I recently complimented the hard working Cardington Fire Department. This week I have some interesting statistics concerning the police department and the Morrow County Sheriff’s Department; sometimes they are intertwined.
More than eight sheriffs wore the same badge. This particular badge, purchased by incoming sheriff William Frizell in 1907, was in turn pinned on the chest of every newly elected Morrow County Sheriff for the next 30 years.
It is interesting to note sheriffs served two year terms until the mid-1950s.
Back to Cardington, the night watchman was Ralph E. Sanderson, who served in that position for 34 years until his retirement in 1955.
During that time he also served as Cardington Fire Chief and as a substitute mail carrier. An accomplished drummer, Ralph led the town’s band for years He never possessed a driver’s license. “Sand” only had to fire his hand gun one time. He was the longest serving law enforcement officer in Morrow County history.
On another topic, in the early 1890s three inmates escaped from the Morrow County jail, one of them a suspected murderer. The sheriff quickly organized a posse and the trio was recaptured within a few hours. Two of the escapees were found hiding in a nearby graveyard.
In 1923 William Corwin was the first Morrow County sheriff trained to take the fingerprints of all suspects arrested on felony charges.
The Morrow County Sheriff’s Department was provided with its first automobile in 1925, a Dodge Touring Car.
More on this subject later.
Looking back -September 1952: A Cardington man, Arthur Heimlich, was awarded the contract to grade and seed the grounds of the new Morrow County Hospital; The Presidential campaign train of General Dwight
D. Eisenhower passed through Cardington at 2:15 pm on September 23.
September 1962: Goodman’s Poultry Farm, near Cardington, advertised three dozen extra large eggs for $1.50.
Theodore A. Gantz of Cardington, was named superintendent of schools in an Indian village on an island near Juneau, Alaska. The island was inaccessible by land.
