From The County Library Ch. II:
“Item III. Feeling a great regard for my fellow townsmen of Van Wert, Ohio, and affection for the said city in which I have spent so many happy years of my life, I have long contemplat
ed a gift to them of a Library Building, as a token of my affection and regard. In that behalf I have had plans prepared for such a building, but owing to the condition of my health have not been permitted to enter upon its construction. It is my will and desire that my said dear wife and children expend sufficient of my estate, willed to them in Items I and II, to carry out my wishes, known to them, by the erection and gift of a Library Building, something after the plans and designs I have had prepared for that purpose; provided, and this item is upon the express condition, that my wife and children can make arrangements satisfactory to them with the said city of Van Wert or, if they desire and think best, with Van Wert County, for a location for said building and the maintenance of the Library to be placed therein."
Read Chapter II - The Bequest for a County Library HERE