The Medical Profession

            To no factor in the development of a pioneer community does history owe higher honor than to the physicians who ministered to its sick in the days when drugs were difficult to obtain and almost equally difficult to distribute, and when, in addition to the ordinary ills of human flesh, the pioneers were plagued with mysterious maladies that puzzled the medical profession (as in the case of "milk sickness") and when the land was heavy with miasma, and (page 234) grievous epidemics visited the cabins and laid low the men and women who had undertaken the "Conquest of Canaan." Typhoid fever made its appearance as early as 1839. Smallpox raged in West Liberty in 1843, attacking one person in every three-though deaths were comparatively few. Dr. S. W. Fuller wrote of it that the diet of rice and molasses, and the medication of Epsom salts, to which the village was at the time chiefly confined, "could scarcely have been bettered." Handkerchiefs were worn as preventive masks. That was seventy-five years ago. Interesting to note, in this connection, is the fact that in the fall and winter following, an epidemic of influenza spread all over the country and carried off numerous victims. In March, 1844, spinal meningitis, a disease not then thoroughly understood, made its first fatal inroads, returning in 1851-2. Cholera first appeared in 1849, subsiding and then breaking out again in 1851-2 with renewed violence. But, so far as records show no scourge visiting the county since then has been so widespread as the dreaded Spanish influenza, which baffles the preventive and curative resources of modern science of medical men everywhere this season of 1918-9. Dr. Fuller smiled in 1843 at the handkerchief masks. Yet, in 1918, masks of gauze have been ordered by boards of health all over the United States.

            The long roll of Logan county physicians who became known to all its borders and in many cases far beyond, presenting as bright a page of professional history as can be turned in Ohio, begins with the name of Mrs. Phoebe Sharp, whose intelligence and skill were freely at the service of the settlers of the Darby creek neighborhood for years before a regular physician ventured so far. Dr. John Elbert came to Middleburg vicinity in 1809, and was for several years the only physician of the county. He died after twenty years of arduous practice in the wilderness. Dr. Benjamin Stanton Brown was the next, coming to Logan county about the same time that his father settled in the Marmon valley, in 1818, and beginning his local career in the capacity of a surveyor. He was a man of varied talents and broad mentality, the genial charm of his personality still remembered by those who knew him near the close of his life, when he had retired from the laborious life of pioneer physician, in which service he had been unexcelled. Dr. Brown married Rebecca Shaw (daughter of Henry Shaw), who outlived him, and gave to the city, in memory of his life and work, the lovely little park which bears his name. Dr. James Crew, who came to Zanesfeld in 1821, was the next in order, practicing for forty-seven faithful years, his service ending only with his death in 1868. Dr. Abiel Hovey Lord, born in Windsor, Vermont, in 1802, came to Bellefontaine in 1823, the only practicing physicians nearer than Urbana, at the time, being Drs. Elbert and Crew. Dr. Lord's field of practice covered not only all of Logan county, but all of the counties touching it, including a great deal of work among the Indians, seven hundred and fifty of whom he vaccinated just before they were taken to the west in 1832. Dr Lord married Letitia McCloud, daughter of Col. McCloud, in 1824. Their residence in Bellefontaine was a large house built of logs, and stood on the northwest corner of Main and Chillicothe streets. The building afterward became a place of mercantile business, and finally (page 235)  degenerated to the base purpose of a saloon and latterly a pool room, being finally removed in 1913, to make room for the erection of the beautiful Canby building, the pride of latter-day Bellefontaine. It was at that time the oldest known structure in the town, and remembering its former honorable estate, the logs were purchased, for preservation, by (Prof.) Thomas Hubbard, jr., who presented them to the city. They were, later, built into a log cabin in Rutan Park. northeast of the city, at the expense of the late Miss Mary Powell, granddaughter of William Powell, one of the founders of Bellefontaine.

            Mrs. Lord died in 1875, while Dr. Lord's active career ended in 1882, after nearly sixty years in practice. Dr. Joseph Canby, who came from Virginia in 1825, was a graduate of Rush Medical college, Philadelphia. He settled in DeGraff-or near where DeGraff was afterward built-but his reputation was county-wide, not only as a physician, but as business man and influential citizen. Richard           S. Canby, well-known lawyer and jurist, was his son. Dr. Canby died in 1847, having previously retired from practice to devote his energies to business pursuits. Drs. Good and Leedom, of Quincy, were his contemporaries, as were also Dr. Thomas of Logansville, Dr. Samuel A. Morton of Cherokee, and Dr. Robb of Zanesfield. Dr. S. W. Fuller, who came to West Liberty in 1838, and from there practiced the county over, removed his headquarters to Bellefontaine in or about 1852, retiring from practice there only a few years before his death in February, 1908, after nearly seventy years' professional life. With the exception of Dr. john Elbert, who died in 1836. Dr Fuller was the contemporary practitioner of all the physicians ever resident in Logan county, with the exception of the very youngest members of the present medical "round table." Dr. Thomas L. Wright, the son of Dr. Thomas Wright, who emigrated to America from Ireland in 1817, was himself a native of Portage county, Ohio. After completing his education at Miami university and Ohio Medical college, he went to Kansas as government physician for the Wyandot Indians. He came to Bellefontaine in 1856, Miss Lucinda, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Lord, becoming his wife not long after Dr. Wright was deeply read, and of broad and liberal mind, a fine theoretician, a lecturer and writer of essays and pamphlets on pathological subjects, his most noted work being a treatise on Inebriety, which caused him to be rated a High authority on that subject. He was at all times generous with advice and counsel to younger doctors, sharing with them the richness of his reading. He died, 1893. Dr. David Watson, also a son of Irish parents, who emigrated to America early in the last century, was born in Adams county, in 1819, and came with his parents to Logan county in 1823, locating in the Cherokee and Huntsville district. In the spring of 1839, when aged 20, he lost a leg by amputation after an accident incurred in logrolling. Thus unfitted for the business of farming, he took up the study of medicine under the tutelage of Dr. B. S. Brown. His first anatomy lesson was recited to Dr. Brown in the latter's cornfield (which happened to be the same plot of ground now known as "Brown Park") the doctor stopping the plow to listen. Dr. Watson maintained himself, while studying, by teaching school. After his (page 236) marriage to Miss Eliza Richardson of Shelby county, Dr. Watson

            practiced in Upper Sandusky and in Wyandot county, where their five elder children were born, and where they were buried after their brief lives. They came to Bellefontaine in 1857, and at first lived in the house on East Columbus avenue, where their only surviving child, Mrs. Maggie Ginn, now makes her home. Dr. Watson achieved signal success in his profession in which he was noted for his keen and well-balanced judgment, while his faculties, both as diagnostician and prognostician were remarkable. He was also a clever and skilful surgeon of the old school. His death occurred March 31, 1894. Wells Watson Ginn, the gifted reader, is a grandson. Dr. W. D. Scarff, born in Green county, Ohio, May, 1819, the son of Dr. John and Rachel (Curl) Scarff, received a collegiate education and graduated from Louisville Medical Institute in 1844, locating in Bellefontaine soon after, making the journey hither from Green county on horseback. Dr. Scarff's coming gave the city of Bellefontaine three practicing physicians. He was associated with his brother, James Scarff, in the drug business, but entered at once upon his practice, following his profession with ability and distinction for ffty-six years, during which time he held several positions of professional honor and trust. He was also an able contributor to "The Lancet" (a medical journal), and to the "Examiner," his last manuscript being sent in at the beginning of his final illness, which ended in paralysis and death, November, 1901. He married, 1851, Miss Lois Whitehead.

            Dr. Edwin Pratt, who began his career at Bloom Centre, in 1850, located in Bellefontaine, in 1865, where he was already well-known because of long prominence in public office. Dr. Pratt's talent as a physician is attested by the fact that it has descended to the second and third generations of his family, son and grandsons all being successful physicians. Drs. Clayson, Aaron Hartley and James Cooper were of the period now under consideration, but exact data are not obtainable concerning them, although all were prominent in the community. Dr. Clayson died in the early seventies, in the prime of life. Dr. Hartley spent a long period of years in Bellefontaine, and left for Colorado at the age of nearly eighty, still hale and hearty. Dr. Cooper was a specialist in drugs, rather than a pathologist, but his vast and comprehensive knowledge of the materia medica made him a valuable member of the medical fraternity. Early in the summer of 1872, Dr. J. M. Wilson located in Bellefontaine, coming from the Cleveland Hospital School of Homeopathy. Though belonging to a school which had then but scant popularity, locally, Dr. Wilson has won the respect and high regard of all the "regulars" of his day, and, at past seventy, is still hale, active and very busy. He became the husband of Miss Ella Emery at an early stage of his career, and is now the senior physician of Bellefontaine, having been born in Carroll county in 1844. Closely following Dr. Wilson came Dr. Perry D. Covington, Dr. William H. Cretcher and Dr. Rutter-the latter a native of Rushsylvania. Dr. Rutter, after a few years' practice, took up institutional work, and left Bellefontaine for Gallipolis, and Newberry, and latterly Columbus. Dr. Cretcher, who was born and reared in Springhill, Champaign county, (page 237) was a brilliant student, and a gifted surgeon, making an immediate success. He was stricken with death in the very zenith of his professional powers, and died in 1890. Dr. Covington, a captain in the Civil War at a very early age, was a nephew of Dr. Watson, by whom his choice of a profession was somewhat influenced. He was a native son of Logan county, his parents being- Samuel and Ruth Watson Covington, whose farm lay south of Bellefontaine a short distance. Born in 1842, he graduated from Ohio Medical college in 1868, and practiced about four years at Roundhead, during which period he was married to Miss Ellen McClain, and came to Bellefontaine in 1872. Dr. Covington rose to the foremost position in the local practice and was regarded, after Dr. Fuller's retirement, as the dean of the profession here, until his death, which occurred in September, 1915. Mrs. Covington is the author of an able pamphlet touching pathology. Dr. James Paulding Wallace, born Oxford, Ohio, a graduate of Monmouth college, Ohio Medical college and Bellevue hospital, located in Bellefontaine in 1877, and went into partnership with Dr. S. W. Fuller, who at that time believed himself about to retire from active practice. Dr. Wallace at once achieved a wide popularity, being of a genial and sunny nature, and full of kindly benevolence. Among the poor and lowly he was held in warmest affection, for his manifold benefactions. In 1886 he decided upon a change of climate, and went to California, where he remained a short time, returning to Kentucky, where he unfortunately contracted a pulmonary illness which undermined his health. A third removal, to Greeley, Colorado, resulted in recovery, but after a few years of great success, professionally, he died in 1894, of pneumonia. Mrs. Wallace was Miss Laura Garvey, of Piqua, and the Wallace home in Bellefontaine was the old Noah McColloch residence on East Columbus avenue. Upon his departure for California, Dr. Wallace sold the house to Dr. R. W. Chalfant, who afterward remodeled it into the Chalfant Block. Mrs. Wallace returned to Bellefontaine with her family, two daughters, Miss Margaret Wallace and Mrs. Paul O. Batch, and herself still residing here, while the three sons, Will G., James Fuller and Hallett Denman Wallace follow their professions in Canada, Texas and Colorado, respectively. Dr. Wallace was the son of a United Presbyterian minister, but during his residence here was an elder in the First Presbyterian church.

            Dr. John Saxton Deemy, born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1866, passed his boyhood in Frenchtown, New Jersey, and was graduated from the Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia in 1890, winning the appointment of chief interne in the hospital department of the same institution for one year. He then returned to Frenchtown, where he entered practice in company with his father, Dr. E. K. Deemy, remaining there until 1892-3, when he located in Bellefontaine, associating himself for several years with the late Dr. S. W. Fuller. In 1899 he was married to Miss Bessie Riddle, daughter of Mrs. Margaret Riddle, a happy union to which four children were born. After the tragic death of Dr. Deemy's mother, in a runaway accident, the elder Dr. Deemy made his home hi Bellefontaine until his death-an additional shock to the son-followed in 1911.

            (page 238) A third severe shock and bereavement came to Dr. and Mrs. Deemy one year later in the drowning of their little daughter, Margaret, April, 1912. Of great personal magnetism, Dr. Deemy attracted a large and devoted clientele, to which his cheery disposition and human sympathy increasingly endeared him, while his profciency as a physician and surgeon won him enviable distinction in the profession. During the twenty or more years of his residence in Bellefontaine he served the city as health offcer for a long term, and at the time of his death he was the surgeon for the Big Four, Ohio Electric and the T. & O. C. railroads, succeeding Dr. J. H. Wilson, who resigned. Dr. Deemy was a leader in the revival of the Logan County Medical Society, a member of the State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In his own practice he had but one aim-the relief of human suffering. His death was caused by pneumonia-a short but violent illness of three days-on February 13, 1915.

            Dr. Robert G. Reed, born and raised at Huntsville, Ohio, successfully practiced at Bellefontaine for about ten years, when he removed to Cincinnati, here he is now practicing as an eye specialist. Of the Bellefontaine physicians now included in the Logan County Association, as nearly complete a list as possible is here given : Dr. Carrie Richeson, who was born and reared in this city ; Dr. Charles W. Heffner (of Lewistown), 1881; Dr. L. C. Pratt (son of Dr. Edwin Pratt), now about thirty-fve years in local practice ; Dr. W. W. Hamer (of Lewistown), 1885; Dr. W. Gail Stinchcomb (who came to Bellefontaine at the age of ten, in 1884), and after graduation at Bellevue Hospital in 1897, began practice here; Dr. J. P. Harbert (from Belle Center), about 1898; Dr. E. R. Henning (of West Liberty) ; Dr. J. W. Young, Dr. W. C. Pay (city physician, 1918), 1909; Dr. F. R. Makemson (DeGraf and Lewistown), 1917; Dr. H. A. Skidmore (West Mansfeld), 1917. "In Service": Dr. Guy L. Swan, Dr. A. J. McCracken, Dr. Robert H. Butler, Dr. F. B. Kaylor, Dr. Clyde K. Startzman, Dr. W. Gail Stinchcomb, Dr. O. W. Lofer, Dr. W. H. Carey, Drs. Robert, Lester and Malcolm Pratt. The dentists of today are: Dr. Frank R. Griffin, son of Dr. A. E. Griffin, one of the principal earlier dentists of Bellefontaine, and Drs. C. N. Miles, C. W. Schroeder, J. E. Thatcher, Fred S. Wood, J. C. Longfellow, and Edw. Thompson. Drs. F. G. Burnett and Mac. J. Reid represent the Osteopathic cult.

            Another well-known physician is Dr. J. W. Arbegast, born in Logan county, May 21, 1857, son of Joel and Caroline (Antrim) Arbegast, and grandson of Daniel Antrim, the frst white boy born in the county. Dr. Arbegast began the study of medicine at the age of 18, but the death of his father interrupted his career, and it was not until the nineties that he was able to resume his studies. He graduated from Cincinnati Eclectic Medical Institute in 1894, and at once began to practice at West Mansfeld, where he resided until 1912, when he removed to Bellefontaine, and has since been established here in a successful practice. Mrs. Arbegast, who was Miss Susan Leymaster, has been a comrade and helper in the professional career of her husband.

            Hospitals in Bellefontaine have had short history, although (page 239) several have been established. That of Dr. W. W. Hamer served for a time, but financial difficulties usually beset the unendowed hospital, and it closed about ten years ago, after being several years in operation. Dr. Hamer has lately, in company with Dr. Henning, embarked upon an exclusively surgical practice. Miss Wilhelmina Aikin, a good business woman, as well as a professional nurse, located in Bellefontaine in August, 1912, opening a private hospital on East Sandusky avenue, where for six years she filled a decided need of the community. Miss Aikin, who was a native of Northwood, Logan county, was trained in the Seton (Presbyterian) hospital in Cincinnati, and in the Queen City Hospital there, where she graduated, and afterward took the position of matron in Dr. Vale's hospital in the same city. A few years of private nursing ensued, and she thus brought to her work in Bellefontaine not only ten years of practical experience, but also great native ability and personal charm. Held in highest esteem by the local medical profession, Miss Aikin had been chosen directress of the new Mary Rutan hospital, just completed, in the north part of the city, when her most untimely death occurred, during the influenza epidemic of 1918. Her appointment was a deserved tribute to her worth, and her loss is keenly felt by the city. The trustees of the hospital have elected Miss Hazel Webster, of Kenton, Hardin county, to fll Miss Aikin's place as directress. The Mary Rutan hospital was made possible by the bequest of a fund from Mrs. Rebecca Williams, in honor of her mother, Mary Rutan. The hospital is "the last word" in modernity; fireproof and accommodates at present 30 beds, including the two wards. Ample space is provided in the grounds, and the plan is so arranged that wings may be added to the structure in the future.

The Churches of Bellefontaine

            That the early establishment of religious organizations has had much to do with the character of the population of today cannot be overlooked. The pioneers who entered the trackless wilds of Logan county more than a century ago were almost without exception of recognized religious convictions and their efforts to plant the banner of Christ solidly in the new soil has had an enduring success. Laying aside all references to creeds and sects, there has been a co-operative movement for all good things by all good people from .the start, and while there are changes, and the Quakers and the Covenanters and the various subdivisions of other denominations have fused into a smaller list of creeds than once prevailed, it is, perhaps, because all have become "Friends" in the best and finest sense of the word, while the line between Catholic and Protestant is less clearly defined than it used to be, in the diffused light of Christian brotherhood. After the soul-searching experiences in united effort of all schools of faith, exampled in the welfare activities of the recent world war, the members of one body see clearly the essential union of them all. That the work of that body will continue to be done by its members as in the past, is evidenced by the vigorous condition of the various church organizations, and the (page 240) eagerness with which each is pursuing its labors for the cause of Christ.

            The Methodist Episcopal church was the earliest to organize a class in the city, the "meetings" held from cabin to cabin crystallizing at last into an organized body about 1819, the exercises thereof being conducted by Rev. John Strange, at the house of Samuel Carter. The first chapel was erected in the new county seat in 1823, and stood on West Chillicothe street, at a point between the present post office building and the old Kennedy residence. Rev. John Strange was installed as first pastor. A trifling difference separated the congregation for a period, but in 1858 this was amicably adjusted, and there has ever since remained one strong church body. Its handsome church edifice on North Main street was erected in 1889. Dr. J. L. Albritton was pastor when the new (present) church was built. Dr. Isaac Newton was pastor when it was decided to build, February 2, 1886. The building committee was appointed January 3, 1887 and consisted of John B. Williams, Robert Colton, J. M. Williamson, Alfred Butler and William Barton. Rev. Whitlock was pastor of this congregation for five years, during the boyhood of the now famous author and diplomat, Brand Whitlock, his son. Rev. F. M. Swinehart is the pastor at this date (1919). The First Presbyterian church was organized in Bellefontaine in 1828, under the ministry of Rev. Joseph Stevenson, who came to the town in 1825 with this end in view. The Presbyterian church at Cherokee (now Huntsville) had been organized September, 1824, by Rev. James Robinson, and called the "Church of Logan." From this germ the church at Bellefontaine took motive, the services of Rev. Stevenson being divided between Cherokee, Bellefontaine, Stony Creek (Springhill, in Champaign county), and West Liberty, until 1828, when the church at Bellefontaine became the larger and was granted independence. Rev. R. H. Holliday came in 1840 to assist Rev. Stevenson in his several charges, the latter retiring about 1844. The church membership in 1835 was ninety-one. Rev. George A. Gregg followed Rev. Stevenson in 1845, and remained here nine years, dying in February, 1854, of smallpox. Rev. Raffensperger came in 1854, and was the first pastor who gave his whole time to this church. He remained for five years, re-uniting the congregation and adding greatly to its membership. Rev. George P. Bergen came after him, staying until 1863, during a period of great excitement and political dissension, through which the church made steady progress. In 1863 commenced the long and happy pastorate of Rev. George L. Kalb, D.D., his installation taking place in 1864. For thirty-five, years Dr. Kalb christened, received into membership, married and buried the individuals of the flock, resigning in 1898 on account of his advanced years. He was made pastor emeritus and continued in the veneration of his own people and the community until his death, in September, 1912. Rev. George E. Davies, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was called to the pulpit of Dr. Kalb, and installed as pastor in 1899, resigning after eleven years' service to accept a call from St. Paul, Minnesota. Dr. William L. Barrett was installed pastor January 1, 1911. The membership at that time had grown to about six hundred, and has in the eight years since (page 241) increased to nine hundred. The congregation is noted for including in its membership an unusual number of business and professional men. At present (1918) over half of the Logan county bar are members of this church. A few of the prominent members along the years have been : Joshua Robb, Robert Patterson, Edward Patterson, Ezra Bennett, Gen. Robert P. Kennedy, S. W. Fuller, William McColloch, John A. Mcllvaine and Judge William H. West. The present session consists of: John Q. A. Campbell, George A. Henry, G. Harry Aikin, Major E. K. Campbell, Dr. R. W. Chalfant, William D. Faris, Dr. John P. Harbert, Charles B. Harner, Reuben B. Keller, Max Leonard, Judge J. Duncan McLaughlin, Fred C. Spittle, John E. West, George W. Worrell and Judge John C. Hover, who is clerk of the session. Dr. Barrett is among the strongest pulpit orators Bellefontaine has had within the memory of present citizens. The services of the church previous to 1829 were held in the frst court house (afterward a tavern), and prayer meetings were held in Robert Patterson's home, which stood just north of it. The first church edifice was built of brick, forty-three feet square, and stood on North Main street. This building became by purchase the property of the Christian church a good many years later, and about 1880 passed into the hands of the Reformed or Covenanters' church. A new church was erected where the present church now stands, which during the pastorate of Rev. Davies was completely rebuilt into the modern and spacious edifice now seen. The English Lutheran church was first organized in 1840, at the home of John Horn, by Rev. J. H. Hofman, and had a struggling existence for several years, being without a pastor from 1845 to 1850. Rev. J. H. Brickley was then sent to reorganize, and at the old court house, in the spring of 1851, a congregation of seventeen members was established which immediately set about building a church, the cornerstone of which was laid in July, 1851. The building was a small brick chapel situated at the corner of Detroit and Sandusky streets. The first pastor was a victim of cholera during the completion of the church, and the first service held in the building was his funeral. Dr. J. W. Goodlin succeeded to the pastorate and was followed by Dr. Kuhns, Dr. Breckenridge, Rev. Shearer and Dr. W. H. Singley, who came in the summer of 1876 and infused new life into the congregation, building at the old site a large new church, which was once remodeled and a pipe organ installed before he left it in 1892. Since then the church has had uninterrupted progress under the successive pastorates of Revs. W. E. Hull, S. S. Adams, S. E. Greenawalt, and the present pastor, Rev. C. E. Rice, who entered upon his work in 1908, and under whom the church has been rebuilt at a cost of $24,000, now presenting a wholly modern and harmonious exterior, while the interior is not only commodious, but ecclesiastically correct.

            St. Patrick's Catholic church was organized in Bellefontaine in 1853 by Father Grogan, and a church was built the same year. However, services had been held in homes for many years before that date, and the little Piatt chapel at West Liberty had made a Mecca for early Catholics, still previous. The original church, built on East Patterson street, stood through several pastorates, Fathers (page 242) Thomas Sheahan, J. F. McSweeney, John Coveney (who was assassinated by a lunatic) and Father Young preceding Father Bourion, a clergyman of unusual talents and culture who improved and enlarged the church and also built the large parochial school which stands immediately west of it. Father Bourion was followed in 1889 by Father William Conway, and he by Father Doherty in 1894. In 1897 the church was destroyed by a fire of unknown origin, but was immediately rebuilt upon a somewhat larger scale, being dedicated by Archbishop Elder in 1898, at which time Father C. J. Conway was the priest in charge. Father Conway has been followed by Fathers Benning, Singleton and Sourd, and since August 1, 1916, by Father Wm. C. Welch, who has made a host of friends in the two years of his service, both in his parish and in general society, taking a prominent part in the war activities, Red Cross and kindred work. A handsome new rectory, completed in the summer of 1918, has replaced the old house east of the church, the site being ideal for a clerical residence.

            The Baptists organized in 1845, and while gathering strength and numbers for church building, held their meetings at the houses of members. In 1852 ground was broken for the original church building on the same corner (East Columbus and Mad River streets) where the present church stands. Rev. Roney was the pastor, and at least one member, Mrs. Mary Kerr, still remembers coming to see the ceremony, sixty-six years ago. Rev. A. J. Wyant was one of the earliest and best remembered pastors, and, following him, a somewhat fragmentary account indicates that Rev. James French and Rev. W. H. Stringer were among the ministers who occupied the pulpit. The church edifice has been remodeled twice, being so completely rebuilt in 1907, under the pastorate of Rev. Jasper- H. Winans, that little but the old bricks form a part of the Baptist church of today. The re-dedication took place in 1908. Four years ago Rev. F. F. Fenner succeeded Rev. Winans, and the congregation is in a flourishing condition. It will celebrate its seventy-fifth anniversary in 1920.

            "The First Christian Church," or, as it is called today, the Church of Christ, was originally organized with fourteen members, at a meeting held in the basement of the Baptist church, at a date not set down in the chronicles. From this lowly beginning the society emerged in 1857 to build a "hall" on East Columbus avenue, which they used as a church until about 1870, when they sold it for business purposes and purchased the old chapel of the Presbyterians on North Main street, paying for it the sum of sixteen hundred dollars. This was later sold to the Reformed church congregation. Revs. A. F. Abbott, T. A. Brandon, William Lawrence and several other pastors ministered to the congregation until May, 1878, when the church was closed for want of a pastor. Removals and deaths had depleted the membership from sixty to twenty, yet it continued to hold together as an organization through various ups and downs chiefly downs-until 1896, when a movement to build a new church resulted in a substantial rally under Rev. D. D. Burt. The new edifice was erected on, the corner of East Sandusky avenue and Park Place, at a cost of sixteen thousand dollars. Twelve (page 243) years later it was remodeled at a cost of four thousand more. On the fifteenth of January, 1915, the church was totally destroyed by fire. Undaunted, the congregation at once took steps to rebuild,           and extra ground was purchased on the west, to build larger. Funds were quickly raised, and the contract was let, in April, following the fire. The cornerstone of the new temple was laid August 22, 1915, and the building completed and dedicated early in 1916.

            December 31, 1915, the membership numbered eleven hundred persons, an increase of six hundred in the preceding fourteen months. The beautiful new temple, of pale buff brick and white sandstone, stands west of Brown park,. and is a fine example of classic architecture. All its inner working forces are in a high state of organization, and full of ardor. Following Rev. Burt, the pastors have been, in order, Revs. A. S. Morrison, 1898, E. S. Muckley, 1900, W. T. Groom, 1903, Roy L. Brown, 1907, C. C. Wilson, 1912, U. E. Hootman, 1913, and Rev. Traverce Harrison, who came in 1915, and will stay, it is hoped, many years.

            From the union of the drifting elements of the Associate and Associate Reformed societies in Bellefontaine and vicinity, that had existed since the early thirties, the United Presbyterian church was formed briefly subsequent to 1858, the Rev. Joseph Hatton, of the Associate Reformed church remaining in charge of the new organization until April, 1859, after which it was without a regular pastor until 1862. From 1862 until 1865 Rev. W. H. Jeffers was in charge, being followed by Rev. John Williamson, D.D., who led the congregation through over twenty years of vigorous growth. The original church edifce was built on an elevated site on North Detroit street and provided an auditorium of ample size, which was improved from time to time and served the congregation until the eighties, when, during the pastorate of Dr. Williamson, the new church at the corner of East Sandusky avenue and Mad River street, was built. The old church may still be seen on Detroit street, surrounded by many evidences of the mutations of time. It has long been used for factory purposes. The "New" church, now over thirty years old, was built upon so modern a principle that it bears rigid comparison with those of twentieth century architecture. During Dr. Williamson's pastorate he formed "The Young People's Prayer-Meeting," which was the earliest organized young people's body connected with the Presbyterian church in the United States, antedating the Christian Endeavor by some years. Members of this society are still living, among them some of Bellefontaine's oldest citizens. After Dr. Williamson's retirement, four pastors, J. W. Allen, D.D., J. D. Simpson, D.D.. Rev. John S. Dague, and Rev. W. T. Mabon successively filled the pulpit until 1918. Rev. G. L. Brown has accepted a call to this congregation and will occupy the pastorate beginning January 1, 1919.

            The first parish of the Episcopal church organized in Bellefontaine, 1856, had an existence of only two years. A second attempt to organize an Episcopal parish was made in 1859, when Rev. Robert Paul, an Episcopal clergyman born in Ireland and settled in Philadelphia, occasionally preached in the old courthouse. About this time, there being no church, a temporary altar was set up in the (page 244) Dunham home on east Chillicothe avenue, where little Emma Dunham and Annie Blaney were baptized by Rev. Paul. December 26, 1860, "Grace Church" was organized at a meeting in Dr. Gilson's office, the old Methodist chapel on west Chillicothe was purchased, and for a few years the little parish struggled along, but failed on account of its too small membership. In 1874, at the invitation of Mrs. N. E. Patterson, Rev. Julian held a service in the firemen’s hall, over the engine house, and for some time thereafter services were held at this place, conducted by different clergymen. A guild was formed, with E. Douglas, A. S. Knapp, George Foote and W. A. Arnold as officers, and Rev. A. B. Nichols was called to the rectorate the same year. His salary was limited to five dollars and expenses for each visitation. The records are somewhat misty and incomplete, but the services were held in the firemen’s hall until a lot was purchased by the committee (Mrs. William H. West, J. G. Campbell and James McKinney) on East Chillicothe avenue, and a frame chapel erected, which was consecrated January, 1879, by

            Bishop Bedell. With some fluctuations of fortune through which the parish maintained an existence, kept alive by a latent germ of loyalty and faith, the year 1893 was reached, bringing to the rectorate for ten succeeding years the Rev. J. W. Thompson. In 1903 he retired, and Rev. Thomas G. C. McCalla followed him. The roof of the old chapel had by this time been pronounced unsafe, and the building was sold to Frank I. Gray and converted to mercantile uses, while a new church site was purchased on the corner of East Sandusky and Park streets. The cornerstone of the new church was laid July 23, 1917, by Bishop Leonard, and the name of the parish then changed from Trinity to Holy Trinity. The first service in the new church was held in July, 1908. The succeeding rectors of the parish, after the retirement of Rev. McCalla in 1909, have been Rev. S. Powell, October 1909 to October 1915, Rev. John Stuart Banks, February 1912 to March 1915, Rev. John Williamson, March 1915, to May, 1918; Rev. William Seitz, came to the Bellefontaine parish in June, 1918. The present vestry is: John E. Miller, senior warden; Claude Southard, junior warden; Charles Lentz, clerk; William Wissler, treasurer; and Harry Loth. The new church is of rough gray stone with red tiled roof, and the architecture is true to churchly traditions, very simple, yet modern withal. Instead of a tower, an arch, in the old mission mode, seems to invite the hanging of a bell.

            The Reformed Presbyterian or Covenanters' church in Bellefontaine was organized about the later seventies and the Rev. Finley M. Foster was installed its first pastor, in the little brick church which was the original home of the Presbyterians, and which the Church of Christ had been using for some years. The congregation is not large, but numbers some of Bellefontaine's staunchest citizens. Rev. Foster retired from the pastorate in August, 1887, after which no incumbent was of long residence for a number of years. In the early part of August, 1900, Rev. J. M. Faris accepted a call to this charge, taking rank at once as one of the strongest members of the Ministerial Association in Bellefontaine. He died in the autumn of 1918, respected and esteemed by all who knew him. His (page 245) place has not as yet been filled, and this church is without a pastor. The Church of the Brethren was erected as a mission in 1907, and became a regularly organized congregation in 1909. Their building, on South Detroit street, is a neat chapel of cement construction. Rev. Abraham Horst and Rev. Josiah Weaver occupied the charge for the first few years, but for more than half the time since its organization the church has been without a regular pastor, and the present minister, Rev. William Tinkle, who came to the charge in August, 1918, has had but a short time in which to put new vigor into his little flock. The membership is now fifty, and is on the increase, while the general outlook is encouraging. The A. M. E. church on South Main street, is a neat structure, well attended by its people. Rev. W. P. Myers is its pastor. At the Second Baptist church (colored) Rev. J. M. Green is pastor. The regular pastor of the Wesleyan Methodist church is Rev. E. W. Benton, and the church stands on West Sandusky street. Fraternal, patriotic, civic and philanthropic organizations in Bellefontaine are in equal alignment with such movements in the average city, with a few points of special interest to mark some of them. The secret orders, Knights Templars, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, are all of old standing, doing the work usually expected of these societies, and aid perhaps to an unusual extent in the efforts of other charities. The orders of Sons of Temperance and Good Templars were also organized in the earlier days of the struggle against the liquor evil, dating as far back as the forties, and giving place to the more modern movements in that direction which came into prominence after the Civil War.

            The first of all the philanthropic bodies to organize was the Women's Christian Temperance Union, formed originally by the association of about five women who had taken leading parts in the great woman's crusade in 1873-4. Among the number were Mrs. J. R. Smith and Mrs. Thomas W. Riddle. The date of organization is not positive, but the later seventies doubtless saw the initial steps of the movement, for the state convention of the Union was held in Bellefontaine in 1883. The work gathered force, and membership increased for a number of years, but as other societies began to form, interest became divided, and four or five years ago only twenty-eight members might have been counted. Since the election of Mrs. Mary B. Yoder to the presidency, four years ago, there has been a revival of interest, and the Bellefontaine branch now numbers two hundred members, while in the county at large there are one hundred and ninety more. The Bellefontaine contingent contributed one hundred dollars to the "dry" campaign fund last year, the county members adding seventy-one dollars. In addition to this the local W. C. T. U. has adopted a French war orphan, money has been sent to the "economy kitchens" and to the W. C. T. U. ambulance in France. Mrs. Yoder, the president, is also state lecturer and organizer in Ohio. The vice president is Mrs. Charles Gregory; treasurer, Mrs. W. H. Bushong; secretary, Mrs. W. S. Hamilton. The county president is Mrs. W. S. Jones of Bellefontaine. In every struggle at arms since the war of 1812. Logan county (page 246) has given of its sons to the defense of the nation without stint. There went from this commonwealth, in the war for the Union, more than two thousand soldiers, out of its then scant population of 20,342. The first Logan county soldier to fall in that struggle was Eugene Reynolds, and in his honor the Grand Army Post No. 441 was named, upon its establishment in May, 1884. There were then but thirty-four charter members, of whom but six are now living. The membership grew until at its highest point it reached three hundred and sixty, but each year subsequent to that has seen the number decrease, until now there are but thirty-four members left. Of the more than thirty who rode in last year's parade, "taps" have been sounded for four.

            The Women's Relief Corps organized in Bellefontaine in September, 1886, charter 156, with ten members, Mrs. Mary Wilkinson, president. The chaplain, Catherine Humphreys, and the guard, Mattie W. Roebuck, are all that are left of this number. This organization has numbered and still numbers some of Bellefontaine's ablest women, who are carrying along the work that is left them with the ardent faith of old. In 1901 the State Encampment was won for Bellefontaine by the famous impromptu speech of Mrs. J. Q. A. Campbell, who pledged at the Findlay Encampment "a feather pillow for every old soldier's head" in the name of the women of Logan county. And the pledge was kept. Mrs. Campbell is now the treasurer of the corps ; Mrs. Samuel Cooper, the president, and Mrs. A. N. Jenkinson, the secretary. The W. R. C. provide the flag for the "High Point" flagpole, on the C. D. Campbell farm. "Will Riddle" Camp, No. 23, Sons of Veterans, was chartered in January, 1898, with twenty-three members. A "Woman's Auxiliary" to the camp was also organized a few years later under charter .79, dated April 27, 1901.

            An organization usually regarded as wholly religious, the Order of the King's Daughters and Sons was started in Bellefontaine about thirty years ago, in 1889 or early in 1890, "for spiritual culture" and for "silent service," the number being at first limited to ten members. The first circle of ten was named the "Alpha" and the charter members were Bertha Powell (Stuckenberg), Mrs. George Emerson (Coulter), Mrs. Henry Whitworth, Georgia Coulter, Mrs. John E. West, Annie Price, Anna Colton, Emma Byers (deceased), Mrs. Clara G. West (deceased), and Mrs. Anson Carter. This was the first purely charitable work organized here which had no limitations, except the need of the object. This society so exactly filled a long felt want that the circle was soon enlarged to twenty members, and as time has passed three additional circles of equal magnitude have been formed, the St. Cecilias in 1899, the Dorcas circle in 1908, and the Agape, early in 1913. To avoid over-lapping of the charities of the circles, who have grown into the place usually occupied by the Associated Charities of other cities, a City Union was organized of all existing circles, to act as a clearing house and to carry on the movement for a visiting nurse more effectively. The order had already made the care of the needy sick one of its chief objects, and had borne the expenses of many individual cases at homes and at hospitals. In 1912 the Red Cross Christmas seals were first sold (page 247) in Bellefontaine with this end in view. Through successive sales, aided by systematic contributions from the fraternal orders, and from the Presbyterian and other church brotherhoods, and the co-operation of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Agency, and the liberality of private individuals, the public health nurse has now become an established institution in Bellefontaine, Miss Josephine Cunningham, who resigned after the completion of one successful year, having been at once replaced by her sister, Miss Amy Cunningham. Miss Steckel, who preceded them in a six-months' service, was called to Red Cross war service. St. Cecilia circle inaugurated a sewing class, at one of the public schools, which led to the adoption of domestic science training in the schools. In spite of the motive of "silent service" the work of the King's Daughters has grown to such proportions that a certain degree of publicity now necessarily obtains. Mrs. Margaret Riddle is the senior member of the order, and as leader of Alpha Circle has been held in high reverence for a long term of years.

            The Bellefontaine chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, organized June 15, 1910, with eighteen charter members. The first regent was Miss Mary Powell, and vice regent, Mrs. Rebecca Williams; treasurer, Mrs. Gorton Scarff, all since deceased; secretary, Miss Dade Kennedy; registrar, Blanche Hamilton; historian, Nellie Huston; directors, Mesdames Ellis, Jones and West. The local work done by the organization is in line with the ethics of the order, and briefly stated, has been the marking of Hull's trace by a bronze tablet set in a natural boulder at the old McPherson home site. They have supported a French orphan during two years of the war, and are prepared to assist in the restoration of the ruined village of Tilloley, in France. There is also a project, which has been delayed by the war work, to erect a memorial entrance to Rutan park, in honor of Mrs. Rebecca Williams. Mrs. Martha McPherson Miller, of Lewistown, who died December, 1918, was a member of this chapter, the only real "daughter" left in the country. The membership, January, 1919, numbers forty-six, and the officers of today are: Mrs. J. W. Young, regent; Mrs. Charles D. Campbell, vice regent; Mrs. R. M. Wissler, secretary ; Helen Patterson, treasurer ; Mabel Walker, registrar ; Mrs. D. B. Leonard, historian ; directors, Mesdames Harriet Jones, J. J. Anderson and J. S. Deemy.

            A city federation of women's clubs was formed in the winter of 1913-14, the idea originating, locally, with Mrs. Lewis Pettit, of the Tourist Club, who became-the first federation president. The constitution, adopted February 21, 1914, states the purpose of the federation to be the promotion of public welfare, and the work of the organization has been to assist financially in civic welfare movements, having taken for a special motive, the establishment of playgrounds for the growing boys and girls of Bellefontaine. The playgrounds have been operated, at the South and West schools. Eleven clubs are united in the federation as follows : Tourist, Sunnebah, Athenian, Woman's Franchise League, Woman's Literary Club, Woman's Club, Swastika, Economics, Onaway, Edelweiss and Art Clubs, all study organizations. The officers are: President, Mrs. (page 248) W. M. Stamats; first vice president, Mrs. C. F. O'Donnell; second vice president, Mrs. E. M. Hamilton ; secretary, Miss Etta McCormick; treasurer, Mrs. Margaret Barton.

            The Woman's Franchise League was organized in Bellefontaine in January, 1912, following a preliminary meeting held at the home of Mrs. Martha Fehl and Miss R. Eva Byers at which, by co-operation with the W. C. T. U., Mrs. Florence D. Richard addressed the women, and a permanent organization was effected, with Miss Florine Folsom as president, the name "Woman's Franchise League" being chosen at a later meeting. The Constitutional Convention being in session in Columbus at the time, the supporters of equal suffrage had taken new hope of success for a suffrage amendment, and a canvas of the Bellefontaine tax duplicate having disclosed eight hundred and fifteen women taxpayers in the city, the local Franchise League was given a strong point of attack for their initial campaign. Though supported by the opinions of two great presidents-Thomas Jefferson, who said, "A government is, not complete that withholds from its women what it gives to its most benighted men," and Abraham Lincoln, who said, "I go for all sharing the privileges of the government who assist in bearing its burdens-by no means excluding women," the franchise movement was by no means a popular one in the start. But in the seven years just closing (1919) great headway has been gained, and public support is still growing apace. The daily papers have been generous in space and comment, public speakers of note have been heard at the Chautauqua, at the county fairs and at meetings held in public places as well as in private homes, and in schools. Among a long list of famous women workers along this line, the visit of Rosalie Jones and Elizabeth Freeman of New York City, in the little yellow wagon, is certain to be remembered. The passage of the twenty-third amendment became at once the objective of the Leagues' efforts in 1912, and succeeding in the convention at Columbus, the local suffrage women braved the criticism of the public by working at the polls at the September election, passing out the "vote yes" cards. The amendment was lost, but in 1914 an amendment having again been petitioned for by the State Suffrage Association, the local Franchise League secured the signatures of fifteen hundred and forty voters of Logan county for its passage. Again the amendment was lost, but with a decided gain over the vote of 1912. The result was simply harder work, and the inauguration of a campaign of public education, by means of public lectures, the newspapers, distribution by mail and personally, of suffrage literature, and by a study of civil government and parliamentary law on their own part, in classes. Efforts have not been confined solely to suffrage questions, however, but lectures have been given and classes conducted, under their auspices, in the "cold-pack" canning processes, the preservation of wild bird life, and kindred subjects, while a large amount of literature from the state board of health has been distributed on the prevention of tuberculosis and "How to Save the Babies."

            The Franchise League has never been connected, in any way, with the old "Congressional Union," nor with the "Woman's (page 249) Political Party" of militant notoriety. It is a member of the City Federation of Women's Clubs, and works only along the most enlightened lines. It has been supported by the best brains and wisest women of Bellefontaine, among whom foremost mention should be made of Mrs. Mary Phillips Koogle, who is of the same lineage as the great reformer, Wendell Phillips, who long ago lifted his voice for equal suffrage; while the active workers and influential members include such names as Mesdames Martha Byers Fehl, Celia A. Inskeep, Margaret Stillwell, Strayer Pool, Estelle H. Campbell, Rosa Hall, Henry Switzer, Mary Henry, Oscar McLaughlin, Jessie Gibson, C. C. Yule, Juliette McLaughlin, Alice Rankin, Maggie Watson Ginn and Mary Jeffries and Misses Dr. Carrie Richeson, Mary Craig, Mary A. Cheever, May McReynolds, Alice Hamilton, Sarah A. Knight, R. Eva Byers, Florine Folsom, Mary McElree, Sarah Henry, Ida May Moore and Cloris Aikin.

            The Railroad Young Men's Christian Association of Bellefontaine was organized in 1900, and the headquarters, erected in the vicinity of the Big Four shops, was opened and dedicated January 10, 1901, for the benefit of railroad men resident and running between Cleveland and Indianapolis. Mr. Edward Hamilton, international secretary of R. R. Y. M. C. A.'s had supervision of the construction and planning of the institution, his wide experience enabling him to provide the home-like atmosphere desirable. The f irst board of managers were: Chairman, A. N. Jenkinson; Dr. J. H. Wilson, J. Belser, Will Spittle and Henry Myers, the first secretary being Mr. Pawlings, who was followed by Mr. Imish, Mr. Weaver and J. H. Underkircher, the present secretary, replacing the latter in 1909. The efficiency of the institution has been greatly enlarged since the administration of Mr. Underkircher, although the work has grown steadily from the start. In addition to the original hotel from one to four dwelling houses have been operated as rooming places, and in November, 1914, the downtown hotel headquarters was opened, using the old Bellefontaine Hotel on West Columbus avenue for the purpose. A gymnasium is accommodated here, and the hotel provides more and better rooms than were available in the dwellings previously rented. The association has done a great work in the city, and has been felt in all the war work and other public movements undertaken. In 1918 they provided and erected a fne steel fag pole to mark the highest' point of land in Logan county, and the state of Ohio, the spot being located authentically on the C. D. Campbell farm, a few miles east of the city, on the Jerusalem pike. The fag which few from it was provided by the W. R. C. of Reynolds Post. The membership of the Y. M. C. A. has reached eight hundred. The present board of directors is A. N. Jenkinson, Dr. J. H. Wilson, A. Jay Miller, Fred C. Spittle, Edward G. Costin, W. D. Paul, J. H. Underkircher. The prospects are now bright for the building of a new and modern home for the association in the near future.

            The Bellefontaine council of the Knights of Columbus began its life as part of the Sidney, Ohio, council from 1906 until April 1, 1915, when they formed an independent council with fifty charter (page 250) members, a number which has grown until now (1919) there are eighty-six members, taking no account of those who have come and gone in the interim. Primarily formed to provide proper social atmosphere for the young men of St. Patrick's parish, the council has during the late war broadened its scope and co-operated with the entire community in all the war drives and relief work, and has also raised separate funds for the maintenance of moral uplift work in the army camps and cantonments in this country and overseas. Twenty-two of the eighty-six members have been in army service, part of the number being still in France. John A. Sugrue, present Grand Knight, represented the council on the board of the War Chest drive, when the Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., K. of C., Jewish Welfare and Salvation Army joined hands to raise funds for the support of all.

            The remaining officers of the council are: Deputy grand knight, Christopher Rath ; chancellor, Harry Sellars ; guards, M. J. Brophy, and Anthony Fisher; advocate, T. M. Shea; recording secretary, Edward Brandenburg; financial secretary, Francis J. Brennan; trustees, T. A. Hennesy, M. J. Brophy and William Purcell. Industry in Bellefontaine began with log cabin building, in which for the greater part "every man was his own architect," at least until he had a roof over his head, when specialization set in. Nathaniel Dodge not only kept a public house, but was Bellefontaine's first shoemaker. Shoes, of course, called for leather, and the first of several tanneries was established by Leonard Houtz and Jacob Staley, outside the southwest corner of the town plat. The very first saddler was justice Edwards-also known in the county as a school teacher. He was soon competed with in the saddlery business by Martin Shields, and by a man named Chevalier. Abner Riddle was a journeyman saddler in the Chevalier shop about 1826, but did not locate permanently in the county seat at *that time. William Powell was the first carpenter and cabinet maker, and though not written down as an undertaker, he made coffins, using the native walnut from the Marmon sawmill in Mad river valley.

            The first blacksmith was Thomas Good, who had a shop on East Chillicothe avenue, nearly opposite the site of the first Episcopal chapel. John Powell was the first tailor, in a community where homemade buckskin breeches prevailed. Jacob Powell was a gunsmith. But these were only the "first." Many a rival establishment was opened as the village grew. The blacksmithies developed into wagon shops. A distillery and, after awhile, a brewery started up outside the old corporation limits, but these long ago "died the death."

            From William Powell's shop to Stupp's and Kennedy Brothers', or from John Powell's to the tailors, clothiers and haberdashers of modern Bellefontaine-Geiger, Wolfheim, Parker, Hamilton & Co. and others-seems a far cry, but every line presents the same degree of progress, both in trade and manufacture. In the industrial history of Bellefontaine one line of (page 251) manufacture has from the first occupied a major part of the field, and while at the present time other lines have risen to equal rivalry, vehicle making is still a distinguishing industry in Bellefontaine, and one for which this city is known in every part of the United States among buyers and manufacturers.

            Beginning with the pioneer blacksmiths, who of necessity became wheelwrights and wagon makers to supply the needs of the times, rising prosperity created a market which could better be supplied by local manufacture than by any other means; and a demand for vehicles of a high grade came as quickly, for the settlers of Logan county were but a generation removed from the refinements of the oldest civilization in America, and had no process of evolution to pass through in this regard. They knew what they wanted. Whether the shop of William Pollock on Detroit street, in which he followed blacksmithing, wheel and wagon making, or the little brick shop on East Chillicothe street at the site of the Leister JoHantgen residence was the first permanent home of the industry, is indeterminate and of no importance. Both were early enough to claim the honor of pioneering. But the distinguishing line of manufacture begun at the latter place by the Emery brothers, John, Peter and George, who came to Bellefontaine in 1849, deserves frst mention. Their specialty was pleasure vehicles, originally and elaborately designed, and usually made to order. Carriages of every description were made, every part of the work being produced in the local factory. The luxuriousness of finish, fittings and trappings can scarcely be conveyed here, but an immediate fame followed the industry which spread afar. Many people still remember vividly the celebrated "swan sleigh"-designed and made by the Emerysa creation of white and gold, with its sides fashioned in the sweeping lines of a floating swan, with gorgeous cushionings, in which the gay youth of Bellefontaine swept over the snowy highways, the envy of all beholders. It ended its days (which were long in the land of Logan) in a sombre coat of black, but the merry parties it carried enjoyed it none the less. The Emery brothers began their work in the shop on East Chillicothe avenue, but soon built larger quarters on the east side of Detroit street, where, in 1853, Amos Miller, who came to Bellefontaine from Cleveland, Ohio, had established himself in the carriage industry in the Pollock shop on the west side. Both factories grew, and after a period of several years the Emery brothers withdrew from the field while still in the high tide of success, to engage in less strenuous pursuits, while Amos Miller's brothers, David J., Jacob N. and Samuel P. Miller, all of Wayne county, Ohio, came to join him in the more extensive manufacture of carriages and pleasure vehicles which he had planned. Miller Brothers then became the leading firm in this line, and held the center of the field for more than thirty years following. They were the patentees of the famous "Eureka" jump-seat buggy, which had a popularity as wide as the country, and were the originators of the carriage body business, to which they turned their attention exclusively, incorporating under the name of the Miller Carriage Company. Some degree of unwisdom in promoting too many novelties in style, the sudden uprise of the automobile (page 252) trade, and, chiefly, advancing age finally brought this time-honored business to an end about twenty years ago. Amos Miller died March 6, 1910, and David J. Miller (father of Charles Miller), now eighty-nine years of age, is the only one of the Miller brothers surviving.

            The A. J. Miller and Company Auto Bodies plant, which now occupies quarters with some hundred thousand square feet of floor space under roof, is not an outgrowth of the former Miller establishments, although Alfred J. Miller ("Allie" Miller), the sole proprietor, is the son of Amos Miller. The present business was begun in a small shop at the site of the King buggy repair shop on Detroit street, in which Mr. Miller, then nineteen years of age, opened for business on his own initiative and "capital." Before so very long the business had outgrown this little shop and was moved to the old Everett tannery, where C. L. Robb's factory now stands. This place being destroyed by fre April 19, 1890, Mr. Miller purchased the Byers property lying in the angle of the railway tracks south of the Big Four depot, where he erected the frame part of the present large plant. More ground was added presently, and the property now comprises seven acres, part of which is neatly parked. The business has been enlarged from time to time since 1890, and since 1911 has been devoted exclusively to the manufacture of auto bodies, of which practically every variety is made, for civil and military uses, the chief line now being ambulances, hearses and a complete line of motor driven vehicles for the undertaking trade. Work is done by contract for auto manufacturers, and for the direct purchaser, and the entire process from start to finish is completed in this factory, the bodies leaving it ready for the chassis. The Miller factory also assembles a chassis of its own, known as the "Miller."

            Various other vehicle concerns have flourished and gone their way during the decades, the little shop on East Chillicothe having accommodated, successively, after the Emerys, Younglove and McLaughlin; Fossler, Green and Company; Falte, Green and Company ; H. C. Garwood and Company (1883) ; Kingsbury and Crockett (1893) ; Kingsbury and Rawlings for awhile, the Kingsbury firm removing in 1908 to their present location between Auburn and Patterson streets, west of Main, where the Kingsbury buggy and auto works does a repair and rebuilding business. Joseph JoHantgen, who originally came to Bellefontaine to enter the Miller brothers factory, established himself in business in the Detroit street quarters, and now occupies both the old Emery and the Miller sites, in a prosperous business along auto repairing lines. The Miller works was moved to the old Bellefontaine skating rink, which stood of East Chillicothe avenue near where is now the residence of W. T. Haviland, and from there to the empty building of the defunct woolen mill, which has since been converted into a mattress factory. In the old chapel of the United Presbyterians, on Detroit street, David J. Miller at one time engaged in the carriage business with a son-in-law of Amos Miller, Mr. Kiplinger, the place being occupied afterward by Barker and Foulk in the same line, while, eleven years ago, Harry W. Eaton took the building and continued (page 253) the industry until 1916, when he changed it to automobile repairing. The Dodge Brothers Motor car has its agency there. Other temporary firms in this line have been Duddy, Fossler and Goodwin, Duddy and Goodwin, and O. S. Goodwin. The original Pollock establishment on Detroit street was removed to the neighborhood of the Colton mill-not then built. Lawrence Rausenberger, a boy born and reared in Logan county, on a farm near DeGraff, was always of the type who "wanted to see the wheels go around," and after the death of his father, he removed with his mother to Bellefontaine. Here he learned the machinist's art and was employed in the A. J. Miller factory, where his unusual ability and originality were constantly in evidence. At this period he conceived an idea for an airplane motor, for which he made his own patterns, assembling the castings, and, collaborating with a young colleague from Vermont, who built the plane, after which the whole was successfully tried out in public and exhibited at the Logan county fair in 1913, and at other points. The flights were made by the partner, who, though an expert, lost his life in an accident soon after. Young Rausenberger, diverted from the thought of becoming an aviator, continued the perfecting of his motor, which became recognized by experts as superior, and certain features of it were adopted in the "Liberty" motor, assembled under government supervision for army airplane use.

            With the gradual decline of the great lumbering camps and sawmills in Logan county, the more modern of the latter attracted woodworking industries which availed themselves of the machinery. In connection with the Mack Dickinson sawmill in the northwest part of Bellefontaine, N. H. Walker in 1879 erected a saw, scroll and planing mill, where furniture parts were manufactured in the rough, and where the manufacture of chairs was begun, although the unfinished product was chiefly shipped to frms in New York and Boston. The firm collapsed, however, and the plant was idle in the eighties, when the father of W. T. Haviland purchased it; and in 1886 the firm of Chichester and Haviland (junior) came to Bellefontaine and embarked in the manufacture of chairs, using the Walker building. Their product was begun and finished in the local plant. Several years of prosperous business ensued, but in the financial depression of 1893 the manufacture was discontinued. The building was later sold by Haviland, senior, to the Citizens' Ice and Supply Company, a regularly organized stock concern, whose officers and directors are Nevin U. Smith, president; W. T. Haviland, vice-president ; Charles H. Zearing, secretary, treasurer and manager ; John E. Miller, W. G. Wissler. The affairs of the company may be briefly termed "one hundred per cent solid," with a fine surplus, and paid, at the end of the last year, an eight per cent dividend on stock.

            The warehouses of Keller & Gebby in Bellefontaine are the oldest in the county, built about 1850, by David Boyd, operated by Douglas & Gardner for some time, then by Boyd & Ghormley, and later by David Boyd & Sons, who controlled it for a period of (page 254) from twenty to thirty years, or until 1886, when the plant and business was sold to Armstrong, Elliott & Co., D. C. Keller being the "company." After three years Mr. Elliott retired from the firm, which Mr. Frank Dowell then entered, the name changing to Armstrong, Keller & Co., under which business was conducted from 1889 to 1899. As Keller & Dowell the firm continued from 1899 to 1906, when Elmer R. Gebby replaced Mr. Dowell-and he firm of Keller & Gebby is now entering its thirteenth successful year. Thus nearly seventy years' continuous elevator shipping and storage business has been carried on from this historic plant, which is the largest concern of its nature within a wide circle. Branch plants are located at Bellecentre, New Richland and Huntsville, and the business done here is commensurate with the importance of Bellefontaine as a commercial center. Grain, seed, wool, coal, hay and builders' supplies are the lines handled.

            The A. R. Kerr & Co. warehouse business was founded in 1870, by R. S. Kerr & Co., and operated under that name until 1895, when it was changed to Kerr Brothers, who maintained the same lines of trade and shipping until 1915. The death of R. S. Kerr occurring in May, 1915, the firm was reorganized, becoming A. R. Kerr & Co., A. R. Kerr being the son of the founder. Coal, grain, wool and feed are the lines of commerce now engaged in by the firm. The present warehouse and office stands south of Auburn street, extending south to the alley, but formerly was situated on the north side of Auburn, on railroad ground, using a part of the space once occupied by the old "Bee Line" roundhouse. It then covered the historic Blue jacket spring, the water from which was piped into the office of the warehouse for drinking purposes. In the old roundhouse days, the same spring furnished water for the engines of the road, the. once well-known Michael Kelly operating the pumping engine which kept the tank filled. Also, it was the water from this spring which played a major part in subduing the great conflagration of 1856, when Bellefontaine narrowly escaped being wiped from the map, the "Bucket Brigade" maintaining a line of water from the spring to the fire. After all this service, it seems hardly credible that this flowing fountain of pure water should be hidden away in the debris of a neglected spot. It is, however, still there in the old place, though tightly covered, and requiring a six-inch pipe to conduct its waters to a sewer. Bellefontaine owes it to itself to bring the forgotten fountain to light and perpetuate it. The lumber market in Bellefontaine is supplied by two concerns, the oldest of which is of long history, having its beginnings in the firm of Hoge, Williamson and Brown. In 1876 this firm became, by deaths and reorganization, Williamson and LeSourd. At Mr. Williamson's death, Mr. LeSourd took his sons into partnership, the frm becoming A. LeSourd and Sons, and the business is now conducted as "The A. LeSourd Sons company," Mr. LeSourd senior having departed this life in 1914. The LeSourd company have played an important part in the building up of Bellefontaine, erecting, upon their own initiative, many houses of which the increasing population of the city gladly availed themselves. Other firms who deserve special mention in this connection are the real (page 255) estate firms of Carter brothers, and Hamilton brothers, both of which have built extensively, providing homes for the rapid influx of industrial forces in the city. The second lumber concern is the Logan County Lumber company, which is the largest lumber warehouse in the county, and operates a wood-working department at its headquarters on Patterson street. This plant was established by the Peter Kunz company about fifteen years ago (in 1904), with capital largely local, and the manager is Mr. E. Ray Allebaugh, a business man of high standing.

            The O'Brien Stone company of Bellefontaine, is an important industry, manufacturing crushed and pulverized limestone from domestic sources, as well as cut and building stone, which is imported. The headquarters of the company is located near the original quarries of Logan county, west of Bellefontaine.

            The Bellefontaine Bridge and Steel company was organized and incorporated about 1890, and began business on Garfield street, at the vicinity of the Bell Novelty company and the Grabiel apple warehouse. After a few years a new location, where space was less expensive, became desirable and a new plant was erected, around which the growing suburb of Iron City has clustered, the land being platted into lots for the homes of employees. The plant was destroyed by fire in 1906, but the company almost immediately rebuilt, on a larger scale, to meet the increasing business prospects. This concern has been a boon to the city of Bellefontaine, as it has furnished steady employment since its beginning, and under the efficient management of Mr. John E. Miller, who entered the employ of the company in 1895, coming here from his native state, Vermont, it has become a great financial success. The product, which is normally devoted to bridge and structural steel, will be resumed as soon as the government contracts for war materials are completed. Fully one hundred employees are kept busy at the plant. The capital stock, which originally was $10,000, has grown to $150,000. The officers and board of directors at present stand as follows : president, John L. Longfellow; vice-president, F. E. Milligan ; secretary-treasurer and general manager, John E. Miller; Dr. W. S. Phillips and George P. Worrell.

            The Colton Brothers company, merchant millers, is the oldest mill in Bellefontaine, and the largest by far in the county, covering nearly two acres enclosure, and standing on its original site between the railroad tracks, fronting on Columbus street west. The personnel of the original firm was Robert and Joseph Colton, who built the mill in 1869, since which date the business has been continuous for practically fifty years, with steady growth. The original mill operated with old-fashioned "buhrs," but in the summer of 1918 the capacity of the mill was greatly enlarged by the installation of a three hundred horsepower engine, supplemented by an oil engine of one hundred horsepower, the flour milling capacity now being six hundred barrels daily, and corn meal and feeds, two hundred barrels: About one hundred tons of corn and other feeds can be turned out daily, when desired. The average output of four is in the neighborhood of one hundred thousand barrels annually. The warehouse has room for storing about one hundred thousand bushels of grain. The (page 256) product goes southeast into the Virginias and Carolinas, and also far to the northeast, exports to England and Scotland in normal times, being extensive. During the war with Germany shipping has been under government supervision. The Colton brothers were in active business connection with the mill until the death of Robert Colton in the spring of 1918, and that of Joseph Colton in the spring of 1917. The business was incorporated in 1900, and the personnel of the present firm is: Edwin M. Colton, president; Alfred S. Colton, vice-president; C. J. Pierce, secretary ; H. K. Humphrey, treasurer and manager.

            The question of why a county so noted for wool production as Logan does not manufacture an ounce of wool for the trade is not yet satisfactorily answered. Attempts have been made in this direction, but from no vital cause have failed. The Peerless Bedding company now occupies a building which was erected by John F. Miller for a woolen mill, and which prospered for a time, but failed because the proprietor, a saloon-keeper, was more interested in wildcat mining schemes than in wool manufacture, and sacrificed the industry to the injury of others as well as himself. The building was idle for some time, or used for temporary manufacturing endeavors, then occupied by the Miller brothers' carriage body works, and finally, at the suggestion of an outside investor, opened up about 1900 as a mattress factory in charge of Howenstine and Huston, who engaged a capable manager and included the manufacture of comforts and pillows in the industry, which grew rapidly to a volume worth hundreds of thousands annually. The present manufacturers of the same lines, incorporated in 1911, and the building is rented to them. The firm was re-organized in 1914, and now stands as Bennett and Goodfellow, after several changes in its personnel. Bennett and Goodfellow are sterling business men and their product is of sterling manufacture, consisting of mattresses of cotton, wool and "silk fibre," the latter known by the trade name of "Kapoc." Pillows are made both of feathers and of cotton. A government contract for fifteen thousand beds is just now, January, 1919, being brought to completion.

            Other industries which have become prominent and are growing in magnitude and importance are the J. L. Simpson company, iron    castings ; the Ironwood Manufacturing company, machine products ; the Clingerman machine shop ; the Humphrey Bronze and Aluminum company, and the Kaufman Metal Parts company; all of which are adding to the material prosperity of Bellefontaine, and all of which have been doing important war work for the government during the two years past.

            It seems unnecessary to say that the really great financial tower of strength in Bellefontaine is the pay-roll of the Big Four shops and terminal, and the division offices. These plants, located in Bellefontaine in 1890 for the now trifling bonus of one hundred thousand dollars voted by the citizens, are at present more than equal, in dollars and cents returned, to all the other industries in the city. More than half a million dollars annually are being poured into Bellefontaine by means of the Big Four pay-roll. The great terminals have been enlarged in the season just past (1918), and still greater (page 257) additions are planned. The third foor of the beautiful Canby block is occupied, entire, by the division offices.

            A commercial asset of decided importance to Bellefontaine is the wholesale groceries concern of F. N. Johnson & Co., which occupies its own large warehouse on West Chillicothe street.

            It was established in 1900, and is not only the first but the only wholesale house in this line in Logan county, and is operated by a live wire company, the officers of which should be given the credit they are too modest to claim. The officers and board of directors are: president and manager, F. N. Johnson; vice-president, L. A. Chapman (Lima, Ohio) ; secretary-treasurer, A. L. Kendall ; Emil Geiger, Max Kaufman, and J. L. Longfellow. With practically the same personnel, the F. N. Johnson Maple Syrup company (an entirely separate firm) was formed in 1917, which operates branch plants in Geauga county and in Essex, Vermont. Charles McLaughlin and A. P. Johnson are included in this board of directors. A new industry or line of commerce recently opened in Bellefontaine is the hides and pelts depot of the Brown brothers, which bids fair to promote the local welfare by centralizing the product of Logan county in this line.

            Of the industry of the county at large, which is pre-eminently agricultural in character, two elements may be broadly said to have contributed chiefly to its development, the Sheep Breeders' association and its successor, the Logan County Woolgrowers' association, and the Logan County Fair association. The sheep and wool industry had the encouragement of judge Lawrence, whose interest in and knowledge of these questions was of the greatest value and developed early; and the county fair, which, with the possible lapse of one or two seasons, has been held annually for seventy years or more, has promoted agriculture in all its lines, as well as the fine and homely arts of farm and domestic life. The Granges, also, have been a benefit to the rural communities.

            Bellefontaine banks and loan companies occupy an enviable position in the public confidence which is well deserved, for it has been won entirely upon merit and not through advertising. Financial gales have passed over this city as well as others, but its banks have weathered them all without harm.

            The oldest financial institution in Logan county is the People's National bank, which was first organized as a private firm in 1854, by William Rutan and Abner Riddle, under the firm name of Rutan and Riddle, and, with re-organizations at different milestones along the way, has had an uninterrupted existence ever since that date. The firm employed Robert Lamb as cashier, and as the People's bank the business was conducted. After a few years Mr. Lamb was taken into the firm, which became Rutan, Riddle & Co., without change of the bank title. At the next re-organization J. B. Williams entered the firm, which did not change name. Reuben B. Keller entered the bank in 1869 as clerk and messenger. In 1880 the bank was again re-organized, being chartered July 1, 1880, as "The People's National bank," with Abner Riddle, president; J. B. Williams, vice-president; Robert Lamb, cashier; Reuben B. Keller, assistant cashier. The bank was capitalized at $100,000, which (page 258)  remains the same, while the accumulated surplus and undivided profits approximate at this date (January, 1919) $55,000, with total resources over one million dollars. The newly elected officers are: W. W. Riddle, president; John E. West, vice-president; R. B. Keller, cashier; F. L. Cory, R. B. Hiatt and Ray S. Fisher, assistants.

            Mr. Keller is the second cashier in the history of the bank, and the only one left of the working force of the bank when he entered it in 1869. The headquarters of the bank were remodeled, enlarged and modernized in 1908, when special attention was paid to the safe deposit department, which is of the strongest construction, while the general equipment and furnishings of the bank are massive, artistic and commodious.

            The earliest Bellefontaine institution to be so chartered, is the Bellefontaine National bank, which was organized in 1870, and opened for business April, 1871, with $100,000 capital. The first president was judge William Lawrence, under whom it was organized, and who retained the presidency until shortly before his death ; vice-president, J. N. Allen ; cashier, James Leister; assistant, and bookkeeper, Charles McLaughlin. At the date of January 1, 1919, the surplus and undivided profits are $47,000, the resources of the bank aggregating close to $1,000,000. From 1909 to 1918, deposits have increased $287,853 to $643,132. Mr. Charles McLaughlin is now the president, Charles S. Hockett, vice-president, Fred C. Spittle, cashier, and S. W. Hufer and Miss Cora Zearing the assistants. The bank was originally housed at the same corner where it now stands, but in the old building which had accommodated the Gazette printing office, and a drug store, Dr. Aaron Hartley being the owner of the property, which was purchased and remodeled to meet the needs of the bank. In 1892 this old building was torn down and the present substantial bank building erected on its site.

            The Commercial and Savings Bank company is the youngest of the Bellefontaine banks, being organized April 8, 1901, and opened for business in October of the same year, in the building now occupied by the Emil Geiger clothing house. This position was exchanged several years ago for the situation in the Watson Block at the northeast corner of North Main and Columbus streets, which was remodeled in modern style and with good taste for the banking business. The original directors were Robert Colton, president; Alfred Butler, vice-president; Harry S. Kerr, cashier; Fred C. Spittle, assistant; T. F. Bushey, W. W. Fisher, Mack Dickinson, Edw. W. Patterson, William R. Niven and E. P. Chamberlain. Capital stock, $30,000; surplus and undivided profits, date of December 31, 1918, $30,000; resources, practically a half million. The present officers and board are : Edw. W. Patterson, president ; William T. Haviland, vice-president; Alfred Butler, cashier; Harry E. Travis, assistant. Niven U. Smith, Fred W. Arnold, John R. Cassady, Edw. M. Colton, and Robt. P. Dickinson.

            The Citizens' Building and Loan company is the oldest organization of its character in Bellefontaine, having been established January 29, 1885, by Thomas L. Hutchins, president; Isaac N. Zearing, vice-president; Joseph C. Brand, jr., secretary; John B. (page 259)  Williams, treasurer ; Ducan Dow, Frank J. Scarf and Patrick F. Dugan. The resources of the institution have grown to full $750,000, according to report of December 31, 1918. Its present board of directors is as follows : I. N. Zearing, president; Charles McLaughlin, vice-president; W. W. Riddle, solicitor; Mary A. Cheever, secretary ; J. D. McLaughlin, C. B. Churchill and R. M. Wissler. The Savings Building and Loan company was organized and established by Capt. William Lane, president, and Corey L. Lane, secretary, in July, 1891, and carried on along the usual lines, becoming a solid institution with total resources, to date, $746,000. Earn

ings and distribution equal about $40,000. Its 1919 organization is: Dr. R. W. Chalfant, president; W. E. Smith, vice-president; John D. Inskeep, secretary; A. Jay Miller, solicitor; Fred C. Spittle and Fremont C. Hamilton, directors.

            The Bellefontaine Building and Loan company was organized in 1894, and is now twenty-five years of age. It started business in the second story of the old building which, partially destroyed by f ire some years ago, has been replaced by the new Lawrence block, on South Main street. The company then consisted of Joseph Colton, Anson B. Carter, Alfred Butler, Mack Dickinson, Reuben B. Keller, M. R. Boales and L. E. Corey, first secretary. Joseph Colton and Mack Dickinson, both deceased, have been replaced in the company by Leister JoHantgen and Charles Zearing, while Charles S. Hockett succeeded M. R. Boales, who moved away from Bellefontaine some years ago. The present secretary is F. W. Arnold, under whose management the growth and prosperity of the institution has been almost phenomenal. In the quarters on West Columbus avenue the company is beginning to ft rather tightly, and the business is growing, with loans totaling about one and a half millions, and resources of three million dollars. The Bellefontaine Chamber of Commerce was formed, of representative business and professional men, April 1, 1916. Its purpose is to build up and promote the commercial, industrial and civic interests of the city and community. That it will fulfill its avowed purpose of "a bigger, busier, better Bellefontaine," is assured by the character of its membership. The official organization of the current year is: President, John P. Aikin; vice-president, Myran LeSourd; treasurer, Alfred Butler; secretary, Merlyn R. Whitney; Committees : Business, A. P. Humphreys ; organization, G. E. Underhill ; agricultural, 0. P. Morris ; civic, J. 0. Stiles ; at large, H. K. Humphrey, W. H. Hamilton, George K. Werrell.

Education

            It is not the intention of the writer of this article to attempt a detailed account of the rise, progress, and present attainments of each of Logan county's schools, but to treat of their evolution in a general way.

            Perhaps the most difficult problem that school men have been trying to solve for the past forty years is what to do with the rural school that it may keep pace with the progressive spirit of the times. The backward look is sometimes a pleasing as well as a profitable (page 260)  pastime since it affords us a better realization of what has been done by comparing what was with what is.

            The first work of the pioneer of old Logan was providing for the physical welfare of his family. Food, clothing, and shelter were absolute necessities, to furnish which forests must be cleared and drained and arable fields carved from the trackless wilderness. It is a significant fact that in all pioneer settlements, as soon as a comfortable cabin was erected, and a little corn planted, a log school house was rolled up. A cavernous fire place filled the rear end; the outside chimney was made of sticks and mud; the roof, often, of logs chinked with leaves over which a covering of dirt was packed ; the windows were mere slits between the logs, glazed with greased paper; the seats were rude benches hand-made.

            What a "Red Letter" day for the entire community was the dedication of this frst Temple of Learning.

            "There, in his noisy mansion, skilled to rule,

            The village master taught his little school;

             A man severe he was, and stern to view,

             I knew him well, and every truant knew;

            Well had the boding tremblers learned to trace

            The day's disasters in his morning face;

            Full well they laughed with counterfeited glee

            At all his jokes, for many a joke had he;

            Full well the busy whisper, circling round,

            Conveyed the dismal tidings when he frowned;

            Yet he was kind, or if severe in aught,

            The love he bore to learning was in fault.

            The village all declared how much he knew;

            'Twas certain he could write, and cipher too:

            Lands he could measure, terms and tides presage,

            And even the story ran that he could gauge.

            In arguing, too, the parson owned his skill,

            For e'en though vanquished, he could argue still;

            While -words of learned length and thund'ring sound

            Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around,

            And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew

            That one small head could carry all he knew,

            But past is all his fame. The very spot,

            Where many a time he triumphed, is forgot."

            Though myriads of bacilli, microbes, and germs of every known variety lurked in the chinks of the walls, or held high carnival in the cracks of the puncheon floors, the unwary rustics thoroughly enjoyed their school life and many of them passed their fourscore milestone before succumbing to heart failure.

            The public school system of Ohio was established in 1821, and four years later the first uniform law on school taxes was passed, directing the county commissioners to levy one-half mill for common school purposes, only one-half of which could be expended for a site and a house. Ten years later the maximum amount of schoolhouse tax was fixed at $300. In 1853 the power of taxation for (page 261) schoolhouse construction was vested in boards of education, which resulted in an increased amount available for building purposes. The log house was replaced by one of frame or brick all constructed on the same architectural plan, which of necessity was marked by great simplicity. Of equipment for teaching there was little if any. No attempt was made to beautify either school room or grounds. The three R's may have been well taught; but the spiritualizing influences so necessary to educational uplift were lacking.

            The pioneer having settled the country, now began to settle down and improve country life. New methods of communication, better means of transportation, had brought the erstwhile isolated farmer right into the hurry and bustle of the world's work. Newer and better comforts of life were within his reach. His two-roomed cabin had given place to a commodious modern house. His ample barns afforded storage for the greater harvests improved machinery and scientific farming had made possible. No longer was the old 'umber wagon used for social visits or for church going, the carriage or automobile having taken its place. The successful farmer is not satisfied with mere creature comforts. Flowers, shrubbery, and shade trees tastefully arranged on a well-kept lawn indicate his love for the beautiful in nature. Music, pictures, current magazines, and the masterpieces of the best authors, within his home, speak eloquently of higher ideals and a richer country life. But what about the country school house? Has it kept pace with its surroundings? 'Tis true that the old order has changed in many localities, and the improvement of house and grounds has given the country boy and girl a wider outlook and a richer life; but too often the box-car type, with its blank walls and desolate yard, remains.

            "Of the many pictures that hang on memory's wall," that of a dilapidated weather-beaten structure seemeth most vivid. The little old building stood on the edge of a ravine back of which were forest trees. One stormy morning, late in November, an old man mounted on a shambling farm horse was slowly approaching this temple of learning, for such it was. Behind the old man sat a terror-stricken young girl. Soon the building was in sight and gathered around its door was a group of eager rustics of every age and size. The zero hour came all too quickly; the horse stopped, the girl dismounted, and twenty pairs of eyes were focused upon her. The very critical examination seemed to result in the unanimous decision that her head could carry all she knew and not be overcrowded. The door was open ; a fire made; the director, mounting his old horse, slowly rode away, and the three months' campaign began. It was fierce, but there were no casualties, though four months slowly rolled by before hostilities ceased along that line.

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