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150 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY aborigines. The only ordained missionary for this faith was the Rev. Isaac Van Tassel, although there were several assistants. The mission church was organized in 1823 with twenty-four persons, nine of whom were aborigines. All were pledged to abstain from the use of spirituous liquors. The mission closed in 1834, when the Indians were removed to the West. At that time, there were thirty-two pupils in attendance at this school. Fourteen of these were full-blooded aborigines, and sixteen of them were recorded as mixed blood. The records reveal that the whole number which had been under instruction at this station during the dozen years of its existence, most of them for brief periods of time, was ninety-two. While the aborigines did not antagonize the missions directly, the general attitude of the warriors, and the large number of drunks among them, particularly at the time of the payment of the annuities, kept up an excitement of blood and evil that greatly detracted from the quiet influence which the missionaries attempted to throw around their pupils and converts. It was such things as these that made the work of the Christian missionaries one of such great difficulty. White men and half-breeds would continue to sell the "firewater" to the Indians, and even bribe the Indians to keep their children from the schools. Many would leave after a few days' experience. But the missionaries and the teachers persisted, and the attendance gradually increased. Most of those that remained took to education readily enough, but they absorbed the religion sparingly and rather doubtingly. The widow of Rev. Isaac Van Tassel has given an account of the mission, from which I quote the following: "It has been said that the Maumee Mission was a failure. If the hopeful conversion of about thirty souls, and the triumphant deaths of at least nine of these, who were known to the missionaries to have died trusting in the Savior, besides much seed sown, the result of which can only be known in the light of eternity, was not worth the few thousands expended there, then might the mission be called a failure. The Indians were at first shy and distrustful ; they could not believe that white people intended them any good. As they became acquainted, however, they were very friendly, and never gave us any trouble by stealing or committing any depredation. They were always grateful for any favors bestowed on them by the missionaries." After the close of the mission school, Rev. Isaac Van Tassel and his wife continued to live in the buildings for several years, and conducted a boarding and day school for the children of the white settlers who were then beginning to come in in increasingly large numbers. Missions to the Wyandots have been described in the chapter devoted to that tribe. The Baptist Church conducted a mission for several years at Fort Wayne, with Rev. Isaac McCoy as the missionary in charge. This denomination doubtless conducted some religious services within Northwestern Ohio, but no regular mission under its auspices was ever established here. The Fort Wayne mission was opened in 1820, with a school for both white and Indian youths, and was removed about a hundred miles northwest three years later at the special request of the Pottawatomies, who donated a section of land for its use. The most noted and successful effort to elevate the Indians of Northwestern Ohio to a better life was through the missionary efforts of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Upper Sandusky. This mission was begun by John Stewart, an ignorant mulatto, with a mixture of Indian blood. Having become converted following a long debauch, he resolved to go out into the wilderness and preach the gospel. In HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 151 his wanderings he reached Upper Sandusky in 1816, and began to preach to the Wyandots. A colored man, named Jonathan Pointer, living with the Indians, became his interpreter, and at first an unwilling one. Stewart was an excellent singer, and he thus attracted the attention of the red men, who dearly loved music. At the first formal meeting, called at Pointer's house, his audience was one old woman. On the following day the same woman and an old chief, named Big Tree, came. The following day, which was the Sabbath, the meeting was called at the council house, and eight or ten Indians gathered. From this time the congregation continued to increase and many songs Were intermixed with the prayer and exhortations. With this feature the Indians were delighted. When he began work Stewart was not a licensed minister, but he was afterwards duly ordained. The mission was taken over by the Methodist Episcopal Church in August, 1819, the first Indian mission of that denomination. Stewart remained with the Wyandots until his death from tubercular trouble on December 17, 1823. The most noted missionary at this station was the Rev. James B. Finley, who labored there a number of years, and has left us his experiences and observations in several interesting books. A number of chiefs became converted and developed into exemplary men. Between-the-Logs and Mononcue were comparatively early converts and became licensed preachers. They greatly endeared themselves to the whites with whom they came in contact. One of the chiefs, Scuteash, gave his testimony in the following quaint way : "I have been a great sinner and drunkard, which made me commit many great crimes, and the Great Spirit was very angry with me, so that in here (pointing to his breast) I always sick. No sleep—no eat- not walk—drink whisky heap ; but I pray the Great Spirit to help me quit getting drunk, and forgive all my sins, and he did do something for me. I do not know whence it comes, or whither it goes. (Here he cried out, 'Waugh ! Waugh !' as if shocked by electricity.) Now me no more sick—no more drink whisky—no more get drunk—me sleep—me eat-no more bad man—me cry-me meet you all in our great Father's house above !" The Wyandots were very emotional, and were excellent singers. Some of their members were prone to prolixity in speaking, and "some times," said Mr. Finley, "they had to choke them off. On one occasion I saw one of the sisters get very much excited during one of their meetings, when Between-the-Logs, an ordained minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a native Wyandot, struck up a tune and put her down. Then several speakers spoke and without interruption. Betweenthe-Logs followed them, and had uttered but a few words, when the squelched sister, who had a loud, ringing voice, began, at the top of her register, singing— `How happy are they Who their Saviour obey.' "Between-the-Logs was fairly drowned out, and took his seat, as much overcome by the merriment as the music." During the year 1823, Col. John .Johnston, United States Indian Agent, visited the Wyandots on their reservations. He passed several days among them, and at the close of his visit reported as follows : "The buildings and improvements of the establishment are substantial and extensive, and do this gentleman (Mr. Finley) great credit. The farm is under excellent fence, and in fine order ; comprising about one hundred and forty acres, in pasture, corn and vegetables. There 152 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY are about fifty acres in corn, which from present appearances, will yield 3,000 bushels. It is by much the finest crop I have seen this year, has been well worked, and is clear of grass and weeds. There are twelve acres in potatoes, cabbage, turnips and garden. Sixty children belong to the school of which number fifty-one are Indians. These children are boarded and lodged at the mission house. They are orderly and attentive, comprising every class from the alphabet to readers of the Bible. I am told by the teacher that they are apt in learning, and that he is entirely satisfied with the progress they have made. They attend with the family regularly to the duties of religion. The meeting house, on the Sabbath, is numerously and devoutly attended. A better congregation in behavior I have not beheld ; and I believe there can be no doubt, that there are very many persons, of both sexes, m the Wyandot nation, who have experienced the saving effects of the Gospel upon their minds. Many of the Indians are now settling on farms, and have comfortable houses and large fields. A spirit of order, industry and improvement appears to prevail with that part of the nation which has embraced Christianity, and this constitutes a full half of the population." The effect of the mission work was really wonderful upon the Wyandot youths, for they grew up much better in their habits and manners than their elders. The parents began to build better log houses with real brick chimneys, and also devoted much more time to their argiculture. Some families really raised enough from their little farms to support them. It was not until 1824 that the old mission church was erected. At times the council house was used, and on other occasions the meetings were held in the schoolhouse, which was much too small. The Delawares, as well as the Wyandots, when journeying from their reservations in search of game, almost invariably stopped at the houses of the white settlers along their route. When they came to a white man's cabin they expected to receive the hospitality of its inmates as freely as of their own tribe. If such was not the case the red man was much offended. He would say "very bad man, very bad man," in a contemptuous way. They would never accept a bed to sleep upon. All that was necessary was to have a good back-log on the fireplace, and a few extra pieces of wood nearby, if in cold weather, for them to put on the fire when needed. They usually carried their blankets, and would spread them upon the floor before the fire, giving no further trouble. Not infrequently they would leave those who had sheltered them a saddle of venison, or some other commodity which they had to spare. After peace was declared with Great Britain most of the settlers who lived along the Maumee previous to the war returned to their former possessions. They were accompanied by friends and former soldiers who sought desirable sites for settlement with their families. Many of them lived in the blockhouses at Fort Meigs for a while. Contentions arose, however, regarding the pickets and other timber of the fort, and one of the parties to the controversy finally set the remaining ones on fire. The last settler to be killed by the Indians was Levi Hull in 1815. He left the house to bring the cattle from the woods. Several gun reports were heard, and a searching party found his body, dead and scalped, on a spot within the present limits of Perrysburg. The settlement of the Maumee Valley was at first slow, but the "foot of the rapids" and vicinity was settled earliest. In 1816 the government sent an agent to lay out a town at the point on the Miami of the Lake HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 153 best calculated for commercial purposes. After thoroughly sounding the river from its mouth, he decided upon the site of Perrysburg. The town was laid out that year on the United States Reservation, and named after Commodore Perry. The lots were offered for sale in the following spring at the land office in Wooster. From about this time the encroachment upon the Indian domain may be said to date. After the War of 1812, the Indians were left in a serious condition. As at the close of the Revolutionary war, they turned at once, with little or no apparent regret for their past, to the Americans for their support. In this they were like naughty and spoiled children. Begging to have their physical cravings supplied, they gathered at Detroit in such great numbers that they could not be fed from the limited supplies on hand. Hence we are told that they went about the city devouring rinds of pork, crumbs, bones, and anything else with nutriment in it that was thrown out by either the soldiers or the civil population. Believing that there was a chance to place the relations of the Indians and the Americans on a better basis, because of the very necessities of the savages, General Harrison arranged for a treaty council to be held at Greenville in 1814. The Indians agreed to deliver all the prisoners in their hands at Fort Wayne. His pacific efforts were so satisfactory that when he and General Cass reached Greenville, on July 22, several thousand Indians were assambled there to greet them. On this occasion, a treaty was entered into with the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees and Senecas, by which these tribes engaged to give their aid to the United States as against Great Britain and such of the tribes as still continued hostile. In the year 1816, the number of Indians of all ages and both sexes in Northwestern Ohio, together with their location, was reported to the Government as follows : Wyandots residing by the Sandusky River and its tributaries numbered 695 ; of the Shawnees dwelling by the Auglaize and Miami rivers, with their principal village at Wapakoneta, there were 840; the Delawares living by the headwaters of the Sandusky and Muskingum rivers number 161; of the Senecas and others of the Six Nations having their habitations between Upper and Lower Sandusky, at and near Seneca Town, only 450 were enumerated ; the Ottawas about Maumee Bay and Lake Erie and by the Auglaize River were estimated at about 450. This would make a total resident Indian population at that time of about 2,600. The condition of the Indians dwelling along the Maumee River at this time was extremely miserable. They dwelt in what was generally termed villages but, as a rule, they had no uniform place of residence. During the fall, winter and part of the spring they were scattered in the woods hunting. Some of them had rude cabins made of small logs, covered with bark, but more commonly some poles were stuck in the ground tied together with plants or strips of bark, and covered with large sheets of bark or some kind of a woven mat. The great enemy of these Indians was an insatiable thirst for intoxicating liquors. There were always depraved citizens of the United States capable and willing of eluding the vigilance of the government and supplying this thirst. When the supply of grog at home failed, they would travel any distance to obtain it. There was no fatigue, no risk, and no expense too great to obtain it. With many of them the firewater seemed to be valued higher than life itself. Many of the murders by Indians of their own brethren, as well as of the whites, could be attributed to the effect of 154 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY But there were white monsters who were willing to murder or rob the poor red man who was trying to live honestly. One of these tragedies occurred about 1841, or 1842, in what was then Henry County, which included most of present Fulton. Sum-mun-de-wat, a Wyandot chief and a Christian convert, with a party of friends left the Wyandot reservation for their annual hunt in adjoining country to secure racoon skins, which then brought a good price. Sum-mun-de-wat, accompanied by his nephew and niece, had with them two excellent coon dogs. Two white men who met the Indians found that they had money. A day or two afterwards some more of the Wyandot party coming along found the murdered bodies of their chief and his two relatives. This murdered chief was one of the most enlightened and noble chiefs of the Wyandots, and was a licensed preacher of the Methodist Eposcipal Church. The whites were aroused at the foul deed and arrested the suspected parties. One of them, Lyons, was lodged in jail at Napoleon, as the murder had occurred just within the Henry County line. The other, Anderson, confessed to as cold and brutal a murder as was ever conceived. But both men escaped punishment through the influence of white friends. As soon as the authority of the United States was well established in this section of our state, it adopted the policy of narrowing the limits of the range of the Indians in order to render them less nomadic. When this was accomplished, it was hoped to be able to incline them to agricultural pursuits. The excluded lands were then opened to prospective settlers. With this purpose in view, a council was called to meet at the "Foot of the Rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie," the place designated undoubtedly being near . the site of the present village of Maumee. The date was September 29, 1817. At this time Generals Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur met the sachems and other chiefs of the Wyandot, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, Pottawatomie, Ottawa and Chippewa tribes. They succeeded in negotiating a treaty which in importance ranks second only to the great Treaty of Greenville concluded in 1795. The Wyandots agreed to forever cede to the United States an immense area of land, including a large part of the Maumee. This grant is described as follows in the treaty : "Beginning at a point on HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 155 the southern shore of Lake Erie where the present Indian boundary line intersects the same, between the mouth of Sandusky Bay and the mouth of Portage River ; thence, running south with said line to the line established in the year 1795 by the Treaty of Greenville which runs from the crossing place above Fort Laurens to Loramie's store ; thence westerly with the last mentioned line to the eastern line of the Reserve at Loramie's store ; thence with the lines of said Reserve north and west to the northwestern corner thereof ; thence to the northwestern corner of the Reserve on the River St. Mary, at the head of the navigable waters thereof (St. Marys) ; thence, east to the western bank of the St. Mary River aforesaid ; thence, down on the western bank of said river to the Reserve at Fort Wayne ; .thence, with the lines of the last mentioned Reserve, easterly and northerly, to the north bank of the said river to the western line of the land ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Detroit in the year 1807; thence, with the said line south to the middle of said Miami (Maumee) River, opposite the mouth of the Great Au Glaise River ; thence down the middle of said Miami River and easterly with the lines of the tract ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Detroit aforesaid; so far that a south line will strike the place of beginning." The other tribes gathered at this council also released their claim to all the lands within this territory, with the exception of certain specified reservations. For these concessions, the United States agreed to pay annually forever, the sum of $4,000 in specie at Upper Sandusky ; to the Seneca tribe, annually forever, the sum of $500 in specie at Lower Sandusky ; to the Shawnee tribe, the sum of $2,000 at Wapakoneta ; to the Pottawatomies, the sum of $1,300; to the Ottawas $1,000, and to the Chippewas $1,000 annually for a period of fifteen years, payments to be made in specie at Detroit. To the Delawares, the sum of $500 in specie was to be made at Wapakoneta during the year 1818, but there was no annuity. A number of specific reservations of land were made to the Indians, most of which were along the Sandusky and Auglaize rivers. Grants were also made to a number of persons connected with the savages either by blood or adoption. Most of these were former prisoners who had lived with the tribes and finally, been adopted by them. Most of them had been prisoners of the Wyandots. The late Shawnee chief, Captain Logan, who had fallen in the service of the United States, was remembered by the grant of a section of land on the east side of the "Great Au Glaise River adjoining the lower line of a grant of ten miles at Wapakoneta on the said river." Saw-En-De-Bans, or the Yellow Hair, or Peter Minor (Manor) who was the adopted son of Tondaganie, or the Dog, was granted a section of land to be located in a square form on the north, side of the Miami (Maumee) at the Wolf Rapids, above DeBoeuf. This is near the village of Providence, in Lucas County. The United States obligated itself to appoint an agent for the Wyandots to reside at Upper Sandusky, and an agent for the Shawnees at Wapakoneta. This agent was to protect the Indians in their persons and property, and to manage their intercourse with the American Government and its citizens. It also specially exempted all these reservations from taxes of any kind, so long as they continued to be the property of the Indian and reserved to the United States the right to construct roads through any part of the land granted and reserved by this treaty. When it came time to sign the treaty, so we are told, all looked toward the mother of Otusso and a direct descendant of Pontiac. He was the last war chief of the Ottawas remaining along the Maumee. She was a sort of Indian Queen who was held in great reverence by 156 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY the Indians. When the treaty was agreed upon, the head chiefs and warriors sat round the inner circle, and the aged woman had a place among them. The remaining Indians, with the women and children comprised a crowd outside. The chiefs sat on seats built under the roof of the council house, which was open on all sides. The whole assembly kept silent. The chiefs bowed their heads and cast their eyes to the ground ; they waited patiently for the old woman until she rose, went forward, and touched the pen to the treaty, after it had been read to them in her presence. Then followed the signatures of all the chiefs. It is said that there were 7,000 Indians present at this treaty at Foot of the Rapids of the Maumee, including the women and children. It must have been a strange assemblage. By this treaty the title to most of the land in the Maumee Basin was granted to the United States. Of all the great treaties ever made with the Indians this one held at the Maumee Rapids was of the greatest interest to Northwestern Ohio. A line drawn from Sandusky Bay to the Greenville Treaty line, near Mount Gilead, thence westerly along that line to the Indiana boundary and north to Michigan, would about embrace the Ohio land purchased at this council. It has since been divided into about eighteen counties. Almost three decades had elapsed since the Marietta colony was planted on the Ohio. Now for the first time could it be said that Northwestern Ohio stood on an equality with the rest of the state, and was practically free from the fetters and dominance of a race whose interest and habits, customs and mode of life, were entirely opposed to those of the rest of the country. Heretofore it had been partially a blank place on the map, labeled Indian country and Black Swamp. Its very name brought a shrug of terror to many. Following this treaty the civil jurisdiction of Logan County, with court at Bellefontaine, became operative until the organization of counties in 1820. A number of additional treaties were made with the Indians at councils held in various places, but they are not of great importance for the purposes of this history, excepting the one convened at St. Marys in Auglaize County, in September, 1818. This was held at Fort Barbee, the present site of St. Marys, between the same parties, and some changes were made by which the Indians were given much more extensive allotments, because of a gathering dissatisfaction. Although the council did not commence until the 20th, the chiefs and warriors of seven nations began to assemble in the latter part of August. This council lasted until the 6th of October. It was intended to be supplementary to the one made the previous year at the Foot of the Rapids of the Maumee. The Wyandots were given a large increase in land, consisting of two tracts of 56,680 and 16,000 acres respectively. The Shawnees received 12,800 additional acres to be laid off adjoining the east line of their reservation at "Wapaghkonetta." The Senecas also received 10,000 more acres along the Sandusky. Additional annuities were granted as follows : To the Wyandots $500 ; to the Shawnees and Senecas, of Lewiston, $1,000; to the Senecas $500; to the Ottawas, $1,500; all of these were to run "forever." The traders did a thriving business, and many thousands of dollars' worth of furs were exchanged for rifles. powder, lead, knives, hatchets, gaudy blankets, tobacco, etc. Pony races and ball games were daily diversions among the Indians, who were well fed by the Government. For this purpose droves of cattle and hogs had been driven in and great HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 157 stocks of cornmeal, salt and sugar laid in upon these and with the game brought in by the Indian hunters they fared sumptuously every day. It was not many years after the treaties described above until the removals of the Indians to reservations farther west were initiated. In fact, at the same treaty at St. Marys, some of the Delawares agreed to their removal to a reservation by the James tributary of White River, in Missouri. The Delawares living at Little Sandusky quite claimed to the United States their reservations of three miles square on August 3, 1829, and consented to remove west of the Mississippi to join those Delawares already transferred. In 1829, by a treaty concluded at Saginaw, the Chippewas ceded to the United States land claimed by them running from Michigan to the "mouth of the Great Auglaize River." Two years later the Senecas along the Sandusky River relinquished their reservations in exchange for lands west of the Mississippi, and the Indians were removed in accordance with this treaty. There were just 510 of them, as mixed up a mess of humanity as could be found, so we are told by contemporaneous chronicles. A portion of them traveled overland, and the others journeyed to Cincinnati, where they proceeded by water down the Ohio. It was in 1831 that negotiations were begun with the Shawnees for the purchase of their lands. The Indians were greatly divided in their opinions. James Gardner, who began the negotiations, greatly deceived the Indians, evidently for personal profit. Some were bribed by the traders and the dissipated ones knew that a removal meant much ready money. The tribe insisted upon the payment of all its debts as a preliminary. At last an agreement was reached. Because Gardner informed the Shawnees that they would be removed early in the spring, the Indians sold off their cattle and hogs and many other things. As a matter of fact it was almost a year, and the Indians meanwhile suffered great privation. Many came almost to the point of starvation. When the money finally came it was transported in ten wooden kegs on horseback from Piqua. After receiving their annuity, the Indians entered upon a round of festivities and dissipation, that lasted in most instances until their money was spent. After recuperating from their dissipations, they began making preparations for their removal to their western home. They destroyed or buried the property that they could not sell. David Robb, one of the commissioners who assisted in their removal, has left an interesting account of the ceremonies incident to the occasion. "After we had rendezvoused, preparatory to moving, we were detained several weeks waiting until they had got over their tedious round of religious ceremonies, some of which were public and others kept private from us. One, of their first acts was to take away the fencing from the graves of their fathers, level them to the surrounding surface, and cover them so neatly with green sod, that not a trace of the graves could be seen. "Among the ceremonies above alluded to was a dance, in which none participated but the warriors. They threw off all their clothing but their breechclouts, painted their faces and naked bodies in a fantastical manner, covering them with pictures of snakes and disagreeable insects and animals, and then armed with war clubs, commenced dancing, yelling and frightfully distorting their countenances ; the scene was truly terrific. This was followed by the dance they usually have on returning from a battle, in which both sexes participated. It was a pleasing contrast to the other, and was performed in the night, in a ring, around a large fire. In this they sang and marched, males and females promiscuously, in single file around the blaze. The leader of the band 158 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY commenced singing, while all the rest were silent until he had sung a certain number of words, then the next in the row commenced with the same, and the leader began with a new set, and so on to the end of their chanting. All were singing at once, but no two the same words. I was told that part of the words they used were hallelujah ! It was pleasing to witness the native modesty and graceful movements of these young females in this dance. "When their ceremonies were over, they informed us they were ready to leave. They then mounted their horses, and such as went in wagons seated themselves, and set out with their 'high priest' in front, bearing on his shoulders 'the ark of the convenant,' which consisted of a large gourd and the bones of a deer's leg tied to its neck. Just previous to starting, the priest gave a blast of his trumpet, then moved slowly and solemnly while the others followed in a like manner, until they were ordered to halt in the evening and cook supper. The same course was observed through the whole of the journey. When they arrived near St. Louis, they lost some of their number by cholera. The Shawnees who emigrated numbered about 700 souls." It was on November 20, 1832, that they commenced their journey of 800 miles, and proceeded as far as Piqua the first day, where they remained two days to visit the graves of their ancestors. They traveled until Christmas of that year, when they encamped at the junction of the Kansas and Missouri rivers. They suffered much on the journey from the severity of the winter. They immediately commenced the construction of cabins, and, by the latter part of February, these were so far completed as to protect them from the cold western winds. They were joined the next spring by the Hog Creek tribe, under the direction of Joseph Parks. This second contingent fared much better than those who preceded them, as they had the advantage of season. The Ottawas along the Lower Maumee, at Wolf Rapids and Roche de Bout, and also those by the Auglaize River and Blanchard River, near the present town of Ottawa, about two hundred in number, gave up their lands and consented to remove to a reservation of 40,000 acres in consideration of an annuity and presents of blankets, horses, guns, and agricultural implements, etc. It was especially stated that this relinquishment did not include the square mile of territory previously granted to Peter Manor, the Yellow Hair. A three years' lease was also granted to Chief Wau-be-ga-ka-ke for a section of land adjoining Peter Manor, and a section and a half of land below Wolfe Rapids was given to Mcuk-qui-ona, or the Bear Skin. A quarter section each was set off to Himar Thebault, a half-breed Ottawa, to William Ottawa, and to William McNabb, another half-breed. This last remnant of the once powerful Ottawa tribe of Indians removed from this valley to lands beyond the Mississippi in 1838. They number some interesting men among them. There was Nawash, Ockquenoxy, Charloe, Ottoke, Petonquet, men of eloquence who were long remembered by many of our citizens. Their burying grounds and village sites are scattered along both banks of Miami of the Lakes, from its mouth to Fort Defiance. They left on the steamboat Commodore Perry for Cleveland on August 21, 1837, to go front there by canal to Portsmouth, . and thence by the Ohio and Mississippi to their new western home. There were about one hundred and fifty in the party, and a few hundred remained behind with the white neighbors. A couple of years later another hundred, who had been eking out a precarious existence, consented to follow the others, and they were accordingly transported west by the same route. HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 159 The Wyandots of the Big Spring Reservation, or those of Solomon's town, ceded their lands, amounting to about sixteen thousand acres, to the United States at a council held at McCutchenville, Wyandot County, on January 19, 1832. James B. Gardner was the specially appointed commissioner on the part of the Government. It was stipulated that when sold the chiefs should be paid in silver the sum of $1.25 per acre for the land and also a fair valuation for all improvements that had been made. The Indians went to Huron, in Michigan, or any place that they might obtain the privilege of settling with other Indians. Some did in fact join the other Wyandots on their principal reservations. Chief Solomon went west with his tribe, but returned and passed his last days among the whites. The Wyandots were the last Indian tribe to leave Ohio. Final negotiations were concluded at Upper Sandusky on March 17, 1842. By this time the white settlers had completely encircled the reservation with towns and cultivated fields. The tribe had been reduced to fewer than eight hundred persons of all ages and both sexes. At the last vote, more than two-thirds of the male population voted for the transposition. By the terms of the treaty, the tribe was given 148,000 acres of land opposite Kansas City. In addition they were granted a permanent annuity of $17,500, together with a perpetual fund of $500 per annum for educational purposes, and an immediate appropriation of $23.860 to satisfy the debts of the tribe. The preparations for the departure of the Wyandots began in the spring of 1843, but their actual removal took place in July. The arrangements were made by Chief Jacques. The final scenes at Upper Sandusky were filled with pathos. The love of the Wyandots for their ancestral homes was indeed great. Frequent councils were held, and religious worship in the old Mission Church was conducted for weeks prior to the removal. Their dead were brought f rom other places and solemnly reinterred in the mission cemetery. All unmarked graves were signified by either a stone or a marker. Squire Grey Eyes, who was an intelligent and Christian chief, importuned as follows : "He exhorted them to be good Christians, and to meet him in Heaven. In a most sublime and pathetic manner he discoursed upon all the familiar objects of a home-no longer theirs. He bade adieu to the Sandusky, on whose waters they had paddled their light bark canoes and in whose pools they had fished, laved and sported. He saluted in his farewell the forest and the plains of Sandusky, where he and his ancestors had hunted, roved and dwelt for many generations. He bade farewell to their habitations, where they had dwelt for many years and where they still wished to dwell. With mournful strains and plaintive voice he bade farewell to the graves of his ancestors, which now they were about to leave forever, probably to be encroached upon ere the lapse of many years by the avaricious tillage of some irreverent white man. Here, as a savage, untutored Indian, it is probable Grey Eyes would have stopped, but as a Christian he closed his valedictory by alluding to an object yet clearer to him ; it was the church where they had worshipped, the temple of God, constructed by the good white men for their use, and within those walls they had so often bowed down in reverence under the ministrations of Finley and his co-laborers." The farewells having been said, the long cavalcade, with the chiefs on horseback and several hundred on foot, and many wagons loaded with their effects, began its journey. Among the chiefs were Jacques, Bull Head, Split-the-Log, Stand-in-the-Water, Mud Eater, Lump-onthe-Head, Squire Grey Eyes, and Porcupine. On the first day they had traveled to Grass Point, in Hardin County, and on the seventh day 160 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY they reached Cincinnati. Here they were taken on boats down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and up the Missouri to their new homes. A few of the chiefs, including the head chief Jacques, visited Columbus, where they called upon Governor Shannon to thank him for courtesies and farewell speeches were delivered. As this last of all the once numerous Ohio tribes ascended the steamships that were to convey them from the place of their nativity, "they seemed to linger, and to turn to the north as if to bid a last farewell to the tombs in which they had deposited the remains of their deceased children, and in which the bones of their fathers had been accumulating and moulding for untold ages." The number who migrated at this time was 664, and about fifty journeyed west in the following year. As the Indians began to disappear the tide of immigration, which had begun after the War of 1812, was still more increased. By 1820 the population of Ohio had risen to more than half a million. The state now ranked fifth, being outranked only by New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. She had outstripped in the race for population every other one of the original thirteen colonies. Northwestern Ohio began to develop even more rapidly than the other sections, because of the long repression and the fertility of soil which attracted settlers. It was in 1820 that county outlines were established and fourteen counties officially created. The country was still miserably poor. The money was at a discount because of the inflation of the currency following the war. Transportation was so bad that the produce of the western country was worth little because of the absence of markets. Butter was worth only 6 cents a pound and eggs could be purchased at 4 cents a dozen. Pork was 2 cents a pound and beef only a cent higher. Under such conditions there could be no great prosperity, even though there might be a goodly population. It was then that plank roads were constructed in some places. The question was not satisfactorily adjusted until the canals were constructed. These artificial waterways answered the needs of the communities, assisted by the navigable streams, until the advent of railways. The Miami and Erie Canal opened up the Maumee country with the southern section of the state. Lake communication reached Buffalo and the Erie Canal, which had been completed, gave access to eastern markets. An era of prosperity gradually developed which has never failed the richly endowed basin of the Maumee. CHAPTER XIII THE PREHISTORIC AGE To the untrained mind the ages prior to the incoming of the white man, and the few things learned from the savages then inhabiting the country, are a sealed book. The historic period occupies but a very brief period in comparison with the untold ages consumed in the formation of the topography of our beloved Northwestern Ohio as we now view it. It is not within the province of this work to take up the geology of the Maumee country in detail as it would be discussed by the learned geologist to whom the various rocks with the fossils found imbedded in them speak with almost audible voice. All that can be related in this chapter is just enough to briefly outline the subject and to stimulate, if possible, an impetus for further reading upon the subject. In Northwestern Ohio occurs the most expansive area of level country in the State of Ohio, the region of the old lake bed. In fact, if the investigator goes back far enough, he finds unmistakable evidence that it was once a part of the ocean bed. In a broad area, reaching from Ottawa and Lucas counties southwest to Paulding, Van Wert, and Defiance counties, the change in elevation frequently does not exceed a foot to the mile. In no part of Northwestern Ohio are there hills of any magnitude, but certain sections are slightly rolling, and there are points where the elevation is a few hundred feet above the level of Lake Erie. The historic period of this region is very short in the chronology of the earth, in comparison with the great length of time covered by the geological ages. Whether these periods occupied 50,000,000 or 60,000,000 years is of very little interest to us, for whichever statement is accepted, the length of years is sufficiently impressive for our minds. In very early geological ages, the Gulf of Mexico extended to this region. The greatest. influence in the conformation of the topography of this vast level area of land occurred during the glacial periods. It is quite probable that prior to this time Northwestern Ohio may not have differed greatly from the hilly region of the southeastern section of our state. This character of the underlying strata is evinced by the revelations of the oil driller. The dips of these strata are sometimes steep and sudden, fairly convincing proof that the original surf ace was most uneven. The deposits of oil and gas have been found within or below the Trenton limestone, a formation which is well understood among geologists. Hence these drillings have furnished geological students with much valuable information about this section. The remarkable change in the surface of this region is almost wholly due to the effect of glaciers in prehistoric times. Immense glaciers formed somewhere in the upper regions of Canada, and moved down slowly toward the south. Neither trees, rocks nor any natural obstruction permanently impeded their movement. The glaciers scooped out the basin of Lake Erie and, when they reached what is now Northwestern Ohio, the general movement was in a southwesterly direction. The fact of these glacial movements is established in a number of ways. On Kelley's Island there are the most remarkable glacier grooves that are found in Ohio, In some places the boulders which were imbedded in the glaciers cut grooves in the limestone rocks that abounded there to a - 161 - Vol. I-11 162 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY depth of two feet. The same groovings, although not so deep, are fount( on many of the rocks along the lake shore at Marblehead and Lakeside. To a geologist these grooves speak as audibly as do the tracks of an elephant to the hunter. Hence it is that the rocky shores of Lake Erie have been carefully studied for many decades by geologists from all over the world. Six of these glacial epochs have been identified by these students of ,rocks. One of these is known as the Harrison Boulder, lying a few miles southwest of Fremont. This is a species of granite known to come from the highlands of Canada, directly north of Lake Erie, which is said to be the oldest land in the world. The age of this particular rock is estimated by geologists to be from 25,000,000 to 150,000,000 years. It was transported here, so they affirm, not more than 10,000 or 12,000 years ago. In size it is 13 feet long, 10 feet wide and about 7 feet -thick, of which one-half is out of the ground. It would weigh probably eighty ton, and has withstood the influence of climate all these years. The place of its origin is several hundred miles distant, in the Labrador or Hudson Bay region, and it could have been transported in no other way than by a glacier. There are many other smaller boulders scattered over the Maumee region. The valued rocks of this region are much younger, and were deposited when this was the bottom of the sea, so that they became filled with sea shells and shell fish and a vast accumulation of marine deposits. The superficial deposits all belong to the glacial age. Still another evidence of the movements of glaciers across Northwestern Ohio is in the terminal moraines, which are found in several places. It has been estimated that the thickness of the glacier over Lake Erie was about eleven thousand feet. It is known from watching the movements of the glaciers of today on the Alps, as well as in Alaska and other places, that these great masses of ice and snow move almost as a semi-fluid substance. Their progress is exceedingly slow, but they are just as sure as they are slow. They freeze onto the rocks, never letting go, but carrying them along. The annual movements of glaciers which have been observed range from 130 to 330 feet in a single year. These glacial movements cut off the top of mountains, filled up, the valleys, and made the surf ace of Northwest Ohio what it is today. They were like huge planes in their effect, leveling the high points, pushing everything breakable and movable before them, crushing and grinding the softer rocks. In many places the depth of the deposit exceeds 100 feet. The rocks, which were thus exposed to the air, frost and water were decomposed and formed the rich soil of this section, one of the richest in existence. As the surface was in places a little uneven, and in some places even depressed, it created the swamps which used to be so numerous. The term moraine is given to a ridge of pulverized and transported material which is left by a glacier. The moraine marks where the front of the glacier rested, for it was the front that had accumulated most of the detritus. The glaciers in their movements gathered up rocks and soil, which were gradually ground up, so that a fair proportion of the mass of the glacier was sometimes made up of this material. At times the glaciers were halted in their movements for periods which might have covered centuries, and the surface being exposed to a warmer climate gradually melted. The detritus which had been gathered up was deposited in ridges, which can be still plainly distinguished. There are three or four of these moraines, either wholly or partly in Northwestern Ohio, which are in a cup shape, with the bottom of the cup projecting toward the southwest. All of them are nearly parallel. The HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 163 approach is generally so gradual that it is scarcely perceptible to the traveler. The first of these is known as the Defiance Moraine, which extends northward and eastward from Defiance. The next one is known as the St. Joseph-St. Marys Moraine, because it follows these two rivers, with the apex near Fort Wayne, Indiana. The third one is only a few miles distant from this, and extends in the same general direction. A fourth, known as Salamonie Moraine, is still a little farther distant, and crosses the southern boundary of Northwestern Ohio near Fort Recovery and Kenton. The many little lakes in Northern Indiana were caused by the irregular deposition of the glacial detritus, leaving depressions which became filled with water. It is still an unsettled question whether the different glacial epochs were separated by long intervals of mild climate or whether they were simply advances and recessions separated by only comparatively short intervals, as geological ages are measured. The glaciers have exercised the greatest influence in determining the flow of the water and the direction of the streams. Although the entire basin at one time may have drained into Lake Erie. with the onward movement of the glaciers the outlet in this direction was obstructed. It then became necessary for the water to seek an outlet in another direction and so the streams which flow to the southwest were formed. At one time a great lake covered the central portion of this region. It is known to geologists as Maumee Glacial Lake, which was crescent in shape, and lay between the Defiance Moraine and the St. Joseph- St. Marys Moraine. It drained through the Tymochtee gap into the Scioto River, and through the Wabash. Another of these glacial lakes known as Whittlesey .was found between Defiance Moraine and Lake a Erie, and was really later stage of the water. The numerous sand ridges which are found running across Northwestern Ohio in different directions were the successive shores of Lake Erie as it gradually receded to its present dimensions. Near Fort Wayne there is a broad channel, easily distinguished, which formerly connected the Wabash River and the Maumee, through which the pent-up waters found its outlet to the Gulf of Mexico. As the lake level declined the waters of the rivers St. Joseph and St. Marys followed the receding lake, thus organizing and forming the Maumee River. The Defiance Moraine became for a long time the shore of the glacial lake. "Much of the shore line can now be seen with more or less distinctness at or near the following places : Beginning at Ayersville, five miles southwest of Defiance, and extending northward along the convex west side of the Defiance Moraine to Archbold, the most northerly point ; thence irregularly in a general southwesterly course along the slope east of Bryan and of Hicksville to Antwerp, whence it turns southeast to Scott and near Delphos, thence again in a curving and northeasterly course." The initial appearance of man upon the stage of life in Ohio has been a matter of much speculation. There have been many speculations and theories advanced regarding the length of time that man has existed. Many evidences of prehistoric man are found in Ohio. The oldest of these have been discovered in Southern Ohio, for during a long period it was impossible for the human race to live north of the upper lake ridge, which passes through Bellevue, Tiffin, Fostoria, and Van Wert, where the former shore is marked by a sand ridge. At that time the whole region between that ridge and the lake was covered with a body of water estimated to be from 50 to 100 feet in depth. At a later period, as the water level fell, it is quite likely that the races then 164 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY existing followed up the retreating waters and established their temporary habitations. There are remains of a prehistoric population which are evidenced by enclosures and mounds found along the Maumee River. Most of the outlines have now been obliterated, and there is nothing whatever to establish their antiquity. Some rudely shaped knives and other crude tools, together with stone axes, flint arrow heads and rude pottery, have been found, which have evidence of great age, because they have been discovered near the fossil remains of animals known to exist shortly following the glacial period. Although the Maumee Valley was probably never the headquarters of so great a number of early peoples as Southern Ohio, yet it was no doubt a thoroughfare of travel for prehistoric people, and they erected low conical mounds above the bodies of certain of their dead. The late Dr. Charles E. Slocum, who made an extensive study of the subject, states in his "History of the Maumee River Basin" that there are more than fifty mounds and earthworks in this basin that can probably be classed as the work of prehistoric men. Their situation is on high ground in small groups and widely scattered. Some twenty of these mounds have been located in the Indiana counties of De Kalb and Steuben. The remains of the mastodon have been found there, one of them to a depth of 4 feet in blue clay. In Auglaize County parts of these prehistoric monsters have been discovered, but the most perfect one of all was unearthed a few miles southeast of Wauseon. Several of the mounds have been identified on the south bank of the Maumee, near Antwerp, and one not far from Defiance. This last mentioned mound was about 4 feet above the surrounding land, and about 30 feet in diameter. It was covered with oak trees about 20 inches in diameter. Upon opening the mound, a small quantity of bony f ragments were found, which readily crumpled between the fingers on being handled. Human teeth of large size were also unearthed. There are two mounds along the Maumee River, just above the City of Toledo. In one of these a pick-shaped amulet was unearthed, which was 18 inches in length. Several have been identified along the Auglaize River, near Defiance. In one mound the decaying bones of eight or ten persons in sitting posture were discovered. On the headwaters of Bad Creek, Pike Township, in Fulton County, about ten miles northeast of Wauseon, eleven mounds of small size, arranged in somewhat circular form, halve been discovered. Most of these mounds were opened by curiosity seekers. A few human bones, some charcoal and a few indifferent articles of flint and slate were unearthed. Doctor Slocum further states that there are three prehistoric circles and four semi-circles in the Maumee River Basin. One of these, with a diameter of about 200 feet, is in De Kalb County, Indiana, and another near Hamilton, Indiana. This latter is known as the mystic circle, with a diameter of 68 yards, and averages between 3 and 4 feet in height. A third is in a bend of the River St. Joseph, in Allen County, Indiana. Three semi-circles were found along the Lower Maumee River. The first of these was observed between the years 1837 and 1846, and is mentioned in a book published in 1848, which was the first volume of the Smithsonian contributions. This account reads as follows : "This work is situated on the right bank of the Maumee River, two miles above Toledo, in Wood County, Ohio. The water of the river is here deep and still, and of the lake level ; the bank is about 35 feet high. Since the work was built, the current has undermined a portion, and parts of the embankment are to be seen on the slips. HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 165 The country for miles in all directions is flat and wet, and is heavily timbered, as is the space in and around this enclosure. The walls, measuring from the bottom of the ditches, are from 3 to 4 feet high. They are not of uniform dimensions throughout their extent ; and as there is no ditch elsewhere, it is presumable that the work was abandoned before it was finished. Nothing can be more plain than that most of the remains in Northern Ohio are military works. There have not yet been found any remnants of the timber in the walls ; yet it is very safe to presume that palisades were planted on them, and that wood posts and gates were erected at the passages left in the embankments and ditches. All the positions are contiguous to water ; and there is no higher land in their vicinity from which they might in any degree be commanded. Of the works bordering on the shore of Lake Erie, through the State of Ohio, there are none but may have been intended for defense, although in some of them the design is not perfectly manifest. They form a line from Conneaut to Toledo, at a distance of from three to five miles from the lake, and all stand upon or near the principal rivers. * * * The most natural inference with respect to the northern cordon of work is that they formed a well-occupied line, constructed either to protect the advance of a nation landing from the lake and moving southward for conquest; or a line of resistance for people inhabiting these shores and pressed upon by their southern neighbors." None of the discoveries yet made convey to us any definite information concerning the early dwellers in the Maumee country. Practically everything is left to conjecture. It is barely possible that discoveries will yet be made that will shed light upon this subject which is still so obscure. CHAPTER XIV IN THE LAP OF A CENTURY Swift as a weaver's shuttle, time hastens into eternity. Father Time turns the hour-glass once again and the world looks backward over the pages of history. Facts are not to be juggled with, although one may imagine vain things. It is an easy matter to be longer on prophesy than history. On February 13. 1920. Old Father Time opened up a fresh, clean page in his Allen County Book of Remembrance on which local citizenry may write its history. It was the dawn of a new century in the annals of the community-the birth of a new civilization. The people of Allen County are today standing in the doorway of their second century in local history. In the story of creation the higher critics of the Bible have discovered evidence that more than one writer detailed the history. At this point the discerning reader will note a change in the style of the narrative, since it is impossible for one writer to so cloak his identity as to allow the unbroken chain of thought, and in the outset it seems necessary to repeat something already written by another. The story of the occupation of Allen County hinges definitely upon Governor Arthur St. Clair, Gen. Anthony Wayne and James W. Riley, all of whom have been introduced in earlier chapters. While it is only a coincidence, this centennial year in Allen County history marks the tercentenary of the coming of the Pilgrim Fathers to Plymouth Rock, which was the real beginning of civilization in the New World. The real aggressive American spirit was brought to these shores December 21, 1620, by the passengers abroad the Mayflower. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge was the orator of the day at the Tercentenary, while Daniel Webster had performed similar service there 100 years earlier. In 1820 Webster prophesied that in 1920 there would be nationwide communication, and Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts, vice- president-elect of the United States, sat in the rush-bottomed chair of Pilgrim Governor Carver and talked by telephone across the continent with the governor of California—the incident a feature in the Pilgrim Tercentenary celebration. Daniel Webster said that 100 years later the people would honor the memory of the Pilgrims in reviewing the history of the United States. His words on the two-hundredth anniversary were : "On the morning of that day, although it will not disturb us in our repose, the voice of acclamation and gratitude commencing on the Rock of Plymouth shall be transmitted through millions of the songs of the Pilgrims until it loses itself in the murmurs of the Pacific seas," and the quotation from Webster was embodied in the address of Senator Lodge 100 years later. On the day of the celebration the long distance telephone connection was established at 12 :45 o'clock and Senator Lodge paused while Governor Coolidge said to Governor Stephens : "Massachusetts and Plymouth Rock greet California and the Golden Gate that the sons of the Pilgrims, according to prophecy, send to you the voice that is to be lost in the roar of the Pacific," and today the transcontinental journey does not take into the account the element of distance. Mrs. Felicia - 166 - 168 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY Dorothy Hemans, in her poem "The Landing of the Pilgrims" raises the question : "What sought they thus afar ? Bright jewels of the mine ? The wealth of peace, the spoil of war ?" and she answers it : "They sought a faith's pure shrine." The nation thus founded has always maintained its faith when dealing with other nations. While the battles of the world are with ballots rather than with bullets, it was the use of bullets that rendered the ballots a possibility. In 1775 the American Colonists revolted and in 1776 they objected to having their affairs directed longer from a political capital across the seas, and the men who wrote the Declaration of Independence simply anticipated the great Lincoln (who said the United States could not exist half slave and half free) when they broke with England and established a government of the people, for the people and by the people of the United States of America. The Colonists, under the leadership of George Washington, sought both political and industrial independence—created their own living conditions. In almost every community in the Middle West and the whole United States there are families who have manifest pride in their direct lineal descent f rom some passenger aboard the Mayflower. In this tercentenary period even gravestones have been tampered with in an effort to establish Mayflower identity. The two Congregational churches in Allen County—Lima and Corner—trace their religious ancestry to the compact to which all Mayflower passengers attached their signatures before disembarking at Plymouth Rock that bleak December day 300 years ago. "They sought a faith's pure shrine," and thus they established it before their feet had trod the soil of the western hemisphere. The colonization at Plymouth Rock has always been regarded in the light of tradition because of the character of the literature pertaining to it. In "The Courtship of Miles Standish" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow faithfully delineates the Pilgrim character. In it he reproduces the social atmosphere of 300 years ago in American history. While another writer has given the setting of the Northwest Territory, the fact must be emphasized that the states carved out of it have given character to the whole country. The five little republics carved from it—Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin—were highly favored at the beginning of their existence. By an Act of the Ohio Assembly, February 12, 1820—just 100 years ago A. D. 1920—definite provision was made for the organization of a group of Ohio counties lying north of the Greenville treaty line and west of the Connecticut Reserve boundary. The activities of Anthony Wayne made it a possibility and he has been commemorated in the names of Wayne County and of Fort Wayne. While the Wayne County of today is separated by distance, the group of Ohio counties organized under similar conditions 100 years ago was part of the original Wayne County. With vision both retrospective and prospective, the Ohio Assembly of 100 years ago evidently had in mind a number of Revolutionary patriots—contemporaries of Anthony Wayne and James W. Riley-when selecting names for these newly created counties. If an historian might only kiss the blarney stone before writing about Allen, Crawford, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Marion, Mercer, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Union, Van Wert Williams and Wood-they had their HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 169 beginning in a splendid setting of patriotism and their happy denouement has been in a burst of glory. However, since someone has said : "It is only by courtesy that any man may be called an historian," suffice it to quote the sentiment of an Ohio educator who one time said he enjoyed coming into this military group, of counties because of the spirit of patriotism he always encountered in it. While none of the Revolutionary soldiers ever lived in the counties thus commemorating them, in this connection it is of interest to review the life and character of the patriot seemingly honored in the name of Allen County. Ethan Allen, of the Revolutionary period, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut. He was a "wooden nutmeg." The time of his life was from 1737 to the beginning of Washington's first presidential administration—the short span of fifty-two years—and thus he never heard of Allen County. However, he lived through the most eventful time in the world's history. Ethan Allen witnessed the transition of the thirteen original colonies into the United States of America. The pages of history show that he was sometimes the right man in the right place in making United States history. While he was born in Connecticut, the cyclopedias say his years of greatest business activities were spent in Vermont. He located in the disputed territory known as the New Hampshire Land Grants, claimed by both New Hampshire and New York ; he was the active leader in restraining invaders from occupying the country. Governor Tryon of New York declared Ethan Allen an outlaw and offered $150 for his- capture. In stopping the encroachments from New York, Allen rallied the Green Mountain Boys and at the beginning of the American Revolution he immediately placed himself upon the altar of his country. On May 10, 1775, while in command of the Green Mountain Boys, Ethan Allen captured the British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga, Essex County, New York. He was there a year before General Wayne was in command of the garrison. He had everything in readiness for the occupancy of Wayne. When young Allen demanded the surrender of the garrison the British commander, disposed to ward off the evil day, asked, "In whose name ?" The young American immortalized himself that day when he coined the words : "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." Since that far-off time the good people of Allen County have accomplished many things in the name of the same Great Jehovah, notwithstanding the possible attitude of the Congress of the United States. Subsequently Ethan Allen served his country under the military leadership of Gen. Philip John Schuyler, finally poining Montgomery's expedition into Canada. On September 25, 1775, he was captured near Montreal ; as a prisoner of war he was sent to England and later he returned to Halifax. Three years later he was exchanged in New New York City. When he returned to the army, Ethan Allen was brevetted lieutenant general. He was afterward commissioned a brigadier-general as special recognition from Washington's army because of his valiant service to his country. In 1787, when General Allen returned to private life, he located in Burlington, Vermont, among his own Green Mountain Boys. His life history ended there with the birth of the new republic— the year Gen. George Washington became president of the United States. The Allen County citizen today does well to revere the name and character of General Allen because of his bravery, chivalry and scholarly attainment. In 1779 he published "The Narrative of Colonel Ethan Allen's Captivity, a Vindication of the Opposition of the Inhabitants 170 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY of Vermont to the Governor of New York," and five years later he published "Reason the Only Oracle of Man." Allen County is not only a monument to the memory of Gen. Ethan Allen of the Revolutionary period, but five of his comrades in arms. William Chenowith, Simon Cochran, Samuel Lippincott, Elijah Stites and Peter Sunderland had their rendezvous with death and found rest on the bosom of Mother Earth in Allen County. Their lowly mounds of earth are all shrines of patriotism today. The names of Anthony Wayne and of Ethan Allen will shine in undimmed luster on the pages of history through all the ages. Its setting in patriotism should insure the future of Allen County. On Lincoln's birthday, A. D. 1820, this entire group of counties started on the race course together 100 years ago, came under the wire abreast at the end of its first century run, and while speed regulations seldom please anybody, all will admit that time flies and that Allen County has been 100 times around the sun, with Mother Nature busy shaping its future destiny. While the busy world thinks only in terms of today and tomorrow, it: is the duty of the conscientious historian to sum up all of the yesterdays. While some Allen County folk have passed many of them, what concerns the world is the time between yesterday and tomorrow—today. Between those inconsequential dates -yesterday and tomorrow—is the momentous period of human activity. While one may not accurately forecast tomorrow, there is a paved highway leading back to yesterday. It is the mission of this Centennial History of Allen County to tabulate and record the events in the first 100 years of local history. The records show that one full century has cycled into eternity since Allen County was placed on the map of the world. However, it was not until April 1, 1820, that formal organization was effected and for judicial purposes for eleven years Allen remained attached to Mercer County. In turn, Mercer was attached to Darke County, thus showing the dependent relation existing among the newly organized counties. Since Mercer was the mother, Darke was the grandmother of Allen County. Allen is now separated from Mercer by an arm of Van Wert —a small area that would attach equally advantageously to Allen, Auglaize or Mercer County, and yet it is not lost because Van Wert knows about it. However, were this area confiscated by an adjoining county, its taxpayers are equally distant from Lima, Wapakoneta or Celina. Only by "the skin of its teeth" is Allen separated from its mother— Mercer County—and yet since June 6, 1831, it has relied entirely upon itself in governmental matters. In eleven more years it will pass its centennial as an organized county. While there has always been some sentiment toward making Allen County, Ohio, and the United States of America two good places for citizenship, the riparian rights along the Ohio constituting the southern boundary or along Lake Erie on the north present no more irregularities than does the boundary of Allen County today. Its area in 1820, when James W. Riley reported the result of his survey, was 543 square miles, but through the juggling of boundaries—playing politics in 1848—the exact measurement was reduced to 405 sections of land amounting to 259,200 acres, but fortunately there is very little waste land in Allen County. Through the juggling process Defiance, Auglaize and Fulton Counties obtained sufficient area for organization—Defiance in 1845 and Fulton in 1850 but, under the new Constitution of Ohio, there was no more juggling with county boundaries. In 1848 Allen lost Logan, HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 171 Deuchoquette, Union and Wayne townships to Auglaize County. It was a rude fate that removed Fort Amanda with its historic traditions from the bounds of Allen County. However, it is used as an Allen County asset today because the military post located there was in Allen County. The Bible says "Prove all things and hold fast that which is good," and in its traditions Fort Amanda belongs to Allen County. When Auglaize County was formed Allen lost on the south and gained on the west and north, annexing something from Mercer, Van Wert and Putnam counties. Through the juggling process it lost 138 square miles of territory. When Allen County was organized in 1831, its four townships were Amanda, Bath, Jackson and Scioto ; in 1832 there was a German but no Scioto and no explanation is offered about it. In the course of time other townships were organized in Allen County. While there are only five adjoining counties, Allen is bounded north by Van Wert and Putnam ; east by Hancock and Hardin ; south by Auglaize and west by Auglaize, Van Wert and Putnam. The greatest length of Allen County is twenty-seven miles ; its greatest width is nineteen miles ; in traversing its boundary the pedestrian would travel ninety- two miles ; the distance around it is the same as if the country were an exact parallelogram having the regulation four corners ; there are fourteen corners, and the pedestrian would grow dizzy turning all of them ; the extreme western three-mile strip is nine miles wide, with a slight irregularity ; the second strip of six miles is twelve miles wide ; the third strip of six miles is fourteen miles wide ; the fourth strip of six miles is eighteen miles wide ; the extreme eastern six-mile strip is nineteen miles wide ; there are five varying widths—nine, twelve, fourteen, eighteen and nineteen miles ; there are four jogs on the north and three on the south, although only two of them are in conformity. Through the process of juggling there are many irregularities on the boundary of Allen County. Allen County is so constructed as to split the west wind, and it seems to have weathered the storms of a century with perfect equanimity. "Confusion worse confused," however, describes the mental state of one who studies the many-sided Allen County, and the many-sided people living in it 100 years from the time it was placed on the map of the world. On its different boundaries are families who have always occupied one homestead, and yet from the force of circumstances they have found themselves living in an adjoining county. However, Allen County has been enabled to maintain its place in the sun, and its thirteen townships are Amanda, American (prior to August 16, 1918, American was German), Auglaize, Bath, Jackson, Marion, Monroe, Ottawa, Perry, Richland, Shawnee, Spencer and Sugar Creek. However Ottawa is coextensive with Lima and its identity is submerged today, Auglaize, Bath, Jackson, Monroe and Perry are congressional, while Marion and Richland have surplus territory. The other six townships all fall short of the thirty-six square miles requirement. While some of the. Allen County townships were named for patriots, only Auglaize, Ottawa and Shawnee perpetuate the Indian nomenclature. It was the regret of some of the pioneers that there was not a Quilna among them. Since he was the pathfinder among the Shawnees, a public thoroughware might well bear his name—Quilnaway. The Auglaize and the "Ottawa of the Auglaize," with their minor contributing streams, afford drainage facilities for Allen County today. What a delight it would be to see the river banks and the farm homes again as they were before the onward march of civilization had changed them! While the Auglaize seems a diminutive stream today, it has its place in 172 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY local history. The Auglaize and Ottawa both rise in Hardin County and cross Allen County as separate water courses, but they join their waters in Paulding and help to swell the Maumee. The Ottawa rises in the Great Marsh and flows west a little north of the Auglaize, and the tributary streams to the two Allen County rivers are Riley, Sugar, Plum, Cranberry and other small creeks. There are springs along the foothills of the rivers and creeks, and water is found in wells at a depth of from ten to sixty feet—flowing wells in some localities. The child of today will never see Swinonia through the spectacles of the past generations, cannot think of the Ottawa River as "spread out all over creation," now that it flows in a channel through Lima. "Putrid Sea" and Hog Creek are one and the same to the youth along the Ottawa. It is said that Allen County people welcome winter because the stench from Hog Creek freezes and they forget it until the bluebirds come again. While it has been called Hog Creek from "time out of mind," there is a reason for it. The Indians named the stream Koshko Sepe or Hog River because of the swine along it. General Benjamin Logan, who lived in the time of George Washington and was a member of the Ohio Constitutional Convention, finally located in Shelby County and while driving hogs through the wilderness toward the north country he encountered the Indians along the Ottawa. In the skirmish the hogs were scattered and were never assembled again. The stream will be Hog Creek as long as the story survives and when it drained the marshes of Hardin County it carried a considerable volume of water. Again the thought—while standing in the threshold of this second century of Allen County history, it is an opportune time to linger by the wayside—the highway of time, and register some of the most important changes that have taken place in the first 100 years of development and advancement. While the dawn of the newer civilization is a stormy morning in the history of the entire world, superinduced by conditions of unrest and misinterpretations, many are looking forward to a noonday splendor of even greater achievement, thinking the social upheaval will adjust itself, and that the world will not slip backward in its forward march toward a higher plane of civilization. However, Mark Twain long ago discredited the man who talked about the weather without doing anything for it. Since the humblest actor on the stage of Allen County in the drama of 100 years has acted well the part assigned him, why not label it the century of achievement—this first 100 years in Allen County history ? CHAPTER XV FROM SAVAGERY TO CIVILIZATION It is apparent that the early civilization of Allen County clustered about historic Fort Amanda. It was a place of defense against the warfare waged by the red men of the forest and it is related that the town of Hartford that sprang up in that vicinity was once a hamlet of 250 people and a college was instituted there ; education was the dominant note in the lives of the wilderness inhabitants of Allen County. Since the Fort Amanda blockhouse afforded shelter for the pioneers in Allen County history, it is interesting to know that a rectangle embracing one and one-half acres was enclosed by a stockade made of pickets eleven feet above ground, and set four feet in the earth. There was a blockhouse at each corner of the enclosure, with the usual projecting upper story. In the center of the palisade was another building used for stores, and when an army hospital was needed there in 1813, an upper story was added to it. Most of those who now rest in the military cemetery at Fort Amanda died in this upper room hospital— rather an uncanny introduction to the place as a home for the settlers a few years later. However, long before there were any settlers it became the base supplies for Harrison's army operating in the Maumee valley, and in this building was the office of the paymaster. While Fort Amanda was constructed in 1812, the overthrow and removal of the Ottawas and Shawnees was not effected until twenty years later. The Shawnees, who figured extensively in the Greenville Treaty. were of the Algonquin tribes, and they had a tradition that the - 173 - 174 HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY Master of Life, the Great Creator himself, and the originator of all peoples, was an Indian. He made the Shawnees before any other of the human race ; they sprang from his brain, and they were the romance people of the world. Consequently, it was hard for them to relinquish their claim to the hunting grounds of their fathers. Today it is an easy matter for the sympathetic nature to become enlisted in their favor ; the red man of the forest endured many things. However, the agreement entered into between the Indians of the Northwest and General Wayne, ceding to the United States Government northwestern Ohio, northeastern Indiana and the whole of Michigan, comprising in all 25,000 square miles of territory, was indorsed by the United States Senate, and December 22, 1795, President Washington attached his signature. In signing this agreement President Washington hoped to end a destructive war, to settle all controversies and restore friendly relations with the Indians. However, he had "reckoned without his host." Because Chief Tecumseh had not joined in the Greenville Treaty, it proved little more than "a scrap of paper" and he soon incited further difficulties resulting in the second war with England. The story of Fort Amanda belongs to the ensuing period in local history. While there were Indians in the Allen County forest, they came as silently as the shadows and vanished as they came-Shawnees, Ottawas; Senecas, Delawares and Wyandottes, and all "Like the cares that infest the day, Will fold their tents like the Arabs And silently steal away." And now that they are gone the way of the. world their history is as a story that is told. The Indian has been strong in his appeal to literature, and some paragrapher writes : "The twilight of Ohio history reveals to us the Red Man of the long ago ; like tawdry attired phantoms after the passing of the years we dimly see them again—Pht and Quilna stealthily flitting along the warpath beneath the shadows of the primeval forest." When Columbus discovered America he thought it was the West Indies and he named the tribes he found in the new country Indians. While he died in ignorance of all that his discovery meant to the world, there is now an overwhelming library of literature concerning the children of the forest, black-haired, copper colored, attired mostly in the garb of nature—the romance people of the world. While "fuss and feathers" describes him, the American Indian was in partnership with nature and pageantry will always perpetuate his character. The names of Pht and Quilna will live in local history. On September 29, 1817, there was a secondary treaty with the Indians looking to their removal from their hunting grounds in the territory already ceded to Anthony Wayne. THE SECONDARY TREATY WITH THE SHAWNEES While the Shawnees were included in the Greenville Treaty, they were in no hurry about evacuating the country. As a result, Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur, as United States Indian commissioners, met with the tribes at the rapids of the Maumee, and certain reservations were allowed them. There was a grant by patent in fee simple to Pe-Aitch-Ta, now corrupted to Pht, and translated Falling Tree, and to Conwaskemo, known as the Resolute Man, chieftains of the Shawanese tribes residing on the Ottawa River (Hog Creek) and to their successors in office, chiefs of said tribes residing there, a tract of land containing twenty-five HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 175 square miles which is to adjoin the tract granted at Waupaughkonnetta, and to include the Shawanese settlement on Hog Creek, and to be laid off as nearly as possible in a square form, and the above described Indian reservation has since become the most wealthy rural baliwick in the United States of America. Shawnee Township is the historic ground in Allen County today. The defeat of the American Indian in northwestern Ohio was one thing and his removal to the western reservations was quite another, but the day came when there were no Indians in Allen County. There was ambush fighting along the Auglaize River, and Fort Amanda was built by Col. Thomas Poague under orders of Gen. William Henry Harrison, who commanded the military forces in the vicinity in withstanding the depredations of the Indians. It is known that Colonel Poague cleared the way through the wilderness from St. Marys, where General Harrison had his headquarters, to Fort Defiance at the junction of the Auglaize and the Maumee—the site marked by a college today. On his return journey Colonel Poague constructed Fort Amanda, honoring his own wife with the name of the garrison. While it is only a word imagery, Senator F. B. Willis, who was governor of Ohio when the Fort Amanda monument was unveiled, paid the following tribute to the woman whose name has been perpetuated in local history. He said "The fort was built under the personal direction of Colonel Poague, who named it, not for himself or his general, but for his wife—Amanda. History does not record her beauty or her virtues, but we may rest assured that she had the courage and the grace of the worthy matrons of that far off day- that she merited the secure place she held in the affectionate regard of her chivalrous husband, and the perpetuation of her name of antique origin in this monument erected by the state—Amanda, 'deserving to be loved.' " The foregoing tribute from an Ohio statesman should be an inspiration to the young womanhood of Allen County today. 176 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY While Fort Amanda commemorates Mrs. Amanda Poague, perhaps Amanda Township commemorates the fort without stressing the memory of the woman. When the meaning of the name is considered, it is a happy thought that it is thus perpetuated in history. The monument erected at Fort Amanda by the people of Ohio in honor of the American soldiers who died there, was unveiled July 5, 1915, and it focused attention to the site of the palisade that served as a place of refuge for the wilderness soldiers more than 100 years ago. Enthusiasm seemed to pervade the whole countryside, even the farm houses enroute being decorated with the national colors, while horsedrawn vehicles and motor cars displayed the same degree of patriotism: It seems that all vied with each other in commemorating those unknown heroes sleeping the sleep that knows no waking in the military cemetery there. While Anthony Wayne died in 1796, it is said that his trace is along the Auglaize opposite the site, Fort Amanda having later been built on the bluff overlooking the west side of the stream. The Auglaize is always regarded as historic, since there were many Indian villages adjacent to its waters. While it is a diminutive stream today, drainage and the cleared land changing conditions, its water carried rapidly away, in the past it was navigable, capable of floating heavily laden scows and flat boats. It was the highway of transportation for both the Indians and the white settlers who later occupied the territory along it. The aborigine and his pale-faced brother both glided through its placid waters. INDUSTRIES AT FORT AMANDA In the winter of 1812-13, the garrison at Fort Amanda was constituted a shipbuilding company, some selecting timber while others cut it, and barges were constructed there. The trees were sawed into boards and there was system in the ship yards springing into existence in the wilderness along the Auglaize. Everything was team work, some of the soldiers cutting timber and others converting it into lumber or posts for palisades, while another crew was detailed to convert the manufactured lumber into flat boats and the boats constructed there were used many years. It is said the work turned out from the Fort Amanda shipyards eclipsed in construction and durability anything produced at the Fort Defiance Navy Yard at the same time. There was better workmanship on the boats built at Fort Amanda than at Fort Defiance, and when a craft was ready for the water there was always demand for it. While the ship yard story at Fort Amanda seems an absurdity today, there is no question about it. However, there is a difference of opinion as to how operations were .carried on there. It would seem that Mrs. Clarence Lathrop of Old Fort Amanda farm house is right when she says she hears widely different versions of the shipyard industry there. In the "Historic Background of the Monument," found in the program of its unveiling ceremony, are these words : "Ship building was begun by the garrison in the winter following the building of the fort; the shipyard was on the east bank of the river just east of the fort ; seventy-five flat boats were constructed, and part of them were used to carry troops to Fort Meigs in 1813. It is believed that some of the scows built in Fort Amanda were used by Commodore Oliver Perry in floating his ships over the shallows of Put-In-Bay upon the day of his famous victory," but some who have studied the situation have a different opinion about it. The varying descriptions of important battles are because of the varying viewpoints of the writers describing them. The writer was shown Fort Amanda and heard a different version of the shipyard HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 177 industry there. Some who apply their own reasoning facilities are inclined to the belief that the barges constructed in the ancient ship yards there and used in transporting supplies down the Auglaize to Fort Defiance were built on the high ground now the site of the monument, the channel down the slope to the south having been excavated in order to move the barges down the hill to the water. While the channel is grassed over today, it would have been an easy matter to skid a barge down it with the momentum of its own weight, much as crafts are launched on the water today. The scows built at Fort Amanda were used on the lower Miami as well as the Auglaize, and it is a pleasing story that one of them was in the fleet commanded by Commodore Perry on Lake Erie, when he exclaimed "We have met the enemy and they are ours." FORT AMANDA A PLACE OF SAFETY While there was never a military engagement at Fort Amanda, it was a place of refuge from the Indians, and the graves in the military cemetery there are the last resting places of many soldiers who died while on garrison duty. While the din of battle was never heard on Allen County soil, this historic fort was the site of personal heroism that will remain unknown to the end of the world. The war whoops of the Shawnees, the shrill whistle of the rifle ball and the roar of cannon were not unknown in the valley of the Maumee, and this rendezvous on the Auglaize was a place of safety for the brave young soldiers when Generals Harrison and Proctor were meeting in mortal combat, the British general being aided by his devoted Indian ally, Chief Tecumseh. He had not joined in the Greenville Treaty, and he wished to preserve to his people their hunting grounds forever. FLOUR WAS SHIPPED ON THE AUGLAIZE A letter written June 20, 1813, at Camp Fort Meigs by Green Clay establishes the fact that a consignment of flour was received there by Ensign Gray that had been sent from Fort Amanda by transport, a thing that would be an utter impossibility on the Auglaize today. Fort Meigs has been swallowed up by Toledo, and the Auglaize is no longer a navigable stream. The removal of the timber and the drainage of the country has worked the transformation. While it was named for an Indian chieftain, and along, its banks marched General St. Clair and General Wayne, and dusky warriors were once in hiding among its many dark ravines ; while the stream was once capable of floating heavy- laden flat boats, pirogues and scows, all that seems today like a story that is told, beginning "Once upon a time." The transformation of the earth's surface has greatly reduced the volume of the Auglaize. In the days of Auld Lang Syne it was a factor in Allen County history. While it is conceded that Wayne's trace follows the course of the Auglaize sometimes crossing it, the wilderness troops later following its course from Fort Amanda to Fort Defiance, their provisions being transported by water, at this centennial period in Allen County history there are no markers designating it. THE DEDICATION OF THE FORT AMANDA MONUMENT The order of the day, July 5, 1915, was the unveiling of the monument and 5,000 persons were attracted to Fort Amanda for the ceremony. Dr. J. H. Blattenberg of Lima was chairman of the decorations committee, and Old Fort Amanda Farm House—the home of Clarence Lathrop, from whom the site was purchased—was thrown open to the public for the day. There are many curios in this old homestead that Vol. I-12 HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 179 have been gathered in the vicinity of Fort Amanda that hark back to the shipbuilding industry there. There were many dinners spread on the ground and William Rusler, who was secretary of the monument commission and active in securing the appropriation for it, entertained many friends at a basket dinner—the day devoted to the cause of patriotism in honor of the unknown dead who lie buried there. While there are community graves in the foreground of the military cemetery, the unknown soldier dead lie near the river bluff and on a detached knoll across the ravine is the grave of Capt. Enoch Dawson. He was killed in October, 1812, by an Indian from ambush, while eating grapes from a vine near the water's edge, which is pointed out to this day to visitors there. While it shows evidence of great age, this vine still clings to the trunk of a tree overhanging the waters of the Auglaize. The movement which resulted in the erection of the monument at Fort Amanda was started in a meeting called by William Rusler of Shawnee Township, February 4, 1913, in Memorial Hall. The Fort Amanda Memorial Association was formed and later it was incorporated, the purpose being to create sentiment for a Fort Amanda memorial. The officers chosen were : President, Jacob B. Sunderland, Spencerville ; secretary, R. R. Zurmehly, Lima ; vice-presidents, C. W. Williamson, Wapakoneta ; Daniel Harpster, West Cairo ; Mrs. W. L. Mackenzie, Mrs. B. M. Moulton, Mrs. S. J. Derbyshire, Mrs. James Sullivan, Thomas H. Jones, Rev. M. C. Howey, Clinton Hover and Dr. George Hall. The executive committee : William Rusler, chairman ; Mrs. D. J. Cable, Clarence Lathrop, George Feltz and James Pillars. The incorporators: Mabel Thrift Gray, A. C. Hover, Amanda J. Sulhvan, Rev. M. C. Howey and R. R. Zurmehly. In April, 1913, Senator Mooney and Representative Kennedy secured an appropriation of $5,000 from the Ohio Assembly, and Governor James M. Cox named W. L. Mackenzie, Alva V. Noble and William Rusler honorary commission to superintend the erection of the monument. The commission organized with Mr. Noble, chairman; Mr. Mackenzie, vice-chairman, and Mr. Rusler, secretary. When it was definitely decided that the memorial should be in the form of a monument, a tract of two and one-half acres was purchased from Mr. Lathrop and a contract was let to the Allen County Mausoleum Company, the work to be executed by the Hughes Granite Company, Clyde, Ohio. There has been $2,600 appropiated by the Ohio Legislature to purchase more land, and two cannons are promised by the U. S. Government to be placed there. There were committees on arrangements, finance, decorations, music, souvenir, grounds, privileges and reception, and all were bent on the success of the undertaking. The Fort Amanda Memorial Association did not consider its work terminated with the unveiling ceremony and there are further plans to convert the site into a park reached by improved highways which will be visited by thousands, both because of the historic interest of the place and its natural beauties as a pleasure resort, and when the tract between the military cemetery and the Auglaize-Allen County line has been converted into a government reservation, there will still be work in perpetuating it. Although it may never have railroad facilities, Fort Amanda will always be a mecca for tourists. SENTIMENT CRYSTALLIZED SLOWLY In the souvenir program of the ceremonies connected with the unveiling of the monument at Fort Amanda are these words : "The 180 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY historic interest which attaches to Fort Amanda long ago suggested that the spot ought to be marked by a memorial in honor of the soldiers who sleep there, and of the deeds done in the service of the nation ; but more than a century passed before the sentiment took concrete form, and the monument was a reality. While accounts vary as to the number of graves, the estimates ranging close to seventy-five, only about forty are supplied with the simple military markers today. The identities of the soldiers were lost because of the destruction of military records when the British troops burned the Capitol at Washington." When the Fort Amanda monument was unveiled the Lima Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, presented Old Glory, the presentation address being made by Mrs. Grace Bryan Hollister, regent of the chapter. The Lathrops of Old Fort Amanda Farm have assumed the responsibility of caring for this beautiful flag, and it floats from the flag staff adjoining the monument on Sundays and gala days when the weather is favorable for visitors. A page in the souvenir program entitled "The Monument, the Site and Environment" reads : "Rugged simplicity characterizes the design and the material of the monument, symbolical of the character and lives of the men whom it commemorates. The shaft, of gray granite in the obelisk form, towers nearly fifty feet; at the base the stone is carved to suggest the stockade which enclosed Fort Amanda. "On the west face of the monument which is placed according to the points of the compass is a bronze tablet upon which the old fort is reproduced in relief, from sketches and descriptions. Below the reproduction is the legend : 'Fort Amanda, erected by order of Gen. William Henry Harrison in October, 1812, and became an important deposit of army stores during the war.' Above the reproduction are the words : 'Erected by a grateful people to the memory of the pioneer soldiers of Ohio and other states, who fell in the defense of their homes from Indian depredations in the war of 1812.' The monument stands in the center of what was once Fort Amanda but all external traces of the structure have disappeared ; it was only through the butts of the logs which formed the stockade, unearthed in plowing, that the outline of the enclosure was determined ; until a few years ago a depression showed the location of the well, but that also now has vanished ; the monument stands on a bluff on the west bank of the Auglaize River, in Logan Township, Auglaize County, just across the line of Amanda Township, Allen County, and ten miles southwest of Lima." CHAPTER XVI EXIT SHAWNEE—ENTER SETTLER While the Indian tribes of Northwest Ohio have already had attention, the deportation of the Shawnees belongs to the history of Allen County. Their days were numbered already when the tide of civilization was upon them. Their only conception of life contemplated the unrestricted freedom of the forest. With his tomahawk and scalping knife, the American Indian was always a problem with the settlers. In a pathetic way some one writes of the American Indians transferred from their original hunting grounds to the reservations : "As a race they have withered from the land ; their arrows are broken ; their springs are dried up; their cabins are in the dust ; their council fire has long since gone out on the shore; their war cry is fast dying away in the untrodden west ; slowly and sadly they climb the distant mountains, and read their doom in the setting sun," and to this day deportation is considered the saddest experience that befalls humanity. In 1831, when local government was first established in Allen County, there was an agreement entered into by the Shawnees that they would immediately quit the country. It was in accordance with the treaty made at the rapids of the Maumee in 1817, and while the Shawnee long ago became a vanishing quantity, the war whoop and feathers no longer in evidence in Allen County, the story of how he was deprived of his happy hunting grounds by the invading forces of civilization, will always strike a sympathetic chord ; there was always poetry in the movement of the Indian, and when pageants are enacted the children of civilization always stand ready to deck themselves in buckskins and feathers. A writer of the period relates that when the Shawnees were about to leave Allen County for the reservations, there were tribal religious ceremonies, dances and other weird amusements ; the hunting grounds and the graves of their fathers were dear to them, and there was an unusual spectacle enacted in the wilderness days of Allen County history. It was a sad ceremony as they carefully removed all traces of the resting places of their dead by leveling the sward above each lowly mound, all this under the surveillance of government representatives hurrying them on to the reservations. With a blast from the trumpet of their appointed leader, the Shawnees started on their journey through an uninhabited forest, and through the open prairies encountering the successive changes and going so far that they felt it would be ages before they were again molested by the whites, in the onward march of civilization. When the procession of the Shawnees moved from Allen County, their high priest was in front like the leader of the Israelites of old, bearing the Ark of Covenant consisting of a large gourd and the leg bone of a deer tied about his neck and leading the way ; while they had entered into an agreement to evacuate the territory, when it came to pulling up stakes and leaving their familiar haunts it was a serious matter. A Welshman relates that when the parent stock of the Welsh community located in Allen County, camping on the banks of Pike Run, the broad land was an unbroken, swampy wilderness inhabited by the stillness of the ages and broken only by the war whoop of the Indians, and the howl of the wild beasts of the forest. This same Welshman who wielded the pen of a ready writer, adds : "Allen County was once the hunting ground of the Wyandottes, Ottawas, Delawares and Shawnees who roamed - 181 - 182 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY through the dense forest in absolute freedom ; while in 1817, they had disposed of their land it was not until 1832 they were transported to the reservations west of the Mississippi." Platform speakers have charged deportation as the crime of the war countries recently, and it does not require any undue stretch of the imagination to gain some conception of the injustice perpetrated upon the American Indians. The migration of the Shawnees—the most powerful tribe in Allen County—began in August and from that date the white settlers rapidly filled up the country. David Robb and D. M. Workman, the government agents who came to dispossess the Shawnees, were unrelenting and forced them to leave the country. For a few years there were red men and white men in the Allen County wilderness together—savagery and civilization clinging to the same landmarks in local history. It is said that of all the Shawnees in Allen County, Pht (Pe-Aitch-Ta) was the most widely known and honored—that he was a natural leader among the tribes in Western Ohio. The biggest shortage in the world today is leadership, and Pht was a potent sachem in the councils of his friends. Through his influence the Shawnee Council House was built in 1831, and after withstanding the ravages of half a century it was destroyed, and here the warriors met and plotted together when the matter of deportation was pressing hard upon them. With the government reservations in prospect, and the hunting grounds of their fathers in retrospect, the Shawnees were in need of a meeting place where they might discuss the outlook together. The spirit of Pht could not bow to the mandates of the United States Government, and while his people were facing the reservations this intrepid leader crossed the River of Death into the Hunting Grounds of the Great Spirit: It broke his heart when he knew he must leave the haunts of his youth ; his rude coffin was made from puncheons, and all his valuables were buried with him. Pht was a leader in tribal difficulties, and the world has always welcomed men with initiative. However, after a long illness superinduced from the dread of the future, he was buried in the garden near his cabin, the grave being made for him by his wife and daughter. Before quitting the country they leveled the mound in order to conceal his rest- HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 183 ing place. While the name of Pht will not soon perish from earth, in the morning of this second century of local history the Allen County citizen is unable to locate the spot—the grave of the last chieftain of the Shawnees. While for a few years the white settlers had lived in peace with the Shawnees, Pht was sagacious and recognized in their increasing numbers the final overthrow of the tribal government. He had seen the end from the beginning, and a sensitive nature always suffers from such things. The settlers looked upon the Shawnee chieftain with admiration—they regarded him as a man who would have distinguished himself in any community and in any nationality. The warriors of the tribes had always gathered at the domicile of Flit, the Council House not always a reality—and finally they had met with him there, and there was dignity in their deliberations when plotting against the encroachments of civilization. Shawneetown was an Indian village on the site of the Allen County Children's home in Shawnee, and the Council House is well remembered by many Allen County citizens of today. In 1880, it was in the line of a destructive storm. The Indian significance of the name Pe-Aitch-Ta seemed prophetic—Falling Tree very aptly describing this stalwart Shawnee, as he reached the end of his earthly journey. In the poem describing the burial of Moses is the line : "The angels of God upturned the sod, and laid the dead man there," but in the case of this leader that sad office was performed by his wife and daughter. While Pht was the recognized leader, Quilna was the business man of the Shawnees. His name was a household word among the settlers. His home was open to them and in emergencies he would supply them with pottage. When they needed corn they could get it from Quilna. However, he was always recognized as a crafty Indian. One day a settler named Breese bargained a hog to Quilna in exchange for a deer. It was to be a doe—young and fat, and when Quilna finally killed it he hung it up in the woods ; he left it there until putrefaction began, and when the settler objected to the carcass, Quilna pretended not to understand it. He argued the question, saying: "He fat." Breese admitted it. Quilna said : "He doe," and the settler agreed with him. "He young," was Quilna's next defense, when Breese cleared up matters by saying: "Yes, I'll admit all that you say, but I do not want the deer ; it does not smell good; it is spoiled," and when the situation finally dawned upon Quilna, he replied : "Ah, me know—he too dead," and there was no bargain between them. While venison was a wilderness luxury, and culinary delicacy, the settler had sanitary standards the Indians knew nothing about, and Quilna lost out in the deal with Breese, because cleanliness was not next thing to godliness with him. Quilna was always friendly with the boys among the settlers. They would accompany him on hunting trips, and he would always take care of them. He was called the pathfinder of the Shawnees. He often served as guide for settlers, and for travelers through the wilderness country. The emissaries of the British Government were not without their influence among the Shawnees when they were facing the reservations. Unfortunately, the government agents showed them no mercy and they were in need of sympathy. It was a memorable epoch, and each tribe had different methods of expressing themselves. While some surrendered in despair to the inevitable, others plunged into dissipation and in dispossessing them, the government agents resorted to various subterfuges. While the squaws always performed the labor, they were assured that President Andrew Jackson would make them rich in a new and better country, where they would be free from toil and privations. 184 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY The reservations were described to the Shawnees as consisting of 100,000 acres of unbroken forest with wild animals unmolested ; they could feast on buffalo, elk, deer and other game, and thus they were buoyed up for what awaited them—the loss of their possessions in Allen County. It is said the influence brought to bear upon the unsuspecting Shawnees was winked at by the United States Government. While deer were plentiful in Allen County, the Shawnees had exchanged venison for salt with the settlers, and they had been inspired with a degree of confidence in the white man's story. Their acquaintance with the Indian traders had been satisfactory, and when they were deported Peter Loramie and Anthony Madore—two Frenchmen established among the Shawnees—went with them to the reservations. Francis Deuchoquette, who was a French interpreter, and who is said to have been the first white man in the vicinity of Fort Amanda after it was abandoned as a garrison, incurred the displeasure of the government agents because of his friendly interest in the Shawnees. He knew the Indian tongue and volunteered his services in their favor. The Indian Commissioner, Gardner, repulsed him, and he started to Washington in the interest of the Shawnees. The white settlers also remembered Deuchoquette because of his interest in them. He died en route to Washington where he hoped to secure justice for the Indians, and was buried by the wayside amid the lamentations of the Shawnees accompanying him. An old account says he died at Cumberland, Maryland, in 1831 (while en route to Washington). C. C. Marshall, an early mail service man, said of him : "In 1831, I became acquainted with Francis Deuchoquette, the old Frenchman who had hved a long time among the Shawnees. Beside his interest in the tribe, he interceded for the lives of Knight, Crawford and others." Deuchoquette Township in Auglaize County bears the name of this Frenchman, who manifested so much interest in the Shawnees. When the settlers were locating in Allen County, the government representatives sent to remove the Shawnees told them the white men would pasture their lands, and there would always be trouble, while if HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 185 they went to the reservations there would never be any more difficulties. The English Government always had the Shawnees and other tribes in suspense, assuring them that in time they would retrieve their lost territory, Finally, the trumpet sounded three times, and they began their journey of 800 miles to the nearest reservation. Their alliances with the British had stirred up bitter hatred, and they were a most unhappy people as they wended their way toward the land of the setting sun. In later years a group of homesick Shawnee squaws visited Allen County, but when they witnessed the changes they were content to go again. INDIANS INCREASING IN NUMBERS The Society of the American Indians held its 1920 annual meeting in St. Louis. The City of Chicago is the home of about 100 full-blood American Indians, with many tribes• represented among them. The writer was priviliged to attend one of their meetings in January, 1920, when buffalo sandwiches were served to guests. The Indians appeared in costume, and engaged in the war dances of their fathers. Many tribes were represented, and there were reservation Indians at the meeting. Some of them were touring the country in vaudeville, and were in Chicago for the meeting. The American Indians in Chicago are organized as a branch of the Chicago H istorical Society, the secretary of which appeared in costume. Many people have been interested as collectors of Indian costumes. The program at the meeting was given by the reservation Indians. The decorations were limbs from the trees in the forest, and a wigwam is a permanent feature. A white child was christened with the Indian sacrament, and the customs of the past were revived again. The educated American Indians are opposed to the present bureau system, and they are urging that their affairs be placed under the laws of the different states containing the reservations. They are interested in agriculture and in live stock production, and they desire to manage their own business without supervision or governmental restrictions. In this Chicago meeting, the Indians seemed refined and intelligent in their understanding of governmental things. WHO'S WHO IN ALLEN COUNTY In Virginia—the Old Dominion, great emphasis is placed upon the first family idea—the first families of Virginia, but since 1848, the site of the first settlers in Allen County has been in Auglaize County. The blockhouse at Fort Amanda lay idle after it ceased to be a military post late in 1814, until three years later when settlers began locating in the territory. The settlers in the vicinity of Fort Amanda were from Dayton. Strange as it may seem, the first settlers of Allen County are now credited to Auglaize County. 1t is urged by some that Francis Deuchoquette never lived in the area once within the bounds of Allen County. Again the statement is made that he was the first white man located in Allen County. In 1817, Peter Diltz came from Dayton and occupied one of the blockhouses in the palisade at Fort Amanda. However, he did not become a permanent citizen. It is little wonder that the settlers chose the vicinity of Fort Amanda. It is rich in historic interest, and there is no spot in Allen or any surrounding county with background so varied with both war and romance. Fort Amanda has the honor of being first in many things ; great human interest attaches to the use of the word first ; who is not thrilled at the first cry of the new-born babe ; the first tottering steps of the child ; the 186 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY first short trousers on the boy ; the first long skirts on the girl ; the first day at school ; the first consciousness of strength ; the first blush of beauty ; the dawn of love ; the first earnings of labor ; the accumulation of capital ; the first sermon, client or patient ; the 'first battle, the first sorrow—in short, the opening incidents in every life produce a thrill distinctively their own, and mayhap out of proportion to that belonging to a thousand greater things, but finally men and women everywhere unite in saying : "There are gains for all our losses, There is balm for all our pain, But when from youth the dream departs, It takes something from our hearts, And it never comes again." —Stoddard. The best an historian can do is to approach accuracy, and while there are sins of commission they cannot be worse than the sins of omission in writing history. It is the mission of the true historian in Allen County as well as in the rest of the world, to delve into the great past in an effort to unravel the tangled threads in the history of all the yesterdays. History is well defined as the record of transactions between different people at different periods of time, and some one has said that not to know what happened before one was born is to remain always a child. It is said by another : "The roots of the present lie deep in the past, and the past is not dead to him who would know how the present comes to be what it is," and most people of today are interested in the firelight stories of other days, when told by men and women of preceding generations—stories heard at mother's knee—the traditions handed down from father to son, and time was in Allen County when "word of mouth" had greater significance than it has today. It seems that the military occupation of Fort Amanda was in 1812, and that the abandoned garrison afforded shelter for the first Allen County settlers. While Peter Diltz was only temporarily located at Fort Amanda, he remained long enough to construct some cabin homes in the community. THE DAUGHTER OF ALLEN COUNTY Andrew Russell, who is reputed to have opened the first farm in Allen County, arrived at Fort Amanda in the spring of 1817 from Dayton. He also found shelter in the blockhouse there. On July 13, 1817, occurred the birth of a daughter whose name—Susannah Russell—will live in history, the Daughter of Allen County. In 1828, Russell died at Fort Amanda. On September 20, 1817, a son was born to the first resident of Fort Amanda, Peter Diltz. He was christened Francis Diltz. In 1821, the Diltz family returned to Dayton. While Susannah Russell is recognized as the first white child born within the limits of Allen County the site of her birth is now in Auglaize County. She became the wife of C. C. Marshall, a goverment service man carrying United States mail between Piqua and Fort Defiance ; she died in 1871, at the age of fifty- four years, in Delphos. William Van Ausdall was another Dayton man to locate about that time at Fort Amanda. CENTENNIAL LOG CABIN 1N LIMA PUBLIC SQUARE In commemoration of the treaty made with the Shawnees at the Rapids of the Maumee which resulted finally in their evacuation of Allen County, and of the first settlement in 1817 at Fort Amanda, a log cabin HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 187 was constructed 100 years later in the Lima public square, as a monument to the civilization of the past in Allen County. This unique monument was an object of much attention from Lima visitors. On Labor Day, 1917, it was placed on trucks and removed to a permanent place in Lincoln Park where it stands as a voice from the past in Allen County history. The logs were donated by public spirited citizens, the moving spirit in its erection being Dr. George Hall. While this cabin was in the Lima pubic square all visitors saw it, and visitors today hear its history from their f riends—a tribute to the citizenship of long ago. Within the bounds of the Allen County of today are some who are descended from the settlers at Fort Amanda, although it was several years before there were white people in what is now Allen County. The great English premier, Disraeli, once said : "Youth is a blunder ; manhood a struggle ; old age a regret," and with that thought uppermost, it matters little about who came first in any community. Births, marriages and deaths make up the sum of living, and while a woman always remembers dates by the births of her children, the law of association governing her in such things—unless the barn is burned, or some dreadful fatality overtakes the family, a man seldom remembers anything about it. IN THE WAKE OF JOHNNY APPLESEED It is popularly understood that John Chapman, known to posterity as "Johnny Appleseed," was in Northwestern Ohio prior to the building of Fort Amanda, and a paragraph in the souvenir program when the monument was unveiled, reads : "Three-quarters of a mile north .from the monument on the William Bice farm until recent years, was an interesting relic of early days. It was an apple tree which probably grew from seed planted by 'Johnny Appleseed,' that strange pioneer character who wandered about strewing apple seed wherever he found fertile soil." John Chapman was born in 1775 in Boston, and died in 1845 in Fort Wayne. 188 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY In his Allen County reminiscences, S. C. McCullough says that when in 1835 he visited the Sunderland farm in Amanda Township, some trees were pointed out to him that were planted by John Chapman, an old man who traversed the Auglaize and Ottawa rivers, seeking alluvial soil in which to plant orchards. Mr. McCullough writes : "That he was here about 1812 is manifested in the number, variety and age of the trees which sprung from the seeds planted by him along Wayne's trace," and the story goes that he visited cider mills in Pennsylvania for his supply of seeds. Whenever he located loam along a stream, he would clear a spot and plant his apple seeds there. When settlers took up the land, he would come again and bargain with them about the trees. "Johnny Appleseed" was an eccentric character ; when he entered a house he would always recline on the floor ; he would ask if the family desired some news direct from heaven. He was often barefoot because he was improvident, depending largly upon the generosity of the settlers for clothing. He thought it was wrong to kill wild animals for food, and he was always kindly treated by the Indians. One time a traveling evangelist inquired about the barefoot Christian going through the North- west Territory to heaven, when the object of the inquiry-John Chapman, lying on a pile of timber with his feet in the air, answered : "Here he is," and it seems the whole countryside knew the man, and was familiar with his eccentricities. Since the man who plants a tree is regarded as a benefactor, John Chapman must have entered into his reward ; there is no doubt but what this eccentric character paid his respects to Allen County. SOME 1920 CITIZENS OF ALLEN COUNTY It is a significant fact that in the 1920 edition of Who's Who in America, there are 1,731 Ohio names, since Ohio has produced some of the great men of the nation, the statement does not provoke question. Only men and women who have accomplished things worth while are listed in Who's Who in America, and ambitious, designing persons cannot buy space in the publication. However, the "density of genius" does not always indicate the place of one's birth, and some Allen County products may be listed from other parts of the world. In the Allen County section are just three names : John Davison, educator ; James H. Halfhill, lawyer, and B. F. Welty, congressman. While the list is corrected from year to year—members of Congress always being given, perhaps fewer persons are familiar with Who's Who than will read the names in The Centennial History of Allen County. CHAPTER XVII WHEN ALLEN BECAME AN ORGANIZED COUNTY While the Shawnees were an ambitious tribe, and the Council House was ahead of the courthouse in Allen County, after June 6, 1831, all business was transacted within its own limits, and in time there was complete county organization. For eleven years Allen had been associated in a business way with Mercer County. Indeed, Amanda Township was organized under authority granted in Mercer County. In the United States, many of the states are divided into townships of perhaps five, six, seven or ten miles square, and the inhabitants of such townships are invested with certain powers for regulating their own affairs, such as repairing roads and providing for the poor ; the township is subordinate to the county. When Amanda became an organized township in 1830, through the action of Mercer County officials, there were thirteen electors and twelve of them were at the meeting. Samuel Washburn and Allen Martin were the local representatives present. Samuel Washburn was of the Fort Amanda community. A scout traveling through Allen County then did not mention many settlers. Samuel Baxter located in Amanda Township in 1828, and he was active in establishing local government. He had two sons : Curtis and Smith. While this pioneer resident died in 1832, the wife—Mrs. Keziah Creaman Baxter—survived him by twenty years. When the Baxters located in Amanda, they found half a dozen families : Carr, Miller, Harter, Sunderland, Kephart, Harris, Washburn, and some of these names are still heard in the community. Other early families were : Adams, Berryman, Burnfield, Crozier, Clawson, Durham, Hearst, Hire, Hoak, Heland, Johnson, Baber, Moorman, Post, Russell, Tone, Sutton, Bice, Stewart, Vance, Whetstone, Winans and Woollery. After the cycle of a century, it is natural that the names of the pioneers should appear on tombstones rather than in directories. The 1920 census shows 1,078 residents of Amanda Township. While Southworth and Conant are neighborhood centers there was once an Amanda and a Hartford, and they speak of a Tawa as an Indian center, without locating it definitely. When Amanda was platted in 1832, its promotors were ambitious that it should become the seat of government in Allen County. Today Amanda relies upon its agriculture. A WORD OF EXPLANATION In the pages of this Centennial History, the purpose is to write everything in terms of Allen County. While the townships and towns will pass in review, "I am the vine and ye are the branches," is the relation sustained between Allen County and its integral parts, the air and the water being the same in the different communities. The trees, the streams and the wild life of the forest know nothing of boundaries, and yet in a general way everything is given locality. There is so much repetition in the description of the different townships in detail, and space is used otherwise in these pages. The American Indians came to the doors of the settlers, but those who tell such stories today hark back to the very earliest local civilization. While the American Indian will always be regarded with some - 189 - 190 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY degree of admiration by the student of United States history, his story now belongs wholly to the past in Allen County. It is fitting that the names of Pht and Quilna should remain as household words, and while some of the prominent community family names are no longer found in local directories—have been transferred to the Lamb's Book of Life, many are still heard in Allen County. There is sacred page authority for the statement that the places that "know us now shall soon know us no more forever," and when men and women begin the downward slope of life's afternoon, they are reminded of it time and again. In two or three generations some families change almost wholly, and strangers occupy their places in society. One who has been away and then returns to a community stands aghast at the changes in it. He wonders what has become of all his friends and relatives. Mankind has no continuing city, and these township studies emphasize that fact—changed farmsteads and changed households in every community. While the frontier traveler always knew the settler was at home when his shirt was on the line—always in bed while his wife washed and dried it, prosperous conditions seem to prevail all through Allen County today. (GERMAN) AMERICAN TOWNSHIP Upon the petition of the citizens living in German Township, and through action of the Allen County commissioners, August 16, 1918, this time-honored name was changed to American, Article II of the petition reading: "That good cause is shown why the name of said township should be changed, and which in the opinion of the Board of County Commissioners, justifies the change in the name of said township," and it is further stipulated that "the change shall in no wise affect the right of property, or the internal concerns of said township," and reading between the lines, it seems that "good cause" means patriotism. The name German had come into disfavor when the German nation changed its attitude toward the rest of the world. School books were undergoing changes at the time, and business concerns bearing the name German were eliminating the offensive designation, and the people of German HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 191 Township were caught in the wave of popular sentiment-hence, American Township. However, there are residents of the township who a little later on would not have voted for the change, because of sacred associations in early history. They do not hold the German people responsible for the conduct of some of their leaders. A glance at the map of Allen County shows that American Township occupies almost the exact geographical center, and history reveals the fact that in establishing its present boundary, it lost to Amanda and gained from Bath, and that again in May, 1857, American Township lost 1.040 acres—more than a full section of land—to Ottawa and the City of Lima. Allentown was the earliest settlement ; township organization was effected in 1833, and among the settlers were : Bowman, Brand, Richards, John, Ireland, Wright, Boyer, Crites, Ridenour, Knittle, Cochran, Bryan, Creaman, Imler, Noll, Myers, Neely, Beiler, Miller, Blackburn, Huffer, Herring, Shobe, Hartman, Armstrong, Summerset, Provent mire, Baker, Holland, Leaser, Hughes, Conrad, Johnson, Peltier, Pool, Steaman, Sawmiller, Tate, Greer, Statts, Stalter, Verbrycke, Richardson, Westbay, Edwards, Haller, McBride and Luttrell. Those active in developing Allentown were George Povenmire and William Myers, and as early as 1835, it was considered as the logical location for the seat of government in Allen County. Elida came into existence in 1852, although it was not incorporated until 1878, when there was an era of prosperity in the community. Griffith John was its founder, and it bears the name of his brother Elida John who never lived in the community. While Allentown will always be a community center, A. D. 1920, there were very few residents who harked back to its early history. It is related that Gen. William Blackburn who located there in an early day gave a new impetus to the community. The site of the Blackburn home is still pointed out, the house having been destroyed by fire in 1904, and it was always a mecca for visitors. There is frequent mention of General Blackburn in Allen County history. While his home in Allentown was built in the log cabin era, it is always described as the Blackburn mansion, native walnut being used in building it. Including the incorporated village of Elida, the population of American township in the 1920 census is shown as 2,398, and its proximity to Lima gives to its citizenry every modern advantage. AUGLAIZE-ITS PLACE IN HISTORY Considered chronologically, Auglaize should precede American although it is alphabetical classification in this study of Allen County townships. It became an organized township March 5, 1832, and the community centers are : Harrod, Westminster and West Newton, Westminster having been platted two years later. Alexander Creps who located the town owned much of the land lying north of the Auglaize River: it has been said that he could walk from his home in Westminster to Lafayette many years later without leaving his own land, and that many things were done for the community with his money. West Newton was platted in 1850, with Daniel Shields promoting the growth of the community. Harrod, on the Chicago and Erie road, is the only railway station in Auglaize. Tradition has it there was once a Maysville located in two counties and four townships, the Allen County portion being in Auglaize and Jackson, the remainder of the town being in two townships in Harden County. It was once a famous stopping place for frontier travelers bent on reaching either railroad or boat transportation in Toledo. 192 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY The names of Auglaize settlers : Goode, Stevenson, Ford, Hamilton, Weaver, Heffner, Underwood, Shockey, Clum, Serkes, Leatherman, Asking, Coon, Williams, Grant, Holt, Hardesty, Ice,o Jacobs, Maus, Patterson, Grubb, Perkes, Smith, Blair, Stedman, Harrod, Shellenberger, Vermillion and Yazelle. The comment is heard today that some of the foremost citizens in Allen County came from the southeasternmost township—Auglaize. While all the soil is not the best, the conditions were conducive to good citizenship there. It is related that Francis Stevenson and John and Arabelle Goode located in Auglaize in 1829, Mrs. Goode being the first white woman in the community. Her only neighbors were the Indian squaws until Mrs. Stevenson joined her husband one year later. The 1920 census shows the citizenship of Auglaize, including the incorporated Village of Harrod, as 1,733, and it is a prosperous community. THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE 1N AUGLAIZE The distinguishing physical characteristic of Allen County—the Devil's Backbone—is in Auglaize Township. An old account says : "The surface is rolling in the east and level in the west ; a curious formation is the Devil's Backbone, a ridge of gravel extending for some distance between Westminster and West Newton. It was undoubtedly thrown up by the wash of some great inland sea, and is in curious contrast to the surrounding soil. Near this used to be many large sloughs or mud pits seemingly without bottom, but they have nearly all disappeared," and some have offered the suggestion today that the ice had melted while a glazier was passing over Allen County in prehistoric times, and the Devil's Backbone simply marks the site of the wreck—there having been a good deal of debris deposited there. The gravel used in early road- building was secured from this peculiar earth formation. So many things in nature are always attributed to the glacial period, and like the bluffs along river courses the Devil's Backbone seems to be the terminal moraine of a glacier. The theory prevails that the Great Lakes were scraped out by glaciers, and the Devil's Backbone seems to be one point that resisted glacial action. There is a ridge ranging from a quarter to a half mile in width, extending southward from this forma- HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 193 tion in which there is a deposit of carbonated calcium lying about twenty- four inches beneath the surface and covered with alluvial loam, about which there is some speculation as to its commercial value. The deposit spreads out under about five acres of the Botkins property, the owner not caring to lease it for development. There are shells in the calcium deposit, and an analysis reveals the properties of mineral soap. Adjacent land is adapted to farming, and for years the Devil's Backbone has been the mecca of many tourists and students of natural earth formations. BATH TOWNSHIP IN HISTORY While it is known that Bath was an organized township before official records were made in Allen County, neither the records of Allen nor Mercer give the time of its organization. In its early history it included Ottawa, and June 6, 1831, Jackson Township was detached from it. Bath Township is at least contemporary with Allen County. It was in 1829 that Christopher Wood located the future seat of justice of Allen County in Bath—a beautiful site for a village. An old account says the northeast corner of section No. 31 in Bath Township became the county seat, the State of Ohio selling it for $200 to Allen County. A list of the settlers includes the names : Wood, McClure, Fetters, Boope, Cotner, Weaver, Crawford, Johnson, Allison, Byerly, Smith, Snyder, Driver, Wolf, Custard, Woolett, Greer, Atmur, Ronsly, Douglas, Baker, Miller, Hagerman, Hodsell and Thayer. It is related that Christopher Wood and his sons arrived in 1824, after sixteen days en route from Logan County. They came through the woods, and when they stopped with Pht at Shawneetown, they found this Indian chieftain had twenty acres of cleared land, thus confirming the story that he was a tribal leader and the most progressive of the Shawnees. The Wood family reached Sugar Creek in Bath April 16, 1824, and that after erecting the necessary cabin and planting his crops, he returned for his family in Logan County. The settlement at Fort Amanda had been by residents of Montgomery County about seven years before this settlement in Bath, although Wood was justice of the peace when Bath had civil jurisdiction over all of Allen County. Christopher Wood was a community builder, and when Lima was placed on the map he gave up his rural residence and became land agent in the town—perhaps the first Vol. I-13 194 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY "dealer in dirt" in Allen County. He died in 1856, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. Samuel McClure was a contemporary of Mr. Wood, a son, Moses McClure, being the first white child born within the present limits of Allen County. Moses McClure was born in 1826 along Hog Creek in Bath, there being mention of him again in another chapter. In 1857, four sections of land were taken from Bath in creating Ottawa, and aside from the City of Lima spreading into Bath, it has no community center. The recent census credits 2,570 persons to Bath Township. The wealth of Bath is its agriculture. JACKSON TOWNSHIP-LAFAYETTE It is related that Jackson was detached from Bath, June 6, 1831, taking with it two sections of land, although it was December, 1834, that it became an organized township. Later' in shaping up to congressional requirements, Jackson lost area to Bath, Auglaize and Perry townships. It has one community center—Lafayette. In 1827, Jacob Hawk purchased land and began life in Jackson under wilderness conditions. Other sturdy sons of toil and hewers of wood and drawers of water were : Allison, Bresler, Helser, Balsinger, Barber, Binkley, Carlisle, Claybaugh, Knoble, Carter, Curtiss, Elder, Edgecomb, Evans, Fisher, Faurot, Hall, Jamieson, Jones, McCafferty, Marsh, Meek, Cotner, May, McClure, Akerman, Neeley, Nash, Mehaffey, Osman, Paulin, La Rue, Patterson, Prosser, Robinson, Reese, Arnold, Rumbaugh, Rains, Staley, Snodgrass, Sasseton, Tucker, Watt, White, Wood, Walton, Wollett and Ward—some of these names appearing frequently in the development of Allen County history. The 1920 census gives 1,670 as the population of Jackson Township and Lafayette. The directory today would show many names not given in the early history. In March, 1868, Lafayette became an incorporated village. It is a business center with all branches of business represented necessary to make it a first-class residence community. MARION TOWNSHIP AND DELPHOS It was necessary to establish definite boundary when Marion became an organized township in December, 1833, and land was taken from Amanda and from Jennings Township, Putnam County. While it is irregular in outline, it has six square miles of land more than the township requirement-thirty-six sections. The community centers in Marion Township today are Delphos, Landeck and Scotts Crossing. Pioneers in Marion were : Coon, Cochran, Knoop, Moore, Miller, Mannion, Woollery, Washburn, Waggoner, and in the 40's when Delphos was placed on the map, Henry Moenig who was the first settler selected his cabin site where there was a large stump which he utilized as a table, building his cabin around it. Landeck and Scotts Crossing sprang up later. Father John Otto Bredeick was the man with a vision who put Delphos on the map of the world. While yet a resident of the Kingdom of Bavaria, he had two emissaries watching developments in the western part of Allen County. His brother, Ferdinand Bredeick and Theodore Wrocklage, represented him in watching the developments along the proposed Erie Canal across Western Ohio, and in the museum of the Delphos public library is the purse in which he sent the money for the purchase of land as soon as the route of the canal was settled upon through the country. Three routes were being considered, and for a time the whole thing was an uncertainty. Before there was a Delphos, there was a Howard, section 10, and East and West Bredeick, the canal dividing HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 195 them. There were differences to settle in the early history of the community. There were speculators alert, and the master mind of that great Catholic leader, Father John Otto Bredeick, was in evidence when he suggested the name Delphos and thus united the f our ambitious communities. While there is mention in history of the Ten Mile woods, section 10 was the number of the local section of the Erie Canal when sold out for construction. While the word bonus does not appear that early in the annals of the community, Father Bredeick encouraged settlers by offering low prices and long-time payments, and thus a thrifty class was attracted to the community. Few men are on record as community builders with a broader vision of the future than had this Bavarian priest concerned in the development of Delphos and the surrounding country, He had lived in a country served by the canal as a commercial waterway, and none had ,dreamed of a railroad at Delphos when this long-headed pioneer was shaping its future history. However, when Delphos was placed on the map of Ohio it was in Putnam County. Ottoville in that county also traces its development to the same master hand-Father John Otto Bredeick. In the wake of Father Bredeick's efforts about Delphos came the following German and other population: Bredeick, Wrocklage, Esch, Lou- deck, Hunt, Long, Wahuchoff, Lye, Geise, Schroeder, Poling, Woerrner, Shenk, Marshall, Hayes, Ditto, Ludwig, Wright, Galespie, Baxter, Wilte, Wellman, Lanse, Mesker, Luesmann, Kemker, Reinemeyer, Grothaus, Karriman, Gengler, German, Scott, Wekger, King, Jettinghoff, Lindemann and Osenbach—all thrifty settlers who soon developed the community. Since 1848, Delphos has been in Allen County, offsetting the loss of Fort Amanda when Auglaize County was securing recognition from the Ohio Assembly. At Delphos the canal is now the boundary between Allen and Van Wert counties, the postoffice and legal portions of the Delphos city government being in Allen County. The 1920 census gives Marion Township and wards 1 and 2 in Delphos a population of 5,300, although the citizens of Delphos claims a population of 6,000, including the part across the canal in Van Wert County. HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 197 In 1846, when F. J. Lye and family arrived by wagon from Tiffin to take up their residence in Delphos, they "stuck in the mud" on the present site of Main Street, and they carried their earthly store from the wagon to the home of friends where they lived until they could construct their cabin. The visitor to Delphos today finds it difficult to reconcile such a story with the modern improvements—street, business and residence communities. The public library and high schools are in Van Wert ; the postoffice is in Allen and while the community assets are in two counties, the average citizen thinks only of one Delphos ; he is unconscious of the Erie Canal as a dividing line when crossing it. However, Delphos is a border city serving the citizens of three counties : Allen, Van Wert and Putnam, and in turn drawing its patronage from all of them. Father Bredeick opened the first store in Delphos in 1845; immediately after the canal was an assured thing in the community. He had obtained 600 acres of land, and others who made heavy land investments were : Benjamin F. Hollister, G. H. Bliss, Samuel H. Pettitt and E. Kimber. Samuel H. Farrar, an engineer employed in locating the canal, also invested in Delphos realty. The different land interests finally united in platting the town, and since it required a week for the settlers to make the return trip from Piqua with supplies, all were glad of the opportunity. There was a remarkable growth of the town from 1845, when they could only see out by looking straight up until 1854, when the settlers had measurably conquered the forest. The Erie Canal was the hope of Delphos, and the first canal boat to pass through the town was the William Marshall, owned and operated by Piqua capital. It was July 4, 1845, and from that day on Delphos was in communication with the outside world. In 1846, Governor-Elect William Bebb was a passenger on the first packet, the citizens meeting the packet at a lock a mile from town and supplying fresh horses to insure his "triumphant entrance" into Delphos. It was a gala day, and the population turned out enmasse to do honor to the governor of the commonwealth. When the Erie Canal was opened across New York, the construction crew fired a gun every five miles so the people would know the progress, and there was almost as much demonstration in the vicinity of Delphos. There was a drydock established there in 1846, owned by Father Bredeick and operated by John Daub and B. Nate, and the one boat built there, the "M. King," proved too heavy for canal water and it was sent to Ohio River service. In 1849, there was an ashery established in Delphos, and every particle of wood ash produced by the settlers was soon converted into collateral. Pearl ash as sold in the crude state was used in the manufacture of baking soda. There was considerable revenue from it. While the community had its humble beginning, Delphos is now a commercial and manufacturing center, the Delphos Community Club always alert for anything that will advance the community interests. "Delphos has always been one of the best little country towns in Ohio, both in the days of the canal and now that we haye railroad advantages," said a local enthusiast ; "the people find what they need in Delphos stores, and they are inclined to spend their money at home." The town established its supremacy in the days of the Erie Canal, when less fortunate towns "wagoned" their supplies from Delphos. The canal still affords water for industrial purposes, and the people are interested in the newspaper discussion of waterways, wondermg what it may mean for them in future. There are doctors, lawyers and ministers—the people need not leave town for professional service nor business accommodations, and a population of more than 5,000 makes it a city of the first class with reference to United States mail service. Delphos is a railway 198 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY center, and the Toledo, Delphos and Western (Clover Leaf) shops are among the best assets of the community. There are 100 railway employees in Delphos besides the engineers and conductors who live in the town. The roundhouse and repair shops give employment at home, and Delphos is also a terminal point on the Northern Ohio Railway. It has interurban service between Lima and Fort Wayne. The American Road Machine Company ; the Delhpos Bending Company—buggy and auto bows ; the Delphos Paper Mill ; Ricker Brothers Furniture Factory—bank furniture and tables ; the John C. Schaffer Handle Factory ; Whirrett Brothers Stirrup factory; the D. Steinle Soft Drinks Company ; the Mueller Implement and Auto Company with the largest implement warehouse in Northwestern Ohio, and a number of auto sales and repair shops—many men taken out of the production ranks to repair autos, and while the Northwestern Ohio Light Company maintains an office on the Allen County side in Delphos, its plant where the current is produced is in Van Wert County. It serves a chain of towns and lights farmhouses about the country. MISFORTUNE OVERTAKES DELPHOS In 1854, Delphos was visited by cholera and the town was almost depopulated-those who were not attacked by the disease being frightened out of the community. The ravages of "flu" were almost as serious two and three years ago. On May 3, 1872, the town was swept by a conflagration. Because of the havoc wrought it was always called "Black Friday." There were no firefighting preparations, and sixty-four buildings were consumed in the heart of the town. While there was plenty of water in the canal, it could not be utilized until apparatus arrived from surrounding towns, both Lima and Fort Wayne responding to the call of distress. The citizens of Delphos soon established a breadline and fed the firefighters who rescued them. The J. W. Hunt drug store, in which J. H. Wahmhoff was once a clerk and is now the proprietor, was always the social center of Delphos and community questions were always threshed out there. It was a waiting station for everybody, and a center for courtship always. They tell the story there that Amelia Bredeick, who became the bride of G. F. HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 199 Lang, treasured for years the bureau that was used as an altar in the first Catholic Church in Delphos. She was a niece to Father Bredeick. There has been a Delphos Historical Society, including both Allen and Van Wert County members, its object being to perpetuate the history of Delphos and vicinity. There is a unique community book hand-written by J. H. Wahmhoff, a line reading: "It is our purpose to chronicle such facts and findings as are yet obtainable ; we find that with the passing of time much of our historical data is no longer obtainable at first-hand," and what is true at Delphos is true in other communities. MONROE TOWNSHIP-WEST CAIRO When Monroe Township was first settled in 1835, it was part of Putnam County. By the spinning of the wheel of fortune, its first settlers later found themselves residents of Allen County. It was in 1848 that the whirligig of time worked so many changes on either border of Allen County. For thirteen years the Monrovians had been Putnam County citizens. Some of the Putnam-Allen County residents were : Peters, Harpster, Early, Parker, Tipton, Kidd, Van Meter ; and settlers coming to Monroe in Allen were : Adams, Alstaetter, Allison, Ayres, Bliss, Beardsley, Broughton, Beamer, Bowers, Beasel, Beatty, Buckmaster, Berryhill, Bentley, Vance, Statler, Borlander, Blackburn, Beitler, Burnett, Cook, Crain, Cupp, Close, Crawford, Cunningham, Custard, Curtis, Craig, Downing, Decker, Drew, Doman, Daniels, Dennis, Everett, Edge- comb, Fleming, Fidler and Fensler. In 1848, Jacob Miller laid out West Cairo at the intersection of the Perrysburg and Bucyrus roads, and the village lay dormant awaiting developments until April 12, 1875, when it was organized and it still maintains a corporate existence. Rockport is another hamlet in Monroe. It was platted in 1836 by Samuel Rockhill, and the postoffice there was known as Cranberry. The entire population of Monroe was 1,641, in the 1920 census. Agriculture is its industry. EARLY LIMA-OTTAWA TOWNSHIP When Lima became the seat of government in Allen County March 3, 1831, it was in Bath Township. Christopher Wood of Allen, Justin Hamilton of Mercer, and Adam Barber of Putnam County were the commission appointed by the State of Ohio to locate the county seat in Allen County. This was effected in advance of the formal local organization of Allen County June 6, 1831, from which time official business was all transacted within the bounds of the county. The site was surveyed in April by Justin Hamilton of Mercer—the mother county. It seems that the original plot of Lima is "out of pocket," although a copy of it was made in 1890—since then no one has seen it. However, it is known that lots appraised at $75 as shown on it, have since changed hands at a $50,000 valuation. When Lima was located, the site was a wilderness as yet unfurrowed by the plow, and undisturbed by the sounds of industry. With the pure blue sky above unstained by the smoke of a wilderness cabin, Gen. James W. Riley who had made the original survey of Allen County surveyed the site of the town, and laid off the military square in the center. In lieu of an Allen County courthouse the initial court proceedings June 6, 1831, took place in the cabin home of James Daniels, Sr., on the bank of the Ottawa River east of the military square, and since there were no local hostelries the Daniels home was also open to• strangers.