His name was Halsted, and he had a shack in what is now East Conneaut, where he said he had lived alone for several years. He was friendly in his attitude toward the newcomers, but did not court intimacy, and was never at all communicative relative to himself. He showed little interest in anything regarding the eastern section of the country and, withal, was quite a mysterious personage. He disappeared shortly after the surveyors arrived, not taking the trouble to say good-bye, nor to tell where he was going.
Stage Coach Tragedy.�Conneaut River furnished the setting for a distressing tragedy that illustrated the possibility of accidents when traveling by stage, as well as the interruptions liable to befall such means of going from place to place. On Feb. 10, l832, the regular stage coach left Erie for Cleveland, filled with passengers. There had been a few days' thaw, and when the conveyance reached "Conneaught" Creek (so spelled in the newspaper account), it was found that the ice had broken up and a freshet was in progress that overflowed the banks of the stream, it was at once apparent that the stage could not be taken farther until the water receded, but some of the passengers were anxious to be on their way and thought if they could get across, they could procure other conveyance and proceed on their journey. The driver was induced to unhitch a horse and try to ride it through the stream, which he accomplished very successfully, and returned to the stage. The passengers who were in a hurry, among whom was a Mr. A. M. Brown, then mounted the other horses and, piloted by the driver, started through the flood. Mr. Brown allowed his horse to deviate from the course the others were taking and got into deep water and was swept away, out into the lake, underneath the ice, and his body was not recovered.
Plans of Steel Company.�The formation of the United States Steel Corporation, in 1901, was a cause for deepest regret for Conneaut residents, as it deprived that place of that which would undoubtedly have been the starter for a great future steel town. On Jan. 8, 1901, the Associated Press announced, as given out by President Charles Schwab, of the Carnegie Steel Company, that that concern would soon begin the erection of what would be the largest tube mill in the world, its location to be at Conneaut, Ohio, and its cost $12,000,000. This announcement attracted wide attention throughout the country, and produced a state of great excitement in Conneaut. As an earnest of this announcement, the land agents of the company began closing options on thousands of acres of land east and south of the harbor, which options had already been quietly obtained during the preceding year. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were paid to such landowners, and it meant independence for several of them, but the plan was doomed to be nipped in the bud, for the formation of the United States Steel Corporation included absorption of the Carnegie Steel Company and resulted in an abandonment of the tube mill project and the anticipations of great commercial expansion by Conneaut reside underwent a decided eclipse. (C. S. Putnam.)
Public Library.�Away back in the early years of Conneaut steps were taken to obtain for Conneaut a public library, and numerous schemes were worked whereby to procure funds with which to start such an institution. Most notable of the efforts was a series of annual excursions to Conneaut Lake, which were run for several successive years under the direction of George J. Record, and the net proceeds were turned over to the township trustees, after a library had finally been established. In 1905 was formed the People's Free Library Association, composed of members who were willing to pay a yearly tax, that the general public might have the benefit of free reading. The collection was in the hands of H. H. Timby, who circulated them from his bookshop. In November of that year the question of sustaining a free public library by taxation was voted on and carried by a good majority. Mr. Timby continued in charge of the books until 1908, when, through the generous gift of $25,000 by Mr. Carnegie, a new building was erected and formally opened to the public on May 3, 1909. Marie T. Brown was chosen librarian, a position she still holds. Besides the circulation from the library, there have been placed at Amboy, at the Bethel, at the schools in Amboy, Farnham and North Conneaut, small assortments of books for the convenient use of rural communities. The patrons of the library number fully 7,000 persons.
Country Club.�One of the social institutions of which Conneauters are proud is the Country Club, which was organized in 1921. When a few enthusiastic Conneaut men had the temerity to suggest such an organization, others looked doubtful and the promoters received little encouragement. However, they were not to be discouraged until they had put the proposition to a test, and they were most agreeably surprised at the interest shown, and the outcome of their efforts was within a month there had been subscribed $16,000 worth of stock in a holding company, a tract of 76 acres had been secured, and within 60 days from the launching of the project a new golf course had been constructed. The club today has a splendid home and property on the lake road. East Conneaut as "Little Hope".�An old resident of East Conneaut, whose, modesty evidently prevented the appearance of his name, wrote the following reminiscence for the News-Herald:
Little Hope of 60 years ago had few attractions, no business to speak of, a quiet little place. Two schoolhouses, the little yellow one at the corner of Thompson and Main roads. I say little, but it held all there were to go and served as Sunday school room, with good Noah Bartlett to lead and see that our verses were committed to memory. That made Bible scholars. And the red brick that stood at the corner of Middle road and Main, where the grade school stands today, and in 1862 was used for Sunday school, with Russell Keyes as superintendent. Now the large building erected in 1902 accommodates 140. But that is not to be compared with the splendid fireproof building that stands on Rowe street, with grades from fifth to ninth, accommodating 178 scholars, with a large auditorium, used for all entertainments, and is a good monument to the growth of East Conneaut.
"In place of schoolhouses used for churches, we are to have a splendid new M. E. Church, made possible by the untiring efforts of Rev. Norman and committee.�
"The first time the writer walked over the road was the Fourth of July 62 years ago. The first stop was at Samantha Ray's shop, later Philando Petty's, the Eden of all small children, for the things were in a splendid messy heap that we all loved.�
"Every one who had no horse had to walk and carry all of their groceries.�
"We went to Keyes' grocery and got those splendid big codfish and Bills Buffalo soap, with the picture of a charging buffalo and the soap as strong as the buffalo. The codfish has become an aristocrat and not for the poor people, and Bills Buffalo soap has been outclassed by many others.�
"Then we came down the hill and up the hill and back to Little Hope and brought some nice striped sticks of candy six inches long. There are none like it, the taste is not there, it is gone with many other things of childhood.�
"The other business places were Russell Thompson's wagon shop and James and Harry Guthrie's blacksmith shop. Dunn's tavern, kept by Bob Williams, who kept drink for man and beast, where we stopped to rest a pair of tired little feet, for the trail was long, and as the years go by it grows longer."