Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio;: From Footpaths to Expressways and Beyond

By Gayleen Gindy

Join the author in reliving Sylvania's over 180 years of history from footpaths to expressways and beyond, in volume four of an eight volume set. With 30 years of research she has included every subject imaginable that helped bring Sylvania to where they are today, with excellent schools, over-the-top parks and recreation, rich beautiful homes, commercial and industrial businesses and a quaint historical dowtown that looks like it was planned by Norman Rockwell himself. This book is a treasure trove of information for the thousands who have ancestors that once lived and helped Sylvania grow through these years. Located in northwestern Ohio, Sylvania is a suburb of Toledo, Ohio and for many years has been known as "the fastest growing suburb in Lucas County." A once rural farm community, between both the city and township they have grown from a combined 2,220 residents in 1910, to 48,487 in 2010. Over a short period of time the land has transformed into beautiful subdivisions of grand houses, so that now their subdivision names are all that remain to remind them of their once dense forests and sprawling farmlands. No longer can Sylvania be called the "bedroom community" of Toledo, because over the last 50 years they have done a lot more than sleep.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496900210

Gayleen Gindy

Gayleen Gindy is a free-lance writer, author and historian from Sylvania, Ohio, and for many years wrote under the name of Gaye E. Gindy. She has been researching the history of the Sylvania community for over 30 years and retired in 2010, after working for 33 years with the governmental entities of Sylvania Township and the City of Sylvania; working in the fire department, township administration offices and then the city police division. She has been a member of both the local historical society and historical commission for many years and has written numerous local history articles for many magazines and newspapers, as well as published nine other books about the history of Sylvania.

Book preview

© 2014 Gayleen Gindy. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  04/02/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-0022-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-0021-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014906034

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Liquors, Gambling, Jails, Law Enforcement Agencies And Courts

Sale Of Intoxicating Liquors

Gambling In Sylvania

Jails In Sylvania

Sylvania Township Police Department

Village / City Of Sylvania Police Division

History Of The Sylvania Municipal Court

Public Parks And Recreation

Public Parks And Recreation In Sylvania

Sylvania Area Joint Recreation District

Centennial Quarry And Centennial Terrace

Fossil Park

Harroun Community Park

Oak Savanna Park

Olander Park And Sylvania Township Park Board

Pacesetter Park

Quarry Ridge Trail

Senior Citizens In Sylvania

Sylvan Prairie Park

Tam-O-Shanter

Teen Centers

Whetstone Park

Wildwood Preserve

References Used For All Volumes

About The Author

History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat one another.

Max Beerbohn

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Any fool can make history, but it takes a genius to write it.

Oscar Wilde

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Do not applaud me. It is not I who speaks to you, but history which speaks through my mouth.

Fustel de Coulanges

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A country without a memory is a country of madmen.

George Santayana

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Who does not know that the first law of historical writing is the truth.

Cicero

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future.

Robert Penn Warren

Dedicated to my family

Sam, Allan, Samantha, Audrey and Sophia

I love you!

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to my husband Sam Gindy for all of his support in all of my history projects.

Others who have helped with information in one way or another include: Sharon (Polly) Cooper, Liz Stover, Lucille Laskey, David Drake, Carolyn Micham, Melvin Micham, Gordon Deye, Alcy Downing, Richard Downing, Clark Collins, Rachel Stanton, Craig A. Stough, Gerald Sobb, Timothy Clay, David Bell, William Dryer, Leonard McMahon, Michael McManus, Clayton Fischer, Cheryl Lavimodiere, Margie Lintner, Peggy Watts, George Eichenauer, John Plock, Jeff Ballmer, Rick Barricklow, Deb Raszka, Terry Helpman, Loren Sengstock, Cathy Falardeau, Mike Tansey, Linda Gilsdorf, Tammy Martin, Tara Jacobs, Barb Taylor, Dan Hughes, Robert Oberly, Larry Wagner, Kathryn Keller, Robert Boehme, Sr., Vicki Alspach, Jennifer Howard, Sue Tuite, Lonnie Smith, Glenn Fink, John Fisher, Donald Covrett, Curtis Niles, Richard A. Campbell, Susan Wood, Nancy Beckmann, Jim Glase, William Rhodus, Clifford Keeler, Scott Reed, Charles Tipping, Melissa Burzynski, Richard Laux, John Grayczyk, Ralph Stallsworth, Karen Keeler, Ara Smith, Hazel Smith, Robert C. Smith, Robert A. Smith, Milton Thomas Cory, Greg Roytek, Mark Weichel. Also a big thank you to the employees at the Local History and Genealogy Department at the Toledo and Lucas County Public Library for being ever ready to drag stuff out of that backroom for me and fix the machines: James Marshall, Greg Miller, Donna Christian, Irene Martin, Mike Lara, Ann Hurley, Jill Clever and Laura Voelz. And a big thank you to R. Michael Frank, Esq., for all that you did for me during some very rough times in my life.

It is impossible to personally thank everyone that helped with information for these volumes, so to those that I did not specifically name, I give you thanks for your contribution.

Just so that nobody in my family can say that I did not mention them in my books I would like to mention the following names of my beloved family who have all helped me in many, many ways: Sam Gindy, Allan Gindy, Samantha Gindy, Audrey Blaisdell-Gindy, Sophia Rose Gindy, Charles Sullins, Carolyn Daler-Sullins-Micham, Allan J. Gindy, Carolyn Sberna-Gindy, Melvin Micham, Sharon Dentel-Sullins, Jeff Gindy, Jill Sullins-Dallas, Mark Dallas, Pen Dallas, Nick Dallas, Melissa Flores-Dallas, Luna Mae Dallas, Andrew Dallas, Bart Sullins, Julie Crayford-Sullins, Sara Sullins, Laura Sullins, Amy Sullins-Verhelst, Bob Verhelst, Bret Sullins, Charley Sullins, Jack Sullins. You are all the highlight of my life.

Introduction

This is Volume Four of my eight volume set that will be published about Sylvania’s history. All eight volumes will be titled Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio; From Footpaths to Expressways and Beyond, and each volume will have a different set of historic photos on the cover to represent the contents of that particular book. All books will be the same size, and the top part of each spine will have a letter to represent one letter in the name Sylvania. When lined up on your bookshelf the books will spell out S-Y-L-V-A-N-I-A. The volume that you are reading right now has the letter V on its spine.

Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio is located in northwestern Ohio, and our north border line runs along the south border line of the Michigan state line. Monroe and Lenawee County, Michigan are our bordering neighbors to the north, and we are a suburb of Toledo, Ohio, which the township of Sylvania borders on their eastern and southeastern lines. These volumes include the history of both the city and township of Sylvania.

The 2010 census shows that there were 18,965 residents in the city and 29,522 residents in the township of Sylvania, for a combined population of 48,487. At this time the township continues to grow, while the city of Sylvania has pretty much all been fully developed. Sylvania Township and the City of Sylvania share so many of their services that in most cases the residents don’t even know which community they live in, they just know that they live in Sylvania. A few of the services that the two communities share include fire services, rescue services, public schools, public recreation, court services, historical societies and in some cases water and sewer services. Another confusing fact is that residents of the city of Sylvania get the opportunity to vote for the three township trustees and township clerk; because the Ohio Revised Code says that the city is officially still part of its original township of Sylvania. Police service is one service that is still operated by the two separate entities, therefore in this volume their individual histories are told in two separate chapters: the Sylvania Township Police Department and the Sylvania Police Department.

To recap the volumes that have been published so far, Volume One included history of the beginning years of Sylvania, the American Indians that lived in the Northwest Territory and in the areas throughout Lucas County before the county was established. Included was information on the locations throughout Sylvania where the Indians camped, and where their footpaths and arrowheads were found by the early settlers when they first arrived here. Volume One also includes the following other subjects: The Ohio-Michigan boundary dispute; the establishment of Lucas County; The first settlers in Sylvania; Sylvania Township and its original boundaries and annexations; the initial events; elected positions; the first land purchases; the first elections under the name of Sylvania; information from the first township minutes books; government meeting places; voting in Sylvania; a complete listing of Sylvania Township officials; how the village of Sylvania was established and later became a city; information from the first minute books of the village of Sylvania; a complete list of village/city officials; populations; merger attempts; postmasters and post offices; the Ten Mile Creek; the Ottawa River; and the establishment of a public water system in Sylvania.

Volume Two documented the early medical doctors, epidemics, diseases and illnesses, and gave biographical sketches of the early doctors in Sylvania. There is a chapter on the poor and needy, the depression years, and government work programs. Next in Volume Two is a complete history of the railroads that operated through Sylvania and on to the development of roads and how some of them got their names from the names of some of the early settlers. Sylvania was notified in 1956 of the state’s intentions to build an expressway that would pass through Sylvania, and by 1958 the state started purchasing the land for the new expressway. Volume Two then ends by telling the history of some of the very early fires in Sylvania and then the early development of a volunteer fire department.

The next book is Volume Three and that book focuses completely on the history of the Sylvania Township Fire Department, and ends with a complete listing of all those individuals who served as volunteers on the fire department, all those who served as part-paid firemen and a separate listing of the full-time firemen through to 2013.

This book is Volume Four and it includes information regarding the sale of intoxicating liquors, the first taverns, gambling, our jails over the years and then a history of the Sylvania Township Police Department, the Village/City of Sylvania Police Division and a history of the Sylvania Municipal Court. The last chapters in this volume tell the histories of our public parks and recreational facilities in Sylvania.

Up-coming books after Volume Four include chapters on the establishment of zoning and planned development in Sylvania, Sylvania’s public cemeteries and undertaking, a chapter on our ghosts, and a history of the newspapers that reported the news of Sylvania over the years. Other chapters included in up-coming volumes are: our historical societies and historical facilities; history of our public buildings; and then a lengthy list of some of the long-time businesses that currently or once existed in Sylvania, in an A to Z format, with a short history for each of these businesses. Continuing the list of chapters in the up-coming volumes there are chapters on the special events, festivals and our annual programs held over the years, a complete history on a community known as Silica that was located within the boundaries of Sylvania Township, and then a few historical facts on some of our subdivisions and train stops, various clubs, centers, camps, organizations and posts, and then some interviews and reminiscing with some of our local residents and business owners.

Further volumes will give biographical sketches on many of our notable people and then there will be chapters on our involvement during the various wars, starting with the Civil War, and the history of our war memorials. Continuing, there are chapters on places in Sylvania, landfills, refuse, yard waste and recycling and then chapters on weather related incidents in our history, miscellaneous subjects about Sylvania and a list of murders that happened in Sylvania.

One of the last volumes will re-print a booklet titled "A History of Sylvania for the First Hundred Years" by Maynard Cosgrove. Mr. Cosgrove wrote this booklet in 1933 and it is a short story about Sylvania that takes you through the earliest years and up to 1933, and then Gayleen Gindy continues this history from 1934 through to 1999. The final volume tells the complete history of our schools in Sylvania and how we went from being one school system, to two separate school systems, and then how we eventually merged to become one school system again.

It is the author’s hope that these volumes will help to document Sylvania’s history, in a small way, for use by the new residents coming to live here, and for future Sylvania residents, in order to learn about our history. For those who have been here all along, I hope that I have mentioned your name somewhere within these volumes.

Liquors, Gambling, Jails, Law Enforcement Agencies And Courts

Sale Of Intoxicating Liquors

In the early years liquor licenses were issued by the Lucas County officials. The following men were the first to receive liquor licenses and operate taverns in Sylvania:

1837—William Wilson;

1838—L.S. Lownsbury;

1839—Abram Lewis took out a license yearly through 1842;

1839—Porter Kelsey;

1842—Adolphus Majors.

An article appeared in the Toledo Blade on 12-3-1841 reporting on the evils of selling liquor in the county. The following was reported (copied as written): "Are your readers in this vicinity aware of the evil consequences resulting to the people of this county, from the unrestricted and almost universal retailing of spirituous liquors, which is practiced within it? That the laws of the State in this particular, are treated as a dead letter, and the best interest of society most flagrantly outraged; no one of common observation and common honesty will pretend to deny. And I put the question; not so much on account of these new facts and inferences which a full answer would divulge, as for the purpose of arousing the public mind to the necessity of checking a traffic, which saps the very foundation of the prosperity and happiness of the body politic, and unblushingly sets its laws at defiance. Do the tax payers know that when Courts were held in this County, an annual expense of from two to four thousand dollars was incurred, in State prosecutions, mostly consequent upon the too free use of ardent spirits, and that can be obtained at groceries, which by the laws of this State have no right to sell spirit liquors? And that a large amount of money shall be extracted from them, year after year, in the shape of County tax, poor tax, poor-house tax, &c., to pay tribute to those, who, without tax or license, are the immediate cause of nine tenths of the illness, poverty, misery, wretchedness, immorality, and crime, which blights the prospects of many who would otherwise become ornaments to social life—destroys the peace and happiness of families and friends—supplies your jail with offenders—your prison with convicts—your poorhouse with paupers and burdens your county with debt? I say no! Public opinion does not intentionally foster, or seek to perpetuate this boundless source of evil. To prove this, I need bring to better authority than a few sections of the Statute to which a friend has directed my attention.

Section 15. of the act granting licenses and regulating taverns, passed 3-31-1831 declares: That if any person shall keep a tavern, or retail spirituous liquor; or shall vend or sell any spirituous liquors by less quantity than one quart, without being duly licensed as a keeper of such tavern, each and every person so offending, shall forfeit and pay, for such offense, any sum not exceeding one hundred dollars, not less than five dollars, to and for the use of the County in which the offense shall have been committed; to be recovered with costs, by enforcement in the Court of Common Pleas of the proper County.

Section 2. of an amendatory act passed 2-17-1835, provides,—That the penalty imposed in the fifteenth section of the act, entitles An act granting license and regulating taverns, passed 3-3-1831, for the violation of any of the provisions in said section contained, shall, on complaint duly made, be recovered, with costs, in the name of the State of Ohio, before any justice of the peace of the proper County, or before any Mayor, or other judicial officer of the proper town or borough as well as by indictment in the Court of Common Pleas, And Sec. 17th, of the 1st mentioned act declares—That it shall be the duty of the County Auditor, and the Attorney for the State, in each county, to give information, and prosecute all offenders against any of the provisions as of the act. The officers mentioned in the last section have been elected by the people, and have, each taken an oath faithfully to discharge the duties of this office, and people need to do more to stay the evil complained of.

In this matter the County Seat question is of no possible consequence, and what excuse is there for delay? True, the officers whose duty it is made to prosecute, may have assumed and now exercises a dispensary power over the law; and though they are opposed to dissipation, and its concomitants, and would prosecute with relentless ardor, every infraction of the law, in the way of broils, riots, assaults, batteries, gambling, and the like, which a drunken man, might perpetrate, yet cannot believe it politic to prosecute the sober man, who for filthy lucre, with pitiful, calculating stinginess, deals out the moving cause of nearly every such offense. It is locking the stable after the horse is gone. It does no good. Why not strike at the root of the evil, and if the groceries cannot be wound up entirely; make them pay something into the County Treasury towards defraying the debt which their liquor has helped to create? To ask them to atone for characters ruined,—estates turned knaves and felons, and a once happy fireside, now made the abode of a wretchedness and misery, would be mockery; nothing of the kind can be expected of them. And permit me here to ask the citizens of Toledo, aye, the citizens of Lucas County, how much their reputation as a community, has been benefited abroad, by the latitude given to groceries since Courts were held in this County."

. . . . End of 12-3-1841 article… .

The best way to describe the first taverns of Sylvania is to quote part of an article that appeared in the Sylvania Sentinel dated 6-16-1927. This article was an interview of a woman who was born in Sylvania in 1845 and she was still alive in 1927 to tell this story (The items in parentheses were added by the author Gayleen Gindy):

OLD RESIDENT RECALLS TOWN’S FIRST TAVERNS—Temperance House, Subject of Much Conjecture, Was Really Washingtonian Hotel, Tis Said—Digging up the answer to a question in one of the Toledo Daily papers concerning the location of the Temperance House, said to have existed in Sylvania about 1830, brought forth much interesting information when a Sentinel reporter queried Mrs. Etta Randall, born here in 1845, about the location of the place. Toledoans were anxious to establish the location of the place because of the fact that many deeds of the 1800s described property as being so many rods east of the Temperance House," etc.

In 1835, when my father settled here as the town’s first physician, just two years after Judge Wilson and General White took up the land which was later to be the town of Sylvania, there were no hotels here. The town was booming however and shortly after three stopping places for travelers were established. These were the Morse (5604 Main Street) and Parker (5701 Main Street) houses, both taverns with their bars, and the Washingtonian (5615 Summit Street), which had no bar. The Washingtonian was called a hotel," Mrs. Randall relates.

The Washingtonian stood on the land where Lawrence Wickter (Wickter lived on the northwest corner of Monroe and Summit Streets) now has his chicken park, on Summit Street, she continued and the Morse was where the Farmers and Merchants bank is located, while the Parker was the first of many hotels on the site of the Sylvania Auto Sales salesroom.

On 8-7-1871 Sylvania Village Council passed a resolution requiring all saloons in the village to close by 10 p.m.

In the 1880’s a local-option law gave individual communities the right to ban the sale of alcohol if approved by public vote.

In the spring of 1881 the Lucas County Women’s Christian Temperance Union was organized in Sylvania. One of the biggest organizers of this group was Mrs. Julia Lathrop of Sylvania. According their literature the object of the organization was to disseminate and strengthen temperance sentiment through lectures and literature. By 1883 they were active in support of the second amendment to the State Constitution, prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors within the state, and then securing Scientific Temperance instruction in the public schools. They raised $1,100 to help promote their cause and reported that they firmly believed that if liquor traffic was abolished, crime would drastically decrease, good morals would be promoted, and the expense for criminal prosecutions would also decrease.

In April of 1886, a large group of women residing in the village of Sylvania, got together and circulated a petition requesting that village council prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors. The wording on the petition and names on the petition were entered into the minutes of Sylvania Village Council on 4-20-1886. The petition reads as follows:

We, the citizen women of said corporation, believing the liquor traffic is in rebellious opposition to existing statutes, with a merciless opposition to hundreds of innocent women and children; with nefarious attempts to corrupt the morals of our youth, with the percentage of most of the crime, lawlessness, misery and want prevailing among us. Therefore, we as wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends do pray and petition your honorable body to prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquor as a beverage in said corporation.

The following women of Sylvania signed this 1886 petition: Cordelia Comstock, Mary Hall, Mattie Hall, Minerva Bragdon, Susan Keeler, L. Hinds Decker, Julia Donovan, Catherine Donovan, Mrs. Hogan, Mrs. Frank Kidder, Mamie Hogan, Laura Hinds, Clara Bryan, Elizabeth Dolph, Mrs. Chamberlin, Fran Forbes, Mary Warren, Mary Davis, Julia Lathrop, Clara Adsit, Clara Rhodes, Elizabeth Parker, Mrs. Foster Ellis, Flora Edson, Elida Thorpe, Mrs. David G. Blue, Belle Blue, Emeline Cherry, Mrs. O. Adsit, Sarah Laimon, H.A. Bennett, A.E. Judson, M.A. Williams, A.D. Thornton, Elijah O.N. Upham, Julia Heath, Mrs. J.M. Hopkins, Kate Armstrong, L. Fletcher, Phoebe Comstock, Mary Lewis, L.H. Blanchard, Rosie Wolf, Mrs. Burrough, Grace Smith, Mrs. H. Cosgrove, Hattie E. Cosgrove, Lillie Young, Mary Young, Sara Cassidy, Mrs. T.J. Vaughn, H.E. Griest, Anna Pershall, Louisa Comstock, Celestia J. Pomeroy, C.W. Adsit, Mary Bush, Mrs. E. Ward, Mrs. J.M. Borough, Mrs. D.A. Warren, Lillie Parker, Mary Wellman, Mrs. Crumm, Hubbard, Clara Frost, M.H. Thorpe, Lettie Thorpe, Libbie Kay, Gladys Parker, Eliza Bidwell, Clara Hank, J.S. Warren, Almyra Parker, Mary Oldaker, Ella Randall, Richie DeBruine, Mrs. M. DeBruine, Maggie Austin, Evangeline Hartman, Mary Kirkby, Jane Hine, Mrs. E. Cassidy, Luella Hall, Anna Crandall, Lucinda Crandall, Mrs. S. Warren, Mary Clark, Naomi Chandler, Anna Walker, Maggie Jarvis, S. Hawley, Ida Hawley, Fannie Kidder, Mary Hartman, Lucy Harroun, Ann Hattersley, Maggie Elliot, Mrs. A.O. Stowe, Jennie Hattersley, Mrs. A.B. West, Ollie Warren, Jennie Moore, Mrs. P.T. Clark, Mrs. A.W. Bellows, Minnie Stout, Mrs. J.C. Morrow, Teenie Kardon, Mrs. John R. Taylor, Mrs. Green, June Combs, Ida Cherry, Mrs. Stytle, Frances Maybee, Annie C. West, Louisa Cassidy, Elizabeth Elliot, Matilda White, Harriet Wakefield, Mrs. O.S. Comstock, Etta Randall.

Then in September of 1886 a group of men living in the village of Sylvania submitted a petition to village council asking for public expression, by ballot, in regards to the prohibition of liquor traffic. The ballot was to be drawn so that those favoring prohibition would vote yes and those against would vote no.

The following men of Sylvania signed the petition, which was recorded in the minutes of Sylvania Village Council on 9-3-1886: Henry West, C.H. Kennedy, S.G. Bennett, Wallace Durfee, D.A. Warren, L.B. Decker, Orange Comstock, George Keifer, Solomon Stytle, William B. Warren, Jesse Fletcher, Levi Harroun, Charles Artis, A.B. West, E.D. Buck, O.S. Leonardson, J.E. Avery, L.H. Bragdon, Ashford Hall, M.H. Adsit, S. Pershall, Peleg T. Clark, Amos Thorpe, C.H. Perry, Edwin Cunningham, William Cherry, W.H. Huling, Thomas Cosgrove, William Fletcher, W. Leonardson, J.Y. Buck, John R. Taylor, Taylor Cosgrove, John W. Laimon, W.A. Frost, Fred Cassidy, Edward Davis, Eli Stytle, F.L. Kidder, James Brighty, A.D. Randall, S.V. Bell, Earl Harroun, Francis Chamberlin, A.J. Friend, Abda Dolph, N.B. Heath, Israel Maybee, Charles Wakefield, E.C. Edson, C.L. Stowe, W.J. Smith, S.W. Judson, S.G. Warren, Warren Munn, W.E. Chapple, J.H. Forbes, David Wolf, F. Hartman, J.M. Hopkins.(You will notice in many cases that some of the spouses of the women who signed the petition against the sale of liquor, signed the petition asking for a public vote, and remember, women could not vote yet).

At the 9-2-1887 meeting of village council a resolution was passed as follows: Resolved that section 3 of Local Option Ordinance be so altered or amended as to read, to take effect twenty days after its passage. Signed R. Blanchard.

By September of 1887 the vote was taken and a majority of the citizens (men) of the village voted to prohibit the sale of liquor. So, on 9-22-1887 Sylvania Village Council passed an ordinance to restrict the sale of intoxicating liquors in the village.

On 6-4-1888 another petition was submitted to village council of Sylvania requesting that they reconsider and repeal the ordinance passed on 9-22-1887, restricting the sale of intoxicating liquors. Records indicate that on 6-8-1888 village council passed an ordinance repealing the ordinance to restrict and sale of intoxicating liquors. Once again it became legal to sell liquor in the Village.

At the regular meeting of Sylvania Village Council, held on 6-6-1890 the following village officials were present: J.M. Hopkins, George Wagonlander, Lester B. Decker, Edwin Harroun, R.G. Burns, Mayor, and Alfred E. Stow, Clerk. Absent was Councilman Orville R. Hine. At this meeting the following petition was presented and read:

"To the Common Council of the Incorporated Village of Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio. The undersigned residents of said village would respectfully petition your honorable body to pass an ordinance forbidding the sale or the furnishing in any way of intoxicating liquors as a beverage within said corporation. We ask it in the interests of virtue, sobriety and good order to all of which the liquor traffic is the bitterest foe, we ask it in the interest of the weak who cannot withstand the temptation of appetite though desiring to live temperate lives, we ask it in the interests of the children and youth growing up in our midst, keenly susceptible to the evil influences ever connected with the liquor traffic. In short we ask for the abolition of the liquor traffic in our village because there is not a single good reason for its existence, its only influence being to promote idleness, vice and crime. Respectfully submitted: James Young, G.W. Carl, Jerome Lewis, John H. Laimon, E. Ward, Chas. E. Friend, Frank Kraft, M.D., Thomas J. Allen, S.M. Judson, E.D. Buck, Nathan B. Heath, O.S. Comstock, A.B. West, Louis H. Glaser, A.R. Chandler, Edward B. West, R.E. Woodruff, J.C. Jones, W.B. Warren, R. Blanchard, George F. Lock, John R. Taylor, C.H. Kennedy, A.D. Randall, W.C. Fletcher, J.A. Fletcher, W.A. Rapp, Thomas Gibbs, Chas. Crandall, O. Lamont, O.P. Clark, E.C. Edson, William Cherry, C.L. Stow, Earl Harroun, Hall Harroun, James Brighty, A.J. Friend, C. Wakefield, Fred H. Hubbard, A.B. Comstock.

Ladies: Minnie Carl, Mary Young, Belle Crum, Calistia J. Pomeroy, E. Ward, Clara Freeman, Mary A. Potter, Rosa Bellows, Laura Probert, Eliza Probert, C.L. Huling, O. Adsit, Mary A. Friend, Mrs. Kraft, Mrs. Hank, Lill Young, Kate Armstrong, E.G. Parker, S. Ellis, Libbie K. Durfee, Susanne Gibbs, Julia S. Gibbs, Mary E. Allen, Eliza C. Upham, Sarah S. Laimon, H.A. Bennett, C.P. Potter, Alice Cunningham, Jane Hine, Harriet Hubbard, Cordelia Comstock, Katie Kennedy, Julia A. Heath, R.C. Demming, W.W. Covell, Emma H. Comstock, Elizabeth Dolph, C.M. Adsit, Cynthia Adsit, Caty Bryan, Mary C. West, Anna C. West, A.A. Hopkins, N.B. Woodruff, M.E. Peake, Sarah C. Warren, A.H. Parker, J.A. Warren, A.M. Jones, L.L. Stow, L.H. Blanchard, Delia Vesey, L.M. Reger, A.A. Rockenstyre, Clara Bryan, Mrs. DeBruine, Richie DeBruine, Julia E. Taylor, A.M. DeBruine, Estella M. Randall, Catherine K. Green, Frank E. Bellows, Louise E. Lock, Ed Bell, Enoch Ely, S.M. Judson, Lida Lamont, L. Fletcher, T.T. Cosgrove; Lou H. Decker, Jamie E. Crandall, Julia G. Donovan, Katie E. Donavan, Mary J. Donovan, Nellie Clark, P. Hogan, Kittie Clark, Mamie Hogan, Libbie Bick, F. W. Forbes, Carrie Clark. O. Lamont, G.C. Wagonlander, Mary H. Spencer, Belle Blue, D.G. Blue, C.L. Stow, B.L. Burns, A.E. Stow, G. Keifer, F. Elliott, E.A. Aldrich, L. Buraway, G. Smith, L.B. Harroun, Jane Osborn, G. Patterson, A.J. Friend, Carrie Wilson, Miner Smith, C. Wakefield, Louisa Comstock, E.C. Edson, Laura Hinds, Josephine Coutchure.

A motion was made by village council member Lester B. Decker and seconded by council member Edwin Harroun that the petition be deferred until a committee was appointed. This carried.

6-20-1890—Regular meeting of Sylvania Village Council. The following village officials were present: George W. Wagonlander; Lester B. Decker; John M. Hopkins; Edwin Harroun, R.G. Burns, Mayor, Alfred E. Stow, Clerk. A motion was made by Councilman J.M. Hopkins and seconded by Councilman Edwin Harroun that the petition presented for closing saloons in the village be referred to the committee on petitions. Roll call on the vote: Hopkins—yes; Decker—no; Wagonlander—yes; Harroun—yes. The motion was carried.

The following was the petition that was submitted to Sylvania Village Council in June of 1890:

To the Honorable, Common Council of the Incorporated Village of Sylvania. Greetings: We the undersigned, members of the W.C.T.U. and the Y.W.C.T.U. (commonly known as the Y’s) together with other friends of Temperance in Sylvania Village and country roundabout, do hereby present the following memorial: Realizing as we do the monstrous evil of saloons in a community, recognizing the fact that they are the cause of a large proportion of the poverty, misery and crime in our midst, that they are ruinous to health and morals, and detrimental to business prosperity, that they are degrading and debasing in their every influence, we do hereby express our hearty approval and approbation of the steps your Honorable Body has taken to abolish the saloons from our Village. We appreciate the difficulties under which you have labored, and recognize the commendable patience and untiring perseverance which you have shown. We believe that you have had the best interests of the Village at heart, and that the action you have taken will be for the lasting good of the community. And in your further efforts to enforce the Ordinance which you have passed, we pledge you our hearty support."

This petition was signed by the following individuals of the Y’s: Anna West, Libbie K. Durfee, Clara Bryan, Marguerite Armstrong, Julia S. Chandler, Katie Kennedy, Edna N. Andrews, Mary H. Spencer, Ollie L. Warren, Mamie Whalen, Maud Laimon, Grace Randall, Ella Banks, Belle Blue. HONOREES—Collins Hubbard. THE W.C.T.U.’S—Mrs. E.V. Comstock, Mrs. S.V. Wagonlander, Mrs. S.H. Decker, Mrs. F.W. Forbes, Mrs. L.H. Blanchard, Mrs. Cordelia Comstock, Mrs. Mary Bertholf, Mrs. Bell Moore, Mrs. Ella Bertholf, Mrs. Mae Carl, Thomas Gibbs, Laura E. Harris, W.B. Harris, A.R. Chandler, Eliza Probert, Anna Probert, Mrs. Alcy Hyde, Mrs. E.L. Huling, Mrs. H.A. Hubbard, Mrs. H.M. Ward, Mrs. C.B. Adsit, C.W. Mersereau, John Printup, Mrs. H. Parker, Jr., M.P. Bertholf, Mrs. Francis E. Kilbourn, W.E. Kilbourn, Mrs. H.M. Scott, Belle C. Scott, C.B. Adsit, Mrs. J. Shull, Mrs. E. Adams, Mary E. Allen, Bertie Hartman, Linnie Benton, C.L. Freeman, C.M. Adsit, Cynthia Adsit, Mrs. E.G. Parker, A.H. Randall, Edward B. West, Jennie Storm, Mary C. West, Mrs. Catherine Smith, Jane Osborn, Carrie Wilson, Mrs. G.W. Patterson, George N. Patterson, Angeline Seager, Frank DeBruine, H.E. Pool, M. Andrews, Mrs. Ella Frost, George L. Calkins, Mr. James Carl, Mrs. Sarah Carl, George S. Dana, Mrs. H.I. Dana, Mrs. A.S. Dana, Jennie Dodds, Joe Williams, Clarissa Williams, Mrs. Ed Ward, Bruce Stone, Mrs. D. Hall, David Hall, Mrs. A. Cooper, Mrs. Lucella Acers, R. Blanchard,—?—Hubbard, Mrs. Spencer, Ella Spencer, Laura Hopkins, Abram Hopkins, S.G. Bennett, T.T. Cosgrove, M.D., Mrs. T.T. Cosgrove, William Acers, Edgar Frost, Henry Randolph, Mrs. Lucinda Newell, D.G. Blue, William Cherry, E. Cherry, William Chandler, James Eagley, Mrs. J Eagley, Della Eagley, Mrs. J. Desotelle, Mary Carpenter, W.J. Smith, Mrs. Nora Kennedy, Mrs. H.C. Stow, Mrs. E.C. Edson, Mrs. R.G. Burns, Mrs. M.T. Clark, Earl Harroun, H. Harrison, Lucy B. Harroun, W.B. Warren, H. Hallett, Frank Lamont, Lida Lamont, Josie Bidwell, Mrs. Kate Armstrong, Mrs. J. M. Hopkins, Mrs. R.C. Demming, Mrs. C.J. Pomroy, J.S. Randall, E.M. Randall, Mrs. M. Keifer, Mrs. S.S. Laimon, Mrs. J.A. Heath, George Gerwick, W.T. Cartwright, Mrs. Frank Griest, Mrs. Jeannette Hine, Minnie Forbes, Mrs. Mary Wellman, Mrs. S.M. Judson, Mrs. C.P. Potter, Mrs. S.G. Bennett, Mrs. Bert Miles, G.P. Dolph, Mrs. A.H. Winslow, Henry F. Trutt, G.A. Crandall, Calistia Crandall, George Briggs, C.H. Kennedy, Julia A. Kennedy, George J. Kiefer, Mrs. C.E. Bryan, Mrs. Mary Clark, George Combs, Mary Combs, Richie DeBruine, Mrs. Nancy H. Buck, J.W. Hopkins, E.D. Buck, J.W. Laimon, H.D. Hyde, F.C. Griest, Lyman Upham, Mrs. L. Upham, Mrs. J.C. Jones.

The above petition was referred by Sylvania Village Council to the council committee on petitions and applications.

7-18-1890—Regular meeting of Sylvania Village Council. The following village officials were present: J.M. Hopkins, L.B. Decker, George Wagonlander, Edwin Harroun, R.G. Burns, Mayor and A.E. Stow, Clerk. Councilman O.R. Hine arrived late. Mr. Hopkins, chairman of the committee on petitions and applications, asked for further time to make his report in regards to the petition presented, which was asking the council to close the saloons in Sylvania Village. The committee went into secret session and returned their report which was read.

The following was the report from the committee: "Report of Committee on Petitions and Applications—To the common council of the Village of Sylvania, Ohio—Your committee to whom a petition asking the council to exercise its authority to abolish or close the saloons of this village was referred, would respectfully report:

First—No one of the present council was appointed or elected with the reference to closing saloons. Hence no one stood committed either way upon this question.

Second—The petition brings before the council a new matter for it to act upon.

Third—We find that the people of the village are divided in regard to this matter; each party exhibiting bitter determination in favor of its ideas.

Fourth—We learned that there are at least 125 voters within the corporation. The petition before us contains only about 40 names of voters-less than one third of 125.

Fifth—Councilmen are chosen to carry out the wishes of the people, fairly expressed.

Sixth—When a new matter is presented to be acted upon and it is known that the people are stubbornly divided upon such a matter the council should be excused from acting upon it without being sustained by a well ascertained majority of the legal voters.

Seventh—and the council might also be excused before taking any action upon such a matter as presented in the petition if no assurance was given that something worse will not be substituted in its place. The petitioners furnish no such guarantee.

Eighth—It is a mistake to believe that an ordinance of the character petitioned for would enforce itself. We must remember that the diseased appetite for intoxicants which unfortunately control too many in the village is constant and aggressive and will drive its victims to desperate efforts to procure the stuff. Nor should we forget the desire to make money out of the sale is also constant. And such as would sell and take the money from an intemperate father whose wife and children are suffering from hunger and want of clothing and other necessaries of life—and who in order to get trade will sell or give away intoxicants to boys in violation of law will be unscrupulous in using any means to reinstate him in his business.

Ninth—And we should also bear in mind that the saloon keepers are upheld and protected by an organized power in this state almost equal to the government itself. It has in its employ the ablest lawyers in the state. It is supplied with any amount of money. It is ever ready to make its power felt if it’s assumed rights to demoralize the people are molested.

Tenth—And we should also remember that an ordinance closing saloons has been tried in this village with not altogether satisfactory results and the voters—a majority of them, have sanctioned the repeal of such an ordinance—and it is a significant fact that several respectable voters have declined to sign this petition for want of assurance that the legislation asked for, would not on the whole make matters worse instead of better if enacted.

Eleventh—The moral aspect of the case—as set forth in the petition cannot be disputed, and the fact that it is so generally signed by the ladies of the village who are interested, and who are always the greater sufferers from the drink habit, and whose inspirations are so generally on the right side, strengthens this view and it is to be regretted that their power over this matter ends with an expression of indignation and condemnation of this evil.

Twelve—Your committee has thought proper to set forth the facts in the matter and the difficulties in the way of the abolition of the liquor traffic in our village and leave the matter in the hands of the council—believing that in the majority of the legal voters of our village lies the responsibility of its continuance.

J.M. Hopkins, Chairman

Edwin Harroun

O.R. Hine"

A motion was made by Councilman Hopkins and seconded by Councilman Decker that the committee’s report be accepted and placed on file and the committee is discharged. The following ordinance was presented and read: An ordinance prohibiting ale, beer and porter houses and all other places for the sale of intoxicating liquors at retail in the village of Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio.

Section 1—Be it ordained by the common council of the Village of Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio, agreeable to the provisions of an act of the general assembly of the state of Ohio, providing against the evils resulting from the traffic in intoxicating liquors, passed 5-14-1886 that all ale, beer, and porter houses and all other places for the sale of intoxicating liquors and all sale of traffic in the same other than in such quantities and for such purposes as are provided for in Section 8 of state act are hereby prohibited in said corporation.

Section 2—Any person who shall open such houses or place for the sale of intoxicating liquors or shall sell intoxicating liquors in violation of this ordinance shall on conviction thereof be fined twenty five dollars for each and every such violation.

Section 3—That this ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and legal publication.

Sylvania, Ohio—July 18th, 1890.

Motion by Decker and seconded by Wagonlander that the rules be suspended and ordinance pass to its second reading. Roll Call: Hopkins—no; Harroun—yes; Wagonlander—yes; O.R. Hine—no; Comstock—yes; Decker—yes. Lost

On 8-1-1890 the ordinance for closing saloons in the corporation was read for the second time. Motion by Decker and seconded by Wagonlander that the rules be suspended and ordinance pass to its third reading. Roll Call: Orange Comstock—yes; L.B. Decker—yes; Edwin Harroun—no; O.R. Hine—no; J.M. Hopkins—no; George Wagonlander—yes. Motion lost.

A document among the records of the Sylvania Area Historical Society reads: Sylvania, 9-8-1890—A.E. Stow, Clerk of Sylvania Village—Dear Sir: I have this day collected a fine of five dollars of George Williams for being drunk and disorderly within the limits of this village on the 6th inst., which fine I have this day paid over to A.W. Bellows, Treasurer, Yours—A.B. West, Police Justice.

On 9-19-1890 Sylvania Village Council met. The following village officials were present: Orange S. Comstock, L.B. Decker, Edwin Harroun, O.R. Hine, R.G. Burns, Mayor and A.E. Stow, Clerk. They once again reviewed the ordinance for closing the saloons in the corporation for the third reading. A motion was made by Decker and seconded by Comstock that the ordinance as read be adopted as put upon its passage. Roll Call: Harroun—no; Hine—no; Comstock—yes; Decker—yes. The ordinance was declared lost.

Then the following ordinance was passed on 7-3-1891: An Ordinance—Prohibiting ale, beer and porter houses and all other places for the sale of intoxicating liquors at retail in the Village of Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio,

Be it ordained by the Common Council of Sylvania, County of Lucas, State of Ohio, agreeably to the provisions of an act of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio providing against the evils resulting from the traffic in intoxicating liquors passed 5-4-1886 that all ale, beer and porter houses and all other places for the sale of intoxicating liquors, and all sale and traffic in the same, other than in such quantities and for such purposes as are provided for in Section (8) eight of said act are hereby prohibited in said corporation.

Section 2—Any person who shall open any such house or place for the sale of intoxicating liquors, or shall sell intoxicating liquors in violation of this ordinance, shall on conviction thereof be fined ($25.00) twenty five dollars for each and every such violation.

Section 3—This ordinance to take effect and be in force from and after its passage and legal publication. Signed: T.B. Hank, Mayor—Attest: A.E. Stowe, Clerk.

Another document among the records of the Sylvania Area Historical Society is a handwritten documents that reads: Sylvania, 7-28-1891—A.E. Stowe, Clerk of the Incorporated Village of Sylvania, Lucas Co., Ohio—You are hereby requested to notify the councilmen, mayor and marshal of said Incorporate Village of Sylvania, Lucas Co. O., that we the undersigned councilmen of said Village desire a special meeting of said council to be called on Friday, Evening, 7-31-1891 at 8 o’clock at the council room. For the purpose of considering what steps should be taken to enforce the ordinance passed 7-3-1891 in relation to the closing of saloons and now being violated. Signed O.S. Comstock, Wallace Durfee, George Wagonlander, George P. Dolph, L.B. Decker.

A receipt was signed by C. Watts, Toledo, Ohio 8-5-1891 which reads: Received G.C. Wagonlander $5.00 in full for fees and advice in the matter of liquor ordinance, election of mayor, etc.—Signed C.F. Watts

A document dated 8-12-1891 reads: A.E. Stowe, Clerk of the Incorporate Village of Sylvania. Sir, You are hereby requested to notify the councilmen, mayor and marshal of said village that we the undersigned councilmen of said village desire a special meeting of council to be called on Friday evening, 8-14-1891 at 8 o’clock P.M. for the purpose of hearing the written opinion of C. Watts in relation to our holding a special election to decide the saloon question and to transact such other business in relation to the closing of saloons as may be deemed expedient. Signed: Edwin Harroun, Wallace Durfee, George C. Wagonlander, George P. Dolph.

The following letter was dated 8-11-1891, written on letterhead which reads: City of Toledo—Legal Department—City Solicitor’s Office—Toledo, Ohio—W.H.A. Reed, City Solicitor, C.F. Watts, Assistant. This letter was addressed to George C. Wagonlander, Esq., Member of the Common Council of Sylvania. It reads as follows: Dear Sir: Your communication of August 10 at hand requesting my opinion in writing to a number of questions by you propounded, and reasons for my opinion. 1. Is it lawful to decide the saloon question by ballot in an incorporation village, and, if lawful, what is the modus operandi to bring about a special election? If lawful, will you please explain fully why or on what grounds? Section eleven (11) of an act entitled an act to provide against the evils resulting from the traffic in intoxicating liquors provides that the sale of intoxicating liquors, whether distilled, mault or vinous, on the first day of the week commonly called Sunday, except by a regular druggist on the written prescription of a regular physician for medical purposes only, is hereby declared unlawful. The minimum punishment under this part of the section is a fine of $25 and ten days imprisonment. The remainder of said section reads as follows: And any municipal corporation shall have full power to regulate, restrain and prohibit ale, beer and porterhouses, and other places where intoxicating liquors are sold at retail for any purpose or in any quantity other than is provided for in Section eight of this act as amended 3-21-1887. Under this part of the section the village of Hillsboro, O., passed an ordinance prohibiting ale, beer and porterhouses, and other places where intoxicating liquors were sold, incorporating this portion of the statute in the ordinance. One Kaufman was arrested and convicted before the mayor under this ordinance; the matter was taken through the various courts to the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio, and in the 45 O.S. Reports (page700) we have the court’s opinion declaring the law constitutional and the ordinance of the village of Hillsboro valid. This being the only decision of our supreme court on the subject. Following closely upon this case the entire question was raised in Stark County. The village of Alliance passed an ordinance, Section 2 of which is as follows: Be it further ordained and enacted that it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to keep any place within the limits of the incorporated village of Alliance where intoxicating liquors are sold at retail for any purpose or in any quantity otherwise than upon prescriptions issued in good faith by a reputable physician in active practice, or for exclusively mechanical, pharmaceutical or sacramental purposes. But nothing herein contained shall prevent the manufacturing of intoxicating liquors from the raw material and the sale thereof by the manufacturers in quantities of one gallon or more at any one time. Under this ordinance John Madden was fined $25 and costs and to stand committed until paid. He filed his petition in the common pleas court of Stark county, Ohio, alleging that he was unlawfully imprisoned by the town marshal. The marshal answered that he retained Madden under an order of the mayor imprisoning him until his fine of $25 and costs was paid, the same having been imposed under the above ordinance. Here one of the questions raised was that the ordinance was unconstitutional because not authorized by a vote of the electors of the village. The lower courts found the ordinance constitutional, and the question was taken to the circuit court of the fifth circuit, and in respect to this question the court says (2 C. C. Rep. page 168): The council is a representative body, through which the corporation can only act in providing laws government the municipality, and to which power is granted by statute for that purpose. Giving this statute a fair and reasonable consideration, we are unable to find in it anything that requires the submission of such a proposition to a vote of the people. Section one of an act providing for regulating the traffic in intoxicating liquors by local option provides, that when one-fourth of the qualified voters of any township residing outside of any municipal corporation, etc. You will notice this section excludes municipal corporations from its provisions, and is the only section prescribing a ballot on the local option question. So that section eleven, upon which the above cases were tried, is the only statute in force in this state regulating the sale of liquor in municipal corporation, and under this section the council has complete control, except Sunday closing, which is mandatory, to regulate, restrain and prohibit ale, beer and porter houses, and other places where intoxicating liquors are sold at retail for any purpose or in any quantity than is provided for in section eight of an act as amended 3-21-1887, which reads as follows: The phrase trafficking in intoxicating liquors as used in this act means the buying or procuring and selling of intoxicating liquors otherwise than upon prescription issued in good faith by reputable physicians in active practice or for exclusively known mechanical, pharmaceutical or sacramental purposes, but such phrase does not include the manufacture of intoxicating liquors from the raw material and the sale thereof at the manufactory by the manufacturer of the same in quantities of one gallon or more at any one time. You will see that section two of the ordinance which is given above followed the statute exactly. The council having no power to act in matters except such power as is expressly given by statute is not authorized to call a special election to vote on the desires of the citizens in respect to the closing of saloons. Of course you can use whatever means you see fit for you own guidance in obtaining the desires of your constituents, but this is for your own benefit, so as to be able to better comply with their wishes. But in holding an election under such circumstances you are met with two important facts: 1. After you had submitted the question to a vote of the electors it would be necessary for the council to enact the same legislation as if no question has been voted on, and thus all you have gained is to learn the desire of your constituents. 2. The council not being empowered to submit the question to a vote of the electors in my opinion would be unable to appropriate money to defray the expenses of such an election.

2nd Question: If such special election is not necessary would it in any way prejudice the action of the council afterwards in case it would carry wet or dry. The present council might consider themselves bound by the results of the election, and if an attempt was made to pass an ordinance contrary to the majority vote, litigation would probably result; but whereas I am of the opinion it would not affect the result of any act of the present council more than to open the gates to litigation. I know it would have no binding force upon your successors. I have made a thorough examination of the laws with the exceptions of the legislation of last winter, but am informed no change was made in these sections. We expect to receive the session laws every day, so if any change has been made, before your ordinance could become a law, as will have the last winter’s laws, and if any change has taken place I will advise free of further costs, so no delay is necessary from this cause. In conclusion let me add: 1. The council can pass a prohibitory ordinance; 2. The council has no authority, nor is it required to submit the question to a vote; 3. The statute only prescribes in one case for the manner of holding such an election, and that section excludes municipal corporations. 4. The council cannot appropriate money to defray the expenses of such an election. I would advise you to have prepared an ordinance drafted similar to the Alliance ordinance, which has stood the test of the various courts, and been by all of them held good. Repeal the ordinance you have already passed, and when the ordinance becomes a law have the mayor enforce the same. Yours truly, C.F. Watts."

8-12-1891—An invoice was submitted by C.F. Watts as follows: Toledo, Ohio—8-12-1891—The Village of Sylvania—To prepare written opinion on the saloon question and local option—$20.00. $5.00 had already been paid up front by the Village for this opinion.

10-7-1891—The Sylvania Area Historical Society has among their files handwritten documents, written to the clerk of the Village, regarding fines collected by the police justice for violations of the ordinance. One example reads: Sylvania, 10-7-1891—A.E. Stow, Village Clerk, Dear Sir: This day paid to John M. Hopkins, Treasurer of Sylvania Village, $12 collected by me of Lewis Crandall, on the 15th day of September, 1891 for violation of liquor ordinances of said Village—Yours truly, A.B. West, Police Justice.

The following was brought before village council on 10-22-1891: To the honorable members of the common council of Sylvania, Ohio—Gentlemen—Attached hereto I return to you with my vote an ordinance enacted by your honorable body 10-16-1891 prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors within the corporate limits, setting forth herewith my objections to the passage and enforcement of said ordinance. First—In my opinion I believe it detrimental to the business interest of our corporation. Second—That by the enforcement of an ordinance of the character it will in all probability involve our village in a lawsuit. Third—That an account of the exhausted condition of the funds in our treasury it will necessitate this council to bond our village to carryon this suit, which in my opinion will be objectionable to our taxpayers who will be compelled to bear this expense. Fourth—That inasmuch as a majority of our council believing the evils arising from the sale of intoxicating liquors should be suppressed in our village and having taken steps toward carrying out the same. I contend that it is assuring a right that will be met by a disapproval from our citizens. Fifth—We are placed in office to represent the people in general and not an individual few and when a matter as important as the one now pending is brought before this body for consideration I deem it necessary that the voice of the people should be heard, and that either a vote be taken or a petition be presented, and then if a majority of the voters are in favor of our council enacting a law prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors in our village we can feel that the people will endorse our action. Sixth—In my opinion I believe this ordinance as set forth to be unconstitutional. Therefore, under the circumstances Gentlemen of the council, I most honorable and respectfully decline to place my signature and official seal to this ordinance. Yours Very Respectfully, T.B. Hank, Mayor.

The following affidavit for warrant was dated 11-19-1891: Before me, A.B. West, Police Justice of said Village, personally came Ignace Schrader, employee of Dave LaPoint, who, being duly sworn, according to law, deposeth and saith, that on or about the 17th day of November A.D. 1891 at the Village aforesaid one Elmer Hartman came to the saloon of said Dave LaPoint in said Village at three different times; the first time he obtained three drinks of whisky at said saloon and was then disorderly and on two subsequent visits to said saloon he used vile and abusive language to said Ignace Schrader and maliciously threw down the scales and broke the windows of said saloon. Sworn to and subscribed before me, at the Village aforesaid, this 18th day of November A.D. 1891.

Then the following state warrant was found among the records of the Sylvania Area Historical Society, dated 11-18-1891: Whereas, complaint upon oath by Ignace Schrader, employee of Dave LaPoint has this day been made before me, A.B. West, Police Justice of aforesaid Village, that on or about the 17th day of November A.D., 1891 at said LaPoint’s saloon in said Village in said county one Elmer Hartman came at three different times to said saloon, the first time he obtained three drinks of whiskey at said saloon and was then disorderly and on his two subsequent visits to said saloon he used vile and abusive language to said Ignace Schrader and maliciously threw down the scales and books and broke the windows of said saloon. These are therefore, in the name of the STATE of OHIO, to command you that you take the said Elmer Hartman if he be found in your county, or if he shall have fled, that you pursue after the said Elmer Hartman into any county in this State, and take and safely keep the said Elmer Hartman so that you have him forthwith before me, to answer to the said complaint, and to be dealt with according to law.

Another receipt was found among the historical society’s records which reads: Sylvania, 11-19-1891—A.E. Stow, Village Clerk—Dear Sir: I have this day paid to J.M. Hopkins, Village Treasurer, a fine of $5.00 collected of Elmer Hartman for disorder. Yours—A.B. West, Police Justice.

The following was signed by councilman Wallace Durfee: I move that in harmony with the provisions of Section 1849 of the Revised Statutes of Ohio, prescribing the powers and duties of the Marshal of the Municipal Corporation, That the Marshal of the Incorporated Village of Sylvania, Lucas Co. O. be, by the common council of said Village, hereby instructed and directed to see that the ordinance prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors in the Incorporated Village of Sylvania, Lucas Co. O., passed 10-16-1891, and supplemented 11-24-1891, be strictly enforced; and for this purpose that said officer use all necessary means to know if said ordinance is, at any time or at any place within said corporation, being violated; and that he promptly arrest, either with or without a warrant, upon personal knowledge or reliable information that said ordinance has been or is being violated, each and every person found guilty of such violation, and bring such person or persons before the proper authority for examination or trial."

The following document was dated 12-25-1891: Whereas, complaint upon oath by Lester B. Decker has this day been made before me, A.B. West, Police Justice of aforesaid Village, that on or about the 25th day of December A.D. 1891, at the Village aforesaid in said county one Dave LaPoint did have a house open for the sale of intoxicating liquors and one Peter Schraeder, employee of said LaPoint, did sell beer to Orange Comstock of said Village all of which was contrary to an ordinance in such case made and provided.

Another saloon that was visited by officials of the Village of Sylvania on Christmas day in 1891 was the saloon of Mike Reiter. The state warrant reported that one Mike Reiter did have a house open for the sale of intoxicating liquors and did sell beer to Wallace Durfee.

On 12-26-1891 A.B. West, Police Justice for the Village of Sylvania, issued the following: To the keeper of the jail of the Village, Greetings: Whereas, Mike Reiter and Peter Schraeder of said Village were arrested on the oath of Lester B. Decker for violation of ordinance of said village prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors in said village of said county, afterward on the 26th day of December A.D., 1891 was brought before me, the undersigned police justice of said village in said county, at my office therein, to answer to said charge, and having been then tried, found guilty of said charge, and sentences and required by me, as said police justice, to pay the fine of $25, each and also $4.90 and $5.10 respectively the costs therein taxed; and that the said Mike Reiter and Peter Schraeder stand committed and be imprisoned in the jail of said village until said fine and costs be paid or secured to be paid, or they be otherwise discharged according to law.

The following additional receipts were written and found among the files of the Sylvania Area Historical Society: Sylvania, 12-30-1891—A.E. Stow, Clerk—Dear Sir: On the 29th inst. Peter Schroeder paid, under protest, a fine of $25 adjudged against him by me for selling intoxicating liquors in violation of an ordinance of said village; and on the same day I paid said $25 fine to J.M. Hopkins, Treasurer of said Village. Yours truly, A.B. West, Police Justice.

Sylvania 6-6-1892—A.E. Stow, Village Clerk—Dear Sir: I have this day paid over to J.M. Hopkins, Treas. Of this village a fine of $25.00 collected of Mike Reiter for selling intoxicating liquors in violation of an ordinance of said village. Yours, A.B. West, Police Justice.

The 6-30-1893 issue of The Sylvania Weekly Times reported: A bushel of corn makes four gallons of whisky, which sells for $16 at retail. Out of this the government gets $3, the railroads $1, the manufacturer $4, the vendor $7, the farmer 40 cents, and the drinker gets the delirium premens.

In the meantime in Sylvania Township, the unincorporated area, it wasn’t until 1895 that the question came up to the Sylvania Township Trustees. On 12-16-1895 a special election was held to determine whether the sale of intoxicating liquors, as a beverage, should be prohibited. The vote resulted as follows: 22 votes for the sale and 105 votes against the sale,