Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1859-10-28
For the Delaware Gazette
Delaware in 1921 and 1853.

Thirtv-eight wears ago, when a boy ten years
old, enigrating from a foreign land, seven days
travel in al OK wagon from Sandusky, brought
me to this now fourishiag town. Yesterday
the Iron Horse brought me three times the dis
lance in IS many hours. Thanks to the genius
that invented the mob animal, and the enter
prize that laid the track and harnessed him for
his work. Their, the houses were humble struc-
lures few in number, and far between now, /
find extensive blocks, and dwellings, beautiied
with taste and art, homes worthy of the name.
Then Delaware had no house of religious wor-
ship; the d" old brick - served for the temple
of justice, and the christian sanctuary. Now,
the sanctuaries of God. eoodly in appearance,
commodious, and neat in their surroundings,
adequate to the wants of the population, beau
tify its streets. In 1921 old Mr.. R. taught the
village school in the loft of a mail frame house,
this morning l saw some 800 young men in
their college chapel, devout and solemn. offering
their morning sacrifice of praise and supplica-
ton, members of one of the first institutions
of learning in our State. In 81 / used TO
play on the " green;'' now, I find it covered
with streets, shops, churches, and dwelling
houses. The Delaware " green " is gone, and
gone forever. Why was it not left, and to-day
adorned with walks, shrubs and trees, the most
attractive park of which any city could boast?
Then, Delaware had three marts of trade,
and cut money was the specie currency; Webb,
kilbourn, and Little, were its princely mer-
chants, they went East on horseback, took
their funds in saddle bags, and shipped their
goods in wagons a walk through the streets
T.. L. H., ,~o +I,4 Al. oua ~,
merous, show handsomer fronts and a larger
supply of staples, tineries and notions. Then,
Delaware had no " gilded Saloons Mr.. S.
had a bakery celebrated for its ginger bread
from the Milestone to the regions beyond
Scioto. Now signs and symbols" but too
frequently meet your eye. The less of this
species of improvement the better. Dry up
the fountains of intemperance and its deadly
streams will cease to flow. In ~ / knew al
most every man, woman and child in Delaware
and its e~nvirons for miles around to-day /
meet but few familiar faces. But met with
one, then a clerk i'll LIS store, now one of the
solid men of Delaware. A shake of his hand
awakened in my mind a Renaissance which
marked an era in Rly life. In 1926, living in
R. township, I came to Delaware to attend a
general muster; this was a great day, the yo-
many of the county trained on the " green
As l left my cabin home my good mother gave
me a quarter to buy refreshments. Arriving
in Delaware | was accosted by a young man
from r., notorious for his reckicssneSs and love
of whiskey, B. have you got any money? =
| replied that l had a quarter. He then per-
suaded me to invest it in whiskcy, handing me
a bottle and promising, that, at intermission, ]
should have as many apples, cakes and MELONS
as / wanted. l was taken in by this proposal,
and obeying his instruction fastened to LIS
store and asked B. P, the clerk, to fill my bot
tie with whiskey. lie looked me full in the
face, and enqu;red, "B. did your mother send
you for it No, sir, vas my reply, but J.
F. did. We'll, b.. I cannot sell you the whs-
key. you have made a bad bargain, its all
wrong, give J. F, his empty bottle, and do as
your mother told you My esteemed friend
may have forgotten this incident, but the wri-
ter never did, and never will for it was the
turning point in his life, it delivered him from
a dreadful snare, from the bottle and its abet-
tors. Il. W. {.
DELAWARE, Oct, 20, 1859.