Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1871-03-31
Pioneer sketches uC EleEa-
ware county.
no. VIII.
Written for the Delaware Gazette ]

DELAWARE CONTINUED.


People speak OF the olden times. The
present IS the Oldest time of which we nave
any knoWledge'-Dz. Fuller"
This IS the Golden Age. In speaking
of the former times the writer is actuated
by no desire to make them appear bet
ter, more joyous, or freer from lifes
| hardships than the present. / simply
wish to state facts. Errors viii unavoid
| ably occur, but their correction viii lead
to a better apprehension of the truth
In offering the readers of the GAZETTE
a few additional items in the earlier his
tory Of Delaware, do not claim to COM
plete it, nor do I omit any part of it in
| tentionally. One Of the first boarding
houses was kept by John Blackbird and
his mother, in the vicinity of the o. w.
+. College, and near Delaware Rum
Slices Of venison5 hung in the open air
until fully ripe, formed no small part of
the rations of this hospitable mansion.
A hundred 'coons, in different stages Of
putrefaction, atstines adorned the exter-
ior and interior walls. At such time
venerable pioneer, still living, spent
night in this tenement of the wilder
ness.
The -eminence of South Delaware,
west of the University, was covered with
dense forest. The lowlands Of Della
ware Run were mostly a glade, or plain,
in the forest Astounding in Strawberries
and wild flowers IN their season, with
here and there a plum orchard, a crab
apple tree, a scrub-oak, or a blackjack.
About the White Sulphur Spring, and in
other places, were 'fdeer-licks. One of
these, on the site of Evans Block, was
so strong that the Indians obtained salt
from evaporation of the water contained
in it. The extensive plum-thickets north
of Wottring & Miller's Grist Mill yield
ed, annually, scores of bushels of deli
cious fruit for years after the settlement
of Delaware by the whites.
Not many of the works first made in
Delaware by the present generation re-
main. The residence Of NJ Miller,
since remodeled, the one opposite, owned
by John Moses, that of Mr.. Waterman,
and the one in which Mr.. Reicherts now
lives are among the earlier buildings in |
Delaware 5till standing. In the latter, !
it is believed, Gov. Hayes was born
Not one of the original dwellings on |
Sandusky street IS now standing. The |
residence of Mrs. Kilbourne was built |
by Capt. John Welch, in 1916. The |
house rebuilt by the late I. J. Richard |
son, opposite the Court House, was erect
ed the same year. Hyatt's store was
built in 1917. Geo. Storm lived where |
the residence of l. Ranney, Esq, now |
stands. Abraham WeIchonse lived on |
the site of the north Engine House.
Millen Robinson lived near the Spring. |
Capt. WeIch kept a hotel where the /
elegant new residence of Mr.. Pumph-
rey now stands. His tavern was a small /
brick building, one and a-half stories
high, containing a small hall and but
two rooms on the ground floor.
Delaware Township was laia out June
10Th, 1868. It included the present
limits, sections I and of Troy, sections
2 and 3 being the west half of Brown,
and section ? of Berlin. The first es-
-ablished road in Delaware County,
namely, that on the west side of the
0ientangy River, Of which Sandusky
Street forms a part, was laid out June
9Th, 1903. Azariah Root was the sur
veyor, and Moses Byxbee, Sr., Nathan
lei Wyatt and Josiah Mckinney we're
he viewers.
In 1925 Judge Williams purchased
he site of his present residence for 5000.
SIS in cash and the balance in trade
In the same year Reuben Hills purchased I
an n-out-lot-containing 8 acres for $50.
In 1890 NJ. D. Petdbone. offered 200
acres in east Delaware at SO per acre.
The population Of Delaware at this
ime was but $50. The rise of real es-
ate has been proportionate with the in
,rease in population. The State tax of
Delaware county in 1872 was seven hun
1red and eleven dollars. In 1875 the
State tax was $2I93, and the county tax
s64I.
Micah Spaulding and Samuel Wor
inc are the only persons now living in
Delaware whose names appear on the
ak list of the town as early as 1910.
c. MORTIMER JAMES.