OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 328 Today's Topics: #1 WALTER H. BODURTHA - DELAWARE COUN [AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M RE] #2 DELAWARE COUNTY - PART 4 [AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M RE] #3 THOMAS E. POWELL - DELAWARE COUNTY [AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M RE] ------------------------------ X-Message: #1 Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 19:42:00, -0500 From: AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M REASONER) Subject: WALTER H. BODURTHA - DELAWARE COUNTY HISTORY OF OHIO The American Historical Society Inc., 1925 Volume III - page 388-389 WALTER H. BODURTHA for many years was a banking official at Delaware, is former county auditor, and is now prominently identified with one of the leading industrial institutions of the city, the Sunray Stove Company, of which he is secretary and treasurer. Mr. Bodurtha was born at Delaware, September 7, 1871, son of Charles H. and Amy (Simmons) Bodurtha. The Bodurtha family is of an old New England line living around Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. They settled in Massachusetts as early as 1645, and some of the later descendants still own and occupy the original farm in Berkshire County. The grandfather of Walter H. Bodurtha was Charles Hall Bodurtha. Charles H. Bodurtha, the father, was born in Massachusetts and came to Delaware in 1870. He was a photographer, and many of the best examples of photographic art in Delaware County came from his studio. He continued the business until his death on September 7, 1915, and one of his daughters succeeded him as owner and operator of the photographic studio. Charles H. Bodurtha married Amy Simmons, a native of Saint Louis, Missouri, and daughter of Charles W. and Emily Simmons. Her grandfather Simmons came from England. Walter H. Bodurtha was graduated from the Delaware High School in 1892, and immediately went to work in the Delaware Savings Bank, and for seventeen years was an officer in that institution. He resigned when elected to the office of county auditor in 1908. He served two full terms in office, his first term beginning January 1, 1909. He retired January 1, 1913, and the following two years he was salesman and traveling representative for the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company of New York City. Since his return to Delaware he has been secretary and treasurer of the Sunray Stove Company and has had an important part in making that one of the highly prosperous industries of the city. During the World war Mr. Bodurtha was chairman of the local Red Cross, in charge of the drives for funds, and he also served as president of the Delaware County unit of the American Protective League. This was an office of unusual responsibility and involved a great deal of hard work. Mr. Bodurtha is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Delaware Club, the Kiwanis Club and is a member of the Order of Elks, the Masons and the Presbyterian Church. October 3, 1901, at Delaware he married Miss Helen Westfall, daughter of Doctor and Helen (Eckley) Westfall. Her father served as a surgeon with an Ohio regiment in the Civil war, and for many years he conducted an extensive practice as a physician in Carroll County. Her mother was a daughter of E.R. Eckley, a prominent Carroll County citizen. Doctor Westfall was a Mason and Presbyterian. Mr. and Mrs. Bodurtha have one son, Charles E., a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University and now a student at Harvard. ------------------------------ X-Message: #2 Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 19:41:53, -0500 From: AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M REASONER) Subject: DELAWARE COUNTY - PART 4 HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF OHIO By Henry Howe, LL.D., 1898 DELAWARE COUNTY - PART 4 REV. JOSEPH S. HUGHES, from Washington Pa., came to Delaware in 1810, and organized the first Presbyterian church here, and also those in Liberty and Radnor. For a short time, he was chaplain in the army, and was with Hull when he surrendered, at which time, he was chaplain in the army, and was with Hull when he surrendered, at which time he returned. The societies being unable to pay much salary, he sought his support mainly from other sources, serving several years as clerk of the court, and afterwards in the capacity of editor. He possessed a liberal education, superadded to oratorical powers of a superior order by nature. As an orator he is described as being graceful, mellifluous, persuasive and convincing, and he has left the reputation among many of the old settlers of being the most effective speaker that they have ever heard. In the social circle, too, he excelled, but unfortunately he had an indomitable penchant for festivity and sport. Many anecdotes are related detracting from his clerical character, and when dwelt upon, we must not forget to associate the habits and customs of the times in which they occurred. For instance, it is said that, one time, on the occasion of a wedding at Capt. Minter's, after the ceremonies had been solemnized and the luxuries duly honored, he started off about dusk to go to a place some five miles through the woods, but after dark returned somewhat scratched by the bushes, and reported having been lost, and concluded to stay till morning. According to the general custom on such occasions, all the young folks in the settlement had assembled for a frolic, and they charged him with having returned to participate with them, and as he was a good musician, and their "knight of the bow" had disappointed them, they insisted upon his playing the fiddle for them to dance, which he did all night, with an occasional intermission for refreshment or to romp! Some of the old citizens say also that he was a good hand at pitching quoits, and as it was common to choose sides and pitch for the "grog," he seldom even then backed out! For these and other charges he was arraigned before the presbytery, where, declining all assistance, and relying on his own ingenuity and eloquence, he made a successful defence. He continued to preach as "stated supply" until he was suddenly cut off by an epidemic fever in the fall of 1823, and was interred in the old burying-ground, but no tombstone points out the place where his mouldering remains lie. He was succeeded in 1824 by Rev. Henry Vandeman, the first installed pastor, and who has retained his charge ever since, a fact that is mentioned, because in the west preachers, seldom retain a pastoral charge so long, and in this presbytery there is no similar instance, excepting that of Dr. Hodge, of Columbus. ANTIQUITIES. - The remains of ancient fortifications are found in three places in the county, the most remarkable of which is in the lower part of Liberty, about eleven miles below Delaware, on the east bank of the Olentangy. INDIAN VILLAGES. -There were formerly two villages belonging to the Delawares, mostly within the limits of the present town of Delaware. One occupied the ground around the east end of William street, and the other was at the west end, extending from near the sawmill to the hill-side. Upon the ground now occupied by the town, they cultivated a corn-field of about 400 acres. The Mingoes had a small village half a mile above town, on "horse-shoe bottom," where they also raised corn. Many of the old pioneers entertained towards the Indians an inveterate hatred, and did not consider it really criminal even to murder them. One time, after the last war, a dead Indian was seen floating down the Scioto on two logs, lashed together, having his gun and all his accountrements with him. He had been shoot, and the people believed the murderer was George Shanon, who had been in service considerably during the war, and one time when out, not far from Lower Sandusky, with a small company, fell in with a party of warriors and had to retreat. He lingered behind till he got a shot, and killed one. As soon as he fired, several Indians sprang forward to catch him alive, but being swift on foot, he could easily keep ahead, when he suddenly came to an open field, across which he had to run or be cut off. The Indians gained the first side just as he was leaping the fence on the other and fired at him, one ball entering his hip. He staunched the blood by stuffing the hole with a portion of his shirt, that they might not track him, and crawled into the brush; but they gave up the chase, thinking they had not hit him, and being convinced of his superior fleetness. Shanon got into camp and conveyed home, but he was always lame afterwards, and fostered an unrelenting desire for vengeance towards the whole race, not excepting the innocent and harmless. As late as 1820 two Indians were murdered on Fulton's creek. A party came down there to hunt, as was customary with them every fall, and Henry Swartz ordered them off. They replied, "No! the land belongs to the white man -the game to the Indian." and insisted that they were friends and ought not to be disturbed. A few days after, two of their number were missing, and they hunted the entire country over without finding them, and at last found evidence of human bones where there had been a fire, and immediately charged Swartz with killing and burning them. They threatened vengeance on him, and for several years after he had to be constantly on his guard to prevent being waylaid. It was never legally investigated, but the neighbors all believed that Swartz, aided probably by Ned Williams, murdered and disposed of them in the manner the Indians suspected, and at one time talked of driving them out of the settlement. They were considered bad men, and never prospered afterwards. DELAWARE IN 1846. -Delaware, the county-seat, is pleasantly situated on rolling ground upon the western bank of the Olentangy river, twenty-four miles north from Columbus. The engraving shows the public buildings on one of the principal streets of this neat and thriving town. The churches which appear are respectively, commencing on the right, the First Presbyterian, the Episcopal, and the Second Presbyterian; between the first two the Methodist church, a substantial stone structure, is partially shown in the distance. The large building seen beyond the Second Presbyterian church is the "Hinton House," one of the largest and best constructed hotels in Ohio. The town contains the Ohio Wesleyan University, 4 taverns (one, the Hinton House, being among the largest in Ohio, having over 100 rooms), 8 dry-goods stores, 3 drug stores, 1 shoe store, 1 confectionery and variety store, and 2 small groceries; 2 divisions of the Sons of Temperance, 1 Odd Fellows' lodge, 1 Masonic society, 2 printing offices, from which issue weekly the Olentangy Gazette (Whig), by Abel Thomson, and the Loco Foco (Dem.), by George F. Stayman. The latter commenced in 1845; the former in 1821, by Hon. E. Griswold, then called the Delaware Patron and Franklin Chronicle. The first paper in town was published in 1818, by Rev. J. Drake and Joseph S. Hughs. Delaware also contains 2 saw mills, 1 flouring mill, 1 oil mill, and the woollen factory of Messrs. Howard & Sharp, carrying on quite an extensive business; 8 lawyers, 7 physicians, a full quota of mechanics, 175 dwellings, and about 2,000 inhabitants, including South Delaware, which properly belongs to it, though not included in the corporation. The Delaware bank, with a capital of $100,000, is a branch of the State bank. A bank was opened in 1812, but failing to get a charter the next winter it wound up, redeeming all its notes; and during the same year a swindling concern, called the "Scioto Exporting Company", was started by a posse of counterfeiters, who drew in some others, but it was destroyed by the citizens before they could get a large amount of paper afloat. The population of Delaware in 1840 was 898. Delaware was laid out in 1808 by Col. Moses Byxbe and Hon. Henry Baldwin, of Pittsburg, who had purchased a large tract of land for that purpose. They sold the lots at private sale, at the uniform price of $30, the purchaser taking his choice. Joseph Barber put up the first cabin in the fall of 1807. It stood close to the spring, and was made of poles, Indian fashion, fifteen feet square in which he kept tavern. The principal settlers were Messrs. Byxbe, William Little, Dr. Lamb, Solomon Smith, Elder Jacob Drake (Baptist preacher), Thomas Butler, and Ira Carpenter. In the spring of 1808 Moses Byxbe built the first frame house, on William street, lot 70, and the first brick house was erected the ensuing fall by Elder Drake, on Winter street, where Thomas Pettibone's mansion now stands; being unable to get but one mason, his wife laid all the brick of the inside walls. The court-house was built in 1815, the year in which the town was incorporated. The Methodists commenced the first meeting-house in 1823 (now the schoolhouse) but it was not finished for several years. The old churches of the First Presbyterians and the Episcopalians were built in 1825, upon the sites on which the present beautiful edifices were erected in 1845. The Second Presbyterian church was erected in 1844, the new Methodist church in 1846, and the Lutheran church in 1835. -Old Edition. ------------------------------ X-Message: #3 Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 19:41:57, -0500 From: AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M REASONER) Subject: THOMAS E. POWELL - DELAWARE COUNTY HISTORY OF OHIO The American Historical Society, Inc., 1925 Volume IV - Page 6-7 (with photograph) THOMAS E. POWELL. In the profession of law and in party politics no name has stood for more of the substantial honors than that of Thomas Edward Powell of Columbus. Mr. Powell began the practice of law soon after the close of the Civil war, and retired only recently, when he had been a hard working member of the bar for more than half a century. His reputation as a trial lawyer was by no means confined to Ohio. Many of his most important cases and his largest fees were in New York. He was a democratic candidate for governor of Ohio in 1887, and many times led the forlorn hope of his party in state or district. He was born at Delaware, Ohio, February 20, 1842, son of Thomas W. and Elizabeth (Gordon) Powell. His father was born in Wales. Colonel Powell graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1863, and in 1866 the same university gave him the Master of Arts degree. He left the university to go into the army as a soldier of the Union, and was a member of the Eighty-fourth and One Hundred Forty-fifth Ohio Infantry. He studied law with the late Col. William P. Reid, and subsequently engaged in practice with that prominent Delaware attorney. Almost from the start Mr. Powell's abilities brought brilliant distinction as a trial lawyer. In 1887 he removed from Delaware to Columbus, where the firm of Powell, Owen, Ricketts and Black was formed. For eight years Judge S.N. Owen, formerly of the Supreme Court, was a member of the firm. Mr. Powell's court practice reached to almost every county of Ohio, and he maintained offices in at least five different cities of the state. His favorite work was the trial of cases and particularly cases involving important principles or a large property or human rights. One source of his success was his resort to every legitimate expedient to get his case before the jury at the quickest hour possible. In this he followed a precept of Lord Erskine of England, who is said never to have had a case extending beyond one day's trial. Mr. Powell once tried twenty-three jury cases in eighteen days. He was council for the defendant in the celebrated Deshler will case, involving property amounting to more than $500,000, was attorney for the American Sugar Refining Company of New York, for the Standard Oil Company, the Ohio & Western Coal Company, the National Cash Register Company, for which clients he won a decision in a great patent infringement case. During his residence in Columbus Mr. Powell's fees from New York exceeded those paid for his services in Ohio. He has tried cases in nearly half of the states of the Union and in all tribunals from the Common Pleas to the United States Supreme Court. In one important case tried in New York he was given $600 a day for twenty-one consecutive days, this compensation being left entirely to his client. Mr. Powell began the practice of law at Delaware in 1867, and continued till 1923, when he retired to enjoy the comforts of his pleasant home on East Broad Street in Columbus. Mr. Powell was editor of the history of the Democratic Party of Ohio. In 1872 he took the stump, speaking in the Greeley campaign, and in 1875 was the nominee of his party for attorney-general. In 1878 he was candidate for Congress in the Eighth Ohio District, and he headed the democratic electoral ticket of 1880 and 1900. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1872, 1880 and 1884, and in 1885 became chairman of the State Executive Committee. In 1888 he made the nominating speech for Allen G. Thurman at the St. Louis Convention, and he nominated Thomas Ewing for governor in 1879 and Durbin Ward in 1883. He was chosen democratic candidate for governor at Cleveland, July 20, 1887. The campaign was a spirited one, and he made speeches over many important sections of the state. He ran some 7,000 votes ahead of the regular ticket, but could not overcome the strength of the incumbent of the governor's office, J.E. Foraker. Mr. Powell has served as a trustee of the Ohio Wesleyan University, and for ten years was a trustee of the Ohio Wesleyan Female College. On January 16, 1872, he married Miss Eliza Thomson, of Delaware. -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V99 Issue #328 *******************************************