The Sherwood Story

Sherwood, 1881

 

Quoted from The Chronicle, Sherwood, Ohio, newspaper, 15 April, 1948 

"(In the winter of 1906, a special edition of The Chronicle was printed by publisher-editor, C. E. Dickey.  This edition, containing much historical background of the town and community, was in magazine form on slick paper and only a few of the copies remain.  One, the property of Mrs. J. V. Knisely, has been loaned to the present editors, and from it, has been taken the material for this and subsequent articles.)

The Sherwood Story

TOWNSPEOPLE BATTLED B. AND O. IN EARLY DAYS FOR SHERWOOD'S SURVIVAL

First It Was Snooksville

In 1873 , the site of Sherwood was a 'neighborhood' made up of several clearings in the big forest.  There was a school house out at the Pike ( now the junction of Route 18 and Route 127), known as the Collins School, with a larger enrollment than most of the schools of this county, owing to the district being rather thickly settled.

The Collins schoolhouse was famous in its way for its spelling bees, debates and exhibitions.  It also served as a place to hold revival meetings, funerals and so on, as the schools of those old days did.

The present Sherwood cemetery had also been started and there was a sawmill and approximately 20 residences and stores.  Previous to the plotting of the town, there had been a post office kept by Gilbert Coffin in his residence.  The post office went under the name of Snooksville, and afterward, Johnson Miller got the post office and kept it in an old log house on the Pike, and it was then called Snook's Run Post Office.

THEN IT WAS SHERWOOD

In 1874 the Baltimore and Ohio was built, and stations placed at Delaware and Mark Center. Elias Miller, William Rock and William Taylor platted out a town, but owing to some difficulties concerning the right-of-way, the B. and O. officials refused to put in a station.

Johnson Miller then got up a monster petition for a post office for the new town site.  Then a name had to be chosen. Each citizen seemed to have a good name for the new village, but it was suggested by Johnson Miller that, as the petition was being placed in the hands of Gen. Isaac N. Sherwood, then representing this district in Congress, that the town be named for him, which was done. *(At the date of the special edition in 1906, General Sherwood was still living in Toledo, where he was looked upon as a leading citizen, turfman, and politician.  It was said at the time that he had a lively interest in the town named after him.)

PEOPLE BUILT STATION

After the town was plotted, the railroad officials had to be reckoned with - and that took a lot of doing.

Mr. Dickey, in his mid-winter edition, insists that B. and O. officials 'had it in for Sherwood,' and refused to take notice of the settlement, which had a post office, but not a railroad station.  At the same time, Mark Center and Delaware Bend had stations, but not post offices.  It was very confusing.

In the meantime, E. Z. Miller, Stewart Miller and James Lacer had built a room and put in a grocery on the east side of the town's street near the railroad, and a little later, George Rock and a Mr. Harley put one on the present site of the Cooper Building.  Then came a saloon established by Peter Crookton and a grist mill, located where the Church of Christ now stands.

Meanwhile, heroic efforts were being made to get a railroad station, but the officials remained obdurate.  By a whole lot of persuasion, according to the Dickey article, The B. and O. agreed to unload the grist mill at Sherwood, the people building up a platform of railroad ties, etc. to unload upon.  After awhile, the company reluctantly decided to make the town a flag stop, if the citizens would build a depot and a freight house acceptable to the officials.  The people did so, and the resulting structures (still standing in 1905) did not cost the B. and O. a cent.  Also it should be recalled that Johnson Miller acted as agent free of charge.

                                                           Depot after 1906
PEOPLE PAID OPERATOR

Business picked up, a few more business places were started, and a telegraph office seemed desirable.  But the railroad again 'bucked' and would do nothing unless the people paid the operator themselves. The people 'dug up the coin' and for several years paid the operator's salary. Then the Miller Brothers, afterwards Miller, Rock and Co., began to buy grain, and the freight house was used for a grain house until an elevator was constructed, and the town became noted as a grain market.

During all this time, Mr. Dickey insists, the 'B. and O. kept the people crawling' until the C and N railroad was built in 1887.  Things changed then, for in the face of this new competition, the B. and O. was compelled to pay its own operator and provide better service for the town.

TYPHOID HIT TOWN

One of the sad occurrences of the early history of the town was the loss of seven members (about one-fourth the entire population) of the Taylor family because of typhoid fever.

The first hardware was established by Frank Bernard, the first undertaking business was founded by Jerry Bloom, and the first drug store was owned and operated by Dr. Comfort, a practicing physician.  About the same time, Dr. C. W. Kyle came to the town and set up a practice, and remained here until his death.

INCORPORATED IN 1891

In 1886, before the town was incorporated, the township voted 'dry' and the three saloons in Sherwood were put out of business.

In that same year, or shortly thereafter, the township built a three room schoolhouse, with W. W. Huff, the principal.  He tried hard, according to Mr. Dickey, 'to get the school graded and up to date, and the school developed a good reputation for the work done in it.'

The town was incorporated in 1891, with this move having the strong support of the 'wets' who wanted to allow the saloons to get started again, and also of many other citizens.

The first church built in Sherwood was the United Brethren, opposite the present U.B. structure. The initial structure burned in 1896, or thereabouts.  The Methodist Church was built in 1880, then the German Reformed Church in 1881, and the Disciple Church built in 1900.

TOWN HALL BUILT IN '97

The first mayor of the town was Z. H. Miller, and the first clerk, E. J. Potter.  W. F. Bloom was Marshall; Harry Rock, Treasurer; and C. I. Hartshorn, Emanuel Miller, J. K. Allender, John Openlander and W. E. Doud completed the Council.

In 1897, a proposition was presented to the voters of the town to issue bonds to build a town hall, and this carried by a substantial majority.

The business directory in 1906 read like this:

-General Store, The Bee Hive, Z. H. Miller and Hollis Miller

-Burger's Store (J. H. Burger, prop.) and The Blue Front, owned by C. H. Weaver

-There were two hardwares - The Sherwood Hardware Company, John Miller and C. H. Dunakin, and the Switzer Hardware, owned by C. Switzer

- C. W. Miller and B. A. Trubey operated shoe stores, while Will C. Newman

was in the drug business

-The two livery barns were operated by Heber, Miller and Lesh and E. Haver.

-The barber shops were run by W. D. Rock and B. N. Worthington.

-M. M. Haver was proprietor of the Haver Hotel, while H. I. Scott managed the Sherwood House, and both had plenty of patronage.

-The town had two lumberyards , the Neiderwur Wagon Company, building materials and planing mill, and Miller and Good, rough lumber and saw mill."