West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 102 by Charlie Miller

____April 3, 1905 – A letter from the C. H. Sutphen Co. dealer in fire fighting apparatus, 21 King Ave. Columbus, Ohio -” To the honorable Council of the Village of Jefferson, Gents, this morning your Mayor and several of your Council, and the old gentleman who takes care of your engine, suggested that you buy a horse cart for your horse. Now gentlemen, this is what you need and need bad. It saves time, the old engine is heavy enough, the horse could be laid much quicker and without any strain. I have a hose reel for $30.00 suitable for your village and one for $60.00. I will enclose cuts of each with a partial description. (The Sutphen Co. is still in business along U. S. Route 33 west of Columbus. It is the oldest continuously owned and operated fire apparatus manufacturers in the country still owned and operated by the Sutphen family.)

____August 1, 1905 - Martin Ricks was killed by a fast freight in West Jefferson. (Martin Ricks was born in 1843 as a slave in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. He and his wife escaped North in 1863 and settled in West Jefferson. He served in the U. S. Colored Troops during the Civil War. He is buried in the New Hampton Cemetery. In 1865, he and his wife Pereene started the African Methodist in West Jefferson. He had a truck garden on the Lilly Chapel Road and peddled vegetables. He was returning from London and was coming in to town on the London Road. This was before the railroad tracks were elevated and the London Road was moved. At this time, it was what is now the far west end of Pearl St., which is now a dead-end street.)

____September 25, 1905 – An ordinance granting the Ohio Fuel Supply Co., its successors, and assigns the right and privilege of laying, maintaining, and removing pipe in the streets and alleys of Jefferson for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants thereof with natural gas for fuel and lighting and other purposes, and regulating the said laying of the pipe.

____1905 – The Ohio Electric Line from Columbus to Springfield was finally completed.

____The first football team from West Jefferson was in 1905. Their colors were brown and gold. The first game was on October 14, 1905, with Plain City High School. The Jefferson team was beaten, but in the first two seasons, the team won over half of their games. The first team consisted of: Merle Summers, Captain; Joseph Millholland, Manager; O. Wilkerson and John Hill, Right Ends; Faber Biggert, Right Tackle; Lester Lambert, Right Guard; __ Kinnamore and O. Wilkerson, Centers; Robert Harbage, Left Tackle; C. Wikerson, Left End; Willard Culp, Quarterback; Ray Harbage, Right Halfback; Ed Harrington, Left Halfback; Merle Summers, Fullback.

____March 17, 1906 – A bill received by the village from the Obenchain & Boyer Fire Engine Co., Logansport, Indiana, for 1 single 45-gallon portable chemical Fire Engine, $250.00.