CHAPTER XV HISTORY OF ROYALTON TOWNSHIP Royalton Township has a distinctive place in the history of Fulton county it was the part of the county to which Eli Phillips, who is claimed to have been the pioneer settler, came, in 1833. And it also has place, although under another name, in Michigan annals, for its settlers seem to have taken a more active part than did the settlers of adjoining townships in the boundary dispute between the Territory of Michigan and the State of Ohio. The boundary dispute, which almost brought the Territory of Michigan and the State of Ohio into actual bloody conflict, and did bring the military forces of those two contending states into what might be termed a state of warlike demonstration, even so far as to cause bullets to fly through the air upon one occasion, will not be further referred to in this chapter, for it has been extensively reviewed in an earlier chapter of this work. Suffice it here to give a reason for the apparent antipathy shown by some of the early settlers of Royalton, and other northern townships of the present Fulton county to the authority of the state of Ohio. The settlement of Lenawee county, Michigan, began in 1824, the first settlement upon its soil being in the northwestern corner, in the valley of the Raisin. In 1826, the southern half of Lenawee county, which then was one township, named Fairfield, and formerly Logan, was subdivided into three townships, which from east to west were Fair- field, Seneca, and Medina, these townships embracing in their respective jurisdictions the territory of what is now Fulton county down to the line commonly known as the "Fulton Line." Settlement of Lenawee County, Michigan, proceeded rapidly, and as the choice locations of the northern part of the county were taken up, the settlers travelled further south, entering, from 1832 onward to 1835, their land at the Land Office at Monroe, Michigan. As the territory was recognized at the Federal Land Office as being in the Michigan survey, the settlers were hardly to be blamed for refusing to recognize the right of Wood county, Ohio, and, in 1835, Lucas county, Ohio, to levy taxes, for the State of Ohio. They considered themselves to be in Lenawee county, Michigan, and did the greater part of their legal and other business at Adrian, county seat of Lenawee county, Michigan, which town was much more accessible than Maumee. The majority of the early settlers came in from the north, and some had had residence for many years in more northerly parts of Michigan. Also, the Territory of Michigan was literally in possession, and could enforce its authority, whereas the State of Ohio had no official grip of the disputed strip. Verity recorded that "Wood county, at a very early period, much earlier than 1835, attempted to extend the law of Ohio over this strip to the county of Williams, and claimed it to be in that county. They levied taxes (there being some settlers in the east part, near - 325 - 326 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY (Toledo) but the people did not recognize the act and authority of Wood county, and refused to pay the taxes. It was in this township that some of the scenes of the Ohio and Michigan war were enacted. When, in the beginning of 1835, Ohio undertook to enforce jurisdiction along the whole northern border to the Harris line they (the Michigan authorities) 'dared, the Ohio militia to enter the disputed ground, and 'welcomed them to hospitable graves., " Eli Phillips was at that time, apparently, in authority in that part of the territory being lieutenant-colonel. Of militia, under Major-General J. W. Brown, of Michigan ; and it seems that Col. Phillips "fought in the only battle of the Toledo war, in which no one was killed, and only a few very badly scared." That probably was the incident when after the first warlike demonstration of the state armies had apparently ended in a truce, the Ohio boundary commissioners, properly escorted, entered the territory in dispute, and while pursuing the survey were set upon by "banditti" of Michigan who actually fired many shots and took as prisoners almost .all of the escort, the commissioners escaping. Verity says: "Early in April, Governor Lucas (of Ohio) sent a surveying party to run the Harris line. The commissioners had commenced their work at the northwest corner of the State. General Brown had sent scouts to watch their operations, and when running the line, to report immediately when the surveying pary had reached the county of Lena-wee. The under-sheriff of that county, with a warrant and posse, made his appearance to arrest them. About fen miles east of Morenci, along the line, in Royalton Township, he came upon the trail of the commissioners. . . and arrested nine of the party, but the commissioners and Surveyor Dodge made a, timely escape, and ran with all their might until they got off the disputed territory.". Eli Phillips undoubtedly did not settle in Royalton Township until June 10, 1833, although it seems likely that he entered his land at the Land Office in 1832. Further information regarding his coming is embodied in the fourth chapter of this volume. He and his wife came from "the vicinity of" Adrian, and settled on sections 10 and 11, town 9 south, range 3 east. If their home was not actually on the "outskirts of civilization," their log cabin certainly was much isolated, for some time, for to the south there were no settlers nearer than the Maumee River, and to the west, it was "an unbroken wilderness for at least seventy miles." Colonel Eli Phillips gained an honorable record as a useful and influential citizen of Fulton county, taking active part in much of the pioneer building. He, and his brother-in-law, Musgrove Evans, were the first settlers upon the soil of what was afterwards Lenawee county." They settled at Tecumseh, in June, 1824, coming frail' Pennsylvania, Evans was a Quaker. They built a log house twenty feet square, "floor bare earth, the roof elm bark," and during the winter of 1824 and 1825, it furnished shelter for sixteen persons. Like conditions, excepting as to number of occupants, Eli Phillips probably experienced nine years later, when he and his wife' came into the wilderness, and began the settlement of what is now Fulton county. He was then about twenty-seven years old, and he lived the remainder of his long life in Fulton county, attaining octogenarian age. Judge Verity wrote of him. "He stands here today (1887) almost the only monument of the HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 327 past—the first of all the settlers—of over a half century crowded with significant history. He recalls a Jefferson, a Madison, a Monroe, and a long line of the same worthies up to the present time. He was before steamboats, before railroads, before telegraph or telephone. Thus, when closes his life,s career, which has been a busy one, it will be thoroughly interwoven with the present and future of Fulton county." Eli Phillips, the pioneer, did not however remain for long without neighbors. It is said that William (Uncle Billy) Smith settled in the township in the same year; indeed very soon after Eli Phillips came. Smith was a bachelor, one record stating that he came "with, or soon after" Eli Phillips. Butler Richardson is generally thought to have been the second pioneer to settle in Royalton. He came in 1834, and thereafter, until 1840, there was a steady influx of settlers. The population of Royalton Township in 1840 was four hundred and one, so that the following-named families did not probably embrace the whole of the settlers of the first seven years of Royalton,s settlement. However, to state the record as it is, among the settlers who came in 1834 were Butler Richardson, George W. Welsh, Warren Dodge, Frazier Smalley, and Joseph H. Applegate;. in 1835, Nathaniel S. Ketchum, Charles D. Smith, John Sturdevant, Will L. Windship, Joshua Youngs, David Wood, and the brothers Blain, Wm. and Charles; in 1836, Elias Richardson, Ansel M. Henderson, George B. Brown, Amos H. and Henry Jordan, Daniel Bueler (later of Amboy), Ebenezer S., Mordecai, Willey, John P. and Snow Carpenter; in 1837, Amos Rathbun, and Hiram Richardson ; in 1838, Jenks Morey, Benjamin Davis, Alpheus Fenner, John Hinkle, John Erastus. and James Welsh ; in 1839, Barney M. Robinson ; 1840, Enos C. Daniels, Michael Forester, Patrick Burroughs, and David rotes. Butler Richardson came in May, 1834, and settled on section fifteen. He was a native of New York state, and became a leading 328 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY farmer of Royalton Township. George W. Welsh, also from Niagara county, New York, settled on the same section. He and his wife, Mary .Whitney, were the parents of eleven children, all of whom were born in Royalton. George W. Welsh was one of the early township officers. Warren Dodge, and his wife, Permelia Church, also were the parents of eleven children. The family was formerly of New York State: Frasier Smalley, who also came in 1834, has the distinction of being the father of the first white male child to be born in Royalton. Nathaniel S. Ketchum, and his wife, Emeline Smith, came from Orange county, New York. Charles D. Smith -and his wife, Jane B, Helms, were also of Orange county, New York. They settled upon section 7. Charles D. Smith served as sheriff for six of the first seven years of the existence of Fulton county, and was in the prime of manhood when he died in 1858. Two of his sons, Martin V. and Laton, later served with honor in the Civil War. Joshua Youngs was the pioneer physician of Royalton Township. He settled upon section 26, and died in 1873, having practiced medicine in the township for many years. David Wood settled on section 9. The brothers Blain settled on the line of Amboy and Royalton. Elias and Lucinda (Dowd) Richardson settled on section 9, Mr. Richardson soon afterwards acquiring additional land in section 10. He was an enterprising pioneer; was director of the plank road company, in 1850, and built eleven miles of that road; and for two terms of three years each he was county commissioner. The Richardson family was from New York, and one record says that Thomas, brother of Elias, came also in 1836, to Royalton, although another record says that Thomas stayed in Niagara county, where he had a good farm, and his son came to Royalton in 1838, purchasing forty acres, and subsequently an additional eighty acres, the latter being the farm later owned by Cyrus Downer. The son's name was Martin, and if he came in 1838, he probably accompanied his uncle, Hiram, brother of Elias, for Hiram Richardson came in 1837 or HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 329 1838. Ansel M. Henderson, of the 1836 immigrants, from Niagara county, New York, took active part eventually in township affairs. George B. Brown was the first sheriff of Fulton county. The Jordan family has been prominent in Royalton affairs. They originally mine from Vermont. Henry was county commissioner for one term, and held some township offices. And the Carpenter family has to this day had close connection with the life of Royalton Township. Extensive biographical mention of scions of the family will be found in the second volume of this work. Samuel Carpenter, who came in 1843, was a worthy pioneer. Amos Rathbun, who came from Salem, Connecticut, in 1837, and settled about .a mile south- of where Lyons eventually was platted, was a public-spirited man. In the same year (1837) he built upon his land a log schoolhouse, and later upon that site, or near it, the "Little Red School House" stood until about 1850. Jenks Morey came in 1838, from Mentor, Lake county, Ohio. He settled upon section 9, 'becoming thus eventually the original proprietor of Lyons, or of the greater part of that incorporated place. Lyons originally was known as Morey,s Corners. Jenks Morey was the first hotelkeeper in the town- ship. He died in 1871. Benjamin Davies eventually became one of the most responsible business men of Royalton. He owned and operated on an extensive scale a cheese factory, handling a large portion of the milk product of Royalton and Amboy townships. He and his wife came originally from Dutchess County, New York. Alpheus Fenner, from Massachusetts, settled on section 10. He undertook many offices and responsibilities in the township administration. The Hinkle family has been one of the prominent families of Royalton since almost its beginning. Members of the family are still in the township, well-to-do and public-spirited. The name is encountered in almost all phases of the public history of Royalton Township, and .Lyons. Michael Forester was comparatively an elderly man when he settled in Royalton Township in 1840. He lived to be more than one hundred years old, in longevity being in the class with Lucius P. Taylor, of Pike Township, still alive and now one hundred and four years old. David Lewis Bueler, who settled in Royalton in 1836, or 1838, lived in the township until 1852, when he was attracted to California by the discoveries of gold in that state. He returned, three years later, and purchased a farm in Amboy. He took prominent part in church and school affairs, he alone constituting the building committee responsible for the erection of the first Methodist Episcopal church of Royalton. Later, he retired to Wauseon. Enos C. Daniels, a native of New York state, and later of Lake county, Ohio, where he married Mary Ann. Carroll, lived from 1840 until his death, in 1902, in Royalton Township, and became the owner of an extensive tract of agricultural land. By trade, he was .a carpenter and cabinet maker, and was evidently a capable building contractor. He was the builder of many of the pioneer buildings of consequence in the township. He built the first hotel, that owned by Jenks Morey ; the first brick church in the township, that owned by the Disciples in Christ society ; the first frame house in the township, probably that of Elias Richardson; and the first grist mill. His son, Albert C., became a Civil War soldier, and later owned the Eagle Cheese Factory, the first to be erected in Royalton. He was twice elected treasurer of Fulton county. 330 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY TOWNSHIP RECORDS Unfortunately there are no official township records of . Royalton Township of earlier date than 1862. It is understood that the anterior records were destroyed by fire. However, Lucas county records show that Royalton was one of the three townships organized at a session of the Board of Commissioners of Lucas county, held in Toledo, on June 4, 1837, the other two being the adjoining townships east and west, Amboy and Chesterfield respectively. Royalton Township was organized by taking all of town nine south, range three east, south of the Harris Line, and all of town ten south, range three east, extending to the Fulton Line, south. The first election under this organization was held at Phillips Corners. An alteration of township lines occurred on March 1, 1841, when Royalton ceded to Pike the southern tier of sections of town nine south, range three east, and all of town ten south, range three east. Although the records for the important early years are not available, a complete record of township trustees can be tabulated, from 1862, when the township trustees were E. C. Daniels, Clark Standish 'and H. J. Jordan. The succession is as follows: 1863, E. Hinkle, H. C. Jordan, John Lewis; 1864, E. Hinkle, Samuel Gardner, C. Standish ; 1865, E. Hinkle, Aaron Deyo and B. L. Barden; 1846, the same; 1867, E. Hinkle, H. C. Jordon, R. H. Scott; 1868, H. C. Jordan, Clark Standish and George Welsh; 1869, 1870, and 1871, Clark Standish, Richard Hinkle and James C. Carpenter; 1872, Aaron Deyo, B. Richardson and B. L. Barden ; .1873, James C. Carpenter, B. L. Barden and A. B. Clark ; 1874, Richard Scott, Richard Hinkle, and Chas: Sprague; 1875, E. C. Daniels, Richard Hinkle, and George Knight; 1876, C. Deyo, G. W. Moulton, and J. 0.. Meeker; 1877, R. H. Scott, B. R. Welsh, and Harrison Patterson ; 1878, Aaron Deyo, John Holland, Aug. Noble; 1879, the same; 1880, Aaron Deyo, R. Hinkle, Benson L. Barden; 1881, A. Deyo, R. Hinkle, and F. D. Barden; 1882, Richard Hinkle, Davis Brown, Aug. Noble; 1883, Harrison Welsh, J. Cottrell, Aug. Noble; 1884, H. Welsh, Harrison Pa- HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 331 terson, B. L. Barden ; 1885, H. Welsh, B. L. Barden, Sylvester Green ; 1886 and 1887, R. Scott, John P. Holland, and H. Patterson ; 1888 and 1889, R. Scott, A. W. Hurd, and H. Patterson; 1890, Fred H. Knapp, A. W. Hurd, R. H. Scott; 1891, F. H. Knapp, Davis Brown, and R. H. Scott; 1892 and 1893, Aug. Noble, D. Brown, and F. H. Knapp ; 1894, J. P. Holland, D. Brown, F. H. Knapp; 1895, A. Noble, D. Brown, F. H. Knapp; 1896, John P. Holland, James Richardson, A. Noble; 1897, N. J. Rynd, A. Noble, James Richardson; 1898, John H. Barden, James Richardson, N. J. Rynd ; 1899, J. H. Barden, William Standish, N. J. Rynd; 1900, and 1901, J. H. Barden, Wm. H. Standish, and C. L. Seward; 1902, Chas. Holt, A. Noble, C. L. Seward; 1903-04, Chas. Holt, A. Noble, E. Holmes; 1905-07, Chas. Holt, E. Edgar, and E. Holmes; 1908-09, Chas. Holt, E. Edgar, and A. F. Patterson ; 1910-11, Willard Gunn, E. Edgar, and A. F. Patterson; 1912-13, W. Gunn, W. P. Carter, A. F. Patterson ; 1914-15, W. Gunn, W. P. Carter, R. C. Standish; 1916, A. D. Barden, W. P. Carter, A. F. Patterson; 1917, A. D. Barden, W. P. Carter, Bert Hinkle; 1918, A. D. Barden, C. J. Albright, W. H. Hinkle; 1919, the same; 1920, H. H. Hinkle (chairman), C. J Albright, and John S. Bayes. The Standish family, which name appears so often in township records, did not settle in Royalton. Township until the fifties, but since that time it has been prominent in the township. Its genealogy connects with Miles Standish, of well-known Colonial record. Fred A. Slater, saddler, of Lyons, Civil War soldier, charter member of the Baxter Post, No. 238, of the Grand Army of the Republic, has been township clerk for any years. NOTABLE INCIDENTS in the history of Royalton Township are: The first female white child born in Royalton was Emeline Welsh, who was born on November 1, 1834; William Smalley was the first male child born in the township. The first marriage ceremony was that performed by Ebenezer Carpenter, justice of the peace, uniting Whitfield Tappan, of the present Pike Township, and Amanda Woodford, of Royalton. Royalton then included territory later ceded to Pike, so that this marriage may be considered the first of Royalton people ; but the first marriage of residents of what is now Royalton was that of Olive Green to Jonas Dodge. The first person buried in the Jordan Cemetery was Mrs. Brown, mother of the wife of Henry Jordan ; the first buried in Lyons Cemetery was Cynthia Cadwell, a sister of Alanson Briggs, of Chesterfield. The first physician was Joshua Youngs. The first preacher was Elder Hodge, a Baptist. The first school teacher was Olive Green, who taught in a log schoolhouse, on section- 15, in 1837. The first store at Phillips Corners, and the first merchants, Allen Wilcox and Sanford L. Collins. The first hotel was conducted by Jenks Morey, the second by Eli Phillips. The first saw-mill was built in 1850, by the Plank Road Company, and stood just west of Lyons Cemetery. James Baker, of Gorham, was the mill manager. The mill was eventually moved to Gorham Township. 332 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY The first cheese factory of. any consequence was known as the Eagle Factory. The first church was that built for the Universalists, in Lyons, in 1862. The first high school was a private enterprise of Warren J. Hendryx, who built the school at Lyons in 1859, and was its principal for some years. The first post-office was at Morey’s Corners, and was named Lyons; hence probably the name of the only incorporated place in Royalton Township. CEMETERIES There are two cemeteries in Royalton Township, the Jordan Cemetery, and the Lyons Cemetery. Both are now under the jurisdiction of the town and township officers, and Fred A. Slater has been clerk for a long while. The Baxter Post of G. A. R. decorate seventy-five graves in Lyons Cemetery, and thirty-one graves in the Jordan Cemetery, as well as twenty in the Roos Cemetery of Chesterfield Township. The Jordan Cemetery was early established, and early trustees of the cemetery association were Ira Hinkle, Lewis Buler, and A. H. Jordan, with Samuel Edgar, clerk. The trustees of Royalton Township met on. Janu- ary 14, 1882, for the purpose of "taking into consideration the propriety of taking charge, fencing, and controlling the cemetery, known as the Jordan Cemetery, located in section 22, town 9, range 3 east, containing one and one-half acres of land, which had formerly been deeded to the trustees of the Amboy and Royalton Cemetery Association." Since that time the cemetery has been controlled by the township. And in the borough records of Lyons, there is an entry to the effect that a meeting of the trustees of Royalton Township, and the council of the village of Lyons was held on April 1, 1907, "for the purpose of buying additional land for cemetery purposes." It was decided to purchase "three acres of land from Mary S. Haughton, at $200 an acre, the township to pay seven-twelfths, and the corporation five-twelfths." SCHOOLS A log schoolhouse was built in Royalton Township, on section fifteen, in 1837, and for the session of that year Olive Green was the teacher. Amos Rathbun built the second school, a log house, on his own farm, about one mile south of Lyons, or Morey,s Corners. It is described as having "a floor of split puncheon, hewed upon the face; the seats and desks were of the same material." Either on the site of that school, or near to it was, sometime later, built the frame schoolhouse known as the "Little Red Schoolhouse," to which until about 1850 all the children of Lyons and district went. After the abandonment of the Red Schoolhouse in, about, 1850, a schoolhouse was located east of Seward. In 1858 Warren J. Hendryx built and taught a high school in Lyons. Some of the early teachers in the schools of Royalton Township were Julia Root, Lewis Pierce, William Carrel. One of the ablest teachers of Royalton, and indeed of Fulton county, was James F. Burroughs. He began to teach in the fifties, and taught for fifty-nine winter terms HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 333 in Fulton and Lucas county. However, the teaching did not interfere with what might be termed his hobby. Rural schools in those days were only conducted, or rather were chiefly conducted, in the winter, for three months. The remainder of the year both scholar and teacher spent generally in farming. James F. Burroughs became one of the largest landowners in Royalton, although undoubtedly his main occupation was teaching. Not many of the early school records of Royalton Township are now available, but during the period 1853-1867, the following were indentified with the board of education : G. W. Welsh, John Sturdevant, A. H. Jordan, G. B. Brown, Jason H. Morris, Amos Hilton, Samuel Gardner, Butler Richardson, Aaron Deyo, S. Carpenter, Clark Standish, E. C. Daniels, S. P. Judson, Patrick Forester, George P. Moreys, W. B. Hendryx, J. Willy, F. Holt. L. L. Knapp, Charles Thornton, Thomas Richardson, L. J. Carrel, Ira Chandler, John Gibbs and Hiram Pierce. In 1883, the joint school district, Amboy-Royalton, was organized, for that part of the township, and the school system and facilities of the township have since been about equal to those of other similar townships. The Royalton Township schools of the present (1920) are: four one-room elementary schools, the four valued at $4,350. In 1919 about 120 scholars were enrolled, for a school year of thirty-two weeks. In addition, there is a good elementary and high school at Lyons, that school building being valued at $22,509, and having three rooms for elementary grades and three for high. There were about 110 elementary pupils and 60 high school students in 1919. The present Board of Education for Royalton Township is constituted as follows: Elmer Edgar, president; F. A. Salter, clerk; Eugene Hinkle, R. N. Barnes, W. A. Patterson, and W. A. Gunn, directors. The Lyons board is : S. A. Fleming, president; Harry Tredway, clerk; W. J. Keller, Chas. Disbrow, Sim Evers, and Omer Fenner, directors. W. F. Egnew is the superintendent. Important changes are however now in process; the voters of Royalton have decided to dissolve the district schools, and join with Lyons, thus giving the township scholars the benefit of the better facilities possible in the larger village school. It is expected that this improvement will soon go into effect. CHURCHES The first church to be built in Royalton Township appears to have been the Universalist Church, at Morey’s Corners, or Lyons, although both the Free Methodist and Methodist Episcopal societies were early formed. E. C. Daniels built the first brick church, which was for the Society of the Church of.Christ, Lyons. The church was built, it has been stated, soon after the termination of the Civil War; prior to that, the members of the Christian Church used the old academy 'building for their services. Rev. L. L. Carpenter, of Chesterfield and Wauseon was one of the influential pioneer ministers. and had active part in the organization of the Lyons society of the Christian Church, but it is believed that the minister chiefly instrumental in building the local organization and satisfactorily establishing the Lyons Christian Church was the Rev. Mr. Blackman, who will be remembered by many of the older residents of Lyons and Royalton. The Hinkle family, of Lyons, has been prominently identified with the Universalist Church since its 334 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY establishment ; and one of the most active and useful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, on the eastern border of Royalton, was David L. Buler (or Bueler). THE INCORPORATED VILLAGE OF LYONS The clean and well-maintained village of Lyons is one of the oldest villages of Fulton county. It came into existence in 1850, at the time of the building of the plank road from Toledo to Morenci. Jenks Morey owned the greater part of the land upon which Lyons has grown, and he was one of its most interested original projectors; but probably the man most instrumental in bringing it into being was Elias Richardson, a director of the Plank Road Company, and the builder of eleven miles of that roadway. Jenks Morey for many years maintained a hostelry on his land, and the place came to be known as Morey,s Corners. W. S. Egnew, the present clerk of the Lyons Council, remembers the time when he, and other farmers of the township, were in the habit of going "down town," to get a supply of what in those days was deemed the necessary, whisky. Whisky was cheap in those days, and Mr. Egnew was accustomed to go down on horseback, and return with two jugs of whiskey slung across his saddle in the manner of pistol holsters: And the hotel proprietor was invariably one of the leading citizens. For a while, it seemed that Phillip,s Corners would outvie Lyons in civic importance, but the establishment of the postoffice at the latter place soon determined the relative places of the two communities. In 1887, Lyons consisted of the following business places: "One dry goods store, kept by Hinkle and Downer; one drug store, Nelson F. Carmon,s; one undertaker shop and art gallery, owned by Richardson and Ladd; one hotel, the landlord of which was Mr. Baker; three blacksmith shops; one cheese factory; one brick and tile factory, owned by James Briggs; one grist and saw mill, with attachments for making shingles, also a planing machine, the enterprise of A. C. Daniels and Walter Meeker; one millinery shop.; one hardware and tin shop, R. W. Ladd,s; one harness and carriage trimming shop, F. A. Slater,s; two churches, the Universalist, built in 1862, and the Disciples, built in 1877." There were two fraternal lodges, and two physicians, Ezra B. Mann, and H. H. Brown. The village did not develop very rapidly, but eventually it had attained sufficient strength as a community to warrant the claiming of corporate powers. The township records show that a. "Petition was presented to the township trustees, by R. P. Carpenter, on November 11, 1897, praying for an incorporated village in the territory now known as Lyons." The petition was signed by : R. P. Carpenter, E. P. Cole, Wm. Thornton, S. Seward, Thomas Blair, O. E. Crout, F. A. Slater, Wm. Hines, A. H. Jordan, M. B. Prentiss, A. Andres, A. M. Hall, Geo. Johnston, A. A. Green, Wm. Smalley, E. C. Daniels, Francis Lauderdale, B. A. Hill, Jacob Cottrell, J. M. Foster, T. J. Ferguson, W. J. Morey, Wm. Sands, Job Hawkins, M. A. Deline, Ed. Smith, Ben Lehr, Wash. Forbes, Gordon Stong, R. F. Meehle, A. H. Clark, M. Bardwell, P. E. Marlett, T. G. Richardson, B. Bundy, A. J. Smith, David Jones, J. G. Hoefer, B. R. Richardson, Geo. Smith, Fin Ferguson, E. E. Hart, Peter Myers, George Gray, Alpheus Fenner, W. S. Egnew, C. O. Noble, A. A. Pike, J. C. Hawkins, C. A. Gee. HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 335 At the resulting election, which was held on December 21, 1897, much opposition was evidenced; so much indeed as to defeat the movement, forty-four votes being cast against the suggested incorporation, and thirty-three votes in favor of it. However, the vote was not taken as decisive, or final, and a further "notice of election for incorporation" was published on June 14, 1900. At the election, which was held on the 26th day of that month, the voting was again close, but a sufficient majority resulted to pass the measure, eighty-four voting in favor, and seventy-nine against. The village thus was entitled to corporate powers, and the first council meeting was held in Carmon Building, on September 18, 1900. The first village officers were: E. E. Milliken, mayor; B. S. Lehr, marshal; B. R. Richardson, clerk; A. T. McComb, treasurer; J. H. Barden, F. A. Slater, R. P. Carpenter, Augustus Noble, G. Stong, and J. G. Hoefer, councilmen. About a year later a council room was built. Probably the most important matter the village council had to consider in the early years of the incorporated village was that which resulted in giving the place railroad facilities. In January, 1901, notice was published by the council of "an application made to the incorporated village, for the granting of a franchise for a railroad" to the Toledo and Western Railway Company, which sought. to "construct, maintain and operate a railroad by electricity, upon and along the old Indiana plank road, passing nearly east and west, through the village." Then followed an ordinance, granting the franchise, one of the main provisions of said ordinance being "that the said Toledo and Western Railway Company, its successors and assigns, shall carry passengers over that part of said line (the village boundaries) for a continuous passage, for five cents for each person so carried." The following named residents of Lyons have held mayoral office in its administration : E. E. Milliken, 1900-02 ; G. W. Moulton, 1903 ; J. H. Barden, 190407 ; Davis Drown, 1908-09 ; Fred H. Carpenter, 1910; G. G. Vinsick, 1911; J. H. Barden, 1912-13 ; Davis Brown, 1914-15; E. R. Fox, 1916 ; Charles Holt, 1917-20. The present. (1920) council is: C. Slater, Howard Camburn, Jay Knapp, O. Dunbar, John Clendenin, and Fred Noble: W. S. Egnew has been town clerk for many years. Biographical mention of some of the leading citizens of present-day Lyons will be embodied in volume II, of this work. The Lyons Bank is referred to in an earlier chapter of this volume. There are two strong and long-established lodges in Lyons, those of the Masonic and Oddfellows orders. MASONIC BODIES Royalton Union Lodge, No. 434, F. & A. M.; organized October 15, 1869. (Original charter destroyed by fire). Present strength, about 1.30 members. Present officers: Roy N. Slater, w. m. H. R. Tredway, s. w. John Fillinger. j. w. ; J. H. Barden, treasurer; F. A. Slater, secretary; Fred Hoefer, s. d. ; H. B. Hinkle, j. d. ; L. L. Viers, tyler. Lyons Chapter, No. 175, Royal Arch Masons; organized October 16, 1903. Charter members : Davis Brown, Amos H. Jordan, C. S. Buck, G. D. Brown, James Edwards, C. L. Seward, F. A. Slater, W. H. Seward, J. H. Barden, G. D. Johnston, A. T. Cunningham, Ira Smeales, 336 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Peter Beihl, Hy Tripp, Col. Cam, J. C. Carpenter, Wm. Thornton. Bradford Bundy, T. F. Southworth, D. S. Knight, F. E. Brown, Charles Fetterman, F. A. Sealy, C. H. Heffron, Wm. Burgess, M. P. Sanderson, Horace Tredway, E. H. Ritchie, Jacob Gandy, Frank A. Wheeler. First officers, Davis Brown, h. p. ; Amos H. Jordan, k. ; Charles S. Buck, scribe. The present officers are : F. A. Barden, h. p. ; L. S. Sanford, king; C. B. Slater, scribe; J. R. Clendenin, treasurer; F. A. Slater, secretary ; Fred Noble, c. of h. ; J. H. Barden, p. s. ; C. L. Seward, r. a. c. ; L. J. Knapp, g. m. of 3rd; R. S. Slater, g. m. of 2d; H. J. Camburn, g. m. of 1st; Gordon Stong, guard. Present strength, about one hundred members. Magnolia Chapter, No. 87, Order of Eastern Star; organized October 14, 1897. Charter members: A. S. Slater, M. Antoinette Edwards, Harriet Brown, Sylvia Brown, Ethel Hinkle, Mary A. Burgess, Alice J. Seward, Allie B. Brown, Hattie M. Hinkle, Sarah A. Foster, Sarah Thornton, Margaret H. Moulton, Emily A. Potes, Edith M. Carmon, R. Alice Carmon, Edith M. Slater, Charles L. Seward, Davis Brown, William Burgess, James Edwards, Fred A. Slater, John M. Foster, Wm. Thornton, Selah W. Moulton, George D. Brown. First officers: Cynthia Slater, w. m.; George D. Brown, w. p.; Emily A Potes, a. m. ODDFELLOWS Lyons Lodge, No. 622, Independent Order of Oddfellows, was organized on May 4, 1876, with the following charter members: Frank Hatton, H. C. Retan, H. J. Whiton, L. C. Potes, P. A. Baker, John W. Foster, S. W. Moulton,. and Daniel Richardson. The first officers were: Frank Hatten, noble grand; H. C. Retan, vice grand. The present strength is about 190 members, the 1920 officers being: Ragan Elliott, n. g. ; James Richardson, v. g. ; Roy Cunningham, r. s. ; Sidney Fleming, f. s. ; Clark Hibbard, treasurer. The history of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic is reviewed in the chapter devoted to the war record of Fulton county. POPULATION Unfortunately, the complete statistics, from the beginning of the settlement of Royalton Township, cannot be given, but to preserve what statistics are now available the understated figures are given. In 1840, Royalton Township population numbered 401, this figure however including the inhabitants of that part ceded to Pike Township, upon the organization of the latter, in 1841. In 1870 the population of Royal- ton was 871 ; in 1890, 1,142; in 1900, 1,198; in 1910, 1,272 ; and in 1920, 1,135. These figures are inclusive of the Lyons population, in each case. The Lyons statistics were not separately shown until the 1910 census, when the village population was 408. In 1920, its population has been reduced to. 329. The 1920 figures are those of the "Preliminary Announcement of Population," issued by the Bureau of the Census, in June, 1920; they are therefore subject to revision. CHAPTER XVI HISTORY OF DOVER TOWNSHIP The township of Dover was organized in 1843, but its settlement began in 1836. Its early history therefore has place in the annals of older townships, namely, Chesterfield, York, and Clinton. At one time, part of the territory of the present township of Dover was claimed to be in Michigan. That state claimed all of the territory of Fulton county north of what is known as the Fulton line,, which by the way has no connection with the boundary line of Fulton county, as now established. The boundary dispute between the Territory of Michigan and the State of Ohio is treated in a special chapter of this work, and a brief study of that chapter will give the reader a. clearer understanding of the dispute, also of state and county, and part-county boundary lines. The dispute was settled in 1836, and the northern line of the State of Ohio then clearly defined as extending northward to what is known as the Harris line. By the decision of the Federal Government, the strip of land which lies between the Fulton and the Harris lines, and which was formerly considered by Michigan to have been within the boundaries of Lenawee county, of that territory, came under the undisputed jurisdiction of Lucas county, Ohio. However, the fact that Lenawee county, Michigan, claimed title to part of the present land of Dover Township is immaterial, for settlement in that part of the land north of the Fulton line had not begun in 1836. In 1837, Chesterfield Township was organized, with its boundaries defined as: "all of town nine south, ranges one and two east, south of the Harris line, and the fractional township, town ten south, ranges one and two east, extending to the Fulton line, on the south." South of the Fulton line, that part of the present bounds of Dover Township was in York Township until 1838, when the township of Clinton was organized, "by taking all of town seven north, range six east, and fractional town eight north, range six east of the Ohio survey, up to the said Fulton. line." Dover Township was the last of the twelve of Fulton county to be erected, was organized at Maumee on June 5, 1843, at a regular session of the county commissioners (of Lucas county). The new township was erected by taking from Chesterfield "all of the fractional township ten South, range two east, of the Michigan survey," i. e., north of the Fulton line, and from Clinton Township, "all of the fractional township eight north, range six east, and one tier of sections off of the north side of town seven north, range six east, of the Ohio survey," i. e., south of the Fulton line. Thus the area of Dover Township upon erection consisted of twenty-one sections, or 13,119 acres. It is the smallest of the twelve townships of Fulton county, and was thought likely to prove to be the most barren. Its land in many places is sandy, and part became known, in early settlement days as "Oak Openings" because of its - 337 - 338 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY scarcity of timber. The land was thought to be sterile; indeed, a quip of pioneer days was to the effect that at the "Oak Openings," it required "three acres to grow an onion." It did not however need many decades of industrious development and tillage to demonstrate that at the "Oak Openings" was soil capable of giving a good return for labor expended. One writer, in the seventies, stated: "On the openings,’ where it used to be said that it would require three acres to grow a single onion we now see splendid crops growing. Those used to black soil, and accustomed to associate that color with fertility, and vice versa, are surprised to see the yellow sand of these openings producing abundantly every kind of grain Everywhere, on the 'openings,, neat residences are being erected, fences built, grounds cultivated, orchards planted, etc., and the whole changed from what once seemed barren desolation to an appearance of thrift and prosperity." THE PIONEERS The first settler in Dover Township was William Jones, familiarly known as "Long Bill." He came in the fall of 1836, and settled in the southwestern part of the township. In the building of his log cabin, which was 14 x 16 feet, he was assisted by Aaron Little, Jacob Boyers, a boy, and two Indians. "Long Bill" Jones was unusually tall, and was a conspicuous figure at public gatherings. He was a capable well-educated man, and although he was one of the pioneer teachers, he was probably not the early teacher of whom Verity writes as having "had his scholars to spell United States commencing with You." Jones took executive part in much of the pioneer township organization ; he was clerk of Clinton Township in 1838, being elected, in April, at the first election in Clinton Township. He seemed to have been a justice of the peace in 1839, for he went to German Township to swear into office Samuel B. Darby, as first township clerk of German. He taught in a log schoolhouse on section 14 of Clinton Township in the fall of 1840, and throughout his life he took interested part in educational administration. Also it appears that he sometimes preached "for the Disciples, there then being a few of that faith in Clinton Township, on the south." Alonzo H. Butler was the first to settle north of the Fulton line, in that part of Chesterfield which later became part of Dover Township. He came in the spring of 1837, with his wife, and settled upon section seven, town ten south, range two east. Later, in 1837, several more families arrived, and settled, among them Peter Lott, Salathiel Bennett, Elijah Bennett, Michael Ferguson, James Gould, and Pearl Smith, all with families. In 1838, the incoming settlers were: William Hoffmire, John J. Schnall, Nathan Gay, Eben French, Mortimer D. Hibbard. During the next seven years, a settlement grew in the eastern end of the township, in the vicinity of what eventually became the site of the county seat, Ottokee. Among the settlers of those years were Moses Ayers, Joseph Shadle, Jacob Nolan, William Fuller, John G. Tiffany, Henry Herreman, William Jones, Jr., Oscar A. Cobb, Richard Marks, Alonzo Knapp, Warren W. Hodge, Comfort Marks, Archie Knapp, Elisha Cobb, John Atkinson, Chandler Tiffany, George Tiffany and John Meader. And, in the same period, many families settled in the HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 339 western part of the township, among them William Waid, E. H. Patterson, Burdick Burtch, Jasper Dowell, William Brierly, Joseph Jewell, William Jewell, James Wells, Wiliam J. Coss, Eisha Hibbard, and Willard Church. EARLY SUFFERING The lot of these settlers was a hard one; made very much harder by the prostrating fever and ague, which seemed to take young and old, feeble and strong. Oliver B. Verity, who became probate judge of Fulton county in 1858, took up residence in Ottokee when he assumed county office, and became so attached to the place and the people that he ever afterwards made Ottokee his home; and his history of Dover Township is probably the most authentic, for he was a careful historian, and knew personally and intimately almost all of the old families of Dover. Regarding the worst period of malarial distress in Dover Township he writes : "This township, from its settlement in 1836 to. 1845, was a land of fever and ague to the very edge. It has been no exaggeration of the historian to say that, for a few years after 1838, in the summer and fall, the larger half of the population were languishing on beds of ague and fever; many a housewife was compelled to keep house and do the work for a family between the passing away of the sweating stage, and the next 'ague, attack. In the interval a large amount of work was done by them, and had to be, because help was scarce in such times as these. This picture is but a fair sample of the township, and had to he endured until the winter frosts brought relief. Quinine was to them the staff of life, and often meant more than bread to the languishing individual. But few of those early pioneers died from these malarial attacks, yet all who passed through those days can never forget them." Judge W. H. Handy, a former resident, wrote reminiscently, of Ottokee, and seems to have vivid recollection of the distressing effects of ague. He wrote: "One of the clearest recollections I have of those old days is of the fever and ague which everybody had, more or less, and which when once experienced leaves a recollection that is not to leave one very soon. People now living here who came here after our perfect drainage was established never had a touch of the shakes, and can have little idea of what the genuine old ague and fever really means." TYPICAL SETTLERS Still, the fact that the region was malarial did not deter the settlers, and there is nothing on record showing that any left the district on that account. The pioneers came prepared, at least in will, to withstand hardships, and they tackled the existing conditions, whatever they were; with good cheer, and a confidence that they would overcome all handicaps in course of time. The pioneer family, that of William Jones, "lived in their wagon, and under the shelter of rude temporary abodes, built of poles, brush, and blankets, while the father went to work to construct a rough cabin of round logs." Joseph Shadle, one of the worthy pioneers of Dover, began married life on forty cents a day, which he received for hard labor, that of cutting cord wood. He later made coffins of walnut, which caskets he sold at a standard price of 340 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY one dollar a foot, or $6.00 for a completed walnut coffin, six feet long. Yet, he lived to own 1,002 acres of land in Dover Township, reared ten children, and his descendants now number 22 grandchildren, 80 great-grandchildren, 29 great-great-grandchildren, and twelve great-greatgreat-grandchildren. By his untiring effort and hard work he made it possible for each of his ten children to have a comfortable home of his, or her, own. He, and his wife, Jane Burk, were worthy pioneers of Fulton county. Both did their share, in working the wild unproductive region into a land of agricultural plenty and of fine farm homes. She, Jane Burk Shadle, was well fitted for such a life of hard work and simple living as must have been theirs in their early days in Dover. Even in her young days she used to do the housework break the flax ; spin it; help make the clothes for the family ; work in the fields, raking and binding grain ; and when Joseph Shadle and his wife and five children came to Fulton county, or rather to Lucas county, as it then was, they took nine days to make the journey from Wayne county, with horses, cows, and hogs; and when they took possession of their 160 acres of wild land in Dover Township, upon their arrival, they had in reserve only forty dollars. But husband and wife, and, as they grew, the children also, industriously labored until the wilderness had been conquered, or transformed into a rich farm property. Joseph and Jane Burk Shadle were typical of many other capable men and women whose names go down to posterity as the builders of Fulton county, Ohio. Little do the present generation know of the almost incredible and inconceivable thrift their ancestors had to practice in order to battle through the time of hardship and privation to the time of comparative plenty and comfort. The Hibbard family, founders of Spring Hill, or Tedrow, was one of the most prominent and capable of the pioneer families of Dover Township. The family genealogy connects with leading families of colonial Massachusetts, and that generation which settled in Dover seems to have been of superior education and refined upbringing. Judge Ambrose Rice, uncle of Mary Rice, who married Mortimer D. Hibbard, passed through the region, with a surveyor,s chain, some years before white settlement began, probably in 1834. He was in the employ of the state or federal government, and made Perrysburg, or Maumee City, his headquarters, but "thinking he had never seen a finer location than the oak openings, Judge Rice induced his niece, Mary Rice, and her husband, Mortimer D. Hibbard, to remove here from Athens county (Ohio), in 1838." Marie A. Hibbard, who writes the narrative, which is based upon diary entries made by her mother, Mary Rice Hibbard, continues: "With a good team of horses, and a covered wagon, they seem to have suffered no great discomfort on the way, although the trip was made in winter. They reached the little two-roomed log cabin, their future home for four years, on the fourth day of February. Their farm, selected for them by Ambrose Rice, consisted of a large tract of land lying half a mile north of the Maumee Road." Miss Hibbard writes also, of a somewhat exciting introduction her mother had to the Indians who still clung to their old hunting grounds in the Maumee ccuntry. She explains that "the oak openings, or plains, were kept free from underbrush by the Indians, who burned them each fall to make better hunting grounds." And other records show that the banks of Brush Creek, at Spring Hill, were favored, as a camping place by the Indians in former days. there being fine springs in the vicinity. HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 341 But at the time the Hibbards came, the Indians in the county were so few that their possible proximity was forgotten. Miss Hibbard writes: "Soon after their coming into the new country, she (Mrs. Hibbard) was necessarily left alone one day with her four little children. There were no near neighbors, and she had seen no Indians. A shadow fell across the floor, and; looking up from her work, she saw a party of them, each with gun in hand, filing through the door into the little cabin. As they came between her and her baby, sleeping in its cradle, her heart stood still for a moment. Seeing her alarm, the foremost one turned and stood his gun behind the door, motioning the others to do the same. Then they made her understand that they were hungry, and wanted something to eat. She gave them as good a dinner as she could, and after eating it they went quietly away, much to her relief, and she saw them no more. "One morning, not long afterwards, an Indian appeared carrying a deer over his shoulder. He laid it across the' doorway, probably in return for what she had done for the hunting party." Evidently, the "oak opening" soon proved to be .productive soil. There was wild fruit in abundance; and in the second season of their residence, Mrs. Hibbard records, under date of August 26, 1840, "We have plenty of good melons. One was brought in today that weighed twenty-six pounds and four ounces." Mortimer D. Hibbard had leading part in both township and county organization. The first election in Dover Township was held in his house; and he and his father ably furthered the project which eventually resulted in the erection of Fulton county. He was the first county auditor; and he surveyed and platted the village of Spring Hill. upon land bequeathed to his children, Oscar and Jason, by their granduncle, Judge Rice, who only spent a few years in Dover Township, being "troubled with a cough," and going eventually to a warmer climate, dying in New Orleans in 1841, "of hemorrhage." Elisha Hibbard, father of Mortimer D., evidently did not come with his son in 1838. Mrs. Hibbard wrote in her diary under date February 1, 1841: "Father Hibbard arrived today, from his home in Dover, 342 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Athens county," and on the 5th of that month she wrote : "Father left today, on his journey home. He has bought a farm, and expects to move on it in September." The farm, it seems, "consisted of eighty acres, forty each side of the Maumee road, one mile east of the present village of Spring Hill. One mile east of Elisha,s farm was the farm of Randolph Hibbard, half-brother of Mortimer. This farm is now owned by Dr. Borden, and occupied by James Hibbard." The old log house built for Randolph Hibbard was not torn down until 1916, having stood seventy-five years. The Rev. Elisha Hibbard was one of the judges at the first election in Dover Township, and on that occasion was himself elected overseer of the poor. He was one of the pioneers of the movement which culminated in the establishment of Fulton county. In 1845, he journeyed to Columbus, to make known to the State Legislature the desire of the majority of the residents within the, then, western part of Lucas county to be separated from that county. He died in 1847; There is little doubt that Dover Township was given that name at the suggestion of, or in honor of, the Hibbard family, which had formerly lived in Dover, Athens county. Rev. Elisha Hibbard, had he lived, would probably have had much more conspicuous place in Fulton county annals. He was a man of strong purpose, and was not resident in Dover' long before he exercised a strong influence for good upon his fellow-settlers. The diary, before-quoted, has an entry, July 24, 1841, reading: "We had a temperance lecture here today, the first ever held in Clinton Township. There were about a hundred here. Father Hibbard addressed them. If anything deserves the name of glorious it is the temperance cause. May it spread from the east to west, from the north to the south, until not a drunkard is left in the land." Apparently, national prohibition had been but slowly accomplished, for that meeting was held almost eighty years ago. It was followed by many other such meetings. Mrs. Hibbard, on February 4, 1852, wrote: "We had a temperance meeting here (Spring Hill) this evening. Brother David Edwards' lectured. Sixty-three signed the pledge., In fact. the movement grew so strong in Spring Hill that no saloon was permitted in the village. Miss Hibbard writes: "An attempt was made, by a non-resident, to start one, but before it could be put in operation it was found one morning with pools of liquor surrounding it, and empty casks and barrels rolling about. No one could, or would, name the perpetrators. They said they `guesed it was the women., Many years after, two carpenters, young men, acknowledged it was their work." EARNEST GOD-FEARING MEN From a reading of the life-stories of many of the -early residents in Dover Township, one gains the impression that, as a whole, they were earnest, God-fearing men of high moral purpose, and religious life. Moses Ayers was one such. He was one of the pioneer members, indeed one record asserts he was one of the pioneers and founders, of the Disciples, or Christian Church, in Fulton county. Thus he is described by one writer: "A man who lived a life well spent, made the world better for having lived in it, and whose life commended itself to all who knew him." The same writer continues: "Moses Ayers was one of the charter members of the church at Brush Creek, Lucas HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 343 county, now Spring Hill, Fulton county. The church was organized in March, 1841, by Benjamin Alton, of DeKalb county Indiana. Moses Ayers came to what is now Fulton county on February 26, 1838, and his cabin home was the stopping place for people going and coming from Eastern Ohio to Indiana. . . From some Indiana people, Mr. Ayers heard of Brother Alton, whom later he engaged to come and hold a meeting in his home. Mr. Alton came, and held the meetings, which Mr. and Mrs. Ayers enjoyed preparing for in his hospitable cabin home Mr. Alton before leaving organized the Spring Hill Church, with seventeen charter members. Mr. Ayers could not promise Brother Alton any money for his services, but, when this earnest worker started to return to his home in Indiana, Mr. Ayers gave him a cow worth twenty-five or thirty dollars. It was through his efforts that Brother C. J. Blackman was brought to Morey’s Corners, now Lyons, and established a church there, in 1858 or 1859. Brother Ayers advanced the cause of Christianity to the day of his death, which occurred May 19, 1884." Of course, William Jones, the first settler in Dover, must also be named among the pioneers of that church in Fulton county, for he appears to have actually preached to members of that sect, or denomination, in Clinton Township, probably before the coming of Moses Ayers. Jacob Boyers, who is referred to as having assisted in the raising of William Jones, log cabin, was the son of Jones, wife, by a former marriage. Jacob Boyers "was a good, honest, substantial citizen; one of several who, on the discovery of gold, took the long hard journey to California, but, unlike many, he lived to return to his family." He married Lydia, the daughter of Joseph Jewel, an early settler, and pioneer teacher. Hannah Jones, half-sister of Jacob Boyers, made her home with him. She has been "long remembered, in and about Spring Hill, as a good teacher." Adam Poorman seems to have first settled in Franklin Township, where he was reputed to be "a very hard-working and industrious man," and "a friend to the stranger and the new settler." In 1846, he sold his farm in Franklin Township, and moved into Dover, buying land in section six, town ten south, range two east. Henry Harriman, who came to Dover in 1844, where he settled on a farm, was a young physician, and although not the first to take up practice in the township, "his coming at that time was a Godsend to the people of this, then, wilderness, for at that time nearly everybody Was sick with fever and ague, and he was kept in the saddle night and day. With all his large practice, he was never known to crowd any one for his pay" stated an obituary, following his death, at his home, one mile east of Ottokee, on February 6, 1896, he being then eighty-five years old. When the call came for patriots to give personal service in the ,sixties he was one of those who joined the Sixty-seventh Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Edwin H. Patterson, came with his parents, in 1838, and settled in Chesterfield Township, in which of course part of the land now in Dover Township then was. (One record stated that his father, George W. Patterson settled on section fifteen, of Chesterfield Township, and that Edwin II. did not buy the homestead in Dover Township until 1847, then paying $240 for the original eighty acres.) In 1906, at the 344 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY age of eighty-seven years, and still one of the largest landowners of Dover, Edwin H. Patterson made public some interesting personal history. The Patterson family, in 1838, set out from New York, coming by boat to Toledo, and according td Mr. Patterson’s narrative : "When we landed at Toledo, which was then about as large as Wauseon is now, we tried to find lodging, but everybody was sick with the ague or fever It was so late in the afternoon when we landed that we could not get things ready to start on our western journey, so that night I slept on the dock, curled up by the side of a large store box. The next day we had everything loaded in our wagon, which was drawn by a team of oxen, and we started for our western home. We came west over the territorial, or government, road which is now known as the Old Plank Road., On the first day’s travel we did not meet a person. We had started for Morenci and at the close of our second day’s travel, we reached our destination, but to our surprise there was no town, not even a house. The next day we landed on a farm, near where I now live. Our nearest neighbors on the west were ten miles away. There was not a village in the county, and only a few settlements. At that time, there was not a railroad in northwestern Ohio. (NOTE. An incorrect statement, for the railroad from Toledo to Adrian was then in operation.) The past sixty-eight years have brought many great changes in this county. In those early days we did our trading at Adrian, that being our nearest town. We went to mill at Canandaigua, a distance of some sixteen or seventeen miles. The public roads at that time angled through the woods following the ridges. No bridges were built and the streams had to be forded. When I first came here, the best land could have been bought for three dollars an acre, while the land where the largest part of Toledo now stands was offered for sale at ten dollars per acre." The Tedrow family comes into earliest records of Clinton and Dover Townships. Isaac and Elizabeth Tedrow came from Holmes county in 1836. In 1839, he and Shipman Losure built, or helped to build, a log schoolhouse on the southeast quarter of. section 15. That schoolhouse was designated the Losure, or Tedrow, Schoolhouse, and the winter term of school in 1839 was conducted by Lorenzo Bennett, who received $10 a month. He taught, apparently, for about three months, for in January, 1840, Isaac Tedrow received from the Lucas county auditor (through Elisha Huntington, who was paid $3.50 for bringing the money from Toledo), the sum of $31.21.7, that being the amount taken from county funds for the maintenance of the Losure or Tedrow School District. There were six pupils in the first year, five being children of the Tedrow family, Rachel, Catherine, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and William. The sixth was C. H. Losure. William Tedrow, in 1857, married a daughter of William Hoff-mire, who settled in 1838 a little north of Spring Hill. She was then only four years old, but vividly remembered most of the important happenings of her childhood. She stated that "the first post-office was kept by her father-in-law Isaac Tedrow, who was then living on the farm better known as the Col. Brigham farm. The post-office was called Tedrow, in honor of Mr. Tedrow. Later, the office was moved to the old Schnall Farm, and from there to Spring Hill." Verity says that "John J. Schnall was the first postmaster, when the office was HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 345 named 'Tedrow " but the name given to the office leads one to believe Mrs. William Tedrow's is the correct version. It is supported by the diaries of Mrs. Mary Rice Hibbard, these enabling Miss Marie A. Hibbard to write : "The village (Spring Hill) received its name from the farm of which it was a part. When the postoffice was removed from Mr. Tedrow,s, several miles south, it was found that the name could not be changed to that of the village, as there was an office called Spring Hill in the state. Therefore, it kept the name of the former post-master, Tedrow." Isaac Tedrow was one of the original members of the first Methodist Episcopal Society formed in the Spring Hill neighborhood, as early as 1842. The Tedrow family has given many useful citizens to Fulton county. Jerry, son of Isaac Tedrow, died in 1906, from complications resulting from a kick by a fractious colt. He was then seventy-eight years old, and had lived about seventy years in the county; taking useful part in its development. John J. Schnall, the first, or the second, postmaster of Dover Township, was responsibly identified with county and township affairs for very many years. He was county surveyor for twenty-one years, and throughout his life interested himself in the affairs of Dover. He was judge of election, at the first election in that township, and an indication of his general character is contained in the record that, in 1852, he took a leading part in the organization of what was probably the first temperance society formed in Fulton county. The Spring Hill Temperance Society was formed on February 18, 1852, with Mortimer D. Hibbard, president, and John J. Schnall, vice president. It is unfortunate that space is not available in this current work to review in detail the commendable activities of more of the industrious and public-spirited pioneers of Dover. So many had meritorious part in the various phases of community and county building. Verity named many, "of whom the township may well feel proud," among them: David Ayers, John Funk, Gideon Ayers, George Miley, Harrison Schnall, Isaiah L. Hagerman, Willard D. Grout, Peter Gype, John Lathrop, Stephen Eldridge, Cornelius M. Spring, James Kahle, Daniel Foreman, James M. Gillette, DeLos Palmer, Harvey Shadle, Myron A. Beecher, Jeremiah Jones, Barnett and Adolph Kutzley, Thompson Todd, Lucien H. Guilford, Valentine Theobold, George Guilford, John Seibold, Alonzo Marks, Luther Shadle John Smellie, Gavin Smellie, L. C. Cook, L. N. Cook Barney H. Anderson, Levi McConkey, Jasper Dowell Asa Bolton, Lemuel F. Waid, Charles Waid Charles Baldwin Carter, William Somers, Alfred F. Shaffer, John Huffman, Oliver B. Huffman ; but that does not exhaust the list of Dover Township residents of prominence and usefulness during the first fifty years of its settlement. Not the least useful was Oliver B. Verity himself, who gathered for the posterity of Fulton county more historical data of its pioneer period than has probably any other two local historians. And his personal record of public service is worth recording, including, as it did : nine years as township clerk of Gorham ; a period as justice of the peace; many years as township school examiner, and, later, as county school examiner; twelve years as judge of the probate court; twenty-four years as postmaster at Ottokee ; six years as superintendent of the Fulton County Infirmary, or Home as it is now designated ; and other public offices, such as township trustee, clerk, land appraiser, census marshal, and what not. His life seems to have 346 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY been given up entirely to matters of public service, in many cases honorary. During the years of the Civil War, his office at the court house, at Ottokee, was open day and night ; and after nightfall any of his fellow-townsmen who wished might wend their way to the probate office to hear Judge Verity read, to those who gathered, the war news from the New York "Tribune," it being "the only daily in the town, and that .cost $11 per year, paid for by contribution and read by O. B. Verity," a genuine service, for there were probably some who were not able to read. But after the reading, the war news was repeated in the homes, and thus Ottokee was probably one of the best informed of country communities during those anxious times. THE PASSING OF THE INDIANS The passing of the Indians from the territory has been referred to comprehensively in earlier chapters of this volume. Dover Plains were treasured "openings" for the Indians. The stretch of open country was known as Djue-naw-ba Plains (or Twa-nawba,s Plains) or possibly Neshe-naw-ba Plain, the latter being the full Pottawatomie, Indian, word, the other being partly of a French derivative. Djue-naw-ba, or Neshe-naw-ba, was, 'according to Col. Dresden W. H. Howard, the name applied "more particularly to the Ridge and Springs at Etna, at the old crossing of Bad Creek. Several Indian experiences of early settlers in Dover Township have been recorded. Michael Handy who settled in what was then York Township, and eventually became Pike Township, just beyond the line of Dover, stated that: "At the time (1840) we had no worked roads here, all about as nature made them, as evidenced by Indian trails over the face of the country; and as I settled on the openings I knew more about them than the timber, hence have more to say of them. The Indians would set the prairies on fire in the fall and everything that would burn was out of the way, and in the early spring the prairie grass would look so green and nice, and cattle would make for it; and the deer from the woods would seem to cover the prairies. No trouble to see flocks of them at most any time. You could get nice venison hams at any time from the Indians, for a small' price., Mrs. William Tedrow states that she "went to school in Tedrow, in the first schoolhouse of that place, located on the high lot just east of the W. C. T. U. hall, and west of the residence of the late Dr. Shaffer." She remembers "several Indians stopped in front of the schoolhouse one day." That schoolhouse was not opened until December 19, 1840, and the incident was memorable probably because it was thought that all the Indians had left the vicinity. Mrs. Hibbard wrote in her diary, under date June 9, 1840: "Visited at Mr. Ferguson,s today. We saw seven squaws, four papooses, three loaded ponies, four dogs, and a pig on the way to a new camping ground." On November 29th she wrote : "The Indians who formerly lived in this place have been compelled this fall to leave it, and go to the far west." On December 4, 1840, Mrs. Hibbard referred to the firing of the plains, but whether by Indians, or by white settlers is not clear, although one would infer by the former, for on same date she comments on the fact that although she was alone, with her children, on the night of the 3rd, she was not afraid. Of the fire she wrote: HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 347 "There is a fire on the plains east of us this evening. It is a beautiful sight, unlike anything I ever saw in a hilly country. The country here is so level, the timber so scattering, without underwood or brush, that when a fire spreads in the dry leaves and grass we can see it in the evening, extending in a long straight unbroken line to a great distance, uninterrupted to the view, except by the trunks of intervening trees." There is reason to believe that the very last of the Indians who once inhabited Fulton county left in the early forties. Col. D. W. H. Howard, writing, in 1887, to Mrs. S. D. Snow, sister of Marie A. Hibbard, of Spring Hill, stated that "the Pottawatomies were removed, or notified by the Genl. Govt. to remove, in 1839 and also in 1840; when the remnant went." Many Indian relics have been unearthed from the soil, in the process of tillage, in the vicinity of Spring Hill. FIRST ELECTION At a commissioner’s session at Maumee City on June 5, (or August 1) 1843, Dover Township, Lucas county, was organized. An order was published notifying residents and voters that an election would be held on August 7, 1843, the house of Mortimer D. Hibbard, at Spring Hill, being designated as the place of voting. The house at that time was probably the most palatial in the township. The Hibbards had moved into it in the previous year, from their little log cabin. Mrs. Hibbard recorded in her diary under April 8, 1842, date: "Left the old cabin and moved into the new house." The new house, Miss Hibbard describes as having been : "A double log house, with two large rooms, and a smaller room at each end. There were stairs up to two large low rooms above. It had long covered porches at the front and back. There was a double fireplace in the center, giving an opening into each of the two large rooms. This house stood about sixty rods east of the present village 348 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY and on the north side of the Maumee Road, which then curved well to the north, skirting a great pond south and a little to the east of the house. The road then continued west, on the north side of the old schoolhouse hill, and then ran diagonally across to the southwest corner of the present village." In that house, therefore, the voters of the new township gathered on August 7, 1843, to vote for the first township officers. John J. Schnall, Elisha Hibbard, and Williard Church were chosen judges; and Joseph Jewell and Jason Hibbard were chosen clerks of the election. Eventually, the judges declared that the following named residents had been legally elected: Moses Ayers, Williard Church, and Alonzo Butler, trustees; Joseph Jewell, clerk ; William Jewell, treasurer; Elijah Bennett and George Tiffany, constables; Elisha Hibbard and Newell Newton, overseers of the poor. OTTOKEE The greatest event in the history of Dover Township came soon after the erection of Fulton county, in consequence of which Ottokee came into being, and importance, as the county seat. That phase of Dover Township history is dealt with in an earlier chapter, but the hearings before the County Seat Locating Commissioners made it clear that Mortimer D. Hibbard had planned to survey and plat a village at Spring Hill. He laid its claims, as a site for county seat of justice, before the locating commissioners, but the arguments of the "Center" were more convincing and logical; therefore, on May 1, 1850, stakes were driven at the geographical center of the county, and that location designated as the site selected by the locating commissioners. At the suggestion of Colonel D. W. H. Howard it was named Ottokee, to commemorate the connection Indians had with the region, in pre settlement times, and particularly the association of Ot-to-kee, a noble Indian chieftain, brother, or half-brother, of Wa-se-on, with some of the pioneer settlers. A pen picture of Ottokee can be read in the Clinton Township chapter, the sketch being by Colonel Howard, who was personally acquainted with Ot-to-kee. The growth and decline of Ottokee is an important part of chapter IV of this current history of Fulton county, and is readily available to the interested reader. Therefore, to avoid tautology, only so much of the vital history of Ottokee as has not yet had place in this work will be written in this chapter. BUSINESS OTTOKEE The first merchant in Ottokee was Hosea Day ; the next was Ezra Wilcox, and the third was a partnership, George Marks and Ransom Reynolds. Later, the merchants, for more or less short periods, were Oppenheimer, Eliakim Stowe, John Sigsby, Warner Lott Samuel O. Warren, Henry Herreman, Peter Lott, George Goulden, Charles F. Handy, George B. Merrill and David K. Numbers. In 1887, Brown,s "Gazetteer" recorded that "Ottokee, the county seat has one hotel, three stores, court house, jail, and county offices," also stating that the following-made up the entire business personnel of Ottokee at that time: Truman H. Brown, attorney at law, and clerk of the HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 349 court of common pleas; Albert B. Canfield, county treasurer; Osias Merrill, county auditor; Wm. H. Stevens, recorder; Jacob C. Hoff-mire, sheriff ; Oliver B. Verity, probate judge ; Michael Handy, attorney-at-law, and notary public; William H. Handy, attorney-at-law; Amos Hill, attorney-at-law ; Jas. L. Verity, notary public and claim agent ; Dr. Henry Herreman, groceries and medicines ; Chas. F. Handy, groceries and merchandise; George G. Merrill, grocer, etc. ; Charles Hilton, hotelkeeper. At that time a daily line of stages plied between Wauseon and Adrian, passing through Ottokee, Morey,s Corners, and Morenci, fare for full distance being $1.50. Dr. Herreman was the first postmaster in the Ottokee district, that is to say, he was the first Dover Township resident to hold the post-mastership of the office which later was called Ottokee. At that time it was located in Pike Township, 3 miles further east, and was called the Essex postoffice. Hosea Day was the first postmaster, after the name had been changed to Ottokee. Ottokee, during the years of its county importance, had one or more newspapers. These are referred to in the Press chapter. The first hotel in Ottokee was conducted by William Jones. These public houses were in no wise drinking saloons ; they were houses of .call, rest, and accommodation for travellers, and although spirits were sold, the prime purpose was that of entertaining and lodging visitors. Consequently, hotel keepers were, as a rule, men of standing in the community; and Fulton county records show that some of the most