Hancock County OhArchives History - Books .....Chapter VIII, Part III 1886
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Ann Anderson ann.g.anderson@gmail.com July 17, 2005, 6:58 pm
Book Title: History Of Hancock County

CHAPTER VIII.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS—HULL'S TRACE—OPENING OF THE PERRYSBURG & BELLEFONTAINE AND
OTHER STATE ROADS THROUGH HANCOCK COUNTY—PIONEER COUNTY ROADS—FIRST BRIDGE BUILT
ACROSS THE BLANCH-ARD AT FLNDLAY,AND ITS SUCCESSORS—EARLY NAVIGATION ON THE
BLANCHARD—FIRST MAIL ROUTE ESTABLISHED THROUGH THE COUNTY—JOSEPH GORDON, THE
VETERAN MAIL CARRIER—HISTORY OF THE RAILROADS—THE PROPOSED BELLEFONTAINE &
PERRYSBURG RAILROAD—FINDLAY BRANCH OF THE INDIANAPOLIS, BLOOMINGTON &
WESTERN—LAKE ERIE & WESTERN —BALTIMORE & OHIO—MCCOMB, DESHLER & TOLEDO—NEW YORK,
CHICAGO & ST. Louis—CLEVELAND, DELPHOS & ST. Louis NARROW GUAGE— TOLEDO,
COLUMBUS & SOUTHERN—PROPOSED RAILROAD ENTERPRISES THAT HAVE FAILED DURING THE
PAST FORTY-SEVEN YEARS.

DURING the earlier years of the county's history Hull's Trace was the principal
highway through this portion of the State. It was opened in 1812 by the army of
Gen. William Hull on its march from Urbana to the Maumee Rapids, and passed
northward from the Scioto River through the center of Hancock County, traversing
in its route what is now Madison, Eagle, Findlay and Allen Townships. Hull's
Trace could scarcely be called a road, for only the underbrush and very small
timber were cut out so as to allow the gun-carriages and baggage wagons of the
army to pass between the larger trees; yet nearly all of the travel from
Bellefontaine to the Maumee passed along this rude trace until after the
organization of Wood County in 1820. Though the preliminary work of opening a
highway from the Maumee southward via Fort Findlay to Bellefontaine was soon
afterward commenced, it was nevertheless many years before anything that could
be called a road was constructed through this county, and wagon paths blazed
through the forest were the only means of communication between the scattered
settlements.

   Many, even of the oldest citizens of the county, are under the impression
that the Perrysburg & Bellefontaine road is located on the site of Hull's Trace,
but such is not the fact. The trace struck the south line of Hancock County,
about half a mile west of this road, thence, passing northward, ran down the
west side of Eagle Creek to Fort Findlay, where it crossed the Blanchard; thence
in a northerly direction, about half a mile east of the Perrysburg road, until
reaching the highlands on the middle branch of the Portage River, a short
distance south of Van Buren; thence took a northwest course along the southwest
side of that stream into Wood County, and thence onward to the Maumee. The
vanguard of Hull's army followed the dryest ground it could find, and avoided,
wherever possible, the swales which then abounded in this region.

   Early in 1820 the General Assembly passed an act, ordering a State road to be
laid out from the Maumee to Bellefontaine; and on the 27th of May, 1820, the
commissioners of Wood County appointed Peter G. Oliver, "road commissioner for
the county of Wood, to assist in laying out the State road from Bellefontaine to
the foot of the rapids of the Miami of the Lake."

This is familiarly known as the Perrysburg & Bellefontaine, but sometimes called
the Urbana road, and is located on the range line between Ranges 10 and 11.
Oliver entered into bond to lay out and let the contracts for opening said road
from Fort Meigs to Fort Findlay, but it seems he did not fulfill the conditions
laid down by the board, and December 12, 1820, the commissioners intimated that
they would sue his bondsmen, but gave him till February 1, 1821, "to finish his
road, provided that the logs should all b& removed out of said road by the 1st
of January, 1821." The road was cut out as far south as Fort Findlay by the time
specified, and accepted by the commissioners February 21, 1821. From Fort
Findlay to Bellefontaine the road was partly opened by John Enochs, of Logan
County, about the same time. Nothing further relating to the road in this county
appears on the Wood County records till June 6, 1826, when the commissioners
ordered "that the sum of $400 of the 3 per cent fund appropriated for Hancock
County, be expended on the Urbana road hi the said county." This road could not
have been satisfactorily opened through to Bellefontaine under the act of 1820,
for another act was passed by the Legislature February 22, 1830, "to locate and
establish a State road from Bellefontaine, in Logan County, to Fort Findlay, in
Hancock County; and thence on the range line between Ranges 10 and 11, to the
foot of the rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie." Thomas F. Johnston, Thomas E.
McKnight and James M. Workman, were appointed State Commissioners to lay out
said road, and Walter Clement did the surveying. The survey was commenced at the
public square in Bellefontaine, May 20, 1830, and completed the following month,
though the plat of the survey was not recorded in Wood County until about a year
afterward. In August, 1830, the commissioners of Hancock County agreed that the
tax levied for the several State roads in this county be expended on the
Bellefontaine & Perrysburg, the Upper Sandusky, Findlay & Defiance, and the
State roads from Marion to Findlay, each of which were ordered to be cut out
thirty-two feet wide, and the ground cleared of all timber. Thus it will be seen
that ten years after the Perrysburg & Bellefontaine road was first surveyed, it
still remained comparatively unopened, but through the passing years it has been
gradually unproved, until it is to-day one of the best roads hi the county.

   In the fall of 1828 the State road from Marion to Findlay was laid out by Don
Alonzo Hamlin and George H. Busby, State Commissioners, and Samuel Holmes,
surveyor. It unites with the Bellefontaine & Perrysburg road immediately south
of the Eagle Creek bridge near the south line of Findlay Township, and passes
southeastward through this county. In August, 1830, the county commissioners let
the contract for cutting out this road thirty-two feet wide and removing the
timber therefrom.

   The Upper Sandusky, Findlay & Defiance State road was surveyed early in 1830,
and the contract for opening it let in August of that year. The survey of the
State road from Lower Sandusky (Fremont) to Findlay was commenced in November,
1830. by John Bell and Daniel Tindle, commissioners, and David Camp, surveyor.
Rome (now Fostoria), was afterward laid out on this road. The Findlay & Port
Clinton State road was surveyed in the fall of 1831 by David Camp, the State
Commissioners being William L. Henderson, Joseph Hall and Ezekiel Price. This
road runs in a northeast direction from Findlay to Port Clinton in Sandusky
County. On the 6th of February, 1832, the Legislature passed an act to establish
State roads through several counties, Hancock being one of those named in said
act. Under this act, Squire Carlin, Samuel Jacobs and Picket Doughte, State
Commissioners, with William L. Henderson as surveyor, laid out the Findlay, Lima
& St. Mary's State road in the fall of 1832. The State road from Findlay to
Tiffin was laid out the same year, but it was not opened as we find it
re-established in 1842 from Findlay to the east line of Marion Township, by
order of the county commissioners. The Findlay & New Haven State road was
established in the spring of 1833, beginning at Sandusky Street in Findlay, and
running due east to New Haven, Huron Co. Case Brown was the State Commissioner,
and T. C. Sweney, surveyor of this road. The Tiffin and Defiance State road was
also laid out in the spring of 1833, by Jacob Foster, James Gordon and
Christopher Sharp, commissioners, and William L. Henderson, surveyor. It passed
westward through Borne and Risdon (now Fostoria), thence continued in a
southwest course on the county ridge road surveyed in March, 1832, from the site
of Risdon to the site of Van Buren; thence in the same general direction to the
east line of Pleasant Township; thence inclined northwestwardly to the Putnam
County line. In the spring of 1834, a State road was established from
McCutchenville, via Big Spring, in Seneca County, to Findlay. Joseph C. Shannon,
John C. De Witt and Frederick Waggoner were the commissioners in charge, and
Thomas C. Sweney, surveyor. In 1835, a State road was laid out from Bucyrus
toward Fort Wayne, Ind., passing through Williamstown in its route; and the same
year the Findlay & Kalida State road was established; Charles W. O'Neal surveyed
the latter road, and Parlee Carlin and James Taylor were the road commissioners.
Some of these highways were afterward changed in places, and parts vacated to
accommodate the people living along their respective routes, while several years
elapsed before they were fully opened and fit for travel.

   All of the earliest county roads, in Hancock County, were established under
an act of the general assembly passed February 26, 1824, authorizing the opening
and regulating of roads and highways within the State. The first road petition
found on record, in this county, was presented to the commissioners June 1,
1829, for a public highway from the east line of the county to Findlay. The
petitioners were John J. Hendricks, Justin Smith, Joseph Whiteman, James Beard,
John Huff, John Beard, William Ebright, Sampson Dildine, John Williamson, Andrew
Robb, Thomas Cole, David Hagerman, John Long, John Shoemaker and Mordecai
Hammond. In September, 1829, the road was viewed by John Huff, John J. Hendricks
and William Moreland, Jr., with William Taylor as surveyor; Peter George, James
Beard, Joshua Powell and John Boyd, chainmen; and John Long, Philip Ebright and
Norman Chamberlain, markers. The road was established by the commissioners
September 16, 1829. It began at Jacob Smith's on the county line (now in Wyandot
County), and is the present road running westward through Vanlue to the
Blanchard; thence passing down the northeast side of the river a few miles, when
it crosses to the west side, and thence follows the meanders of the Blanchard
into Findlay.

   The second petition was presented June 7, 1830, for a road commencing on the
line between Hancock and Hardin Counties, near the section line dividing
sections 35 and 36, Delaware Township, thence down the west side of the
Blanchard to Godfrey Wolford's mill in section 11, where it crossed the river,
and continued down the east side of the stream through the site of Mt. Blanchard
until it intersected the county road to Findlay, laid out the previous fall,
near the house of John J. Hendricks in Section 12, Amanda Township. The petition
was signed by Aquilla Gilbert, Asa Lake, Jesse Gilbert, Chauney Fuller, Reuben
W. Hamlin, Godfrey Wolford, John Wolford, Josiah Elder, William J. Greer,
William J. Greer, Jr., John Rose, Asa M. Lake, George W. Wolford, John Elder,
Ephraim Elder, Absalom Elder, Andrew Robb, Justin Smith, Amos Beard, William
Ebright, Nathan Williams, James Gibson, David Egbert and Joseph W. Egbert. The
commissioners appointed Thomas Thompson, James Beard and Peter George, viewers,
and Wilson Vance, surveyor, to lay out said road; Elijah Beard and Charles
Gibson were employed as chain carriers, and Godfrey Wolford, marker. All of the
foregoing were pioneers of Delaware and Amanda Townships. The road was surveyed
in July, 1830, and established as a public highway April 18, 1831.

   In March, 1831, a county road was laid out, from the Perrysburg &
Bellefontaine State road, south of Chamberlin's Hill, up the west side of Eagle
Creek to Section 14, Madison Township, where it crossed that stream, and upon
reaching the center line of Section 23 turned southeastward and continued in
that direction till it intersected the Perrysburg & Bellefontaine road near the
southern boundary of the county. This road followed Hull's Trace from
Chamberlin's Hill to section 23, Madison Township, but the north part of it was
afterward vacated. The petition, as presented to the commissioners March 7,
1831, was signed by the following well-remembered pioneers: Benjamin O. Whitman,
Jacob, Joseph, John and Jacob Helms, Jr., John, Adam and Elijah Woodruff, Conrad
Line. John Decker, Nathaniel Hill, Simeon and Thomas Ransbottom, John and
Griffin Tullis, James West, Joshua Garrett, Abner Hill, Abel Tanner, Aaron
Kinion, Alpheus Ralston, John Boyd, Leonard Tritch, Squire and Parlee Carlin,
Henry Shaw, John C, Wickham, Major Bright, William Dulin and Isaac Johnson. Of
these Squire Carlin and Alpheus Ralston are the only survivors. The
commissioners appointed William L. Henderson surveyor, and Jacob Foster, Peter
George and John Bashore, viewers. John Tullis, Adam Woodruff and Elijah Woodruff
acted as chainmen, and Abel Tanner, marker. The road was established June 6,
1831, and was a little over fourteen miles in length.

   The Benton Ridge road was the next highway established by the commissioners,
in compliance with a petition laid before the board in the fall of 1831, and
signed by Squire and Parlee Carlin, Thomas F. Johnston, Levi Williamson, James
Taylor. John Boyd, Matthew Reighly, William Taylor, Wilson Vance, John Groves,
Joseph A. Sargent, William Dulin, Joshua Jones, William Moreland, Samuel Gordon,
Joseph Johnson, William Fowler. Henry Lamb. Isaac Baker, Thomas Cole, Minor T.
Wickham, Richard Wade, Zebulon Lee. Philip Cramer, John Mullen, John Cramer,
Jacob Powell, Solomon Foglesong, Jacob Fox, Simon Cramer, William Lytle and
Philip Cramer, Jr. The viewers appointed to lay out said road were Peter George,
Isaac Baker and Thomas F. Johnston: William L. Henderson, surveyor; Frederick
Henderson. Jonathan Parker, Stephen Lee, Reuben Baker, John Cramer, Henry Smaltz
and William Greenly, chainmen; Minor T. Wickham, Henry Baker. Philip Cramer and
Adam Cramer, markers. The survey was completed in December, 1831, and March 5,
1832, the road was established by the board of commissioners. It begins at the
west end of Main Cross street, and runs northwest about a mile and a half to the
Sand Ridge; thence, turning abruptly southwestward, follows the ridge to the
village of Benton, and thence in the same general direction to the Putnam County
line. Immediately west of Findlay was a low, wet piece of ground, and instead of
running due west on a line with Main Cross Street, the viewers concluded to
avoid this swale by deviating toward the north and following the higher ground.
Throughout pioneer days the Benton Ridge road was one of the best public
highways in the county, especially during wet seasons when many other roads
became almost impassable.

   In February, 1832, William L. Henderson laid out a road, beginning at the
house of Aquilla Gilbert, in Section 24, Amanda Township, thence running
northeast, till it intersected the State road from Upper Sandusky to Findlay, at
the farm of Judge Jacob Smith, near the Crawford County line, but now in Wyandot
County. Joseph Johnson, John Rose and Joshua Powell were the viewers: Henry
Treese and Andrew Beck, chainmen, and Henry George and Aquilla Gilbert, markers.
The petitioners for this road were Adam Allspach, John Fenstemaker, Andrew Beck,
Thomas Cole, Samuel Gordon, Thomas Thompson, Samuel Sargent, Elijah and James
Beard, Joseph Egbert, Michael Misamore, Joseph Craig, Aquilla Gilbert, Isaac
Litzenberger, John Condron, John Longwith, Asa M. Lake, William J. Greer, Henry
Treese, William Ebright, William Taylor, Godfrey Wolford and Elisha Brown. The
road was established in March, 1832, and is one of the principal highways
traversing Amanda Township.

   A county road was laid out in March, 1832, on the ridge from Risdon (now
Fostoria) to the site of Van Buren, and established by the commissioners as a
public highway the following June. Christian Barnd, Jacob Foster and Thomas
Slight were the viewers, and William L. Henderson, surveyor. The petition for
this road was signed by John and Micajah Gorsuch, David Heaston, Thomas Kelly,
Michael Thomas, John Norris, James G. Wiseman, Elijah and John McRill, John
Hiestand, John Burman, John Trout and Abraham Schoonover. In the spring of 1833
the Tiffin & Defiance State road was established over the same route, and
continued on westward into Putnam County.

   Another early county road was established in Union Township in the spring of
1833. The petition was presented to the commissioners March 4 of that year, with
the following names appended thereto: Wenman Wade, William Fox, Jacob Burket,
Henry Smaltz, Philip, John. Simon and Philip Cramer, Jr., William M. Colclo.
Alexander Hardin, Solomon Foglesong, Jacob Fox, Sr., Jacob Fox, Jr., Isaac
Comer, John and Thomas Mullen and Solomon and Stephen Lee. This road commences
at the Findlay & Lima State Road, near the southwest comer of Section 27. Union
Township, thence runs north nearly two miles to the southwest corner of Section
15; thence northeast down the northwest side of Ottawa Creek, crossing that
stream below the mouth of Tiderishi Creek; thence up the northwest side of
Tider-ishi about a mile; thence due north to the Benton Ridge road. It was
surveyed by William L. Henderson; John Byal and Asher Wickham, viewers; Philip
Cramer and Peter Folk, chainmen, and Simon Cramer, marker. From this time
forward roads were rapidly established in every part of the county. Whenever a
few cabins made their appearance in any portion of the county, or a new township
was organized, a petition was presented for a road, and always granted. For many
years after the organization of the county one of the principal businesses of
the commissioners was granting road petitions and establishing public highways.
But even the best roads were at times almost impassable, and outside of Findlay
Township very little stone piking has yet been done in this county, and mud
roads are the rule instead of the exception.

   The lack of means with which to build bridges, was one of the great drawbacks
in this county, and during high water the Blanchard, and doubtless some of the
smaller streams, had to be crossed in canoes or rude boats improvised for the
purpose. A few cheap bridges were built in some of the townships before the
first one across the Blanchard at Findlay was constructed, but they were usually
temporary structures in danger of being swept away by the first freshet. In
March, 1842, the commissioners resolved to receive proposals for building two
bridges over the Blanchard; one at Findlay, and another on the Findlay & New
Haven State road, in Marion Township. Aquilla Gilbert, one of the board, filed a
protest against the proposed improvements, claiming that Findlay was getting
more than her share of the public moneys, and naming bridges that had been built
in other parts of the county by the townships wherein they were located, without
any assistance from the county. The contract for constructing a bridge at
Find-lay was let in April, 1842, to Squire Carlin and Horace Eaton for the sum
of $1,600, and the bridge was completed and opened for traffic in the fall of
1843. It was an open, wooden bridge, supported by wooden abutments, and
trestles, and was used nearly seven years before being replaced by a, better one.

   On the 19th of April, 1850, a contract for a new. wooden, covered "lattice
bridge" over the Blanchard at Findlay, was let to Jesse Wheeler, William
Klamroth and Edwin B. Vail, to be completed on or before November 15, 1850. This
bridge was 180 feet long, and eighteen feet above low water mark, with stone
abutments and one stone pier in the center of the river. It was a very
substantial structure, and cost about $3,000. Besides the wagon track there was
a foot path on each side, and when the bridge was finished it was regarded with
much pride by the citizens of Findlay. It did good service for nearly
twenty-three years, but the day of its usefulness finally passed away, and it
was succeeded in 1873-74 by the handsome iron bridge now spanning the stream.
The old bridge was sold to Dr. D. W. Cass, for $105, while the stone in the
abutments and pier brought about $900. Some of the timbers of this bridge were
utilized in the erection of the grand stand on the fair grounds.

   The sum of $940 was expended in the erection of bridges in Hancock County in
1845; and about the time the second bridge over the Blanchard at Findlay was
built, many good bridges were constructed in different parts of the county. The
time had come when the people could no longer afford to plod along in the old
way. The previous temporary structures were replaced by substantial ones, and
new bridges made their appearance in many places. With the growth in population
and wealth, good bridges became a necessity, but years elapsed before all this
was accomplished, and the work still goes on from year to year. Nineteen wagon
bridges now span the Blanchard within the limits of Hancock County, two of which
are iron, while two more iron bridges cross the stream on the boundary lines
between Hancock and Hardin, and Hancock and Putnam Counties, half the expense of
which was borne by this county. Bridges have also been built wherever any of the
main traveled roads cross the smaller streams; and within the last fifteen years
many substantial iron bridges have replaced the old wooden ones over Eagle,
Ottawa, Portage and perhaps other streams in different parts of the county.

   As the present handsome iron bridge spanning the Blanchard at Find-lay is
recognized as the finest in the county, it will not be inappropriate to mention
it briefly in this connection. August 1, 1873, the commissioners entered into a
contract with the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio, to erect a one
span iron bridge over the river at Findlay, 164 feet long, with a roadway twenty
feet wide in the clear, and a footway on each side six feet wide in the clear,
for the sum of $10,889.60. On the same day the contract for the stone abutments
was awarded to Louis Bruner at the rate of $7 per perch of twenty-five solid
feet, which, when completed, together with the east wing, came to $4,008.90. The
bridge was finished and accepted by the commissioners March 27, 1874, and
warranted by the company for thirty years from that date. It is a substantial
structure and a credit to the builders, as well as a lasting monument to the
wisdom and public spirit of the board under whom it was built, and to the people
whose generous liberality rendered such a fine public improvement possible.

   Before the era of roads and bridges in this portion of the State, much of the
goods brought to Findlay came in pirogues from Perrysburg via the Maumee,
Auglaize and Blanchard Rivers, while furs and other products of the then
sparsely settled country were often shipped to the lake over the same route by
the traders and merchants of the village. A Government survey made in 1816
pronounced the Blanchard navigable from Fort Find-lay to the Auglaize, and many
of the pioneers who located along its banks once regarded it as a navigable
stream. The only boats, however, that have ever been used in the transportation
of goods upon the Blanchard, were the clumsy, old-fashioned pirogues, made from
the bodies of large trees, and much resembling a huge trough. A little later
goods and products were wagoned to and from Sandusky City, and goods shipped at
New York came via Buffalo and the lake to Sandusky, usually arriving at Findlay
from two to four weeks afterward.

   The first mail route through Hancock County was established about sixty-six
years ago, from Bellefontaine via Fort McArthur and Findlay to Perrysburg, with
Joseph Gordon as mail agent. Gordon was born in Allegheny County, Penn., January
29, 1784, and in 1801, ere reaching manhood, began his career as a horseback
mail carrier in Kentucky. In 1804 he carried his first mail into Ohio from
Wheeling, W. Va., some fifty miles, and his route was soon afterward extended to
Chillicothe, via St. Clairsville, Zanesville and New Lancaster. He subsequently
located in Bellefontaine, Ohio, and in 1820 commenced his horseback weekly mail
service from that town to Perrysburg. The Findlay office was established in
February. 1823, and was then, and for years afterward, the only postoffice
between Bellefontaine and the Maumee—a distance of over eighty miles through a
dense, unbroken forest, where the hum of civilization was yet unheard. Gordon
was the only carrier over this route till the close of 1839, when a change
occurred and his route ended at Findlay. He continued in the service from
Bellefontaine to Findlay—some eight or ten years longer or until the route was
abandoned. Gordon is remembered as a kind-hearted, generous, trustworthy man,
and was of incalculable benefit to the early settlers of Hancock County in doing
errands for them at Perrysburg and Bellefontaine. It is a sad criticism on our
nineteenth century civilization that this veteran of the mails was compelled by
force of circumstances to spend the evening of his eventful life as a pauper in
the infirmary of Logan County.

   The railroads are the next in order of time, and perhaps the most important
feature of the county's internal improvements. In March, 1839, the General
Assembly passed an act "to authorize the commissioners of Wood and Hancock
Counties to subscribe to the capital stock of the Bellefontaine & Perrysburg
Railroad Company and to borrow money." Under the provisions of this act the
commissioners of Hancock, at a special meeting held April 26, 1839, decided to
subscribe 1,000 shares, amounting to $100,000, to the capital stock of said
company, and delegated Parlee Carlin a special agent to negotiate a loan for
said amount in the city of New York or elsewhere, at a rate of interest not to
exceed 6 per cent per annum, the bonds to be redeemed in not less than twenty
nor more than thirty years. The loan was never negotiated, as the project
vanished into air, and few of the present generation are aware that such an
enterprise was ever contemplated.

   The Findlay Branch of the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad was
the first railroad built through Hancock County. On the 19th of February, 1845,
the Legislature passed "an act to authorize the commissioners of Hancock County
to subscribe to the capital stock of the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Company
the sum of $60,000, or such sum as shall be sufficient to construct a railway or
branch from the main track of said railroad to the town of Findlay." The
following month, incompliance with a provision of said act, the commissioners
ordered the proposed measure be submitted to a vote of the citizens of Hancock
at the succeeding April election. The people voted in favor of said subscription
by 1,055 to 764, a majority of 291. On the 11th of April, 1845, the board
subscribed $60,000 to the capital stock of said railroad, and on the 22d the
first installment of $30,000 in county bonds was issued. The same month Wilson
Vance, William Taylor, John Patterson and William L. Henderson were appointed by
the commissioners as their special agents to look after the interests of the
county in its dealings with the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Company. In June,
1845, John Ewing and Jacob Barnd were added to the list, but the latter dying
soon afterward, Squire Carlin was appointed, September 11, 1845, to fill the
vacancy. On the same date the commissioners added $15,000 to the former
subscription, making a total of $75,000 subscribed by Hancock County toward the
enterprise.

   On the 19th of August, 1846, the railroad company, at a meeting held in
Kenton, agreed to accept said subscription, the county to retain and negotiate
the bonds, and construct a branch railroad from Carey to Findlay ; "Provided
that said commissioners will within four years from this date, construct said
branch railway as aforesaid, free of expense to this company, and will also
pledge therefor to this company the stock by them subscribed as aforesaid, there
to remain until said branch railway be completed; and Provided, further, that
said branch railway shall be constructed as aforesaid, under and pursuant to the
directions of this company, at a cost not exceeding the estimate of the engineer
of the same, to-wit: $86,429.29, and when completed to be the property of this
company; and Provided, further, that said commissioners furnish and convey to
this company, ground, free of expense (not less than two acres in quantity), at
said Findlay for a depot, and of such shape as may be surveyed by said engineer
therefor, and also, free of expense to this company, secure the permanent right
of way for said branch railway." It will no doubt surprise many of our readers
that such a onesided proposition was acceptable to the county, which was
actually building a railroad and giving it to the company, but the people were
so anxious for the road to be built that the proposition was gladly accepted by
the commissioners. On the 22d of September, 1846, the board appointed John
Patterson, John Ewing and Hiram Smith, railroad agents, to transact all business
in the building and completion of said branch from Findlay to Carey. They were
authorized to borrow money, obtain the right-of-way, put the work under
contract, and carry out all other business necessary and expedient for the
furtherance of the project. In March, 1847, Hiram Smith resigned, and Charles W.
O'Neal and William L. Henderson were appointed additional railroad agents, and,
with Messrs. Patterson and Ewing, served till March, 1851, when the office was
terminated by order of the commissioners.

   The road was completed in November, 1849, and trains began running ere the
close of that month. It was one of those old-fashioned strap-iron roads, similar
to those first built through this State. Upon the bed, sleepers were laid
lengthwise, placed apart the width of the track, the ties being laid crosswise
on top of said sleepers. Two strips of timber were then laid on top of the ties,
also lengthwise, and let into the same immediately over the sleepers, and upon
these strips the rails, made of five-eighths strap-iron, were fastened. When all
was finished the county had expended only $45,500 of the amount subscribed,
leaving a balance of $29,500 of the subscription yet unissued. In 1852-53, an
effort was made to furnish the road with T rails, the company making a
proposition to the county for the latter to issue bonds to carry out the
improvement, and the former to issue railroad stock to the county for said
amount, and guarantee that the dividends on said stock would be sufficient to
pay the interest on the bonds during their term of existence. The railway
company further agreed to considerably reduce the rates of transportation. The
board agreed to the proposition, but the project finally collapsed, and nothing
was done at that time.

   Though the subject of T railing the branch was afterward often talked of, it
was not till twenty years after the road was built that the work was
accomplished. In the summer of 1868, the railway company made a proposition to
the county that if the latter would contribute $12.000 toward the enterprise the
company would T rail, ballast and put the branch in good condition. Upon
examining the records it was discovered that $29,500 of the original
subscription remained unissued, and that the county was still liable for this
amount, whenever the company complied with the original conditions, and
constructed the road on a permanent basis. This was brought to the attention of
the commissioners in October, 1868, who, after taking counsel, were satisfied
the county was liable for said amount, and gladly issued the $12,000 in bonds to
assist in carrying through the much needed improvement, the company releasing
the county from all further obligation in connection with the original
subscription. The work of T railing commenced in the spring of 1869, and October
21 of that year a dinner was given at the Crook House to the president of the
road and board of directors on their visit to Findlay in honor of its completion.

   The large frame warehouse at the depot was built before the road was
finished, and as soon as completed the latter was leased by E. P. Jones, who
operated the road and warehouse for about nine years. The company then took
charge of the road, and engaged J. S. Patterson as their agent in Findlay.
During these years this branch line was of incalculable benefit to Findlay, far
more indeed than the average citizen is willing to admit. It supplied the town
with shipping facilities, and thus built up its trade and population, thereby
greatly enhancing the value of real estate. The road originally extended west on
Crawford Street nearly to Main. From Findlay it runs in a southeast direction
across the townships of Findlay, Marion and Amanda to Carey in Wyandot County,
also crossing the southwest corner of Big Lick Township in its route, Vanlue
being the only town on the line in this county. Originally operated by the Mad
River & Lake Erie Railroad Company, the name was changed by decree of the common
pleas court of Erie County, February 23, 1858, to the Sandusky, Dayton &
Cincinnati Railroad Company, and the branch went by that name. In January, 1866,
the road was sold, and in July following reorganized as the Sandusky &
Cincinnati Railroad Company. On the 11th of January, 1868, a decree of the
common pleas court of Erie County again changed the name of the company to the
Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland. This company operated the road over thirteen
years, and March 8, 1881, leased its lines to the Indianapolis, Bloomington &
Western Railroad Company for the term of ninety-nine years to go into effect on
the 1st of May following. The branch from Carey to Findlay is about fifteen
miles in length, and is now known as the Findlay Branch of the Indianapolis,
Bloomington & Western Railroad, which has become one of the great trunk lines of
the West.

   The Lake Erie & Western was the second railway built through this county, and
it is yet the most important road that enters Findlay. It had its inception
early in 1853, and was first conceived and advocated by Henry Brown, of Findlay,
then a young lawyer, and one of the editors of the Hancock Courier. He published
an editorial in the Courier advocating the construction of a railroad from Green
Springs via Rome (now Fostoria), Findlay, Lima and St. Mary's to the Indiana
State line, and sent a number of the papers containing the article to leading
men along the proposed route. Charles W. Foster received one of the papers, and
at once seeing the feasibility of the project drove over to Findlay, and, after
talking the matter over with some of the monied men of the town, took Mr. Brown
in his buggy and talked up a railroad feeling along the line as far southwest as
St. Mary's. On their return a delegation from Fremont met Mr. Foster at Rome,
and he told them what had been done. Fremont did not want the road to go to
Green Springs, and induced Mr. Foster to favor their town instead. On the 25th
of April, 1853, the Fremont & Indiana Railroad Company was incorporated, with a
capital of §200,000, by Charles W. Foster, L. Q. Rawson, Sardis Birchard. James
Justice and John R. Pease. The charter called for "the construction of a
railroad from the town of Fremont, in the county of Sandusky, through the
counties of Sandusky and Seneca to the town of Rome, in said county of Seneca;
thence through the counties of Seneca and Hancock to the town of Findlay, in
said county of Hancock; thence through the counties of Hancock, Allen, Auglaize,
Mercer and Darke, to the west line of the State of Ohio, in said county of Darke."

   The people of Hancock County, at an election held in the spring of 1853,
voted to subscribe $100,000 to the capital stock of the Dayton & Michigan.
Railroad Company, if said road was built through this county. The Dayton &
Michigan and the Fremont & Indiana Companies entered into an arrangement for the
latter company to take advantage of this vote, and get possession of the bonds
voted for the purpose of building the Dayton & Michigan road, which was never
really intended to be located through this county. In August, 1853, 100 bonds of
$1,000 each were signed and delivered by the commissioners to L. Q. Rawson.
president of the Fremont & Indiana Railroad Company, though the transfer was
bitterly opposed by some leading citizens of Findlay. The commissioners also
turned over to the same company $51,150 of stock and bonds held by the county in
the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad. The opponents of this transfer at once
notified all the money centers that the $100,000 in Hancock County bonds issued
to the Fremont & Indiana Railroad Company were fradulent, and would not be paid
by the county. The company were therefore unable to sell them and in 1856
returned to the county $91,000 of the amount, also the stock and bonds which
they held in the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad. The remaining $9,000 of county
bonds had been negotiated, and the party into whose hands they fell afterward
brought suit against the county and collected the full amount of their face. The
loss of these bonds was a severe stroke to the Fremont & Indiana Railroad
Company, but the principal capitalists of the enterprise, L. Q. Rawson, James
Moore, Charles W. Foster, D. J. Cory and Squire Carlin, were experiened business
men, and determined to go forward with the project.

   The enterprise, however, progressed slowly because of the financial
depression of 1856-57, and the lack of proper encouragement from the people of
the country through which the line was located. In the spring of 1857 the
company began an effort to raise money along the route by personal subscription
to purchase iron for the road. The iron and rolling stock was finally contracted
for in the summer of 1857, but financial difficulties soon afterward stopped all
further progress. In 1858 work went forward slowly along the eastern portion of
the road, and by January, 1859, the track was completed from Fremont to
Fostoria, and ere the close of that month a daily train began running between
those towns. The following June a daily hack line was established from Findlay
to Fostoria, connecting with the trains to and from Fremont. In the summer of
1859 the railroad bridge spanning the Blanchard was commenced, and track laying
between Findlay and Fostoria went forward during the summer and fall, reaching
to within one mile of Findlay, and early in the winter of 1859-60, trains began
running to that point. The track was completed to the Findlay depot, on Main
Cross Street, in March, 1860, and a train arrived and departed daily from
Findlay. In November, 1859, the large elevator near the depot was completed and
put in operation by George W. Myers, and when the road was finished to the depot
it found the elevator ready for business. Here the enterprise collapsed and the
road was finished no further for more than twelve years.

   In December, 1860, the road was sold, and, January 21, 1861, the purchasers
organized a new corporation, under the name of the Fremont, Lima & Union
Railroad Company. On the 4th of February, 1865, this company was consolidated
with the Lake Erie & Pacific Railroad Company, of Indiana, as the Lake Erie &
Louisville Railroad Company. In July, 1871, the road was again sold, and the
following November that portion of the line located in Ohio, and extending from
Fremont to Union City, was reorganized as the Fremont, Lima & Union Railroad
Company, and that lying in Indiana as the Lake Erie & Louisville Railroad
Company. These companies were once more consolidated, April 12, 1872, as the
Lake Erie & Louisville Railroad Company.

   In the meantime considerable effort was made to complete the road to Lima. On
the 10th of May, 1870, the company held a meeting at Fremont and made a
proposition to complete the road by February 1, 1871, on condition that the
people along the line would subscribe $100,000 toward the enterprise, to be paid
as follows: $25,000 when the road was finished to Rawson; $25,000 on reaching
Bluffton; $25,000 on getting to Beaver Dam, and the remaining $25,000 when the
first train passed over the road to Lima. Meetings were held all along the line
to stir up an interest in the subject, and raise the subscription asked for by
the company. But it proved slow work, and the effort was ultimately a failure.
In January, 1872, a conditional contract was made by the company with Perkins,
Livingston & Post to furnish iron and equipments to put the road in running
order whenever the company secured sufficient local aid to grade, bridge and tie
the line, which it was thought would take about §100,000 to accomplish. During
the spring the route from Findlay to St. Mary's was resurveyed, and. in June,
Findlay Township voted to subscribe $78,600; Liberty, $5,000; Eagle, $10,000,
and Union $20,000 toward the enterprise. Work began at once, and July 15, 1872
agreements were entered into between the railroad company and said townships, by
which the former, in consideration of said subscriptions, promised to complete
the road to Lima within one year from that date. L. Q. Rawson, Charles W.
Foster, D. J. Cory and Squire Carlin represented the company in these agreements.

   Track-laying was now pushed forward rapidly, and early in September, 1872,
the first train reached Rawson. Before the close of the same month the road was
finished to Bluffton, and the last rail connecting Findlay with Lima was laid
November 21, 1872. On the 29th a dinner to celebrate the event was given at the
City Hall in Lima by the citizens of that town, the officers of the road and
many leading business men from Fremont, Fostoria, Findlay, and other towns on
the road, being present at the celebration. Though the weather was very cold,
every station along the line was crowded to witness and cheer the loaded train
as it sped onward toward its destination. Regular trains were put on soon
afterward, and by the spring of 1870 its business was booming. In September of
that year the road was opened through to St. Mary's. Thus, after long years of
vexatious waiting the people of Hancock County had at last a good competing
railroad, and were accordingly happy. In February, 1877, the road was sold, and
the company reorganized under the old name of the Lake Erie & Louisville. In
August, 1879, it was consolidated with the Indianapolis & Sandusky Railroad
Company of Indiana, under the name of the Lake Erie & Western Railway Company,
and the following December that corporation absorbed the Indianapolis, Lafayette
& Muncie Railroad Company. The link between Fremont and Sandusky City was
afterward built, and the company has now a continuous line from Sandusky, Ohio,
to Bloomington, Ill., a distance of 353 miles. It enters Hancock County near its
northeast corner in the city of Fostoria, and taking a southwest direction
through Arcadia, Findlay, Rawson and Cory, leaves the county near the northwest
corner of Orange Township, its main, line within this county being about thirty
miles in length.

   The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was built through the northeast corner of
Hancock County in 1873, and opened for business January 1, 1874. Though it is
one of the greatest trunk lines of the United States, and traverses a few miles
of Hancock County territory, it can scarcely be regarded as one of her roads;
yet the Baltimore & Ohio is of great benefit to the northern portion of this
county, crossing Wood County from east to west only a few miles north of
Hancock, thus furnishing first-class shipping facilities for the people of that
section.

   The McComb, Deshler & Toledo Railroad Company was incorporated June 2, 1879,
by a coterie of McComb citizens, with a capital of $20,000, for the purpose of
building a railroad from McComb, Hancock County, to Deshler, in Henry County.
This company entered into an agreement with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton
Railroad Company to furnish right of way, grade, bridge and tie the road, and
the latter agreed to lay the track and operate the road perpetually as a branch
of the main line. Grading was commenced in the spring of 1880, and on the 24th
of November, following, the first construction train came into McComb; On the
next day (Thanksgiving) the event was celebrated at McComb by a grand dinner and
a flow of oratory, a large delegation coming over the road from Deshler, and a
few from Find-lay to participate in the happy festivities, more than 1,000
outsiders being present on the occasion. Regular trains soon began running, and
the road has since proved a great convenience to the northwestern portion of the
county. It takes a northwest course from McComb to Deshler, passing through the
village of Deweyville in its route, and about five miles of the road is located
in Hancock County, the whole distance being nearly nine miles.

   Many years ago the Tiffin & Fort Wayne Air Line Railroad Company was
chartered to build abroad from Tiffin, Ohio, to Fort Wayne, Ind. A. road bed was
completed across the north part of Hancock County, but the project then
collapsed. In June, 1872, the New York Western Railway Company and the
Continental Railway Company of Pennsylvania were consolidated and reorganized at
Indianapolis as the Continental Railway Company, to construct a great trunk line
through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. The old bed of the Tiffin & Fort Wayne
in this county was selected and regraded in the fall of 1872 as the route of the
Continental Railroad, but that is as far as the enterprise ever got. The New
York, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company was incorporated in 1880 to construct
a line from New York to Chicago. Findlay made an effort to secure this road, but
it was finally located over the old Continental route in this county, from
Arcadia westward, but running northeast from Arcadia to Fostoria parallel with
the Lake Erie & Western road. Work began on this section of the line in the
spring of 1881, and early in July the road was finished through this county and
construction trains were in full operation. The "Nickel Plate," as it is
commonly called, is one of the leading trunk lines of the country, and supplies
the north part of the county with excellent railroad accommodations. It runs
southwest from Fostoria to Arcadia; thence due west through Cass, Allen, Portage
and Pleasant Townships. Fostoria, Arcadia, Stuartville, McComb and Shawtown are
the towns located on this road in Hancock, and twenty-five miles of the line are
within the county limits.

   The Cleveland, Delphos & St. Louis Narrow Gauge Railroad was chartered March
9, 1881, and during the summer work was commenced along the line, which had
previously been located through this county from Delphos to Carey via Arlington
and Mt. Blanchard. The road was finished from Bluffton to Arlington early in the
fall of 1882, and in December the construction train reached Mt. Blanchard.
January 1, 1883, the road was formally opened by an excursion from Delphos to
Mt. Blanchard, and the following summer the line was completed to Carey. From
Bluffton, in Allen County, the road runs due east across the north parts of
Orange, Van Buren, Madison and Delaware Townships to Mt. Blanchard; thence takes
a northeast course through the south part of Amanda Township to Carey, Wyandot
County. Besides Mt. Blanchard and Arlington, two villages—Jenera and
Cordelia—have since been laid out on this road in Van Buren and Orange
Townships, respectively. About twenty-one miles of the road are within the
boundaries of this county, and, though it is an accommodation to the people
living along its route, it will always be of very limited utility for shipping
purposes until changed to a standard gauge. It is now called the Delphos
Division of the Air Line Railroad, and as there is some talk of making it a
standard gauge, the name will doubtless be again changed before the publication
of this work.

    The Toledo, Columbus & Southern Railroad, formerly the Toledo &
Indianapolis, was chartered in May, 1881, and, in the winter of 1881-82, the
right of way was obtained between Toledo and Findlay. All of the towns on the
proposed line subscribed liberally toward the project, Findlay subscribing
$25,000. Hon. T. P. Brown, of Toledo, was the leading spirit of the enterprise,
and Patrick Dowling had the general contract for building and equipping the
line. Work was commenced in the summer, of 1882, and pushed rapidly, as the
subscriptions were based on the completion of the road before the close of
January, 1883. The first rail was laid December 15, and the first locomotive ran
into Bowling Green from Toledo on Christmas day. Early in January, 1883, the
track was built .to within a couple of miles of Findlay, and soon afterward
reached the northern part of that city. January 30, the connecting rail was laid
some fifteen miles north of Findlay in Wood County, and on the following day the
event was celebrated by a dinner at that point. Though the last rail was in
position the road was not then by any means completed, the bed being still in a
very crude condition. But it was vitally necessary for the company to thus
fulfill, technically at least, the conditions under which the subscriptions were
obtained. The first through train came over the road from Toledo to Findlay
February 7, 1883, but regular traffic did not commence before spring, and by May
15 the road was in full operation. A temporary depot was fitted up near the
track of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, east of Main Street, in North
Findlay, and the new road got no farther till the summer of 1885. The right of
way was then obtained southward to the track of the Indianapolis, Bloomington &
Western Railroad; a bridge was built over the Blanchard and the road extended
across the river to the track of the latter railroad, whence it runs into the
depot of said road. Late in 1885 surveys were made southward toward Columbus,
and it is claimed - to be only a question of time when this railroad will be
built to the capital of the State. It enters the county from the north about a
quarter of a mile east of the Perrysburg & Bellefontaine Road, and runs due
south through the villages of Van Buren and Stuartville to Findlay. The route
south of Findlay most likely to be selected, is also parallel with and a little
east of the Bellefontaine road, via Arlington, Williamstown and Dunkirk to
Kenton, though a survey has also been made southeastward through Mt. Blanchard.
Officers of the company state that the road will probably be extended to Kenton,
and perhaps Columbus, in 1886; and though it is now of great advantage to the
county, it will then offer far better facilities to both travelers and shippers.

   In closing the history of the railroads it only remains to notice briefly the
several roads that have been surveyed through this county, but never built.
Mention has been made of the proposed Bellefontaine & Perrysburg Railroad, also
of the survey made by the Dayton & Michigan Company, which was never really
intended to be located through Hancock, and the Tiffin & Fort Wayne and the
Continental Roads, In 1870 the Ohio & Michigan Railroad Company surveyed a road
from Sturgis, Mich., via Napoleon and McComb, Ohio, to Findlay; but that is as
far as the project ever got. In 1870-71 considerable effort was made to get the
Mansfield & Coldwater road located through Findlay, but Fostoria got the prize;
yet though the road was graded and some of the rails put down, it was never
completed. The Toledo & Columbus Railroad Company was chartered, in 1872, to
build a road between the cities named, via Findlay. Liberal subscriptions were
voted by the several townships of the county, through which the line was
located, but the supreme court afterward declared the act unconstitutional under
which the subscriptions were made, and the scheme fell through. In January,
1880, the Columbus, Findlay & Northwestern Railroad Company was incorporated, to
construct a line from Columbus, Ohio, via Findlay to Coldwater, Mich. Meetings
were held and the people living along the route apparently took a deep interest
in the success of the measure, but after a brief period of enthusiasm the
enterprise collapsed and nothing has since been heard of it. The foregoing
comprises all of the proposed roads, and though some of them would doubtless
have been an advantage, the county now possesses good railroad communications
with every portion of the country.

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