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. *********************************************************************** O H-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 318 Today's Topics: #1 Erie Co. History Part 9 [LeaAnn ] #2 GEORGE FRANKLIN HOEFFLE - DELAWARE [AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M RE] ------------------------------ X-Message: #1 Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 03:01:05 -0700 From: LeaAnn Subject: Erie Co. History Part 9 Historical Collections of Ohio Henry Howe LL.D. Erie County Some time previous two men, Buell and Gibbs, had been murdered by the Indians near Sandusky. Thirteen persons, women and children, had been captured near the present village of Castalia, some six miles to the westward of Sandusky. Of these, five, most of whom belonged to the family of D.P. Snow, were massacred. All the men belonging to the settlement were absent at the time of the massacre. These repeated butcheries, supposed at the time to be instigated by the British commander at Fort Malden, whither the scalps of all who were murdered were carried, kept the people of Milan in a constant state of alarm. In August Gen. Hull surrendered Detroit to the British, and from this time to the achievement of Perry's victory, in September of the following year, the inhabitants were in constant apprehension for their personal safety. The sighing of the breeze and the discharge of the hunters rifle alike startled the wife and the mother, as she trembled for her absent husband or her still more defenseless "little one." During this interval, General Simon Perkins, of Warren, with a regiment of militia, had been stationed at "Fort Avery," a fortification hastily thrown upon the east bank of the Huron river, about a mile and a half north of the present town of Milan; but the inexperience of the militia, and the constant presence in the neighborhood of scouting parties of Indians, whom no vigilance could detect and no valor defeat, rendered the feeling of insecurity scarcely less than before. Some left the settlements, not to return till peace was restored. Those who remained were compelled, at frequent intervals, to collect in the fort for safety, or made sudden flights to the interior of the State, or to the more populous districts in the vicinity of Cleveland, where a few days of quiet would so far quell their fears as to lead them to return to their homes, to be driven off again by fresh alarms. With the return of peace, in 1815, prosperity was restored to the settlements, and the emigration was very considerable. The emigrants were almost exclusively of the New England stock, and the establishment of common schools and the organization of Christian churches were among the earliest fruits of their enterprising spirit. The town of Milan was "laid out" in 1816 by Ebenezer Merry, who had two years previously removed to its township. Mr. Merry was a native of West Hartford, in Connecticut, and by his example contributed much, as the proprietor of the town, to promote good morals among the early inhabitants. He took measures immediately for the erection of a flouring mill and saw mill, which contributed materially to the improvement of the town, and were of great service to the infant settlements in the vicinity. In the first settlement of the place, grain was carried more than fifty miles down the lake in open boats, to be ground; and sometimes from points more in the interior, on the shoulders of a father, whose power of endurance was greatly heightened by the anticipated smiles of a group of little ones, whose subsistence for weeks together had been venison and hominy. Mr. Merry was a man of acute observation, practical benevolence and unbounded hospitality. He repeatedly represented the county in the legislature of the State, was twice elected to a seat on the bench of the common pleas, an honor in both instances declined. He died January 1, 1846, at the age of 73, greatly beloved. David Abbott, as the first purchaser of land in the township, with a view to its occupancy as a permanent "settler," deserves some notice in this brief sketch. Mr. Abbott was a native of Brookfield, Mass. He was educated at Yale college. His health failed, and he was obliged to forego a diploma by leaving college in the earlier part of his senior year. He soon after entered upon the study of law, and located himself at Rome, Oneida County, N.Y., whence he came to Ohio in 1798, and spent a few years at Willoughby, whence he removed to Milan in 1809. He was Sheriff of Trumbull county when the whole Western Reserve was embraced within its limits; was a member of the convention for the formation of the Constitution of the State, previous to its admission to the Union, in 1802; was one of the electors of president and Vice-President in 1812; clerk of the Supreme Court for the county; and repeatedly a member of both houses of the State legislature. He was a man of eccentric habits, and his life was filled up with the stirring incidents peculiar to a pioneer in the new settlements of the West. He several times traversed the entire length of Lake Erie, in an open boat, of which he was both helmsman and commander, and in one instance was driven before a tempest diagonally across the lake, a distance of more than a hundred miles, and thrown upon the Canada shore. There was but one person with him in the boat, and he was employed most of the time in bailing out the water with his hat, the only thing on board capable of being appropriated to such use. When the storm had subsided and the wind veered about, they retraced their course in the frail craft that had endured the tempest unscathed, and after a weeks absence were hailed by their friends with great satisfaction, having been given up as lost. Mr. Abbott died in 1822 at the age of 57. Of the other citizens who have deceased and whose names deserve honorable mention as having contributed in various ways to the prosperity of the town, are Ralph Lockwood, Dr. A.B. Harris and Hon. G.W. Choate. The religious societies of the place are a Presbyterian, Methodist and Protestant Episcopal church, each of which enjoys the stated preaching of the gospel, and is in a flourishing state. The two former have substantial and valuable church edifices. The latter society has one in process of erection. In 1832 a substantial and commodious brick edifice was erected as an academy, furnishing, beside two public school rooms and suitable apartments for a library and apparatus, ten rooms for the accommodation of students. The annual catalogue for the last ten years has exhibited an average number of about 150 pupils. In 1833 a company of citizens, who had been previously incorporated for the purpose, entered vigorously upon the work of extending the navigation of Lake Erie to this place by improving the navigation of the river some five miles from its mouth and excavating a ship canal for the remaining distance of three miles. After much delay, occasioned by want of funds, and an outlay of about $75,000 the work was completed, and the first vessel, a schooner of 100 tons, floated in the basin July 4, 1839. The canal is capable of being navigated by vessels of from 200 to 250 tons burden. The chief exports of the place are wheat, flour, pork, staves, ashes, wool and grass seeds. The surrounding country is rapidly undergoing the improvements incident to the removal of the primitive forests, and with the increased productiveness the business of the town has rapidly increased. The value of exports for the year 1844 was $825,098; of this, more than three fourths consisted of wheat and flour. The importation of merchandise, salt, plaster, etc., for the same period, was in value $634,711. ------------------------------ X-Message: #2 Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 08:27:07, -0500 From: AUPQ38A@prodigy.com (MRS GINA M REASONER) Subject: GEORGE FRANKLIN HOEFFLE - DELAWARE INDIANA One Hundred and Fifty Years of American Development The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931 Volume V - Page 347-348 with photo GEORGE FRANLKIN HOEFFLE. In the City of Gary one of the metropolitan concerns here having leadership in its special department of the automotive industry is the Triple H Auto Parts Company, the well ordered wholesale and retail business of which is owned and conducted by George F. Hoeffle and John A. Hickey, the latter of whom likewise is represented in a personal sketch in this publication. The large and modern establishment of this company is found at 632 Washington Street, and the enterprise is one of the largest and most important of its kind in this section of Indiana, with a constantly expanding business that is based on effective service and reliable policies. The birth of Mr. Hoeffle occurred in the City of Delaware, Ohio, June 16, 1885, and he is a son of William and Minnie (Houser) Hoeffle, both of whom continued their residence at Delaware until their death, William Hoeffle having there been for many years a representative plaster and cement contractor and his death having there occurred November 10, 1928. Both he and his wife, who died in 1891, were earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and their mortal remains rest in beautiful Oak Hill Cemetery at Delaware. After the death of his first wife William Hoeffle eventually was untied in marriage to Miss Lillian Yates, and she likewise preceded him to the life eternal, her death occurred in 1910. Of the three children of the first marriage the eldest is Mrs. Mary Poppleton; George F., of this review, was next in order of birth; and Edgar is a resident of Seattle, Washington. The one child of the second marriage is Mrs. Ruth Farris, of Delaware, Ohio. After completing his studies in the high school of his native city George F. Hoeffle passed four years at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, where he served an apprenticeship to the trade of machinist, in the works of the American Locomotive Company. As a journeyman at his trade he traveled about and followed the trade in various cities during a period of four years. He was employed two years by the Jeffies Manufacturing Company, of Columbus, Ohio; was next in service three years with the Buda Manufacturing Company of Harvey, Illinois; and in 1911 he established his residence at Gary, Indiana, where for the ensuing nine years he was in the employ of the Illinois Steel Company. In 1928 he here formed a partnership with John A. Hickey, and he has since continued senior member of the firm that here conducts a large and representative business under the title of Triple H Auto Parts Company. Mr. Hoeffle is a Republican in politics, he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mrs. Hoeffle is affiliated with a local chapter of the order of the Eastern Star. The ancient craft Masonic affiliation of Mr. Hoeffle is with the Blue Lodge at Chesterton, Indiana, his maximum York Rite affiliation being with the Knights Templar Commandery at Valparaiso, this state, and he is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, as a member of Orak Temple in the City of Hammond. He is actively identified with the Gary Commercial Club and Chamber of Commerce. He finds recreation through the medium of golf and through periodical hunting and fishing trips. At Harvey, Illinois, December 27, 1911, marked the marriage of Mr. Hoeffle to Miss Margaret Sanders, a daughter of the late William and Martha Sanders, her father having long been a representative farmer near Chesterton, Porter County, and the public schools of that little city, including the high school, having afforded Mrs. Hoeffle her youthful education. Mr. and Mrs. Hoeffle have no children. -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V99 Issue #318 *******************************************