By Thomas Palmer
A week or so ago I discovered something that shed a bit of light on the earliest days of our city’s story.
Some time ago I wrote a multi-chapter booklet focusing on the settlement of Galion before, in fact, there was a Galion. Three years before the Ruhl brothers platted Galion centered around Public Square, a number of men joined to map out and record the plat of Greensburg, which sat about two blocks west of the later plan. At the time, this was in Sandusky Township, Richland County.
This time I happened across newspaper advertisements in Mansfield newspapers dating from September and October 1828 heralding the availability of lots in the new settlement. These advertisements read:
SALE OF LOTS IN GREENBURG
THE Subscribers having recently laid out the above named Village will on the 22d day of October 1828 on the premises offer for sale on the most accommodating terms, the lots composing the same.
GREENSBURG
Is delightfully situated in Sandusky township, Richland county, Ohio, on the state road leading from Mansfield to Bucyrus. The surrounding country is very fertile, presenting a beautiful undulating surface, and well watered by the waters of the Sandusky and Whetstone. It is settled and rapidly settling with industrious and enterprising farmers and mechanics, whose robust appearance sufficiently indicates the healthiness of the country. Purchasers are requested to call and see. Terms made known on the day of sale.
FREDERICK DICKINSON & HENRY HARSHNER & Co.
Greensburg, September 2d, 1828.
Apparently little has changed in 200 years in terms of deceptive advertising. Calling the surrounding area “fertile” and “well watered” is a bit of a stretch, seeing as it was almost entirely bound on the north by swampy terrain. Similarly, saying that it was rapidly settling with “industrious and enterprising farmers and mechanics” may have been a bit of a stretch, as there were only a handful of residents at the time as confirmed by tax records.
This is made all the more curious because prospective purchasers were invited to Greensburg to stake their claim. They would see exactly what was on offer.
As a late 19th century history of Crawford County shared about this location, “…[I]t was a poor site for a growing town or city. Any one having a proper idea of the development of our country and the growth of the State would never have laid out a town at the Corners…”
As the booklet shared, Frederick Dickinson lived on the present site of the Gill House on Harding Way West. Heny Harshner, also known as Henry Hershner, is buried in a small cemetery north of the Sunset Ramblers race track off of State Route 598.
It remains my supposition that when interested buyers arrived and saw the reality of what was on offer, they had no interest in investing. The Ruhls’ idea to put Galion on higher land made sense.
Each Saturday, we post about local history. We call this series “Galion History Corner,” and we will be sharing not only stories about our shared heritage but also updates on history news here in southeast Crawford County.
This series is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Bernard M. Mansfield, whose “Your Historical Galion” was a fixture in weekend editions of the Galion Inquirer. Dr. Mansfield was a friend and family physician, and he inspired the current generation of Galion historians to continue his work.
