FUNK - I found this little bit of history at the WC Library today. Funk was first named Austin. FUNK: Once Known as Austin by Clarence Troyer (1981) In my writings about villages, I usually find some information about them before I go there. In the case of Funk, which is located on County Road 95 in Paint Township, there is very little information available. and thus I had to depend upon, people like Evelyn Wharton. Jane Seibert. Lemoine Austin and Pearl Heffelfinger. The village of Austn was laid out on Nov. 17, 1894, by John Austin, after whom the village was named. The Wayne Co. Atlas of 1897 shows 46 lots, five buildings, one of which was an elevator, Camp Street and a railroad. The name of the village was later named Funk in honor of W. D. Funk who owned and operated the first store in the village. FUNK, TODAY, is more than just a cross road because there are about 20 dwellings, a nice store owned and operated by Susan and John Mock, and the Austn Disposal operated by Gail Austin, still in the village. The Austin Disposal takes care of the garbage of Wayne County and parts of Holmes and Ashland. Mrs. Freelon, the secretary, informed me that they have six trucks on the road, three for residential and three for commercial pick-ups. They also have a building used for storage and truck maintenance. Blacksmith shops were always a necessity in pioneer days. Funk was blessed with two such shops owned by James Leedy and Charles Hostetler. Leedy had his shop a short distance south of Camp Street and Hostetler in the building that is still standing next to L.S. Austins trailor. If you have not read the Village Blacksmith lately, do so and you will respect the mighty smithies. THE SCHOOL where many of the older people of Funk used to attend, was called the Wilderness School, located about two miles from the village. It was so named because the school was located in the woods. Mrs. Wharton stated that the men had to cut a path through the woods for the chldren to pass through. A few of the teachers who taught at this school were Barden, Ickes, Springer, M.D. Overholt and Ralph Heffelfinger. Pearl Hefelfinger, who is nearly 90-years-old, said that her husband, Ralph Eugene, taught 37 years, 17 at Yankeytown. Mrs. Irwin takes care of Pearl Heffelfinger. The building that you see in the picture, which is the first house on the right as you come into Funk from Wooster, used to be a school house in the early days. According to L. S. (Wash) Austin, the building was moved into the village. This building in which Evelyn Wharton I spent most of her childhood days, is one of the original houses in Funk. A famly by the name of Ward lives there at present. As far as anyone can recall, the village of Funk never had a doctor. The doctors at Blachleyville, a short ditance from Funk, took care of the physical needs of the people in the Funk community. The names of those doctors were Dr. Blachley, Dr. Weaver and Dr. Funk. MRS. WHARTON showed me a little booklet where on Oct. 6, 1918. they had a homecoming at the Lakefork Church. It stated that the first M.E. Church of Funk was erected abut 1854 in what they called the Locust Grove. It was built on land donated out of the old home farm by the father of C. S. Seibert. The original members included the following: Tryon, Childs, Seibert, Eley, Miller, Leybarger and Dilgard. Thus, the first M.E. Church in Funk was built between Funk and Lakefork and called the Lakefork Church. The congregation, after worshiping there for some time, decided to move the building to Funk. When that building burned, the members worshiped at the United Brethren Church. The Brethren and the Methodits had services in the same building. After some time, the M.E. group left that church and rented what was called the Pigs of Israel Hall which is. still standing a short distance south of Funk. A few years later, the group decided to take their insurance money and joined with the Maple Grove Church. AT ONE TIME, Chester Nirode, had a sawmill that was located next; to the railroad tracks, and he also had a garage in the village. Paul and Jane Seibert used to operate a gravel pit -for 25 years near the village. The Wayne Co. Atlas shows a railroad passing through Funk call-ed the L.A. & S. While laying the track, they found so many rattlesnakes that they called it the Rattlesnake railroad. The ladies dubbed it the Ladies Aid Society railroad (L.A.S.). The trains hauled passengers as well as freight. The trains ceased running about 1925, but during the years in existance, it meant much to the community in bringing in and sending out freight and enabling the people to travel to distant place. The old elevator, which is still standing, used to have a stockyard back of it where cattle and hogs were kept and shipped out by the railroad. The elevator ground feed for the farmers and supplied people with cement, lime, seed, coal, etc. The elevator dates back to the early days of Funk. DO YOU recall that 30 years ago, Funk used to have livestock auctions that were held on Wednesdays? Do you remember the watering trough? A general store was always a necessity in the small villages in those early horse and buggy days and bad roads. Many of these small villages do not have one because of competition from the larger centers. However, Funk has always been fortunate in having a store. Susan and John Mock operate the store at present. L. S. (Wash) Austin was able to supply me with a list of the store owners from the beginning. The first one was W. D. Funk, in whose honor the village was named. Others in their order were Stauffer & Auber, Fran Griffith, Ralph Acker, Austin & Oberholtzer (22 years), John Murray, Dale Zimmerman and now the Mocks. It was while Griffith owned the store, that it burned. It was then that a school building in Jeromesville was moved to Funk. Thus, the present store buildng used to be a place where children attend-ed school. I ASKED SUSAN Mock why she and her husband, John, would want to leave the Cleveland area and come to Funk to operate a store. She stated that they wanted to get into the country, and also that she enjoys to restore old buldings, in this case, the store. In the basement of the store are the old counters, shelves, medicine cabinets, signs, and other items used in the store in by-gone days. She intends to make as many of these old items a part of the store again. Dont be surprised to find, an old pot belly stove in there. Thus, as you walk into this store some time in the future, you may feel that you are shopping, not in 1981, but in the days many years ago. The enthusiasm that Susan expessed the day that I was in the store, makes me feel that she will succeed.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 20:48:42 +0000
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