100 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
cause of the death of Mr. Cowen was undoubtedly due to heart disease.—ED.] The news of the death soon drew a crowd about the office, and as one after another passed in to gaze at the inanimate form so suddenly and unexpectedly stricken down, strong men were bowed with grief, eyes unused to weep were suffused with tears, and one and all stood almost speechless, feeling that they were in the presence of death, and realizing how impotent is man when the hand of the destroyer is upon him. As soon as possible the body was removed to the house of the family, where it was dressed for the grave. During the afternoon and evening, many of our leading citizens called to offer their assistance, to speak a word of comfort to the bereaved ones, or to shed, with the almost distracted widow, the sympathizing tear. The personal character of Mr. Cowen was endowed with all those high qualities that contribute to the formation of an almost perfect man. Invariably courteous, alike to friends, acquaintances and strangers, at all times manifesting a respect for their opinions, yet not forgetting to exact what was due to himself ; a keen perception of the right, and a strong, unyielding devotion to principle; a courage unquestioned, but controlled by temper, kind and respectful to others, and honor intact, he won troops of friends and admirers from all ranks and conditions of people, and became one of the recognized leading spirits in community, county and district. In early life, Mr. Cowen was a Republican, and voted for Abraham Lincoln in 1860; but soon after entering the military service, his political opinions underwent a change, and he became a Democrat, of the conservative school. He recognized party only as far as its aims tended to serve the greatest good to the greatest number. Personally, he had no ambition for political distinction. He sought to aid rather than direct in the counsels of his political friends, and his advice was always well received, because he seldom yielded to the impulse of the moment, but made his tongue wait upon his judgment, which was always marked with strong, practical good sense. Once, since he came among us, he yielded to earnest solicitation, and stood for the office of Village Solicitor. His election, in a precinct quite evenly divided, is a fair criterion of the estimation in which he was held by his fellow-citizens. Last season he was repeatedly solicited to allow his name to be used in connection with the office of Judge of Common Pleas, but he invariably declined, alleging, as a reason for his declination, that he was too young and inexperienced to occupy a position so honorable and responsible. In the more intimate and tender relations which bound him to kindred and family, he was all that friendship could claim or affection enjoin—an affectionate son, a kind brother, a most devoted husband and indulgent father; his every effort was devoted to their comfort and welfare, Indeed,
" His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him, that nature might stand up
And say to all the world, This was a man.' "
The following resolutions were passed by the Bryan and Defiance Bar at Bryan, Ohio, January 21, 1873, on the death of Thomas T. Cowen:
The Williams and Defiance County Bar met at the court house, pursuant to call, and organized by appointing the Hon. S. E. Blakeslee, Chairman, and L. E. Brewster, Esq., Secretary.
On motion, Mr. Selwin, N. Owen and John A. Simon, of Williams, and William D. Hill, of Defiance County, were appointed a Committee on Resolutions. The committee reported the following preamble and resolutions, which, on motion, were adopted, to wit:
WHEREAS, By the decree of a mysterious Providence, death, without a note of warning or premonition, has come into our midst and taken from us our honored brother and professional associate, Thomas T. Cowen, in the very bloom of his manhood and his usefulness, and
WHEREAS, It is due to his memory that we give some expression to our appreciation of his worth, and our keen sense of our loss, therefore be it
Resolved, By this meeting of his late professional associates, that words are too weak to bear to the World an adequate expression of the deep sense of sadness at our loss, the warm personal affection for our dead brother, the many tender recollections of his busy and useful life and the profound and sad solicitude for his stricken family, which rill our hearts at this moment and seem struggling for utterance, but nevertheless, as an inadequate expression of our feelings on this occasion, be it further
Resolved, That in the death of Thomas T. Cowen the legal profession has lost an able, honored and distinguished member, as well as an eminently genial and social companion; society an exemplary citizen, and an upright man; the cause of justice a fearless champion; his bereaved family a faithful and an affec tionate husband and father, and humanity a steadfast friend, and that we regard the startling event as not only a sad personal bereavement but a serious public loss.
Resolved, That to his family we tender the profound sympathy and solicitude of those who knew him better —and hence esteemed him higher--than all others save those to whose hearts he was endeared by the nearer ties of wife and kindred, and by these solemn presents we say to them that, should they ever be in need of earthly friends, they shall come to us, and it shall never be in vain.
Resolved, That we do, by these presents, assure
HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 101
his more immediate professional associate and late partner in business, Brother A. M, Pratt, that we are deeply sensible of his irreparable loss, in being thus bereft of the valuable aid and co-operation of an honest and eminently capable business associate, as well as the society of a genial and gifted friend, whose confidence was ever the safe repository of the most sacred and secret trusts.
Resolved, That the Secretary of this meeting be and he is hereby instructed to furnish a copy of these resolutions respectively to the widow of the deceased; to his late partner in business, to each newspaper published in this subjudicial district, and that such further appropriate action be taken as may be necessary to spread these resolutions upon the respective journals of the several courts in this sub-judicial district.
On motion of W. D. Hill, the meeting adjourned.
S. E. BLAKESLEE, Chairman. L. E. BREWSTER, Secretary.
(From the Defiance Democrat.)
THOMAS T. COWEN,
The death of this gentleman occurred at Bryan, on Sunday, January 19, 1873. The supposed cause, heart disease. He was found dead, sitting in a chair in his office about noon, having left home in his apparent usual health but two hours before. The news cast a gloom over our community, where Mr. Cowen has been a resident for many years. He leaves a wife and three children, and his loss will be sincerely mourned. A rising lawyer, he bade fair to take a front rank in his profession. He had resided at Bryan but about three years, where he was a partner in the law firm of Pratt & Cowen. His funeral took place on Tuesday, and was largely attended, over two hundred of his Masonic brethren and nearly all of the attorneys of Williams and Defiance Counties being present,
HAMILTON DAVISON,
Hamilton Davison was born in the town of Hart- wick, Otsego Co., N. Y,, on the 5th of March, 1806. His ancestors were of English descent, and immi grated at an early date to America, settling in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. His parents were married in Monson, Mass., in 1789, and soon after moved to Otsego County, N. Y., and cleared up a farm on land purchased of Judge Cooper, the father of Fennimore Cooper, the novelist, on the head-waters of the Susquehanna River, near to Cooperstown, the county seat of said County of Otsego, where they lived until the times of their death. His mother dying when he was eleven years old, his father, a few years after, married Matilda Spalding, whose first husband was the Rev. Mr. Spalding, the reputed author of the Mormon Bible. He was the youngest of a family of eight children and brought up on the farm, employed at manual labor till the age of sixteen, when he became a student in the Hartwick Academy, a Lutheran institution erected in 1816, adjoining his father's farm, and placed under the charge of the Rev. Ernest Lewis Hazelins, a Prussian by birth and a very able and accomplished scholar and teacher, and who afterward became one of the Professors in the Lutheran University at Gettysburg, Penn. After his preparatory studies in the aforesaid academy, the subject of this sketch entered the sophomore class in Hamilton College, N. Y,, where he graduated in 1826 Immediately after his graduation, he went to New Jersey, and became tutor in the family of a Mr. Taylor, a prominent citizen and slave-holder in said
State, where he became acquainted with the workings of the system of slavery, but in the mildest and most benignant form, for a kinder master and a more happy, contented and jovial set of domestics and work hands were surely not found elsewhere. In the summer of 1828, having caught the Western fever, then prevalent in the Eastern States, he emigrated to Ohio in company with the family of one Maj. Hunt, and located in the town of Urbana, Champaign County, whelk) he taught school, studied law with John H. James, who is still living; was admitted to the practice under the jurisdiction of the venerable Reuben Wood. Married, July 1, 1830, Miss Louisiana Gibler, two years his junior, and with whom he is now living. Five children have been born to them, viz.: Frances M., born June 9, 1831, and who died when nearly sixteen years old; Emma G., born February 14, 1833, and now living in Defiance, the widow of Samuel A. Strong, deceased; William H., born July 13, 1836, and died at the age.of five years; John H., born August 5, 1842, and Lewellyn C., born November 13, 1844, and both now living and engaged in business together in Defiance. In the fall of 1833, he moved to Lima, Allen Co , Ohio, then a new town, but recently laid out in the dense forest. Here the first thing to do was to buy a lot for about $10 and build a beech-log cabin, which he did to be in unison with the other twelve or fourteen citizens of the place, there being but one small frame building then on the town plat. In this then sylvan village, and long before it could be said
" Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay,"
he spent the happiest years of his life—all friendly, all sociable and on a common level; all anxious to enjoy life and to see others enjoy it. Here he commenced the practice of his profession, and soon found enough to do, if not in the office in out-door exercises
102 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
in leveling the tall trees surrounding his cabin. Appointed Prosecuting Attorney soon after his arrival, he held the office for several years, adding much to the then slim business of the courts. The signing commissions for Notaries Public was not then one of the chief duties of the Governor of Ohio, as Gov. Corwin said it was in his time, as the subject of this sketch was, for about three years in Urbana and for a longer period in Lima, the only official of that character in the place. In October, 1835, he was elected by the people Surveyor of Allen County, which office he held for the term of three years. In January, 1839, he received, from the Hon. Wilson Shannon, then Governor of Ohio, a commission as Captain of the First Artillery Company of the First Regiment, Second Brigade, of the Twelfth Division in the militia of the .State, a newly organized company, of which he was chosen Captain. The only exploit performed during its term of service, worthy of note, was the procuring from the officials of Columbus, a nine-pounder iron cannon, which in a short time became, as all such implements of war usually do in small villages, both an annoyance and a nuisance. But this one, fortunately, soon after "busted," without injury to any one, and with it the said Artillery Company, as well as the military aspirations of the Captain. During the exciting campaign of 1844, a political paper, called the Lima Reporter, was started in Lima, to advance the cause of the great commoner and statesman, Henry Clay, and Mr. Davison was selected as editor, the duties of which position, so agreeable to his feelings, he discharged with all the energy and ability of which he was capable. He continued as editor for about two years, and left the paper in a flourishing condition. In 1848, he was chosen by the Northwestern Congressional District of Ohio a Delegate to the Philadelphia National Convention, in which Gen. Zachary Taylor was nominated as the Whig candidate for the Presidency. In 1845, he was chosen by the Legislature of Ohio Receiver of Public Moneys in the State Land Office, then held at Lima, with Julius C. Curtis as Register. He was re-elected in 1848 and again in 1851. In the winter of 1849, the Legislature ordered the State Land Office to be removed to Defiance, Defiance County, the United States Land Office formerly at Lima having been recently moved to that place, and the greater body of the lands owned by the State and yet vacant being in that county. Consequently, in obedience to the order of the Legislature, the Receiver moved, in April, 1849, the Lima State Office to Defiance, as well as the office then held at Perrysburg, as the Legislature had directed the two offices to be united, the lands in the Perrysburg District having been nearly all sold. As Mr. Curtis, the Register, did not move his family to Defiance as the Receiver did, consequently the latter had the whole duties of the office to attend to, the former only coming at the end of each quarter to assist in making and certifying the official returns to Columbus. All the lands belonging to the State, in former years, had been appraised at prices varying from $1.25 to $3 per acre, and, as the sales were rather dull at these prices, the Legislature, a short time before the offices were removed to Defiance, at the suggestion of the officers in the same, reduced, very wisely, the price of all the State lands 33 per cent to actual settlers, in quantity not to exceed 160 acres to each purchaser, which brought the price down, especially the $1.25 land, within the reach of almost any one having ambition and energy enough to get any land at all. Consequently, the sales of the State lands, for a couple of years after the office was removed to Defiance, were very rapid, and the northwestern portion of Ohio, especially the county of Defiance, owes its present prosperous condition, in a great measure, to the happy reduction by the State in the price of her lands. The United States and State Land Offices were held in the same building, that then stood on the ground near the Maumee bridge, where Charley Krotz' business block now stands. Before daylight on the morning of the 10th of April, 1851, while the Register of the United States Office, Abner Root, who usually slept in the office, was away, the building was mysteriously fired and entirely consumed with nearly all its contents. The Receiver of the State Office saved the different plats of the vacant land in the district, by which he was enabled to continue the sale of the same, but every plat, book and paper belonging to the United States Office were consumed, consequently suspending sales in that office until the Register went on to Washington and procured a list of the vacant land, and afterward made sales from that list. In 1852, the Legislature abolished the offices of Register and Receiver of the State Office, after the great bulk of the State lands had been sold, and directed the office to be in charge of a " Land Agent." Gen. Reuben H. Gilson was appointed such Agent, and in the course of a couple of years disposed of the most that were still vacant, when, in 1854, Levin Porter was elected said agent, and in 1857, after all had been sold, all the books, papers, etc., belonging to said office were returned to the office of the State Auditor at Columbus, Ohio. The United States Office was also removed, a few years after the fire, to Chillicothe, Ohio. The subject of this sketch, Mr. H. Davison, did not seek to renew the practice of the law after he came to Defiance, nor did he become engaged in any steady business. Being the owner of a valuable stone-quarry, near Charloe, in Paulding County,
HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 103
he, in connection with Calvin L. Noble and Samuel H. Steadman, took the contract for building the stone-work, piers and abutments of the bridge over the Maumee River for the Wabash Railway, which was completed in 1853-54. He afterward became engaged in the lumber business, in consequence of the death of his son-in-law, Samuel N. Strong, in 1865, who had started the planing mill business, and in 1866 built the planing mill and sash factory now owned by Messrs. Strong & Cheney, and for a few years carried on the business in connection with his sons, John H. and Lewellyn C. Davison, but since he has sold the same, he has lived in blessed retirement from the turmoil and trouble of business, and hopes so to live the short remnant of his days, and then die in peace with God and man.
GEORGE W. KILLEY
George W. Killey, son of Daniel H. and M. A. (Billings) Killey, was born November 15, 1848, near Bellevue, in the county of Huron, State of Ohio, and was the eldest of a family of seven children (six sons and one daughter), and the only one now living of the seven, the others having died in infancy. His father having served in the Mexican war, after the close of the war located his land warrant of 160 acres of land in Putnam County, Ohio, and shortly after removed with his family, consisting of himself, wife and George (then an infant) on the same. Here his father remained with his family for about a year, when he removed with his family to Defiance, Ohio, then but a small place, and soon after his father commenced to work in the Defiance Mills. Here George spent his youth and commenced his education in the common schools of Defiance. In the year 1860, his father removed to Florida, Ohio, and remained in this place for perhaps a year, thence removed to Napoleon, Ohio. Here George remained, and went to school till the 15th day of January, 1864, when he enlisted in the Ninth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, and was mustered in the service at Columbus on the 10th day of February, 1864, and remained in the service and with this regiment until he was discharged on the 16th day of July, 1865, at Columbus, Ohio. Thence he returned to Henry County, Ohio, and assisted his father on a farm till the fall of 1867. In the fall and winter of 1866 and spring of 1867, he taught school in the district where he then resided, and then returned to assist his father on the farm until August, 1868, when he went to Republic, Seneca Co., Ohio, . to attend academy, and remained at the academy for one year, when he Caine to Defiance and attended school under the instruction of Mr. Wallace, and in the fall and winter of 1869 and spring of 1870 he taught school. In the spring of 1870, he entered the law office of Messrs. Hill & Myers, attorneys, Defiance, Ohio, and commenced the study of law, and was admitted to practice as an attorney and counselor at law on the 18th day of July, 1872. On the 4th day of August, 1871, he was married to Mannie E. Greenlee, daughter of the late Samuel Greenlee, Esq. She was born on the 15th day of November, 1849, at Defiance, and was raised in Defiance, Ohio. He then removed with her to Kansas, on the 6th day of November, 1872, and had by her one child, Daniel H., born June, 1873 He resided in Kansas until the 20th day of August, 1874, when, his wife's health failing, he returned with her and child to Defiance. In September of this year his child died, and in April of the next year his wife died. In this year, he located himself at Defiance and commenced the practice of law. In the year 18'76, he was married to Abbie F. Mason, daughter of L. and E. Mason, who came from Vermont State a number of years ago. She was born in Eaton Township, Lorain Co., Ohio, on the 21st day of April, 1854. He has by her three children, two boys and one daughter, to wit, George H. Killey, born December 27, 1876; Edgar V. Killey, born April 24, 1879, and Mattie E. Killey, born April 20, 1881. George is now a practicing attorney at Defiance.
JOHN F. DEATRICK, MAYOR AND ATTORNEY AT LAW,
was born in the old Arcade Building, Chambers- burg, Franklin County, Penn., November 26, 1829, and is a son of J. J. N. and Elizabeth (Boyer) Deatrick, natives of Pennsylvania, both of whom were of German descent, When four years of age, his parents removed to Fredericksburg, Wayne County, Ohio, where he grew to maturity, and in the village school received a good practical education, In 1850, he went alone to St. Paul, Minn., where he resided until 1852, when he returned to Wayne County and located in 1853, at Defiance, with the intention of establishing a woolen factory. But future prospects not proving sufficiently encouraging, he abandoned the enterprise. His qualifications as a scholar eminently fitted him to teach, and during one winter he was engaged in that honorable calling, and for the two succeeding years was employed in agricultural pursuits. Tiring of the inconveniences of farming in a new country, and the monotony that accompanies a rural life in a land yet vested in its primitive wilderness, he moved into Defiance and entered the law office of his wife's brother, David Taylor,- and began the study of the law, Mr, Taylor being his preceptor. After completing the necessary legal course, he was admitted to the bar in 1856, after successfully passing an examination by a committee of lawyers who were
104 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
appointed by the District Court. In 1857, he became connected with the Phoenix Insurance Company of Hartford, Conn., as their special agent, and is yet actively engaged in the business—representing all of the best companies, and has full control of the business in this city. His superior qualifications in this particular employment, combined with strong natural forces and great reserve power, have won for him a deserved popularity. In 1861, he was appointed Deputy United States Marshal, and as such continued until 1880, when he resigned and was elected to the mayoralty of Defiance, and was re-elected in 1882. In 1865, at Cleveland, Ohio, he was admitted to practice at the bar of the United States Courts. Although he is well posted in legal lore, he never entered fully into the practice, having acquired the knowledge more particularly for the benefit of his individual business. His broad range of knowledge, admirable tact, liberal and progressive views, have tended to keep him in pace with the spirit of the age. He has been the nominee of the Republican party for Representative and Probate Judge, but at the present time Mr. Deatrick affiliates with the Democratic party—the party of power in Defiance County. He is an acceptable member in the Ancient Order of Masonry, holding membership in Tuendawie Lodge, No. 195, Defiance Commandery, No. 71, and in the Consistory, which is inclusive of eighteen degrees in the order. The effort he has made in life has been justly rewarded, and although he began his career a poor boy,he has laid by a competency, besides suffering financial losses aggregating $35,000. He was married. December 28, 1853, to Miss Nancy, a daughter of the Hon. John Taylor, ex-member of the Ohio Senate. Eight children have been born to them, five of whom are now living, viz.: Frances M., now Mrs. Milton Sumner, of Defiance; Claude T,, associated with his father in the insurance office; Fred L., Charles and Ralph M. The deceased were Edith May, aged four years; Nettie May, aged eight months, and Nannie Kate, aged four years.
SILAS T. SUTPHEN, ATTORNEY AT LAW.
The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch was born in Liberty Township, Fairfield County, Ohio, August 28. 1838. At the ago of ten years, he removed with his parents on a farm near the village of Baltimore, in the above named township, where the succeeding ten years were spent in assisting his father and brothers in the arduous labor of the farm, and their united efforts resulted in producing one of the finest, best tilled and most profitable farms in that region of country. During the winter months of the period spoken of above, he regularly attended the union schools at Baltimore, and by diligently ap plying his mind, completed the course of study afforded and was prepared to enter college. In the spring of 1859, he entered the Heidelberg College, at Tiffin, Ohio, and became a member of the Freshman Class. From this institution he graduated in 1862, with the second honors of his class, and as a reward for his excellent deportment and the great proficiency he had made in his studies, he was awarded the valedictory address at the commencement exercise of the college for that year. Immediately thereafter, he commenced the study of the law with Judge James Pillars, at Tiffin, and was admitted to the bar of Ohio by the District Court at Fremont, Ohio, June, 1863, and in the same month located and entered upon the practice of his profession at Defiance. In October of the same year, he married Miss Sarah, the daughter of David and Sarah Huss, pioneers of Seneca County, Ohio, who came from Virginia and located upon the present site of the beautiful city of Tiffin, which then could only boast of two or three log houses of the primitive kind. Mr. Sutphen first opened an office in what is now the bar-room of the Empire House, and had his residence in the same building on the upper floor. Persistent and determined were his efforts to acquire success and standing among the attorneys at the bar before which he practiced, and it was not long before his popularity assumed a prominence that an older disciple of Blackstone might well have envied. In 1865, he was elected to the mayoralty of Defiance, a position he held two years, and in 1867 was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Defiance County, which office he held six consecutive years, and discharged the duties that pertained thereto fearlessly and to the entire satisfaction of all, irrespective of party. During his terms of office, he encountered several important cases that involved great interests, and in consequence of which was brought into direct conflict with the best legal talent in Northwestern Ohio. But, without any assistance whatever he managed all State cases in a manner highly creditable and proved himself an adversary worthy the mettle of the best advocates at the bar. Always cautious in his movements, and extremely careful in the preparation of his cases, he was able generally to bring about results favorable to the great commonwealth he represented. His tact and ability became noticeable, and he very soon attained to such a standing in his profession that he had no lack of clients, and for more than twelve years he has enjoyed an unusually lucrative practice, and during the time there has scarcely been an important case tried in the county that he has not been engaged in. And as a result of this uniformly good practice, he possesses tangible proof of having accumulated a handsome competency, likewise evidencing
HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 105
the fact that he has been no drone in the bee-hive of industry. In 1879, he erected a commodious brick residence, in which he now resides, on the corner of Jefferson and First streets, and it is said to be the finest, most elegantly furnished and conveniently arranged residence in the county. It is located on one of the most beautiful sites in the city, and commands an unobstructed view of the Auglaize and Maumee Rivers, Old Fort Defiance, and other more or less picturesque scenery. To Mr. and Mrs. Sutphen have been born four children, viz. : Mary, who died in infancy; Minnie G., born June 30, 1872; Richard H., born August, 1875; Robert, born September 9, 1880. The latter was a bright and promising little fellow, who died in 1881. Col. R. D. Sutphen, father of our subject, was born in New Jersey and settled in Fairfield County, Ohio, in an early day. He held several important offices of trust and confidence, and in the palmy days of the Ohio militia was Colonel of one of the finest and best disciplined regiments in the State. In person he was tall and erect, of dignified and commanding appearance, firm and resolute, yet perfectly courteous to all ; he won the esteem and confidence of his superiors in rank, and the respect and obedience of his subordinates. Col. Sutphen was married to Sarah Zerkle, a daughter of David Zerkle, one of the pioneers of Fairfield County, Ohio, by whom he had seven children, viz. : Catherine C., who married the late Henry Houk, of Carey, Ohio; Mary Jane, who married Noah Blosser, of Licking County, Ohio, she died in 1862; James Z. and Edward G., successful merchants at Carey, Ohio; Charles M., an advocate at the Van Wert bar, and David C., a merchant at Pleasantville, Fairfield County, Ohio.
HENRY HARDY
was born in Troy, N. Y., June 28, 1831, and immigrated to Ohio with his parents, William and Mary Hardy, when about eleven years of age. This removal interfered with his course of study and deprived him of the opportunity of enjoying the advantages of the higher branches of an English education, His parents settled in Oxford Township, Tuscarawas County, where he completed his course of study in the common schools of that district. At the age of seventeen years, he became an apprentice to his brother, who was carrying on at the time a tailoring establishment, He completed his trade in eighteen months, and with a new ambition awakened in his breast, he went to Defiance County and settled on a farm in Delaware Township. Here he was married, A. D. 1853, to Miss Mary A. Platter, daughter of George and Elizabeth Platter, of Paulding County, Ohio. To them was born one son, George P., who now is married and resides in the village of Paulding. Mrs. Hardy died in. May, 1855. For his second wife Mr. Hardy married Miss Elizabeth Hamilton, in 1858, a daughter of Gavin W. Hamilton, of Orangeville, De Kalb County, Ind., a lineal descendant of Gavin Hamilton, spoken of by the poet Burns in his " Holy Willie's Prayer." Of this union two children have been born to them, John,who is a telegrapher, and resides in Idaho Territory; Mary, is a teacher in the Union School of Defiance City, residing with her father, No. 28 Wayne street, the old court house in which Chief Justice M, R. Wait delivered his first legal speech. In October, 1857, Mr. Hardy was elected Recorder of the county and served two terms, six years, and during this time he was made Mayor of this town and studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1860. In October, 1863, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the county and served two terms (four years). In 1873, he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the Sixty-first General Assembly, and in 1877 he was returned to the same body. He is now, 1882, devoting his whole time to his profession; office in Wolsiffer's Block, Defiance, Ohio.
WILLIAM CARTER
was born at Columbus, Chenango County, N. Y., December 15, 1812. He was one of six children. In the year 1818, the family moved to the township of Florence, in Erie County, Ohio, where they settled upon a new farm, two miles from Birmingham. Here he followed the usual life of a farmer's boy, and probably acquired that love of nature which in later years led him to seek relief from the cares and perplexities of professional life in the supervision of his farm near Defiance. He devoted his spare time to books, and obtained much knowledge of history and the classics. Soon after reaching majority, he left the paternal home to seek his fortune. Among his -early ventures was that of shipping lumber to Perrysburg, the head of navigation for sailing vessels on the Maumee. Several loads of lumber were disposed of there; and it was upon one of these trips, in the year 1834, that he was induced to visit Fort Defiance. Being pleased with the place, he determined to locate there, and did so the following year. Soon after his arrival, he invested in a toll bridge across Tiffin River, at Brunersburg. About that time, he engaged in keeping a country store at the same place. The store was not renumerative and the bridge was carried away by a freshet. These were severe blows, and Mr. Carter gathered together the remnants of his property, left Brunersburg for Defiance, where he has since resided. Here he was attended by ill-luck, until being elected Constable, in 1839, he determined to study law, and commenced a course of reading by
106 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
himself, and later entered the office of Curtis Bates, then practicing law in Defiance. As a student he was more than ordinarily industrious. It was a resolution firmly adhered to through his business life, to learn each day some maxim of law, and as a consequence, he became well grounded in the principles of law. On July 19, 1841, he was admitted to the bar at Napoleon, Ohio, and at once entered practice at Defiance. On October 17, 1855, he was licensed to practice in the Federal Court at Cincinnati. Among his first cases, was one in behalf of some contractors on the canal, against the late Pierce Evans. It was a case which excited much public interest, and being prosecuted to a successful termination by Mr. Carter, gave him a wide notoriety as a careful and discriminating lawyer--a reputation which he retained through life. He was much consulted in matters of intricacy, and seldom failed to unravel the discouraging and perplexing entanglements, in the interest of justice. He was a man of few words, but many thoughts, and as a consequence, the was, in style, terse and pointed. Everything said was well considered before
it was spoken, and he was seldom obliged to reconsider a proposition. He had a varied and lucrative business, extending over Northwestern Ohio, until 1868, when he was elected to the Ohio Senate, and withdrew from active practice; though he was occasionally consulted and engaged upon important cases until within a few months of his death, which occurred January 29, 1881. With a thorough knowledge of law, he united a strong sense of justice and sterling integrity. In politics, Mr. Carter was an unflinching Democrat, and labored in season and out of season for the success of principles he cherished dearly. In 1876, he was a delegate from this district to the National Democratic Convention at St. Louis. In the fall of 1839, Mr. Carter married Miss Elizabeth A. Dagget, daughter of Gardner Dagget, one of the early pioneers of Defiance County, His wife and four children survive him. Of the latter, the eldest, Emma, resides with her husband, Judge Hooker, at Charlotte, Mich. The others are Florence A. Carter, William Carter, Esq., a lawyer of Defiance, and Elbert E. Carter, connected with the Defiance National Bank, all reside at Defiance.
CHAPTER XV.
CANALS.
THE canal system of Northwestern Ohio has played a important part in the devolopment of
Defiance County. Its two important canals, the Miami & Erie, and the Wabash & Erie, unite a few miles above Defiance and thence proceed by a common trunk to Maumee Bay. In the early days, canal projects received the attention which has since been given to railroads, but their greater expense made legislative action necessary to secure their construction. As early as 1822, a bill passed the Ohio Legislature, authorizing an examination into the practicability of connecting Lake Erie and the Ohio River by canal, by various routes, among them, by way of the Maumee River, In 1824, a survey was made under the direction of M. T. Williams, of Cincinnati, for many years Acting Canal Commissioner. The survey north to Defiance was for a long distance through an unbroken forest. It was not until June, 1845, that this canal was open for business to Defiance, where it connected with the Wabash & Erie, already constructed.
The construction of the Wabash & Erie Canal was commenced in Indiana. The survey was commenced at Fort Wayne in 1826, and completed to Maumee Bay in 1828. In 1827, Congress granted to the State of Indiana one-half of five miles in width of the public lands on each side of the proposed canal from Lake Erie to the navigable waters of the Wabash River. This was the first grant of any magnitude made by Congress for the promotion of public works. In 1828, by another act of Congress, a similar cession of land was made to Ohio for extending the Miami Canal from Dayton to the Maumee River at the mouth of the Auglaize, on condition that the work of construction be commenced within five and completed within twenty years. By the same act, Indiana was authorized to relinquish to Ohio her right to lands in Ohio ceded to her for canal purposes, which was afterward done. The breaking of ground was performed at Fort Wayne, March 1, 1832, and completed to the Ohio line in 1840. The State of Ohio, realizing less than Indiana the need of this channel of navigation through her sparse settlement in her northwestern territory was more tardy in providing for its construction. In the spring of 1837, proposals were received at Maumee for constructing the canal from its eastern terminus, near Manhattan, to the " Head of the Rapids," and Octo-
HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 107
ber 25, 1837, proposals were received at Defiance for the construction of the remaining part of the line to the Indiana line. The remote situation of the line from well-settled portions of the State, the high price of labor, caused partially by the sickness which prevailed along the course, and the poor prospect for payment retarded the work, which was not completed till the summer of 1843. The completion was duly celebrated at Fort Wayne by the citizens of both States, July 4, 1843, to whom Gen. Lewis Cass delivered an able and classic oration.
Prior to the construction of the canals, the chief mode of travel through the country was afoot or on horseback, and goods and produce were transported on the rivers chiefly by pirogues and flat-boats. The merchants of Defiance obtained their goods thus from the mouth of the Maumee, whence they had been brought by boat from Buffalo. Sumptuous packets and numerous line boats were then placed on the canals, but their benefits to the country had hardly been realized before the pioneer railroads on all sides diminished the canal trade.
CHAPTER XVI.
RAILROADS.
DEFIANCE COUNTY is now supplied with two railroads, the Baltimore & Ohio & Chicago,
and the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific, intersecting at Defiance, the latter completed in 1856, the former in 1874. Early projects for roads through Defiance County were numerous. The first was for a road between Hicksville and Brunersburg. In 1836, a bill was introduced into the Ohio Senate by Gen. John E. Hunt, Senator, " To incorporate The Brunersburg & Hicksville Railroad Company. " William D. Haymaker, Gilman C. Mudgett, Rufus Kibber, Samuel Mapes and Ephraim Burwell, were appointed commissioners to receive stock subscriptions. The capital was $100,000, with liberty to increase as required, the road to run " from Brunersburg to Hicksville, and to the Indiana line, and to be completed in five years." This project, however, was too stupendous for the undeveloped resources of the country and had to be abandoned.
The Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad was intended by its projectors to form a direct and continuous route, under one official management, from Toledo to the Mississippi, through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, but a distinct corporation was organized in each of these States. The Toledo & Illinois Railroad Company filed a certificate of incorporation with the Secretary of the State of Ohio, April 25, 1853, for the purpose of building a railroad from Toledo to the western boundary line of the State in Harrison Township, Paulding County. The Lake Erie, Wabash & St. Louis Railroad Company built the road through Indiana, and these two companies consolidated June 25, 1856, taking the name of the Toledo, Wabash & Western Railroad, Company. The road was subsequently sold by its mortgagees and several times changed possession, It received its present name in November, 1879, by its consolidation with the St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern Railroad. The road crosses the southeastern portion of Defiance County obliquely through Adams, Richland, Noble, and Defiance Townships.
The Baltimore, Ohio & Chicago road crosses the southern portion of Defiance County nearly east and west through Richland, Defiance, Delaware, Mark and Hicksville Townships. March 13, 1872, the Baltimore, Pittsburgh & Chicago Railroad Company filed its certificate of organization at Columbus to construct a railroad from a point on the boundary line between Ohio and "Pennsylvania in Mahoning County to a point on the Indiana line either in Hicksville or Milford Townships, Defiance County. The construction was commenced at Chicago Junction, westward, with means furnished by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. June 10, 1874, the road was completed as far as Defiance, a distance of 878 miles, and by the following December, through trains were running to Chicago. Much credit is due to the citizens of Defiance and other parts of the county for their efforts to secure these roads, for it was largely owing to the labor and exertions put forth by them that the roads were obtained through the county.
108 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
CHAPTER XVII.
TOWN SITE VAGARIES—JOHNNY APPLESEED—PIONEER HOME—PIONEER WEDDING—NAVI-
GATING THE MAUMEE—FIRST COUNTY FAIR—THE HEBREWS—TABLE OF
POPULATION BY TOWNSHIPS, ETC.
TOWN SITE VAGARIES.
THE town of Defiance itself has never been the theater of wild speculation in real estate. The
lots were held high and sold only as wanted by actual settlers. During the time the location of the canals was discussed and an open question in this vicinity, and dependant upon that issue, the town-site speculation was somewhat rife and several efforts made to raise the wind from corner lots and wharfage ground. As, for instance, when it was proposed to lock the Miami Canal into the Auglaize River and the Wabash into the Maumee at the head of the slack-water, and use the broad sheet of water made by the slack-water as a commercial basin, John Hollister, who then owned the Lewis bottom, opposite Defiance to the east, platted a city named " East Defiance " on a large scale, designing his town for the business point. The location of the canal the next year on the high level dispelled his fond hopes, and the fine bottom has since been vigorously worked for wheat and corn and few know the glories in design for it. Hollister's agent to make ready for the platting, summarily dispossessed a tenant for years, which resulted in a law suit (Braucher vs, Hollister) which has been dis posed in the State Supreme Court only within a few years.
During the same unsettled times, speculators imagined, or had reason to expect, that the junction of the canals would be made on the high grounds, just above Defiance, and an extensive survey of lots was made there, covering a quarter section and extending along the Maumee some distance and back toward where Hudson's lock now is, comprising the property known as "beeswax." The Evanses and Taylor Webster were the managers of this job. The town was named " West Defiance," and has in every particular entirely been lost sight of.
The town of " North Defiance" was about the same time laid out, a part of which is yet upon the duplicate. This is on the north side of the Maumee and just above the railroad.
Brunersburg, on the Tiffin River, and two miles above Defiance, about those days—say from 1830 to 1840—was an ambitious rival to Defiance. The only grist mill in Northwestern Ohio was located there, and being also at the head of the proposed slack-water, great anticipations promised a happy and prosperous future to several daring operators in real estate and mill property. A second dam was built and power for grist and other mills offered; a steamboat built, bridges erected, and the lands on either side of Tiffin River for miles platted into prospective Detroits, Lowells and Manchesters. The speculators failed, leaving laborers and farmers much the losers, the steamboat in a freshet and ice-jam went over the rapids and could not be brought back, and scarcely a vestige remains of the grand things then under way.
The toll bridge fell years ago, the Mudgett dam yet remains only as an obstruction to canal boats and pirogue navigation. Lowell, with its thousand lots and streets with high sounding names, has been long since vacated and turned out to incipient hoop-poles, Detroit (save a half dozen lots) likewise; even he town of Brunersburg has been sadly encroached on by the meadows and corn-fields, and the wild vagaries of commercial and manufacturing greatness then entertained are only now spoken of as a jest. More money was wasted in the vicinity of Brunersburg about that time in these wild speculations than at any other point on the Maumee above the foot of the Rapids. Brunersburg is now only known as the location of an excellent grist mill and the residence of a few mechanics.
The air was at one time beaten with a project to found a great city on the Maumee at the mouth of Tiffin River (Bean Creek), about one mile above Defiance, but as the elder Phillips owned the land at the confluence, and was opposed to the speculation as likely to injure Defiance, of which he was the proprietor, and also to speculation generally, his land could not De bought or he induced to take an interest, and the design failed. This city would have been directly opposite " West Defiance," above noted. And as a part of the wind in its sails was a side-cut into the Maumee from the canal, to enter the river directly opposite the mouth of the Tiffin. That river was then to be slack-watered and improved to Evansport, and possibly to Lockport, for which purpose we believe a company was at one time formed and aid sought from the State. This prospective im-
HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 109
provement also gave rise to a dozen or more paper towns along the banks of Bean. Creek, all which, even the names, are now clean gone out of mind.
The dam to make the slack-water was located four miles below Defiance, and imaginative minds supposed that this would affOrd immense water power. The town-site speculators could not let so favorable a chance escape, and an extensive city was platted comprising over a thousand lots. All that now remains is the small village of Independence.
River fractions along the slack-water of a few feet width were in those balmy days held at fabulous prices. Now they have scarcely any value at all, and some of them, on account of the washing of the banks, no existence. That kind of speculative property is now, therefore, entirely out of market.
A Philadelphia company, in the days of speculation, bought a large tract of land on the Auglaize about four miles above Defiance, and spent a large amount of money. Their plan comprehended mills and a manufacturing town. A dam was constructed and also a saw mill to furnish lumber for further improvements. In 1840, the project was abandoned, as thousands of other similar schemes were, about those days, for want of money. The mill frame has rotted down and the substantial dam is mostly there yet, though a rift was made in it for the benefit of the pirogue trade between Blanchard and Defiance. The heavy double log cabins, built for boarding houses, for years afforded free tenements to squatters, and the acres of sawed logs rotted on the banks. The property is now all comprehended in the farms of Nathan Shirley and William H. Dils. Dr. Dewees, the manager of the company, was in early days a conspicuous character in this section, and hundreds of our now old men tell of the hard days' work put in thirty or forty years ago under his superintendence in the river and on their adjacent lands.
"JOHNNY APPLESEED."
Jonathan Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, was born in Boston, Mass,, A. D. 1773. He had imbibed a remarkable passion for the rearing and cultivation of apple trees from the seed. He first made his appearance in Western Pennsylvania abou the year 1800, and from thence made his way into Ohio, keeping on the outskirts of the settlements, and following his favorite pursuit. He was accustomed to clear spots in the loamy lands on the bank of the steams, plant his seeds, inclose the ground, and then leave the place until the trees had in a measure grown.
When the settlers began to flock in and open their " clearings," Johnny was ready for them with his young trees. From those who were in good circum stances he would receive their money, from others he would take their notes or exchange for some article of clothing or any other article of which he could make use, and to the poor and hopeless and helpless he would give without money and without price.
About the year A. D. 1828, he started a nursery in this county, Defiance, at the month of Tiffin River, about one mile above Defiance, on lands now owned by Charles Krotz, by sowing the seed. The young trees to the number of several thousand, in a year or two after, he took up and set out again on a piece of cleared land opposite Snaketown (now Florida) where they remained until sold out by a resident agent.
Thomas Warren, Nathan Shirley, Lewis Platter and Samuel Hughs, of Delaware Township, set out orchards from this nursery. Most of the early orchards on the Maumee and Auglaize bottoms in Defiance, Paulding and Henry Counties were started from Johnny Appleseed's nursery, He had another nursery at Mount Blanchard, Hancock County, and others at Fort Wayne, Ind. He gathered most of his seed from cider presses in Western Pennsylvania, and thus he continued his business for many years, until the whole country was in a measure settled and supplied with apple trees, deriving self-satisfaction amounting almost to delight, in the indulgence of his engrossing passion,
His personal appearance was as singular as his character. He was a small " chunked " man, quick and restless in his motions and conversation; his beard and hair were long and dark, and his eye black and sparkling. He lived the roughest life, and often slept in the woods. His clothing was mostly old, being given him in exchange for apple trees. He went bare-footed and often traveled miles through the snow in that way. " In doctrine he was a follower of Swedenborg, leading a moral, blameless life, likening himself to the primitive Christians, literally taking no thought of the morrow. Wherever he went, he circulated Swedenborgian works, and if short of them would tear a book in two and give each part to different persons. He was careful not to injure any animal, and thought hunting morally wrong. He was welcome everywhere among the settlers, and treated with great kindness even by the Indians. We give a few anecdotes illustrative of his character and eccentricities. On one cool, autumnal night, while lying by his camp-fire in the woods, he observed that the mosquitoes flew into the blaze and were burnt. Johnny, who wore on his head a tin utensil which answered both as a cap and a mush pot, filled it with water and quenched the fire, and afterward remarked, "God forbid that I should build a fire for my comfort that should be the means of destroying any of His creatures." Another time he made his
110 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
camp fire at the end of a hollow log in which he intended to pass the night, but finding it occupied by a bear and her cubs, he removed his fire to the other end, and slept on the snow in the open air, rather than to disturb the bear. He was one morning in a prairie and was bitten by a rattlesnake. Some time after a friend inquired of him about the matter. He drew a long sigh, and replied, " Poor fellow! he only just touched me, when I in an ungodly passion put the heel of my scythe on him and went home. Some time after I went there for my scythe, and there lay the poor fellow dead " He bought a coffee-bag, made a hole in the bottom, through which he thrust his head and wore it as a cloak, saying it was as good as anything. He died at the house of William Worth, in St. Joseph Township, Allen County, Ind., March 11, 1845, and was buried there, aged seventy-two years.
THE PIONEER'S HOME.
The advance of this county was necessarily slow for the forests were gigantic. Almost the whole surface was covered with trees of the largest size. The labor and patience that have been expended in felling these trees and preparing the fields for the plow, the reaper and the mower, will never be appreciated except by those who have performed the labor, or seen its slow progress. Years of this toil have been already expended, and the work is yet far from being completed. The first habitations of the people were log cabins; not such a log cabin as was seen on the Centennial grounds, where the roof was of pine shingles nailed on, the gutter of pine boards and the doors neatly made, and the windows filled with sash full of glass. The cabins of our pioneers were made of round logs, cut only at the corners, their roofs of clapboards as they were split from the tree, held to their places by poles built into the end logs. The openings for doors and windows were not closed except at night, and then by a quilt or skin. The fire-place was built of logs and the chimney of sticks, all lined with clay, the whole chinked, that is, the cracks between the logs filled in with wood daubed with clay. Such a house was built by the neighbors gathering together, and was often finished in a day. The floors were of puncheon, split from trees. When all was done, a puncheon scouring took place. The young people and old gathered at the house for a dance, if a fiddle could be procured, and, with more relish than at a modern ball, they danced all night in this new cabin.
A WEDDING IN PIONEER TIMES.
A wedding engaged then as now the attention of the whole neighborhood, and the frolic was anticipated by old and young with eager expectation. In the morning the groom and his attendants started from his father's house to reach the bride's before noon, for the wedding by the inexorable law of fashion, must take place before dinner. There were no tailors or mantua-makers in those days. The men dressed in shoepacks, moccasins, and leather breeches, leggings, linsey-woolsey or buckskin hunting shirts, all home made. The women were dressed in linsey petticoats, and linsey or linen gowns, coarse shoes, stockings, handkerchiefs and buckskin gloves, if any, If there was jewelry, it was the relic of old times. The horses (for all came on horseback), were caparisoned with old saddles, old bridles or halters, pack saddles, with blankets thrown over them; and a rope or a string for girth or reins as often as leather. They formed a procession as well as they could along the narrow roads. Sometimes an ambuscade of mischievous young men was formed, who fired off their guns and frightened the horses and caused the girls to shriek. A. race for the bottle took place by two or more of the young men racing over this rough road to the bride's house, the victor to receive a bottle of whisky, which he bore back in triumph, and passed it along the procession for each one to take a drink in turn, Then came the arrival at the bride's house, the ceremony, the dinner and the dance, all conducted with the greatest fun and frolic till morning.
Sometimes those who were not invited would revenge themselves by cutting off the mane, foretop and tails of the horses of the wedding party. The logrolling, harvesting and husking bees for the men and the quilting and apple-butter making for the women, furnished frequent occasions for social intercourse, and gave ample opportunity for any neighborhood to know and appreciate the good and bad qualities of each other. The rifle-shooting was a pastime which men loved, as it gave them an opportunity of testing their skill with the necessary weapons of defense, and means often of subsistence. When a beef was the prize, it was divided into six quarters, by this queer arrangement: The two hindquarters were the highest prizes, the two forequarters the next, the hide and tallow the fifth, and the lead shot into the mark was the sixth.
NAVIGATING THE MAUMEE.
When the new settlers on the Maumee raised a surplus of grain it was sometimes shipped down the Maumee River in pirogues. Dr. John Evans, who was engaged in trade at Defiance at that time had taken in quite an amount of corn, which he concluded to ship, and hired Thomas Warren, Isaac Perkins and James Shirley to ship it to market. It was loaded into a pirogue and started down the river, arriving at the head of the rapids (Providence) where they landed for a rest, Eighteen miles of rapid current and intricate
HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 111
channels were before them. None of them knew the channels and rock; neither of them had ever passed over the rapids, and in prospect was not a pleasant ride; after this short rest they moved on and into the whirling rapids through which they passed in safety, and in due time arrived at Maumee City, where they sold their corn for 50 cents per bushel to Col. John E. Hunt. The measure upon unloading overrun twelve bushels, caused by the plashing of the water in the rapids, which swelled the corn. This the boatmen claimed, giving them $2 each, which they proposed to expend on their home journey in high living. Being now ready to return, Mr. Thomas Garrett, a blacksmith, was on his way to Defiance to locate, and proposed to take passage with them. He treated the boys and thanked them from being thus relieved from the journey on foot. They now had to run the river against the current, and they made but six miles the first day, with the aid of Mr. Garrett (their passenger), who towed manfully on the cordelle. Next morning, Mr. Garrett again treated the boys, thanked them for their kindness, but proposed to continue his journey on foot.
FIRST DEFIANCE COUNTY FAIR.
The first annual fair of the Agricultural Society for this county was held October 7 and 8, 1851. The cattle, horses, hogs, fowls, etc., were on exhibition in a lot owned by Dr. Colby, on the north side of the Maumee River. The fruit and other articles were arranged for inspection in the court house. William C. Holgate was Secretary.
HEBREWS.
The Jewish nation is represented in Defiance County by about fifty-seven souls, independent of the class denominated "roving Jews." Of the adult portion of resident Jews of the county, there are twenty- seven males, and twelve families, with eighteen children under thirteen years of age. The most of these live in Defiance. Thirteen, however, live in Hicksville.
The Jews commenced their history in this county with the Wirtheimer family, followed by Kittner, Kugle and Levys; afterward Ginsburg and family settled here. The families mentioned above, and others perhaps, are classed among our best citizens. They are well thought of by the Gentile brethren, and fraternize freely with other classes of citizens irrespective of religious opinions. In their religious beliefs, they are firm, and we might say strict, i n the observance of all rules and ceremonies pertaining t3 their ancient religion. In addition to their religious organization, they have a Hebrew relief association. The officers of this society are H. H. Ginsburg, President; A. Schlossburg, Vice President; M. Kittner, Treasurer, and A. Rosenbaum, Secretary. This association was called into being hero by the shameful outrages perpetrated by the Russian Government upon the defenseless Jews, and has for its object the relief of the persecuted brethren in that country. The religious congregation, while it meets for religious purposes only, is not observed with that faithfulness, perhaps, which is characteristic of this people in large cities where the congregations are larger, and where they have their own synagogue or building for worship. Here they meet but twice a year, except in case of a death or a marriage or an occasion of that nature. The first meeting is that of Jewish New Year, which usually comes in the latter part of September or the first of October. The second meeting is that of the day of atonement, which is commonly known as the long day, and occurs one week after the New Year. This day being a fast day is usually observed by the most liberal of the Hebrews. For these two occasions referred to they generally bring here a regular Rabbi, or minister. They also hold religious meetings at weddings and deaths. At all religious meetings it requires the attendance of at least ten males over thirteen years of age. Their meetings are presided over in the absence of a Rabbi by a senior member, and as Mr. Joseph Kugle is the oldest member here, this gentleman is chosen by common consent for this office. The Jewish women, not unlike their Gentile sisters, are the most religious of the two sexes. Inasmuch as their mode of worship like their race is the most ancient, their services are always conducted in the Hebrew language, of which all members are readers.
POPULATION OF DEFIANCE COUNTY BY TOWNSHIPS FRoM
1840 TO 1880.
