FINDLAY  , a

city and the county-seat of Hancock county, Ohio, U.S.A., on Blanchard's Fork of the Auglaize river, about 42 M . S. by W. of Toledo . 'Pop . (189o) 18,5J3; (1900) 17,613, (1051 foreign-born) ; (191o) 14,858 . It is served by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis, the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton, the Lake Erie & Western, and the Ohio Central railways, and by three interurban electric railways . Findlay lies about 78o ft. above sea-level on gently rolling ground . The city is the seat of Findlay College (co-educational), an institution of the Church of God, chartered in 1882 and opened in 1886; it has collegiate, preparatory, normal, commercial and theological departments, a school of expression, and a conservatory of music, and in 1907 had 588 students, the majority of whom were in the conservatory of music . Findlay is the centre of the Ohio natural gas and oil region, and lime and building stone abound in the vicinity . Among manufactures are refined petroleum, flour and grist-mill products, glass, boilers, bricks, tile, pottery, bridges, ditching machines, carriages and furniture . The total value of the factory product in 1905 was $2,925,309, an increase of ?3.6 % since 1900 . The municipality owns and operates the water-works . Findlay was laid out as a town in 1821, was incorporated as a village in 1838, and was chartered as a city in 189o .

The city was named in

honour of Colonel James Findlay (c . 177 1835), who built a fort here during the war of 1812; he served in this war under General William Hull, and from 1825 to 1833 was a Democratic representative in Congress .