by Emily Rinaman, Catalog Librarian
For this month’s blog, we will be doing something a little different as we kick off an exciting year of our nation’s 250th anniversary culminating in July. We’d like to share all the documented “firsts” of Seneca County that have been recorded in sources that are digitized on the Seneca County Digital Library. Listed below in chronological and geographical order are various Seneca County “firsts”.
First fur traders: Frenchmen in 1700, by way of Detroit
First road: (Military) plank road, 1812, from Upper Sandusky to Fremont – now SR 53. “Gen. Bell, under instructions from Gen. Harrison, for the use of the Army to convey military stores, troops and provisions.” Surveyed into a state road in 1821.
First grist mill: Ezra and Case Brown, rural Melmore, 1821
First white settler: Erastus Bowe, November 1817 (built a log cabin and tavern on the Fort Ball side of the Sandusky River)
First post office: Oakley, 1820
First township elections: Thomas Township (May 1820); Eden Township (June 1821); Reed Township (Jan. 1827); Liberty Township (April 1833); Big Spring Township (April 1833)
Spectators watch a performance at the very first Seneca County Fair, 1842.
First county election: 1824
First citizen naturalized: William Doyle, 1824
First surveyed village: Oakley, also known as “Vance’s Town”
First land patent: John Anway, west half of the southwest quarter of Section 23, Township 2, Range 15
First Post Master: David Risdon “He was a surveyor and when he was called to different parts of the county, he carried the mail in his hat and delivered letters as he happened to meet the persons for whom they were intended.”
First physician: Ely Dresback, February 1823 by way of Pennsylvania. He set up his office on the corner of Miami and Sandusky Streets.
First mayor: Dr. Kuhn, June 1836 (grandfather of suffragist Louisa K. Fast)
First law case: William Rollins (white) vs. William Spicer (Native American). Robbins was accused and found guilty of stealing a significant amount of money from Spicer.
First courthouse building: August 1836
First county Fair: October 19-20, 1842 held east of the Rock Creek bridge on Market Street (see photo)
First Grange: Melmore Grange, September 1873
First movie shown in a cinema: Noble Opera House, March 1897
First female lawyer: Nettie Cronise
Tiffin
First saw mill in Tiffin: Paul Butler 1817
First established church proper congregation in Tiffin: Methodist Episcopal, Eden Township, 1821
First flour mill in Tiffin: Josiah Hedges, 1822
First church building in Tiffin: Brick building on 20 East Market Street, 1828
First Mass at St. Mary’s: May 15, 1831
Tiffin’s first newspaper: Seneca Patriot, 1832
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church was the first public building in Tiffin with electricity.
First public building with electricity: St. Paul’s United Methodist Church was wired as it was built and included a chandelier gifted by Thomas Edison and the Tiffin Edison Electric Illuminating Co.
First plat: The second that encompasses the east/west streets, Perry, Market and Madison and the north/south streets Jefferson, Washington, Monroe
Green Springs
First settler: M.B. Adams by way of Connecticut, 1834
First Post Office: 1837
First hotel: Col. Bradley, 1838
Bascom
First saw mill: Paul Butler, 1819
Bettsville & Liberty Township of Seneca County
First settlers: George and Catherine Puffenberger, by way of Virginia, in Section 28
First hotel and operator: Col. Smith, on Lot #36 (State Street west of the railroad), 1870s. This building has been demolished
Eden Township/Melmore
First settlement: Mohawk Indian Village, consisting of 20 log huts on a reservation
First resident physician: Dr. Daniel Bate
First business: Buckley Hutchin’s general store
Works cited:
Tiffin Historic Trust. Sidewalks Streets and Alleys. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/51851/rec/2
Durrett, John. History of Bettsville. 1984. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/29643
75th Anniversary Souvenir. 1897. Seneca County Digital Library. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/22962/rec/2
Fourth Annual Heritage Festival 1817-1982, Sayger Printing, 1982. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/27555/rec/1
History of Eden Township and Melmore. Seneca County Digital Library. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/29665
Dildine, Frank. From Wilderness to City. Seneca County Digital Library. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/22177
Bascom Area Sesquicentennial 1837-1987. Seneca County Digital Library. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/41947
First Seneca County Fair, 1842. Seneca County Digital Library. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/73481
Early Tiffin Churches, 1820s-1880s. Seasons Magazine, July/Aug. 1992. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/34770
The History of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Tiffin. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/35730
Peddicord, Lura. Green Springs Ohio Centennial. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/29438
Butterfield, Consul. History of Seneca County: Containing a Detailed Narrative. 1848. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/87554