winger, treasurer; and E. J. Vose,
William Pinlott and George Oakes were added to the subscriptions com-
mittee to secure more money. Mr. Winger and Mr. Rogers were
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
appointed to 'assist the secretaries, Cashman and Scott, in listing the books
coming to the Association from the custody of the Young Men's Christian
Association and the Gunn store room, and A. P. Steele, William Warder
and John H. Vorhees were constituted a committee to co-operate with
the secretary in preparing a list of books to be purchased for the library.
The library was located in the Black Opera House Building, some changes
being made to accommodate it, and W. F. Poole of the Cincinnati Public
Library assisted the purchasing committee in selecting the books. Shelv-
ing to accommodate 3,000 volumes was placed in the library.
An appeal had been made to Hon. Samuel Shellabarger in Washing-
ton for assistance in securing a catalogue, and he surrendered a claim
for court services, $100 to go to the library fund and the rest to the
Springfield Episcopalian Church; it seems that 1,700 new books were
purchased at an expense of $1,200, and while there is record of Isaac
Lancey as librarian, at an election held in April, 1872, the directors:
president, John H. Vorhees; vice president, J. J. Smith; corresponding
secretary, W. A. Scott; recording secretary, James D. Cashman; treas-
Warder Library, Springfield
urer, George W. Winger, and librarian, Thomas Jefferson Thompson,
were elected, and it seems that The Republic is silent about a meeting
held February 22, as reported in the older histories. June 5, The Republic
announced that the library in Black's Opera House Building would be
open to the citizens and friends of the institution on Saturday evening
(June 8), and the issue of June 10 carries the account of the formal
opening of the library, and June 29 there was another article referring
to what had been accomplished at the library.
In 1877 the Springfield Library was located in Union Hall, where
it was housed until May, 1890, when it was removed to its present loca-
tion, the Warder Free Library being dedicated June 12, with W. C.
Woodward as librarian. In an article on public schools, Prof. Samuel
H. Weir speaks of Isaac Lancey as a custodian of books, and between
Mr. Thompson and Mr. Woodward there is mention of Mrs. Virginia
Heckler and Mrs. Mary Rice as joint librarians. Miss Alice Burrowes
was an assistant librarian when the library was moved from Union Hall
to the Warder Free Library Building. Mr. Woodward was the first
man to leave any detailed history of Springfield, writing Springfield
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Sketches and the historical data in the first Springfield Directory, both
published in 1852. He was a former student of Wittenberg College, and
librarian when he died July 24, 1896, having been with the library through-
out its organized history.
When Robert Christie Woodward died there were eleven applications
for the position made vacant, and when the board met September 5,
1896, the position was awarded to Miss Burrowes. While Miss Burrowes
was chosen for one year, she still assists investigators to find necessary
facts. Benjamin F. Warder, whose generosity made the Warder Free
Library a possibility, was an active business man and influential citizen
of Springfield. He donated the site and the building, at a combined cost
of $125,000, and it stands as a monument to the name Warder — an early
family in Springfield. It is of durable brown stone, designed before the
present day style in library architecture; it has commodious reading
rooms, but needs modern lighting fixtures.
The 1921 library board is: President, John L. Zimmerman; vice
president, John B. McGrew; secretary, M. T. Burnham, Miss Anna B.
Johnson, Edward L. Buchwalter and Henry D. Titer. The prominent
citizens of Springfield have been connected with the library. When the
Warder Free Library was dedicated Asa S. Bushnell, who was a member
of the board, acted as master of ceremonies, and Samuel Shellabarger of
Washington City was the speaker. It was his last public address as he
died in September. He had one time been foremost among platform
speakers in Springfield. The address is referred to as a classic, and
the newspaper containing it and an account of the ceremony is now part
of the library record ; the names of distinguished citizens present in 1890
are chiseled on granite today; they were seated on the porch and the
lawn, and among them were Mr. and Mrs. Warder. When Mr. Bushnell
introduced Mr. Shallabarger, the speaker paid tribute to the Warders,
saying: "This suitable and generous act has enshrined Benjamin H. and
Ellen N. Warder in the hearts of the people of Springfield."
While Mr. Warder gave to the community the library, there are those
who ascribe him further honors ; they say he helped a number of Spring-
field citizens to help themselves. An American flag was floating and
when Mr. Warder responded he said his wife joined him in the gift of '
the library and that they wanted scientific knowledge to be available to
the citizens of the community. Mr. Shellabarger said it remained for
the citizens to show their appreciation by using the library. When Mr.
Shellabarger and Mr. Warder first knew each other a school house occu-
pied the site of the library. While library sentiment began to crystallize
early in the history of Springfield, and there are conflicting stories afloat
about it, the Warder Free Library is a reality. Miss Burrowes reports
37,000 volumes of carefully selected books, and the latest bequest from
the Warder family is a collection of pictures representing a large expendi-
ture of money.
When the Warder family lived in Springfield they had many paint-
ings, gathered from all parts of the world, and after locating in Wash-
ington others were added, and it is this collection Mrs. Warder is giving
to the library. The Warders were extensive travelers, and in 1904 Mr.
Warder died in Egypt. The name Warder is inseparable from the his-
tory of Springfield. Records in possession of Mr. Winger show the
library movement as having been launched February 22, 1872, while news
items gleaned from The Republic create a different impression, and an
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item in The Springfield News in connection with the half century anni-
versary, says that in the fall of 1871 the women of Springfield gave a
great bazaar to raise funds with which to purchase new volumes for the
library. However, Mr. Shuirr found no reference in The Republic to
this bazaar or to a Washington's Birthday meeting, and he paged the
files in search of such information.
Zimmerman Library
The Zimmerman Library Building at Wittenberg College is a gift
from John L. Zimmerman, an 1879 alumnus who feels an abiding interest
JL*-^-?"^-
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Zimmerman Library
in his alma mater. While a nucleus of books formed a small library in
1845, when the college was founded, it has grown as reference volumes
have been acquired until it contains more than 25,000 volumes, with many
pamphlets and periodicals ; the books are selected to meet student needs,
and for many years they were cared for by different college professors,
but in 1891 the splendid library building was begun, and from the time
it was ready for occupancy Miss Grace Prince has been librarian. The
library occupies a commanding site on the college campus, and Mr. Zim-
merman has given the college $25,000 with which to make some improve-
ments at the library; it stands four square to the winds of winter, and
with its stacks in one end and reading room in the other it is a mecca
for many Wittenberg students. Mrs. J. S. Crowell recently transferred
800 choice books from the private library of the late J. S. Crowell to
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 493
the Zimmerman Library; in the collection is a forty-five volume library
of the World's Best Literature and a sixty-five volume Dictionary of
National Geography, beside books of travel and history.
The Law Library
As president* of the Clark County Bar Association, Elza F. McKee
automatically becomes president of the Law Library Association (see
Bench and Bar), about which there is some question of privilege, certain
attorneys at the bar having paid a stock subscription toward it. When
the Law Library Association was incorporated in 1892 (March), meet-
ings were held the first Monday in each month in the Court House, where
the library was housed, and William F. Bevitt was the librarian. When
the Court House was destroyed by fire February 26, 1918, many of the
books were carried out uninjured, but a portrait of Samson Mason, an
early jurist and painted by Jerome Hale, was destroyed; since 1912
Olie C. Gregory has been librarian, and when the fire broke out he dratf ed
assistance and succeeded in removing most of the books to the basement
of the West County Building and into the rooms of the Clark County
Historical Society in the East County Building.
When court was opened in Memorial Hall, filling such time as the
Court House was out of use, the Law Library was opened there : it con-
tains almost 10,000 volumes, including the Ohio Reports, and those from
many other states. The librarian has a list of special legal volumes in
private collections not found on the shelves, the number so great that
one man or firm cannot afford to own or shelter them all. Books in
private libraries not duplicated in the Law Library are available to mem-
bers, the court bailiff always serving as librarian. Provision for a Law
Library is made under an act of the Ohio Assembly, and those con-
sulting the books do not remove them from the library; they are always
accessible when they are not loaned and carried away for examination.
South Charleston was promised a public library from the Houston
family, and after complications arose involving the property of L. H.
and E. O. Houston the village counsel, Stewart L. Tatum, made appli-
cation in court for $40,000, the sum indicated in a will to be used for a
library. The Springfield Exchange Club fostered a library for the
Tuberculosis Hospital, and there are small libraries in many institutions.
Some Springfield and Clark County families have excellent private
libraries, and to them is offered this suggestion:
"When you buy an edition de luxe,
Be sure and examine the buxe;
Make sure they're just so,
Ere you pay out your dough,
And don't buy de luxe buxe from cruxe."
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CHAPTER LVI
CLARK COUNTY BOOKS AND WRITERS
It will not be charged to the account of Springfield and Clark County
that the citizenry thereof is given to dreams, although there are more
published volumes than are to be found in some communities. When
the wolf was to be found in the Clark County forest the settlers were
too busy "keeping the wolf from the door" to write either fiction or
poetry ; they gave their attention to the stern realities.
In August, 1749, the French Major Celoron Debienville ascended the
LaRoche or Big Miami River in bateaux to visit Twightee Village at
Piqua on Mad River — the story told to Gist, the agent of the Virginians
interested in Ohio land ; he formed the Ohio Land Company and wrote
the first English description of the locality. While in the vicinity of
Dayton along the Big Miami, Gist visited the Miami Village in 1751,
and he relates that the Shawnees were then on Mad River. He speaks
of the fertile soil and of the well watered land, covered with oak, walnut,
ash, wild cherry and other trees; there was game in the forest — wild
turkeys, and from thirty to forty buffaloes were seen feeding in one
meadow, but by 1795— the Greenville Treaty year — the elks and buffaloes
had disappeared and there was white clover and blue grass in the valleys
— the very first published account of the area now in Clark County.
The oldest publication by a resident of what is now Clark County
is "The Indian Doctor's Dispensatory, being Father Smith's Advice
Respecting Diseases and Their Cure, Consisting of Prescriptions for
Many Complaints, and a Description of Medicines, Simple and Com-
pound, Showing Their Virtue and How to Apply Them, Designed for
the Benefit of His Children, His Friends and the Public, but More Espe-
cially the Citizens of the Western Parts of the United States of America,"
by Peter Smith of the Miami Country. This bode was printed in 1813
for the author in Cincinnati, and at the time Peter Smith lived along
Mad River. Mention is made of this book in the chapter on Materia
Medica because of the nature of it. Peter Smith was born in Wales,
February 6, 1753, and he was educated at Princeton University. The
book was out of print, and Dr. John Uri Lloyd of Cincinnati, who repub-
lished it in 1898, had despaired of ever seeing a copy; had known the
name "Peter Smith, the Indian Herb Doctor," until one day he met
Gen. J. Warren Keifer at Middle Bass Island, Lake Erie, when he learned
that General Keifer possessed a copy of it. The lost book was found
and the history of its author authenticated ; he was the father of General
Keifer's mother. The book was published again and copies of it are to
be found in Springfield ; its author lies buried at Donnelsville.
While the Mound Builders and the American Indians had the instinct
of preservation, as is witnessed in the mounds and in hieroglyphics,
about the first definite mention of Springfield is found in The Ohio
Gazetteer, published in Columbus, November 22, 1816, with John Kil-
born editor and publisher. The copy shown at the rooms of the Clark
County Historical Society is the personal property of W. H. Rayner,
his father — William Rayner — having picked it up at a public sale Jan-
uary 2, 1918, in Miami County. Since there is no copy of it in the library
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of the State Historical Society it may go there as it would mean more
to the State of Ohio than to Clark County, Springfield being mentioned
as in Champaign County.
It is said that the best genealogical library in the United States is in
Boston because of the Pilgrim History there, although the Newberry
Library in Chicago is a mecca for investigators. While popular demand
for the knowledge of ancestry was once restricted to the reputed wealthy,
since the middle of the nineteenth century "the common herd" have inter-
ested themselves in it; less affluent families have searched for the blood
connecting them with early history. The oracle: "Know thyself" also
implies a knowledge of ancestry. The Patriotic Societies, the Sons and
the Daughters of the American Revolution, have had trouble with their
grandfathers and grandmothers because of insufficient records left by
them.
A livestock specialist must understand the science of relationship-
must know blood lines in order to write pedigrees, and the genealogist
must possess similar knowledge — encounters the same difficulties. A
good biography means much to any progressive family ; there are always
some who want to know their origin and who are not afraid of the
theory of evolution. While there havfe been few air-castles in the history
of Clark County, there are some splendid castles, and the community
may yet develop a coterie of writers ; some one has said :
"But when old age came creeping on,
With all its aches and qualms,
King Solomon wrote the Proverbs
And King David wrote the Psalms."
Clark County Histories
Bulwer Lytton says : "There is no past so long as books shall live,"
and Dean Swift exclaims: "Books, the children of the brain," and it
seems that "To the making of many books there is no end," and in the
pages of a well-written history it is possible to live one's life again; the
past becomes the present in the preservation of things of interest to
future citizens. While the idealist never is at his best in the field of
realism, the student of economic conditions in Clark County realizes that
the increase in prosperity and the advance in achievement has been much
greater since Henry Howe's second tour of Ohio than what he records
between the '40s and '80s, when he twice traversed the commonwealth of
Ohio and each time visited Clark County.
In the preface to his second History of Ohio, Mr. Howe, who was
a native of Connecticut, finally living in Columbus, wrote: "We don't
know what is before us," and then he details something of his adventures
traveling through the state in 1846, at which time as a young boy General
Keifer was detailed by his father to accompany the historian to the bat-
tlefield— now Fort Tecumseh — and again in 1886, when they met for the
second time, this time in the Keifer law office, and Mr. Howe says in
speaking of his second tour: "Not a human being in any land that I
know of has done a like thing." While some have regarded the Howe
History as they think of garden seeds, because for so many years free
copies of it were distributed by the members of the Ohio Assembly, the
state having acquired the ownership of the plates from which it was
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496 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
printed, it always has been near the hearts of those fortunate enough to
own a copy of it.
The thing that endears Howe's History to the State and to the dif-
ferent counties is the number of now imperishable incidents related in it.
Not only Clark County people prize it, and while other Ohio histories
have a Clark County department, none are so personal ; what the veteran
historian says of the State as a whole applies admirably to Clark County,
but almost as much time has now elapsed since he said it, as had elapsed
between the times of his two visits. Were Henry Howe to return to
earth and tour the State again he would find the strides of progress had
been greater since his second pilgrimage — 1846 and again in 1886 — in
Clark County. There are copies of both editions of Howe's History in
the Warder Free Library. The age of electricity was just dawning, and
any Rip Van Winkle would have difficulty adjusting himself today.
As early as 1852 Springfield citizens began publishing their own
proceedings ; in that year a small volume : "Sketches of Springfield"
appeared as an anonymous publication. While it is accredited to Robert
Christie Woodward, one volume shows the research man had the name
of J. K. Dodge penciled in on the title page. The booklet bears the date
January 1, 1852, and it was published by T. A. Wick & Company in
Springfield. Dr. Samuel Johnson says: "Knowledge is of two kinds;
we know a subject- ourselves, or we know where we can find information
upon it," and the author of this booklet says there were then three men
in the community whom he consulted: David Lowry, John Humphreys
and Griffith Foos. They were pioneer citizens.
The copy of this book: "Sketches of Springfield," was given to the
Clark County Historical Society by Daniel Baker, who in turn had
obtained it from John Potter, and this is the volume credited to J. K.
Dodge. While not all are bibliomaniacs, there are book collectors in
Springfield. There is a copy of this booklet in the Warder Free Library.
While directories are a necessary adjunct to business today, the very
diminutive Springfield Directory issued in 1852 reads: "Directory of
the City of Springfield, containing the city charter and ordinances, and
a brief history of the city, and the names and residences of householders,
and all persons engaged in business, and accompanied with a new and
complete map of the city," but the copies in existence do not possess
maps. Beside those in the Historical Society collection and in the Warder
Free Library, Dr. B. F. Prince, Gen. J. Warren Keifer and Henry L.
Schaefer had copies all minus the maps, but an inquiry through The
Springfield Sunday News brought forth one with a map in it.
When William Lohnes read the newspaper article he notified Mr.
Schaefer that his father, Peter Lohnes, had purchased the 1852 Directory
and the map was still in it. Mr. Lohnes had not attached any value to
the Directory until he learned of the rarity of the map; however, he
loaned Mr. Schaefer the copy and he traced several copies, presenting
one to the Historical Society. The publisher's card reads: "Map of
the City of Springfield, drawn from the latest authorities by Robert
Black, and engraved by Croome of Dayton." This map made three-
score-and-ten years ago is a rare possession today. There are two old
maps on the wall at the rooms of the Historical Society, one made in
1853, and while the other was copyrighted in 1855, it was not printed
until 1859, and both are of the county, while the directory map is of
Springfield alone. The 1859 map was made by T. Kizer, civil surveyor,
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 497
and corrected and published by J. Douglas Moler. Not many maps have
been made in Clark County.
The compiler of the Springfield Directory of 1852 published the state-
ment that the venture was not a financial success; the historical data
in it corresponds with that in Springfield Sketches of even date and is
ascribed to the same writer — R. C. Woodward. In 1859 appeared "Wil-
liams' Springfield and Urbana Directory, City Guide and Business Mir-
ror," with the explanation: "The growing importance of these two
cities demanded that their population and business should be presented
in this shape," and much valuable data is preserved in the advertising
pages of this directory, the copy exhibited belonging to E. E. Shuirr.
Keeping to the chronology, the Historical Society has a scrap book
loaned by Mrs. Sarah Shockey which contains the Ludlow Papers of 1871,
and which by many is regarded as an excellent history. The Ludlow
paper was written by Dr. John Ludlow and covered the period of seventy
years. In 1875 came an illustrated Historical Atlas of Clark County, with
a general map of the United States and grand divisions, published in
three parts and complete in one volume," and since this Atlas corresponds
exactly with the Ludlow papers it is interesting to know that in a personal
letter written November 24, 1921, Prof. W. H. Mcintosh of Auburn,
Indiana, admits having utilized the information. He had a "wagon load
of Atlases, the Springfield Atlas among them," having retained a copy
of each, and in the 70s he devoted his time to it. Mr. Mcintosh acquired
a fortune and the High School site and building in Auburn are his com-
pliment to the community, the site having been his homestead for many
years.
Just a few Springfield citizens remember Mr. Mcintosh, who in the
Atlas says: "We have gathered past memories and present statistics.
Frontier life is far distant; the war for the Union is becoming more
remote. * * * This work will be a link to connect the future with
the past." The copies of the Atlas in private homes — Clark County and
the rest of the world — were often destroyed by the children whose moth-
ers allowed them to amuse themselves looking at the pictures. Art has
changed and the Atlas of 1875 is an heirloom, copies of it being secured
and bound again because it reflects an epoch in publishing — that style
of book prevailing all over the country. In the Atlas and the Ludlow
papers many dates are substantiated that would now be hard to establish,
that generation having passed out of the world.
In 1880 appeared: "A Portrait and Biographical Album of Greene
and Clark Counties, containing full sketches of prominent and representa-
tive citizens of the two counties, together with the portraits and biog-
raphies of all the presidents of the United States."
In 1881 appeared a volume: "The History of Clark County, Con-
taining the History of the County, its Cities, Towns, etc., General and
Local Statistics, Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men. It
Includes a History of Northwest Territory; History of Ohio; Map of
Clark County ; Constitution of the United States, and Miscellaneous Mat-
ter." It is referred to as Beers' History, and many features were fur-
nished by Springfield citizens, although not so indicated on the title page.
That type of book was also published all over the country contemporary
with the local publication. Much of it was used verbatim in other com-
munities. However, it is regarded as a reliable local history.
Vol. 1—32
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498 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
In 1882 appeared an "Atlas of Springfield from Actual Surveys and
Official Records, by and Under the Supervision of E. Robinson and
R. H. Pidgeon, Civil Engineers."
In 1894 appeared "The County of Clark, an Imperial Atlas and Art
Folio, Including Chronological Chart, Statistical Tables and Descriptive
Surveys."
In 1901 appeared "The Centennial Celebration of Springfield," edited
by Benjamin F. Prince; it was a community effort, the "pens of ready
writers" being enlisted in the enterprise. This bode appeared twenty
years ago, and in the preface is the line: "A hundred years in the life
of a community which has had a prosperous and. successful growth is
worth reviewing," this production limited to Springfield.
In 1902 appeared: "A Biographical Record of Clark County, Illus-
trated."
In 1905 the issue of The Americana Cyclopedia carried an article on
Springfield and Clark County, written by J. H. Rabbits, who was then
postmaster in Springfield.
In 1906 the Commercial Club issued a booklet: "Springfield, the
Great Manufacturing City, with specific information relating to Spring-
field, its advantages commercial and industrial," the slogan: "Make
Springfield Flourish."
In 1906 appeared "A Twentieth Century History of Springfield and
Clark County, and Representative Citizens," edited and compiled by
Judge William M. Rockwell, being the first county-wide publication with
local editor.
In 1909 appeared a booklet: "A Short History of James and Eliza-
beth Todd, and a List of Their Descendants." There may be other
genealogies but they are not on file at the rooms of the Historical Society.
The secretary invites them, as there are frequent inquiries for definite
family information. The name Todd comes from the old English word
meaning Fox, and in Clinton County Todd's Fork takes its name from
the Todd family. The booklet tells of the old homestead in Greene
Township, the house built many years ago.
In 1909 appeared "A History of the Police Department of Spring-
field From the Earliest Times, with a Record of the Principal Crimes
Committed; a Description of the Public Buildings Connected With the
Administration of Justice ; Roster of the Officers and Members Past and
Present, Illustrated," and written by John Ballard and published by the
Policeman's Mutual Benefit Association.
In 1910 appeared: "South Charleston, Early History and Reminis-
cences," by Albert Reeder. The booklet contains much valuable data and
many local traditions.
In 1917 appeared "A History of the M. E. Church of New Carlisle,
by W. H. Sterrett," which includes many local stories.
In 1920 came "Early Methodism in the Miami Valley, Including
a History of Central Methodist Episcopal Church, Springfield," by Albert
L. Slager. This booklet contains considerable general information.
A recent publication which is brought up-to-date frequently : "Spring-
field Facts," issued by the Chamber of Commerce for general distribu-
tion, includes the Springfield of yesterday with a general summary of
present-day conditions. In the Rose Album issued for distribution is the
line: "Our story is told without exaggeration," and in it are many attrac-
tive local pictures.
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Through the assistance of W. H. Rayner, secretary of the Clark
County Historical Society, and Miss Alice Burrowes of the Warder Free
Library, the gleaner in the field of local historical research has tabulated
previous publications, and when the list appeared in The Springfield
News inviting additions to it a Springfield club woman remarked : "The
timely appearance of this Clark County Bibliography has saved me an
endless amount of research ; it was my assignment in the club," and no
doubt there are other booklets that should have been included in the list ;
due effort was made to assemble them.
It was October 13, 1921, that the representative of The American
Historical Society, Rolland Lewis Whitson, arrived in Springfield with
only a cursory knowledge of the community ; his mission was "A Standard
History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio, covering the period 1801
to 1921, with particular attention to the modern era, viewed from the
standpoint of its commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social
development," all copy to be submitted to Dr. Benjamin F. Prince for
his approval, and the books already listed were at the disposal of the
peripatetic who gleaned from them what appears in these pages. The
sojourn in Springfield ended February 25, 1922, and it was a most agree-
able experience, citizens interviewed co-operating in splendid manner,
causing the gleaner in local fields to wish he might live permanently in
Clark County.
While the reference volumes are in many private libraries, the Spring-
field business man who refused to buy a dictionary because he knew
where all his customers lived had confused it with a directory, the 1921
Springfield Directory saying : "Springfield is without natural boundaries,"
and while directories have not been issued every year since 18S2 many
offices have the different issues, using them to substantiate evidence,
time and place of residence, etc., and for the benefit of its members the
Springfield Chamber of Commerce has a library of different city
directories.
While it is said that "books go under the hammer first" when adversity
overtakes a family, sometimes a county history is sold at auction, but
there always is some one who wants it; a man wanted the county his-
tory in a division of property because the family story was in it, but
through the claims of seniority an older brother secured it.
It has been charged that none are mentioned in county histories but
those who buy them, but that is a fallacy ; the biography volume in this
edition is wholly in the interest of patrons who make the. history volume
a financial possibility. The men and the women who developed the com-
munity are part of its history, and they are mentioned as far as it has
been possible to gain information about them. Some persons are not
sufficiently public-spirited to entitle them to mention in the annals of the
community ; they are not even mentioned in the newspapers. In an effort
to secure further unpublished data the gleaner in the field of local his-
tory used a slogan: "Cover Clark County and Spring Springfield" in a
series of reminiscent articles in The Sunday News, and some persons
responded to the invitation with the desired information.
Charles Kingsley said: "We ought to reverence books, to look at
them as useful and mighty things; if they are good and true, whether
they are about religion or politics, farming, trade or medicine, they are
the message of Christ, the maker of all things, the teacher of all truth."
Emerson says: "Books are the best things, well used; abused, among
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500 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
the worst," and Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote: "I like books. I was
born and bred among them, and have the easy feeling when I get in their
presence that a stable boy has among horses."
Robert Louis Stevenson once said: "Every book is a circular letter
to the friends of him who writes it," and Socrates sums up everything,
saying : "Employ your time in improving yourselves by other men's doc-
uments," notwithstanding the library patron who read Shakespeare as it
came out in the magazines, and who read the Waverly newspaper but
failed to see why a book should be made of it. The librarian frequently
plays the role of interpreter when patrons are seeking information, and
while one asked for "The Four Horsemen of the Erysipelas," another
wanted some "jazzy" poems. When a woman asked for "Speckles" the
attendant supplied her with "Freckles," and the saying holds that as a
tree is known by its fruit, library patrons are judged by the books they
read, and there are some who ask for the classics— standard novels, and
literature that has stood the test of time.
Is the following quotation wholly true: "Among the most patient
and obliging persons in public service, and among the least appreciated,
are the library attendants who will give any one references for informa-
tion?" The peripatetic found Miss Burrowes interested in assembling
the following information about local books and writers.
A number of Springfield and Clark County citizens have felt the
burden of a cause, and given a message to the world in addition to those
mentioned in connection with reference publications, among them :
Nathaniel Clark Burt, D. D., who wrote "Far East," "The Land and
Its Story," and "Redemption's Dawn."
George Philip Krapp, mentioned in "Who's Who," wrote : "Authority
of Law in Language," "Elements of English Grammar," "In Oldest Eng-
land," "Modern English, Its Growth and Present Use," "Pronunciation
of Standard English in America," "Rise of English Literary Prose," and
"Tales of True Knights."
Dr. Benjamin F. Prince edited "The Centennial Celebration of Spring-
field," as already mentioned, and wrote: "The Rescue Case of 1857,"
"The Influence of the Church in the Organization of Modern Europe,"
"Beginnings of Lutheranism in Ohio," and "Theological Education in
Wittenberg College."
Alma Paschall in collaboration with Frances B. Pearson wrote: "The
Thrift Twins," the credit due to Miss Paschall.
William Allen Rogers, mentioned in "Who's Who," wrote "Amer-
ica's Black and White Book — 100 Pictured Reasons Why We Are at
War," and "Hits at Politics — a series of cartoons (drawings in Sar-
bonne), see Miss E."
Gilbert L. Wilson wrote : "Agriculture of the Hidatsa Indians," being
an Indian interpretation; "Studies in Social Science, No. 9, University
of Minnesota," "Goodbird, the Indian," "Indian Hero Tales," "Myths
of the Red Children," illustrated by his brother, Fred N. Wilson, and
"Wancence, an Indian Girl's Story."
Gen. J. Warren Keifer wrote: "Slavery and Four Years of War."
Hon. John W. Bookwalter wrote: "Canyon and Crater," "Siberia
and Central Asia," and "Rural vs. Urban."
Clifton M. Nichols wrote : "Life of Lincoln," and "Sumner's Cam-
paign, 1864."
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 501
Mrs. Willis Haines Miller wrote: "Mrs. Cherry's Sister," "His
Cousin," "The Doctor," "Pilgrim's Vision," and "The Silent Land."
Mother Stewart (Mrs. Elizabeth D. Stewart) wrote: "Memories of
the Crusade," and "The Crusader in Great Britain."
R. T. Kelly wrote : "History of the Kelly Family."
Mrs. George Runyan wrote : "Four Hundred Years of America."
Dr. John Scott wrote: "Land of Sojourn."
Dr. Alexander Clark wrote: "Workday Christianity," "Gospel in
Trees," and "Old Log House."
Anson A. Card wrote: "My Friend Bill."
Belle M. Brain wrote: "Holding the Ropes," "Redemption of the
Red Man," "Transformation of Hawaii," "Fifty Missionary Stories,"
"Fuel for Missionary Fires," and "Love Stories of Great Missionaries."
Robert D. Brain wrote: "Message from Mars," and he is a con-
tributor to music periodicals.
Prof. E. S. Todd wrote : "Sociological Study of Clark County."
Thomas F. McGrew wrote : "Letters from Europe."
Prof. K. E. R. Hoechdorfer wrote: "Introductory Studies in Ger-
man."
Mrs. Lida Keck Wiggins, the People's Poet, wrote: "A Study in
Psychology — Know Thy Neighbor," "Biography and Review Paul Lau-
rance Dunbar's Poetry," and at Christmastide for ten years Mrs. Wig-
gins has issued a booklet of poetry ; for three years she has written a daily
newspaper poem, and she writes signed editorials.
Dr. M. J. Firey wrote: "Infant Baptism."
Rev. G. N. H. Peters wrote: "Theocratic Kingdom," three volumes.
Elliott B. Henderson wrote : "Collection of Poems."
Lawrence Russell: Dramatic writer.
Dorothy Gish : Dramatic critic.
Kate Kaufman wrote: "As Nature Prompts."
Dr. George H. Packenberg wrote : "Medical Consultation Book."
Dr. Samuel Sprecher wrote: "Groundwork of the System of Evan-
gelical Lutheran Theology."
R. S. Thompson wrote : "Temperance," and "Sucker's Visit to Mam-
moth Cave."
W. H. C. Dodson wrote: "Original Poems."
J. J. Greer wrote: "Beyond the Lines," and "A Yank Prisoner in
Dixie."
Paul Showell wrote: Poems of various characters.
Rev. J. B. Helwig wrote : "Romanism."
Wad Beach wrote: "Indian History."
William T. Coggeshall wrote stories and romances and of the poets
of the West.
J. K. Dodge wrote: "Red Men of the Ohio Valley."
Oscar T. Martin wrote : "History of Springfield," in Beer's History.
Harry Rice wrote : "Eve an Evangelist."
Virgil Coblentz wrote: "Handbook of Pharmacy."
Dr. E. A. Steiner, once local minister, wrote: "Trail of the Immi-
grant," and "Tolstoi, the Man."
Dr. David H. Bauslin wrote: "The Ministry an Attractive Voca-
tion," and "The Lutheran Movement of the Sixteenth Century."
Rev. C. H. Small wrote : "Cornerstone of Faith."
George S. Dial wrote: "Religious Corporations."
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502 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Prof. M. Diehl wrote: "The Life of Dr. Ezra Keller."
Judge W. M. Rockel wrote : "Twentieth Century History," "Ques-
tions Selected from Supreme Court Reports," and jointly with Judge
Charles R. White: "Complete Guide for Township Officers," "Complete
Ohio Probate Practice," "Ohio School Code," and "Guide for Executors
and Administrators."
Dr. Samuel Sprecher wrote: "The Groundwork of Theology."
Rev. Leander S. Keyser wrote: "Books on Birds and Bird Life,"
"Birds of the Rockies," "Bird-dom," "Contending for the Faith," "Elec-
tion and Conversion," "In Bird Land," "Only Way Out," "Our Bird
Comrades," "News From the Birds," "Rational Test," "System of Chris-
tian Ethics," "System of Christian Evidence," and "System of Natural
Theism."
Dr. Henry Tuckley wrote : "Latter Day Events."
Rev. Thomas Harrison wrote: "Testimonies in Favor of Religion."
Samuel Harvey (Albert Reeder's South Charleston book) once wrote
and published an Arithmetic — not found in libraries.
Hamilton Busbey was a Civil war correspondent whose letters were
published in The Springfield Republic and Louisville Democrat; he has
written much for turf papers, and some magazine articles. Some one
pays him this tribute: "In a long and active career he has written unnum-
bered words which, through the medium of the types, have commanded
the attention of millions of thoughtful readers." At the age of eighty-
one years Mr. Busbey attended the Yarnfest at the Chamber of Com-
merce.
While Miss Burrowes explained that a number of local publications
were by Wittenberg College professors, the Wittenberg scenario shows
a tableful of them, even connecting the Standard Dictionary with the
college because Isaac H. Funk and A. W. Wagnalls, of Funk & Wag-
nails, publishers, were Wittenberg students.
Charles S. Kay, who is widely read as a local feature writer, says:
"No anthology of American literature is complete without these names,"
adding: "Within a radius of fifty miles from the City of Springfield
flourished in the not distant past such writers as Whitelaw Reid, Coates
Kinney, the brilliant family of Plattes, James H. Hyslop, Dr. Washing-
ton Gladden, Thomas C. Harbaugh, Paul Laurence Dunbar (colored),
John G. Beatty, Julius Chambers, Paul Kester, William Dean Howells,
Alice Archer, Sewell James and Frederich Ridgely Torrence."
Mr. Kay says : "The idea was conceived at one time to place upon
the shelves of the Warder Free Library every accessible book written
by a Clark County writer; that proposition is worthy of realization.
* * '* A cursory view of the branches of literature enriched by Clark
County writers embraces theology, philosophy, prophecy, education, nature
study, travel, poetry and fiction. * * * The Clark County Historical
Society has in charge a number of pamphlets and minor treaties of great
historical value, which have been prepared from time to time by local
writers; care should be taken to preserve and index these sources of
information for use by the future historian." While the gleaner had
access to all those publications, when he returned them he deposited
many others gathered from different sources, with the society.
When Isaac H. Funk was mentioned then occurred the name of
J. S. Crowell, and it is said that when he disposed of his holdings in
The Crowell Publishing Company in Springfield it was a "Million Dollar
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504 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Corporation/' An old account says : "The Crowell Publishing Company
had its beginning at the old P. P. Mast and Company's plant; the first
floor was given over to publishing The Farm and Fireside, and the sec-
ond to the executive offices. After one year the concern moved to the
Republic office on the site of the Bushnell building; it remained there
six months. Then it purchased its present site, upon which today is one
of the largest magazine publishing establishments in the world. P. P.
Mast and Company became Mast, Crowell and Kirkpatrick, but after the
death of Mr. Mast it became The Crowell Publishing Company."
The Crowell Publishing Company issues Farm and Fireside, Woman's
Home Companion, American Magazine, Mentor, and until the World
war it published Every Week, and is now publishing Collier's Weekly.
The labor question is satisfactorily solved by assembling so many publi-
cations, making Springfield a mecca for printers. The Crowell Publish-
ing Company is the biggest patron of the Springfield postoffice depart-
ment, having a branch office in the plant, where the output is weighed
and put into the mails. The Crowell Publishing Company furnishes
eighty percent of the local mailing business ; it employs 1300 people, and
it publishes 600,000 magazine copies each month. While it maintains
its mechanical and subscription departments in Springfield, the editorial
office is in New York City. It is a stock company, incorporated at $2,450,-
000, with some preferred stock held in Springfield.
The Hosterman Publishing Company publishes Poultry Success, a
monthly periodical, and The Implement Age Company publishes The
Implement and Tractor Age — a trade periodical twice a month— all other
Springfield publications being monthly.
Dr. Isaac Kay and Samuel Miller have written much reminiscent
matter that has been helpful in assembling data, and many have expressed
a desire to have something carried along from the past of the eccentric
Reuben Miller, one time a teacher and later a justice of the peace, who
had the habit of scribbling original things on the margin of the court
docket; since he was a member of the Methodist Church it has been
suggested that there is little doubt about the accuracy of his notes, and
July 6, 1866, a docket entry read : "I do hereby certify that John Mac-
cabbee and Mary E. Sterling were legally united in marriage by me on
the 5 day of July," and as was his custom, he appended the following
bit of illuminating poetry:
"A Sterling woman once was she,
And now her name is Maccabee,
And he has found a Sterling bride
By him to firmly stand beside ;
And now united may they be,
To s^il o'er life's tempestuous sea,
Till they shall reach a world of bliss
Where everlasting pleasure is."
While doing some plumbing in a basement in Springfield, George
Ridenour discovered a book lying on the debris ready to be put in the
furnace which he offered to the gleaner, but since it proved to be a col-
lection of essays and sermons it was added to the Historical Society col-
lection; the sermons are of the "fire and brimstone" variety, not the
"sugar-coated" gospel so pleasing to the ear, and the theology of the
past is preserved in them.
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 505
Reuben Miller had a son, John C. Miller, who had some inclination
to write poetry, and typewritten copies of his poem : "A Rose From the
Grave of Homer," are treasured in Springfield, the gleaner seeing the
copy owned by Judge G. W. Tehan. Both father and son had marked
ability — could put anything into rhythm — and while Reuben Miller did
not acquire wealth he was a "consistent citizen and strong Methodist;
he flourished in the '30s, '40s, '50s and died in the '60s — a good man in
his day," and the epitaph of Reuben Miller written by him for his monu-
ment is found elsewhere in this history.
While W. H. Rayner does not often write poetry, he penned the fol-
lowing parody which reflects local conditions :
"I would build my house by the side of the road,
Where the automobiles go by ;
For their honk and kronk, and their merry whiz
Is music to such as I.
"I mind not the dust of the speeding cars,
Nor the noise of the big machines;
I am fond of the smoke, (it is no joke)
Of the burning gasoline.
"So I will live in my house by the side of the road
As I cover life's brief span;
For the honk of the auto sounds good to me —
Aye, I am the gasoline man."
When Mrs. Lida Keck Wiggins was asked for a poem suited to the
pages of history, she told of an incident in a chapel near North Hampton,
a candle carried by J. N. Miller when her father, Rev. H. M. Keck, was
the minister, and she contributed the following lines:
"Of pioneer days I am thinking tonight
With heart touched e'en to the quick.
For on my table, there stands as I write
An old-fashioned candlestick.
And the story goes that in days gone by
When my grandsire was in his prime,
He carried this candlestick with him to church,
At candle-lightin' time,
For so dim was the light in that chapel small,
That one was obliged to hold
The candlestick close to his singing-book,
To read those dear hymns of old.
Oh sweet was my grandfather's voice, and clear
As bells in a steeple chime,
As he sang of faith in a God of love,
At candle-lightin' time.
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506 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
I can see him now through the mists of years
Heroic and brave and grand,
With a smile on his lips, and his soul in his eyes,
And the candlestick in his hand.
Oh candlestick old of my grandfather's day,
You have taught me a truth sublime,
Found in the tale of the service you wrought
At candle-lightin' time.
Tis this — if we all with a smile of faith
Through the world would bravely go,
And each one. a candle might hold aloft
That others might see and know.
Then each one might say when life's day was done,
As he of this little rhyme,
'Thank God, I've a light to read me a song/
At candle-lightin* time."
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CHAPTER LVII
INTELLECTUAL AND CIVIC LIFE— SPRINGFIELD AND
CLARK COUNTY
While in the past some pursuits and pleasures were open to men and
others to women, time, the great leveler, has changed conditions and
men and women engage in whatever suits their convenience or their fancy
today; there is no sex intellectual or civic activities in Springfield and
Clark County today. .
The Rev. Saul Henkle, who gave color to a good many phases of
early community development in Springfield, wrote in 1828 that "A lit-
erary society was formed, but a few evenings ago it was found dead.
The coroner said, 'Dropsy of the brain.' " In 1829 he referred to it
again saying: "The reading room of the literary society formed a few
weeks since is only kept from freezing by having newspapers wrapped
about it; if it can be gotten through the winter, we hope to see it in a
more prosperous state." The man with this keen edge of sarcasm
walked into the community while his wife and infant child accompanied
him riding a family horse, and he seemed to enter into everything.
Notwithstanding the Rev. Saul Henkle and his wholesale denuncia-
tions, in 1829 the Springfield Lyceum, organized November 22, 1832,
attracted some of the foremost people in the community. E. H. Cum-
mings, who studied law and later changed to the ministry, was president,
and John A. Warder was secretary. While nothing is said about women,
the society was organized to inject new social interest ; it adopted a con-
stitution and a code of by-laws, and December 11, 1832, its first public
meeting was held in the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Samuel Ellis, who was
a Springfield public school teacher, discussed the question: "Is the
reading of novels beneficial?"
In the chapter on libraries is mention of another lyceum organized
with the specific purpose of promoting a Springfield library, and from a
stray note it would seem that it might have been the rejuvenated lyceum
organized in 1832, and at one time Horace Greeley appeared before this
lyceum. He was in Springfield in 1849 and after that year there is no
further record of the organization.
Present Day Conditions
In writing of local social conditions, Charles S. Kay says : "Consid-
erable opportunity to judge at first hand the growth of the community
spirit in this immediate region, comprising the counties of Clark, Cham-
paign and Logan, has convinced us that there is great promise of good
in this respect. The various fraternal, social, business and church clubs,
as well as municipal leagues and rural community centers, are contribut-
ing much to " the furtherance of good government, local enterprise and
social solidarity. We have found in these localities enthusiastic bodies of
men and women devoted to the cultivation of sound business and social
ethics, progressive Americanism, and thoroughgoing cooperation.
* * * In many communities there is a lack of cooperative effort look-
ing to community betterment, largely owing to failure in bringing the
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
men of the town into more intimate social relationship; they do not
affiliate because they do not know each other.
"The wave of influence going out from the resolute cultivation of the
social element, directed by sane, broad-minded men, will be powerful for
good; available for use in many ways, to enlarge the horizon of the
members, and to bring about needed reforms in local administration,
untrammeled by party ambitions and petty class jealousies. Communities
that have not yet effected organizations should do so at once, and all
attempts for the furtherance of selfish personal ambitions should be
resisted ; patriotism, public spirit, fraternity and genuine friendship should
be kept to the fore, and emphasized at all times."
While men and women long out of school hold membership in the
intellectual and civic organizations, they are the type who recognize life
as the true university ; however, those who had college training appreciate
i.
Group of Springfield Buildings
these social opportunities of personal improvement and advancement, and
until comparatively recent years mention of a club reflected a woman's
organization. The Woman's Relief Corps organized nationally in 1868
by Mrs. Olive Logan, soon had an organization in Springfield, and while
it is not a study club, it is perhaps the oldest woman's organization in
Clark County. It is the auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic,
the men and the women being brought together socially immediately after
the Civil war.
Although bearing a New York headline the following appeared in a
Springfield newspaper: "Not so many years ago the man of eccentric
or slovenly dress was just as apt as not to be a celebrity of some kind
or other, and not an object of pity in his community," and genius in
Springfield has been described in similar terms. "According to clothing
merchants it took some time to change this idea, and to show that a neat
appearance was not incompatible with the possession of real talent along
professional lines; however, the thought is now rather common that a
man's prosperity is reflected in his clothes. Manufacturers and dealers
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 509
have advanced the argument," and the day has come when the banker is
not necessarily distinguished from the farmer, nor is the country woman
distinguished from the woman in the town by her gowns.
Why not credit the following to the clubs : "The matter of dress has
been one of the prime lessons taken from the purely commercial field to
professional life; the doctor, lawyer, architect, teacher and other pro-
fessional men have come to realize that it is a matter almost of embarrass-
ment to them to continue any dress eccentricity ; they must mingle at the
club, in the theater and the restaurants — " and was the following ever
true.: "Eccentricity of dress was a mild form of publicity for those
denied other means of advertising themselves." A fashion squib says
man's cupidity is blamed for immodest dress in women, declaring : "The
length of the skirt, etc.," is a subject on which women are not consulted —
that "The bared neck is nothing less than a trick of the furrier and the
jeweler; the neck and chest are bared to give commercial tricksters an
increased demand for their wares."
Springfield Social Standards
Prior to the first American Centennial in Philadelphia in 1876, and
reflected in smaller way in Springfield, there was little social life; those
who went in the foremost society when Springfield was a village knew
nothing about card parties: they would have looked upon bridge whist
and euchre parties as — while sometimes there were home games of cards,
there was no prize money, and such a suggestion would have shocked
them. They knew about quilting and apple-paring-and-cutting bees, but
nothing about cards. "Martha, Martha, thou has troubled thyself about
many things," and just as the costumes worn than are changed the
amusements and pastimes have undergone evolution; they had not
dreamed of galoshes and flappers. Once Springfield society made more
of May Day and Hallowe'en, and each age is happy in its amusements.
While some may suffer from decoritis— too much ornamental folderol —
a platform woman says : "No woman looks well unless she understands
posture and carriage; instead of dressing from the outside — " and the
club does afford the woman some criterion, and the speaker said:
"Women are in the habit of paying most for the dress they wear the
least — the Sunday dress and the party gown," and many intellectual
women leave such matters to their costumers.
Springfield society was more informal "years ago." Once guests
came unexpectedly, but now they wait for invitations, and since intellectual
life suggests the school, the church or the press — it is a safe statement
that the clubs attract the wives of educators, pulpiteers, editors and
advance thought women whatever their social station. An hour spent
together in study means more to them than "just to run in with a sun-
bonnet on," as was once the universal custom. At a recent club when
fifty Springfield women were present, it developed that only two served
three meals a day in their homes, and thus they found time for social
privileges and church duties; however, "mere men" find excellent lunch-
rooms in Springfield, and they willingly exempt their wives from the
routine of meals in order that they may have time for mental pursuits.
There is a mental as well as a physical side to human nature, and
while in the wilderness days the wife was a "helpmeet" to her hus-
band, using her strength in overcoming pioneer conditions — the mothers
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510 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
of that period hoped for something better for their daughters — and wives
are still "helpmeets," although the environment is changed and many men
prefer their wives to enjoy social advantages unknown to their mothers.
When the mothers made all the garments, worn in the family by hand,
there were no theaters, no clubs, and as civilization advances the social
status advances with it. When showers and announcement parties were
unknown, there were more elopements — run away with a girl, quite the
heroic thing — and the social set married younger "years ago."
When formal visits are made cards are left— certain rules governing
the card question, cards for the husband and cards for the wives — and
when formal visits are made the time is limited, and reputations are com-
paratively safe under such arrangements. A generation ago a woman
brought her needlework or her knitting ; she had not thought about cards
as necessary to impress upon her hostess the fact of her visit. The time
was spent in gossip— discussion of possible rumors — because a liberal
education had not yet revolutionized soicety. There were not so many
newspapers and magazines, and the neighborly visit with its attendant
conversation was then a physical necessity. Dancing parties had not yet
claimed the attention of society — the best people did not dance — and when
ladies began wearing decollette gowns their amusements were still in the
nature of music and repartee and then nobody discussed the length — a
woman's dress like a sermon, should be long enough to cover the subject.
The modest women of a generation ago was very unlike the modest
woman of today.
While there always have been families in Springfield who carried out
social ideas on big scales, the women of the present have an environment
very different from that surrounding their mothers; the hospital has
relieved them from ministering to the sick, and the daily newspaper
brings them tidings from the world. The telephone service relieves the
woman from dressing for the street in planning social functions, and
under the new order of things she has more time for self-improvement
and culture. While some lament the passing of the old-fashioned hospi-
tality and sociability, other welcome the change as a forward movement.
When women confronted the suffrage question in 1920, the club woman
knew more about nationalism and internationalism from having already
established the study habit — were women of "steady habits" — and they
handled ballots as readily as practiced voters.
While all political parties shared the support of the club women of
Clark County, and a precedent is now established, the leaders in thought
recognize the fact that womanhood must measure up to the high standards
— that public servants must not be guilty of blunders — and they are
fitting themselves for future opportunities of usefulness. In Springfield
women have entered business, and they hold positions of much responsi-
bility. Since they are equal to men the self-respecting women do not
demand that men doff their hats, but the self-respecting men still have
their chivalrous attitude toward womanhood. The modern woman who
pursues the even tenor of her way, answers the question about the loss
of femininity being a loss to society. The cabin woman smoked a pipe,
and the flapper smokes cigarettes — fashion, comfort, habit — those who
follow the crowd soon losing their identity, and there is need of both
"conformation and transformation" with discretion, and women are
studying the conditions confronting them.
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Birth of the Woman's Club
In a poem once published in Judge, and later in The Springfield Sun,
Mrs. Tjla Keck Wiggins writes:
"There's a crimson star on a field of white,
And 'twas fashioned for poster roomy;
This lovely old quilt of the long ago
That grandmother's will left to me.
Many's the year since her fingers deft,
Cut out the gay little patches;
But her skillful work a token left;
Which nothing that's modern matches.
Her 'blocks' completed, and neatly joined,
Her lifts a lullaby lilting;
She set up her frames in the siting room,
And asked her friends to the quilting.
They came in their pretty, starched calicoes,
And worked with bright faces glowing —
So happy that under their fingers white,
A beautiful thing was growing.
Today as I look at that star-decked quilt,
I see in those departed,
When each worked for all and all for each —
The Women's Club getting started."
"The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglee," and the
"mother of clubs" in Springfield failed to proclaim her identity — hence
no definite information is available, further than the fact that the quilting
once brought Springfield women together. Miss Anna B. Johnson,
president of the City Federation of Women's Clubs, and sometime presi-
dent of the Ohio Federation of Women's Clubs, in reviewing the work of
1921 in Springfield, said: "It has been our purpose to make our rela-
tionship to the community one of helpfulness and service. * * *
We have accomplished some things and left undone others; there has
been cooperation among club women which has made results possible.
"As we enter 1922 we think we see opportunity in which the eager
intelligence, interest and general service of 5,000 women ought to be felt
in our civic life; with the program enlarged to meet the plan of work
suggested by the General Federation of Women's Clubs, we are confident
the City Federation may enlarge its vision, and place to its credit a larger
field of usefulness ; we hope to see in its ranks every woman's organiza-
. tion in the city." There are twenty-one clubs in the federation which
fostered two women candidates for membership in the Board of Educa-
tion, and the women of Springfield usually attain to their aims. Miss
Johnson outlined a proposed survey of the entire county in welfare work
enlisting every social agency in discovering disabled and crippled per-
sons, local organization to care for children, and the state to aid in the
care of adults who need medical or surgical attention.
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512 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
The City Federation of Clubs' members are Springfield boosters, and
an admiring friend writes: "The club of the modern woman is not a
thing to be ridiculed and scorned, as were many of the literary, sewing
and bridge clubs of a few years ago. The club of the modern woman is
a boon ; the home woman does not neglect it for the club, but she seeks
the club for relaxation. The club women have been tried and not found
wanting," and the newspaper reporter who writes of clubs appreciates
uniformity in the size of Year Books, in preserving them for reference.
While there are card and needle clubs, the City Federation includes
study clubs with some definite plan, and writing on the subject some
years ago, Mrs. E. L. Buchwalter speaks of New York and Boston as
having clubs in 1868, although it is generally understood that the first
public library and the first woman's club in the United States were at
New Harmony, Indiana.
Mrs. Buchwalter relates that there were both men and women in
Springfield's first literary club, but its records are a minus quantity. It
existed in the '70s, when the Waverly novels were being read and their
author as yet unknown. He was designated as the Great Unknown, and
this Springfield club assumed that name — Great Unknown. Henry G.
Rodgers read many papers, and Miss Helen McBeth, who was a musician,
wrote poetry for the meetings. Mrs. Lott Clarke gave Shakespearean
readings, and other members were the Warders, Brookes, and Bishops —
just some remembered facts without any written data about it. In 1878
the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle was organized in Spring-
field by Mrs. Ruth A. Worthington, who was a teacher in the seminary.
It was named the Worthington Chautauqua in her honor.
For many years the Chautauqua was known as the university of mid-
dle-aged women, and thirty Springfield women were charter members,
the last being Miss Ellissa Houston. Mrs. Buchwalter credits the Worth-
ington Chautauqua with having been a factor in raising the average of
education and general intelligence in Springfield. It emanated from the
Chautauqua Assembly, Chautauqua, New York, and as women completed
the course of study others enrolled as members, a number of Springfield
women receiving diplomas. The club movement had rapid growth in
the 70s, increased in the '80s and '90s, and all phases of education, from
the kindergarten to the college, have benefited from club research among
the wives and mothers of the country. The Worthington Chautauqua
and the Great Unknown were different in their appeal — the one study,
and the other an amusement or entertainment center.
The first distinctively woman's club in Springfield was founded in
1888 by Mrs. J. W. Murphy — the Travelers' Club — with membership
limited to thirty, and later increased to forty and finally to fifty, and it
brought many noted platform speakers to Springfield, the Woman's Club
performing an enlarged service of the same nature today. The Travelers'
Club attested its appreciation of the Warder Free Library by placing a
clock there for the benefit of the patrons. It was a voice in the social
and civic life of Springfield.
The Travelers' Club paved the way and encouraged the formation of
other clubs. In 1891 the Fortnightly Club came into existence, and it
still functions as a bureau bringing many educators and professional
musicians and readers into the community. There was the Monday
Afternoon Club, the Tuesday Club— clubs all the week — and in October,
1894, the Springfield clubs entertained the club women of Ohio and dis-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 513
cussed the advisability of forming a state federation. Invitations were
sent to ninety-eight Ohio clubs, and seventy-eight of them were repre-
sented at the conference in Springfield. Ohio was the sixth state to* fed-
erate the clubs, and Springfield was active in bringing about the result,
since then furnishing the president of the state federation, and many
Springfield women attended the 1921 session in Cincinnati.
It was the first state federation meeting after the women of Ohio
had voted in a general election, and the twenty-sixth annual showing that
Ohio women had been federated in their club activities a quarter of a
century before suffrage became universal, and in the convention it was
said: "Women came into political life with the thought that it is not
only their right, but their duty to battle for the truth," and they heard
these words : "Let us rather speak of the duty of man and woman— of
the privilege of men and women giving to their country the best God
has given to them," and emphasis was laid on the fact that suffrage
effects the nature of the conversation between men and women. Within
women's clubs were born those ideals and dreams of feminine progress
which have found fruition in the civic, social and political emancipation
of womanhood in America. Cincinnati welcomed the "hundreds of
earnest, intelligent, forceful club women of Ohio doing constructive plan-
ning for the future," and Springfield women are active in federation
efforts. The Woman's Club is without number limitation, and it fosters
all advance movements having the right trend to them.
In writing about Woman's Work for Love, Mrs. Amaziah Winger
refers to the Woman's Benevolent Society in the summary made by her
in 1901, in which prominent Springfield women were engaged in welfare
work now so well taken care of by the Social Service Bureau; when it
assumed greater proportions it became an Associated Charity, and the
amalgamation is elsewhere mentioned. The Needle Work Guild, as
organized December 4, 1894, by Mrs. George Winwood, was similar in
its operations to the Red Cross which was so active in Springfield in
time of the World war. The Young Woman's Mission, organized in the
late fWs, and now sponsor with the Woman's Club for the Springfield
Day Nursery, grew out of the Woman's Benevolent Society. The
Woman's Christian Association, organized in November, 1896, is men-
tioned in connection with the Young Woman's Christian Association — the
Woman's Benevolent Society the mother of philanthropy in Springfield.
In summing up the work of Springfield women of the Civil war
period in 1901, Mrs. C. M. Nichols said it corresponded in spirit and
devotion to that done by the soldiers in active service. On December 3,
1863, a Soldier's Aid Society was organized and the women met in
groups in their homes, sewing for the families of soldiers. The Spring-
field Aid Society contributed many garments to the Great Western Sani-
tary Fair in Cincinnati, the Clark County Auxiliary being awarded a
silken banner for the largest donation which amounted to $5,580, there
being $234,000 raised through the fair, and Mrs. Nichols declares that
no history could do justice to the work of the women of Springfield.
The same idea has been advanced in connection with Red Cross work in
the military chapter — the women of the different periods always respond-
ing to the needs of the hour. At their leisure, these Civil war times
women became members of the Woman's Relief Corps mentioned as
among the oldest organizations for women. Club life was subordinated
in the World war, while Clark County women were frequenting the Red
Cross workshops.
Vol. I— 88
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514 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
In summing up the first 100 years of the activities of women in
Springfield, Mrs. F. M. Hagan, in looking backward, notes a brave,
courageous group who endured hardships with fortitude, saying that in
the first half of the century their, influence radiated from two centers —
the home and the church — and that the women of 1901 had pride in the
same line of activities, adding: "The ruddy glow that shone from the
windows in the first log cabins was the only thing that kept many a man
in those early days from giving up in discouragement and despair, the
struggle to wrest from the wilderness a home." Mrs. Hagan said fur-
ther : "As the years rolled by, one by one, an increasing population has
required of us a broader philanthropy then that centered in home and
church ; times have been when our city made demands upon our devotion,
our patriotism ; when great questions have inspired us to larger sacrifices
of time and energy ; when growing intellectual activity spurred us into a
broader field of literary attainment," and perhaps the City Federation of
Woman's Clubs is the explanation.
At a meeting of the Woman's Club, when "Lights and Shadows of
the Present Age," was the theme of the lecture by Dr. Edward Howard
Griggs, he said the World war aroused people to thinking less of them-
selves, and more about all the world, but since the urge of the war he
said many had drifted back to their own selfish way of looking at the
problems confronting civilization. (No less a personage than Henry
Van Dyke saying on the same subject that many American cities are now
as wicked as Berlin before the war.) A Springfield woman editorial
writer commented on the statement, saying: "Let us hold fast to this
good thing that came out of the awful carnage of war," and she quoted :
"'Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel' of good will and
unselfishness to all men," adding, "Then after a while that spirit which
led us to fight together with other men of other races, creeds and colors
will also lead us to live in peace with them."
When the Business and Professional Women's Club, numbering 250
members, brought Judge Florence E. Allen of the Cuyahoga County
Common Pleas Court to Springfield, she said: "Cooperation of the
women of America is necessary to maintain good government; the eyes
of American women are turning toward Ohio," showing that she takes
matters seriously, and not only Springfield women attended the lecture
— there were court officials, and well known lawyers. The Business and
Professional Women's Club has launched a publication, "The Snap,"
with Miss Anna Marie Tennant as editor-in-chief, and it is issued Under
the direction of the educational committee.
Clark County women are meeting the suffrage question from all sides,
a court regort saying: "The jury is equally divided as to sex, there
being six men and six women," and a Lydia E. Pinkham advertisement
champions the cause, saying : "Not until the telltale wrinkles become so
deep, the figure stooped — " but Springfield women eliminate those
features, and agree with the following translation:
*
"Our fathers on this point were people of great sense;
Their women did not read, but knew well how to live.
Their wisest conversation they drew out of their home;
For books they had a needle, a thimble and some thread ;
But the women of today this course have long forsaken."
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CHAPTER LVIII
INTELLECTUAL AND CIVIC LIFE— CONTINUED
There is a masculine side to the intellectual as well as the civic life
of Springfield and men were members of the Great Unknown, men-
tioned as the first literary club in the community. It was S. A. Bow-
man who took the initiative in organizing the Men's Literary Club,
inviting several gentlemen to meet at his office, October 6, 1893, to
consider its formation. It was to be for mutual intellectual improve-
ment and the following responded : Dr. W. G. Bryant, E. L. Buchwalter,
Judge F. M. Hagan, Dr. K. F. R. Hochdoerfer, Dr. R. B. House, Dr.
Isaac Kay, Gen. J. Warren Keifer, T. F. McGrew, Dr. J. F. Marlay,
O. T. Martin, Judge J. C. Miller, Dr. J. M. Miller, Dr. S. A. Ort, and
T. J. Pringle. At the October meeting of the club in 1921 — the open-
ing meeting of a new year— only Judge Hagan and General Keifer
answered to their names at roll call of those who formed the club
twenty-eight years earlier.
When the club was organized in the Bowman law office, General
Keifer was temporary chairman and Mr. Pringle secretary. By-laws
were adopted and in the course of years few changes have been neces-
sary. Mr. Bowman was chosen as club president, and November 13
the first regular meeting was held in his home, when he presented the
paper, "The Pacific Coast." The membership is limited to forty and
since 1893 the club has held bi-weekly sessions, members regarding the
club as a "previous engagement," and nothing of ordinary magnitude
prevents regular attendance. Many Wittenberg professors have held
membership, and a wide range of topics claims attention — literature,
history, hobbies, and a few "talk shop" at the meetings. The Men's
Literary Club meets in the homes and the host serves refreshments,
caring for the physical as well as mental requirements.
The year book says: "No one can for any length of time have
been a member of the club without counting it a genuine factor in those
elements that go to make his life worth while to the community and
himself." As vacancies occur other names are proposed and voted on
by the members, and in the time of its existence the literary club has
numbered some of the foremost citizens. It is a voice in the community.
Lagonda Chapter
On April 25, 1895, Mrs. Asa S. Bushnell organized Lagonda Chapter,
D. A. R., in Springfield, with fourteen charter members and a roster
of the chapter is to be seen in the rooms of the Clark County Historical
Society. It is done in cross stitch with the zephyr yarn used in fancy
work at the time. The objects of the chapter are: "To perpetuate the
memory of the spirit of men and women who achieved American Inde-
pendence by the acquisition and preservation of historic spots, and the
erection of monuments; by the encouragement of historical research
in relation to the Revolution, and the publication of its results; by the
preservation of documents and of the records of the individual service
of Revolutionary soldiers and patriots, and by the promotion of cele-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 517
brations of all patriotic anniversaries. The image adopted by the chap-
ter is a badge in the form of a spinning wheel and distaff.
In 1912 Lagonda Chapter erected a shrine in Ferncliff Cemetery in
memory of the men buried in Clark County who fought in the War
of the American Revolution and in the military chapter their names are
printed. A boulder at the entrance to Cliff Park, set with a bronze
tablet, and inscribed: "Lest we forget our soldiers of Clark County,
Lagonda Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1921," was
dedicated November 11, 1921, and near it is a 40-foot flag pole given
by Miss Bertha Thompson, from which a silk flag floats over the shrine —
sacred to the soldiers of all wars, but erected as a tribute to World war
soldiers. The boulder is brown and gray sandstone obtained from the
Spinning farm east of Springfield. Almost every day wreaths of flowers
were placed on this boulder as silent tributes, those remembering friends
coming and going without the public having any knowledge of their
tributes beyond the presence of the flowers.
Because of weather conditions, the dedicatory service was in Memo-
rial Hall, and in presenting the flag Mrs. E. A. Carlisle, Regent, Lagonda
Chapter, said: "Our Clark County boys played their part well and we
are here to honor them and to entrust to the George Cultice Post of
the American Legion the custody of this flag," and in accepting it, War-
ren W. Diehl, commander, replied: "We promise that we shall keep
it sacred," and that promise involves much — an opportunity to teach
the proper use of the American flag. While Clark County patriots had
their rendezvous with death in different communities — perhaps, "Not a
drum was heard nor a funeral note," Lagonda Chapter, D. A. R., has
erected two shrines of patriotism honoring all of them. In the dedi-
cation of the Cliff Park monument J. B. McGrew said : "On November
11, 1918, the greatest war in history came to an end (three years ago).
The anniversary of that day is one well worth observing. It is a day
of much significance in our history. The first constitution based on
the consent of the governed was written and signed in the cabin of the
Mayflower. It seems appropriate that a war fought to vindicate the
principles embodied in that document and in the Constitution of the
United States should be brought to a conclusion on the anniversary of
the day on which the Pilgrim document was written. * * * As a
symbol of that ideal citizenship which constructs, defends and main-
tains in peace as in war this America of ours, we this day dedicate this
monument."
Lagonda Club
In October, 1904, the Lagonda Club building was open to the mem-
bers and while it is not denominated a "poor man's club," there is a
democratic spirit that pervades it. It was built at a cost of $25,000 and
affords facilities for both dances and banquets — is a social rather than
an intellectual center and yet in its reading rooms copies of Springfield
and metropolitan publications are available. When the Lagonda Club
was incorporated it purchased the Cavalier corner — High and Spring
streets — and it had in mind the social rather than the literary opportu-
nities. It has rooms for indoor sports and the wives of members enjoy
the social privileges. While it has both resident and non-resident mem-
bers, in order to share its advantages members must own stock in the
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518 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
organization. Since many of the members belong to other civic organ-
izations the Lagonda Club is a community center.
Young Men's Literary Club
Closely allied with the Men's Literary Club is the Young Men's
Literary Club, organized in 1896, in Springfield. W. W. Witmeyer was
the moving spirit in its organization, and thirty-five is the limit of mem-
bership. As its name implies, it is literary, although it embraces social
features. It meets the second and fourth Friday nights of the month
except in June, July and August, meeting in the homes of its members.
Springfield Rotary Club
The Rotary Club is widespread as a civic organization and the Spring-
field branch is one of many. It was organized January 14, 1914, the
membership limited by classification rather than numbers, although it
has ninety-four enrolled, and its slogan "He profits more who serves
best" reflects its attitude toward the community. It holds weekly meet-
ings— always luncheons with programs — and sometimes it has out-of-
town speakers. The membership committee is known only to the presi-
dent and secretary and names are brought to the consideration of the
club. Members are chosen from the different lines of business and
professional life and thus viewpoints are different and the majority
rules. The Rotary Club presidents have been : W. E. Copenhaver, C. L.
Bauer, H. S. Kissell, J. L. Bushnell, J. S. Webb, R. C. Bancroft, G. R.
Prout, Dr. C. L. Minor, and the latest roster: W. A. Bauer, president;
G. B. Sheridan and Edward A. Tehan, vice presidents ; Harlan C. West,
treasurer, and J. L. Dorst, secretary. At the Rotary luncheon James L.
Baker discussed "Abrasives and the Grinding Wheel Industry," and thus
the members understand the industries and the public questions in Spring-
field. Immense forward strides were made in the use of abrasives in
time of the World war, and the Safety Emery Wheel Company was
the first concern in the world to bring out the tapered collar as a means
of protecting the operator.
The Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions and Exchange clubs all are civic and
educational and all hold their meetings in connection with noonday
luncheons. The husbands are together and the wives escape the dinner
at home. These luncheons are a feature of the present day industrial
life and momentarily the members forget their own little worlds while
listening to the details connected with other enterprises. While the
International Kiwanis Club was organized in 1913, the Springfield
Kiwanis Club was organized January 1, 1919, admitting two members
of one profession or business, and thus widening the possibility of
knowledge from different sources. Its presidents have been : Dean C. G.
Shatzer, George Metcalf, George H. Kelsey and E. J. Carmony, and
its secretaries: E. J. Carmony, Ernest C. Jansen, C. G. Whitney and
Dr. W. B. Seward. Its luncheon programs are each Tuesday. Brotherly
love and service rules the conduct of the members, and specialists along
different lines come together for an exchange of ideas and for better
acquaintance. For instance, when Dr. R. R. Richison was the speaker
he discussed health conditions from the social viewpoint and when the
Rt. Rev. Monsignor D. A. Buckley was the speaker, in discussing wel-
fare, he said: "There is no form of misery to which mankind is subject
that cannot be relieved through one of the Catholic charities," and thus
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 519
middle aged men are at school in similar manner to which middle aged
women were educated in the chautauqua.
Springfield Lions Club
Lionism is another name for opportunity. The Lions Club was
organized June 1, 1920, in Springfield with a membership limit of sev-
enty-five, and but one member from any one line or classification. The
quota would easily be reached but the membership is conservative about
soliciting new Lions. The name stands for character — the strength of
the lion its symbol. The club is non-political, non-sectarian and each
unit of the International Association has the cooperation of all the other
units. Lionism promotes the principles of good citizenship — is interested
in the civic, commercial, social and moral welfare of the community.
Springfield Lion Club members are wage-earners — must earn the
money before they spend it — such as I have give I unto thee — and they
are active in many public enterprises. Its presidents have been: R. H.
Wetherbee, with H. S. Brooks as secretary, and C. John Morean, with
L. E. Brown secretary. The Lions Club promoted municipal golf in
Snyder Park and opened a summer camp for widows and children at
Silver Lake and it has fostered business regulations in Springfield. It
conducted a charity ball and contributed $1,000 to the Social Service
Bureau, thus aiding organized charity. The Lions Club was planning
for baseball diamonds in Snyder Park and considering aid for the Sal-
vation Army. It meets at noonday luncheons and always has some def-
inite program. It secures speakers of ability and current topics are fre-
quently under consideration. Prof. J. M. Collins has just discussed
Americanization from the standpoint of education.
The Exchange Club
The most recently organized civic club in Springfield is the Exchange,
its charter having been obtained in March, 1921, although it was def-
initely organized April 11, 1911, in Detroit. In 1896, a number of
Detroit business men began holding meetings — sometimes called them-
selves boosters and sometimes knockers — but they were congenial spirits
and they discussed community affairs, but running along without organ-
ization until Charles A. Berkey called the group together, when they
adopted the name Exchange and the slogan: "Unity for service." It is
a growing organization in Springfield, the membership reaching fifty the
first year. The membership is based on classification — one member rep-
resenting one line or occupation, and any change of business or pro-
fession operates automatically as a club resignation.
Arthur R. Altick, who first called the Exchange Club together in
Springfield, acted as temporary chairman, but Dr. D. I. Roush became the
first regular chairman, with C. E. Winchell secretary. The local
Exchange Club affiliates with the State and National clubs, and The
Exchangeite is the official publication. The Springfield Exchange Club
provides a medium for the exchange of ideas, methods, information and
extends business and fraternal courtesies. All formalities are dispensed
with, anil members address each other by Christian names. The
Exchange Club cooperates in humanitarian and civic affairs, and is
fostering the Boy Scout movement in Springfield. It helped to make
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520 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
a success of the municipal Christmas tree and is alert to community
interests.
Someone remarked about the Elks, Eagles, Lions, Owls, Moose —
zoological and ornithological titles to organizations of fraternal and
benevolent nature, and noted the revival of the Ku Klux Klan and then
Springfield was about to have an Optimist club, organized along similar
lines to the Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions annd Exchange clubs. It dates back
to 1916 as a national organization. While there was once a Travelers'
Literary Club in Springfield, Champion City Council United Commer-
cial Travelers is a protective organization, and there is the Young Busi-
ness Men's Club with similar object in its organization. The Spring-
field Retail Grocers' Association holds annual banquets and considers
matters of importance.
This is the day of organization and while they say of some com-
munities that they are "clubbed" to death, men and women still come
together in groups of comradeship and for community welfare. The
Springfield Country Club, organized in 1906, is a recreation center
devoted to out-of-doors sports, the growth of the idea due to the pop-
ularity of the Scotch game of golf. The Country Club was capitalized
at $15,000 and purchased the Ward-Thompson farm consisting of val-
leys and uplands, and its greens overlook Mad River north of Spring-
field. Robert H. Foos was active in promoting the organization, and
the club house built on a ridge is popular with Springfield society. It
is a dual organization — the Country Club Company and the Country
Club, the company owning the property and leasing it to the Country
Club, but changes are imminent, members of the club being asked to
become members of the company and men paying $50 and women $25
membership dues. A Springfield-Urbana Country Club was under con-
sideration, Urbana desiring such an organization with or without
Springfield.
The Sunset Civic League was planning a club house — the com-
munity house idea being widespread in Clark County. The Rose
City Radio Association is a new organization of men making wire-
less methods a study, and "Service to the Community" is the key-
note of the Clark County Federation of Community Clubs, of which
the Hon. T. A. Busbey is president; Stanley Laybourne, vice president;
John W. Dorst, secretary, and C. C. Hunter, treasurer, the official roster
and the presidents of the clubs affiliating forming the executive com-
mittee.
New Carlisle Progress Club
While in some of the towns the women expend all their energies in
the different church societies and in needle clubs, the Progress Club in
New Carlisle was organized in 1894 and federated a year later. It
issues a year book and observes special days as the Christmas party
and ends the year with an annual outing, saying : "There is no medicine
equal to a merry laugh, well mixed with fresh air," heeding the sug-
gestion of Peter, who said: "I am going fishing," perhaps the first
mention on record of recreation. However, in 1803, Griffith Foos and
Archibald Lowry of Springfield established the precedent by accompany-
ing their wives to Yellow Springs.
The Twentieth Century Literary Club of Catawba was organized
April 3, 1901, and was federated four years later. It has an outline of
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 521
study and conducts a circulating library. It brings prominent lecturers
and entertainer to Catawba. The club recently conducted an art exhibit,
bringing pictures from the Cincinnati Art Academy. Following the
1913 flood, the club invited other women to sewings and they made
and sent 100 garments to the sufferers in Columbus. In war time the
club was active in the Red Cross workshop, and the members "Hoover-
ized" on refreshments, giving the money saved to relief work. The
Literary Club affiliates with the Catawba Community Club in promoting
the annual Pleasant Township picnic and home-coming, supporting all
efforts toward community improvements.
While some South Charleston women affiliate with Springfield clubs,
there are no research clubs, although church acitivities claim attention.
There is a Euchre club and opportunity for discussing "colds, cancers
and cigarets," and there is no lack of hospitality. Albert Reeder tells
of a pious invalid in South Charleston who had the hallucination that she
was a poetess and "when Uncle Jesse Griffith called to inquire about
her, she greeted him thus:
"Here I lay all free from sin;
Jesse, come in; come in; come in—-"
but she does not represent South Charleston society.
Springfield club women are considering a club house, as has been
announced by Mrs. A. D. Hosterman of the Woman's Club, and Mrs.
W. W. Keifer is chairman of a committee appointed to investigate the
sentiment of the community. A questionnaire was in prospect to be sub-
mitted to the women of Springfield and in time the City Federation of
Women's Clubs hopes to have its own place of meeting, where :
"You sing a little song or two,
You have a little chat;
You make a little candy fudge,
And then you take your hat."
The oldest occupation is agriculture and there was a time when the
social balance was in the country. The community clubs are co-oper-
ating with the Grange and Farm Bureau, and while economic questions
predominate the rural population has its organized social life in Clark
County. "America is just waking up to the facts of its brain power,
and the sources of its leadership," and while the impression once pre-
vailed that leaders were born in the country, that was in the era of the
log cabin. In Who's Who, listing 2,200 leading Americans, it was
found that two and one-half times as many hailed from the city as
from the country in proportion to the population, and the explanation
is that for so many years the city has attracted the best blood from
the country. A Springfield writer raises this question:
"Did you ever think how desolate
This world would surely be
If 'twere not for the friendly bond
Of the community?
Did you ever half appreciate
How much we all depend
Upon the sweet solicitude
Of every earthly friend?"
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522 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
and thus is emphasized the saying: "In union there is strength," and
the people are recognizing their dependence upon each other.
While a good many books have been written in Springfield and a
number of persons are classed as excellent musicians, and while the
public schools and Wittenberg College teach art, as yet there have been
few artists in the community. The papers speak of Walter Tittle of
New York and Springfield — should be Springfield and New York — and
local people have noted the fact that he recently painted a picture of
President Warren G. Harding which will be hung with the portraits of
his predecessors on the walls of the White House. Mr. Tittle made
dry point etchings of many of the diplomats who attended the Disarma-
ment Conference in Washington and when Marshal Foch saw the result
he asked for a picture.
The Frankenstein family who emigrated from Germany in 1831
came from Cincinnati to Springfield in 1849 and the inquiry about local
artists was answered by reference to an article in Howe's History rela-
tive to the family, the artist being Godfrey N. Frankenstein. The work
of his life was his panorama of Niagara, where he spent twenty-two
years, beginning it in 1844 and finishing it in 1866, depicting the water
in the coldest winter and the hottest summer — by day and night and
from every conceivable viewpoint. A year later he visited Europe and
in 1869 he painted along the Little Miami near Cincinnati. In 1871,
accompanied by his sister Eliza, who was an artist, Mr. Frankenstein
went to the White Mountains, where they painted from nature.
In November, 1872, Mr. Frankenstein painted his last scene from
nature along Mad River, calling it Ferncliffs. The site is three miles
from Springfield. When he died, February 24, 1873, he still possessed
all his original pictures save one. However, a line in Howe's History
says: "No artist ever had more enthusiastic admirers than some of
those who possess his works." Worthington Whittridge is mentioned
as a Springfield artist, who attained success after leaving the com-
munity. The Mother Stewart portrait elsewhere mentioned was made
by a Springfield artist, and investigation would reveal others — really
meritorious work by persons too modest to call themselves artists.
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CHAPTER LIX
SUPERVISED SPORTS IN CLARK COUNTY
While there always were ball games, running matches and jumping
contests, there was little supervision of sports anywhere * until within
the twentieth century. In 1879, Springfield had a baseball team and it
was among the first Ohio cities to develop such sport. It sponsored the
great American game early in its history. Springfield later gave two
players to the world. Jack Glasscock and Guy Hecker of the original
Springfield team later played in major leagues and both were stars.
John Mitchell of the Springfield team was the first left-hand pitcher to
curve the ball. He was a mystery to strikers who could not "get on
to his curves/'
Springfield was in the Ohio State Baseball League in 1884 and won
the pennant the first year. A local sport writer, Jack Reid, then a
schoolboy in Springfield, was interested in the sport and he retained
the League Guide of that year. In 1885 the League disbanded with
Springfield recognized as the lead team. It was in the league again
in 1889 and 1890, and in 1905-6-7 it was a member of the Central
League. In 1912 Springfield rejoined the Central League and it was
again in action in 1916-17, when the war came on and disorganized
sports of all kinds — the players joining the ranks of the patriots and
the fans going with them. At the time Mr. Reid furnished the above
data there was a movement on to revive baseball enthusiasm in Spring-
field. A committee representing secret societies and civic organizations
was planning to raise a fund of $10,000 by selling $10 shares of stock
in a Fan's Association, hoping to gain a place in the Three Eye (Indiana,
Illinois and Iowa) League. A number of Springfield boys have con-
tinued in the game when Springfield was not maintaining a league. They
have joined other leagues and some of them are star players.
Golf is the game at the Country Club and there are municipal links
in Snyder Park that attract many players, the course there being enlarged
from nine to eighteen holes and tennis courts are to be seen in many
places, with croquet still claiming attention. Football and basket ball
are popular high school and college sports, athletics having been intro-
duced into the Springfield high school when Prof. W. H. Weir was
principal, and Prof. John S. Weaver superintendent. They fostered
athletics and Prof. G. E. McCord, now superintendent of schools, was
then the football coach. While there had been scrub ball teams, it was
in 1901 that football was given attention by the high school faculty.
The twentieth century had dawned before local educators had taken
definite steps to balance mental with physical training, and Superintendent
McCord was active in bringing sports into the curriculum. Now all
athletics are under supervision and a physical director is as necessary
as a class room teacher — the educated mind having more value in a
well developed body. Principal E. W. Tiffany has ruled that no player
not a high school graduate will be permitted to play in the alumni lineup
against the high school, thereby placing a premium on securing a diploma
and silencing criticism about athletes not being good students. Football
is the popular high school contest game and Springfield high school
players meet any and all challengers.
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Since 1915 basketball has been supervised and encouraged as a high
school pastime and there are many good teams in Clark County schools
outside of Springfield. The girls are active in basketball and among them
are some good players. The Springfield high school gymnasium is a
busy place, the classes having their turns under supervision and all having
the same privileges there. Basketball teams are organized in the grades
and they become expert players by the time they reach high school.
The gymnasium is open Saturdays and it is an agency for occupying the
time of boys that would otherwise be spent on the streets. Professor
McCord has the idea that playing together teaches children the art of
living together — makes them live-with-able — that nowhere do they rec-
ognize the rights and privileges of others quicker than when engaged
in supervised sports.
Sports at Wittenberg
While baseball has not enthralled Wittenberg at any time, since 1895
football has been under supervision, James Townsend being the coach
who started it. Dr. A. F. Linn of Wittenberg is sponsor for athletics
and E. R. Godfrey, the present coach, had his athletic training at Ohio
State University, and he has been training some winners. Zimmerman
athletic field is the scene of many games and Wittenberg shows up wen,
many of the athletes having been stars in their high school days. Coach
Godfrey hopes for engagements with the big eastern colleges, thereby
bringing Wittenberg into recognition.
Since 1915 basketball has been popular at Wittenberg, there being
teams among the girls as well as boys, and for two years the lead basket-
ball team had not been defeated, but when it was announced that **A
staunch admirer of the Lutherans would present the player scoring
the greatest percentage of points during the season with $10," there
was a storm of protest, saying: "When it becomes necessary to offer
inducements to spur athletes to put forth their best efforts then you
rob the game of its greatest asset." The Wittenberg girls are winners
in many contests and some close games are played, Doctor Linn of the
faculty arranging all engagements. Springfield, St. Raphael and St.
Joseph high school basketball players meet all challengers in basketball
contests and visiting teams are frequently seen in Springfield.
While trainers are maintained on the golf courses, it is a personal
arrangement and is not classed as supervision, but the first steps toward
the organization of a public recreational committee to have charge of
all athletic work in Springfield were taken at a joint meeting of the
public playgrounds committee and the golf commission in the office
of City Manager Edgar E. Parsons, the plan embracing the central-
ization of control of all public recreational activities, the employment
of a recreational director and the expression of public recreational activ-
ities, the board of education donating the use of school grounds as play-
grounds in different communities. There are municipal golf links in
Snyder Park and municipal swimming pools in Cliff Park are under
consideration. In 1921 the municipal golf links netted more than $5,000
and members of the park board feel that anything that will get the people
out into the open air for healthful exercise is a good thing.
Wrestling matches are staged in Springfield and for years it has been
a horse race center. Some of the best track horses in the United States
are trained on the Clark County Fair Grounds and in the past the fair
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association has offered purses that bring out the best horses. A public
riding club is a possibility, enough persons becoming interested to insure
a stable in Springfield. Horseback riding is an invigorating pastime
and the country roads offer variety in the vicinity of Springfidd. A
riding academy may be a reality. In summing up Springfield attractions,
a local writer says : "Old King Winter has done his best to provide a
season of good old-fashioned snow sports this year (1921-22), and
everywhere one meets gay parties of coasters.
"Snyder Park has been thronged with numerous devotees of the
skating art for the last few days. Every afternoon and evening the
last week the hills surrounding the picturesque country dub have been
ringing with the laughter of innumerable coasters. * * * Quite a
few bright colored skating and coasting costumes are worn by the fair
devotees of sport. While there are tweed knickers, the bright colored
knitted sweaters, hats and scarfs, oftentimes with wool hose to match,
predominate. Then there are the old-fashioned bob sled parties which
were such gala events in mother and grandmother's day. These sturdy
old horsedrawn sleds are hard to find and the man who possessed fore-
thought enough to stow his away was wise, for groups of young and
older people are scouring the country for them. Several bob sled par-
ties are scheduled — provided the snow " but the pioneers had that
same contingency, when mud boats and bob sleds were found at every
farm house.
The amusements change with the times— each amusement has its
day, and the only objection to sleighing ever voiced was that it came
in January instead of July. The pioneers had little need of athletics
when they were felling the trees in the forests and the town boy who
sawed the four-foot wood into stove lengths had sufficient exercise, and
it seems to hold true : "Sufficient unto the day are the 'special require-
ments and opportunities/ " the "evils" no longer being under consider-
ation in Clark County.
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CHAPTER LX
YARNFEST IN SPRINGFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The day after Thanksgiving, A. D. 1921, the weather man was con-
siderate of the aged men and women of Springfield and vicinity, invited
to assemble that afternoon in the rooms of the Chamber of Commerce.
It rained on Thanksgiving but Old Sol was benignant on Friday, although
Jupiter Pluvius was in the saddle again on Saturday. The fair weather
seemed to be sandwiched in on Friday because of rheumatism and ail-
ments incident to age, when such persons overcame their human limita-
tions. Sometimes the "wind is tempered to the shorn lamb" and "Friday
the fairest" was a benediction.
Many men and women who do not often quit their homes were guests
of the Chamber of Commerce and had part in a reminiscent meeting.
They remembered Trapper's Corner ; they recalled when the first pavement
was put down in front of Maddux Fisher's store; when it was nothing
uncommon to see horses and wagons driven to the doors of the homes
in Springfield when there were no lawns in front ; they remembered when
Springfield was noted for its muddy streets; they knew all about Mill
Rim and its relation to the industrial community. Those invited to the
Yarnfest were to secure elevator passage to the ninth floor of the Fair-
banks Building by saying: "Three-Score-and-Ten" to the women oper-
ating the elevators, and while the hours were from 1:00 till 4:00 the
guests began arriving before 12 o'clock. One of the elevator operators
said: "We are all strong for the part/' and another said: "We did
not know that there were so many lovely old ladies in the world as were
in Springfield that day. Some of them trembled and some would squeak
when the elevator started, and it was the longest ride straight up any
of them ever had taken."
The Springfield News said: "One of the most unique parties in the
history of Clark County took place in the Chamber of Commerce rooms
Friday afternoon when the old folks of the county held a party." Some
topics suggested were: Who ever saw a deer in Clark County? Did
you ever serve wild turkey to your family or guests ? Who ever "water
witched" for a well? Who ever located a bee tree? Who ever cooked
before the fire? Who ever came to Springfield by stage? Were you
ever lost in the woods ? Would you like to live it all over again ? Some
of them remembered the Good Samaritan sign at the Ludlow drug store ;
they remembered the coverlet weaver by the name of Myers near Med-
way; they remembered going to a neighbor's house to borrow fire; they
remembered pioneer conditions in Clark County.
While the settlers remained in their own neighborhood, their sons
and daughters wander far — become globe trotters — although "See Amer-
ica first" influences some of them and in these days of rapid transit and
automobile transportation, the Three-Score-and-Ten class are having
their vacation periods, and seeing more of the country. The twentieth
century was just rounding out its twenty-first year at the time of the
Yarnfest and at the beginning of the century the people at the meeting
had heard nothing of the aeroplane, wireless telegraphy, motion pictures,
the automobile or the submarine, and they realized the swiftness with
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 529
which time was carrying them toward eternity. There is nothing new
under the sun and people at the Yarnfest told of a similar meeting when
O. S. Kelly invited the aged men to be his guests at the Arcade Hotel
some years ago. Those who came to the Yarnfest were "strangers in
a strange land" because they were nine stories above terra firma, and
they were not used to being so high up in the world. Some one writes :
"Bridge Time's swift river with a span,
Whose arch shall hide his waves from sight.
Glide back to where your lives began,
Let past and present reunite/'
and that feat was accomplished at the Yarnfest. The guests remembered
all about a deep water pond at High and Market streets, when the store-
keepers and residents went about in boats, the overflow of Mill Run
being the difficulty. They remembered the cyclones and the hurricanes,
although Springfield has had few destructive fires. They remembered
the log rollings, the clearings, the wool pickings, the apple cuttings, when
they peeled, cored and quartered the apples for drying, and called the
finished product snits. They remembered when girls were called Tom-
boys who were the "flapper" type of today, and some of them do not
condemn the short skirt with sensible limitations, although women of
that age have not conformed to the more recent styles; nor
"Would they want to go back to the days of yore,
When girls wore skirts of a dozen gore."
"Early to bed and early to rise" had been the life rule of many
who came to the Yarnfest and the program began half an hour early.
Why wait for a crowd when the invited guests had assembled? While
there may be older persons than those who attended the meeting, there
are few more cheerful folk. Those who were able-bodieid and remained
at home may take cold comfort in the fact that those who responded to
the invitation enjoyed the meeting. How do men and women know
when they are growing old? Because somebody calls them father and
mother, grandfather and grandmother, and when they notice gray hairs
in their heads, when some one offers them a seat in a crowded car or
auditorium, when young people try to shield them from responsibility.
While all octogenarians and golden bridal pairs were asked to write
their names with the necessary statistical information, many who were
born since 1841 enrolled and it made a task for the tellers, C. E. Hansell
and A. R. Altick of the Chamber of Commerce, who determined the
prize winners from those entries. It was necessary to consume a good
deal of time in completing the records of others who failed to give exact
information. First, second and third prizes were offered and a fourth
man was twenty-one days younger than the third oldest man present
and a bridegroom was a winner until it developed that his wife had
not accompanied — a condition set forth — the awards being for those in
attendance. One golden bridal pair had penciled a border of yellow on
the envelope containing their names, and another indicated : "The male is
seventy-six while the female is seventy-five." One man aged eighty-one
had penciled the word "Single" and another said in a note: "I am a
Republican and a Methodist."
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530 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
The octogenarians who enrolled at the Yarnfest were: Mrs. Eliza-
beth Coberly, Mrs. Eliza Trout, Mrs. Eliza McMillan, John Cord,
George Braley, Peter Overhulser, G. W. Billow, Mrs. Billow, Robert
Botkin, George Krapp, Mrs. Krapp, Elihu Hiatt, Mrs. Jacob Steiner,
George W. Coffey, Thomas H. Pearson, S. W. Nelson, Wil-
liam Wise, Samuel Sparrow, Gen. J. Warren Keifer, Henry A.
Swartzbaugh, Benjamin F. Walters, Mrs. Dorcas A. Husted Hill, Mrs.
Rebecca P. Townsend, Daniel B. Morris, Mrs. Clarinda Mitman Serface,
Mrs. Mary S. Campbell, S. T. Russell, Mrs. Jane H. Metcalf, Mrs.
R. Florence Welsh, Mrs. Mary F. Wymer, Mrs. Elizabeth Allen, Mrs.
A. C. Weaver, Mrs. Thomas Osmond, Samuel Deitrick, William Myers,
T. B. Morton, T. H. Nicewanger, H. E. Bateman, Mrs. Samuel S. Tay-
lor, Benjamin F. Prince, William E. Cromwell, J. L. Ferris, Rills,
David King, Isaac M. Evans, Mrs. Helen S. Hoppes, Thomas S. Hess,
L. M. Hartman, Mrs. Frances C. Vance, Mrs. Margaret Catharine
Rhodes Berry, Mrs. Margaret Moore and John N. Austin. While those
past seventy were invited, they were not asked to enroll at the meeting.
Seventy is denominated as the "dead line," and when men and women
cross it safely they frequently attain to four score years — become
octogenarians, nonagenarians, and sometimes centenarians.
Some one writes: "When they pass ninety-five these dear old peo-
ple are keen to live to the hundredth birthday," but Mrs. Coberly, who
one Sunday in the previous August had dropped nine dimes, a nickel
and a penny in the birthday box at the M. E. Sunday School in South
Vienna, and who was proclaimed the oldest person at the Yarnfest, hav-
ing been born August 29, 1825, said she was "old in body but young in
spirit," and that was a happy condition. They crowded her so in the
elevator coming to the Yarnfest that she did not have any chance to get
light-headed, and she said afterward: "I do not know when I enjoyed
myself so well as there among all those old folks." She never had seen
General Keifer, but she recognized him from having seen his pictures.
Mrs. Coberly never had heard the song, "Swing low, sweet chariot, com-
ing to carry me home," and it was in her mind frequently.
John Cord was the oldest man present, although a short time later
the newspapers carried the story that Rev. John Hunt, a member of the
I. O. O. F. Home, was ninety-nine years old, and that he was said to be
the oldest college graduate in the United States. In 1842 he graduated
from Brown University. He was born October 17, 1822, at Lowell,
Massachusetts. While Mrs. Coberly smokes, and said she did not care
who knew it, Mr. Hunt never used tobacco or liquor in any form — so
tobacco had nothing to do with longevity in either instance. The mother
of Mr. Hunt had attained to 102 years, although she never lived in
Clark County. When she was past ninety-five years old Mrs. Coberly
cast her first ballot, saying: "I voted her straight," and when a war
chest drive was on in the community, she volunteered her subscription,
saying she had lived through two previous wars, and she was pensioned
as the widow of Samuel Coberly, who was a Civil war soldier.
When seen in her home after the Yarnfest Mrs. Coberly said the
Lord had been good to her; she was attending revival meetings every
night — Methodist and Christian union service — saying: "We're putting
our meetings together, and it just works fine," and she had just enter-
tained the two ministers at dinner, saying: "It was not so much the
dinner as that the oldest woman in Clark County cooked it for them;
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY . 531
not many of my age could cook that dinner," and it should inspire others
to greater activity. "Tales of the prodigious feats of centenarian and
near centenarian ancestors have been handed down in many families for
generations until now they are accepted only as fanciful dreams/' but
many people will vouch for the truth of Mrs. Coberly's activities, know-
ing that the woman lives alone. She has her "second sight," and reads
the newspaper without glasses.
In registering the golden bridal couples in attendance, two persons
entered into the consideration; those present were: Mr. and Mrs.,
George Krapp, Mn and Mrs. G. W. Billow. Mr. and Mrs. George
Braley, Mr. and Mrs. David Sheets, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas M. Hess, Mr.
and Mrs. George F. Jones, Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Miranda, Mr. and Mrs.
Thomas H. Pearson, and Mr. and Mrs. Peter Overhulser. Most of the
golden bridal pairs were also octogenarians ; they all seemed "happy
though married" fifty years. Springfield merchants who had offered
premiums in the different classes all report pleasant visits from the win-
ners, although only Mr. and Mrs. Krapp, and Mrs. McMillan went from
the meeting to claim the articles given them. The others were worn out
and went to their homes, taking another day for claiming the premiums ;
however, all presented their credentials — an order signed by Mr. Hansell
of the Chamber of Commerce, and given them at the meeting.
At the Home Store A. J. Sutton waited on Mr. and Mrs. Krapp,
who were accompanied by relatives, and he said: "Mr. dear sir, they
were pleased; they went out as happy as if they had just established
their love nest, and it were their first pair of blankets." They had been
married sixty-six years, and the blankets were offered to the oldest
bridal pair at the meeting. They have separate bank accounts, and the
oldest golden bride collects her own rentals, and makes her own deposits.
She inherited money from Germany some years ago. Mr. Krapp was a
bandmaster in Germany, Louisville and Springfield ; he conducted a grocery
store in Springfield, and acquired considerable property. When Mrs.
Eliza McMillan of South Charleston claimed the house slippers given by
the Horner Shoe Store to the third oldest woman at the Yarnfest, she
wished she might live eighty-nine years longer and note the changes in
the world ; she told them about stage coach days in Springfield.
When Mrs. Coberly had rested a few days she came to the Boston
Store. C. E. Dahlgren, who had offered a shawl to the oldest woman at
the meeting, waited on her himself. He introduced her to customers in
the store, and she entertained them all. He said : "I never saw such an
active woman so near the century mark; it was worth the donation to
meet the woman," and Mrs. Coberly said of the shawl : "This streak of
gray matches my hair, and while I have another shawl I wear this one."
Mrs. Eliza Trout called at the Petot Shoe Store within a day or two, and
arranged with R. W. Pickering for a return date, when she had more
time. She was ninety-one years old, and claimed the prize offered the
second oldest woman ; she walked from her home a mile and a half from
the store. When Mrs. Trout came again, Mr. Pickering fitted her in
shoes, saying she was a woman to be admired although a woman of few
words.
When Peter Overhulser of Lawrenceville finally called at the John
MacKee Store to claim the gloves offered the third oldest man, he was
accompanied by relatives. He was two years old when he came to Ger-
man Township where he had lived more than eighty-six years, and it
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532 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
developed that L. M. Hartman, who was born October 9, 1840, had
lived continuously in one place, still lacking five years of attaining to the
record of Mr. Overhulser. However, the oldest woman present — Mrs.
Coberly — had lived ninety years in Clark County. When Mr. and Mrs.
G. W. Billow called at the Hadley Store to receive the blankets awarded
the second oldest bridal pair in attendance, they remained for a short visit
and all enjoyed it. Their son, N. K. Billow, of Billow and Firestone in
Columbus, had business relations with the Hadley Store Company. When
Mrs. Billow missed a social gathering later, she was charged with remain-
ing home to enjoy the blankets; the whole thing was a mystery to her.
When John Cord claimed the hat awarded the oldest man in attend-
ance by the Buckeye Hatters, it was a case of "Actions speak louder than
words." He said little, having never won a hat before, and he was
pleased with it ; he was six years younger than the oldest woman. George
Braley was winner in two classes ; he was the second oldest man and the
third oldest bridegroom, and when A. C. Flora of the Arcade Shoe Store
was fitting Mr. Braley with shoes, for the first time he heard about the
log cabin: "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," being constructed in Spring-
field. At the Kresge Store, Mr. Braley had no trouble at all; a dozen
towels would fit either Mrs. Braley or himself. In the picture of the
eleven prize winners, Mr. Braley could not be in two places and he was
seated with Mrs. Braley. While twelve persons were supposed to be
winners, the nine prizes offered were won by eleven persons, since Mr.
Braley doubled as the second oldest man and the third oldest bridegroom.
One man aged eighty-eight years was heard to say he did not expect
recognition, when so many older persons were at the meeting.
It was urged that if prizes had been offered for the handsomest men
and women others might have been winners, and a Springfield milliner
did covet the privilege of giving a bonnet to some aged woman, but when
she made known her desire the list of prizes had already been announced ;
then she wanted to give a bonnet to a spinster, but "bachelor maids" do
not usually announce their ages— are sometimes sensitive about it. The
Davis trio— quaint and ancient garb — attracted much attention; the sis-
ters are daughters of Jacob Davis, who was a Mad River Township
pioneer, and Mrs. Clarinda Mitman Serface was an octogenarian, while
Mrs. Mary R. Hain and Mrs. Anna F. Cost were younger, Mrs. Cost
wearing the wedding gown worn by their mother.
The 1920 census enrolled 3,500 persons in the United States who had
passed the centenary, and while every community has its "oldest inhab-
itant," there was no record of a centenarian in Clark County. It is
estimated that the average man who reaches four score years wastes two
years putting on and taking off clothes, while a woman spends ten years
dressing herself and undressing — full ten years before her mirror — but
there must be exceptions. It was the wise man, Solomon, who said:
"Boast not thyself of tomorrow," and yet those old persons assembled
seemed to have been provident — no worry about the future. Some one
writes :
"They call it going down the hill when we are growing old ;
They speak with mourning accents when our tale is nearly told ;
They sigh when talking of the past — the days that used to be,
As if our future were not bright with immortality."
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 533
E. P. Thornton who attended the Yarn f est had known Griffith Foos,
had seen him often ; they sawed wood together, and Mr. Foos said : "We
are the only industrious boys in town." He had long, gray hair and told
Mr. Thornton about the time when buffaloes and deer roamed along
Buck Creek. While the people were assembled to tell stories :
"Many a deed a while remembered,
Out of memory needs must fall,
Covered as the years roll onward,
By oblivion's creeping pall,"
and a quotation from Judge Alfred Ellison, and given by Miss Elva
Wilson before the Harmony Township Sunday School Convention, fol-
lows:
"J'ever notice how, when the house gits still,
An' yer feelin' sad an* lonesome, like yer sometimes will,
Tears as ef the faces of yer boyhood days,
Was looking out upon you from the black log's blaze;
The flames leap in a hurry, just like you used to do,
When a neighbor boy would whistle outside the door for you,
An' yer can't help savin' : 'Tell you what it is,
I want to go back wher' the old folks is,' "
and that describes the feelings of many at the Yarnfest, who said they
would like to attend another meeting.
The audience sang "America," and the invocation was by Dr. J. W.
Gunn, who was a nonagenarian and known to all. When C. C. Williams
arose to sing "My Old Kentucky Home," inquiry was made as to those
present who were of Kentucky ancestry; while there was a showing of
hands, the percentage was not so large as 120 years earlier when James
Demint, Col. John Daugherty and Griffith Foos established the bounds
of Springfield; then it was unanimous, although they never heard the
song. N. E. T)eaton sang "Old Black Joe," and Mr. and Mrs. Deaton
S leased all with their rendition of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," and
Irs. R. W. Murray sang "Ben Bolt." When Samuel Deitrick, who had
brought a violin, played "Nellie Gray," all joined in singing it — sang it
like they used to sing it, and they enjoyed it. While one aged Springfield
woman did not attend the Yarnfest because she did not want to see so
many persons with only a few more years to live in the world, none who
were present were gloomy about it.
It is known that Clark County maidens still have hope boxes; they
still walk in the footsteps of their grandmothers, although when those
who came to the Yarnfest were young they did not wear galoshes, nor
were they called flappers. The water wave was an aquatic term, although
now it is tonsorial — permanent waving admitting girls into select society.
In grandmother's day:
"Tying her bonnet strings under her chin,
The pretty girl tied the young man's heart within,"
and a present day writer says : "Let us go back to the boys and girls of
fifty years ago; except for a few silver spoon favorities in the few resi-
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534 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
dence avenues in a few cities, the young folks were not acquainted with
luxuries. * * * Rural communities were not organized for recrea-
tion and entertainment in those days. No chautauquas, no band con-
certs, no intertown ball leagues, no community coliseums, no basket-ball
games, no high school track meets ; far apart were the county fairs, and
one circus a summer. Christmas tree at the church ; fire crackers on the
Fourth, a magic lantern show at the Town Hall. * * * For weeks
at a time every country lane and every towft street would be a mush of
mud, or a jumble of frozen ruts; the speed rate of wheel vehicles was
three or four miles an hour ; the town ten miles away was off in another
world."
Those who came to the Yarn f est understood all about it ; the pioneer
women did not have the matinee habit, nor did they waste money on cut
flowers and jewelry; that is why their husbands accumulated, and were
enabled to "buy all the land that joined them." These women attracted
to the Yarnfest knew all about an early breakfast, and hanging their
clothes on the line before their neighbors were ready. The fathers and
the mothers of the past saved and planned economy for years, and their
children scatter money to the four winds in shorter periods. Somebody
rakes up the leaves before there is a bonfire, and the pioneers did it —
did it gladly — they left fortunes in the broad acres in all parts of Clark
County.
The Chamber of Commerce has this saying : "Agreeable acquaintance
is a great asset," and it is demonstrated in Springfield every day that
activity contributes to longevity. Dr. B. F. Prince, who presided at the
Yarnfest, met his Wittenberg College classes every day, and Gen. J.
Warren Keifer was in his office — neither was finding any time to grow
old, notwithstanding the poet's invitation: "Come, grow old with me;
the best of life is yet to be," and it is said that those who retire from
activities invite dissolution. Both Doctor Prince and General Keifer are
like Edward Everett Hale, who was "eighty years young." When
Jacob's character and manner of life changed he was known as Israel,
and when Simon became Peter he assumed a different personality, and
were that true of men and women today it would be most confusing to
history and directory publishers; however, many Clark County people
have experienced change of heart and retained the same nomenclature.
While it is a good thing to look forward to a mirage of rest across
a desert of work, and the man is fortunate who does not have to quit
his bed when he has grown old at the call of an alarm clock, it is the
consensus of opinion among scientific investigators that the man who
retires at three score and ten practically signs his own death warrant;
goes to pieces soon after his withdrawal from routine activities, and
Doctor Prince and General Keifer are local examples classed with Luther
Burbank and Thomas A. Edison, who keep themselves young by their
close application to their chosen pursuits. No doubt there are other out-
standing examples in Springfield, as may be noted in the list of octo-
genarians— Mrs. Coberly preparing a repast for guests when she was
known to be the oldest citizen of Clark County. A local merchant sold
one old man his last pair of boots several times, and when they were
worn out he would take a new lease on life— invest in one more pair of
boots. A woman who had her burial muslin ready for several years,
would bleach it every changing season; it would "soon be one way or
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 535
the other" with her, and when spring came she laid the muslin on the
grass again, determined to be "ready for the bridegroom."
In a published interview, Deacon Jonathan Dickinson Baker, who is
the third generation in the deaconship of Knob Prairie Christian Church
at Enon in a period covering 116 years, says: "Those who think the
past is best, and who live in it are now old folks; we are living in the
present with the young people of the village; we are young," and the
man who said it was already seven years "on borrowed time," since the
dead-line is placed at three score and ten years. It was John Kendrick
Bangs, whose "Line O' Cheer" was published daily in Springfield, who
said.
"When you have had your coffee, your oatmeal and your steak,
Your dainty omelette souffle, and daily buckwheat cake,
Just pause for say a minute — "
and some one else says longevity is superinduced by lying awake half
an hour, and planning the day's activhies while in bed. However, that
rule was not followed by Clark County pioneers.
The Yarnfest was an afternoon devoted to the folklore of the com-
munity— Springfield and all Clark County — in their "younger days" the
people present had been clever, they could pat their head with one hand
and rub their stomach with the other, but now they are the people
referred to when the Clark County Fair advertises a "Great gala day for
old folks, admitting persons sixty-five years old and upward residing in
Clark County, to attend Springfield Fair free one day," and the 1921
catalogue urges them to bring any relics or curiosities, as if the Clark
County Historical Society had not already corraled all such things. They
are specially urged to bring instruments of husbandry that were used
long ago, but they were invited to the Yarnfest simply to revive the
traditions and hitherto unpublished stories about Clark County. The
Springfield News says : "More than 250 old folks of Clark County well
beyond the three score and ten mark assembled and enjoyed an afternoon
which brought back to them memories of the days when this county
was infested with Indians."
An Information Bureau
There is a shoe shop at 45 West Washington Street, operated
by David Frey, where men of three score and ten years assemble fre-
quently. It is a discussion clearing house ranging from shoestrings to
steam engines; from peanut stands to bank robberies, the men gathering
there all have unfailing memories. They talk about overshot water wheels
when Mill Run furnished the water power for Springfield industries.
There was an overshot wheel at a starch factory on the site of the Regent
Theater, and the children from a school on the site of the Warder
Library came there to wash their slates ; the water came from the wheel
with such force that many slates were lost, the force of the water dashing
them from the hands of the children. A paper mill, hominy mill, the
starch mill and a table factory all had overshot water wheels, but the
starch mill had the biggest wheel in Springfield. It was burned in 1858,
and was a distinctive loss to local industry. E. W. Simpson was one of
Mr. Fry's daily visitors, and he had told the story of Mill Run at the
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536 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
Yarnfest. The Simpson saw mill and flour mill both had been operated
with power from Mill Run.
There were hearsay and definite stories at this shoe-shop information
bureau, one man having seen the bullet marks made by Daniel Boone as
a sharp shooter along Mad River, and another antedated the Dary sur-
veyor story, saying John Paul was a chain man with a Government sur-
veying party. There were pioneers who left no descendants — none to
rescue their names from oblivion, save these aged men who frequently
meet and discuss them. While the community is full of tablets com-
memorating prominent personages, the shoe-shop bureau of information
paid tribute to many others ; while some would not talk before an histori-
cal society, they perpetuate many memories in limited circles, and it
seems that sometimes men without local forebears — men who are their
own ancestry, have often been community builders. They are closer some-
times to fundamentals than the sons of their fathers, who at the same
time are the grandsons of the settlers. They say fortune runs out in
the third generation, and that some in Springfield are in the sixth genera-
tion, and the fortune is "petering" out again."
In a booklet recently publisihed in connection with a church anniver-
sary at New Carlisle, W. H. Sterrett writes of the settler, saying his
cloth was homespun unless he had a pair of leather breeches considered
in the nature of a luxury ; the deer skin properly tanned was pliable when
worn as trousers, and when a man attending the quarterly conference
used suspenders to support his buckskin trousers charges were preferred
against him. When Elder McKendree opened the conference, he asked
the question: "Are there any complaints?" One of the stewards said:
"I have a complaint to make against Brother Cartwright (Peter Cart-
wright once preached there, and Elder McKendree asked him to specify,
the steward answered : "Brother Cartwright is corrupting the morals of
our young men in following the fashion." When Elder McKendree
inquired "What fashion?" the steward of the church answered: "He
is wearing a pair of galluses." Because of his own rotundity, the elder
recognized the benefits of wearing "galluses," and the charge was not
pressed against Cartwright.
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CHAPTER LXI
LEFTOVER STORIES— THE OMNIBUS CHAPTER
The old-fashioned Whatnot had a little of everything on it, and the
Omnibus Chapter has a little of everything in it. A platform speaker
once said that what he thought about afterward was often more worth
while than the thoughts that came to him while he was on his feet and
some of these stories would have fitted themselves in elsewhere, but were
overlooked until the "elsewhere" door was closed against them; for
instance, the high school auditorium was packed to hear the Lincoln
address by Paul C. Martin, Springfield attorney. While the high school
orchestra furnished the music, the outstanding historical feature, "The
Gold and the Blue," the assembly song, was written by an alumnus,
Mrs. Lucinda Hayes Cook, and the music was by B. D. Ackley of the
Billy Sunday organization, who once visitecj Springfield. The fact
should have been noted in the school chapter or in the chapter on music.
The old Southern mammies, who were famous cooks, did not always
follow formulas in their culinary processes. They used "a little o' this
and a little o* that," and their leftover dishes sometimes were their best
productions. An Omnibus chapter always catches incidents overlooked
in their proper connection, as the 1921 second crop of Hickory Jack,
a toothsome fungus known as mushrheum very much relished in the
spring. In November it was being used in Springfield.
As proof of the unusual winter, on January 9, 1922, when the
gleaner accompanies W. W. Keifer to Fort Tecumseh battlefield, a toad
was hopping about among the rocks on that hillside. While it seemed
sluggish it was inclined to self-preservation. On February 11, while
en route to Selma with Farm Bureau President E. W. Hawkins, people
were fishing in the Little Miami. It is not polluted by the discharge
from factories and anglers get results. The two incidents indicate that
exiles from Clark County had not gained much by escaping local weather
conditions.
Albert Reeder tells of the South Charleston boy who was sent to
market with eggs. His mother instructed him to get twenty-five cents
a dozen for them. The grocer offered him thirty cents, but he remem-
bered his mother's admonition. When he returned he told her about it,
saying he held out for twenty-five cents. Another egg story : When the
South Charleston practical jokers were assembled in a grocery store,
Joseph Winslow came in and Dr. Washington Atkinson said to him:
"Uncle Joe, if you will suck three dozen eggs I will pay for the eggs
and give you a quarter." Winslow answered : "Come on with the eggs,"
and without moving from his seat he performed the feat and collected
the money.
With Wittenberg bridge the scene of holdups, it was recalled that in
1807 when the Indians were creating so much disturbance and a rifle-
ball whizzed through the sunbonnet and grazed the throat of a Mrs. Elli-
ott, who was getting firewood, a number of Clark County families went
back to Kentucky to escape the reign of terror. It seemed that people
avoided Wittenberg Bridge and Snyder Park because of banditry — still
Indians there.
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538 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
The oldest silver service owned in Clark County was brought to
Mad River in 1804 by Mrs. Peter Smith. An old account says: "She
had carried it around in all their wanderings as a memento of fine
living in Jersey. She lived in the Carolinas and many other places
before locating on Mad River. For every-day use in cabin life she found
pewter more serviceable. Mrs. Smith died in 1831, leaving her silver-
ware to her daughter, Mrs. Mary Keifer, the mother of Gen. J. Warren
Keifer." When asked about it, W. W. Keifer said there were some
solid silver spoons with that bit of history.
In the home of Miss Mary Spinning on Belmont Avenue are sam-
ples, slippers, vases and decorated china brought from eastern markets by
Pierson Spinning in the early days of Springfield history. There are
family portraits of the Knickerbocker style that are highly prized for
their antiquity. There is a picture of Miss Harriet Spinning who died
the promised bride of Griffith Foos, Jr., the two pioneer families being
social leaders in Springfield.
The dread of the settler was the horse thief, while the bandits now steal
Fords and other automobiles. When a farmer had a horse stolen in the
spring, he could not plant his crops until he located the stolen horse or
bought another. It was a hardship to lose a horse. Years ago there were
horse traders drifting from one town to another, and swapping was prac-
ticed on the streets. As a boy, Samuel S. Miller was riding to Cincin-
nati with a man' who traded horses three times en route, and the last
horse died the day he traded for it. The man gave a silver watch to
a farmer for another horse, finally reaching Cincinnati. When there
were hay markets there were horse traders, but parking places are now
infested with automobile thieves, crime adapting itself to changed condi-
tions. The book, David Harum, describes the horse trade epoch in history.
In 1840, when Gen. William Henry Harrison was to deliver a polit-
ical address in Springfield, word reached him that caused him to leave
the Werden Hotel, where he had dinner, and go to his home at North-
bend. It rained that day and when the boys in the line of march broke
ranks they were given a free dinner in the Springfield market house.
Granny Icenberger was still in business and many bought cakes from
her. A log cabin was built in the streets and other speakers were secured
when General Harrison, who rode out of town in an open barouche, was
not available. In 1921 Gen. J. Warren Keifer was the speaker when a
monument was unveiled in hbnor of General Harrison at Northbend.
When William Palmer of Mad River Township heard some wolves
among his sheep, he took down Old Cad, his trusty rifle, and loaded it.
He fired it, killing two of his own oxen, but why grieve over spilled
milk? As he loaded the gun again, he consoled himself, saying: "Old
Cad always fetches them."
Adam Reid of Mad River Township was the first Clark County
farmer to have rag carpet in his house and later on he was the first
to have upholstered furniture. He came by water to Sandusky in 1826
and overland from there to Springfield.
Years ago when William Pretzman made candy in Springfield, he
allowed a group of men who wanted something to occupy their time to
wrap it, and eat as much as they wanted of it. They did it for pastime.
Mr. Pretzman knew human nature, for in a short time these men
swapped stories while wrapping candy and did not eat any of it. There
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 539
were no labor unions nor civic clubs, and wrapping candy brought the
men together in a social way.
While the mill boys were reputed to balance the grain with a stone
when going to mill with the sway-backed horse, it remained for a
Pleasant Township farmer to balance harrow teeth with a stone, when
he was taking them in a bag to the blacksmith to have them sharpened.
When a school teacher married her recipe made such a large cake she
could not use all of it. When a neighbor told her to divide it she asked
whether it were long or short division — she could do either, but dividing
a recipe perplexed her.
The first circus visited Springfield in the middle '30s and pitched
its tent on Mill Rim east from Market street, the circus space extending
from the site of the Arcade east to Limestone Street. There was horse-
back riding by the "limber boys" and strong men supported the 1,000-
pound cannon. The ringmaster told the ladies not to be too alarmed when
the cannon was fired and although assured of its harmlessness, the explo-
sion frightened everybody. After the smoke cleared away four men
came into the ring with spikes and carried the cannon and the frame
outside. When the strong man changed from "all fours" to an upright
position, it was the wonder of the show — the topic of conversation — but
the people then had not seen the three-ring circus, the thrills of which are
forgotten immediately, and a year later they go again.
When the Van Amburg show visited South Charleston the first time
the people all went to look at the wild animals. They fed cakes to the
monkeys and apples to the elephants and when General Harrod thought
to be generous with a hatful of apples for the elephants, one took the
hat and all into his trunk. The laugh was on the soldier. While the
circus now has its special train, those early shows were drawn by the
elephants and sometimes they refused to cross bridges until they tested
them. An elephant would lean against a barn and if it could not push
it over it would draw the wagon in out of a shower.
When Waitstel Cary was a Springfield hatter, lje had a sign that
represented an Indian in the act of shooting a beaver. He used a bow
and arrow, and the suggestion was that beaver hats were made in
Springfield. His hats were of the latest fashion and of superior quality.
They were stiffened with glue and napped with coon, mink or rabbit
fur, and sometimes when the glue melted it run down on the wearer's
face, causing trouble for the hatter. On May 10, 1825, Cary, the hattex1,
left Springfield with his family in covered wagons to try his fortune
farther west. The citizens gathered to see him start and since the Cary
children walked to drive the cows along, Springfield children accompanied
them to the edge of the town.
The Cary family followed the trail which is now the National Road,
and June 5, 1825, they stopped in Indiana, where they acquired land,
and when he laid off the town he called it Knightstown in honor of
Captain Knight of the 'United States Army, who surveyed and estab-
lished the location of the National Road through Ohio, and whom
Mr. Cary had seen in Springfield. There was demand for lots in
Knightstown and the poverty-stricken Springfield hatter soon became a
rich man in Indiana.
When George L. Wingate was a boy at Catawba, he on* time engaged
to drive a carriage for Nathan M. McConkey and wife to Urbana. They
were going away and the boy was to bring the carriage back to Catawba.
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540 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
It was sheltered under a shed where the hogs wallowed in the dust to
ward off the flies and the carriage was full of fleas from the swine. The
boy was sensitive to fleas and squirmed all of the way to Urbana, too
bashful to tell Mr. McConkey what troubled him. Since one flea is enough
to drive a dog to distraction, how about a small boy and a carriage full
of fleas. Under changed conditions a story like that is unusual; barn-
yards are more sanitary today.
In the Todd genealogy is this line: "We can scarcely realize what
a vast difference exists between Clark County and the whole country
Grandfather and Grandmother Todd knew at the time of their wedding,
January 28, 1819," and that was one year after Clark was an organized
county. " Springfield was a straggling village and the country round
about was a wilderness save for the few clearings about the farm houses.
They used to come to Springfield on horseback. * * * They did not
have to go far to find deer, and until recent years a number of antlers
were lying about the premises."
A Springfield man says : "The flag should be hoisted at sunrise and
taken down at sunset; it should never be permitted to fly after dark."
A Sun editorial reads : "The flag passed by. On the sidewalks few —
pitifully few — paid any attention. A soldier was being buried and the
flag passed by. One man stepped to the curb, removed his hat and held
it across his breast. He was one among hundreds. He was not the only
patriotic man on the street as the flag with forty-eight stars went by,
but he was the only one not too preoccupied to think what the flag meant
and to salute it. ' * * * Hats off, men, the flag."
When W. W. Hyslop had chicken thieves the bandits suffered a loss
in excess of the value of the stolen property. When he missed the hens
he found a purse with $200 in it, and since only fifty hens were stolen
the price left for them was satisfactory. When strangers came later tp
buy chickens, Mr. Hyslop said they were "sold," but the would-be buyers
asked the privilege of seeing the poultry. They looked at the ground
more than at the chickens they had left, but the purse had been removed
to a place of safety. They had returned for the money.
Clark County is making war on homeless dogs, a deputy touring the
country in search of dogs held without license by their owners, and it is
reported that before the "dog catcher" was on the trail Springfield was
full of dogs, and a clipping reads : "The man swears that he has seen
dog after dog either maimed or killed, sitting in the most dangerous
spot on the street, right where all the automobiles and street cars and
other vehicles cross and recross a million a minute."
A stray horse was "officially discovered" October 11, 1921, and it
was the policeman's duty to leave it in a livery stable where it was given
hay and oats, and had a life of ease. It had been found wandering aim-
lessly about the streets. When no one claimed it the liveryman was
instructed to sell it. He received $3 for it. He sent a bill to the city
for $12, the balance due for feeding the horse fifteen days at $1 a day,
and it developed that Chief R. E. O'Brien had written on the bill : "Horse
was poor in flesh and old," when sending it to the city manager, E. E.
Parsons, for settlement. What would the Springfield Humane Society
have done with the horse?
What kind of a history would it be that did not carry a haunted house
story? Such a house once stood in the woodland foot path along the
Valley Pike near the Snyder homestead. It was a deserted log cabin.
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Wild tales were told in the neighborhood about the dismal sights and
the hideous noises. When passing the cabin after night, people
approached it with fear and hesitation. They heard strange noises and
to their sharpened ears they were like groans as if violence were being
done and often long detours were made to escape the sounds.
One night William Overpack ventured along the path and when
he heard the noise he summoned courage and approached the cabin.
The noises were distressing and he hesitated, then advanced again,
wondering why departed spirits should wrangle in a place deserted by
all save the bats. Not believing in the supernatural, Overpack determined
to find out what material cause created the disturbance. He secured a
cudgel and approached the cabin. When he looked in at the window
he found that a dozen hogs from the woods had found shelter. They
came every night, but hitherto none had investigated the situation. The
nocturnal noises were terrifying to the community, who believed in gob-
lins and were shy of haunted houses.
While there were fiddlers among the pioneers and people used to
hold neighborhood dances on the cabin floors, the public is now taught
to "trip the light fantastic toe," and since 1904, when a dancing school
was established in Springfield, W. E. Goodfellow has trained 21,500
students in the terpsichorean art. Polite and modest dancing is taught
and there are beginners every month. The social dances each month
include students and graduates, and "dancing school" is recognized in
polite society as a necessity.
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CHAPTER LXII
YESTERDAY AND TODAY IN CLARK COUNTY
As men and women grow older they multiply their yesterdays ; when
they begin living in the past, their todays mean less to them than their
yesterdays. The people of yesterday in Clark County discussed the
weather and the prospect for crops as readily as today, never failing in
their compassion for the poor among them, but again: "The shadow
moveth over the dial plate of time," and the personnel of the com-
munity is changed today. "Some of us have been here a long time and
have witnessed many changes," said a venerable gentleman to whom yes-
terday and today show great strides in human progress. Yesterday the
simple life lulled all into peaceful anticipation, while today the world
is one vast whispering gallery with international problems confronting it.
The pioneer gentleman in full dress was a handsome picture, and his
name was legion, saying nothing about the rest of Clark County society.
Then, as now, the follies and foibles of womankind were themes of
never-dying interest, and the bustle (a Springfield invention) and the
hoopskirt (farthingale) were alternately laughed at and frowned against
and the abbreviated skirt has had the same attention. The hoopskirt
as an advertisement in a store window was called a squirrel trap and
when men and women see it today they do not recognize it. Sometimes
women intuitively guess it and compare it with the scant dress skirt of
1921, and wonder which is the extreme of fashion. While women con-
tinue to wear lace in winter and furs in summer they need not be sur-
prised at anything decreed by fashion.
There are no knee breeches and high collars worn and Springfield
men do not attract attention because of garments worn by them, although
they are guilty of looking back at some of the costumes effected by the
women. The woman wearing a long skirt attracts the same attention —
different from the others. The Dr. Mary Walker costume has been seen
in Springfield and people soon reconcile themselves to anything. Today
the sons of yesterday meet and master all difficulties as they present
themselves but more of the observations are rural in character because
history had its beginning in the country.
At one time the Clark County rural production was more than the
local home consumption, and cheap prices prevailed in the community.
When home-made devices were in general use, most of the people lived
in the country. By and by the trend to Springfield changed the indus-
trial situation, notwithstanding the high percentage of farms in Clark
County still operated by those who own them. When the producer
becomes a consumer he helps reduce the surplus and to increase the
prices and the "oldest inhabitants" all discuss the cost of everything.
They used to take their guns and shoot squirrels in the woods, but now
they buy the food they eat and pay well for it.
Someone asks: "Do you remember way back when farmers did all
their trading at the store and paid their bills at the end of the year,
and the storekeeper would give the man a hat and the woman a calico
dress?" They do not follow that custom today. The merchant turns
his money oftener and sells on a smaller margin of profit and discusses
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543
his overhead expenses with the thought of reducing them. In the old
days the clerks were on duty at 7 :00 o'clock and off at 9 o'clock in the
evening, but there are different regulations today. Time was in Clark
County when there was a factory before every hearthstone, the father
making the shoes and the mother knitting and weaving, and making
all the garments, but that changed when the soldiers came back from the
Civil war. They found they could buy ready-to-wear garments cheaper
than they could make them and where would the farmer obtain the
leather and the linen thread were he inclined to sit on the shoemaker's
bench again?
Instead of gasoline Slling stations in every town and crossroads, there
used to be water troughs and roadside drinking places for man and beast,
but what has become of the well and the old-fashioned pump sometimes
At the Old Homestead — "No Daylight Saving"
characterized as the one-armed bartender? Yesterday the sawmill was
here and the grist mill was there — Mad River was lined with both —
but they are almost unknown today. What has become of the mill boy
and the sway-back horse? The footfall of the as:es answers the question.
The stories of today differ from the stories of yesterday. The things
that seemed improbable yesterday are facts today — automobiles, airplanes,
cash registers, ditching machines, the moving pictures. Who says "Back-
ward, turn backward, oh time in thy flight. Make me a child once more
for tonight." While some would like to be children again, would they
want a repetition of their own childhood conditions?
There was a day when the youngs men of Clark County thought
they were well dressed when they wore bright colored, double-breasted
vests — a tooth brush sticking out of one pocket and a gold toothpick
in the other. They were supposed to wear trousers long and if they
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544 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
happened to be short somebody said "high water" to them. Everyone
had his "individual" napkin ring and every young man had a drinking
cup inscribed "For a good boy." Long-stemmed cake stands were in
use and a caster with salt, pepper and vinegar occupied the center of
the table. Yes, Clark County folk used to put clean straw in the bed
ticks after threshing and before the straw was weatherbeaten — not so
long ago — they would lift the parlor carpet and put fresh straw under
it. They had not thought about rugs and hardwood floors.
Only a generation ago children were taught:
"Early to bed and early to rise
Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise,"
although today it is well unnderstood that one following that admoni-
tion would seldom meet the social leaders of Springfield. That long
ago strictly nice people had upper and lower limbs — nothing so ordinary
as arms and legs — and the youngsters shooed the flies from the dinner
table with peach tree limbs or brushes made from newspapers. Slate-
rags were still in vogue — spit on the slate and polish with the rag — and
it was a mark of quality to have pen- wipers made from bright-colored
material — young men got penwipers for Christmas presents. The
young men wore stiff -bosomed white shirts that buttoned on the shoulder
and a fellow was considered wealthy when he wore leather gloves. A
penny then was as large as a fifty-cent piece today.
On the last day of school a mark of respect was shown the teacher
when the whole community brought basket dinners and listened to the
"pieces" in the afternoon. They "passed the hat" when taking up the
church collelction, and whenever a white horse went by everybody
looked around for a red-haired woman — not the chemical variety. When
the settlers went out in the evening they carried torches to light their
way home again, but now the automobile headlight serves the purpose
and the electric light has come to the rescue of the pedestrian. There
were trails blazed through the forests but now signs mark the highways
and the tourist never is uncertain about his course in passing through
Clark County. Just note the procession — buggies, carriages, automobiles,
and then lift the curtain to witness the ox team and the jolt wagon.
Those who "cooned" the fences and stepped from log to log half a
century ago, would not recognize Clark County under changed conditions.
While they were men of vision, they would be surprised at every step
along the wayside today. The Clark County settler knew the process
of pounding corn on a stone or in a mortar and those who know the
story of the hearth loaves — the bread the grandmothers baked before
the fire — all united in declaring that nothing better has supplanted them
under present-day conditions^ of civilization. They would be content
with the half loaf if they were as certain of the quality. While the
men and women of the past made the most of their opportunities, what
would they accomplish under present-day environment? The types
develop to suit the needs of their day and generation. Circus men
say that the fat woman, the midget, the human skeleton have had their
day. They no longer appeal and if Barnum were alive today his side
show would have mechanical marvels instead of human freaks. While
people were once interested in the human being, they now care for his
accomplishments.
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Housewives in Springfield thought the butcher a swindler when he
asked them eleven cents a pound for a Thanksgiving turkey but now
that he has multiplied the price by seven they pay it cheerfully, but
would the men and the women of the past have adapted themselves to
the changed conditions? Would the men and the women of today be
equal to their difficulties? What about the affairs of yesterday as com-
pared with human relations today? What does education have to do
with it?
In the formative days of Clark County history, the average family
had a box stove that would burn a four-foot stick of wood, or a fireplace
that would accommodate a backlog with a forestick of indeterminate
length. They knew what it meant to burn one side and freeze the other,,
and they knew what it meant to have burned leather when the split
leather used in shoes became water-soaked, and they must dry it. They
knew the "sizzle" of tobacco spit on the side of a log of wood being
burned, but the furnace heat of today — the register or the radiator
would have alarmed them; they were used to open fires and roaring
chimneys. Along at that time the well-to-do citizens — Springfield and
other communities — had bright colored ingrain carpet in the "best room,"
hanging lamp and a marble topped center table — sometimes marble topped
bedroom furniture — and there was an easel in the corner with a portrait
of some ancestor on it. There was a large Bible on the center table,
with the family genealogy written in it.
The bathroom with sanitary plumbing was an unknown quantity to
the settler, and the present day methods of agriculture would have dumb-
founded him. When the naked trees and brown meadows proclaimed
that all nature would soon take a rest, there were hickory nuts, walnuts
and apples with which to pass the winter evenings, and while the corn
pone of the past would be consumed with relish by the men and women
of today, there are some who tired of substitutes and the bread made
from corn as a war measure recently. While the tractor is in use, the
horse is still a domestic animal, and there are flocks and herds the settler
would little suspect, were he to come this way again. The cattle in the
Clark County pasture fields would remind him of the Bible narrative —
the cattle on a thousand hills, etc.
Only yesterday you sat down to a meal table d'hote, and your chair
was manipulated for you by an attendant ; the napery was spread across
your expanse of shirt front, and everything suggested the tip. Today
you run the gauntlet of a cafeteria, and if your money holds out you
secure a meal, find your own table and tip yourself when pleased with
the service. One time the boy with a blacking outfit — his own individual
kit — was seen on the street corner and while you "took a lean on the
bank," he would spit on his brush, spit on your shoe, and give you
"such another polish," but today the Greeks have a monopoly on the
"shines," with a "hole in the wall" called a shining parlor. The boot-
black was a newsboy certain times in the day, but he has been off the
street for several years.
While the settler went to the woods with his gun when in need of
meat for his dinner, the citizen of today depends upon Armour and Swift
for sugar cured hams and bacon; if he has a smoke house, there is a
lock and key to it. While the more thrifty Clark County pioneer some-
times had potatoes on the dinner table, they could live without them.
The settler dug sassafras roots for the family beverage, and his wife
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brewed a tea that served as an excellent spring tonic. Who has not
listened to the stories of how sassafras and spicewood tea thinned the
blood after the pioneers had consumed salt pork and but few vegetables
all winter? The Springfield housewives know that spring is coming
again when they see sassafras in market.
The transition from wilderness conditions to the cultivated fields and
their products, meant self-denial of the strictest nature to the settlers
along Mad River. Time was when the Clark County housewife went to
the woods for her brooms, sometimes making them herself. When
brooms were made from saplings the families swept their door yards, a
thing almost unknown today. However, conditions imposed by the
World war — the war of the nations — have enabled people of today to
understand something of the privations of yesterday. In the days when
the Clark County pioneer lived on salt pork, there was little said about
balanced rations — there were no discussions of diet — children ate what
was given them, and printed menus were an unknown quantity.
While it requires an epicure to order a dinner from the modern bill
of fare, the chefs of today have studied the digestive requirements, and
dinners are planned with some consideration of the stomach and its
duties. However, there were better health conditions in some families
than in others; here and there a pioneer mother varied her meals by
serving something from the kitchen garden, instead of a continued meat
diet. When one thinks of the heavy diet of the settler in winter —
always ate meat to keep him warm; he did not say to create animal heat
— and it is little wonder the blood would run thick in the springtime,
rendering the quinine bottle on the shelf, where all could help themselves
to it, a necessity. When the pioneer doctor prescribed medicine for others,
many times he only ordered vegetables for his own household.
In some households, it was heavy diet all of the time; under such
conditions sleepers had dreams, and sometimes they told them. While
not all the people have understood it, vegetable diet always has given them
better digestion. While in some households there was plenty of protein
in the bill of fare, nothing was ever said about balanced rations for man
or beast; however, it is quite as necessary for man as for the lower
animals. The law of balanced rations is not new. but the pioneers had
not studied it. There are men who are governed by it in the case of
livestock, who are very indiscriminate in what they eat themselves.
When the settler's diet was always the same: "Yesterday, today and
forever," he wondered about the ills of the flesh, not knowing that diet
had a lot to do with it.
In the light of domestic science as it is understood today, there are
not so many ailments of digestive character. It is generally understood
that the best tonic is plenty of fruit and green stuff, and the doctor is
seldom consulted because of improper diet. Some one given to imagina-
tion scribbled these lines:
"See that lovely country family — why, the sparkle of their eyes,
Shows they're dreaming of turkey, and of pumpkin pies,"
but that was the yesterday viewpoint; today paterfamilias says:
"Well find a place to eat — we'll have to take a chance —
Mother's at a party; grandmother's at a dance,"
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but as long as the United States Government expends a quarter of a
million dollars annually for garden seed, every Clark County house-
holder with a plot of ground should appeal to the local Congressman for
his supply, thereby defeating the medical man in the community.
Some of the Clark County medical fraternity advise diet instead of
writing prescriptions. They are employed to keep people well, and when
nature is given a chance it corrects its own mistakes. "An apple a day
keeps the doctor away," and as much may be said for vegetables, that
onions keep even your friends away, and yet there is nothing better as a
diet. While some political economists aver that Government garden seeds
are a waste of money — they prefer their own selection of seeds — when
they produce the necessary variety of "garden sass," there is no gain-
saying the fact that they have the best tonic in the world. Are you
thinking about the welfare of your own household when the world is
full of economic problems?
While the passing years have amalgamated conditions, and there was
a strong undercurrent of Kentucky blood in pioneer history in Clark
County, the time is not so distant when the passerby recognized the
Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, New York or New England farm-
stead because of the character of the improvements upon it—the earmarks
of the settlers. While some of the landmarks remain unchanged, inter-
marriage has broken the lines of demarcation and in the melting pot of
local civilization, no questions are asked — certain groups of foreigners
maintaining their identity — the topic uppermost today is whether or not
one is making the most of his opportunity. When dreams come true,
the whole population returns to the place of its birth and many in Clark
County have not wandered at all.
President Benjamin Harrison said: "The gates of Castle Garden
never swing outward," and while a survey of nationalities would reveal
a greater percentage of foreign born population today, there is a grow-
ing sentiment that they be required to communicate only in the language
of the community. Yiddish is not American, and the overseas citizens
in Springfield are rapidly acquiring the English tongue. The all-inclu-
sive word Buckeye means all things to everybody, and while natives of
Clark County are designated as Buckeyes, the foreigners now living in
Springfield are peopling the community more rapidly than the Ameri-
cans. There are all sorts of propaganda — a veritable melting pot of
republicans, democrats, prohibitionists, socialists and laborites with all
the isms including rheumatism — and yet homespun does not necessarily
mean homebrew in Springfield.
From the dawn of Clark County history, its inhabitants have been
governed by the Bible injunction that men should marry, and that women
should be given in marriage; that they should multiply and replenish
the earth. Sometimes family relations become mathematical equations
with which the thirty-second problem in Euclid is easy in the com-
parison, and the gossip must either hold her tongue or run the risk of
talking about somebody's relatives. Men have been married several
times, and there are combination families — your children and my children
imposing on our children — and all are inclined to make the best of it.
After all, what generation in the past has been more abreast of the times,
more up-to-date and progressive than the men and women of today? As
he did yesterday, the passerby today will comment on the environment,
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548 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
and the careful husbandman will see to it that his farmstead — and the
same rule applies to the business or professional man :
"Go make thy garden fair as thou canst;
Thou workest never alone,
For he whose plot lies next to thine,
May see it and tend to his own."
In the old days when there were livery barns in every town, and the
well-to-do families in Springfield all maintained driving horses, they
traveled leisurely along the highways and byways, but the livery barn
is little more in evidence now than the saloon—but banished from a wholly
different reason — the automobile transformed the livery barn into a
garage, while prohibition was the undoing of the saloon. Dobbin was
too slow, and the speed maniacs have the right-of-way along all of the
highways today. They whiz by the farmsteads so rapidly that those in
transit do not seem to note the details, and yet if a place is in dishabille,
they all — with cars and trucks available, everybody sees the country.
While the twentieth century method of cross-country travel is different
— the tourists seeming to hold their breath in passing, after all they get
rather comprehensive ideas of wayside attractions.
While in the architecture of the past, the cabin roofs were held in
place by weight poles, that sort of domicile only exists in memory —
Skibo Castle a modified suggestion of it. With increased wealth came
more commodious homes, and hardwood floors are in decided contrast
with the puncheons split from native timber. Even the time honored
hod carrier, who did nothing but carry brick and mortar up a ladder, has
been supplanted in sky-scrapers where even the wheelbarrows are ele-
vated with lifting machinery; the hoisting machinery cannot do it all,
and finally they send for the hod carrier again. Before the bathroom
was installed, children washed their feet when compelled to, and the
wash rag for the neck and ears was brought into service when clean
underwear was given them ; it was only when boys went swimming they
knew the luxury of a bath. In some of the homes of the yesterdays no
underwear was worn, and there was just as little bathing — Clark County
not unlike the rest of the world today nor yesterday.
When the grandmothers of the present generation used to scour their
kitchen tables with ashes, the daylight streaming through greased paper
windows, nothing was said about home sanitation; the dishwater was
thrown out of the kitchen door, and diphtheria thus invited used to reap
its toll ; then people had not heard of antitoxin. With the open fireplace
there was less tuberculosis, but there was more diphtheria. Home sani-
tation was not then taught in school nor discussed in society. What do
the youngsters of today know about the open fireplace and the broad
mantelpiece where the grandfathers and the grandmothers always looked
for their pipes and their spectacles, and the shelf under the clock just the
right size for the family Bible? What do they know about paterfamilias
reading it through every twelve months? When he read three chapters
every day and five chapters on Sunday, there were two Sundays when
he need not read it. However, in 1921, one Clark County woman read
the Bible through five times.
While the fathers and sons visited the woods with their chopping
axes when their mammoth fireplaces must be kept aglow, the day came
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when there was no more firewood, and today they haul coal from the
towns. A great many heat units went up the chimney with the smoke,
but then Clark County people had not learned conservation ; they would
not sacrifice the straight saplings for cabin logs today, nor would they
cut green timber for the fireplace. Six long, slim, slick, slender saplings
— can you twist your tongue and repeat the line today ? Repeat it three
times, rapidly. While the stick-and-clay chimneys frequently caught
fire, there was always some one at home to bring a pail of water; a
precaution rendered necessary because of the intense heat going up the
chimney, both the backlogs and foresticks asserting themselves in an
effort to warm the room, and thus insure the comfort of those sitting in
the firelight.
Aye, when the father made the shoes and the mother knit the stock-
ings they had the full realization of sitting before the fire, burning one
side and freezing the other, but with registers and radiators, the heating
problem offers little suggestion of the old-time methods of warming the
cabin ; while the thermostat regulates the furnace, there are some who
would gladly chop the firewood again. Were Rip Van Winkle to happen
along, he would miss a lot of things in Clark County ; he would miss all
the old-time industries, the homespun garments, and the homespun char-
acters who made them. While the mothers and daughters remain in
changed relation to the fireside, the spinning wheels and looms are gone
the way of the world. There is no household today where all the food
is prepared on the hearthstone, as it is brought by the men and the boys
from the clearing or the forest.
Where are the industries of the past ? Ask of the winds, and ask of
the older men and women in the community; from them you will hear
of the changes wrought by the onward march of civilization. In the
reconstruction period following the Civil war, the changes became appar-
ent ; the shackles were removed from the slaves and from the household.
The spinning wheel and the loom were left in the distance by the factory,
and the industrial combinations in the commercial world. As people
have had need of them, inventions have met every necessity and overcome
every difficulty. Who remembers when the dealer weighed commodities
over the counter with the old-time steelyards, instead of using the com-
puting scales; they used to say the butcher put his hand on the scales,
and the customer paid him for it. Some, one says :
"The sugar prices still remain
Both lofty and unstable,
We'd bring them down by raising 'Cain,'
If only we were 'Abel/ "
and again the World war reconstruction period presents even worse
difficulties than that foreshadowed in the wartime ditty.
The high cost of living, "rent hog/' and profiteer are economic terms
unknown at the close of the Civil war when civilization was less com-
plex; however, the economists say conditions may be remedied when
men and women are ready to return to the simple life of the pioneers;
it is the cost of high living at the bottom of the difficulty. Query: Is
it the producer or the consumer who regulates the price of commodities?
Politicians say the law of supply and demand still functions, but when
the grandmothers cooked before the fire they knew how to get along
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550 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
without commercial commodities; in these days of high prices people
pay them without protest, and the wartime profiteers continue to have
their own way about things. While the Arkansaw Traveler may be
improvident, he is not alone; when it is raining one cannot repair the
roof, and at other times it does not require attention.
The man of today knows that "A stitch in time often saves nine,"
as well as the modern woman knows that it frequently saves exposure;
the Clark County citizen of today does seem to "Take time by the fore-
lock" and look after such trivial things. The Lord Byron quotation
about truth being stranger than fiction: "If the truth could be told,
how much would novels gain by the exchange; how differently the
world would men behold! How often would vice and virtue places
change!" has not lost its virility today. While only yesterday tho
passerby saw the farm boy expending his energies pumping water for
the livestock, today power is applied to everything; it is an easy matter
to attach a gasoline engine and put into motion all sorts of machinery.
While the boy used to turn the corn sheller or the grindstone, and
"ride" one end of a cross-cut saw with some one at the other end
scolding about it, the farm boy of today hardly comprehends what was
required of his counterpart a generation ago.
When the boy had $1 a month spending money he appreciated it,
and many boys had no money at all. However, the boy on the Clark
County farm is no longer a slave to his environment; the element of
drudgery has been eliminated from it. While he used to ask for bis-
cuits at breakfast, home-made bread does not hold the same place in
his life; sometimes he asks for town bread, and he is no longer ridi-
culed by his city cousins — perhaps because his hair is cut oftener and
by an up-to-date city barber. What has become of the old-fashioned
mother who used to invert a milk crock over her boy's head while she
"bobbed" the locks at the edge of it? The flapper seems to have inher-
ited the "bobbing" process. When the country boys used to come to
town, they often had to "clean up" on the town boys, but there are no
longer fights between the town and the country boys; when the farm
boy appears in Springfield his garb does not mark him, and the old line
of social demarcation between town and country has disappeared from
the face of the earth.
One time the question as to who was the best man always had to
be settled with clenched fists, and ruffians pulled their coats at the
slightest provocation. When the bullies assembled in Springfield and
used to form a ring and fight to settle the question of manhood, there
were always abettors; since liquor has been eliminated people are for-
getting about street fights. The fights were usually staged in the alleys
— they call them courts today — and crap games are about the most start-
ling amusement enacted there. The trees and the wild life of the forest
knew nothing of political boundaries, and while farmers used to fence
against outside livestock, now they are in no danger from it; they
must keep their own stock in bounds or difficulty ensues. When the
bees from an apiary went to a neighbor's well, he complained about
them; in the complexity of civilization there are questions of privilege
unknown to the pioneers.
While sometimes "Coals of fire are heaped on the heads" of others,
people no longer borrow fires and the woman who lighted her pipe with
a coal has long since gone the way of the world. When sickness over-
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 551
takes the family it is a trained nurse who comes into the home, instead
of the friendly ministrations of the neighbor women; the woman of
today finds time to go to her club, while the pioneer mother always
ironed every dish cloth on both sides, and when she had finished the
ironing she set herself some other task; she was busy with much serv-
ing, notwithstanding the fact that Mary of old had chosen the better
part while Martha had neglected nothing at all. There are Marys and
Marthas today, and Mary seems to get the most out of her life because
she omits some of the unnecessary details; why should a woman blush
when found reading a book instead of shining a stove?
While Martha pats her pickles as she cans them, Mary hurries
through with the operation and finds time for magazines, books and
newspapers. By her much serving Martha becomes a "bundle of
nerves," while Mary finds time to improve her intellectual life. Martha
calls the family doctpr, while Mary has learned the value of respite
from unnecessary drudgery. It is worry— not work — that reduces the
vital forces, but unnecessary work seems to produce the worry. Both
town and country enjoy social advantages undreamed of a generation
ago; the daily mail, the telephone and radio, the automobile have revo-
lutionized living conditions, and isolation no longer characterizes the
rural community.
When one notes the atmosphere of prosperity everywhere it is dif-
ficult to reconcile some of the stories of the long ago. The daughter
in the home studies the piano, and the son no longer plays the fiddle;
he draws his bow across the strings of the musical violin, and these
changes within the memory of men and women not yet grown old in
Clark County. The fact may well be emphasized again that there were
hardships and privations when every home was a factory; there were
no shoes stores, and there were no ready-to-wear garments, but father
and mother were "on the job" and never a word of complaint was
heard about it.
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CHAPTER LXIII
GOD'S ACRE— CLARK COUNTY CEMETERIES
In Hebrews ix, 27 it is written: "And so it is appointed unto man
once to die," and Job inquires: "If a man die shall he live again?"
In Ecclesiastes it is written: "For the living know that they shall die,
but the dead know not anything," and the grave seems to end it all.
"There is a Reaper whose name is Death," and he has been abroad in
Clark County as well as in the rest of the world.
While there are some who are spared so long they wonder if God
has not forgotten them; spared beyond the allotted years of man, they
feel the import of the song : "The Last Rose of Summer Left Blooming
Alone," and they more or less impatiently await the summons from the
Messenger reputed to ride the pale horse, and they exclaim: "O death,
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" They fully realize
that the shadowy boatman carries passengers only one way across the
rivei^-the River of Death ; he never ferries them back again.
James Whitcomb Riley said of a friend:
"I cannot say, and I will not say
That he is dead; he is just away.
With a cheery smile and a wave of the hand,
He has wandered into an unknown land."
And some one else writes:
"If I should die tonight
My friends would look upon my quiet face
Before they laid it in its resting place,
And deem that death has left it almost fair."
While Thomas Bailey Aldrich raises the question:
"I wonder what day of the week,
I wonder what month of the year —
Will it be midnight or morning,
And who will bend over my bier?"
Elijah and Enoch escaped the long rest in the grave because one
was carried away in a whirlwind, and the other walked with God and
was not, but the tomb is a stately mansion — a dignified tribute to the
souls of the departed. When James Demint first platted Springfield
he was confronted with the necessity of a burial ground — a God's Acre,
and what is now known as Columbia Street — an abandoned cemetery —
was the result. Three ordinary city lots were set apart for the burial
of the dead, and until 1844 it was universally used by the community.
While the Mound Builders and the Indians buried their dead in the
mounds scattered about in Clark County, the Demint or Columbia Street
Cemetery was the first burial plot connected with civilized life in the
community.
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554 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
While there was some discussion of utilizing this space for the loca-
tion of Memorial Hall, sentiment was against it. The history of the
community is inscribed on those antique markers — the names of early
settlers — and now that walks have been constructed and seats have,
been placed in the shade, it seems that the dead will be allowed to rest
in peace. Mention is elsewhere made of the care given Columbia and
Greenmount Cemeteries by the Springfield Park Board. An old account
of a funeral service of an unknown soldier, conducted by the Rev.
Saul Henkle, most likely at this cemetery, says: "The coffin rested on
a simple bier carried on the shoulders of four men walking to the grave ;
the preacher walked before and the mourners behind the body; the
people walked from the church to the cemetery in twos and twos, and
the women separate from the men. When the procession began to move
from the church to the church-yard, Reverend Henkle started the sol-
emn hymn:
"Hark, from the tomb a doleful sound,
Mine ear attend the cry ;
Ye living men, come view the ground
Where you must shortly lie."
and all joined in the processional singing. John Lingle, who met his
death in a powder mill explosion in Springfield in 1809, had a similar
funeral service.
There are stories told of solitary, sequestered graves, and in early
days many families had burial plots on their own land; there are more
unmarked graves in town than in rural cemeteries. Knob Prairie was
the first burial plot outside of Springfield. When the population was
scattered, and there were not so many buried in the Springfield ceme-
teries, the care of burial plots had not yet claimed attention, although
it was a trait of the Indians to smooth the surface, thereby hiding the
graves of their dead. The Paul family massacre in 1790 rendered the
burial of five persons a necessity, and yet it was like the burial of
Moses — there is no upturned sod along Honey Creek marking the spot
where they were buried two days later by the son and daughter.
In 1842 there was agitation of the question of a new burial plot
farther from the center of population than Columbia Street, and in
1845 a deal was consummated through which a tract of land along the
National Road and outside the city limits was secured from Cyrus Arm-
strong; it was to supplant Columbia Street Cemetery and was called
Greenmount. The conservative city fathers who were party to the deal
did not anticipate the growth of Springfield in that direction. While
Columbia Street was abandoned as a burial plot the hallowed clay never
was commercialized, and now Greenmount is in the same class with it
— an abandoned cemetery. In 1921 the city began beautifying botfi
cemeteries, rendering them attractive to the living as well as habitations
of the dead, some of the leading citizens lying there.
In 1848 a hillside vault or mausoleum was constructed for the use
of a family named Bell — popular story says Mayor Bell, although at
the same time Springfield did not have a city charter providing for the
office of mayor. Different stories are afloat ; when Mr. Bell's body had
been there fifty years — another story is 100 years — it is to be consignee!
to earth, and a second metallic casket containing the body of a daughter
was laid in the vault, but the wife left different instructions relative to
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her body. The vault is decayed and boards have been nailed across the
entry, and the problem is what to do with it; there are no relatives in
the community. While Greenmount is high and dry, the growth of the
City of Springfield in that direction changed its desirability as a burial
plot. It was a serious consideration with leading citizens.
On June 13, 1863, William Warder brought the matter of a future
burial ground before the Springfield council and a committee was
appointed to investigate other sites. Columbia and Greenmount were
already shrines for many families, and they must not make the same
mistake again; they must anticipate the growth of the city. Both were
well located in their day, but as time went by the city built around them.
The time had come in Springfield when, "The names we love to hear,
have been writ for many a year, on their tombs."
An old account says, in 1804 there were four graves in what is
now known as the "old graveyard," one of which was the grave of
Mrs. James Demint, who died in 1803 and whose name does not appear
on tax-duplicates because the plat of Springfield had not become a mat-
ter of record at Xenia, and there is mention elsewhere of the death in
Urbana of the man who platted the cemetery, and a second Mrs. Demint
had the body brought to Springfield for burial — most likely in Demint
or Columbia Street Cemetery. One account says of the early ceme-
teries: "On modest tombstones was inscribed the time the man came
into the world and when he left it." Some Revolutionary gravestones
may be seen in the Columbia Street Cemetery, but Henry Watterson
says:
"A mound of earth a little higher graded;
Perhaps upon a stone a chiseled name;
A dab of printer's ink, soon blurred and faded—
And then oblivion — that — that is fame."
The names in the Springfield and Clark County Directories do not
coincide with the names on some of those early tombstones — even the
name of Demint being unknown in Springfield today. In time many
of the pioneers are forgotten, unless they are commemorated in biogra-
phical sketches by their posterity now enjoying the fruition of their
labors. One enthusiastic marble dealer declares that progress in civili-
zation is shown by the marks of lasting respect paid to the dead, and
some one less sentimental exclaims: "What shall avail a man if he is
principal depositor at a bank, when it comes to riding behind horses
that wear plumes ?" It is related that at the height of its ancient civiliza-
tion Egypt built costly pyramids for its kings and queens, and that
their mummified bodies are still preserved in them. Wrhile Methuselah
and Noah attained to ripe old age they did not escape dissolution, and
sacred history relates that Abraham bought the cave Machpelah and
had its rocky interior cut into crypts or compartments for himself and
Sarah, and finally they were entombed there.
The Lord Jesus Christ was laid in a rock-hewed crypt — Joseph's
own new tomb— and thus it is shown that the early Christians followed
the custom of building mausoleums now in vogue again, although that
form of burial has not attained to much popularity in Springfield.
While in Westminster Abbey the graves are on top of one another,
that condition will hardly prevail in Clark County before cremation
gains in popularity or the many burial plots become more crowded than
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 557
at present. It is a comforting thought as friends stand by the graves:
"The good that men do lives after them, while the evil is interred with
their bones," and when the returned traveler asks about prominent citi-
zens of forty or fifty years ago he likes to stand at their graves, exclaim-
ing: "O for the touch of the vanished hand and the sound of the voice
that is still," and since life is but a workshop, a preparatory school for
the hereafter, why shrink from the grave?
The community builders in Springfield were concerned about the
final disposition of their bodies, the community having already out-
stripped two cemetery locations in its growth and development, and
August 3, 1863, the committee appointed in June met and adopted plans
for the organization of a cemetery association; it was to be a stock
company, the shares placed at $300 with the subscriptions regarded in
the nature of loans, with Dr. Robert Rodgers, S. A. Bowman and
D. Shaffer as trustees for three years ; G. S. Foos and Chandler Rob-
bins for two years, and William Warder and Dr. John Ludlow for the
one-year term — a board of seven trustees — and when $10,000 had
accrued from the shares the stockholders authorized the purchase of
suitable property for the future city of the dead in Springfield.
Before the end of the year the board purchased seventy acres from
the heirs of Henry Bechtel, and named the place Ferncliff. In 1864
there was a dedication service, at which time the Hon. Samson Mason
was the master of ceremonies, and the devotions were conducted by
Dr. Samuel Sprecher of Wittenberg College. When Dr. Ezra Keller,
the first president of Wittenberg, died in 1849 his body was consigned
to earth in a lonely spot in the northwest corner of the college campus,
with a wilderness bordering it that is now Ferncliff Cemetery, and there
was another burial — he found final resting place in Ferncliff. While
one student who died in a college dormitory was buried on the campus,
his bones were later transferred to Ferncliff.
The Ferncliff Cemetery now includes 220 acres, with fifty acres
devoted to burial plots, and at the end of 1921 there were more than
20,000 lowly mounds representing the last resting place of that many
persons, and while in Ferncliff and other Clark County cemeteries there
are impressive monuments pointing skyward, some prefer the field
boulder to mark their final resting place — a mark of beauty as well as
simplicity. There are no marble monuments except the markers fur-
nished by the United States Government at the graves of soldiers, since
marble is not durable in local climate. The Cemetery Rules and Regu-
lations bar the use of marble, and while as yet no design has been
selected for markers at the graves of World war soldiers, it should
be of some other stone. It is suggested that the G. A. R. mound in the
center of Ferncliff is now tenanted by the third race of people since
the Moundbuilders constructed it and the Indians used it. While it has
been graded and made more symmetrical, there is no doubt about its
use by prehistoric people; there are other mounds in the vicinity, and
there is unmistakable evidence that the hill on which the Springfield
City Hospital is located was once a burial plot, but the skeletons
unearthed there disintegrated so quickly when exposed to air that it was
impossible to secure definite data about them.
In the chapter on Clark County mounds there is mention of the
discovery of human bones, and within the last few months workmen
grading in another part of Ferncliff Cemetery unearthed bones attributed
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 559
to an earlier race. Since Ferncliff Cemetery was opened in time of the
Civil war, public approval was given to this central mound as a burial
plot for soldiers who died without relatives who claimed their bodies
for private burial in family lots. On Decoration Day the G. A. R.
mound is the center from which all graves are visited under direction
of the surviving soldiers of the Civil war, Mitchell Post, G. A. R.
When war-time prosperity was sweeping the country many hitherto
unmarked graves received attention :
"Graven deep on the stones that mark
Proudly the tomb of the patriarch;
Naming his virtues, one by one,
Stricken down ere his work was done."
And while many graves are marked, some families have adopted the
patriarchal custom and lay their dead in mausoleums, as: Bushnell,
Bookwalter, Leffel, Gladfelter, Blee, Mast and Baldwin, in Ferncliff.
There are no community mausoleums, and the Ferncliff Association
does not encourage the plan, the upkeep in future remaining an uncer-
tainty. Until crypts are filled the unsealed community mausoleums are
unsatisfactory. Ferncliff has a temporary receiving vault built into the
cljffs, and few transient visitors discover it. In 1918, when the ground
was frozen so deep, it was used more than at any other time in the
cemetery's history.
The practice of cremation is limited, and the potter's field only
lingers in memory ; the single grave solves the question, and when burial
is by the county there is a plot at the county farm; the rural cemeteries
offer cheaper burial privileges and there is no potter's field in Ferncliff.
The last report of Superintendent Stanford J. Perrott showed that
twenty-two percent of those buried in Ferncliff were under ten years
of age, carrying out the Bible statement that the old must and that the
young may die — that there is no lease on life. Within the year 48,900
square feet of sod had been used covering new-made graves, and about
three acres — Sylvan Hill, where the bones were unearthed — had been
added to available burial space, and four and one-half acres had been
purchased from the Moffett estate by the Association.
In 1868 a house was built for Louis Kindle, who was cemetery super-
intendent until his death in the '90s, having begun his duties at Green-
mount and been transferred to Ferncliff. There is mention also of
John Dick, who was connected with the cemetery for more than forty
years in landscape capacity; he studied landscape design in the Royal
Botanical Gardens in Edinburg, coming to the United States in 1854,
and finding employment on Long Island as a landscape gardener; when
he came to Ferncliff he developed what nature lacked, keeping the same
general outline, thus combining art with nature and picturesque Fern-
cliff is the result. Whether seen in winter, when covered with a blanket
of snow, or in summer, with its green carpet earth — it is the spot that
many wanderers think of as their place of final rest— the rest in the
grave.
"I'll sing you a song of the world and its ways,
And the many strange people we meet,"
and not many days go by that some one is not buried in Ferncliff that
died in some other part of the country. While more than 20,000 per-
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560
SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
sons now constitute the silent city, the superintendent has definite
knowledge of all who make up the city of the dead; if families kept
better records, burial would present fewer difficulties. None are received
for burial unless full information accompanies the application ; the super-
intendent must have knowledge of friends or relatives. From the pro-
ceeds of lot sales the acreage has been increased from seventy to 220
acres, and the members of the original Ferncliff Association are all sleep-
ing within its borders.
While the Ferncliff superintendent allows people the privilege of
planting in other parts of the cemetery, nothing is planted on the graves ;
the lot owner is part owner of the cemetery, and all graves are cared
for by the Association. Shrubbery must be in conformity with the gen-
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eral landscape plan, and monuments and mausoleums are placed under
the same regulations. Ferncliff Cemetery is the connecting link in the
Springfield chain of parks along Buck Creek, and while strangers unac-
companied by friends are not admitted, the drive connecting Cliff and
Snyder Parks affords a view of Ferncliff and Wittenberg. No natural
scenery in the world surpasses the beauty of the cemetery and the col-
lege campus as seen from the drive, the name Ferncliff telling its own
story, and who would hesitate in leaving his dead in such environment?
The Catholics have separate burial plots adjoining Springfield; in
1853 Rev. Morris Howard secured three acres two miles east of the
city along the National Road and established a place of burial, but the
spot never was consecrated and in 1864 Father Thisse purchased six
acres on Lagonda Avenue outside • the corporate limits of Springfield,
and for a time it was used by all Catholics, but now the city surrounds
it and space is utilized and Calvary Cemetery is the place of burial
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SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY 561
from St. Raphaels and some other Catholic churches. Calvary Ceme-
tery includes twenty acres near Locust Grove, and the site was dedicated
November 1, 1889, the first person buried there being Patrick Welch.
In 1878 St. Bernard's Catholic Church, under the leadership of Father
Schuchardt, purchased ten acres of ground which was consecrated by
the Most Reverend J. B. Purcell — this cemetery near the Springfield
Country Club.
Civilization encroached on the Lagonda Cemetery as well as on
Columbia Street and Greenmount, and Calvary is an outlying place.
In Madison Township there are two cemeteries at South Charleston —
Greenlawn and Pleasant Grove — and two Friends cemeteries. William
Mattison was the first person buried at South Charleston. Greenlawn
is mentioned as a beautiful cemetery.
There are burial plots in Harmony at Plattsburg, South Vienna,
Fletcher Chapel, Sims Chapel, Brighton, Rags and Lisbon — no recent
burials in some of them. In Pleasant the burial plots are: Asbury
Chapel, Vernon, McConkey and Botkin. In Moorefield: Pleasant Hill,
Walnut Hill and an abandoned plot at Bowlusville. Beside Columbia
Street, Greenmount, Ferncliff, Lagonda, St. Bernard, and Calvary,
already mentioned in Springfield Township are Vale. Newcomers,
Emery Chapel and the Masonic. I. O. O. F. and K. of P. Fraternal
Homes. Greene Township has one burial plot, Garlough, and Mad
River has the cemetery at Enon and two abandoned plots. In Bethel
the Mennonite Cemetery, Donnelsville and New Carlisle beside the pot-
ter's field at the County Home and the abandoned burial plot marking
the site of New Boston near Fort Tecumseh. In Pike there are burial
plots at North Hampton, Myers, New Jerusalem, Ebeneezer and Reams.
In German Township there are cemeteries at Lawrenceville and Tre-
mont City.
When the County Home, known that long ago as Infirmary, was
removed from Northern Heights to Bethel, the graves were leveled and
the sleepers will remain — six feet of earth being the recognized right of
all, and while there always will be unmarked graves, in the Donnels-
ville Cemetery is the grave of Jonathan Donnel, made there in 1812,
and through all the years it has been unmarked. In the rooms of the
Clark County Historical Society is a tombstone sacred to his memory,
with the inscription : Jonathan Donnel died April 5, 1812, and the epitaph
reads:
"Depart, ye friends, and dry up your tears,
Dead I must be till Christ appears,"
and while it is not a new theology it is couched in unique words. The
man died of his own hand, and this tombstone was sheltered in the
spring house at the Donnel farm in Bethel Township for eighty years
before it was finally brought to the rooms of the Historical Society.
Jonathan Donnel was contemporary with David Lowry on Mad River.
Mention has been made of Reuben Miller, who was active in the
'30s, '40s, and '50s and died in the '60s, although Henry Howe, who
says: "Learn to laugh time out of his arithmetic," says he died in 1880,
has written his own epitaph, which reads :
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562 SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY
"Here lies a man — a curious one,
No one can tell what good he's done
Nor yet how much of evil;
Where now his soul is, who can tell?
In heaven above, or low in hell?
With God or with the devil ?
"While living here he oft would say
That he must shortly turn to clay
And quickly rot —
This thought would sometime cross his brain
That he perhaps might live again,
And maybe not.
"As sure as he in dust doth lie
He died because he had to die,
But much against his will;
Had he got all that he desired
This man would never have expired ;
He had been living still."
But if it was ever chiseled in granite no one mentioned it. By request
it is published again.
There are funeral directors who speak of doing a good business-
do not have money to burn but to bury — unless they are alert, and when
one advertised "Sympathetic Funeral Service $50 and Up," the wag
said he "would like a $1(30 job," and then a visitor to a cemetery
exclaimed: "Here lie the dead and here the living lie," when he read
some tributes on grave stones. A literary jokesmith declares :
"A little bit of Taffy, when one's alive, I say
Beats a lot of Epitaphy when one has passed away,"
and in serious vein another says:
" 'T is better to send a cheap bouquet
To a friend that's living this very day,
Than a bushel of roses — white and red,
To lay on his coffin when he's dead."
The epitaph hunter would find nothing unusual in local cemeteries,
love for the dead manifesting itself in the form of suitable markers at
the graves. Lagonda Chapter D. A. R. did the community a service
in erecting the Revolutionary shrine in Ferncliff, and when the time
comes in family history that more of its members are sleeping in the
cemeteries than surround the fireside — relatives and friends so many
times the remnants of once large families, are impressed with the sacred
duty of keeping their memories green; to them God's Acre always will
be a hallowed spot — a sacred shrine to which their pilgrim feet will
turn whenever opportunity presents itself.
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