OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List Issue 47 *********************************************************************** 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. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 47 Today's Topics: #1 Fw: Part lll Brief History of Colu ["Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <097f01bf75c1$837e65a0$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Part lll Brief History of Columbus Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: Ruth Ficarra Part lll Brief History of Columbus-- The interior buildings are built in a substantial manner, two and three stories high. The police of the prison is very complete, probably not suppassed by any prison in the United States........ There were in the prison on 30th of Nov. 1849, 332 convicts. During the prevalance of the cholera in the summer of 1849, 116 died of cholera and 6 by other diseases. On the 30th of Nov. 1848, the number of convicts was 425. There is a library belonging to the prison of about 8000 volumes mostly collected by the Rev. J.B. Finley, late moral instructor to the prison. There is a Sabbath school in a prosperous condition in which a large number of the men and boys who come to the prison , unable to read or write are taught both. the Institution is managed by three directors, appointed by the governor, confirmed by the Senate, for the term of two years. Number of convicts June '52 males 481, females 5. Convicts employed on The New State House 103......... The State House was erected in 1814, and the State Offices in 1815, on the south-west corner of the public square,( appropriated bt the proprietors of the town for the purposes of public buildings) under the superintendence of Wm. Ludlow, an Agent appointed by the State. In the fall of 1816 the State Offices were removed from Chillicoyhe to Columbus and on the first monday of December, the same year, the Legislature commenced its first session in Columbus....... On Jan 31, 1852, during the session of the Legislature this building(the Old State House) was destroyed by fire.....( This date appears to be wrong but is as printed in book)...... January 26, 1838 the Legislature passed a act providing for the erection of a new State House, on the public square in Columbus, and in pursuance of said act Joseph Ridgway Jr,, of Columbus, William A. Adams of Zanesville, and Wm. B. Vanhook of Butler county were by joint resolution appointed Commissioners for carrying the law into effect. They were required to give notice in certain newspapers and offer premiun of five hundred dollars for the best plan to be approved by the Legislature upon which said State House should be erected. A number of plans were furnished by various competitors for the premium and Henry Walters of Cincinnati, received the premium, though his plan was not adopted; but from various plans furnished, the commissioners formed and adopted one somewhat different from any of the plans presented......... In the spring of 1839, the Commissioners appointed, Wm. Vanhook, one of their own body superintendent of the work. The high board fence, at present standing around the square, was put up , and the good workshop erected on the square, and other preparations made for working the convicts within the enclosure, in the cutting of stone&c. Stone was obtained at Sullivans lime-stone quarry and a vast quantity soon delivered in the enclosure. On the 4th of July, 1839 amidst a suitable celebration, the cornerstone was laid and the walls were subsequently raised to the level with the earth, when the inclementcy of winter stopped the work............ The whole cost , as far as the preparations of the work had progressed up to this time, appears to have been $41,585.22. During the session of the Legistature of 1839-40, charges were brought against W.B. Lloyd, a member from Cuyahoga county, which a majority of the Legislature decided as being sustained. A friend of Mr. Lloyd drew up a statement that the charge had not been sustained by the testimony relating to the matter, and expressing an undiminished confidence in the integrity of Mr Lloyd, which was signed by sixty-three citizens of Columbus. The article with the signers names appeared in the Ohio Stat Journal on the 17th of February. The publication gave offence to some members who had voted to censure Lloyd, and by them was asserted to be an unjustifiable intermedding with the acts of Legislature. On the 18th of February, Mr Flood member from Licking County introduced a bill in the lower House to repeal the act for erection of the New State House, which bill passed both branches of, and became a law on the 10th of March 1840. From the time of the repeal of the law for the erection of a new State house, the subject of a removal of the seat of Government from Columbus was agitated. During the session of 1843 a resolution passed the Senate inviting propositions for permanently fixing the seat of Government, but the resolution was rejected by the House. In 1846 , the Legislature passed a law permanently fixing the seat of Government at Columbus, and proided for the continuance of the building of the New State House.......... On the 10th of February, 1816 the town was incorporated as "The Borough of Columbus"; and on the first Monday in May following, Messrs Henry Brown, Michael Patton, Jarvis Pke, Robert Armstrong, John Cutler, Calab Houston, John Kerr, Jeremiah Armstrong, and Robert McCoy were elected the first Board of Councilmen; the last named gentleman has been continued by re-elections a member of Council, ever since, and is now President of the Board............ March 3, 1834 a city charter was granted by the Legislature which divided the town into three wards and granted four members from each ward, and giving the Council power to increase the number of wards; and on the second mOnday in April following, the following gentlemen were elected the first board under the new charter. Joseph Ridgway; Sen, Robert W. McCoy, Otis Crosby, Henry Brown, John Patterson, Wm. Minor, Jonathan Neereamer, Francis Stewert, Noah h. Swayne, William Long, Christain Heyl, and W.T. Martin. By the following ordinance passed by City Council Feb. 18, 1846 the city was divided into five wards which are the present boundaries of the different wards.......... part IV next ==== OHFRANKL Mailing List ==== ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #2 Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 20:37:54 -0500 From: "Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <09d501bf75c2$f2e0fec0$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Part lV Brief History of Columbus Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: Ruth Ficarra Part lV Brief History of Columbus-- The Post Office was established in 1812. Matthew Matthews was the First Post-Master, appointed in the fall of 1813; Joel Buttles, second Post-Master, appointed in the spring of 1814; Bela Latham, third Post-Master appointed in 1829;; John G. Miller, fourth , appointed in 1841; Jacob Medary, Fifth, appointed in 1844; Samuel Medary sixth, appointed in 1847; A.F. Perry, seventh, appointed in 1849.......... In 1838 it became a distributting Post-Office, and now affords employ for 12 or 15 hands......... The first attempt to carry a mail otherwise than horseback was by Philip Zinn., about 1816 once a week, between Chillicothe and Columbus, which in a short time was increased to twice a week. About a year later 1819 Mr. Zinn extended his contract to carry the mail in coaches to Delaware. In 1820-21 an attempt was made to carry the mail in stages from Zanesville by Newark and Granville to Columbus by Mr. Harrington, but proven unprofitable, and the coach was run very irregularly. In 1822 Wm. Neil & Co. took a mail contract between Columbus and Chillicothe to be carried three times a week. Mr. Neil & Co. , about the same time obtained a contract to cary the mail s in coaches from Zanesville to Columbus-the line of coaches was soon after extended to Springfield, Dayton, and Cincinnati. Mr Neil has since been extensively engaged in mail contracts in the west....... In 1814 the first Market House was built by contributions of citizens in the vicinity of the location. It was 50 feet in length, situated in the middle of High Street. immediately south of Rich Street. About the year 1817, a new Marlet House was erected by contract with the Council by John Shields It was a framed two story building about 50 feet in length on brick pillars. The under story was used for the Market Place in town. The Frame building on the pillars which belonged to Mr. Shields, contained four large rooms and three small rooms and were rented for various purposes. Mr. Shields thus furnishing a market house or the privilege of having rooms over it.One of the rooms was used for a printing office. One by Mr. Shields for some tme for preaching in, the others for school rooms, exhibitions, &c. The building at length sold to John Young, who appropiated the rooms to general amusement. in 1829 or 30 the Council bought Youngs interest and the building was removed., and the one just vacated as a market house ( June 1850) was erected by Elijah Ellis, pursuant to contract with trhe Council. In 1849 -50 by an ordinance of the City Council a new market house was erected on 4th Street extendind from Town to Rich Streets about 428 feet long and 30 feet wide with eaves projecting on each side 10 feet making the whole width 50 feet. The building is made of brick built in the most durable manner . The central part for 252 feet is two stories high, furnishing a Chamber for Council on the south end and City Hall, on the east side are rooms for the Mayor and City Clerks Office.-on the west side a guard room and two rooms for disorderly people. The number of stalls on the inside is 64. A brick pavement 10 feet wide extends on each side of the building, and at convinient distances are broad entrances to the interior....... The first bridge over the Scioto River was erected by Lucas Sullivant, of Franklinton, about the year 1818 under a charter from the Legislature-crossing the River at the west end of Broad Street on the road to Franklinton. In 1833 -4 the bridge having fell down , Sullivant's right under the charter was purchased of Joseph Sullivant for $10,000- The citizens of the city and the western part of the county paying $8,000 raised by subscription and the county (through the Commissioners ) $2000. The present bridge was then erected by the superintendant of the National Road, which is one of the best bridges in the West........In 1819-20 The U.S. Court House was erectedon the public square, north of the Public Offices, the state appropriating a small amount of uncurrant funds on the Miami Exporting Company, But the greatest portion of the cost being raised by subscription from the citizens of Columbus. On the completion of the building the U.S. Courts were removed from Chillicothr to Columbus. Harvey D. Evans was then the clerk and Dr.john hamm of Zanesville was , Marshal....... In 1824 the county seat was removed from Franklinton to Columbus, and the County Courts were held in the United States Court House intil 1840......... The court then (1840 was composed of Gustavus swan, President, and Edward Livingston, Samuel G. Flanigan, and Aurora Buttles , Assiates; A.I. McDowell, clerk and Robert Brotherton, Sheriff........... In 1830 G. Swan was succeeded by Frederick Grimke, and in 1834 Grimke was succeeded by Joseph R. Swan; Swan by J.L.Bates( Elected by popular vote , under the new Constitution)......... in 1840 the Commom Pleas Court and Supreme Courts commenced holding their sessions in the New Court House. This is a fine building, the cost of which ppars to have been about $41,000 dollars, exclusive of the ground. The Two lots that the Building stands on, having been bought by contributions of the citizens of the south end of the town were donated to the county. The County Commissioners afterward purchased the third lot so as to have the whole block......... The first newspaper printed in Columbus, was "the Western Intelligencer and The Columbus Gazette", removed from Worthington, and published by P.H. Olmstead and Joel Buttles, as early as 1814 or 15, and it has continued ever since under different proprietors and modifications of title,-and is now printed by Scott and Bascom, with the name of "Ohio State Journal"........ The second newspaper ,"The Ohio Moniter" was commenced by David Smith and Ezra Griswold, in 1816. Smith soon purchased the interest of Griswold and continued to publish the paper until 1836, when he sold out to Jacob Medary, and the Monitor was discontinued or merged into the Hemisphere........... The "Western Statesman" was commenced in 1825 by Zachariah Mills and Martin Lewis. In 1826 it was passed to the hands of Lewis and Glover, afterwards to Freedom Sever and Elijah Glover. In the spring of 1836 they sold out and it merged in the Journal's office......... In 1829, the Ohio State Bulletin was commenced by John A. Bryan and John A. Lazell; at the end of one year , Bryan sold out his interest to Lazell, though he(Bryan ) continued to edit it under the title of Columbus Sentinel", and it was subsequently sold by Lazell and passed over to George Keating and John H. Wood and in 1835 was transferred to Scott and Wright who merged it in the" Ohio State Journal ".............. about the year 1832 the publication of the "Western Hemisphere was commenced by Gilbert and Melcher; afterward s, Melchers interest passed to Russel C. Bryan; and subsequent to that , Gilbert and Bryan sold out to Medary and Mannypenny; it then passed to Sacket Reynolds for a while and then back to Medary's when S. Medary was first elected State Printer and the title was changed to the "Ohio Statesman."............ Various other newspapers and periodicals were commenced and published in Columbus for a short time......... For the first few years, the town improved rapidly. Emigrants flowed in apparently from all quarters, and the improvements and general business of the place kept pace with the increase of population. Columbus , However was a rough spot in the woods off from any public road of consequence. The east and the west travel passed through Zanesville, Lancaster, and Chillicothe and the mails came in crooslines on horseback..... John Kerr acted as the general agent of the proprientors for the first, second and third years, from 1812 to 1814 or 15, and was then succeeded by Henry Brown, who continued their agent until the close of their business in the spring of 1817. The usual way of making sales was to receive a third, fourth, or fifth of the purchase money in hand and take notes on the balance, giving the proprietors bond to make a good deal when the payments should be completed; and it frequently happened that after one, or perhaps two payments and a small improvement had been made, the whole would fall back into the hands of the proprientors . The lots for sale all being in the hands of the proprientors or those who had bought at high prices from them, and their giving time on the payments kept up the prices, from two hundred dollars to five hundred dollars on any part of the town plat, and the prices did not fall much below that until after the year 1820 when owing to the failure of two proprientors9 McLaughlin and Johnson) as with numerous other individuals who had possessed themselves of lots, there was such a immense number of lots offered for sale by the Marshal and Sheriff, and so little money to buy with, that after being appraised , and offered, and re-appraised , again and again, finally had to sell; and lots which for years before been held at two and three hundred dollars were struck off at from twenty to thirty dollars, and sometimes lower; even down to seven and eight dollars for a lot on the extremities of the plat . The out-lots on the eastern border of the town plat,which had been mortaged by McLaughlin, one of the proprientors, to the U.S. Bank were for some time offered by a Agent of the Bank at $10.00 per acre, but could find no purchaser even at that price. In the north-east ern part of the town , real estate depreciated rather lower then the any other part of town. A David Jones, a common laborer , living in that part of the city, purchased several lots with cabins on , at tax sales and otherwise for mere trifle- the cabins he rentedout to the poorest class of tenents, got his money if he could, if not in old furniture or old clothes, and with the avails, extended his purchase of lots. For some years Mr. Jones became a conspicuous man in his part of the city-which being referred to was called Jonesburg, and Mr. Jones "King David". On prosperity being restored to the city, Mr Jones sold his lots and land, adjoining town, realized a fortune of some $25,000 or $30,000......... part V next ==== OHFRANKL Mailing List ==== -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V00 Issue #47 ******************************************