Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/738

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��BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

��the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio ; a new circuit of thel'ourt of Common Pleas was organized in the winterof lS2o-24, composed of the counties of Richland, Huron, Sandusky, Seneca, Crawford and Marion ; in these, the Courts of Common Pleas held three terms annually, and the Supreme Court one ; this circuit he traveled four times a year on horseback, accompanied with other members of the bar, also the Supreme (/"ourt in Colum- bus, and the courts in other counties occasionally ; as the country improved and increased in population, he reduced the territorial extent of his practice; by care- ful and strict attention to business, and prompt remit- tances, he was intrusted with a full share of the most important business of the country, from which his in- come was pi'incipally derived.

Canals were located and being constructed in other parts of the State, for which water could not be ob- tained in this and other counties ob the dividing ridge. A canal from the mouth of Little Beaver, on the Ohio River, to the mouth of Big Sandy, on the Ohio Canal, was located and in process of construction by the State. Railroads were then considered quite inferior to canals. He had made an eastern tour and saw the railroads there being constructed and doing business, and thought a railroad from the western terminus of Sandy and Beaver Canal, westward, through Richland and other counties to the west line of the State, would create a valuable thoroughfare, connecting this part of the State with Pittsburgh, and thence eastward. His professional calling had introduced him to the prom- inent men of that city, and made him acquainted with the most prominent men on the line of the contemplated improvement.

In the summer of 1834, he wrote a number of these gentlemen, calling a meeting on a certain day at his office, to initiate the construction of this improvement. A meeting was held, composed of representatives from Wayne Co., westward to the State line, at which measures were taken to obtain an act of the Legislature, and Dr. A. G. Miller, S. R. Curtis (afterward General), and he were appointed a committee to forward the work. In the winter of 1834-35, he went to Columbus and procured the necessary legislation, and July 4, 1835, a meeting of the Commissioners therein designa- ted was held at the court house, in Mansfield, and measures adopted to carry into effect the provisions of the charter. Dr. A. G. Miller and S. G! Curtis and he were again appointed a committee to take charge of the work. He called on the Board of Public Works for an engineer and corps to survey and locate the road. They, after much solicitation, in the spring of 1836, ap- pointed S. R. Curtis, who organized his corps in Mans- field, and made the survey and location that summer ; made his report to the Board of Public Works, and the expense was paid by the State. Of this, the Pitts- burghers were notified by Mr. Purdy, without whose aid the work could not be done. Railroads had not yet become popular ; they had the Pennsylvania canal and Ohio River, and declined co-operation. Thus termina- ted our labor of two years. But it was not lost. Our attention was directed to the construction of a railroad to Sandusky, which, as hereinafter stated, was com- pleted in June, 1846. Mansfield soon became an im- portant point, and in the fall of 1848, gentlemen of

��Pittsburgh wrote Mr. Purdy, requesting him to call a meeting at Massiilon, which he did. The meeting was attended by Ohioans and Pennsylvanians. A joint charter from the two States was determined on. A committee was appointed to visit Harrisburg, and also one to visit Columbus to obtain the charter. Mr. Purdy and B. Jones, of Wooster, were the committee for Ohio. Mr. Purdy attended, and a joint charter was procured for what afterward became the P., Ft. W. & C. R. R. This company had the benefit of our two years' work and the survey we had made, at the expense of the State. Thus, "large oaks from little acorns grow."

Richland had never become a well cultivated county ; immense quantities of produce were by the farmers transported to the Lake on wagons. Our first market was Sandusky. A canal was made from Huron to Milan ; this drew the business from Sandusky to Milan. Sandusky then had a railroad built to Monroeville, operated by horse-power. Much of the Richland trade was withdrawn from Milan to Monroeville and thence to Sandusky. Efforts had been making for some time to get a railroad from Sandusky to Mansfield, and charters therefor had been granted. A charter had been obtained for a railroad from Monroeville to Plymouth. In December, 1839, Judge Patterson and he were ap- pointed to go to Columbus and obtain or have amended a charter for a road from Plymouth to Mansfield, which was accomplished. He, with others, spent the winter among the farmers throughout the county in obtaining stock. In the spring of 1840, the company was or- ganized and he was appointed President. Under his superintendence, an engineer was appointed and the road located, and in August, 1840, the first ground was broken in Mansfield, in the presence of a large and deeply interested assembly, by John Stewart, the first Surveyor and the first Auditor of the county, and Gen. Robert Bentley, also an early pioneer and commander of the militia of the county, both farmers. On that day the foundation of Mansfield's prosperity was laid. It then became a railroad terminus. Other railroads were constructed through this point, in all of which he took an active part, and for their construction con- tributed liberally. These public improvements have made Mansfield a railroad center, a commercial and manufacturing city. For this we are deeply indebted to the stalwart pioneers of the county, who subscribed liberally to the stock. Bonds were not then issued, the money had to be raised in the country. The three companies were consolidated ; the work progressed slowly, and the cars did not reach Mansfield until June, 1846. It now forms part of the Baltimore iSi Ohio Rail- road. To the contributors the improvements were not a direct financial success, but in the improvements of the country they have their compensation. In 1855, he in- vested in real estate in Iowa, one tract lay on the west bank of the Mississippi River. He, with others, added to this and laid out theciiy of Clinton, which, in 1870, con- tained 8,000 inhabitants, a National Bank, a daily paper and a street car company. The Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad Company was then (1855) organized, of which he became a stockholder, and in which he was offered and accepted a prominent position in locating and constructing the road. It was completed and the enterprise was a pecuiiiary success. It crossed the

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