Immigrants built this city

"Once I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that the immigrants were American history." Historian Oscar Handlin The recent influx of Haitian immigrants who have come to this country. The United States was built by immigrants from all over the world. This is Findlay's story as well, according to Joy Bennett, curator and archivist at the Hancock Historical Museum. Germans, African Americans, English, Swiss, Irish, French, Belgians, Jewish, Italians, Asians and Hispanics have all made their way to Hancock County in search of a better life. And in the process, they helped to build a city. "These were people who came expecting to stay, at least in the United States if not Findlay because they were coming from another country and eventually they would become citizens," said Bennett. "Very few went back." Historically speaking, they had good reasons for leaving their homelands. The may not have had the same rights as others. Jobs may have been non-existent and food was sparse, she said. "So as long as you could get enough money together to get across the ocean, you go to the place that is providing you with all the things that you can dream about, as long as you work hard which they all seemed prepared to do," Bennett said. After the war of 1812, this area was open for settlement. However, most of the war veterans opted to settle in Eastern Ohio instead as Northwest Ohio was still a swamp at this point, Bennett explained. About 1815, the first settlers arrived and took up residence in old Fort Findlay that was still standing by the Blanchard River near Front Street. The settlers lived in the bunkhouses there until they were able to secure plots of land and build cabins using materials from the fort, she said. A lot of these settlers came from the Pennsylvania area which had a high percentage of Germans in their immigrant population. Closer to 1830, a lot of people were coming from eastern Ohio, too, she said. "It was a village at that point until there was a land office in Bucyrus. So I think they would get their certificates for land but they'd have a farm claim. They'd also live in town because it was safer in the winter. But you just had to make sure you lived on that land for a certain amount of time in order to keep it," said Bennett. Once they had enough citizens, they could form a village with an actual government. According to Paulette's Weiser's 1999 book, "Ethnic Roots: Immigrant and Racial Populations of Hancock County, Ohio 1830-1920," some of the earliest of the many German-born immigrants who came to Hancock County settled in Van Buren Township in the 1830s. "Hancock County was settled primarily of German immigrants," said Bennett. "Obviously there's a mix but it's a similar climate to Germany. And at this point in time, a lot of Germans were leaving the German states based off of laws that were being passed that they didn't like. They wanted their freedom." Adam Traucht was one who settled in the Jenera area. Bennett said he had been a Hessian soldier, hired by the British to help fight during the American Revolution. "So he had fought for money. He didn't get the money. His government got the money, shipping him off to fight someone else's war," she said. Traucht didn't like the fact that laws were being passed in Germany that he couldn't go hunting. "That was like his big thing. We can't go and shoot a rabbit for our dinner because all the rabbits apparently belong to the head of state, and he didn't like that," she said. He organized people from his village and they boarded a ship called Famous Dove. The ship was bound for the New World when it was shipwrecked off the east coast of America on Sept. 17, 1831. During a terrible storm, the passengers prayed and sang hymns. The next morning, they saw that they were just off the coast of Virginia. They left the wrecked ship and safely reached land. The survivors vowed that annually on that day they would remember the shipwreck and their rescue. The occasion is still observed. Many of the passengers were the founders of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jenera, said Bennett. "So that's a perfect example of an immigrant group settling an area. They found that land, they cleared it, they built a village, they all lived in that area and maintained it," she said. "And we have a lot barn tours there because these farmers came in and they built these amazing barns with the original timber from that area when they were clearing it." At the same time, some of them were also constructing buildings in Findlay, she said. Findlay was still a village at that point, but people kept coming and it continued to grow. "It wasn't until the Gas and Oil Boom that we really expanded," she said. "Even more immigrants came who had different skill sets." German native, Dr. Charles Oesterlen, arrived in Findlay in 1836. Aside from his interest in medicine, Osterlen was also a amateur scientist and geologist. In 1884, he drilled a well on his land on East Sandusky Street. Gas was discovered, proving the existence of gas here, she said. "He was super influential in our history entirely as an immigrant from Germany," said Bennett. "All those factories, all the downtown buildings, the South Main Street houses, all of that essentially happened because of him." Factories of all types located in Findlay during this time with promises of free fuel. Many were glass plants that relied heavily upon natural gas as a source of fuel. People flocked to Findlay and hotels, boarding houses and restaurants were packed. Findlay's population increased four-fold, from 4,633 in 1880 to 18,553 inhabitants by 1890. In addition to the Germans, Bennett said there were also small pockets of people from other countries coming to Findlay. The earliest census taken was in 1830. At the time, only 813 people lived in the entire county. Of those, a family of "free colored persons" lived in Old Town Township, Weiser wrote. By 1890, the city's black population numbered 292, including attorney Howard Jones, shoemaker Albert R. Cooper and baseball player Grant Johnson. David Adams, who came to Findlay about 1848, worked as a conductor on the Underground Railroad in Hancock County. Weiser said he helped guide 50 or more escaping slaves from Urbana through Findlay to Perrysburg and then on to Canada. The number of Italian-born permanent residents has always been small in Hancock County. But at times, groups of immigrants were brought in to work on projects. In 1888, a large group of Italians was brought to Hancock County to work on the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad, said Weiser. A week later, 100 Italians were brought in to work as shovelers on the grade of the New York, Mahoning and Western Railroad west of Findlay. They also worked on Findlay's water works reservoir. Not everyone was pleased about the Italians, Weiser discovered. A Tiffin newspaper reported that they were being imported and paid lower wages when Findlay men were idle was refuted. "There is not a man in Findlay wanting work but when can get it at any time. If any are idle, they are so from choice." "We're a city of immigrants," said Bennett. "Do a DNA test from Ancestry and you'll find out. I thought I was very German but I'm apparently very Scottish. And I thought that was really interesting with genealogy and everything. And then you trace your family back and you find out everyone here comes from somewhere else." "This has happened before," she said, referring to the latest arrival of immigrants. "It will continue to happen."