Allen Auglaize Defiance Fulton Hancock Hardin Henry Logan Lucas Mercer Ottawa

$ 1,293,000 761,000 332,200 590,150 815,100 545,250 424,650 401,750 9,406,650 558,400 538,650

Paulding Putnam Sandusky Seneca Shelby Van Wert Williams Wood Wyandot Total

$ 282,550 584,850 924,950 1,027,100 290,500 420,950 600,100 886,050 418,750 $ 21,102,600

In this loan Lucas County raised its quota in seventy-two hours, $1,800,000 having been subscribed by corporations before the formal opening f the drive. The total amount subscribed in the county was $14,114,000. Every county in the district subscribed more than its quota, the total reaching $29,119,500. Both the City of Toledo and the district were the first in the country to get the loan honor flag. Toledo business men stamped their envelopes with the legend : "Toledo TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 207 the first city to exceed the Third Liberty Loan quota—Time, 72 hours." On September 28, 1918, the first day f the Fourth Liberty Loan, Toledo corporations and individual members subscribed a total of $3,635,000, or nearly one-fifth of the entire quota of $18,859,200. On October 3d the newspapers contained the statement : "Toledo is over the top in the Fourth Liberty Loan, and again leads the nation by being the first city in the metropolitan class to raise its quota. By noon on the sixth day of the campaign 71,000 Toledoans had subscribed $18,611,300." The word did not stop there, however, but went forward until Lucas County had subscribed a total of $19,782,750. In the third loan the number of subscribers in the county was 71,282. In the fourth loan 88,799 persons bought bonds, and again the entire district went over the top, each county exceeding its quota. Although the war virtually ended with the armistice in November, 1918, the Government still needed vast sums of money to defray the expenses incurred on account of the war. Another loan—called the Victory Loan—was therefore launched in the spring of 1919 and carried to a successful conclusion. Toledo's history in connection with this loan would be only a repetition of what had occurred on former occasions. Lucas County's quota was $14,158,900 and again the subscriptions exceeded the quota. The story of what Toledo and Lucas County did in the matter of subscriptions to the several loans is told in the following table:

Loan	Quota	Subscribed
First Second Third Fourth Victory	$ 8,000,000 10,000,000 9,406,650 18,859,200 14,158,900	$10,000,000 11,365,650 14,114,000 19,782,750 17,479,100
Total	$60,424,750	$72,741,500

In addition to oversubscribing the five loans more than twenty per cent, the people of the city and county gave liberally to the Red Cross campaign and the "war drive" for the Young Men's Christian Association, the Knights f Columbus and other organizations. The donations to these various demands for funds aggregated considerably over one million dollars. WAR CONTRACTS In response to the heavy demand for munitions and other military supplies, a number of Toledo factories engaged in this line f work. The Willys-Overland Company was awarded a $27,000,000 contract for making motors for aeroplanes ; the A. Bentley & Sons Company received $4,000,000 for erecting the necessary cantonment buildings at Camp Sherman, Chillicothe ; the Toledo Bridge & Crane Company engaged in making 3-inch shell cases under a contract for $1,750,000; the Hettrick Manufacturing Company undertook to supply the army with $1,500,000 worth of tents ; the Toledo Steel Products Company was awarded a $1,000,000 208 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY contract for making one-pound shells ; the Ohio Canvas Goods Company received a $500,000 contract for tents ; the M. I. Wilcox Company also supplied a large number of tents, canvas truck covers, etc. The Toledo Shipbuilding Company con-structed several vessels for the emergency fleet and the Standard Electric Stove Company supplied a large number f stoves for submarines. By the middle of June, 1917, over ten thousand persons were working upon war supplies, in these and many other factories. THE PACIFISTS It is a historic fact that every time the United States Congress has declared war, certain persons, or certain sections f the country have expressed opposition. Many people in New England were opposed to the War of 1812, because it interfered with the commerce with England. The same was true to a considerable extent regarding the Mexican war, and at the time f the Civil war there were Southern sympathizers in every loyal state. Public sentiment was more nearly unanimous concerning the Spanish-American war than on any other occasion, but even then there was some opposition. When the United States entered the war against Germany in April, 1917, the opponents—pacifists they called themselves—did not hesitate to express their disapproval. Soon after the passage f the Selective Draft Act, a meeting was held in Memorial Hall to voice the sentiment against any form of conscription. Some of the speakers declared the draft act unconstitutional and openly advised men not to register under its provisions. Congress was denounced for declaring war, and particularly for passing the draft act, and uncomplimentary remarks were made about the American flag. The meeting was broken up by a number f recently enlisted men and a few eyes were blackened. The incident brought forth a vigorous protest from many prominent citizens, with the result that on May 29, 1917, Mayor Milroy issued an order closing the hall against any further meetings of that character. This order was faithfully observed and no more disloyal meetings were held in the building. A suit was instituted by the hall trustees to cancel the lease giving the city control f the hall for ninety-nine years, on the ground that in permitting meeting of a revolutionary or treasonable nature to be held in the hall, the city had violated the terms of the agreement made in 1884, when the ninety-nine-year lease was executed. That suit was still pending in October, 1922. THE AMERICAN LEGION While the American Expeditionary Forces were still in France a movement was started to organize the veterans of the World war into a fraternity, similar to that of the Grand Army of the Republic. Shortly after the armistice was signed this movement culminated in the formation f the American Legion, to which every one who served in the army, navy, marines or air service is eligible for membership. This organization has spread to every state in the Union. Local societies are called "posts" and the posts in a county form a county council. Each state con-stitutes a department and national conventions are held annually. TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 209 In Lucas County there are twenty-two posts of the Legion. Of these, seventeen are in the City of Toledo, one is at Maumee, one at Monclova, one at Sylvania, one at Waterville, one at Whitehouse. The Lucas County Council has fitted up comfortable rooms on the southeast corner of Adams and Erie streets, where members of the Legion are always welcome. A cafeteria is conducted in connection and the rooms are in charge of Harry F. MacLane, who was chaplain of the One Hundred and Forty-seventh Infantry and is now secretary of the county council. The "American Legion Council," a weekly publication, is devoted to the interests of the organization and is edited by E. J. Tippett, Jr. The various posts in the county have lent their aid toward the purchase of a tract of ground, on Monroe Street west of the city limits, for a memorial park and cemetery, in which the plan is to plant a tree for every Lucas County soldier who sacrificed his life during the war. On each of these trees will be fixed a bronze plate bearing the soldier's name, thus providing a memorial for the fallen heroes. The park offices have been established in the Ohio building. A memorial monument at the entrance will honor the soldier dead and the driveways through the park bear the names of French towns, hills and valleys, where the American boys fought and died. CHAPTER XV LUCAS COUNTY HISTORY LUCAS COUNTY ERECTED IN 1835—ROBERT LUCAS-ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY-PECULIAR ACTION OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS- BOUNDARIES DEFINED-LOCATING THE COUNTY SEAT-EARLY SETTLERS-PETER NAVARRE- PETER MANOR-FIRST POST OFFICE-EVOLUTION OF LUCAS COUNTY-ROAD BUILDING-PLANK ROADS-MODERN HIGHWAYS. Lucas County was created by the act of June 20, 1835, which was one of the "war measures" enacted by the special session of the General Assembly, called to consider questions growing out of the boundary dispute between Ohio and Michigan. The territory comprising the county was taken from the northern part of Wood County, the disputed strip between the Fulton and Harris lines of survey, a portion of Henry County and a little of the northwest corner of Sandusky County. The act made provision for the immediate organization of the county ; designated Toledo as the county seat until some other location should be selected ; attached the county to the Second Judicial District, of which David Higgins was the presiding judge ; and provided that a session f the Common Pleas Court should be held in Toledo on the first Monday in September. The county was named for Robert Lucas, then governor of Ohio. Robert Lucas was born at Shepherdstown, Jefferson County, Virginia, April 1, 1781. When he was about nineteen years of age his parents removed to Scioto County, Ohio. Young Lucas had studied surveying in Virginia and had barely reached his majority when he was elected surveyor of Scioto County. In 1803 he ran and marked the line between Scioto and Adams counties. The same year he was commissioned by Governor Tiffin to recruit twenty men for military duty, it being then thought there would be trouble with Spain over the purchase of Louisiana. His men were not called into service and he continued peaceful pursuits until after Congress declared war against England in 1812. Then he was commissioned captain in the Nineteenth United States Infantry, but before joining his regiment he was made brigadier-general and assigned to the command of the Second Brigade, Second Division, Ohio militia, which caused him to resign his captain's commission in the regular army. Politically, Governor Lucas was an unswerving Democrat. In 1830 he was nominated for governor by his party, but was defeated by Gen. Duncan McArthur. Two years later he was elected governor and was re-elected in 1834, the famous "Boundary War" occurring during his second administration. In 1838 he was appointed governor of Iowa Territory by President Van Buren and served in that office until the inauguration of President Harrison in 1841, when he was removed and returned to Ohio. In 1842 he was the Democratic candidate for Congress in his district, but was defeated. He then removed to Iowa and located at Iowa City, - 211 - 212 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY where he was elected a delegate to the first constitutional convention for that state. Here he again figured in a boundary dispute, having been appointed a member of the committee to adjust the boundary line between Iowa and Missouri. Displeased with the nomination of Franklin Pierce for President by the Democrats in 1852, he left that party and joined the Whigs. This was his last political campaign, as his death occurred at Iowa City on February 7, 1853. ORGANIZATION As stated in the preceding chapter, the Common Pleas Court which met shortly after midnight on September 7, 1835, appointed John Baldwin, Robert Gower and Cyrus Holloway commissioners for Lucas County, with power to appoint other county officers, etc. Just a week later, September 14, 1835, Commissioners Baldwin and Gower, a majority of the board, met in Toledo and completed the county organization by the appointment of the following officers : Samuel Young, of Maumee City, auditor ; Eli Hubbard, of Port Lawrence, treasurer ; Frederick Wright, of Port Lawrence, recorder. Although the name "Toledo" had been adopted in 1833, the commissioners, for some reason, still referred to the town as Port Lawrence. Following the appointment of the above officers, the commissioners erected a new township, "to be called Lucas, and to consist of that part of Lucas County lying north of the Fulton line and west f the east line of Range 4 east." This township included the western part of the territory in dispute and is now in Fulton County. At the second session of the board on October 12, 1835, an action was taken that probably has no parallel in Ohio history. Port Lawrence Township, which embraced the eastern part of the disputed territory, had been erected by the Michigan. authorities on May 27, 1827, as a township of Monroe County. To avoid a conflict with Monroe County, which still claimed jurisdiction, the board adopted the following : "Whereas, it being deemed expedient and absolutely necessary for the well-being and the enjoyment of the rights of citizens of this state, that that part of the County of Lucas known as 'the disputed territory, and lying north of the so-called 'Fulton line,' be annexed to the Township of Waynesfield, therefore, be it "Resolved, that that part of Lucas County known as Port Lawrence Township, be annexed to the Township of Waynesfield for all civil purposes, and that the electors f the said Port Lawrence Township shall have equal rights and privileges at the ensuing election with the other electors of Waynesfield Township. And be it further "Resolved, that notice be, and the same is hereby, given to the electors of Port Lawrence Township, that they shall vote at Maumee City, and thus have the privilege of voting without the interference of the Michigan authorities." These resolutions were adopted at the forenoon session on October 12, 1835, and as the next day was the second Tuesday of the month—the day of the state election —no time was lost in passing the word along to the voters of Port Lawrence Township that they were to vote at Maumee. On the afternoon of the election day, the commissioners still being in session, and the necessity for the annexation no longer existing, the board ordered that "The object for which Port Lawrence Township TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 215 was annexed to the Township of Waynesfield having been accomplished, the said Port Lawrence Township is restored to its former status." At this election on October 13, 1835, county officers were for the first time chosen by the voters of Lucas County. The result of the election in this respect was as follows : Horatio Conant, clerk ; Munson. H. Daniels, sheriff ; Samuel M. Young, auditor ; Sanford L. Collins, treasurer ; Frederick Wright, recorder ; Sam-uel Bartlett, John Baldwin and Robert Gower, commissioners ; Andrew Coffinbury, prosecuting attorney ; William Martin, surveyor. A complete list of the county officers will be found in Chapter XXXVI. BOUNDARIES DEFINED When Lucas County was created in June, 1836, "an emergency existed" and the boundaries were not clearly defined. By the act of March 14, 1836, "the act to create the County f Lucas" was amended so that its boundaries and extent were clearly set forth as follows : "Beginning at a point on Lake Erie, where the line commonly called `Fulton's line' intersects the same thence due west with the said Fulton's line to the Maumee River ; thence in a southwesterly direction, with the said river, to the east line of the County of Henry ; thence north, on said line, to the northeast corner of Township six (6), in Range eight (8) ; thence west, on said township line, to the east line f the County of Williams ; thence north to the northern boundary of the state, called the 'Harris line ; thence in an easterly direction, with said line, until a line drawn due north from the place f beginning shall intersect the same ; thence south to the place of beginning." These boundaries included the present County of Lucas, all the present County of Fulton, except a strip two miles wide along the southern border and a strip across the western part, which was taken from the County f Williams when Fulton was organized in February, 1850, at which time the boundaries of Lucas County were fixed as they are at present. LOCATING THE COUNTY SEAT Although the act creating the county designated Toledo as the seat of justice, the matter of locating. a permanent county seat was left for the people to decide. Many thought Maumee was a better location, i. e., more convenient for a majority of the citizens, and a movement was soon started for the removal of the county seat to that place. The Maumeeites succeeded in having the question submitted to the voters at the general election to be held on October 8, 1839. On July 29, 1839, while the issue was being actively discussed, the Toledo City Council appropriated "a contingent fund of $80.00, to defray the expenses in preventing such removal." Jacob Clark, Hezekiah D. Mason, Andrew Palmer and Daniel Segur were appointed a committee to take charge of the fund and use the same in the best manner, according to their judgment, for the accomplishment of the purpose for which it was appropriated. Mr. Mason was then mayor of the city. There was some talk of "Toledo's slush fund to corrupt the voters," but it must be admitted that not many voters could be corrupted with the modest fund of eighty dollars, unless voters were much cheaper in those days than they were some fifty years later. Whether 216 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY it was the "slush fund," or merely popular sentiment, Toledo won in the election by a majority of fifty votes, which brought smiles to that city and long faces to Maumee. But the advocates of Maumee had not exhausted their resources. They appealed to the General Assembly and that body authorized the appointment of three commissioners "to review and relocate the seat of justice of Lucas County." Early in June, 1840, the commissioners reported in favor of Maumee. The board of Lucas County commissioners was then composed of Eli Hubbard, David Hobart and John Van Fleet. Hubbard was a Toledo man, but the other two commissioners were inclined to favor Maumee. They therefore promptly approved the report of the county seat commission, ordered the county offices removed to Maumee, and on June 17, 1840, accepted the proposals of John E. Hunt and others for the erection of county buildings at the new seat of justice. Toledo was defeated for the time being, but all the people had to do was to follow the example of the Scotchman, when the fish were not biting well, and "bide a wee." Between the years 1840 and 1850 the population of Lucas County increased from 9,382 to 12,363 and over 80 per cent of that increase was in the City of Toledo. This rapid growth encouraged the Toledoites to make another effort to secure the county seat. An agitation was at once commenced to have the question once more submitted to the voters, which was done at the general election on October 12, 1852. The year 1852 was a Presidential year, but the county seat question in Lucas County overshadowed the national campaign. Considerable bitter feeling was aroused and in a few instances the argument between individuals culminated in a "fist fight." The vote "For" and "Against" the removal by townships and municipalities was as follows:

Township or City	For	Against
Manhattan Maumee City Oregon Port Lawrence Providence Spencer Springfield Swanton Sylvania Toledo City Washington Waterville Waynesfield	93 2 135 21 •••• 7 12 •••• 135 1,602 153 8 3	2 580 135 1 90 48 126 58 3 18 2 154 45
Total vote	2,171	1,262

Thus Toledo won by a clear majority f 909 and has since remained the seat f justice. The total vote cast at this election was 3,433 and at the state election in October, 1853, it was only 2,622, indicating that there were over eight hundred voters in the county who were more interested in the location f the county seat than in the election of a state governor. TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 219 EARLY SETTLERS As stated in a former chapter, a French trading post was established on the Maumee River in 1680, but was abandoned after a few years. More than a century later—about 1790—Jean Baptiste Beaugrand and Gabriel Godfroy opened a trading house at the foot f the Maumee Rapids, near the site f the old trading post of 1680. Other Frenchmen settled near the trading post, among them Pierre Momonee, Jacques Peltier and a man named La Pointe. How long Beaugrand and Godfroy remained there is not known. In January, 1813, the latter was living at Frenchtown (now Monroe, Michigan), and his house was burned at the time of General Winchester's defeat there. Not long after Godfroy and Beaugrand built their trading house, John Anderson, who had held a colonel's commission in the British army during the Revolutionary war, located near the foot of the Rapids. He brought with him a stock of goods for the Indian trade, and also engaged in farming. Hosmer fixes the date of his arrival in the Maumee Valley as 1800, but another account states that the Indians regaled themselves with green corn from his fields after their defeat at Fallen Timbers in August, 1794. He was the first English speaking trader in the valley. During the first decade f the Nineteenth Century, a number of white people settled along the Maumee, within the present limits of Lucas County. By 1807 there was quite a French colony near the mouth of the Maumee, on the south side, where grew up in later years the suburb known as "Ironville." This settlement was augmented in 1807 by the arrival of Peter and Robert Navarre. Later they were joined by their brothers, Alexis, Antoine, Francis and Jacques. These brothers intermarried with the Indians and by the Treaty of Maumee, February 8, 1833, they were granted a reservation of 800 acres of land where they had so long lived. Peter (or Pierre) Navarre was especially prominent in the early history of the Maumee Valley. He was born in Detroit in 1785 and was a grandson f that Robert Navarre, who was appointed the first royal notary of Detroit about 1745. He received a fair education in the parochial school at Detroit and at an early age became interested in the fur trade. Before he was twenty-one years of age he was employed by a Detroit firm to open up a trade with the Miami Indians, whose principal village was at the head of the Maumee River. Peter spoke French and English, as well as several Indian dialects, and was not long in learning Miami. He formed a lasting friendship with Little Turtle, the great Miami chief. When the War of 1812 began, Peter, Alexis, Robert and Jacques Navarre all joined General Hull's army at Detroit. They offered to procure the allegiance of the Miami Indians, but Hull appeared to be afraid to trust Indian allies and the offer was declined. The Miami tribe afterward joined the British. The four brothers were surrendered by Hull at Detroit and were paroled. As they were not regularly enlisted, they paid no attention to the parole and were soon afterward engaged as scouts for General Harrison's army. The refusal f General Winchester to be-lieve their report was responsible in a great degree for the massacre at the River Raisin in January, 1813. Peter's activity in carrying dispatches, etc., for General Harrison, and in ascer-taining and reporting the strength and probable movements f the British armies, led General Proctor to offer a reward of i200 for his scalp. But Navarre was too well skilled in woodcraft to be caught unawares. He continued his labors in behalf 220 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY of the American cause, always keeping a sharp lookout for the enemy, and the reward was never claimed. After the war was over, as his name did not appear upon any f the muster rolls f regular military organizations, he failed to receive a pension, or even adequate pay for his services. Years afterward, when he was growing old, friends interceded for him and Congress granted him a pension. He died at his home in East Toledo, March 20, 1874. For several years prior to his death he was president of the Maumee Valley Pioneer Association. About half a dozen English families were living in 1807 where the Town of Maumee now stands. Among them were David Hull (nephew of Gen. William Hull), James Carlin, who had a blacksmith shop there, and his son, "Squire" Carlin, who removed a few years later to Hancock County. In the closing years of the Eighteenth Century a young Frenchman named Pierre Menard was employed by the Northwest Fur Company. While opening up a traffic with the Indian tribes, he visited the Maumee Valley. About 1808 he left the Northwest Company and established a trading post of his own. D. W. Howard, a descendant of one of the pioneer families of Fulton County, says Menard's trading post was on the south side of the Maumee, near where Fort Meigs was afterwards built, where for several years he carried on a lucrative trade with the Indians. After a time his name became Anglicized and he was known far and wide as Peter Manor, and later as "Uncle Pete Manor." When war between Great Britain and the United States became imminent, he warned the American settlers on the opposite side of the river that they were in danger of being attacked by Indians, but they refused to heed the warning. One evening an Indian scout, who was a friend of Manor, visited his trading post. After he had eaten supper and smoked some of Manor's tobacco, he addressed the Frenchman thus : "You my friend ; you have been adopted into my tribe and made chief. Four suns from now many Potawatomi warriors come and kill the palefaces across the river, but you shall not be harmed." Manor said nothing until the scout rolled himself in his blanket and went to sleep. Then he stole quietly out, paddled across the river in his canoe and told the settlers what he had just learned. Again they refused to credit the report and went on with their work, believing they were safe. Just at daybreak on the fourth day the scout again came to Manor's cabin. Pointing to the sky about where the sun would be at ten o'clock, he told the trader that when the sun reached that point the Indians would begin their deadly work in the settlement on the other side f the river. Instructing his wife to feed the scout well and keep him in the cabin, Manor once more crossed the river to warn the settlers. This time they believed him and, hurriedly gathering their families and a few personal effects, they went up the river out f sight f Manor's cabin, crossed over and started for Fort Findlay. At the appointed hour the Indians arrived. Finding their intended victims gone, they asked Manor where they were, but he pretended ignorance of their whereabouts. Finally a chief drew his tomahawk and coolly informed Manor that he must tell the truth or die. Uncle Peter knew the chief and knew he would keep his word. But to confess that the settlers had just left their homes that morning would not help him in the least, for the savages would feel certain that he had given them notice. To make matters worse, just at this moment some f the Indian scouts came in and reported that they had found a fresh trail leading southward into the Black TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 221 Swamp. It was a critical moment, but Manor's presence f mind did not desert him. He had been cutting hay on the prairie over which the settlers had passed. Pointing to a stack f hay he explained that the trail the scouts had discovered was merely that made by his men and oxen while putting up hay the day before. This seemed to satisfy the chief, though Manor's store was plundered, his cattle killed to furnish a feast for the Indians, and his cornfield stripped of its roasting ears. Before leaving the Indians set fire to some of his buildings, though they spared the cabin in which he lived. After the War f 1812 the settlers in the Maumee Valley petitioned the Government for indemnity for the losses they had sustained. Uncle Pete was not asked to sign the petition, though he was probably the heaviest loser among them, and in fact knew nothing of the petition until some years later. Consequently, while the settlers whose lives he had saved received from the United States, at least a sum sufficient partially to restore their property, he did not receive a cent. The Indians, among whom he had lived for so many years, were more generous. Manor was an adopted son of the Ottawa chief, Tondagamie (the Dog), who was granted a reservation of three miles square at the Wolf Rapids of the Maumee River by the treaty concluded at Detroit in November, 1807. Out of this reservation Manor was given 960 acres, in what is now Providence Township, Lucas County. In March, 1836, he sold 643 acres of this land to Robert A. Forsyth and George B. Knaggs for $60,000. "Uncle Pete" passed the remainder of his life on the other 317 acres and was buried there at his death. Early in the year 1810 President Madison appointed Amos Spafford collector of customs for the "District of Miami." Spafford's first report was for the quarter ending on June 30, 1810. It showed exports of furs amounting in value to $5,610.85 and twenty gallons of bears' oil, valued at $30, a total of $5,640.85 exported, with no imports. The customs office was in the settlement opposite the site of Fort Meigs, where a post office was established and Mr. Spafford was appointed postmaster, his commission bearing date of June 9, 1810. This was the first post office in what is now Lucas County ; the first between the present towns of Monroe and Fremont on the mail route between Sandusky and Detroit ; and the first between Lake Erie and Chicago. Spafford held the office of collector until after the War of 1812. His report for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 1814, showed the expense of maintaining the office to be as follows:

Office rent Fuel and stationery Fees Total

$10.00 15.75 9.50 $28.25

Certainly a very modest expense, but the income from the office was in proportion. A comparison of these figures with the commerce of Toledo at the present time will give the reader some idea of the almost marvelous progress that has been made during the century. During the War of 1812 the few settlers in the Maumee Valley suffered from three .sources. Part of their property was appropriated by the United States military authorities for the support of the garrison at Fort Meigs ; some of it 222 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY was confiscated by the British troops; and by frequent Indian forays they were driven from their homes. After the war most of them returned and began the work f rebuilding. In this work they depended largely for their lumber supply upon the old "arks," or government transports, lying in the river, and the abandoned stockade and blockhouse of Fort Meigs. The competition for the possession of these became so spirited that one night an incendiary—supposed to have been some disappointed home builder—applied the torch and what was left of the fort "went up in smoke." Then the only available building material was the trees of the adjacent forest, but there was no sawmill to convert them into lumber, and the hardships of the pioneers under such circumstances can be better imagined than described. One of the first acts f the settlers after reestablishing their homes, was to present to the Government a petition praying for indemnity for the losses they had suffered during the war. Among those who received such indemnity were : Oliver A. Armstrong, George Blalock, James Carlin, William Carter, Thomas Dick, Samuel Ewing, Samuel H. Ewing, Ambrose Hickox, David Hull, William Peters, Andrew Race, Richard Sifford, Jesse Skinner, James Slawson and Amos Spafford. One of the largest claims presented was that of James Carlin-- $110 for a dwelling, $58 for a blacksmith 'shop, and $30 for a two-year-old colt—a total of $198. Most f the claims ranged from forty to seventy-five dollars. To add to the trials of these pioneers, the title to their lands became a matter of doubt. They had purchased their farms within the twelve miles square ceded by the Greenville treaty. By mistake a portion of this tract was ceded a second time by the Brownstown treaty in November, 1808. They had barely become settled after the war, when Congress ordered a sale of the lands ceded to the United States by the Brownstown treaty. Amos Spafford wrote to President Madison explaining the situation. In this letter he said : "Should the time not be known, or the place of sale be so remote that myself and others cannot attend all would be lost. First, burned by the enemy ; secondly, destroyed by our own army ; and thirdly, sold out by an act of the Government, to whom, we don't know. This would be the last sacrifice that we could possibly make." Mr. Spafford's appeal had the desired effect. The sale was held at Fort Meigs and the settlers were so favored in the bidding that they were permitted to obtain their lands without competition. With a perfect title, better improvements were made and from that time on the settlement f the country was more rapid. For a further account f the early settlements of Lucas County, see the chapter on Townships and Villages. EVOLUTION OF LUCAS COUNTY Before becoming an independent political organization, Lucas County was successively included in the counties f Hamilton, Wayne, Greene, Logan and Wood. Hamilton County, the second in the Northwest Territory, was created on January 2, 1790, by proclamation of Governor St. Clair. By a second proclamation on February 11, 1792, the eastern boundary of the county was extended to Lake Erie, near Sandusky, and the western, which passed through the present counties of Henry and Fulton, was extended northward to the territorial line. Wayne County, TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 223 which was created by the proclamation of Winthrop Sargent on August 15, 1796, has already been described in the chapter on the Northwest Territory. In 1803 Greene County was created by the Ohio Legislature. It embraced all the north-western part of the state. Logan County was created in 1805. It was imperial in its extent, embracing the present counties of Allen, Auglaize, Defiance, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Lucas, Marion, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandot, and parts of Crawford, Logan, (i. e. the present County of Logan), Mercer, Morrow, Shelby and Union. This county was not fully organized until in 1817, when the county seat was established at Bellefontaine. Even then much of it was unsettled and some of the land comprising it was still claimed by the Indians. By the act of February 12, 1820, the Ohio General Assembly provided "That all that part of the lands lately ceded by the Indians to the United States, which lies within this state, shall be, and the same is hereby erected into fourteen separate and distinct counties, to wit : Allen, Crawford, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Mercer, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Union, Van Wert, Williams and Wood." The boundaries of these counties were established on April 20, 1820, though several years elapsed before all were fully organized. Wood County included within its limits the greater part of the present County of Lucas. The first meeting of the board of commissioners of Wood County was held on April 12, 1820, at the store of Almon Gibbs in Maumee City, which place was the first county seat. The Commissioners were John Pray, Samuel H. Ewing and David Hubbell. One act of the board at this session was to appoint William Pratt county treasurer. The second session f the board was held at the same place on May 3, 1820, when David Hull and Seneca Allen filed their bonds as sheriff and auditor, respectively. Thus was civil government introduced within what is now Lucas County. At the same time and place was convened the first court ever held in the Maumee Valley. George Tod, whose son David was afterward governor f Ohio, was the presiding judge, and the associate judges were Dr. Horatio Conant, Peter G. Oliver and Samuel Vance. The first townships in the lower Maumee Valley were erected by the Wood County authorities in 1816. In 1823 the county seat of Wood was removed to Perrysburg, on the south side of the Maumee, but the territory now constituting Lucas County was not set off as a separate political division until the act of June 20, 1835, mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. ROAD BUILDING The earliest roads in the lower Maumee Valley were not regularly surveyed and constructed as public highways. They were adopted largely by accident and belonged to nobody in particular. Most of them followed old Indian trails, which ran hither and yon, without regard to the cardinal points f the compass, irregular as cow paths. As a civil engineer, the red man was more or less f a success. Without technical knowledge of road building, he followed "the line of least resistance," dodging swamps and avoiding steep hills, yet his trail was always the short-est practicable route between two points. Several of these trails centered at the foot of the Maumee Rapids, which was a favorite place for council fires, or tribal gather- 224 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY ings. This was especially true after the English built Fort Miami. in the spring of 1794. The trail between the Rapids and Detroit followed the Maumee River for a considerable distance, being almost identical with what is known as the River Road and the present Summit Street in the City of Toledo. Before the Government surveys were made and section lines established, the wagons of the pioneers usually followed the Indian trails, and some f the principal thoroughfares leading to the interior were afterward made to coincide closely with these primitive routes, because they were found to be the most direct and convenient. The first roads therefore were mere openings through the timber. Occasionally a tree had been felled by the ax of the immigrant—cut so low that the axle of his wagon would pass over the stump and rude log bridges were constructed over some of the creeks. Some one has said : "Good roads are the product of two great forces—civilization and wealth." The first settlers in the Maumee Valley were not lacking in the fundamental elements of civilization, but their capital available for road building was limited. In the attempt to solve the problem of connecting settlements and markets by public highways, the state, the nation and the pioneers all gave early consideration to the subject. The enabling act providing for the admission of Indiana into the Union, granted to the state three per cent of, the net proceeds resulting from the sale of public lands to be applied to the construction of public roads and canals. The provisions of this act were afterward extended to Ohio, which state had been admitted thirteen years earlier, but the amount received from the "three per cent fund," as it was called, was not large, nor was it always judiciously expended. On October 28, 1822, the field notes and survey of a road from the Village of Maumee to the Indiana state line were certified to the commissioners of Wood County. This was a state road and was officially described as "Beginning at the Village of Maumee ; thence up the north side of the Maumee River, along the military road, to Defiance ; thence across the Maumee at Wayne Street to Second Street and up the west side of the Auglaize River for eight miles ; thence up the north bank of Crooked Creek to the Indiana state line, in the direction of Fort Wayne—distance sixty-seven (67) miles, sixty-three (63) chains." In these notes is found the first mention of a road (except Wayne's old military road) in the Maumee Valley. It will be noticed in the description that no attention is paid to section lines. Like all the early roads, the line was varied so that the road might follow the most convenient and practicable route, especially in crossing streams and marshy places. In later years many of the early roads were straightened, as far as possible, to conform to the section lines. At a meeting of the Wood County commissioners held in June, 1823, James H. Slawson and others presented a petition asking for the appointment of viewers to examine and lay out a county road, commencing on the bank of the Maumee River in front of Tract No. 28 of the United States reserve of twelve miles square, at the foot of the Rapids of the Maumee, and running thence on as direct a line as the nature of the ground would admit to the sawmill of Leaming & Stewart, on Swan Creek. The sawmill mentioned was where the Village of Monclova is now situated. The road, about four miles in length, was opened in response to the petition and was the first highway established by local authority within the present limits of Lucas County.