Wilhelm: Fremont was a town of many firsts

Roy Wilhelm
Columnist
Roy Wilhelm

In my search for interesting Sandusky County history, I came across a Fremont News-Messenger story that told about some of the real pioneers of our area.

The story traces many “firsts” in the area.

The area, of course, was more or less home to Native Americans for centuries prior to the coming of the “white man.”  Traders, missionaries and former prisoners of the Native Americans began to open the door to a permanent settlement.

Some soldiers who had taken part in the successful defense of Fort Stephenson made their homes here and four years after the battle, a group of men, known as the Kentucky Company, made the first town plat of “Sandusky,” later Lower Sandusky and eventually Fremont.

According to it, the first frame house in what became Fremont was built by Israel Harrington near the corner of Front and Croghan Streets. Known as Harrington’s tavern, it served as the stage coach stop for a while.

The first merchants in town were reported to be the Olmsted brothers who brought “an assortment of dry goods, groceries, hardware, crockery, wine and liquors to town in the fall of 1817.”

And, “the brothers brought with them carpenters and coopers — together with the nails glass and hardware necessary for the intended building” which was erected soon after their arrival. The brothers also were responsible for the first wheat shipment and the first pork shipment from town to Buffalo. Both shipments, according to the story, were financial failures.

Thomas Hawkins, who was a man of many talents, erected the first mill and built the first boat at a time when the community was developing into a shipping port.

The first doctor in the community was Dr. Goodwin, who arrived here about 1815, and the first lawyer in town was said to be Benjamin Drake, who arrived two years later.

The first school house, which was constructed of unhewn logs near the corner of what is now Park Avenue ad Croghan Street, was built in 1819.

The first court, which was located on the east side in what was then Croghansville, held its first session in 1820 and was presided over by George Tod, father of the governor of Ohio at the time, David Tod.

“Lower Sandusky Gazette” was the initial predecessor to today’s newspaper, appearing in 1829, the year that “Lower Sandusky” was officially incorporated and the name “Sandusky” disappeared.

Roy Wilhelm started a 40-year career at The News-Messenger in 1965 as a reporter. Now retired, he writes a column for both The News-Messenger and News Herald.