113-year-old map makes it back to Findlay

FINDLAY — Deb Taylor can't think of a better place to donate an early 1900s map of Hancock County than back home. Her grandfather, H.A. (Harry Aaron) Glathart, created the map in 1912, presumably as part of his job duties as city engineer and "draughtsman," according to Taylor. She said it will replace a copy of the map that has been displayed at the Findlay-Hancock County Public Library since 2021. "I wondered about taking the map to the library or to the historical museum or something," said Taylor. "So I was looking on their websites and I happened to see a picture that the library had posted of, at the time, the new genealogy room." The photo showed an identical map hanging on the wall. "And I went, Oh, I have that map. That's like my map," she said. Taylor noticed that the library's copy has some condition issues. It had been folded and also had gotten wet at some point. "I thought, mine's all rolled up so it doesn't have folds. I haven't unrolled it all the way so I don't really know of its condition, but I think it's in better condition than the one that they have," she said. Taylor was able to unroll the bottom of the map where she saw her grandfather's name — so she knew what it was. "When you look at the map, it looks printed," she said. "It's nicely done, but I have to assume that part of it was done by hand by him." She wondered if the library would be interested in a replacement. "I thought, well, that would be a good safe place for the map to live," said Taylor. "And they seemed very excited about getting it so I was glad to do that because now it can be enjoyed. It's not just sitting at our house collecting dust." Director Sarah Clevidence said the library was grateful for the donation of the 113-year-old map. "It is exciting to update our current copy with one in better condition and help preserve this piece of local history," Clevidence said. "It was such a pleasure to learn more about Deb's family story in the process." Taylor felt like the library would be an appropriate place because her father, Justin Glathart (Harry's son), had been inspired to begin his career as a physicist while reading a book at the Findlay library in the early 1910s. A native of Albion, Michigan, Taylor and her husband, Rick, have been living in Kalamazoo, Michigan since the mid-1980s. "I never lived in Findlay, although my dad and his siblings were born and raised there," she said. "My dad and I were very close, so I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Findlay." Harry Glathart died in 1936, long before Taylor was born. But back when she was in later elementary and middle school, she and her parents became interested in tracking down the Glathart lineage because they didn't know much about it. "It's an unusual name so it was easy to trace. And we kind of got into the whole genealogy thing," she explained. Back then, research was much different than it is today, said Taylor. "That would have been the late 1960s, early 1970s when we were doing it. Computers weren't a thing at all. You had to physically go places and visit county courthouses when they were open and go down to the basement and go through books and books and books of dusty pages. But we enjoyed it," she said. It also brought up a chance to talk about the family. The trio traced the Glatharts back to the original group that came over from Switzerland in 1849. She said the first family members are buried in Stark County near Canton. From their genealogical work, they also knew that Harry Glathart had been an engineer and surveyor. "I actually have his surveying equipment," she said. "I've kept it because I don't have much that belonged to him. So I knew about him and I've known the connection to Findlay." She said her father talked about it, and they would come back to Findlay for family reunions in the early 1970s. After Taylor's parents had both passed away, she was cleaning out their house in Albion when she found the map. "I saw the name and understood what it was so I hung on to it," said Taylor. She kept the map in her home where it would be somewhere more temperature controlled. But it just sat there, said Taylor. "I had no interest in framing it and hanging it in our home. But I wasn't ready to get rid of it either, by any means," she said. Once Taylor made her decision to part with the historic treasure, the couple planned a trip to Findlay to visit the library and area cemeteries where she could take pictures of relatives' headstones. "My parents and I had visited Maple Grove many times over the years, but the pictures weren't always good quality," she said. "And there were some people in the family who had passed away. Since we had done all this work, I wanted to get pictures of their tombstones. That's a source that you can use when you're doing genealogical work." And now that she's retired, Taylor said she ready to get back to the hobby. "I really enjoyed it. And I'd like to get back into it and update what my parents and I had done years ago, using today's technology," she said. Harry Glathart attended college which was somewhat unusual back then, said Taylor. He went to Ohio State University to study civil and electrical engineering, then attended Ohio Normal University in Ada which now is Ohio Northern University. "Before Harry was the county surveyor, he was doing other surveying work," she said. She has a picture of her ancestor taken in 1897 when he was working on construction of bridge 5 of the Detroit and Pennsylvania Northern Railroad. "I haven't researched it yet to know where that was. Whether that was in the Ohio area or whether it was in Michigan, I don't know," she said. He was the county surveyor from 1906-1909, she said. After his work for the city, the 1920 and 1930 censuses list his occupation as "civil engineer — oil company." Taylor wonders if that might have been Marathon. Another relative, her uncle Clifford Glathart (Harry's youngest son), was the Findlay City Mayor from 1948-1951. "For a while, the Glathart name was well known in the area because Harry's father, Aaron, lived there also and he was a big Civil War hero. He was known for that," Taylor said. Aaron was born in Findlay but also lived in Lawrence, Kansas for a while. He returned to Findlay in 1861 and enlisted in Co. H of the 57th Army Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Taylor said her great-grandfather fought in a number of battles during the Civil War and also spent time in Andersonville Prison, a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp. Clevidence said the map, which measures roughly 44-inches by 39-inches, has been taken for framing. It should be back and ready to hang in the genealogy area in about two weeks. "I think dad would be pleased," Taylor said. "He would be a bit befuddled that they were so interested in it, but I think he would be very pleased it came back to the Findlay."