History Notes of Bascom
September 16, 1998, article one

"Look at that big black dog!" exclaimed Mrs. DeWald to her husband as they were walking from what today is Bascom to Tiffin one day long ago.

Mr. DeWald turned to see the approach of a largish ebony beast. He quickly but calmly asked his wife to hide behind a nearby tree and tested the reassuring feel of his stout hickory walking stick.

'Twas no dog making for the DeWalds. It was a bear.

Today, of course, hardly anyone walks from Bascom to Tiffin and bruins, black or otherwise, don't pose much of a threat in Seneca County anymore.

But the DeWalds were out for their walk around 1835. John DeWald used his walking stick to ward off the bear and, in fact, killed it.

Hopewell Township was organized in 1824 and Bascom was platted in 1837 by George Gist, county surveyor. Bascom was to be an outpost for tradesmen who would serve the growing number of farms in the area.

Initially, Bascom's prospects didn't appear bright. It's tiny population of six barely grew for a number of years, but eventually it began to prosper.

By 1870, Bascom was home to approximately 100 citizens and included a store, two taverns, a cabinet shop, a wagon shop, a tannery, a blacksmith and a school.

Incidentally, our neighbors to the east named their town for the Bascom of Scott and Bascom, publishers of the Columbus State Journal.

One of Bascom's earliest business enterprises was the Dewey Stave Factory located north of the present State Route 18 across from the site of the old Gem Manufacturing Co. Situated on three acres, Dewey's made staves from elm logs for barrels and kegs that people used to store salt, meat, pelts and other essentials.

One of the town's leading citizens in the 19th Century was Henry W. Matthews. A successful farmer by the age of 22, he opened a sawmill on Wolf Creek very near where the Gem factory was built. Matthews' was the first circular sawmill in this part of the country.

Eventually, there was a sawdust pile 50 feet high. One day an employee named "Spot" Glick thought to thrill the town by riding down the pile on a wooden slab. But old Spot's makeshift "sawdust special" didn't have any brakes.

He couldn't stop when he hit the bottom and concluded his bout of derring-do by making a mighty splash in Wolf Creek.

Henry's son, Scott J. Matthews built the Matthews Boat Co. in the 1890s. A worker named Perry Funk used to bore a hole in the keel of each boar and insert a small bottle containing the company's name and address. A descendant, Wayne Funk, on vacation in Canada in the 1970s, found a boat with one of Perry's bottles still in the keel.

The Queen of Spain once purchased a Matthews boat the size of two railroad flatcars.

Meadowbrook Park, Bascom's best known attraction, was built circa 1900 by the Tiffin Fostoria Electric Street Car Co. as an inducement to draw passengers to the inter-urban. The first dance pavilion was built on poles because of the high water and burned down in 1925.

Speaking of inter-urbans, the railway operated a double decker car with multi-color lights both inside and out. It made quite a sight moving through the countryside after dark. That particular car was built by the Pullman Co. and was on exhibit at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Meadowbrook's Crystal Pool, 60 by 180 ft. was completed in 1929 and was the first public swimming pool in the area. In addition to swimming, children could have a pony ride for 5 cents and anyone could drive one of the miniature autos for all of 3 cents.

The Gem Manufacturing Co. was established in 1913 by A.J. Haugh and initially made paper balers. In the 1920s, Haugh switched the product line to wooden household products and toys, including its famous barrel rocker and its "Li'l Red Rocker."

In the early 1970s, Gem leased space to Sun Inc., an early manufacturer of solar heating systms. The railroad spur that served Gem was said to be the shortest such line in the world.

On the back entrance of Clouse's Bar, it says, "Est. 1934." Today the Clouse family still operates the place.

Propietors Bud and Phyllis Clouse serve up good conversation and a friendly atmosphere to go with the beer and "buster-burgers." In past years, it also served as a general store. One early operator, John Hartzel, had a beef butchering area out back.

Before movies were shown at Meadowbrook in the '30s, the street along side Clouse's was closed and people watched outdoor movies. The side of the bar was the screen.

James Miller and Fostorian Ira Cadwallader founded the Miller Tile Co. in 1887. For most of its history, the company was located just north of Bascom near SR 635. Miller manufactured bricks until 1940 and drainage tile after that. Miller Tile was still a going concern around the time of the Bicentennial. The secretary then was 82 year old Hazel Miller who began working for the business in 1911.

In horse and buggy days, Bascom had one of the area's first woman physicians, Bertha Zahn. It wasn't unusual to see her on her buggy making a house call late at night.

Once she passed a man while walking in town and noticed his hands were badly swollen. She ushered him into her office, diagnosed an infection and gave him medicine. The infection subsided. The man never received a bill.

Dr. Zahn was famous for the plate she kept on the table in her office. It read:
"There is so much good in the worst of us/And so much bad in the best of us/That it
hardly behooves any of us/To talk about the rest of us."

On that note - The End.