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The History of Dale City
John Lonsdale was
born February 14,1818, in Yorkshire England. In 1841 at the age of 23
he traveled across the Atlantic and settled in Chili, New York, where he
stayed for 1 year. He then moved to Madina County, Ohio where he formed
a partnership with Enoch H. France, and ran a woolen mill for a number
of years, later Mr. France would join John and his family in Dale City.
John did not stay idle long in 1858 he established a woolen mill along the banks of the Raccoon River. The mill was known for its high quality woolen blankets, cashmere and flannel as well as the employment it provided to many of the local inhabitants. It was housed in a 96’-0” x 60’-0” structure. In addition to the mill he established a local goods store in 1861, which would additionally serve as a
post office from March 9, 1865 to June 15, 1992, with John serving as the postmaster for many of those years.
The Guthrie County records indicate Mr. Lonsdale’s net worth in 1860 as $7,000 for the mill and $1,000 in his personal estate. Within this record it notes his household inhabitants to include Mr. James Barnes a 19 year old school teacher from Ohio. The property in which the school house resides was owned and given for the specific purpose of providing an education to the children of the 30 plus inhabitants of
Dale City. Letters from this period record John commenting back to his former countryman about the educational opportunity that was available to all citizens within the United States.
John Lonsdale
passed away April 26, 1892 in Dale City and is buried in Morrisburg
Cemetery.
Our school house in which we moved from it’s original location up to the winery, is the school house which is spoken of above, additionally it was placed on the original 1500 plated acres.
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