841 - HISTORY OF TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY
ADAMS TOWNSHIP.
IN entering upon the history of the several Townships of Lucas County, it is proper to state, al no doubt has been noticed by the careful reader, that throughout many preceding Chapters of the work, have been incidentally given more or less of facts relating to the Townships. This was done, because it was found to be more practicable to do so, than to take such facts from the connection which the record gave them. Thus, in the Chapter on " County Affairs" (page 313), will be found much of that kind of record. The same is true of Chapters on "Events and Persons" (657), "Personal Mention" (675), "Pioneers" (696), and still more in the Chapters containing the War Record of the County.
ADAMS.
Adams Township lies Welt of the City of Toledo, being bounded by the City limits and the Maumee River on the East, by Washington and Sylvania Townships on the North, by Springfield on the Welt, and by Waynesfield on the South. Swan Creek passes through the center of the Township, in a course East by North, entering into the Maumee within the City of Toledo. The Northern part is watered by branches of the Ottawa River or Ten-Mile Creek. The Railroads passing through the Township arc the Wabash, in the Southeastern part; the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern (Air Line Branch) in the Central; and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern (Old Road) across the Northeastern corner.
The Township is a rich and well populated tract of land, and contains al good farms al are found in the vicinity of Toledo.
Adams Township was set oft' from Port Lawrence, Waynesfield and Springfield Townships, and was organized under the name of Carey, in 1856. In 1860 the name was changed to Adams.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
Settlements were made within the boundaries of the present Township of Adams al early as 1833. In that year Orlando Bushnell, who is believed to have been the first settler, erected his log-cabin on the East half of the Northwest quarter of Section One, Township Two, United States Reserve. Mr. Bushnell appears to have been the pioneer Temperance man of the Township; for, in putting up his log-cabin, he resolved to have no whiskey at the railing; whereupon, the neighbors who had been invited became indignant, and refused to help put up his house. Mr. Bushnell, however, remained firm in his purpose, for he was a Temperance man from principle. He laid he would chop up the logs into pieces small enough to handle himself, before he would consent to use intoxicating liquors at the railing. Some friends at Vienna, 16 miles distant, learning the circumstances, came over and raised his cabin for him. Thus, the first house in the Township was railed without whiskey, which was a remarkable event for those early times. The use of whiskey at logging-bees and railings was lo common in the pioneer days, that it has been laid, that "nearly all the land in Northwestern Ohio has been cleared by whiskey," a statement which no doubt somewhat exaggerates the truth.
But few of those whole names appear al original purchasers of land from the Government became actual settlers in this Township. Augustus Whitney entered the East half of the Northeast quarter of Section Two, Town Two, United States Reserve, in 1834. He sold, without making improvements, to Valentine Bargy, who still resides on the premises, and is among the prosperous farmers of the Township. William M. Hudson, %, ho entered the West half of the Southeast quarter, and the East half of the Southwest quarter of Section Two, Town Three, sold without improvements, to Michael Carney and Charles McTague, who divided the property between them. Mr. Carney died in 1582. Mr. McTague still lives on his portion of the estate. He has reared an interesting family, one of whom, Mill Ella McTague, has a good reputation in the Township ala Teacher.
Wm. W. Wadsworth, of Genesee, New York, purchased of the Government about 500 acres of land in this Township, through his agent, Benjamin Joy, in 1834. James Egnew entered the Southeast quarter of the North west quarter of Section Twelve, Town Two, in 1834, where he settled, but early removed to Swanton. John Patten, in 1833, entered the West half of the Northeast quarter of Section Twelve, Town Two, where he settled and reared his family. He died suddenly of heart disease in 1883, aged 73 years. A son and daughter (Harvey and Nancy Patten, unmarried) reside on the homestead in the old, but still neat, log-house, which has stood for over 50 years..
Amos Atkins entered 97.52 acres, Southwest fractional part of Section Thirteen, Town Two, in 1831. He sold to Elnathan C. Hubbell in
842 - HISTORY OF TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY.
August, 1841. Mr. Atkins died many years ago, but has a son living in Toledo.
Bernard Cass, a half-brother of Gen. Lewis Cass, came to what is now Adams Township with three sons-Samuel, Charles M. and Joseph G. in 1833. Bernard Cass entered the Northwest quarter of Section twenty-five ; Samuel, the East half of the Northeast quarter of Section Twenty-five; Charles M., the East half of the Southeast quarter of Section Twenty-three; Joseph G., the Northwest quarter of Section Twenty-four, United States Reserve. Joseph G. Cass is the only one of the brothers living, and resides on the old homestead property.
Most of the old pioneers have passed away. The following named are among the oldest residents now living in the Township: Harvey Kellogg, Samuel Nason, David Byrnes, Valentine Bargy, Cyrus Davis, John W. Clark, David Kaley, John Halpin, Charles McTague, G. W. Norton, Joseph G. Cass, Henry Driver, Alonzo Lane, James P. Robinson, N. R. Locke and Peter Y. Mersereau.
JOSEPH GERISH CASS was born at Roscommon, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, October 7, 1807. He is a son of Barnard and Martha (Trumbull) Cass. The former had two half-brothers, Benjamin and Jonathan. The latter was a Major in the Revolutionary War, and had three sons, George, Charles and General Lewis Cass; and two daughters-Mary and Deborah. Barnard Cass moved to Muskingum County, Ohio, in 1816, where Jonathan had 4,000 acres of choice lands. He laid out the Town of Dresden in that County, which became his residence. Joseph's mother and sister Philena died when he was 12 years old. In 1882, the family with the exception of two brothers, came to the Maumee Valley, and settled in the Northwest quarter of Section 24, now in Adams Township, which is still the home of Joseph. The settlement was made in a dense forest, with no improvement of any sort nearer than Maumee City, three miles distant. So straitened in circumstances was Joseph, that he was compelled to divide his time between clearing his own land and working for others for means of support, until relieved by small crops. During the real estate speculation of 1835-36, he sold his f arm to a Maumee party at what was considered a good price, and removed to Knox County, where he bought land and remained for 13 years. The sale of his farm having meantime failed, he was compelled to take it back and again occupied it. Mr. Cass's life, though not an eventful one, has been marked by pervading consideration for the rights and welfare of his fellow-men, especially in the promotion of sound morals and good order For 60 years, in principle and practice, he has been strictly, a Temperance man. When he was about 20 years of age (1828), a race-course and an attendant. liquor shop at Dresden, patronized mainly by laborers employed in the construction of the Ohio Canal, so far reached their natural results among the youth and the older residents, as to arouse his alarm and to cause in him the positive resolve to abstain from gambling and the use of intoxicating liquors, which resolution never has been broken, but has remained as a ready and effective shield from temptation to either practice. Mr. Cass has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for about 40 years, being initiated at Newcastle, Coshocton County, Ohio, and united with Northern Light Lodge at Maumee in 1850. Having, in the manner already stated, succeeded in erecting a one-story log-cabin, 18x20 feet in size, and cleared and planted with corn three acres of his land, Mr. Cass took the next step by going to Jackson Township, Knox County, where, July 19, 1833, he was married with Miss Mary Wilson, who accompanied him to their forest home, making the trip by the Ohio Canal to Cleveland, and thence by Steamboat to Maumee, via Detroit. Coming as she did from a home of comfort, the bride was found adequate for every demand on her energies and courage which were liberally taxed in all the ways known to such trials. The mother of six sons and six daughters, 11 of whom grew to maturity, she had ample occasion for the exercise of the physical and mental resources which alone could have given success in such extraordinary charge. A sincere Christian, her convictions and faith abided and guided her throughout the long years of her activity, and made their mark on the children of' her care. She died January 2, 1876. July 1878, Mr. Cass was married with Miss Ellen A., daughter of Caleb Farquhar, of Coshocton County, whose relations to the large family have been from the first most happy.
HARVEY KELLOGG was born in Canaan, Litchfield County, Connecticut, January 19, 1813. He was the youngest of five children-four sons and one daughter of Joseph and Martha (Beebe) Kellogg. The parents were devout members of the Congregational Church of South Canaan, of which the father (Joseph Kellogg), was an acting Deacon for more than fifty-seven years. In this faith, Harvey was reared and in early life united with the Church at South Canaan. From this Church he and his wife brought letters of fellowship to the Presbyterian Church of Sylvania, when they came to settle in Lucas County, in 1837 which Church afterwards adopted the Congregational form of government. In addition to a Common School education, Mr. Kellogg enjoyed the advantages of Academic instruction for one year in Columbia County, New York, and in 1830, when a little over 17 years of' age, he engaged in teaching in his native '['own, where, a few years later, he was elected a member of
ADAMS TOWNSHIP. - 843
the School Board and of the Examining Committee. The same year (October 20, 1835) he was united in marriage with Miss Betsey A. Kellogg, and with her removed to Springfield Township (now Adams), in the Spring of 1837. Their first attempt at house-keeping in the then new country was in a log-cabin of a single room, with the Bushnell family, until Mr. Kellogg could get a space cleared and a house erected for himself. Their reminiscences of those days are pleasant, and many relics of their primitive mode of living might have been preserved and handed down to their grandchildren, had they known the interest the present generation would have taken in such things. Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg have lived where they now reside over 50 years. They have two sons living-Joseph G. and Isaac B. Kellogg. In 1885, 0o 50th anniversary of their marriage was celebrated. It was a jubilee signalized by the warm congratulations of many friends and many gifts and tokens showing in what estimation Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg are held by their friends and neighbors. Their house has been a home for several orphan children whom they have brought up. Besides developing his farm, Mr. Kellogg has been active in many other directions and in public affairs. He has taught school 13 terms; served as Justice of' the Peace, by successive elections, 15 years; Was Postmaster at Hickory, in his Township, seven years. In 1877 he was elected to the General Assembly by a plurality vote on the National Party ticket, and while a member of the House served on the Committees on Temperance and on Unfinished Business. He has always been a strong advocate of Temperance and an active Sunday school worker. In 1883 he was chosen President of the Lucas County Sunday-school Union, and each successive year since has been elected to fill the same position. Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg have taken an active part in the co-operative Christian work which has resulted in the establishment of a Union Church in their neighborhood, and he is one of the Board of Trustees of the Womans' Christian Association of Adams Township.
JEREMIAH REYNOLDS was born March 25, 1823, in Pennsylvania. His parents came to the Maumee Valley when he was quite a small boy. At about the age of 17 he went to live with Harvey Kellogg, on his farm, in Adams Township. Being left an orphan by the death of his father, he depended mainly upon his own exertions ; but he was a young man who made friends and secured the confidence of those with whom he had dealings. He was therefore trusted and prospered. Such is the reputation Mr. Kellogg and others gave him. He was married June 21,1845, with Miss Rhoda Ann, daughter of Daniel Cothrell, of Springfield Township. She was born in the State of New York, where her father was born March 24, 1802, he dying in October, 1884. Her mother, Sarah Grant, was born in Orange County, New York, in 1805, and died August 15, 1878. The year preceding his marriage he had purchased of Harvey Kellogg, 40 acres of land adjoining Dorr Street, which he made his home. He introduced the first power Threshing-Machine into the neighborhood, and for 15 years followed the threshing business vigorously and laboriously, Summer and Winter, with such unremitting persistence, that at last he fell a victim to the dust of the machine, which caused the disease of the lungs of which he died December 6, 1868, when hardly yet in the prime of life. He was twice elected Justice of the Peace for Adams Township, serving for two terms, and was Postmaster at the time of his death. He became a member of the Masonic Lodge at Sylvania at an early date, and was buried by that Order. A successful farmer, he had 185 acres of improved land at the time of his death. He was a strong advocate of total abstinence from the use of intoxicating liquors, when such position required a firm will ; was a good neighbor and an honest citizen. Mr. Reynolds left a widow and seven children, four sons and three daughters. D. Edward, born June 19, 1850, married Miss Calista Micham of Adams; Sarah A., born May 4, 1854, died April 4,1879 ; Charles, born March 24, 1859: Hattie E., born February 16, 1848, married Charles Micham October, 1879 ; James B., born April 28, 1866; Mattie S., born May 14, 1864; Perry A., born April 24, 1856, married Miss Emma Shellenberger, September , 1880. Two sons, Charles and James B. Reynolds, and one daughter, Mattie S., are living at home with their mother. D. Edward lives in Sylvania, and -also the married daughter, Mrs. Charles Micham ; while Perm A. lives on a farm in Adams Township. Mr. Reynolds was for several years Postmaster at Hickory, Adams Township, and also served as Trustee and Justice of the Peace.
OBSOLETE TOWN PLATS.
On the 13th of June, 1836, Jesse Stone, of Columbus, sold to Norman C. Baldwin, William Neil, John C. Spink, Elnathan Cory, Dwight Woodbury, Elias H. Haines, Henry Bennett, S. B. Campbell, Needham M. Stewart, Christ. Neiswanger, Joseph H. Larwell, Daniel B. Miller, Jesse Stone, David W. Deshler, David Ladd, Robert T. Lytle, John E. Lyon, James Q. Adams and Jeddediah D. Cummings, tracts 17 and 18 of United States Reserve, containing 443.49 acres, for $40,000. The same month the plat of the Town of Marengo was surveyed and located in the above tract of land, then owned by an association, of which Elnathan Cory, Norman C. Baldwin, John C. Spink and William Neil, of Columbus, were Trustees, and A. E. Wing, of Monroe; Joseph H. Larwell, of Woos-
844 - HISTORY OF TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY.
ter; N. C. Baldwin and Dwight Moody, Directors. The plat was surveyed by Hiram Davis, Surveyor of Wood County. The lots were 20 by 100 feet; there were 10 full blocks of 40 lots each; 10 fractional blocks of from 4 to 35 lots, with 40 Water lots 100 feet square. The proprietors reserved all rights of ferrying, and purchasers of Water lots were granted the use of one-half of the street adjoining their lots for handling property. The" City of Marengo" was finally closed out by order of Court, in August, 1838.
The plat of the Town of Vinton was located on the South side of Swan Creek, in Section Thirteen, Town Two (now in Adams Township), and adjoining the French Grant. It was surveyed by Samuel Divine, County Surveyor, and recorded June 11, 1836. The proprietors were Daniel Hubbell and Amos Atkins. The plat contained 54 lots and 10 streets.
June 14, 1836, Rev. James Gilruth a Methodist Preacher, then of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Mary, his wife, deeded 362 1/2 acres of land in Sections 17 and 20, now in Adams Township, to Nathan Jenkins, Wm. P. Reznor and David Higgins, as Trustees for themselves and John Patterson, of Columbus ; Ezra M. Stone, of Norwalk ; Charles Borland, of Mansfield; and Rev. H. O. Sheldon. The price paid for the property was $36,250. On this property was soon laid out the plat of EAST MARENGO, by what was known as the East Marengo Company. Sales were made of lots in this plat as follows
To H. O. Sheldon, 11 lots, October, 1838, for $6,864.
To Alonzo Rogers, August 11, 1837, one lot conditioned that said Rogers erect on the same " a
house at least 18x25 feet, two stories high, finished on the outside and painted white; to be
done and complete within 5 months from date."
To David D. Prouty, lot for $100, first payment to be made in 8 months ; assigned March 10, 1840, to Francis D. Cochoran.
In September, 1840, the East Marengo Company laid out a sub-division on the Southeast quarter of Section 17 and East half of Northeast quarter Section 20, River Tract, No. 14, called East Marengo. Hiram Davis was the Surveyor. This plat was recorded by W. P. Reznor and Nathan Jenkins, Trustees, September 21, 1840.
LATER PLATS.
CENTRAL GROVE, located on that part of River Tract No. 15, Town 3, United States Reserve, lying between the Maumee River and the Miami and Erie Canal, was platted by Wesley J. Wells and George Vogel, Trustees, October 7, 1874, and three days later recorded.
TOLEDO HEIGHTS was platted and recorded by Wm. H. Ingraham, June 18, 1874. It is situated on River Tract No. 18, Town 1, United States Reserve.
NORWOOD was laid out and platted by Edwin Conant, Sallie Lee Conant and Albert E. Macomber, as a division of their respective half-interests in the Northeast quarter and Northeast quarter of the Northwest quarter of Section 4, Town 3, in May, 1877. It lies between Dorr Street on the north, Nebraska Avenue on the south and Brown Avenue on the east, and is divided east and west by Germania Street, containing lots numbered from 1 to 38 inclusive.
SALES OF LANDS.
Among the other early transfers of property, were the following:
Cyrus Fisher to Ezra Goodale, Theodore Lee, Wm. C. Corwin, and Oliver Stevens, 80 acres, Section 9, $180; 1830.
Isaac B. Worden and Triphena Worden, to Roswell Riley, 26 1/2 square rods of land on the left bank of the Maumee River, and on the road leading from Port Lawrence to Miami, $100; 1830.
Wm. P. Bennett to Tunis Lewis, SO acres, $200; 1830.
Silas Barnes to Jona. Simmons, 1830.
Theo. S. Lee to Sam. Allen and Otis Hathaway, 80 acres, Section 9, $100,1832: the same having been patented by the Government to Dexter Fisher in 1831.
Daniel Hubbell to John Mackley, 1833.
Samuel Merritt, to Nancy Merritt, 1834.
Silas Long to James McLaughlin, 1834.
John Mickle to Bingham D. Abbott, 1834.
United States to Charles Allen, September, 1834.
Alvin Evans to Henry Bennett and S. B. Campbell, 1836.
John McNess to Eli Charter, February, 1835.
Ezra B. Dodd to Ezra Goodell, October, 1815.
Sylvester Brown to John U. Pease, March, 1836.
George Lewis to Nathaniel Rathbun, 1836.
David Prouty, to Geo. S. Hazard, 1836.
Benjamin Davis to Jared N. Stebbins, 1836.
Zenas Leonard to Charles G. Keeler, May, 1836.
W. E. Morton to Mathew Byrnes, October, 1835.
John Mickles, to Joel W. Crane, 1836.
Joseph Titsworth to Eli Hubbard, 1836.
J. G. Cass and Corser to J. E. Hunt, 1835.
Edward Corser to Joseph G. Cass, February, 1836.
Henry Williams to Theodore T. Woodruff, March, 1836.
Marmaduke Bunting to John Knaggs, March, 1836.
Stephen L. Gilleat to Michael Sterling, 1838.
J. G. Worthington to James Harris, 1839.
DAVID KALEY is a native of Ireland, and was born in 1822. His parents came to America in 1832, and that year his father died of cholera at Putnam's Corners, eighteen miles below White Hall on Lake Champlain, while the family were on their way from Quebec to Buffalo, New York. His father was buried near the old battle ground at Fort Ticonderoga, and the family proceeded to Buffalo, arriving there in the spring of 1833. It consisted of five boys and one girl, of whom two are now living, viz.: David, the subject of this sketch, and Daniel Kaley, a resident of Wood County, Ohio. David, after remaining in Buffalo till the spring of 1837, went with the family to Waterville, Lucas County, Ohio, where his brother-
ADAMS TOWNSHIP. - 845
in-law had a contract on the Miami and Erie Canal, then being constructed. Here David worked on the Canal about six years. In the meantime, (in 1838), his oldest brother died; and the balance of the family, in 1843, removed to Troy Township, Wood County, Ohio, where they bought a farm and where his mother and brothers, John and Daniel, made their permanent home.
In 1849, David and his brother Bartholomew went to California by the overland route, reaching the mines after a finer-months journey, on November 18, 1849. They spent nearly four years in mining and other operations, quite successfully, realizing about $11,000 each, and returned by steamer in May, 1853. In the autumn of that year Mr. Kaley purchased the valuable and beautiful farm near Dorr Street, in Adams Township, on which he now resides. He has since erected the buildings and made most of the improvements upon the place. This farm contains 200 acres, mostly of rolling and rich soil, and is one of the finest farms in Lucas County.
Mr. Kaley was married May 3,1854, with Miss Ellen Carey, who was born in Ireland March 15, 1833, and same year came with her parents to America. They have had 10 children-five sons and five daughters-all living, except James B., the youngest son, who died July 19, 1885. The children and years of their birth areas follows: Edward, born 1855 ; Winifred M., 1858; David and John (twins), 1860; William D., 1862; James B., 1864; Mary E., 1865; Ella A., 1868; Agnes, 1870; Theressa, 1872.
Since the organization of Adams Township, Mr. Kaley has held some of the local offices, such as Trustee and Member of the Board of Education. He was one of the enterprising and successful farmers of the Township, and one of its most public spirited citizens. In the Spring of 1888 Mr. Kaley moved from his farm that he had occupied for over 30 years, to his pleasant residence on Warren Street, Toledo.
CHARLES R. BOWEN was born in Otsego County, Now York, May 26, 1837. His parents, Daniel W. and Sarah (Richardson) Bowen, were both of Revolutionary stock. His father's father was with Ethan Allen, at the capture of Ticonderoga, and was at the battles of Bennington and Saratoga; while his mother's mother was one of the few children saved at the massacre and burning by the Indians in Cherry Valley. Charles It. lived on the farm until 17 years old, when he went to Rockford, Illinois. Remaining there one year, he returned East, stop ping in Lenawee County, Michigan, where his parents, meantime, had removed. In the Spring of 1858, he made the trip to the Rocky Mountains, spending a year on the plains and in the mountains, hunting and prospecting. In June of that year, while with 18 others in the mountains, some 50 miles West of Denver, Colorado, they were surrounded by forest fires started by Indians, when all of the party but himself and one other were burned to death, while he escaped only with severe injury. In 1859 Mr. Bowen returned to Lenawee County, where he remained until after the beginning of the War of the Rebellion, when he enlisted in the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, in which he served until wounded at the battle of Stone River, and on the 7th of March, 1863, was honorably discharged at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, when he returned to Adrian, Michigan. His wound preventing his return to the field, he was active in enlisting and organizing several Companies for the Ninth and Eleventh Regiments, Michigan Cavalry. His brother, Elmer Bowen, a member of the Ninth Michigan, was with Sherman on the " March to the Sea," and now resides at Ypsilanti, Michigan ; one brother-in-law, H. C. Ingraham, of the Eighteenth Michigan Infantry; another brother-in-law, Chauncy Cunningham, transferred from the same Regiment to Tennessee Cavalry, was killed by bushwhackers. Three cousins of his were killed in the service-Silas Pierce, of a New York Regiment, in the Wilderness; Lorenzo Smith, of Fourth Michigan Infantry, killed in the Wilderness; and Allen Smith, of Ninth Michigan Cavalry, killed in Georgia. In 1871 Mr. Bowen became a resident of Adams Township and has since remained such. He has been largely engaged in growing Fruit, in which he has been successful. Politically he is actively a Democrat. He has held most of the important Township offices, now serving in his second term as Justice of the Peace. His Post Office address is Toledo. In 1866 Mr. Bowen was married with Miss Cecelia J., daughter of Philo and Louisa (Hascall) Carter. Mrs. Bowen was born in Cuba, Alleghany County, New York, October 21, 1848 They have had five children-Chester P., born in Adrian, July 22, 1867; Louis A., born at Toledo, August 9, 1869 (dying November 29,1875); Clarence and Lawrence, born August 4, 1875; and Lorena June, born March 5, 1883.
ORGANIZATION OF ADAMS TOWNSHIP.
The following resolution of the County Commissioners, adopted December 3, 1856, describes the territory in the Township of Carey as then set off. No change has since been made, except in the name of the Township, changed from Carey to Adams in 1860:
Resolved, by the Commissioners of Lucas County, that the territory heretofore belonging to the Township of Port Lawrence, and which was on the 2d day of December, A. D. 1856, set off from said Township of Port Lawrence and annexed to the Township of Springfield, together with Sections numbers 4, 5 and 6 in Town No. 3, United States Reserve ; the South fractional half of Sections number 31, 32, 33 and 34 in Town No. 9, S. R. T. E.; the South fractional half of
846 - HISTORY OF TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY.
Section No. 36, T. 9, S. of R. 6 E.; Sections numbers 1, 2 and 12; the East half of Sections numbers 11, 14 and 23 and fractional Sections 13 and 24, all in Town 2 U. S. R.; fractional Section No. 19, Town 3, U. S. R.; all that portion of Private Grants numbers 575, 578, 579, 580 and 581 which was formerly in Springfield Township ; also all that territory which was formerly in Waynesfield Township, lying Northeast of Private Grant No. 581 extending to the centre of the Maumee River ; thence down the River, to the Southwest corner of the City of Toledo, be established as the Township of Carey ; and that the first meeting for the election of officers for said new Township be held at the house of Henry Driver on December 22, 1856.
Accordingly the first Township meeting was held and the following officers elected: Trustees-Peter H. Shaw, Darius Mills, J. P. Hill. Clerk -G. W. Norton. Treasurer - Elisha Mulford.
Mr. Mulford served as Treasurer two years. The following have served as Treasurer since:
William Larkin, 1858; Walter Woodward, 1859-62; Warren H. Howe, 1862; S. S. Kingsley 1863; Hiram W. Haughton, 1864-73; M. M. Goulden. 1873-75 ; G. W. Norton, 1875-79; John Halpin, 1879; Squire Johnson, 1879-82; David Byrne, 1882-87.
Clerks-G. W. Norton, 1856-62 ; Alonzo Lane, 1862-64; S. D. Wilcox, 1864; Alonzo Lane, 1865-72; Samuel W. Cass, 1872; Edward L. Jones, 1873; Oliver C. Wilson. 1874; Henry Woodward, 1875; David Byrne, 1876; Orlando Lane, 1877-79; C. R. Bowen, 1879-84; H. Miller, 1884-86 ; Lewis Dennis, 1887.
Justices of the Peace-B. F. Cunningham, Walter Woodward. 1857-63; Charles F. Bates, Jeremiah Reynolds, 1863-69 ; Harvey Kellogg. A. D. Jones, 1869-72; James B. Robinson, Wesley C. Palmer, 1872-78; Wesley C. Palmer, C. R. Bowen, 1878-81; Harvey Kellogg, Silas M. Johnson, 1881-84 ; Harvey Kellogg, Charles W. Cass, 1884-87; Charles R. Bowen, Henry V. Hawkins, 1887.
The citizens of Adams Township were active in raising Volunteers and relief for the Soldiers and Soldiers' families during the War. A Soldiers' Aid Society was maintained, and many festivals held. On January 7, 1865, a branch of the United States Christian Commission was organized, with Capt. G. W. Norton as President, Harvey Kellogg as Secretary, and S. D. Wilcox as Treasurer. Besides various supplies, there was raised in cash during the few months before the close of the War, $121.81. The Township furnished more than its quota, sending in all into the service 89 men out of a population (in 1860) of 750 inhabitants. Some 40 or more persons who lived at the time or had previously lived in Adams Township, enlisted in Battery H, First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Artillery, and served during the War in the Army of the Potomac, and on their return home in June, 1865, met with a warm reception from the citizens.
October 8, 1867, the Trustees of Adams Township, Peter Y. Mersereau, S. D. Wilcox and John Shull, purchased of D. F. Cook four acres of land for a Cemetery. The price paid for the ground was $500.
The population of the Township in 1860, was 750; in 1880, 1,519. The Township has nine School Districts with the same number of substantial brick School-houses.
UNION CHURCH..
There is but one Church edifice in Adams Township, and it is of quite recent construction. When the Township was set off many of the religious people residing within its limits had their Church relations in Toledo, Sylvania, Springfield and Maumee, and the need for a local Church was not so much felt. Hence, for a long time, although services were held occasionally in School-houses and in the Town Hall, there was neither meeting-house nor resident minister within the Township. The following incident may be worth relating in this connection : One of the pioneers (Mr. Harvey Kellogg) being a delegate from Adams Township to a Sunday School Convention at Maumee soon after the Township was organized, on being called upon for a report from his Township, remarked: " We have no Church nor Minister nor Lawyer in Adams Township, but a Doctor has lately moved in, and the Trustees have laid out ground for a Cemetery." The mention of the need for a burying-ground in such connection, provoked considerable merriment and got reported in the papers at the time as an "excellent hit by a member from the rural districts."
In 1882 the women, without regard to denominational proclivities, made a movement to have a Church on Dorr Street, at its ,junction with Miami and Sylvania Free Turnpike.
On May 12, 1882, a meeting was held at the residence of Harvey Kellogg, and the Woman's Christian Association of Adams Township was formed. It was incorporated June 20, 1882, and the following officers were elected : President, Mrs. H. Kellogg ; Secretary, Mrs. Alice Thompson; Treasurer, Mrs. A. Lape. Trustees, H. Kellogg, H. V. Hawkins, L. E. Rowe.
The Association proceeded to erect a Church on a lot donated for the purpose by H. P. and V. Glenn, on the corner above named, which was finished and dedicated as a Non-sectarian or Union Church in the Fall of 1883. The cost of the building was $2,000. It is divided into audience room and room for the meetings of the Association, and the pulpit is supplied from the Detroit Avenue M. E. Church.
The Township has a good substantial Town Hall, which is open for preaching, but is not at present regularly supplied
The Township has always had a number of earnest Sunday School workers, and has been usually represented in the County Sunday School union.
Washingtonian and Good Templar Societies were some of the means for promoting temperance in the Township before and during the War. A strong organization of the Sons and
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Daughters of Temperance was kept rip for several years. The organization embraced a large number of the young ladies of the Township, and among the active members were such heads of families as G. W. Norton, J. P. Robison, Harvey Kellogg, Alonzo Lane, Samuel Cass, George Naugle, A. T. Jones, Henry Driver and other.
S. M. Johnson and others, of late years, have been strong advocates of Prohibition, but the party vote in the Township has never been over 11.