Fostoria in Days of Yore
January 3, 2001

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Fostoria, Happy birthday to-0-0-0-0-0 you.

Okay, it's a little early, but in 2004 Fostoria will be celebrating an important birthday -- the 150^th anniversary of the unification of the village of Rome and Risdon. Our sesquicentennial.

On the occasion of the centennial celebration in 1954, publications were produced retelling Fostoria's history.

One was "Fostoria Highlights of the Past 120 Years" by Andrew Emerine, president of the First National Bank. The other was the "Souvenir Program and History of Fostoria in Commemoration of the Fostoria Centennial Celebration, July 11-17, 1954" by C.D. LaRue, the

"official historian" of the centennial.

Both are chock full of things I didn't know about the town we live in.

In 1831, the "Gorsuch clan" settled in a clearing near North Countyline and Summit Streets. This eventually became Risdon, named for David Risdon who surveyed it.

Hot on their heels came a tiny knot of men from Fort Ball (Tiffin area) who laid claim to the land at Main and Tiffin Streets. They named their fledgling outpost Fort McGuffey.

When Charles W. Foster (father of the governor) and Roswell and John Crocker arrived in 1832, they become the leaders of the town, platted it and renamed it Rome after the area of New York where the Crockers hailed from. The original boundaries of Rome were North, South, Wood and Poplar Streets.

The two villages were competitive devils.

Rome was chock full of Republicans, Risdon teemed with Democrats.

Rome was bigger. Risdon had the first church, a Methodist congregation and the first post office.

Rome had the first store, run by Foster and Roswell Crocker.

Rome also had the first school, a log cabin built in 1833 on Poplar between South and Tiffin Streets. Risdon's first school was organized in the home of Dr. Marcus Dana.

Rome had the first industry, David Ferrier's grist mill.

Following the merger of the two towns, Foster became the first mayor at an annual salary of $4. Yep, four bucks.

Today, Fostoria has four veterans organizations -- the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Amvets and Vietnam Veterans of America. Fostoria's first veterans organization was the Norris Post 27 of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union Civil war vets.

The post was named for John and Rebecca Norris whose three sons served in the Union cause. Two were among the 24 Fostorians who died in the war.

The Focus is Fostoria's newest newspaper. The Fostoria News was the first, established in 1860 by J.H. Thomas.

We all love sitting at crossing watching trains lumber through town on the crazy quilt trackage. The first railroad through Fostoria was the Lake Erie & Western. The local line ran between Fremont and Findlay and was built here in 1857 which means Fostoria existed for three years without a single train blocking anything. Ah! The good old days.

Can't imagine life without cell phones? It was in 1882 the first telephones came to town when George Sheibley established the first telephone exchange. George was an illuminating fellow. He also installed the first electric lighting system in Fostoria in 1884. He also installed the first electric lighting system in Fostoria in 1884.

The Kaubisch Memorial Public Library sees a steady stream of information seekers each day. There was no library in Fostoria until Thanksgiving Day 1892.

That's when some Fostoria High School alumni opened a suite of rooms at 115-1/2 W. Tiffin St. with a collection of books and periodicals they purchased themselves. After eight years, the Alumni Library could no longer meet the demand and the Fostoria Public Library Association was formed in 1910 and left a generous bequest for the construction of a library at Perry and Wood Streets.

Around 1900, Fostoria was home to a drifter named Benjamin Purnell. Purnell lived on North Countyline and did odd jobs for a couple local farmers.

He also determined that God had a special mission for him. While in Fostoria he began work on his sacred writing, "Star of Bethlehem."

When his 16 year old daughter Hettie was killed in an explosion on her first day at work at the Torpedo Works on South Main in February 1903, Purnell refused to provide a funeral. He said Hettie's death was proof of her lack of piety.

Purnell and his wife soon departed Fostoria for Benton Harbor, Mich., where he founded the religious sect known for its bearded baseball team, the House of David.

It's comforting to know that Fostoria's early history comes complete with a bit of knavery.

In 1837-38, a couple of crooked characters named Brooks and Bird came to town. They didn't seem to have a productive means of earning a buck.

It was okay. They were making their own. The pair were counterfeiting Mexican currency.

Brooks and Bird were arrested and tossed in the clink in Tiffin. Being resourceful cusses, they busted themselves out and hightailed it for greener pastures.

They were never heard from again. At least, not in this neck of the woods.

(Thanks to Weldon Fruth for sharing the two publications with me.)