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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 607 CHAPTER XXII* TODD TOWNSHIP-TOPOGRAPHICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE-ORGANIZATION-FIRST OFFICERS- SETTLEMENT-SOCIAL LIFE-OSCEOLA-RELIGIOUS-SCHOOLS ETC. THE township of Todd has a local history so intimately blended with State and national annals that the territory will ever be looked upon with an increasing interest by lovers of historic lore. The streams, streets, roads and village will be suggestive to coming generations of some hero or heroic deed of the past. * Contributed by F. S. Monnett. The principal stream is the Broken Sword, deriving its name, as usually given, from the following circumstances: When Col. Crawford had made good his escape from the Indians, after the engagement, he missed his nephew, and, retracing his steps, in company with Knight and others in search of him, he was captured by the Delawares, who conducted 608 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. him to Upper Sandusky, and, in coming to this stream, the Colonel drew his sword and broke it over a rock on the bank; hence its name. Another tradition is that a broken sword that had been dropped by the retreating army of Crawford was found by the Indians upon the bank, from which it received its name. This stream is put down on some of the early maps of Ohio as " Crooked-knife-creek." This stream has its most distant source in the southeast of Sandusky Township, and, following a southeasterly course, cutting Todd Township diagonally through the center. Its entire bed in this territory consists of a shaly limestone rock. There are two other streams-Indian Run and Grass Run. The former rises in the northeast part of the township, flowing to the southwest, crossed by the Benton road, two miles north of Osceola. Nothing of general interest is connected with this or Grass Run, which is in the south part of the township. The undulating surface and clay soil of this entire strip of land, in comparison with the level plains skirting it on the south, present a striking contrast. But a very small per cent of the surface of the township consists of black soil. The body is of a pale clay loam, enriched by the mulch of many crops of forest leaves. The soil is filled with stone, mostly bowlders and their fragments, belonging to the Glacial period. The bed of the Broken Sword and its banks are composed of loosely stratified limestone, abounding in well-preserved fossils-fragmentary corals, and shell indentures distinctly outlining several species of the brachiopods. Of the articulates, a small variety of the trilobite are frequently discovered by the workmen. Messrs. Snavely Bros., the principal workers of the quarries in the township, have found many of the above specimens. This calcareous soil and rolling upland has been exceptionally prolific in producing a rank growth of timber. The rapid advance that the woodman has made is astonishing to the early settlers, who still live to see the sudden change take place. Says James Winstead, the first settler of this domain: "There was not a spot in the entire township that you could have driven a wagon over, so dense was the forest and thick the underbrush." Now, arable meadows present themselves to view at every corner, green pasture lands, and stock grazing upon the hillsides, with an occasional wood-field, making an ideal grazing and grain farm. The timber consists principally of beech, maple, several varieties of oak, sycamore, butternut, poplar. The shellbark hickory and the hazel-bush, so common upon the plains, are not found in this near neighboring township. Formerly the black walnut was abundant. Daniel Tuttle says, that many thousand feet of this lumber were sold and delivered at Upper Sandusky for $1.25 per hundred feet. The present Territory of Todd was, previous to 1836, included within the Wyandot Reservation. In the year 1836, the General Government obtained from the Wyandots, by treaty, a tract of land known as the " Three-mile strip " off of the eastern border of the reservation. In the spring of 1837. at a land sale held in Marion, the United States sold to private individuals this land, which was afterward attached to Crawford County, making the full townships, range 15, within her borders. The present township of Eden, Wyandot County, and the territory of Todd, comprised one township, at the first survey, and named Leith, by Judge G. W. Leith, of Nevada, Ohio, and others, in honor of his grandfather, John Leith, a captive of the Wyandot Indians for twenty-nine years. The principal productions of Todd are grain, lumber and lime. The pursuit of her citizens has been changing from the wood and lumber business to wheat-raising and wool-growing, and developing the business of lime-burning. The great amount of waste timber and burning HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 609 of logs in earlier years, led to the manufacture of potash. William Sigler constructed such an establishment in 1841, manufacturing the black salts, which were shipped to Republic. This trade was carried on for ten or twelve years at some profit, as long as the ashes could be obtained at a trivial price. The manufacture of lumber has been a source of considerable revenue to this section. "Bishop " Tuttle built a watermill in 1840, which was run in times of high water at full capacity for several years. After it was purchased by William Sigler, he repaired and improved it by new machinery and steam-power. In addition to coarse lumber, building-laths, shoe-lasts, butter-bowls, "household and kitchen furniture too numerous to mention," were manufactured. In later years a carding machine and fulling-mill were attached. The, chairs manufactured by Mr. Swinford were delivered at Upper Sandusky to Daniel Tuttle, who put on the finishing stroke with his paint-brush and varnish-cup. Their farming and stock-raising is run upon a much smaller scale than their neighbors at the south and west, but their farms of eighty to 160 acres are under excellent cultivation and fine drainage. Their thickly settled farmhouses give the citizens many of the social advantages of village life. At the center of Todd is situated her only village, Osceola a hamlet of 300 inhabitants. There is another town upon the Ohio Central Railroad. that is the town Lemert, so prominently marked upon the county map, which has yet a few unoccupied lots. But, as the demand for produce rises, they will be rapidly taken up for potato patches. The citizens dwelling near this embryo burgh enjoy many of the social advantages of rural life. The first officers of the township were James Winstead and Z. P. Lea, installed and sworn in, under bond of $500, as Trustees of the township of Leith, by James Griffith, Justice of the Peace of Sycamore Township, April 8, 1839. April 9. Jacob Yost was installed as the third Trustee ; G. W. Leith, Justice of the Peace. Stephen White, after a few hours' service as Clerk, resigned, and the new Trustees appointed Ozro N. Kellogg, who took the oath of office April 12, 1839. April 13, the Trustees met and appointed the following officers: Abram Shaffer, Constable; Mordecai McCauley and Z. P. Lea, Supervisors; Adam Bair, G. W. Leith and Lewis Longwell, Fence Viewers; David Kisor Treasurer. G. W. Leith and David Kisor, also, Overseers of the Poor, each under bond of $500. The first official business was transacted at the cabin of James Winstead May 4, 1839, at which time the township was divided into road districts. About this date a dissatisfaction arose among the German settlers and others in the naming of the township. A petition was presented to the Trustees, claiming that the pronouncing of the word "Leith " was a difficult matter for the Germans. In addition, the citizens were not satisfied with John Leith's supposed alliance with the British soldiery. Mr. Winstead, for the plaintiff and G. W. Leith for the defendant. proceeded to Bucyrus to represent the case before the County Commissioners. The defendant lost his case, and the Township Trustees were delegated power to make a change in the name. In their next meeting of June 23, 1839, the name "Center " was substituted for "Leith," as the geographical center of Crawford at that time lay within this township. The first election was held at the house of Mordecai McCauley. The first officers of Center were John Horrick, James Winstead, John Cronebaugh, Trustees, David Kisor, Treasurer ; and James B. Robinson, Clerk. At the re-division of the county in 1845, the boundary lines of Center were so changed that the original name would no longer be appropriate, and this territory received the name of Eden, on the west and the eastern strip, embracing Sections 1, 2, 11-14, 23-26, 35 and 36. of Township ; 1, 2, 11 and 14 of Township 3, Range 15, was named Todd. 610 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. This embraced a strip of territory nine miles in length and two in breadth, at the west central of Crawford ; bounded on the north by Texas ; east, Holmes and Bucyrus ; south, Dallas : and west, Eden Township, of Wyandot County. The first officers of Todd were James Winstead, Isaac Miller. Daniel Tuttle. Trustees, John Forster, Clerk. (Isaac Miller was also sworn in as Treasurer April 7, 1845). F. G. Hesche. Assessor ; Franklin Rapenow. Constable : John Forster, Clerk of the board ; William Andrews. Judge of the Election. The first business of Todd was transacted at the house of Isaac Miller of Osceola, which was to levy a special tax of five mills for school. road and "poor" purposes. The following are the list of Justices of the Peace: G. W. Leith, commissioned by Wilson Shannon, Governor of Ohio, May 20, 1839 : William Brown, commissioned by same on the same day ; Daniel Tuttle. commissioned by Gov. Thomas Corwin April 30, 1842-43-44 and 45: Robert Andrews, 1846; Cyrus F. Jaqurth, 1847; John Gorden, 1849; Jacob Steiner, 1850: R. M. Hull. Clerk; Horace Martin 1851; James Clegard, Samuel Swisher, by Gov. Wood, 1852 : John Dome, Clerk ; O. W. Johnston, 1854; Horace Martin, 1857-58: Seneca Leonard, Clerk; Fred Wise 1857: G. W. Willoughby. 1860. Sold, as was the land of this township, at public sale, and all the neighboring land to the east having been improved, for ten or twelve years, it met with a ready market, both from agents representing Eastern capitalists, local syndicates, and private parties. Mr. Howland. the principal foreign purchaser, was a son-in-law of Humphrey Howland, of Cayuga, N. Y. His purchases were 1,400 acres, a part of which lay in the present territory of Todd. The choice and central tract was purchased by the Osceola Company, composed of Bucyrus and Marion capitalists ; Messrs. Zalmon Rowse, Gen. Myers. Abram Holm, Jacob Shafer, of Bucyrus ; Cox and Young, of Marion County. This syndicate was supposed to have been formed at Marion, on the day of the sale, in April, 1837 ; but, from subsequent planning and development, it was undoubtedly planned and organized previous to the sale. The first and principal private buyers were Judge G. W. Leith, James Winstead, Daniel Tuttle and Jacob Shaffer, of Fairfield County. It is a matter of dispute between .Judge Leith and the Hon. James Winstead, which were the first to take up their abode in this almost trackless forest. We believe, however, that it is generally conceded that Winstead was on the spot with intentions of residing one day earlier than any other "paleface." Perhaps there were no three parties more intimately connected with the official proceedings. social customs, and other incidents of the first settlement of Todd than were James Winstead, Judge Leith and Daniel Tuttle. These venerable gentlemen still dwell in our midst to counsel and advise. Mr. Winstead, the eldest, is the best-preserved physically, and his mind is still as active and vigorous as a middle-aged man. He and his aged companion, his senior by two years, at present reside in a comfortable frame cottage in Wyandot County, four miles northwest of the village of Osceola. Mr. Winstead was born in Shenandoah County, Va., in the year 1801. Being of an adventurous turn of mind, he started for the new State of Ohio in 1816, and took up his abode in Fairfield County that same year. Two years afterward, he was married to his present bride-he at the age of nineteen, and she twenty-two years. These octogenarians have traveled down the lane of life together for sixty-two years, twelve years beyond their golden wedding. Mr. Winstead removed from Fairfield County to Bowserville, now in Wyandot County, in 1826. Here he built a small cabin upon the edge of the reservation, and followed his trade of silver and coppersmith. His principal patronage came from the Wyandot Indians, who had in HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 611 their possession much ore that they obtained from the Michigan mines. They paid liberally to have the silver and copper manufactured into rings, bracelets and anklets, beads for the chiefs, and many other attractive ornaments that would please their fancy. The greatest demand was for silver and copper crosses, that those of the Catholic faith would have made for themselves and their papooses. Those crosses, made of copper, would frequently weigh five or six ounces, which they wore suspended from their necks. His fame as a worker in silver and copper spread among the Indians, and his trade increased. The Indians wished him to move upon their reservation to some more central point. This he at first refused to do, but they continued to offer inducements, promising him a double log-cabin that had been built by some white trader, east of Upper Sandusky, with an orchard, all the clear ground he wished to cultivate; in addition. they would furnish him meats and give him all the labor he could do at his trade. The offer was finally accepted, and, in 1829, he moved into their midst, and found them strict in keeping their word, and treated him with all the civilities that an enlightened nation would. Perhaps there is no one citizen living that has a better knowledge of the Wyandot Indians than Mr , Winstead. He traveled with them in their hunting excursions, sat around their camp fires, traded with them, mingled in their religious exercises, took part in their social sports, listened to their traditions. and it is his testimony that they respected their words, pledges, and trading agreements, and less deception and lying was used to one another than it has been his fortune to experience among the "pale faces." The story of Mother Cherokee, one of the most intelligent of the old squaws, was related to Mr. Winstead, concerning Col. Crawford's death. Mother Cherokee had been an eyewitness to the horrible torture, and frequently related it to the younger generation. Her story of the engagement and capture does not differ materially from that of Walker and others, but her story of the execution was "that but one white man and Simon Girty were present; that Col. Crawford was not tied to a stake, but his hands were bound by a withe over a limb of a tree above his head and left in that position all night and the next forenoon, until other warriors could arrive to witness the burning. Quite a number slept the night before around the same fire, near by that used to torture him. All having arrived by noon on the following day, they began by taking brands from the fire, and touched him first on the toes, his leaping causing great amusement for the bystanders. When the feet and toes were no longer sensible to the fire-brands, they would apply them a little above, benumbing the limbs by inches, so that the torture might be prolonged and life preserved as long as possible. When this process had been pursued until the numbness was approaching rapidly his vitals. they cut the withe, and Crawford fell forward upon his face. A squaw, with a piece of bark, scooped up some coals and hot embers. piling them between his shoulders. which caused him to immediately throw himself over, but he was unable to rise, as his legs and hips were entirely benumbed." The substance of the above was so often related, and with such accuracy, by "Mrs. Cherokee." that Mr. Winstead thinks it the nearest correct account of this horrible execution. Mr. Winstead removed from his Sandusky home to a quarter of Section 11, in the northern part of Told Township. In the late spring of 1837, a rough cabin was erected from the nearest logs, which had puncheon floors, but his first house was ornamented with glass window panes. So thick were the woods that he was obliged to cut a wagon road to the present site of Osceola, before he could get to his farm with oxen and wagon. This led to the Perrysburg road, which gave him access to Upper Sandusky. In the following year, Mr. Tuttle built 612 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. a water-mill upon the Broken Sword, which furnished them lumber for further improvement ; the first lumber, however, was obtained at the old Indian mill, at Upper Sandusky. In the same year, a number of families settled at Osceola, among whom were Mordecai McCauley, Jacob Yost, Adam Bair, Daniel Tuttle, Z. P. Lea, David Kisor and others. Mr. Winstead wished to have a clearer road between his farm and the village, so that, in the following year, a wood-chopping bee was given by him. Says be: " I got two miles of road cleared for a gallon o' whisky," a drink that it will be observed the primitive settlers of this forest were partial to. Edward and Ozro N. Kellogg were his first near neighbors, who purchased farms at the same date as Mr. Winstead, but did not move upon the land until 1838. The dense forest and thick underbrush, together with the miry ravines, made traveling, other than on foot, almost an impossibility for a greater part of the year. These few families were obliged to be satisfied with the usual fare of pioneers for several years after their neighbors to the east and south were comfortably fixed. The improvements and enterprise on every side of them was a great advantage to them in furnishing them supplies. The stock from the plains and other settlements, especially the hogs, would wander into these unfenced woods, for mast and browsing, which supplied them with a change of diet in the fall of the year. From these settled districts, this forest became so supplied with the wild hog that it was dangerous traveling without a rifle to protect one's self. A narrow escape is related by Mr. Winstead, concerning Zach Lea. Mr. Lea, in company with Mr. Forster, his son-in-law, were in search of their winter's meat, in the fall of 1841. After a short journey, in the northern part of this wood, Mr. Forster spied his game, leveled his fusee at a swine industriously plying her art of cultivating the soil. The ball was not fatal, and her unprecedented squealing caused Mr. Lea to make his retreat to a neighboring log, but he was not secure, for her grim, bristly mate, being warned of danger, by the yells, came dashing through the under-brush, with all the rage of an infuriated lion, and with a bound, knocked Mr. Lea headlong from the log. The timely presence of their bull dog turned the foaming boar from his victim to self-defense. Had it not been for this, Mr. Lea said he could not have escaped with his life. Their principal supply of meat came from the deer and turkey. Deer were frequently met with as late as 1850, and, in recent years, the neighboring forests contained flocks of the wild turkey. Their ammunition was too expensive to waste upon squirrel and quail, so that this game became very plentiful. George W. Leith, of Nevada, the history of whose grandparents, John Leith and Sally (Lowry) Leith, are so intimately connected with the Indian history, that it need not be recorded here. The name of Judge Leith occurs in all the official proceedings, in the formation of the township. The fruit of his labor and brains may be observed in almost every enterprise of the township. His intimate acquaintance with the Indians for many years gave him a knowledge of their customs and habits, quite extended and varied. " In all their proceedings in public assemblies," says the Judge, "they were courteous and obedient to their speaker and chiefs ; never, in all their public transactions, did I see two attempting to speak at a time." This same courtesy was observed in their business transactions and social relation, and even in their quarrels," as the following anecdote will illustrate: "Seated one autumn day at the village of Osceola, where the Indians were constantly loafing, my eye fell upon a very interesting and comical sight. Two Indians, having some misunderstanding over the ownership of a pair of fine turkeys, fell to quarreling ; the one was a large, raw-boned, surly fellow with down-cast eyes, would not HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 613 move a muscle ; the other one was of small stature, having one leg all drawn out of shape. The little lame Indian would bob around his adversary like a blue jay, gesticulating most wildly, abusing his opponent with the strongest language at his command. When he would cease, absolute silence would prevail for several minutes, then the large one would reply without stirring, in equally opprobrious terms. Silence again for several minutes, and the lame one would commence his bobbing and hopping." The great contrast in the two characters, and the courtesy of silence between the speeches of each, almost convulsed the by-standers with laughter. No other citizen, perhaps, did as much personal work at the village of Osceola, in her different business transactions in the first six years, as Daniel Tuttle, better known as "Bishop Tuttle." at present, a resident of Texas Township. Mr. Tuttle came to Osceola late in 1840. He was attracted to this location under the "county-seat - boom," an account of which will be given in connection with the village history. Mr. Tuttle's life has been one of great activity and wide observation. He was born at Southbury, Conn., in 1801 ; was left an orphan at three years old. After a schooling of four winters, he was bound out to a clock manufacturing company, Jones & Darrow. At twenty-six years of age, he became their traveling agent in the East, and afterward through the Central and Southern States. Between the years 1827 and 1840, he had traveled from Portland, Me., to New Orleans. being a "Yankee clock-peddler" at many intermediate points. He came first to the intended county seat in 1840, when the Osceola road was an Indian trail from Bucyrus to McCutchinsville. Mr. Tuttle, being in Bucyrus, observed at what cost her citizens were obtaining their lime, hauling it forty miles, determined on his return to test the calcareous quality of the Broken Sword shale. He stated to his friends at Bucyrus that this was the quality of stone from which to manufacture lime, but was jeeringly contradicted. He succeeded in procuring some fine quality of lime from his first trial, and immediately contracted with Bucyrus builders to furnish them lime at 12 cents per bushel. In 1841, he constructed a rude kiln and employed Lyman King to do the burning. At the residence of Daniel Tuttle, which stood opposite the present dwelling of Mr. Wilson, in Osceola, quite a strange incident occurred, that would be remembered by almost any Eastern bred family of later day. In their first cabin, they were unprovided with locks, and scarcely did they ever attach any additional fastening to the outer door. One night, shortly after they moved to their new village home, Mrs. Tuttle was awakened by some strange noise in the house. As it consisted only of one room, and that well lighted by the flickering blaze from a huge fireplace, it was only necessary in order to search the house to lift her head out from under the "cover," and inspect matters. On doing so, she was extremely frightened at seeing the floor filled with sleeping, snoring Indians, none of whom had registered "to be called for the early train." The involuntary landlord left his easily accommodated guests to "sweetly sleep till morn." They had been to Bucyrus, indulging too freely in their "national beverage," and the six-mile trip to Osceola had worn off the exhilarating effects so that they had taken this means of getting a comfortable place in which to sober up. This trick was frequently repeated in after years, not only with Mr. Tuttle, but other of the early settlers. They were so sly and quiet in their nocturnal intrusions that it was a rare occurrence for them to be detected. After the further opening up of the Perrysburg road, there was some general travel that made a demand for a public inn. Mr. Tuttle built a small addition to his house, 614 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. which was afterward enlarged into a two-story frame tavern, in which he presided as "mine host" for several years. He was the entertainer of the Osceola Company that met in this village quite frequently in the first few years of its existence to arrange their fiscal matters. Mr. Tuttle engaged in the fur trade in 1842, and did other trafficking with the Indians. In the years 1842-43, he was offered by his Indian customers a fine lot of venison hams, which he purchased and sledged to Sandusky City, receiving but 6 cents per pound. Mr. Tuttle was the first Postmaster, and received his commission from Postmaster General Amos Kendall for the years 1841-42-43. His remuneration came from the postage, the price of a letter ranging from 5 to 25 cents, being regulated by the distance transported. The mail in those years was necessarily limited at rural points, but the paucity of mail matters at this post was very marked, there being on an average about three letters and two papers at each mail, which came once a week from the East and West. Another of the early settlers possessing business enterprises was Samuel Swineford, who moved to the Broken Sword in 1841 and engaged in the chair manufactory. After three years of this business he moved upon a farm two miles northeast of Osceola, from there to Van Wert, where he is at present engaged in the grocery business. John Horrick bought eighty acres southwest of Osceola, at the sales, and made great improvement in clearing and farming his land. at the same time exercising his talents in presenting the political issues of the day to his neighbors, being especially earnest in the Harrison campaign. Mr. Horrick raised a family of two sons and three daughters, some of whom are still citizens of Todd. He removed to Indiana in 1870. Rev. Samuel P. Shaw was one of the most noted citizens that dwelt in the land of Todd. His education and public labors, together with his financial success, have given him a reputation beyond his neighborhood and State. He was admitted into the Ohio Conference in 1825, discharging his pastoral duties for thirteen years. In 1839. he moved upon his farm in southern Dallas and traveled the neighboring circuit in connection with his business. In 1855. he moved to this present township, where he resided, four miles south of Osceola, until his death in 1875. The remains of Rev. Shaw were interred in the Monnett cemetery, in Bucyrus Township. It is not definitely remembered who has the honor of being the " first-born" of this township. It is generally conceded to Mr. William Hartman as being the father of the first "bouncing boy," weighing eight pounds," August 1838. The whereabouts of this honored personage, we were unable to learn. The first marriages celebrated in the northern part of Todd, were Isaac Miller and Miss Jane Lea, and Stephen White and Miss Mary Lea. 1838, by Zalmon Rowse. One of the first altars erected to Hymen in the village. was at the residence of William E. Brown, William W. Norton, of Big Island, Marion County, and Mary Brown of Osceola, were here sacrificed to appease that deity's ire, January 8, 1841, by J. C. Stein, Justice of the Peace for Bucyrus Township. This ceremony is vividly remembered by the latter official, who relates some of the circumstances connetted therewith as follows : "I was called upon to perform this ceremony at a time of year when the most miserable of all roads were at their worst. There was sufficient frost to make the walking uncertain and the ice on the streams unsupportable. It was an impossibility to drive from Bucyrus to Osceola in a buggy, could one have been procured. Allowing myself plenty of time. I concluded to make the trip on foot. After a circuitous meandering through the woods, over logs and through mud-holes, I arrived at Grass Run, which was HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 615 quite swollen and bridgeless. The lateness of the hour forced me to a hasty decision, which was to attempt to cross on rather an insecure limb: but, like a friend in need, it failed to furnish its support at the most critical moment. giving me an opportunity to rehearse the oath before the evening ceremony, in water up to my neck, at freezing point. I arrived a little late at the village and coolly walked to a friend's to brush up a little for the festive occasion. The ceremony was performed without referring to the incident." It was not an uncommon thing for the merchants to transport their goods by pack-horses, so miserable was this quagmire between Bucyrus and Osceola, pseudonymously called a road. The risk of injury to goods transported over such a bog was often equal to the price of the merchandise. its the following incident will prove: Previous to the removal of the Wyandot Indians to their Kansas reservation, Osceola was one of their favorite loafing places ; especially would they frequent this locality on the Sabbath Day. Jacob Yost, who kept a supply of "goods" on hand that was notoriously in demand with the Indians, wished to supplement his limited supply for the coming Sabbath's trade. Himself, Mordecai McCauley and Adam Bair started, on foot, for Bucyrus, with two jugs apiece, and were making excellent time until they arrived on their return at the Broken Sword. McCauley, who was already feeling the ground arise before him, ventured first upon the ice, and unceremoniously sat down between two broken jugs of the supplies. His maudlin companions upon the bank quoted him several chapters of profane history as a reprimand for his carelessness, and the proprietor, with an exemplary stride, led the way with his precious freight, when suddenly he saw something at the surface of the ice, he wanted to mark with his thumb, and, in his rush. with his foot, called the attention of his comrade. Bair, to the same object. Here they remained eyeing one another, while the contents of six jugs of "old rye " was running around them on the frozen surface, unable to get away. They began picking holes in the ice with their knives, to collect the valued commodity. As fast as these reservoirs would fill, the economical artificers would imbibe the contents. They soon became so lushy that they unconsciously fell over and lay there until they were dragged to the bank and taken to their cabins for repairs. Another incident of a bibacious character occurred under the observation of Mr. Winstead. It illustrates, however, much more wit than the above occurrence. Schierhess, an Indian of some note among the Wyandots, came to the village with a limited amount of collateral security to procure some stimulant for his squaw, who was quite weakly and had the care of a papoose. Schierhess invested all his purse in whisky, but before he left had made an inward application of the tonic for the strengthening of his own system. The bar-tender doing strictly a cash business and the Indian's funds exhausted, it became necessary to obtain some medium of exchange to procure the stimulant. Schierhess addressed Jimmy McKane, a white settler, who stood near, and asked him to purchase a bee-tree. The bargain was stated and accepted by McKane, who paid 50 cents, the price asked for the bee-tree. Schierhess purchased his liquor and went his way with it, and McKane, with buckets, ax and assistance, started to the spot described, and found a hickory sapling, blazed by a tomahawk, and, at a distance, a poplar sapling, with a similar blazed spot, and, between the two, a large oak, all of which had been definitely pictured out by the Indian. But, upon felling the oak, not a sign of bees or honey was to be found. A few days after, he met the Indian, whom he immediately accused of lying to him. Schierhess looked sternly at McKane, and asked if he did not " find the two saplings, blazed by a tomahawk, and the oak between them," to 616 - HISTORY OF CRAW FORD COUNTY. which McKane assented. "Well," said the Indian, "there were two truths to one lie, heap dam better than a white man do," and pulled out some money and repaid McKane. Among the early industries that have not been mentioned, was the tannery, in 1847, at the southwest corner of the village of Osceola. Amos Souder " hung out a calf-tail" and offered to pay "cash for hides and pelts." Mr. Souder continued this business some twelve years, converting the local supply into leather for the Sandusky City market. The tan-yard has never been repaired, and at present the township " sports " no tan-vats. Another enterprise that has ceased to be carried on is the saleratus manufactory. In 1858, R. G. Merry launched forth his capital and started to manufacture the carbonated pearl-ash for the many matrons in the bread-baking business. The fiscal returns were too meager to warrant a continuation, and this business was followed no more in Todd, at the end of four years' trial. The most lucrative pursuit for the capital employed, as well as the principal source of revenue to the village, is the manufacturing of lime. This trade, that was opened up by Bishop Tuttle's experimental burning, has been continually engaged in until the present date. William Miller and the three sons of S. D. Snavely are the principal parties now engaged in the traffic ; David, Joseph and Moses Snavely, each running kilns, which, with Mr. Miller's, makes in all from 200 to 250 kilns that are annually burned, realizing, on the average, $50 per kiln. They supply the neighboring towns for building and gas purposes at $18 per bushel. delivered. The only grist-mill of any special note, is the present Limestone Island Mill, situated in the easten edge of the village, upon what was formerly an island in the Broken Sword. It was built as a water-mill, in 1854, by David Neely, the dam was destroyed in 1860, and the race is now "run " out. Mr. Neely sold the property in 1862, to A. N. Stonebreaker. After five years, it again changed hands, Judd and Deck being the purchasers. In 1867, Garrett Zeigler invested in the property, and was the sole proprietor for four years, when it was again sold, Mr. Stull being the buyer. After owning it from 1871 to 1873, he took, as a partner, Mr. A. N. Phillips, who is at present running the mill at its full capacity, both for local custom and general trade. Enough has incidentally been mentioned already, concerning the roads of Todd, to give the general reader some idea of their former condition. Being so densely covered with timber as was this township. the roads when once hewn for wagon passengers, were scarcely exposed to the sun's rays an hour per clay, and, when cut into ruts, with the exception of the month of August, they were not free from water and mud the entire year. Various expedients were resorted to, but the wealth of the township has not warranted making any permanent improvement as yet. The plank road, leading from Bucyrus to Osceola, was only temporarily of any value. The boards, exposed to sun and water, were soon warped and loosened, making the board track impassable for vehicles after a few years' usage. By an efficient system of drainage and grading, the roads for most of the year are as passable as those of the neighboring townships of greater age and wealth. If the couplet, now so trite, of J. G. Whittier, "Of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these, it might have been." ever fell with force upon the ears of mortal, it was doubly emphatic to the early settlers and organizers of the village of Osceola. That which Irving has written concerning the pristine appearance of a spot, now far more famous in history than the stream and surroundings of this village, but certainly not more romantic with some modification, would be applicable to Osceola. "Wildness and savage majesty reigned on the borders of her stream. The hand of HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 617 cultivation had not yet laid down the dark forest and tamed the features of the landscape, nor had the echoes of civilized commerce broken in upon the profound solitude of the ages. Now and then would break forth from the banks of the Broken Sword, the notes of an innumerable variety of insects which filled the air with a strange, but not inharmonious concert, while ever and anon was heard the melancholy plaint of the whip-poor-will, who, perched on some lone tree, wearied the ear of night with his incessant moanings. The mind of the pioneer, soothed into a hallowed melancholy, listened with pensive stillness to catch and distinguish each sound that vaguely echoed from the lonely wood, now and then startled, perchance, by the whoop of some straggling savage, or the dreary howl of a wolf stealing forth upon his nightly prowlings." This beautiful description is not too highly colored to be an appropriate one for the scenes and surroundings of Osceola within less than a halfcentury past. The capitalists of the surrounding country, attracted by the wild and romantic scenery of the Broken Sword, looked with a covetous eye upon the possessions of their uncivilized neighbors. The original plat of Osceola was one of the first sections purchased in 1837, as above mentioned, by the Osceola Company, composed of Bucyrus and Marion capitalists. Early in the following year. a portion of the forest upon the north bank of the Broken Sword, in central Todd, was measured by the agents of the company for the laying-out of a new county seat, making the main street east and west, ninety feet ; and, at the crossing of the north and south road, of same width, was left a square, the latter deriving its name from the stream it crosses, is designated Broken Sword avenue. There are six streets running parallel with the avenue, beginning at the third one west, as First street. The one running with the stream and parallel with Main, was christened Water street, and the one at the north of Main as High street. The village derived its euphonious and poetical sounding name from the chivalrous and indomitable chief of the Seminoles -Osceola. Dr. Andrew Hetich, Sr., of Bucyrus, being an admirer of this valiant chief, and a sympathizer with him in his tragical death, suggested his as a very suitable name for the embryonic city. In latter years, through an inexcusable carelessness, the orthography has been changed to "Oceola," omitting the s. The Postal Department having written to Mr. Garrigus, the present Postmaster, for the way it was most commonly spelled, he was obliged to give preference to the corruption. Although the two orthographies are still used, business men and others from a distance use the original spelling, which should be preserved. The company employed Mr. Adam Bair, McCauley and others to clear off the underbrush, and mark out more distinctly the streets, and put up some cabins previous to the public sale of lots in 1838. The rise and growth of the village can be best understood by listening to the story of Messrs. Winstead, Tuttle, Leith and others who participated in constructing the " citadel and building the outer walls," which, in substance, is as follows: " The Osceola Company had spared no pains to advertise extensively the intended change of the county seat to the new and centrally located village of Osceola, upon the Broken Sword. Young men of enterprise and old men with capital were eager to invest in the choice lots. It became a matter of exciting interest to the neighboring farmer who thought himself so fortunate as to be an owner of the suburbs of the county seat, so that, by the day of sale, anxious bidders, with wise looks, hung close to the auction block to be first to get corner lots." Some had the numbered lots drawn upon a plat of the village, which they would slyly consult. As the crier would call out the lucky numbers they would rush up and invest their all. Lots in suburbs 618 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. sold from $18 to $20, while the corner lots reached $195, a sum that would have purchased half that many acres within a mile of the site before the county-seat boom was let loose. "The gulled and inexperienced real-estate dealer would urge his less credulous neighbor over logs and underbrush to the coveted spot of his possession, and expatiate upon his blocks and laden store-rooms about to be. Upon the square was a well only six feet deep, brimful of water. that the future business men and citizens would frequent, and discuss the excellent qualities and the purity of the liquid as "sweet as spring water."' Under the excitement the lots were all disposed of, the only strange matter being that the company did not reserve any real estate for future speculation. The Bucyrus capitalists were found to have changed their mind shortly afterward, and a bill was presented to the General Assembly to have the counties of Crawford and Marion so divided as to throw Bucyrus in a more central point, that she might retain the county seat, and erect the new county of Wyandot. This was consummated in 1845, which punctured the bubble that the 0sceoleans so credulously believed a reality. The Hon. McCutcheon, then elected to the State Senate, with the understanding among his constituents at the new village that he would advocate the locating of the county seat at their city, was found to have voted upon and advocated the opposite side of the question. The contents of the well in the square, so prominent a feature in the new town at the day of the sale, were soon exhausted. On investigation, it was found to have been dug the day previous by Adam Bair and filled with water carried in buckets from the Broken Sword by Bair and Turner. When it was verified that "there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; neither hid that shall not be known ;" and no further hope of obtaining the "capital," Mr. Tuttle, their first merchant and manufacturer, among others, withdrew to Upper Sandusky and other points of more promise. to engage in business. John Turner was engaged in miscellaneous merchandizing until the Mexican war, in which he enlisted. and nothing more was heard of him. Jacob Yost remained, and continued his trading with the Indians. Mr. Yost has the credit of having, built the first frame dwelling-house, which stood upon the lot joining Mr. Grubb's store lot. Previous to the building of the present town hall, a plain square frame building at north central of the town, the public business was conducted in dwelling houses and the village schoolhouse. The town, having failed to secure the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad. evidently can never be a commercial center of any prominence, although at present, with her rural wealth and lime traffic, she does a thriving local trade. Her principal merchants at present are Mr. Grubb, who purchased his store building of Rodney Pool, the builder and owner of the first store building of the village. Richard T. Garrigus owns one of the principal miscellaneous stores, at present dealing in dry goods, groceries and hardware. Mr. Garrigus has also the postal department connected with his store-room, of which he is the Postmaster. Samuel Tetreech is engaged in the dry goods and grocery business. The first and only drug store of the town is the present room at the northwest corner of the square, fitted up in the summer of 1880 for that business by Thomas Kelly, the present proprietor. The first divine services in this village were held in the cabins of the devotees of their faith soon after the organization of the township. Mr. and Mrs. Zack Lea, residents of the northern part of the township, led these cottage meetings as early as 1838. through whose labors the Methodist Episcopal society was established, which afterward built the first Methodist Episcopal Church in Benton. Edward and Ezra Kellogg, neighbors of Mr. Lea. were Universalists. But no organization of this faith was established in the immediate vicinity, their HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. - 619 principal place of worship being at Osceola. There being no churches in the rural portions of Todd her church history is mostly connected with that of the village, which is so complex and limited that an accurate analysis would be of as little interest as profit to the writer or the reader. In brief, it is as follows: The early history of the denominations. which included, between tile years 1838 and 1845. Methodist, Campbellite, Brethren, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Universalists, with an occasional Quaker. shows that they believed more in "fusion " at this corner of the "moral heritage " than is customary for such a variety of "isms " differing so widely in doctrinal dogmas. Coming from so many sections of the country as did these first dwellers, it was not strange that their religious views were equally as various. But the daily race they had, in common, for"bread and butter," rapidly broke down inbred prejudices, and mollified their feelings of hostility- usually harbored against all creeds but their own. No single denomination having the resources to build an ecclesiastical edifice, they all worshiped for the first ten years in the schoolhouse situated upon the site of the present brick school building, which as the citizens say, "Never was allowed to Grow cold from September till May." School through the day, and every night some denomination would conduct services therein, and upon the Sabbath, as late as 1853-54, two ministers of different denominations would hold union services, preaching, to the: same chosen seed. The first work wrought in their midst by laborers from abroad, was the establishment of a Bible society in 1832-40, by Rev. George Reid and J. B. Robinson, both of Bucyrus. The first minister receiving any salary carne from Bucyrus, the Rev. Mathews of the Presbyterian faith. He began evangelizing this people at stated intervals in 1845-46. Jacob Suavely and William Gordon were the official "pillars" of this organization. In the same year, the Methodist Episcopal denomination was organized into a distinct body, under the preaching of Rev. Royce the leading workers being Jesse Jaquith, M. Bough, John Welsh. It was incorporated at this date into Melmore Circuit. North Ohio Conference. The following are among the early ministers Rev. Henry Warner, preacher in charge, and Rev. G. W. Collier his colleague, 1850-51 ; Rev. Henry Warner. P. C., Rev. T. J. Monnett, Col., 1852-53 ; Rev. Luke S. Johnson, P. C., Rev. William R. Kistler, Col., 1853-54; Rev. Thomas Thompson (supply); Rev. William C. Heustiss, P. C. Rev. William Spafford,1854-55 ; Rev. Ralph Wilcox, P. C., Rev. Uri Richards, Col.. 1855-56. This Methodist Episcopal preaching point was never recognized as a charge, until the organization effected by the present pastor, Rev. Stephen Fant, under whom the circuit has been definitely limited and a parsonage purchased, and other improvements that give it more prestige than at any previous time in its history. About the time of the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the United Brethren Society became a separate body of worshipers, M. L. Simons and Samuel Swisher having organized a class which received preaching for several years at the frame schoolhouse. The early ministers were Revs. Tablor, Wicks and Downing. Rev. Long is their present Pastor. This society at present is perhaps the wealthiest, and has the largest congregation. The Campbellites were one of the strongest organizations of the village from 1850 to 1860, numbering at that time thirty or more members. The patriotism of their disciples drew so upon the society that they were not re-organized subsequent to the war. Their first minister and organizer was the talented and educated Rev. Andrew Burns, brother of Bon. B. Burns, of Mansfield. Among the others that are remembered as 820 - HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. prominent is Rev. Doeling, of Marion. The members of this faith at present are united with congregations in neighboring villages. The Sunday-school work of the township and village has been conducted in unison for a greater period, and more harmoniously, than the other theopneustic labors in the church, the first regular Sunday-school having been organized and conducted under the leadership of Capt. J. Wert in the summer of 1846. For seven years this union Sunday-school was conducted in the day-school house, with an attendance varying from seventy to eighty pupils. In the summer of 1854, the union school was transferred to the United Brethren Church, shortly after which the Methodist Episcopal portion of the school withdrew, and organized, with Eli Evans as Superintendent, enrolling, on an average, thirty scholars. In the winter season, the two denominations would conduct union schools, until 1860 ; since that date, both denominations have held yearly sessions, with an enrollment of thirty to fifty pupils each. One of the ablest apostles of abstinence, who has left an impress upon the minds of the early settlers of this section, was Mrs. Trimble, of Bucyrus, mother of W. C. Trimble, now of Mansfield. Her individual efforts resulted in some immediate fruits, and left a lasting impression upon the minds of her hearers. The first schoolhouse was situated southwest of the village, about one-quarter of a mile from the square. The structure had all the pioneer provisions and improvements that were then attainable; a roomy fire-place, stick chimney, doors and windows, with the true Ruskin arch, benches and writing-desks made from original designs. The first school was opened up and conducted by Miss Jane Snavely in the summer of 1839, receiving $10 per month. She was succeeded in the winter term by her brother, at $15 per month. The first building used for school purposes within the city limits of Osceola, was a log cabin, a former domicile of the red man. This was used but two short terms, when a neat, square-log building was erected, especially for school purposes, on the site of the present brick school building. This last cabin was replaced, in 1846, by a frame edifice, which served for academic purposes until 1855, when the Methodist Church purchased the property, and another frame building, consisting of two stories and three rooms, built by John Dome and R. T. Garrigus, contractors, on the same spot. The fine brick structure, with, at present, two departments, immediately succeeded the second frame. The contractors were Messrs. Kimmis & Powers, at a bid of $3,400. The A division enrolls, at present, fifteen males and twenty females Mr. E. N. Jump, teacher. Room B enrolls twenty-one males and twenty-one females-Miss Mary Jones, of Bucyrus, teacher. The interest manifested by the citizens in school matters is sufficiently evinced by the fine building, considering the limited number of pupils ; and the choice of such competent instructors as the present corps. PAGE 621 - PICTURE OF LEWIS LEMERT PAGE 622 - BLANK |