building. The building now occupied by R. P. Summers as a shoe store, was erected by David Young in 1858, and occupied by him as a saddler's shop. The county offices were ordered moved to Caldwell early in the year 1858. The officers took up their quarters in rented rooms at different places, until the completion of the court house. ward and erected a house and an office on the west side of the square. The first hotel, known as the "Eldorado," was a two story wooden building, which stood on the corner where the bank building now is. It was among the first houses built in the town. It was erected by A. R. Boice and kept by him for several years. Boice was an oddity—a very credu James Johnson, the first blacksmith | lous, unsuspecting, unsophisticated in the town, built the house on the north side of the square, in which U. A. Mills & Brother now keep a grocery. His shop stood just back of where the Eagle Hotel now is. He J. N. Palmer, one of the first settlers of the town, erected the house now owned by George Rice. afterward built the Mrs. Blain house. the Mrs. Waller house and part of the brick house at the northwest corner of the square, now owned by Henry Teener. The last named was the first brick building in the place, with the exception of the court house. It was erected about 1860, and was first occupied as a store by Hillyer, a clothing merchant, Hiram Dempster, dentist, having his office in the rear. The present residence of Judge Dilley was erected in 1858-9 by Ezra McKee. About the same time the house now owned by Hon. J. M. Dalzell was built by Benjamin B. Waller, and soon after occupied by John L. Shaw; Irvin Belford, William C. Okey, William II. Frazier and E. G. Dudley, lawyers, were among the first residents of the place. William Priestly, lawyer, came not long after mortal, who became the butt of many a practical joke perpetrated by the wags of the village. He went West, and is reported to have become extensively engaged in business there. The second hotel was kept by J.W. Boggs in the George Rice building. He moved into the Eagle Hotel in 1860. The latter building was erected by William Smith. Boggs and afterward the firm of Boggs & Daniels continued the hotel business several years. The present Exchange Hotel was built by James and Wheeler Stevens, and occupied by them as a building, opposite the Exchange Hotel. Wheeler Stevens was in the mercantile business here until about 1863. Richard Graham started a store about 1862 in the building now Theodore Rempe's saloon. Richard Bate was an early merchant. R. W. Stewart was the first shoemaker and Benjamin Headley the second. Chris. Shafer was one of the first residents, starting the first wagon-shop in town. The first cabinet-maker was L. B. Gratigney, in the shop now occupied by Thomas Morris, wagon-maker. J. N. Palmer was the first tin-smith, and had his shop where J. F. Steen's store now is. The second tin-smith was Henry Palmer, on the corner where the photograph gallery now is. Jacob and Fred Rose kept a bakery and a beer saloon in 1860. The first drug store was started by Dr. Hull, on the north side of the He was succeeded in 1864 | by F. G. Okey, who is still in the business. square. As in most new towns, there were a large number of transient residents, and comparatively few of the early settlers remained more than a few years. C. Foster, ex-county treasurer, who came to the town to reside in August, 1862, gives the following list of heads of families then resident in the place: William Van Meter, county treas urer. David Young, saddler.. L. B. Gratigney, cabinet maker. T. W. Morris, county recorder. Samuel P. Evans, blacksmith. Mrs. Atherton. James Stevens, merchant (afterward clerk of courts). Chris. Shafer, wagon-maker. Jacob and Fred Rose, bakers and grocers. John L. Shaw, editor of the Republican. James W. Boggs, hotel keeper. Abraham Stiers, stone mason. Moses Marsh, laborer (afterward merchant). William McKitrick, sheriff. William C. Okey,* lawyer. Richard Graham, merchant. John W. Tipton, county auditor. Benjamin Headley, shoe maker. C. Foster. At that date all the houses were built around the public square, or within a block of it, except three or four. The village was small, muddy, *Then a soldier, but his family resided I here. isolated and ugly--far different from the neat and thrifty, pleas ant and prosperous Caldwell of today. the south side of the square, were erected in 1872. William Glidden's brick building, two stories, was erected in 1881, and the three-story bank block in 1882. The town is unusually well sup with stores and shops of every kind. Its mercantile establishments, many of them, would be accounted first-class in a much larger place. Business is on the increase, and the town is prosperous. In its early years Caldwell was an isolated and lonely village, and in the wet seasons was almost complete-plied ly shut off from communication with the outside world. A hack, running three times a week between the town and Campbell's Station, on the Central Ohio Railroad (now the Baltimore & Ohio) furnished the only public means of travel between those points, twenty-two miles apart, and also carried the mail. There, was also a horseback mail carried tri-weekly between Caldwell and McConnelsville. At first Beverly and Lowell, on the Muskingum River, were the principal shipping points, and from those places also the merchants obtained their freight. Afterward nearly all business of this sort was diverted to Campbell's Station. No town was ever more sadly in need of a railroad, and none ever welcomed a railroad project more eagerly than did the citizens of Caldwell at the beginning of the discussion about 1870. Since the advent of the first railroad train the population and business of the town have increased three-fold. All the best business houses of the town as well as many of the finest residences have been erected within recent years. The Odd Fellows building, three stories, frame, on the east side of the square was built in 1869 and dedicated July 4, 1870. C. Shafer's and Daniel Neuhart's brick blocks, each three stories, on December 29, 1871, the Noble County Bank was organized by a joint stock company with a capital stock of $40,000. The stockholders were Honorable W. H. Frazier, Thomas W. Ewart, Honorable William P. Cutler, General Rufus R. Dawes, Edgar P. Pierce and C. J. Lund; W. II. Frazier, president, and E. P. Pierce, cashier. This bank did a successful business until March 18, 1873, when the Noble County National Bank was organized through the efforts of W. H. Frazier, Edgar P. Pearce, and Thomas W. Ewart, with a capital of $60,000. The stockholders of the National Bank were W. H. Frazier, Jabez Belford, Jacob Cleary, John S. Craig, John Lemmax, Samuel II. Phipps, George A. Smith, Thomas W. Ewart, Ezra McKee, R. P. Summers, Henry Miller, John W. Scott, Henry Large, William Wilkins, Nancy Craig, Samuel Lindsey, Cephas Lindsey, Martha Craig, Emma R. Guiler, J. R. MeClintock, John L. Morgareidge, O. R. Morgareidge, William T. Meredith, Flora F. Lund, James M. Philpot, Stephenson Trimmer and W. W. Collins. The first board of directors consisted of W. II. Frazier, John Lemmax, Henry Large, Ezra McKee and George A. Smith. W. H. Frazier was elected president; E. P. Pierce, cashier, and Charles T. Lewis, assistant cashier. August 2. C. T. Lewis was chosen cashier, rice E. P. Pierce, deceased. Geo. A. Smith was appointed cashier in May. 1877, and in June, 1886, was succeeded by William A. Frazier, who had been assistant cashier since Feb ruary, 1884. The bank has been well managed and is one of the sound institutions of Noble County. The present officers are William H. Fra zier, president; William A. Frazier, cashier; William E. Tipton, teller; W. II. Frazier, John Lemmax, Henry Large, Chris. McKee, and James McClintock, directors. The Caldwell Building and Loan Association was organized in March, 1885, and thus far has been successful and prosperous. The capital stock is $100,000 in shares of $100 each. The incorporators were W. H. Cooley, W. D. Guilbert, Stephen Mils, O. T. Wilde, James A. McCoy, and Taylor Bivans. The first officers were W. H. Cooley, president; O. T. Wilde, secretary, and W. D. Guilbert, treasurer: Stephen Mills, John Emmons, John W. Tipton. jr., T. C. Kane, A. C. Okey, and John M. Amos, directors. The Caldwell woolen factory, the most important manufacturing establishment in in Noble County, has been in successful operation since May 1, 1885, under the management of its present proprietors, Bush & McVay W. H. Bush, formerly of, 1 Beverly, and T. M. McVay of Caldwell. They began building the factory in the fall of 1884. The main building is of brick, two stories high and fifty by one hundred feet, with an extension containing the dye house, twenty-five by fifty feet. The cost of the building was $10,000. The lower story contains the looms and the hosiery department, while the upper floor is devoted to the carding and spinning machinery. All kinds of woolen goods and hosiery are manufactured. One of the specialties has been a woolen skirt, which obtained an enviable reputation among the trade. The hosiery department has recently been added and is likely to prove very successful. The factory gives employment to about seventy-five hands and manufactures about seventy-five thousand dollars' worth of goods yearly. In January, 1887, extensive m provements were made, and about $15,000 in new machinery put in. Automatic spinners have been added, thereby increasing the capacity fully one-third, and no doubt will materially increase the force of hands. It is not only a great benefit to the town, but to the county as well, as a great deal of the wool used is purchased directly from Noble County farmers. W. II. Bush is the son of Joseph Bush, who was formerly engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods at Renrock, in this county, for several years. The flouring mill near the B. Z. & C. Railroad depot was built in 1873 by Whissen & Kemmer. In 1885 it |