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HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 75 o'clock, every department to prepare themselves accordingly. The squaw that Wells captured on the 11th August was this day liberated and sent home. Three soldiers of the First and three of the Third sub-legions deserted last night; sixteen volunteers pursued them; they are to receive $20 if they bring them in dead or alive. Camp Eleven-and-a-half Mile Tree, 14th September, 1794.—The legion began their march for the Miami villages at 7 o'clock this morning and encamped on this ground at 3 o'clock, after marching in the rain eight hours. Camp Twenty-three Mile Tree, 15th September, 1794.—The legion marched at 6 and encamped at 4 o'clock. Capt. Preston, who commanded the light troops in the rear, got lost and lay out from the army all night with a large part of the haggage. Camp Thirty-three Mile Tree, 16th September, 1794.—We encamped on this ground at 4 o'clock, after passing over very rough roads and woods thick with brush, the timber very lofty and the land generally rich and well watered. Camp Miami Villages, 17th September, 1794. - The army halted on this ground at 5 o'clock P. M., being forty-seven miles from Fort Defiance and fourteen from our last encampment; there are nearly five hundred acres of cleared land lying in one body on the Rivers St. Joseph, St. Mary's and the Miami; there re fine points of land contiguous to those rivers adjoining the cleared land. The rivers are navigable for small craft in the summer, and in the winter there is water sufficient for large boats; the land adjacent fertile and well timbered, and from every appearance it has heen one of the largest settlements made by the Indians in this country. Camp Miami Villages, 18th September, 1794-- This day the Commander-in-Chief reconnoitered the ground and determined on a spot to build the garrison on. The troops fortified their camps, as they halted too late yesterday to cover themselves. Four deserters from the British came to us this day; they bring information that the Indians are encamped eight miles below the British fort to the number of 1,600. Camp Miami Villages, 19th September, 1794.— This day we hear that Gen. Barber's brigade of mounted volunteers are within twelve miles of this place and will be in early to-morrow with large supplies of flour; we have had heavy rains, the wind northwest, and the clouds have the appearance of emptying large quantities on this western world. Camp Miami Villages, 20th September, 1794. — Last night it rained violently, and the wind blew from the northwest harder than I ever knew heretofore. Gen. Barber with his command arrived in camp about 9 o'clock this morning with 553 kegs of flour, each containing 100 lbs. Camp Miami Villages, 21st September, 1794. - The Commander-in-Chief reviewed the legion this day at 1 o'clock. All the Quartermaster's horses set off this morning escorted by the mounted volunteers for Greenville, and are to return the soonest possible; we have not one quart of salt on this ground, which occasions bad and disagreeable living, until the arrival of the next escort. Camp Miami Villages, 22d September, 1794.— Nothing of consequence took place this day, except that the troeps drew no salt with their fresh provisions. Camp Miami Villages, 23d September, 1794.— Four deserters from the British garrison arrived at our eamp; they mention that the Indians are still embedied on the Miami, nine miles below the British fort; that they are somewhat divided in opinion, some are for peace and others are for war. Camp Miami Villages, 24th September, 1794. — This day the work commenced on the garrison, which I am apprehensive will take some time to complete it. A keg of whisky containing ten gallons, was purchased this day for $80, a sheep for $10; $3 for one pint of salt, but it could not be obtained for less than $6. Camp Miami Villages, 25th September, 1794. - Lieut. Blue of the dragoons was this day arrested by Ensign Johnson of the Fourth S. L., but a number of their friends interfering, the dispute was settled upon Lieut. Blue's asking Ensign Johnson's pardon. Camp Miami Villages, 26th September, 1794.— McCleland, one of our spies, with a small party, came in this evening from Ft. Defiance, who brings information that the enemy are troublesome about the garrison, and that they have killed some of our men under the walls of the fort. Sixteen Indians were seen to day near this place, a small party went in pursuit of them. I have not heard what discoveries they have made. Camp Miami Villages, 27th September, 1794.— No intelligence of the enemy; the rain fell considerably last night; this morning the wind is southwest. Camp Miami Villages, 28th September, 1794.— The weather proves colder. Camp Miami Villages, 30th September, 1794.— Salt and whisky were drawn by the troops this day and a number of the soldiery became much intoxicated, they having stolen a quantity of liquor from the Quartermaster. Camp Miami Villages, 1st October, 1794.—The volunteers appear to be uneasy, and have refused to 76 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY. duty; they are ordered by the Commander-in-Chief to march to-morrow for Greenville to assist the packhorses, which I am told they are determined not to do. Camp Miami Villages. 2d October, 1794.-This morning the volunteers refused to go on command, and demanded of Gen. Scott to conduct them home; he ordered them to start with Gen. Barber, or if they made the smallest delay They should lose all their pay and be reported to the war office as revolters; this had the desired effect, and they went of not in good humor. Camp Miami Villager, 3d October, 1794.—Every officer, non-commissioned officer and soldier belonging to the square are on fatigue this day, hauling trees on the hind wheels of wagons; the first day we got an extra gill per man, which appears to be all the compensation at this time in the power of the Commander-in-Chief to make the troops, Camp Miami Villages, 4th October, 1794.—This morning we had the hardest, frost I ever saw in the middle of December; it was like a small snow; there was ice in our camp kettles three-quarters of an inch thick; the fatigues go on with velocity, considering the rations the troops are obliged to live on. Camp Miami Villager,, 5th October, 1794.—The weather extremely cold and hard frosts; the wind northwest; everythiug quiet and nothing but harmony and peace throughout the camp, which is something uncommon. Camp Miami Villages, 6th October, 1794.—Plenty and quietness the same as yesterday; the volunteers engaged to work on the garrison, for which they are to receive three gills of whisky per man per day, when their employment is digging the ditch and filling up the parapet. Camp Miami Villages, 7th October, 1794.-The volunteers are soon tired of work and refuse to labor any longer; they have stolen and killed seventeen beeves in the course of these two days past. Camp Miami Villages, 8th October, 1794.—The troops drew but half rations of flour this day. The cavalry and other horses die very fast, not less than four or five per day. Camp Miami Villages, 9th October, 1794.—The volunteers have agreed to build a block-house in front of the garrison. Camp Miami Villages, 11th October, 1794.--A Canadian (Rozelle) arrived with a flag this evening; his business was to deliver up three prisoners in exchange for his brother, who was taken the 20th August; he brings information that the Indians are in council with Girty and McKee, near the fort of Detroit, that all the tribes are for peace except the Shawnees, who are determined to prosecute the war. Camp Miami Villages, 12th October, 1794. —The mounted volunteers of Kentucky marched for Greenville, to be mustered and dismissed the service of the United States Army, they being of no further service therein. Camp Miami Villages,13th October, 1794.—Capt. Gibson marched this day and took with him a number of horses for Ft. Recovery to receive supplies of provisions. Camp Miami Villages, 14th October, 1794. --Nothing particular this day. Camp Miami Villages, 15th October, 1794.—The Canadian that came in on the 11th left us this day, accompanied by his brother; they have promised to furnish the garrison at Ft. Defiance with stores at a moderate price, which, if performed, will be a great advantage to the officers and soldiers of that post. Camp Miami Villages, 16th October, 1794. —Nothing new; weather wet and cold; wind from northwest. The troops healthy in general. Camp Miami Villages, 17th October, 1794.—This day Capt. Gibson arrived with a large quantity of flour, beef and sheep. Camp Miami Villages, 18th October, 1794. —Capt. Springer and Brock with all the pack-horses, marched with the cavalry this morning for Greenville, and the foot for Recovery, the latter to return with the smallest delay with a supply of provisions for this post and Defiance. Camp Miami Villages, 19th October, 1794.—This day the troops were not ordered for labor, being the first day for four weeks, and accordingly attended divine service. Camp Miami Villages, 20th October, 1794.-An express arrived this day with dispatches to the Commander-in-Chief; the contents are kept secret. A. court-martial to sit this day for the trial of Lieut. Charles Hyde. Camp Miami Villages, 21st October, 1794.—This day were read the proceedings of a general court martial, held on Lieut. Charles Hyde (yesterday), was found not guilty of the charges exhibited against him, and was therefore acquitted. Camp Miami Villages, 22d October, 1794.--This morning at 7 o'clock the following companies, un der the command of Lieut. Col. Commandant Hamtramck, of the First Sub-legion, took possession of this place, viz. : Capt. Kingsbury's First; Captain Greaton's Second, Capt. Spark's and Capt. Reed's Third, Capt. Preston's Fourth, and Capt. Porter's of artillery, and after firing fifteen rounds of cannon, Col. Hamtramck gave it the name of Ft. Wayne. Camp Miami Villages, 23d October,. 1794.-The general fatigue of the garrison ended this day, and Col. Hamtramck, with the troops under his command, to furnish it as he may think fit. HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 77 All the soldiers' huts are completed except covering, and the weather is favorable for that work. Camp Miami Villages, 24th October, 1794.— This day the troops drew but half rations of beef and flour, the beef very bad. Camp Miami Villages, 25th Octoher, 1794.--Nothing extraordinary, the same as yesterday. This evening Capt. Springer, with the escort, arrived with a supply of flour and salt. A Frenchman and a half Indian came to headquarters, but where they are from or their business we cannot learn, hut that it is of a secret nature. Camp Miami Villages, 26th October, 1794. —Nothing occurring to-day except an expectation to march the day after to- morrow. Camp Miami Villages, 27th October, 1794.—Agreeable to general orders of this day, we will march for Greenville to-morrow morning at 8 o'clock Camp nine miles from Ft. Wayne, 28th October, 1794.—The legion took up the line of march at 9 o’clock, and arrived here without anything particular occurring. Camp twenty-one miles from Ft. Wayne, 29th October, 1794, —The troops proceeded on their march at sunrise, and arrived on this ground at 3:30 o'clock; our way was through rich and well-timbered land; the weather cold and much like for rain, Camp southwest side of St. Mary's River, 30th October, 1794. The legion proceeded on their march at 7 o'clock and arrived here at sunset; continual heavy rain all day. Camp Girty's Town, 31st October, 1794.—The troops took up their line of march at sunrise, and arrived here three hours after night, through heavy rain. Greenville, 2d November, 1791. —This evening the legion arrived here, where they marched from, 28th July, 1794. We were saluted with twenty-four rounds from a six-pounder. Our absence from this ground amounted to three months and six days. And so ends the expedition of Gen. Wayne's campaign, GEN. WAYNE. Gen. Anthony Wayne was born in Chester Coun - ty, Penn,, January 1, 1745. After leaving school, he became a surveyer, and paid some attention to philosephy and engineering, by which he obtained the friendship of Dr Franklin, who became his patron. He entered the army of the Revolution in 1775, and was made Brigadier General in 1777. He was in the army threugh the war, and particularly distinguished himself in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Menmouth. His attack upon Stony Point in July, 1'779, an almost inaccessible height, defended by 600 men and a strong. battery of artillery, was the most brilliant exploit of the war.        At midnight, he led his troops with unloaded muskets, flints out, and fixed bayonets and without firing a single gun, carried the fort by storm and took 543 prisoners. He was struck in the attack by a musket ball in the head, which was momentarily supposed to be a mortal wound; he called to his aids to carry him forward and let him die in the fort. The crowning acts of his life were his victory over the Indians on the Maumee,'. and the treaty of Greenville in August, 1795. s On his return to Philadelphia, Wayne was received by the people with open arms, and by thanks both public and private. His entry into the city was triumphant; business was suspended and he was met on his approach by the militia, and conducted through the streets amid martial music, the ringing of bells, the firing of cannon and the acclamations of a grateful people, And Congress then in session, passed resolution of thanks highly complimentary to him and his victorious army. The following year Wayne was appointed sole Commissioner on the part with the United States to treat with the Indian tribes of the Northwest, and to receive from the British the forts they had now consented to give up. After promptly and efficiently discharging this last and important duty for his. country, in whose service his manhood had been spent, he started to return by the way of Lake Erie, but it was not granted him to again see his home, He died at Erie, Penn., and was buried on the shore of the lake, December, 1796. Thus ended the career of one of our country's bravest and most successful Generals—one to whom fortune had assigned difficult and laborious tasks, but whom she never abandoned in the hour of trial. Here .a life of peril and of glory was ended. He took up arms in his country's defense in the beginning of her struggle for independence, and hravely fought in nearly every battle of that long and doubtful contest against a superior power until the final triumph. If a difficult or hazardous enterprise was commenced, Wayne was ordered to execute it, or if an opportunity was afforded he volunteered to do it. Of this, his campaign in Georgia, in which he delivered that State from the double affliction of British supremacy and Indian cruelty ; his brilliant attack on the army of Cornwallis at James River ; the holding of Chadsford at the battle of Brandywine ; the success of the division under his command at Germantown, and the never to be surpassed assault and capture of Stony Point, are incontestable evidences. But the last and crowning glory of his illustrious career was preparing the way for the settlement of the Maumee Valley, and liberating the frontier from 78 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY. the murderous tomahawk, and the bloody scalping knife which the savages were using indiscriminately against men, women and children, and where the cries of murdered infancy mingled with the dying shrieks of age arose with the smoke of a thousand burning houses called to heaven for protection and revenge. His public services began in the infancy and poverty of his country. He aided to raise her to an equality with the other nations of the earth, and died leaving her happily in the enjoyment of peace—rich in the arts, and triumphant in arms. TREATY OF GREENVILLE. On the 2d of November, 1794, Gen. Wayne returned with his legion to Ft. Recovery, after an absence in the Indian country of nearly four months. In that raid, the most successful ever undertaken, Wayne humbled the pride of the Indians, broke their power, asserted the authority of the United States, and assured security to the scattered settlements. During the succeeding winter, the Indians made pro. posals for a general peace, and, after conferring with Gen. Washington, a treaty was authorized and concluded at Greenville, Darke County, between Gen. Wayne, on the part of the United States and the representatives of tribes known as the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Kaskaskias, Piankeshaws, Kickapoos, Weas and Eel Rivers—signed August 5, 1795. All matters in dispute were comprehended in the terms of the treaty and all controversies settled. The boundary line was established, ceding without reserve to the United States all lands east of the Cuyahoga River and south of a line extending from the head-waters of that stream westwardly to the State line at Ft. Recovery, in Mercer County, and thence south to the Ohio River. In the remainder of the Indian Territery, over which the United States claimed jurisdiction, extending to the Mississippi River, sixteen grants for military or commercial purposes were made by the Indians, varying from one to twelve miles square. The fourth in the list is thus described " One piece six miles square, at the confluence of the Auglaize and Miami River, where Ft. Defiance now stands." This reservation was never specially surveyed as were many of the others. It remained until the title to the whole State was acquired, and was then "run out" uniform with the other lands. That of twelve miles square at the foot of the rapids was surveyed and sold separately from the other lands of the Government, as possibly were others. "Free passage by land or by water," was by this treaty allowed to the people ef the United States, and the right to use certain streams and portages particularly mentioned; among these are " St. Mary's and down the same to Ft. Wayne, and then down the Miami to Lake Erie. Again from the commencement of the portage at Loramie's store (Shelby County),along the portage to the Auglaize River and down the same to its junction with the Miami at Ft. Defiance." In 1807, Gen. William Hull, afterward so unfortunate at Detroit, made a treaty for the session to the General Government of five millions of acres. comprising all the lands not previously acquired east of the Auglaize River and of a line drawn due north from the mouth of that stream to Lake Huron. This line is the meridian of surveys in Michigan— townships reckoned east and west therefrom, Surveys in Ohio, being reckoned from the Indiana State line east, do not quite correspond with this line— those in Ohio being easterly of the Michigan lines about one mile. The lands in this region west of that line were acquired after the war of 1812, at the time the Indian title to North Indiana was extinguished. In this purchase Gen. Hull said he was annoyed by the opposition of the British, the squatters on the lands without titles or persons who had purchased from the Indians unlawfully. The negotiation lasted from July until November. It was declared a most advantageeus purchase for the United States, the land being of excellent quality and all capable of improvement, besides giving control of several lakes and rivers indispensable to the commerce and development of the resources of the country. HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 79 CHAPTER VIII. DEFIANCE COUNTY IN 1812 THE opening scenes of the war of 1812 were enacted in the Northwest, of which the Maumee Valley was a conspicuous part. Prior to the declaration of war, the border on the northwest had witnessed the repeated efforts of British agents to provoke hostilities between the Indians and the United States. In order to secure the neutrality or favor of the Indian tribes, one of the first measures taken by the Government in anticipation of war with Great Britain was to arrange for the conquest of Upper Canada and the consequent command of the Upper Lakes. The disastrous opening of the warfare by the disgraceful surrender of Hull's army gave the possession of Michigan and Canada to the British, and shifted the scene of hostility for a time to Ohio soil. Gen, Hull had been Governor of Michigan Territory, and secured the command of the Northwest army He left Dayton, Ohio, with 2,000 troops, June 1, 1812, before war was declared, marched through the Maumee ceuntry, and reaehed Detroit. His weak invasion of Canada, and immediate retreat without striking a blow, and his surrender at Detroit, August 16, 1812, followed in quick succession. Before the surrender of Hull took place, extensive preparations had been made in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania to bring into service a large and efficient army. Three points needed defense— Fort Wayne, the Maumee Valley and the Wabash and the Illinois country. The troops destined for the Maumee were to be under command of Gen. Winchester, a Revolutionary officer, resident in Tennessee, and but little known to the frontier men. Reaching Cincinnati, he addressed Gov. Meigs the following letter: CINCINNATI, September 9, 1812. SIR: I am thus far on my way to assume the command of the army on your Northwestern frontier. I shall leave this place to-morrow for Piqua, -where I shall be extremely glad to see you, in order to consult with you relative to the . best possible means of protecting the exposed frontier of the State of Ohio, without losing sight at the same time of Upper Canada. I am authorized by the Secretary of War to call on Your Excellency for re-enforcements of militia. On this subject also a personal interview is desirable. Should it, however, be inconvenient to you, sir, to meet me at Piqua, or at some other place on my route, you will be good enough to communicate to me in writing your ideas on the subject of the protection of your frontier inhabitants, as well as the extent of militia you can furnish upon my requisition. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, your obedient servant. J. WINCHESTER, Brigadier General U. S. Army. To His Excellency R. J. MEIGS, Governor of the State of Ohio. From his headquarters at Fort Wayne he addressed the following: HEADQUARTERS, FORT WAYNE, September 22, 1812. SIR : I had the honor last night of receiving Your Excellency's dispatch of the 16th instant, covering a communication from Gen. Wadsworth,' for which I beg you will accept my sincere thanks. With you, I rejoice at the prospect of regaining lost territory, and at the determination of the President on a vigorous course of measures; and I still hope to winter in Detroit or its vicinity the ensuing winter. To enable me in part to effect this purpose, I avail myself of the authority given me by the Secretary of War to call upon Your Excellency for such re-enforcements as I may deem necessary. You will please to furnish two regiments of infantry, to join me at the rapids of the Miami of the lake about the 10th or 15th of October next, well clothed for a fall campaign. Arms and ammunition can be drawn from Newport, Ky. It is extremely desirous to me that no time may be lost in supplying this requisition. The cold season is fast approaching, and the stain on the American character at Detroit not yet wiped away. If you could furnish one other regiment, to rendezvous at Piqua, and proceed to open and improve the road by causeways, etc., to Defiance, it would greatly facilitate the transportation of supplies to this army, which is imperatively requisite to its welfare. This latter regiment might then return, or proceed on after the army, as circumstances should dictate. I have the honor to be, with high respect, your obedient servant. J. WINCHESTER, Brigadier General U. S. Army. To His Excellency RETURN J. MEIGS, Governor of the State of Ohio. Gen. Winchester proceeded with his army to Defiance and there erected a fort, as the following letter indicates: CAMP DEFIANCE, MOUTH OF THE AUGLAIZE, October 15, 1812. SIR : Capt. Wood, commanding a small party of spies, came into this camp yesterday, and reports that he was detached from Urbana to visit the rapids, etc.; that he fell in with other spies, who had just returned from that place, and had obtained all the information that he possibly could. I therefore have directed him to return and report, deeming it unnecessary that he should proceed, as the information required had been obtained, and being desirous, too, to communicate to Your Excellency that this army could immediately march and take possession of the rapids if supplies of provisions, etc., could certainly reach us a few days after our arrival. Many days' provisions could not be carried with us, because it is not here. Neither have we the means of trans- 80 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY. portation, and it is important that the corn at that place should be saved if it could be done. At this place, a picketed post with four block-houses, two store houses and a house for the sick will be finished this day. Then I shall turn my attention to building pirogues, for the purpose of transporting heavy baggage and provisions down the river, and anxiously await your answer with relation to supplies. I shall remain in readiness to march as soon as it is received. If Gen. Harrison is at Urbana, you will communicate the contents of this letter to him. If I knew where he could be found I should address a letter to him on the same subject. I have the honor to be, with great respect, Your Excellency's obedient servant, J. WINCHESTER, Brigadier General U. S. Army. To His Excellency RETURN J. MEIGS, Urbana. Gen, Harrison was appointed Commander-in-Chief of all the forces in the West and Northwest, September 17, 1812, and the appointment was officially ratified on the 24th of that month. His entire force was 10,000 men, consisting of the regular troops and rangers of the Northwest, the volunteers and militia of Ohio and Kentucky and 3,000 detached militia from Pennsylvania and Virginia. He was instructed to retake Detroit and penetrate Upper Canada, Fort Wayne had already been relieved and the line of the Maumee secured. The main objects of Gen. Harrison were to drive the hostile Indians from the western side of the Detroit River; second, to take Malden; and then, having secured his communications, to recapture the Michigan Territory and its dependencies, The plan adopted by Gen. Harrison was to collect troops at four points—Wooster, Urbana, Fort Defiance and St. Marys—and then concentrate them at the Rapids of the Maumee. The forced expedition at first adopted against Detroit was abandoned because the infantry was not in readiness to secure and return the acquisition should it be made. The base line of the new campaign was one drawn from Upper Sandusky along the southerly side of the swampy district to St. Marys. These two places, with Fort McArthur between them, were intended as the depots for provisions, artillery and military stores. The troops at Defiance were intended to act as a corps of observation, and when the artillery should be brought to Upper Sandusky they were to advance to the rapids. At Lower Sandusky, a corps of observation was also stationed, which, with that at Defiance, would form the extremities of the new military base, when the army should have reached the advanced position on the Maumee. These arrangements covered the frontiers by the different corps, and kept the troops within the bounds of the ordinary contractors, while the Quartermasters were accumulating provisions farther in advance, and procuring means of transportation across the difficult district of country so well termed the Black Swamp. Gen, Winchester was in command of the troops at Fort Wayne, and Gen. Harrison proceeded to St. Marys, where about 3,000 men were collected, for the purpose of the now abandoned expedition against Detroit. While here, he was informed that a large force of British and Indians with artillery was passing up the left bank of the Maumee toward Fort Wayne. Knowing that it would be met in front by Gen. Winchester on his way to Fort Defiance, he determined by a forced march to the confluence of the Auglaize with the Maumee to intercept them with two regiments and some cavalry. He set out, but after one day's march, finding that the infantry would greatly retard his progress, he ordered the two regiments to return, and proceeded with the cavalry only. The rain fell in torrents; the fiat beech woods were covered with water and were so swampy that the horses sank half leg deep at every step. At the close of the second day's march, the troops encamped in a bottom of the Auglaize. By daybreak the next morning, the march was resumed. In the course of the next day, the General was met by an officer from Gen. Winchester, who informed him of the latter's arrival at Fort Defiance and of the retreat of the British down the Maumee. With a small escort, Gen. Harrison continued on to Winchester camp, arriving late that night, leaving his troops to come up more at leisure. At Fort Defiance, a revolt in the Kentucky regiment of Col. Allen took place, which from its honorable termination as well as from motives of historical fidelity, requires to be mentioned: Soon after Gen. Harrison arrived in camp and after he had retired to enjoy some little repose, so welcome to any one who had been exposed on the preceding comfortless and forced expedition, he found himself suddenly awakened by Col. Allen and Maj. M. D. Hardin. These officers were the bearers of the mortifying news that Allen's regiment, exhausted by the hard fare of the campaign and disappointed in the expectation of an immediate engagement with the enemy, had, in defiance to their duty to their country and all the earnest, impassioned remonstrances of their officers, determined to return home. These officers assured (oxen. Harrison that they could do nothing with their men; that their representatives were answered by insults alone, They begged the General to rise and interfere, as the only officer who had any prospect of bringing the mutiners back to their duty. He refused to interfere at that time, but assured the gentlemen that he would attend to the serious object of their request in his own way and at his own time. The officers retired. In the meantime Gen. Harrison sent one of his aids to direct Gen. Winchester to order the alarm or point of HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 81 war to be beat on the following morning instead of the reveille. This adroit expedient brought all the troops te their arms the first thing in the morning, It diverted the spirits of the discontented troops into a new channel of feeling and prepared them for the subsequent event, On the parading of the troops at their posts, Gen, Winchester was ordered to form them into a hollow square. Gen, Harrison now appeared upon parade, much to the surprise of the troops, who from his late arrival were unapprised of his presence. If the sudden and unexpected arrival of their favorite commander had so visible an effect upon his men, his immediate address to them fully preserved the impression. He lamented that there was, as he was informed, considerable discontent in one of the Kentucky regiments; this, although a source of mortification to himself, on their account, was happily of little consequence to the Government. He had more troops than he now well what 63 do with at the present stage of the campaign; he was expecting daily the arrival of Pennsylvania and Virginia quotas. It is fortunate, said this officer, with the ready oratory -for which his native Virginia is so famed, that he had found out this dissatisfactien before the campaign was further advanced when the discovery might have been mischievous to the public interests as well as disgraceful to the parties concerned. Now, so far as the Government was interested, the discontented troops who had come in to the woods with the expectation of finding all the luxuries of home and of peace, had full liberty to return. He would, he continued, order facilities to be furnished for their immediate accommodation. But he could not refain from expressing the mortification he anticipated for the reception they would meet from the old and the young who had greeted them on their march to the seat of war as their gallant neighbors. What must be their feelings, said the General, to see those whom they had hailed as their generous defenders, now returning without striking a blow and before their term of plighted service had expired. But if this would be state of public sentiment in Ohio, what would it be in Kentucky ? If their fathers did not drive their degenerate sons back to the field of battle to recover their wounded honor, their mothers and sisters would hiss them from their presence. If, however, the discontented men were disposed to put up with all the taunts and disdain which awaited them wherever they went, they were, Gen. Harrison again assured them, at full liberty to go back. The influence of this animated address was instantaneous. This was evidenced in a manner most flattering to the tact and management of the commander. Cel. J. M. Scott, the senior Colonel of Ken- tucky, and who had served in the armies of Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne, in the medical staff, now ad- Cressed his men. These were well known in the army as the " Iron Works," from the neighborhood from which they came, " You, my boys," said the generous veteran, " will prove your attachment for the service of your country and your General, by giving him three cheers." The address was attended with immediate success, and the air resounded with the shouts of both officers and men. Col. Lewis next took up the same course and with the same effect. It now became the turn of the noble Allen again to try the temper of his men. He begged leave of the General to address them, but excess of emotion choked his utterance; at length he gave vent to the contending feelings of his heart, in a broken, but forcible address, breathing the fire which had ever burned so ardently in his breast. At the close of it, however, he conjured the soldiers of his regiment to give the General the same manifestation of their patriotism and returning sense of duty, which the other Kentucky regiments had so freely done. The wishes of that high-spirited officer were complied with; and a mutiny was nipped in the bud, which might, if persisted in, have spread dissatisfaction through the Kentucky troops, to the disgrace of that gallant State and the lasting injury of the public cause. No troops, however, behaved more faithfully or zealously through the remainder of their service, till the greater part of them offered up their lives in defense o! their country on the fatal field of Raisin. Gen. Harrison at once made arrangements with Gen, Winchester for the full command of the left wing, assigning him the regulars under Col. Wells, the regiments of Scott, Lewis and Allen, already alluded to, and the three regiments under Cols, Poague, Barber and Jennings, which had assembled at St. Marys. THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF CAPT. LOGAN. While Gen. Winchester was encamped at Fort Defiance, Capt. Logan, a noted Indian spy and scout in the American service, was placed in charge of a small party of scouts by Gen. Harrison, with instructions to reconnoiter in the direction of the Maumee Rapids. Near this point they met a superior force of the enemy and were compelled to retreat. Logan, in company with his favorite companions, Capt. Johnny and Bright Horn, escaped to the left of the army under Gen. Winchester and recounted their adventure, A subordinate officer without provocation charged Logan with infidelity to the American cause and sympathy with the enemy. Stung with indignation, the chief called a friend to witness that he would refute the foul charge the next day by either 82 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY. bringing back a scalp or losing his life. Accordingly on the 22d ef November, 1812, with his two friends, Capt. Johnny and Bright Horn, he started down the Maumee. About noon they were surprised by seven savages, among whom were the Pottawatomie chief, Winnemac, and young Elliot, bearing a British commission. Seeing they were outnumbered, Logan professed friendship. The suspicions of Winnemac, however, were aroused, and he disarmed his prisoners, but subsequently restored them, having confidence in their story of deserting the Americans. In the evening they encamped on Turkey Foot Creek, about twenty miles from the American camp. At a given signal, Logan's party fired and two of the enemy fell dead and a third mortally wounded. At the second fire two of the surviving four were wounded, but Capt. Logan and Bright Horn had also been pierced by the enemy's balls, Capt. Johnny hastily mounted his comrades on two of the enemy's horses and started them for Winchester's camp, where they arrived about midnight. After securing the sealp of Winnemac, he proceeded on foot, and reached the camp by daylight. Logan's wound proved mortal. He lived two days in agony, which he bore with uncommon fortitude and died at the camp below Defiance with the utmost composure and resignation. " More firmness and consumate bravery," said Winchester, in his letter to the commanding General, "has seldom appeared on the military theater." There was but one horse in the entire camp at that time, and a rude sled was con structed upon which the body of Logan was placed and dragged over the snow by six officers to Fort Defiance, where " he was buried with all the honors due to his rank, and with sorrow as sincerely and generally displayed as I ever witnessed," wrote Maj. Hardin in a letter to Gov. Shelby. GEN. WINCHESTER'S ORDER BOOK. The following is reproduced from Knapp's History of the Maumee Valley, where it appeared as a newspaper communication from Monroe, Mich, : Among the many interesting documents bearing on early history, which have been brought to light recently, is the original record of " General Orders," issued by Gen. Winchester during the march from Kentucky to the River Raisin, from early in September, 1812, to January 20, 1813, and which was no doubt left behind when the army retreated. It was found, and for many years remained in the family of Col. John Anderson. It is a weather-stained volume, bearing unmistakable signs of frequent battles with the elements. The paper is yellow with age, but the writing is perfectly legible, the ink, in most places, being as black and brilliant as though written yesterday. Through the courtesy of Mr. Anderson Wing, the present possessor,I am enabled to make a few extracts. The army left Kentucky in August, 1812. Most of the men were clothed in their linen hunting shirts and very few provided with woolen clothing— as a consequence, suffered severely with cold before their supplies reached them. Gen. Harrison joined the army October 3, as will be seen by the following order: CAMP AT DEFIANCE, October 3, 1812. GENERAL ORDERS. I have the honor of announcing to this army the arrival of Gen. Harrison, who is duly authorized by the Executive of the Federal Government to take command of the Northwestern army. This officer is enjoying the implicit confidence of the States from whose citizens this army is and will be collected, and possessing himself great military skill and reputation. The General is confident in the belief that his presence in the army, in the character of its chief, will be hailed with unusual approbation. J. WINCHESTER, Brigadier General U. S. Army. The narrative of the march of the army through Ohio is very interesting and contains many details of the hardships and privations of the little army, through woods and streams, snow, ice and mud, the sleds and baggage vans often being drawn by the men. Occasional desertions took place, and these offences were severely punished. One young man, Frederick Jacoby, was sentenced to be shot for sleeping upon his post while on sentry. An order was issued by Gen. Winchester, dated at Camp Defiance on the 9th of October, 1812, instructing the Officer of the Day in all necessary preparations for the execution of Jacoby, which were duly made, and the army drawn up to witness the first scene of the kind. The young man was placed at the distance of about twenty paces from the platoon of men constituting the firing party. They were waiting in painful suspense for the order to fire, when a reprieve from the General was received and the fortunate young man released. The effect was not lost upon the command, and no further cases of a similar kind ever were known. The weather began to be very cold (November) and the supplies which were ordered from Philadelphia, had not made their appearance. The General endeavored to appease the clamors of the soldiers by issuing the following order: FORT WINCHESTER, November 1, 1812. GENERAL ORDERS. With great pleasure the General announces to the army the prospect of an early supply of winter clothing, amongst which are the following articles, shipped from Philadelphia on the 9th of September last : 10,000 pair of shoes, 5,000 pair of blankets, 5,000 round jackets, 5,000 pair of pantaloons, woolen cloth to be made up, besides the underclothing for Col. Wells' regiment, 100 watch coats, 5,000 blankets and 10,000 yards of flannel, 10,000 pair shoes, 10,000 pair wool socks and 10,000 of wool hose. This bountiful supply evinces the constant attention of the Government to the comforts of its armies, although the immense distance this wing hath been detached into the wil- HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 83 derness has prevented its receiving those comforts in due season, owing to causes not within the control of human foresight; yet a few days and the General consoles himself with the idea of seeing those whom he has the honor to command clad in warm woolen, capable of resisting the Northern blasts of Canada; either from the bellows of Boreas or the muzzles of British cannon. J. WINCHESTER, Brigadier General Commanding Left Wing Northwestern Army. The records close at a date when they begin to be the most interesting, just before the arrival of the army at the River Raisin, the last entry being as follows: CAMP MIAMI RAPIDS, HULL'S ROAD, January, 1813. GENERAL ORDERS. As ordered yesterday, the line of march shall be kept well closed, every officer in his proper place, and no non-commissioned officer or private suffered to straggle from the lines except from urgent necessity, and then with leave to return to his place. Perfect silence is enjoined during the march, being in the immediate neighborhood of the enemy. J. WINCHESTER, Brigadier General Commanding Left Wing Northwestern Army. WINCHESTER'S DEPARTURE. Early in January, 1813, Gen. Winchester left Fort Defiance, or Fort Winchester, as it had been renamed, with his troops, and on the 10th of that month reached the Rapids. Here, learning the danger of the inhabitants of Frenchtown on the Raisin River, on the 17th instant Winchester sent Col, Lewis with 550 men to their relief, followed by Col. Allen with 110 men. They encountered and repulsed the enemy, gained possession of the town and wrote for re-enforcements, as the whole British force was only eighteen miles distant, at Malden. Winchester on the 19th marched with 259 men, all he could spare from the Rapids, and reached Frenchtown the following evening. He suffered his troops to remain in open ground, and during the night of the 21st the entire British force erected a battery within 300 yards of the Ameriean camp and early in the morning opened upon Winchester a destructive fire; his troops broke and fled, but the force of Lewis who were posted behind pickets, stood firm. Col. Lewis himself had gone to Winchester's assistance, and both these officers were taken prisoners. The troops of Col. Lewis did not surrender until they received an order from the captured Winchester to do so, which Proctor, the British General, induced him to send under threats of an Indian massacre in case of continued resistance and a promise of protection if his wishes were complied with. His faith was infamously broken, for the following night and day the Indians perpetrated horrible outrages upon the wounded prisoners. Of the American Army, of about 800 men, one-third were killed in the battle and massacre whieh followed, and but thirty-three escaped. Fort Defiance was several times threatened by the British forces during the struggle for the possession of Northwestern Ohio, but no attack was ever made upon it . CHAPTER IX. SURVEYS. THE lands now embraced within Defiance County were ceded to the United States by the Indians by a treaty made September 29, 1817, at the Rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie, between Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur, Commissioners, and the chiefs and warriors of the various Indian tribes. Surveys were made from the Indiana line east to the line of the Western Reserve, and south to the Greenville treaty line. The base line of this survey is the 41st degree of north latitude, and it is also the south line of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The plan of survey of the lands originated with Jared Mansfield, Surveyor General of the United States. From the base line the townships are numbered south, and east of the Indiana line, our meridian. Each township is six miles square and is subdivided into thirty-six sections, parallel with the township lines, of one mile square each, containing 640 acres, so that every regular land township contains 23,040 acres of land. Each section can be legally subdivided into quarter sections of 160 acres; and each quarter section into quarters of 40 acres; and each 40 acres, for convenience of sale, can be divided into quarters, also, of 10 acres, so that an exaet and legally correct description of ten acres of land out of a whole section can be made without a survey, and the lines afterward be exactly determined by any competent surveyor. The townships were surveyed in 1820. In Defiance County, Hicksville, Milford, Farmer, Mark and Washington Townships were surveyed by Joseph Wampler; Defiance, Richland, Adams and Tiffin by James Riley, and Highland and Delaware Townships by James Powell. 84 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY. The land office was located at Piqua, and was opened in 1821, in which year some of the best land along the rivers was entered. Until 1834, very little was taken, but during the years 1835-36 and 1837 the greater portion was entered, principally by speculators and land companies, The Hicks Land Company, in Hicksville Township alone, owned 14,000 acres. Mr. A. P. Edgerton, at Hicksville, agent for this and the American Land Company in Northwestern Ohio, sold over 107,000 acres. These extensive purchases, however, proved disastrous, The expected speedy increase in value did not occur, and much land was sold in four or five years for less than the original price paid. CHAPTER X. ORGANIZATION OF WILLIAMS COUNTY. AN act was passed in the Ohio Legislature, February 12, 1820, providing " that all that part of lands lately ceded by the Indians to the United States which lies within the State of Ohio shall be and the same is hereby erected into fourteen separate and distinct counties, to be bounded and named as follows." Of the counties thus formed, Williams occupied, as now, the northwest corner of the State, but embraced most of the territory now included in Defiance County There were as yet but few settlers in this vast scope of country, and for judicial purposes Williams and several other adjoining counties were attached to Wood County, Maumee City being the seat of justice. In April, 1824, Williams County was organized, and Henry, Paulding and Putnam Counties were attached to it for civil purposes. The nucleus of the early settlement of these counties was at Defiance and it was chiefly settlers, in what now constitutes Defiance County, who were active in the, early official life of Williams County. January 13, 1825, the following resolution was passed by the Ohio Legislature: "Resolved, By the General Assemby of the State of Ohio, that Joseph C. Haskins, of the county of Preble, Forest Meeker, of the county of Delaware, and Robert Morrison, of the county of Miami, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to locate and establish the permanent seat of justice, in and for the county of Williams." Pursuant to this resolution, the Commissioners proceeded to the County of Williams, and proposed, that if the proprietors would deed to the county one- third of all the lots in the town of Defiance, and build a jail, the Commissioners, agreeably to the resolution above recited, would permanently establish the seat of justice at the town of Defiance. The proposition the Commissioners was accepted by the proprietors. A deed in fee simple was made of the lots, to the county; and a jail was erected by them. Individuals bought them at high prices, with the view of this being the county seat. Others, too, settled in and about the town, and invested their fortunes under this expectation. The first court in Williams County at Defiance was held April 5, 1824, with Ebenezer Land, Presiding Judge, and Robert Shirley, John Perkins and Pierce Evans, Associate Judges. John Evans was appointed Clerk, pro tem., by the court, and John Evans was appointed Recorder, April 8, 1824, and gave bonds in the sum of $2,000. Foreman Evans, Pierce Evans and Moses Rice were his sureties. William Preston was Sheriff. May 8, the court granted Benjamin Leavel a license to vend merchandise at his place of residence in Defiance for one year, upon his paying into the county treasury $10. John Cannon was the first person to declare his intention to become a citizen of the United States. The Judges of Williams County were appointed by the Governor February 4, 1824. Charles W. Ewing was appointed Prosecuting Attorney October 5, 1824, and was allowed $10 fees. The first grand jury was William Hunter, Timothy T. Smith, Arthur Burras, Georg e Lantz, John Hilton, Foreman Evans, Montgomery Evans, Thomas Driver, Benjamin Mulligan, James Shirely, Jonathan Merithan, Thomas Warren, Theophilus Hilton, Hugh Evans and Daniel Brannan. Thee first cause in court, Timothy T. Smith, plaintiff, in certiorari, against Montgomery Evans, The first State case, State of Ohio against Enoch Buck, indicted for keeping a ferry across the Ohio without a license. The first County Auditor was Timothy T. Smith. The first Sheriff was William Preston. The first Assessor was Samuel Vance, appointed by the Court, March 7, 1825. The first will submitted to Probate was James Jolly's. The first license for marriage to Carver Gunn and Mary Ann Scribner, married December 24, 1824, by Charles Gunn. HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 85 The first Road Viewers appointed were John Evans, Arthur Burras and William Preston, appointed December 6, 1824. John Perkins, Surveyor. The first deed made by Jacob Brown to James McCloskie, recorded March 10,1824. EARLY PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMISSIONERS. The first Commissioners of Williams County were Benjamin Leavell, Charles Gunn and Cyrus Hunter. Their first session was held December 6, 1824, at the house of Benjamin Leavell. The only business transacted related to the establishment of county roads. At the June session, 1825, it was ordered that a hewed- log jail be erected, its dimensions " to be twenty-six by eighteen feet, nine feet beween floors, with a partition of the same dimensions as the walls and two grate windows, eighteen by ten inches, with five iron bars to each window ;" $29 was ordered to be paid to the Auditor as his annual allowance, and the Listers or Assessors of the several townships were each allowed from $12 to $1.87 1/2, At the October session of the same year, it appears that Isaiah Hughes had been appointed by the Court of Common Pleas, Commissioner in place of 'Benjamin Leavell, resigned. George Lantz was appointed Auditor, vice Thomas Philbrick. The proprietors of the town of Defiance having deeded forty town lots to the county, the Commissioners offered them for sale at auction, February 1, 1826. Only seven were sold, as follows: Lot No. 4, to William Preston, for $80; Lot 12, to Samuel Vance, for $41; Lot 58, to John Perkins, for $40; Lot 64, to Samuel Vance, for $85; Lot 101, to John Perkins, for $71; Lot 107, to John Oliver, for $36; Lot 61, to Robert and Nathan Shirley, for $77. COURT HOUSE. After the organization of Williams County, the courts were held in the second story of Mr. Leavell's storeroom, which stood on the banks of the Maumee, just north of the fort grounds, until about 1828, when a brick court house was built on the lot just north of the present Presbyterian Church. It served its purpose until the county seat was removed to Bryan, shortly after which event the old court house was sold by the County Commissioners. It is still standing, and for many years has been used as a dwelling house. FIRST ELECTION. At the first election for county officers, held April 8,1824, Timothy T. Smith received 37 votes, and H. Jerome 26 for Auditor; for Coroner, Arthur Burras 6 votes, John Oliver, 40, and Thomas Warren, 17; for Sheriff, James Shirley had 14 votes and. William Preston, 48; for Commissioners, Jesse Hilton, 58, Cyrus Hunter, 37, Charles Gunn, 31, Montgomery Evans, 28, Benjamin Leavell, 26, William Hunter, 4, and John Oliver, 1. CHAPTER - XI. ORGANIZATION OF DEFIANCE COUNTY, IT was not until the years 1835-36 and 1837 that the great bodies of land in Williams County were entered, and these entries were made mostly by speculators in large quantities. In 1836, by the settlement of the Michigan boundary question, about 150 square miles were added to the north end of Williams, and the village of Defiance became more a border town than it was before. Various speculators owning large tracts of land began to agitate the question of removing the county seat. A large number of villages were platted about this time, and the aspirants for the possession of the county seat were many, among which may be mentioned Washington, Union, Texas, Brunersburg, Freedom, Center, Lafayette and Evansport. March 13,1839, a resolution was passed by the Legislature, submitting to the voters of Williams County the question of reviewing the seat of justice. It received a large majority vote and three Commissioners, consisting of Joseph Burns, of Coshocton County, Joseph McCutchen, of Crawford County, and James Curtis, of Perry County, were appointed to locate the county seat. In July, 1846, Bryan, which was then covered with a dense wilderness, but at or near the center of the county, was seleeted. The dissatisfaction of Defiance was great, and projects of a new county with it as a county seat were talked of. It was a ,Democratic !Legislature that removed the county seat and the members of that party were usually averse to the organization of new counties. In 1864, when the Whigs obtained control of the Legislature, several of the prominent citizens of Defiance, but chiefly William C. Holgate and Horace Sessions, determined to make the effort to secure a new county. December 4, 1844, a petition was drawn up and presented to the citizens for signatures, and a remonstrance was also extensively cir- 86 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY. culated by the enemies of the project. The opposition was carried to the halls of the Legislature after a short struggle, but the bill was passed, March 4, 1845, just three months after the petition was first circulated. In the House the majority for the bill was twelve votes, in the Senate, two votes. The full text of the bill organizing Defiance County is herewith given: FULL TEXT OF THE BILL ORGANIZING DEFIANCE COUNTY. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That such parts of the counties of Williams, Henry and Paulding, as are embraced in the boundaries hereafter described, be and the same are hereby erected into a separate and distinct county, whieh shall be kncwn by the name of Defiance, to wit: Beginning on the Indiana State line where the line between Townships 5 and 6 north, in Williams County, intersects said State line; thence east on said township line to the east line of Range 5; thence south on said range line to the north line of Putnam County; thence west on said Putnam County line to the east line of Paulding County; thence north on said Paulding County line to the point where the section line, between Sections 13 and 24, Township 3 north, Range 4 east, intersects said county line; thence west on section lines to the west line of said township; thence north on said township line to the present south line of Williams County; thence west on said Williams County line to the Indiana State line; thence north on the Indiana line to the place of beginning. SEC. 2. The seat of justice within and for said county of Defiance shall be and is hereby fixed and permanently established at the town of Defiance, SEC. 3. That all 'suits, whether of a civil or criminal nature, which shall be pending within those parts of the counties of Williams, Henry and Paulding, so set off and erected into a new county, previous to the first Monday of April, 1845, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution within the counties of Williams, Henry and Paulding, respectively, in the same manner as though the said county of Defiance had not been; and the officers of said counties, respectively, shall execute all such process as shall be necessary to carry into effect such suits, prosecutions and judgments, and the collectors of taxes for the said counties, respectively, shall collect all taxes that shall be levied and unpaid, within the aforesaid portions of their respective counties, at the time of the passage of this act. SEC. 4. That all Justices of the Peace and other township officers within those parts of the counties of Williams, Henry and Pauling, which by this act are erected into the county of Defiance, shall continue to exercise the functions and discharge the duties of their respective offices, until their time of service shall expire, and until their successor shall be elected and qualified, in the same manner as if they had been elected or commissioned for the county of Defiance; and all writs and other legal process within the territory hereby erected into the county of Defiance, shall be styled as of the county of Defiance, on and after the first Monday of April, 1845. SEC. 5. That the Commissioners of Paulding County shall have power, immediately upon the passage of this act, to attach the south half of Auglaize Township to any adjacent township of said county, or to organize said half township into a separate township, and to add any adjacent territory to the same, if they shall deem it expedient, just and proper to do so; which power shall extend to the Commissioners of Defiance for the purpose of disposing of the north half of Auglaize Township. SEC. 6. That the Associate Judges of Defiance County shall have power to appoint a time for the holding of an election to fill such county offices in said county as they shall deem necessary, which election shall be notified and conducted in the same manner prescribed in the act to regulate elections; and the county officers, so elected, shall hold their offices until the next annual election, and until their successors are elected and qualified. SEC. 7. That such portion of the territory of Williams County as is by this act included in the county of Defiance, shall stand charged and be liable to said county of Williams, for the debts of said Williams County, in the proportion the total valuation of the taxable property, as charged upon the tax duplicate of said county at the time of the passage of this.act, in said territory so included in Defiance County, bears to the valuation of the taxable property left in said Williams County; provided said territory shall not be liable for the payment of any por tion of said debt of Williams County, that has been contracted or incurred by the removal, location or establishment of the seat of justice of said Williams County at Bryan, or by the erection of, or preparation to erect, public buildings at Bryan. SEC. 8. That for the purpose of ascertaining the just and true amount of said debt, ehargeable in the manner specified in the preceding section, upon said territory, taken from Williams County, the County Auditor of Williams County is hereby required to furnish the County Commissioners of the county of Defiance a full and true statement of the debt of Williams County, specifying the time and the manner in which and the object for which said debt was contracted or incurred; also a statement of the amount of taxes of said territory which have been HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY. - 87 used, or appropriated, to the expenses of removal or establishment of the seat of justice at Bryan or in the erection of or preparation to erect public buildings, and also a statement of the total valuation of the taxable property of said territory as taken from Williams County and of that remaining in Williams County respectively, which said statement the said Auditor shall furnish said Commissioners on or before the first Monday of August next, verified by his oath; and the County Commissioners of said county of Defiance, upon the receipt of the said statement and upon being satisfied of their correctness, are hereby authorized, from year to year, to levy upon the taxable property within said territory so taken from Williams County, such taxes as may be necessary for the payment of the indebtedness of said territory, so ascertained; and in anticipation of the said payment, to issue orders upon the Treasurer of the county of Defiance, payable with interest to the order of the Commissioners of Williams, within ten years from the passage of this act to the full amount of such proportion of said debt. SEC. 9. The territory by this act, taken from Henry and Paulding Counties, and included in said county of Defiance shall stand charged and be liable to the respective counties from whieh said territory is taken for the debts of said counties, in the same propertion, upon the same terms, and under the same provisions as by the seventh section of this act, the territory taken from Williams County is made liable to said Williams County; and the same regulations and provisions, provided in the eighth section of this act, for ascertaining and liquidating the proportion of the debt of said Williams Count}, charged upon the territory taken from said county, shall extend and apply with equal force and effect to the counties and county officers respectively of Henry and Paulding Counties. REJOICINGS AT DEFIANCE. The citizens of Defiance, having been deprived ef the county seat of Williams a few years previous, were greatly rejoiced to again become the residents of the seat of justice. A celebration of the erection of Defiance County was held at " Old Fort Defiance " on the afternoon of Thursday, March 13, 1845. Notwithstanding high waters and bad roads, the people of the new county thronged to Defiance in large numbers to rejoice with each other over the fortunate event. In the evening the shops and stores were illuminated and bonfires were kindled in public places by enthusiastic and happy citizens. At 8 o'clock a vast concourse repaired to the Exchange Hotel and partook of a sumptuous banquet which there awaited them. Judge Pierce Evans was made President of the assembly, Dr. Jonas Colby, Vice President, and Horace Sessions, Secretary. Appropriate resolutions were drafted and read, and the exultation of the assemblage found expression in the response to many toasts. Music, gayety and dancing terminated the joyous occasion at 2 o'clock in the morning. At the next session of the Legislature, the friends of Williams County made strenuous but unsuccessful efforts to have the action of the Legislature organizing Defiance County repealed. Milford, Hicksville, Farmer, Mark, Washington, Delaware, Tiffin, Noble and the upper part of Defianee Townships were taken from Williams County; Adams, Richland and Highland Townships from Henry County, and the lower part of Defiance Township from Paulding County. COURT HOUSE. After the erection of Defiance County, the first term of court within the newly made county opened April 2, 1845, in a brick schoolhouse which stood on Lot 2. Block 5, in the First Addition of Defiance, on Wayne street. Proceedings were at once instituted to erect a court house, and in a short time a brick edifice was completed on the site of the present court house. It cost about $7,500, and in its day was considered as a handsome and very creditable structure. The court room was on the first floor, with the county offices above. The building was considered defective, and during the years 1871-72-73 the present court house was constructed at a cost of about $72,000. It is a handsome specimen of Franco-American architecture, and reflects credit alike upon its builders and architects. It fronts west, has an entrance on the south, and is three stories high. with the Mansard roof. The building is made of Philadelphia pressed brick, with iron and stone trimmings. From the tower, which rises to the height of 125 feet, the view presented is worth the effort made to obtain it. The present brick jail was erected shortly before the court house, The jail it replaced was also of brick and occupied the same site. For a time after the erection of Defiance County, its prisoners were confined in the Henry County Jail until one could be built. 88 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY. CHAPTER XII. COUNTY OFFICIALS. AT the first term of court in. Defiance County, April 2, 1845, Patrick Goode was Presiding Judge, Andrew C. Bigelow, William 0. Ensign and James S. Greer, Associate Judges; and Orlando Evans, Clerk. April 3, 1845, the court appointed as County Commissioners, Lyman Langdon and Jonas Colby, who were sworn in by Israel P. E. Wheden, Justice of the Peace, and held their first session April 5, 1845. Edwin Phelps was appointed Auditor. The first school examiners were G. W. B. Evans, Edwin Phelps and Horace Sessions. The first papers filed for naturalization were by David Kavverman. Samuel C, Sullivan and Elizabeth Williams were the first couple married in the new county, June 12, 1845. A special election for county officers was held April 15, 1845, and October 14, following; and officers were elected for full terms. Complete lists of the county officers from the date of its organization are herewith given. LIST OF COUNTY OFFICERS. Auditors-1845, William A. Brown; 1845, William A. Brown; 1847, Miller Arrowsmith; 1849, Miller Arrowsmith; 1851, Finlay Strong; 1853, Finlay Strong; 1855, George Moss; 1857, George Moss; 1859, John C. Arrrowsmith ; 1861, John C. Arrow- smith; 1863, Charles P. Tittle; 1865, Charles P. Tittle; 1867, George Moss; 1869, John M. Sewell; 1872, John H. Conkle; 1874, John H. Conkle; 1876, William A. Slough; 1878, William A. Slough; 1881, Charles P. Tittle. Recorders-1845, Sanderson M. Huyck; 1845, Samuel S. Case; 1848, John M. Stilwill; 1851, James B. Heatley; 1854, James B, Heatley; 1857, Henry Hardy; 1860, Henry Hardy; 1863, Samuel W. Wilson; 1866, Samuel W. Wilson; 1869, Lewis Neill; 1872, Lewis Neill; 1875, William E. Carpenter; 1878, William E. Carpenter; 1881, John C. Woods. Prosecuting Attorneys---1845, John M. Stilwill; 1845, John M. Stilwill; 1847, Samuel M. McCord; 1849, William P. Bacon; 1851, Samuel M, McCord; 1853, Patrick S. Slevin; 1855, David Taylor; 1857, Sidney S. Sprague; 1859, Thomas McBride; 1861, Thomas McBride; 1863, Henry Hardy; 1865, Henry Hardy; 1867, Silas T. Sutphen; 1869, Silas T. Sutphen; 1871, Silas T. Sutphen; 1873, Charles E. Bronson; 1875, Charles E. Bronson; 1877, Charles E. Bronson; 1879, Benjamin F. Enos; 1881, Benjamin F. Enos. Treasurers-1845, John H. Kiser; 1845, John H. Kiser; 1847, John Tuttle; 1849, David W. Marcellus; 1851, David W. Marcellus; 1853, Shadrach R. Hudson; 1855, Horace Hilton; 1857, John A. Garber; 1859, John A. Garber; 1861, John H. Bayington; 1863, John H. Bevington; 1865, Abraham B. Krunkilton; 1867, Abraham B. Krunkilton; 1869, Asa Toberin; 1871, Asa Toberin; 1873, Harrison Shaw; 1875, Harrison Shaw; 1877, Adam Minsel; 1879, Adam Minsel; 1881, Peter William Lauster. Sheriffs-1845, Calvin L. Noble; 1845, Calvin L. Noble; 1847, Calvin L. Noble; 1849, William S. Langdon; 1851, William S. Langdon; 1853, Byron Bunnell; 1855, Byron Bunnell, died August 19, 1856; 1858, Virgil H. Moats; 1860, Virgil H. Moats; 1862, John M. Sewell; 1863, John W. Slough; 1866, John W. Slough; 1868, Jacob Karst; 1870, Jacob Karst; 1872, John B. Hootman; 1874, John B. Hootman; 1876, Henry Sehmick; 1878, Henry Schmick; 1880, John A. Foust; 1882, John A. Foust. Coroners-1845, Jehu P. Downs; 1845, Jehu P, Downs; 1847, Jehu P. Downs; 1849, Jehu P. Downs; 1851, Jehu P. Downs; 1853, Thomas Garrett; 1855, Jehu P. Downs; 1857, Jehu P. Downs; 1859, Elias Churchman; 1861, Aaron Bennett; 1863, Henry Beaderstadt; /865, Henry Beaderstadt; 1867, Henry Beaderstadt; 1869, Henry H. Kiser; 1871, John H. Kiser; 1873, Emory W. Downs; 1875, Henry Kuhl; 1877, Henry Kuhl; 1879, Emory W. Downs; 1881, John J. Finn, who refused to serve; 1881, Dr. D. P. Aldrich was appointed for the term. Surveyors-1845, Miller Arrowsmith; 1845, John Wisler; 1848, Finlay Strong; 1851, Townsend; 1854, Miller Arrowsmith; 1857, John Arrowsmith, who served to 1859, when he was elected Auditor, and John W. Wilson was appointed to fill his unexpired term; 1860, John W. Wilson, was elected, and in 1861 he enlisted in the United States service and the county was without a surveyor; 1863, David Hunter was elected; 1866, David Hunter; 1869,John Phillips, who served about two years and died, and David Hunter was appointed to fill out his unexpired time; 1872, D. H, English was elected; 1875, D. H. English; 1878, Thomas S. Wight; 1881, Thomas S. Wight. Clerks-At the April term, A. D. 1845, Orlando HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 89 Evans. In May following he was appointed for a term of seven years, to 1852. In October, 1851, William Richards was elected and served from 1852 to 1858; Octeher, 1857, Edward Phelps was elected and served from 1858 to 1867; F. W. Graper from 1867 to February 24,1873, at which time he died, and Edwin Phelps succeeded him, commencing March 3,1872, and served to 1879. He was Clerk of Williams County from 1839 to 1844, Defiance being the county seat at that time; October, 1878, John D. Lamb was elected and served from 1879 to 1882; October, 1881, J. P. Cameron was elected and entered upon the duties of the office February 9, 1882; his term will expire February 9,1885. Probate Judges--John M. Stilwill,February,1852, to January,1854; Jacob J. Green, from January 4,1854. Commissioners-The first Commissioners of Defiance County were Jonas Colby and Lyman Lang- don, who were appointed by the Court of Common Pleas April 3, 1845, and served until the 1st day of December, 1845. The first Commissioners elected were John A. Garber, Robert M. Kells and Ira Freeman, and having drawn lots, Ira Freeman drew for the term of one year, Robert M. Kells for the term of two years and John A. Garber for the term of three years. Since then the following have served: Henry Breckbill, 1846-49; Ira W. Ladd. 1847-50; John A. Garber, 1848-54; John A. Cheney, 1849-54 (resigned); B. B. Able, 1854-55 (by appointment); John M. Sanford, 1855-58; Jacob Conkey, 1850-53; Airs Knight, 1853-59; Peter Conkle, 1857-66; Samuel S. Case, 1858-64; Samuel Hill, 1859-64 (resigned); Merill Otis, 1864-65 (by appointment); and 1865-67, when he resigned; W. R. Maxwell, 1867-68 by appointment and 1868-74 by election; Joseph Sewell, 1864-70; John Elliott, 1866-72; Abraham B. Crunkleton, 1870-71 (resigned); Charles Speaker, 1871-72 (by appointment); died in office; Isaac Garver, 1872 -73 (by appointment); Adam Wilhelm, 1872-78; Peter Gares, 1873-79; F. N. Horton, 1874-80; Townsend Newton, 1878-80 (resigned); David Travis, 1880-81 (by appointment); Levi Colby, 1879; Martin Struble, 1880-83; David Travis, 1881-82 (deceased); Henry Ort, 1882-83; Michael Gorman, 1882. The present Board is composed of Messrs. Struble, Colby and Gorman. Infirmary Directors--This Board was organized in 1868, with the following members: Peter Gares, for one year G. C. A. Greenler, for two years; Richard Knight, for three years. Subsequent members have been Peter Gares, 1869-72; F. N. Horton, 1870-71, vice Knight resigned; G. C. A. Greenler, 1870-73; F. N. Horton, 1871-74; J. Y. Gurwell, 1872-78; William Williams, 1873-79; John Dow, 1874-78 (died in office); John English, 1878-83; John P. Frederick, 1878-84; Abram Raisor, 1879-85. Levi Mock was appointed Superintendent of the Infirmary in 1869 and served five years. J. H. Smith was appointed in 1875 and served four years, when J. M. Phillips received the appointment and is now acting in that capacity, Defiance Infirmary Farm-The farm contains about 200 aeres and is partly in Tiffrn and partly in Noble Townships. It is a good farm and finely located. Mr. James Phillips is the Superintendent. The farm cost about $13,000, and the buildings about $4,000, making the entire cost about $17,000. The labor of the paupers makes the farm nearly self-supporting. State Representatives-Since the creation of Defiance County, the districts of which it has formed a part have been represented in the State House of Representatives as follows: 1845-46, Horace S. Knopp, of Putnam; 1846-47, Benjamin F. Metcalf, of Putnam; 1847-48; Nathan M. Landis, of Defiance; 1848-49, Charles P. Edson, of Van Wert; 1849-50, Sidney S. Sprague, of Defiance; 1850-51, William H. Snook, of Paulding; 1852-54, Thomas S. C. Morrison, of Williams; 1854-56, Erastus H. Leland, of Defiance; 1856-58, Schuyler E. Blakeslee, of Williams; 1858-60, W. D. Haymaker, of Defiance; 1860-62, Calvin L. Noble, of Paulding; 1862-64, Philetus W. Norris, of Williams; 1864-66. John W. Ayres, of Paulding; 1866-70, Elisha G. Denman, of Williams, and William D. Hill, of Defiance; 1870-74, Levi Colby, of Paulding; 1874-76, Henry Hardy, of Defiance; 1876-78, Asa Toberen, of Defiance; 1878-80, Henry Hardy, of Defiance; 1880-82, Benjamin Patton, of Defiance; 1882-84, Lewis S. Gordon, of Paulding. Senators-A. P. Edgerton was State Senator from Defiance from 1845-47, two terms; John Taylor, for two terms from 1852-56; William Carter, 1868-70; and Elmer White at present represents this district. Congressman-A. P. Edgerton was a member of the Thirty-second Congress from 1851-55. William D. Hill was elected to the Forty-seventh Congress in 1878, and in 1882 to the present Congress. 90 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY. CHAPTER XIII. THE COURTS. CONCERNING the early courts at Defiance, Thomas W. Powell wrote in 1867: " Judge Lane's circuit of the Common Pleas then included the whole of the northwestern part of the State, including the counties of Huron, Richland, Delaware and Union, being fully one-fourth of the State. He was very punctual in attending the courts of Perrysburg and Defiance, Gage and myself always accompanied him; and they were frequently attended by other lawyers from other parts of the country. Those excursions from Perrysburg to Defiance in attending the courts there were enjoyed with rare pleasure and attended with considerable excitement. We usually made the trip on horseback, but frequently when the river was in a high stage of water we would procure a canoe at Defiance and make our way back by water. We frequently took two days to make the trip, and then would make Prairie Damasque our half-way stopping place over night, at the house of Judge Vance, a brother of Gov. Vance, of Ohio. * * * At that time Defiance consisted only of a few houses, such as would be found at a new town of the smaller dimensions. A warehouse on the bank of the river afforded a court house, and the house of Mr. Leavell afforded us a hotel yet the term there was attended with interest and pleasure. Frequently the cases tried were of a highly interesting character—creating considerable excitement. Many lawyers were frequently congregated there from various parts of Ohio—sometimes Judge Ewing and a Mr. Cooper, from Fort Wayne. At those times our social meetings were often animated and highly interesting. Judge Lane, so distinguished for his learning and intelligence, and who afterward became one of the oldest of the distinguished Judges of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and forms a brilliant figure in its judicial history, would be our leader in learning, science and literature; Gage, in anecdotes, jokes and eccentricities; and all would contribute what to any country or society would render the gathering marked and highly interesting. Nor was the journey devoid of many interesting incidents; among which is that of Gage getting a man at Prairie Damasque so far entangled in the meshes of the law, as to secure him under the promise of professional assistance to engage to take us up the Defiance in a canoe by water. Our horses were left at the Prairie and we were relieved by a voyage instead of a ride. When we arrived at Defiance, Gage made a new engagement with his client, that, in case he should clear him from his legal restraints, he should take us all back again to the prairie at the end of the term. Gage soon procured a writ of habeas corpus, upon which his client was released; and as a compensation for which we were taken back by water, and Gage had a long standing credit of killing two birds with ene stone-engaging the man to take us up by getting him into diffrculty and then to take us back again by getting him out. In return from court at Defiance one spring, Gage and myself came down the river in a canoe. The river was extremely high at that time, and we made our way down rapidly and pleasantly until we were below Roche de Boeuf. So far we had passed the dangers of the rapids without difficulty; but when we were near the island, opposite Waterville, a person on the south shore, near which we were keeping and intended to keep, called out to us as though he intended to give us some important instructions, which we took to ' keep close to the island,' but it possibly may have been as we intended to do, to keep close to the shore. The river was high, and the rolling surges of the water on the rapids just below the island was truly terrific. It was much more like the frightful waves of the ocean in a boisterous storm than anything else it can be compared to. In accordance with what we took to be the directions of the stranger, we turned our canoe toward the island, along the shore of which we passed forward without difficulty. But immediately upon leaving the foot of the island, we found ourselves in a frail canoe in the midst of the frightful waves and breakers of the rapids, and by them tossed so that it seemed impossible for us to live a moment. I turned my sight toward Gage and beheld the most frightened face I ever saw upon man; and perhaps mine was no better. We immediately made for the shore again and our perils were soon over. It was indeed the most providential eseape from the most imminent danger. I have seen many perils, but I look upon that moment as the most critical of my whole life." The first court at Defiance was attended by Eleutheros Cooke, of Sandusky City, Rodolphus Dickin- HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 91 son, of Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), James L. Gage and Thomas W. Powell, from Perrysburg, Charles and William G. Ewing, from Fort Wayne, and one or two from Dayton. THE BENCH. Judge Ebenezer Lane continued to preside at the courts of Williams County until the appointment of his successor, David Higgins, of Norwalk, in February, 1830, to the Second Judicial Circuit of Ohio, which then included Huron, Richland, Delaware, Sandusky. Seneca, Crawford, Marion, Wood, Hancock, Henry, Williams, Putnam, Paulding and Van Wert Ceunties. Of the voyage to Defiance in the pirogue Jurisprudence," Judge Higgins wrote: " We had been attending court at Findlay. Our circuit route from that town was first to Defiance and from there to Perryshurg. A countryman agreed to take our horses directly through the black swamp to Perrysburg, and we purchased a canoe, and taking with us our saddles, bridles and baggage proposed to descend to Blanchard's Fork and the Auglaize Rivers to Defiance and then to Perrysburg. Our company consisted of Rodelphus Diekinson, J. C. Spink, Count Coffin- berry, myself and a countryman whose name I forget, The voyage was a dismal one to Defiance, through an unsettled wilderness of some sixty miles. Its loneliness was only broken by the intervening settlement at Ottawa Village, where we were hailed and cheered lustily by the Tahwa Indians as would be a foreign war ship in the port of New York. From Defiance we descended the Maumee to Perrysburg, where we found all well. In descending the Maumee, we came near running into the rapids, where we should probably have been swamped had we not been hailed from the shore and warned of our danger." At the expiration of his term, Judge Higgins was succeeded by Ozias Bowen. In 1839, the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit was established, embracing the following ten counties: Lucas, Wood, Henry, Williams, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert, Allen, Hardin and Hancock. Emory D. Potter was elected Presiding Judge of this circuit and held the office until 1844, when he resigned to take a seat in Congress. He was succeeded on the bench by Hon, Myron H. Tilden, who resigned eighteen months later. February 19, 1845, the Sixteenth Judicial District, embracing the counties of Shelby, Mercer, Allen, Hardin, Hancock, Putnam, Paulding, Van Wert and Williams was erected, and Patrick G. Goode, of Sidney, elected Presiding Judge. The county of Defiance, erected the following month, was attached to this circuit. He served until 1848, and was succeeded by George B. Way, of Defiance, who served until 1857. Judge Alexander S. Latty was then elected and remained on the bench twenty years. At the time of his election he was a citizen of Paulding, but during his service he removed to Defiance. He was succeeded in 1877 by Judge Selwyn N, Owen, of Bryon, who is now serving his second term. Defiance County, with Paulding and Williams, composed the second subdivision of the Third Judicial District of Ohio. The Associate Judges of Defiance County, from its organization to the adoption of the present constitution, were Andrew Bigelow, William O. Ensign, and James S. Greer, 1845; Jesse Haller, 1850; Nathan M. Landis, 1851. CHAPTER XIV. THE BAR FOR many years after the organization of Williams County, the seat of which was at Defiance, the legal services required in the newly settled country were rendered chiefly by an army of legal luminaries, who were accustomed to travel from county to county at the heels of the Presiding Judge. Business was then transacted much more expeditiously than at present, and a few days would suffice to complete the business in one town, and the journey would then begin to the next, Probably almost as much time was consumed on the road as in court, so large were the circuits traversed, and so tedious the journeys. Many of the foreign practitioners already have been mentioned. The first intimation we have of a local attorney at Defiance is given in a letter written March 24, 1862, by James L. Gage and published in the Union Press, of Bryan, Ohio, in which he says: " In the winter of 1826, I opened a law office in Defiance, Williams County--I think the first in the county. It was in an upper room. in the inn of Benjamin Leavell, an upright man, in whose excellent family I boarded. My office was also my bedroom, and on public days it was also the bed room of many others." Mr. Gage came to the Maumee country in 1824, settling first in Maumee. He did not remain long at Defiance, but moved from place to 92 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY. place and finally settled in McConnellsville, Ohio, where he attained distinction as an able lawyer. The first lawyer to settle permanently at Defiance, was probably Horace Sessions, a full sketch of whom is given further on. He located at Defiance in 1833, and maintained a practice there for many years. William Seamans, a biography of whom also appears hereafter, was admitted to the bar at Defiance in 1835, and at once commenced practice. In 1836 or 1837, Curtis Bates located at Defiance and commenced practice at the bar. He was soon after elected State Senator. His election was successfully contested by his opponent on the ground that Mr. Bates had not been a resident of Ohio for the prescribed period. A. new election was ordered, but the required period of residence having elapsed, Mr. Bates was placed in nomination again by his Democratic friends and re-elected his own successor by an increased majority. He afterward removed to Des Moines, Iowa, where he became a prominent attorney and politician. He was at one time the Democratic candidate for Governor of Iowa. William C. Holgate, who is still an active practitioner of Defiance, was the next attorney, He came to Defiance in 1830, and two years later was admitted to the bar, and at once entered upon the labors and duties of his profession. John B. Seamans practiced at Defiance from 1839 to 1841. Samuel H. Greenlee was an early practitioner, and died in 1852. Erastus H. Leland came to Defiance in 1841, but soon after removed to Bryan and became a prominent attorney. He afterward returned to Defiance. Hamilton Davison removed to Defiance in 1849 and was received in the land office. He had previously been admitted to the bar and been engaged in practice, but subsequent to coming here has given his attention chiefly to other pursuits. George W. B. Evans was a practicing attorney at Defiance in 1845, and rendered efficient service in organizing Defiance County. He was a social and promising young attorney, but left the county before establishing a practice. He emigrated to California at the commencement of the gold excitement and died at San Francisco. John M. Stilwill came to Defiance and began practice about 1846. He served as Justice of the Peace for a number of years. After a practice of some time he removed to Bloomington, Ill. Woolsey Wells came to Defiance as Commissioner for the sale of Western Reserve School Lands. Alter a practice here of some years he removed to Fort Dodge, Iowa. The firm of George B. Way and William Sheffield was one of the earliest and most successful at Defiance, The former came from Toledo, was a fine scholar and brilliant speaker and was elected and served as Judge of the Common Pleas Court. He afterward received an official appointment and removed to Washington, D. C. Mr. Sheffield was from Napoleon. He became Receiver of the United States Land Office at Defiance. David Taylor came to Defiance about 1852 and was clerk for his father, John Taylor, who was Receiver in the land office. He read law, was admitted, and became a successful politician and lawyer. He, about 1800, received an appointment as Paymaster in the service, and was afterward paymaster in the regular army. He died in Leavenworth, Kan. PRESENT BAR The attorneys now in praetiee at Defiance are as follows: S. S. Ashbaugh, C. E. Bronson, William Carter, J. F. Deatrick, B. F. Enos, E. H. Gleason, Hardy & Johnson, Harris & Cameron, Sherrod Heacock, W. C. Holgate, S. A. Justice. G. W. Killey, Knapp & Scott, Latty, Hill & Peaslee, Abijah Miller, Newbegin & Kingsberry, M. E. Orcutt, W. M. Randall, John W. Slough, S, T. Sutphen, William C. Travis. HORACE SESSIONS. This gentleman, whose moral, social and profes sional qualities were widely known and highly valued throughout the Maumee Valley, was born in Painesville, Ohio, April 16, 1812, and removed to Defiance in 1833. He was married to Miss Lucia C. Candee, January 3, 1854, at Watertown, N. Y,, and died at Adrian, Mich., June 6, 1868. Mr. Sessions left no children living -two having died in infancy, and one daughter at the age of five or six years. After his decease, his widow returned to her former home at Watertown, N. Y., but afterward removed to Painesville, where within the last two years she married Mr. George W, Steele, a prominent capitalist of that place, who has since about April 4, 1881, died. We will give the proceedings of a meeting of the bar held at the court house in Defiance on the 15th of June, 1868, at which William C. Holgate, who during a period of more than a quarter of a century was his intimate associate and friend— was made chairman, and Edwin Phelps, secretary, which will convey an idea of the esteem in whieh Mr. Sessions was held by his professional brethren. Upon accepting the position tendered Mr. Holgate addressed the meeting as follows: BRETHREN OF THE BAR: Horace Sessions is gone. The All-wise Being who rules and governs the affairs of men has taken him to Himself, He died at Adrian. Mich., on the 6th inst. , where he had stopped off to visit a friend as he was returning from the Republican HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 93 National Convention at Chicago, which he had been attending as a delegate. I was present at his death, and with other friends and citizens of our town accompanied his remains to Painesville, in this State, where en the 9th they were interred in a beautiful cemetery near the tomb of a loved little daughter and of a father and mother and other relatives. Our relations with him and his worth require something more than the usual resolutions of respect and sympathy. Being the first lawyer that ever settled and stayed here, he may truly be called the father of the Defiance bar. He was also a pioneer of our valley, and the son of a noble patriot of our country and pioneer of our State. In 1794, under Antheny Wayne, his father was in the great battle that first secured the white man possession of and title to the lands we occupy, and he helped to construct the fort which gives our town its name. In 1800, he settled on a farm near Painesville, and there on the 16th day of April, 1812, Horace Sessions was born. He was a vigorous, stout boy, delighting in agricult ural pursuits and in watching the habits and caring for the animals reared upon the farm. But at the age of twelve years a great misfortune befell him. He was taken down with a severe sickness, resulting in a fever sore that racked his constitution, shattered his nervous system. producing untold pain and crippling him through his whole life. His father dying in 1827, left him a poor, crippled boy, and a widowed mother and sisters in destitute circumstances. His bodily infirmities incapacitating him for farm work, he reluctantly relinquished his favorite calling and cast about to see what else he could do to make a living for himself and his destitute relations. This resulted in his choice of the law for a profession. Being admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-one, he first went down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers as far as Vicksburg without finding a satisfactory location, when returning he came to the Maumee Valley and settling at Defiance in 1833, he began the first practice of his profession. Defiance at that time was the county seat of Williams County, and to it was attached several other counties for judicial purpeses, Though the field was entirely open, there being no other lawyer here, professional business was very limited. But Horace Sessions was poor; he had a mission to fulfill and he would not be idle. In addition to his professional duties, he wrote in the county offices and taught in the district school. I see several present here who, like myself, have a lifelong business acquaintance with him, Mine, perhaps, has been of the longest and of the most intimate character. Thirty-three years ago, accompanying my father from the State of New York. on a tour of explanation to the Wabash, with an eye to a settlement at Fort Wayne, we spent a week or more as we were passing at Defiance. During that week, I first became acquainted with Horace Sessions, and I have often since thought that acquaintance fixed my destiny in my choice of a future home, and brought me a year later to come here to live. At the time Mr. Sessions was occupying a room in the second story of a brick building on Lot 58 of the original plat of Defiance, which building was the court house, and I may add the schoolhouse and also the "meeting house" of the village. In the same room were kept most of the offrces of the county. He invited me to occupy the room with him and continue the study of the law, which I had before begun. His bed was in the same room, and this we occupied together. From that time to the time of his decease, whilst a generation of men have passed from earth, we continuously have occupied an office together. From the time he came here, each summer he would go to the home of his aged mother, consoling and comforting her with his presence and giving that material aid that relieved the wants of herself and family. And glad was I the other day whilst assisting at Painesville in the last duties to the dead on earth to hear an aged and eminent statesman of that place say, Mr. Sessions has been very generous with his father's family; he has ever most bountifully supplied them. And here let me say his generosity was not confined to his relatives alone. In all his dealings he was liberal. Every charitable enterprise and good cause he helped on. He was industrious, temperate and frugal in all his habits, He cut his own wood at his office for years; he built his own fires at home. He sought property only to make himself independent and to do good, and in this God bountifully blessed him, as he will ever bless any man of like industry, temperance, carefulness, frugality and honesty of purpose. As a lawyer, to understand, digest and to bring to a successful issue delieate, intricate and complicated business matters, Horace Sessions had few or no superiors, and I believe no party selecting him as their counsel or ever had occasion to regret their ehoice, He was warm in his friendships, social in disposition, hospitable, unostentatious and mild in his manners. He was uniformly the same unruffled Horace Sessions yesterday, today and to-morrow. Though unobtrusive and mild, within him was a heart; be has said to me, that never had a sensation of fear, which statement his truthfulness leave me no reason to doubt. It is a part of the history of that county that his father was the bravest man that ever lived on Grand River, Truly can we say as we look back on the battle of life he has fought, Horace Sessions was a brave son of that brave man. To him the summons came suddenly. His sickness was brief and severe. Loving hearts 94 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY. and willing hands did all that could be done to stay the dreaded approach of the destroyer. Confident that the trying hour had come, he calmly approached the grave like one- who wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams. On motion, a committee of five, consisting of William Carter, Edwin Phelps, Hamilton Davison, William D. Hill and Henry Newbegin, were appointed, to draft resolutions expressive of the feelings of the members of this bar, which committee, through their chairman, Hon. William Carter, reported the following: "Whereas, by a dispensation of an All-wise Providence, our late associate and brother, Horace Sessions, has been removed from our midst by death, it is, by the bar of Defiance County, as expressive of the great loss they have sustained, Resolved, That in the death of Horace Sessions the bar of Defiance County has lost one of its oldest, ablest, most useful and worthy members, and this community one of its most worthy citizens. Resolved, That we sincerely deplore-the loss of our departed brother and associate, and shall revere his memory as one whose professional life was without blemish and worthy of imitation. Resolved, That our heartfelt sympathies are extended to the widow and relatives of the deceased. Resolved, That these resolutions, together with the proceedings of this meeting, be published in the Defiance papers, with the request that the same be cepied in the several papers published in the Maumee Valley, and at Painesville, Ohio. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be furnished by the Secretary to the widow of the deceased. On motion, the resolutions were received, and unanimously adopted. It was also resolved that the proceedings of this meeting be presented by the Chairman to the Honorable Judge of the Court of Common Pleas ef Defiance County at its uext session, with the request that the same be entered upon the journal of said court. WILLIAM C. HOLGATE, Chairman. E. PHELPS, Secretary. JOHN BEASON SEMANS, John Beaston Semans, brother of William Semans, was born in Monroe County, Ohio, December 16, 1804. His parents had moved for a short time to the Ohio side of the Ohio River. He worked upon his father's farm in Highland County until old enough to be apprenticed to a trade, when he entered the office of the Hillsboro Gazette, to learn printing. In 1825, shortly after he had closed his apprenticeship, he went to Wilmington, Ohio, and became proprietor of the Wilmington Argus. In August, 1829, having sold the Argus, he removed to La Fayette, Ind., then a small village.. and commenced the publication of the La Fayette Free Press, the only paper in Northern Indiana. In 1836, having disposed of the Free Press, he removed to Defiance, and for two years was engaged in mercantile pursuits, in company with his brother William. He then published the Defiance Barometer, and afterward the Defiance Banner, for a short time—small, 'yet sturdy and independent papers; meantime he studied law with Curtice Bates, and was admitted to practice in 1839. He engaged in the active practice of law in Williams (Defiance) County and the surrounding counties until 1841, when he was solieited by his friends to return to La Fayette. Ind., and re-purchase the Free Press. He did so, changing its name to the La Fayette Journal. On his return to La Fayette, he was admitted to practice in the Tippecanoe County Court, but the care of his paper so engrossed his attention that he neglected te work up any law practice. He was fearless in his advocacy of what he deemed the right, being an antislavery Whig. He was a member of the national convention of 1844, which nominated Henry Clay for President, and he most earnestly advocated his election. He, too, had inherited an unquenchable opposition to slavery, and when, in 1848, the Whig party nominated Zachary Taylor as candidate for President, he believed it had sold itself to the slave power, and refused to advocate Taylor's election. At the solicitation of leading Whigs, and at a great sacrifice, he sold his paper and retired from editorial life; he continued, however, advocating the cause ef liberty by frequent contributions to anti-slavery journals. In 1847, he was appointed Collector of Tolls on the Wabash & Erie Canal, which position he held at the time of his death, August 22, 1853. John B. Semans was pre-eminently a philanthropist. The motto which he adopted for his paper was " While I have Liberty to write, I will write fer Liberty." In politics, nothing is right that will not meet the sanction of morality. Every human being he regarded as his brother. He was a Royal Arch Mason, and was buried with Masonic honors. He had, been a consistent, active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a member of the official body and a teacher in the Sunday school; though, during the last four years of his life, he was a pronounced believer in the doctrines of the :Church of the New Jerusalem. He was of medium height, inclined to full habits and of a remarkably benign and pleasant countenance; a man whom one would always choose as his friend. He was 'three times married, and was the father of ten children, six (daughters) are now living. WILLIAM SEMANS. William Semans was born in Ohio County, Va.. October 11, 1800. His father, Simon Semans, was HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 95 born in Cecil County, Md. ; his mother, Sinai (McKay) Semans, was born in the State of Delaware. They were married in Delaware, and moved to the Virginia side of the Ohio River, near Wheeling, at the close of the last century. For a time they moved to the Ohio side, and then returned to Virginia. When William was about ten years old, his father settled in Highland County, Ohio. The father of Simon was a farmer, and lived and died the owner of slaves, but his son early became an uncompromising enemy to slavery, a trait much developed in his sons, and so he sought a home for himself and family in a free State. William, with his brothers, of whom he had four, he being eldest, worked upon his father's farm, attending such schools as they had in the neighborhood until he was about sixteen years old, when he determined to fit himself for the practice of law. The better to do this, and that he might have his winters for study, he apprenticed himself to his brother-in-law, Robert Wason, who had married an elder sister and who lived in Hillsboro, to learn brick- making and brick-laying. With Mr. Wason he worked summers and lived at home in winter, clearing land, making rails and attending a school taught by a paternal uncle, Benjamin Hilt, who could cipher through the rule of three and was thought to have a wonderful education. Through his assistance and his own studious habits, he got so far advanced that he was soon enabled himself to teach the winter schools in the neighborhood, The first slate he owned he purchased by cutting several cords of wood for a merchant ef Hillsboro. He continued, after learning his trade, to work at it in summer through that region, making the brick and building houses, and as the demand was limited he was compelled to travel over a large extent of country seeking business. He was now about twenty-four years of age, had saved up some money, and was about fitted to enter Miami University, at Oxford, which had about this time opened its doors to students, when, by some unfortunate venture, he lost all his money. He was now thrown back on his labor. His brother-in-law, Robert Wason, had, about the year 1842, removed to Defiance, some two years after the laying-out of the town by Phillips and Leavel, and was engaged in working at his trade when he could find employment. In the summer of 1826, William went to Defiance to visit his sister, Elizabeth Wason, and her husband. They prevailed upon him to stay, and teach a winter school. During the summer he helped Mr. Wason make brick, build chimneys and lay hearths for the cabins in the neighborhood. The brick was made and burned on a plot of ground northwest of the old burying-ground near the Auglaize, He continued his work for several years, teaching school during the winters. He helped make, burn and lay the brick of the old court house on Wayne street, near the Presbyterian Church and east of county buildings. Meantime, he commenced acting as Deputy County Clerk for Dr. John Evans, and was in his office for several years. He was Auditor of old Williams County for a time, and served as Justice of the Peace for many years. He, during this time, studied law with Amos Evans, a brother of Dr. John Evans, and cousin of Pierce Evans, and was admitted to practice some time in 1835. He immediately commenced active practice in the counties of Williams, Henry, Paulding, Putnam and Van Wert, following the Circuit Judges in their rounds from county to county on horseback, with the required books and papers in a portmanteau, the roads being sometimes but blazed paths through the forests of the black swamp. In 1836, he entered into partnership with his brother, John B. Semans, who had removed to Defiance from La Fayette, Ind., in a general mercantile business, and continued for two years. The store room was in his residence, bn the northeast cor ner of Jefferson and First streets, the present residence of Mr. Davidson. This house he built in 1834, the first brick dwelling house in the town. In 1838, the store was closed, and he devoted his entire time to the practice of law. About this time, he entered into partnership with Andrew Coffinbury, of Maumee City. Mr. Coffinbury, usually called Count Coffinbury, practiced in the same judicial district; a man of strange talents, full of humor and of a poetical temperament. Many a time has the writer of this sketch, in boyhood days, listened in rapt attention to the weird stories, the improvised verse and the comical oddities of this remarkable man, while he was in attendance at the Defiance (Williams) County Court. He was the life of the jolly band of men that went from county seat to county seat during all those long years. A. volume of poems was the result, printed in 1842, through the subscription of his fellow-attorneys, entitled " The Forest Ranger; a Poetical Tale of the Wilderness in 1794." The scene is laid in and about the plateau of Defiance, at Girty's Point, and near the battle-field of Fallen Timbers, during Wayne's campaign. When mesmerism came in vogue, the Count became wonderfully skilled in the art, and many are the sittings he used to have with us children, showing his wonderful power in controlling our wills, and through his mesmeric influence causing us to do all sorts of ludicrous things. It was the children's holiday when the Count came around. To return to the subject of our sketch. We find that close attention to business and a constitutional tendency to dyspepsia had seriously' affected his health, so in 1844 he withdrew from all law practice for a time. In 1846, he commenced building the Defiance 96 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY Mills, at the upper lock of the canal; this he finished, in connection with Frederick F Stevens, a brother-in-law. In 1847, he resumed the practice of the law. In 1850, he sold his residence at the corner of Jefferson and First streets to H, Davidson, and, with Ephraim A. Greenlee, a Defiance attorney, he removed to La Fayette, Ind., and formed a partnership in the practice of law. When the territories of Kansas and Nebraska were opened for settlement, he became interested in the making of them free States, and determined to change his home to Kansas. In 1855, he temporarily removed to Defiance, and, for the time being, entered into the practice of law with Edward H. Phelps. In 1859, his plans being perfected, he removed to Kansas, settling in Leavenworth, his unfinished business, however, frequently recalling him to Defiance. The summer of 1860 was spent in Defiance. The latter part of the summer he left for his home, not being in good health; after reaching home, his disease, a complicated trouble with stomach and brain, rapidly prostrated him,, and he soon yielded to its power, dying the 14th of September, 1860. He was a man of excellent judgment, conscientious and painstaking in the preparation of his cases, cautious to a fault, but firm in his belief and aggressive to offensiveness when he thought the right in peril. He believed every criminal, no matter how vicious, should have a fair and reasonable defense, lest justice be too severe; but many is the time that the writer has seen him put to his wits' end when he had found himself on the wrong side of the case, and his client demanding what seemed, by development of testimony, an unjust claim. A maxim he always impressed on his children, which he said he had learned in active law practice, is never to judge any cause until the other side had been heard. There are two sides to every case, he would frequently say. He was above medium height, of full weight, powerful in frame and of good presence. Not fluent in speech, he did not excel when addressing a jury, unless in a case where his feelings became deeply stirred, but in the preparation of a case, in examining witnesses and in discovering the weak points of an adversary, he had but few superiors at the bar in which he practiced. He early became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and after he settled in Defiance, before any regular church organization was formed, he helped form, and was the Superintendent of a Union Sunday school. He and an old colored woman were the first members of the first class of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Defiance, and through his instrumentality Defiance first became a preaching place for Methodist preachers. It was through his means that the old frame Methodist Church was built; he for some years carried the entire indebtedness of its building, imperiling thereby his own property interests. While residing in Defiance, he was always a Class Leader, Steward and Trustee. His home was always known as the home of the Methodist preacher. When a Masonic lodge was constituted in Defiance, he was made a Mason, taking his degrees in Tuendawie Lodge. In early life, through ancestral influence, he inclined to federalism, and when the Whig party was formed he was an active member. He was a pronounced Protectionist of American labor, and intensely American in his feelings. Born in a Slave State, of slave-holding ancestry, he had the good fortune to have a slavery hating father, from whom he learned to hate slavery with intense hatred. Being of a judicial mind, and of conservative tendencies, he did not rush into extremes in anything, and so belonged to the Emancipation rather than the. Abolition wing of the Whig party, and was always a warm advocate of emancipation. He aided in forming the Republican party, and was always ready to advocate its principles, either in public or in private. He was married in Defiance on the 19th of November, 1834, to Mrs. Mary W. Wells, widow of Joshua W. Wells, of Piqua, Ohio, and daughter of John Oliver, who was then living on the south side of the Maumee, east of the Auglaize, on a farm. Four children were born of this union, two boys and two girls. Two died in infancy and two are now living—William Oliver, born August 23, 1835, who is Professor of Chemistry in the Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, and Anna E., born June 4, 1848, wife of Rev. Orville J. Nave, of the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Post Chaplain in the United States army. SAMUEL H. GREENLEE. (From the Defiance Banner.) " Died, on the 23d day of February, 1852, at the residence of his brother-in-law, J. P. Ayers, in Highland Township, Samuel H. Greenlee, Esq., of Defiance, in the thirty-fifth year of his age. Mr, Greenlee had been declining for the last twelve months with consumption of the lungs, but, with the natural buoyancy of his nature, he hoped eventually to overcome his disease; especially did he look forward to the returning spring as a time when he should recover at least a portion of his lost health; but, alas, his friends too plainly saw, by the progress of the insidious destroyer that had fastened itself on his vitals beyond remedial power, that this was but the delusive syren voice of hope. Mr, Greenlee, although but a young man, has always since his coming to this plaee held an enviable position among our most prominent citizens. He was noted for his public spirit, his HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 97 liberality and his unflinching devotion to those principles which he deemed promotive of the public good. He was also distinguished for the exactitude of his business habits, and above all for the probity of his character; it has been the fortune of but few men to have their word, in matters of business, more implicitly confided in than was his. Mr. Greenlee was a self-made man; he had neither the advantages of a good education, nor pecuniary means to start himself in the world. By improving the leisure moments afforded him in his daily avocations in studying the law, he attained to a reputable standing in the legal profession, By economy, industry and application to business, he acquired a competence for his family. By his public and private virtues he obtained esteem and consideration among his fellow-men. The absence of his example and influence is truly a public loss to this community, During his residence ameng us, he was. frequently commissioned with important public trusts, by both State and local authority, which he invariably executed in the most satisfactory manner. But in private life, that little world where the heart reigns supreme, his many virtues proved the goodness of his nature. They who knew him best loved him most. Warmhearted, affectionate, generous and hospitable, his intimate friends will cherish his memory among the mest sacred recollections of the past." At a meeting of the members of the bar of Defiance County, held on the evening of February 24, 1852, pursuant to public notice, at the office of Davison & Welles, Hamilton Davison, Esq., was appointed Chairman, and Weolsey Welles, Esq., Secretary. Whereupon it was Resolved, That a committee be appointed by the Chairman to prepare and report resolutions in reference to the recent decease of Samuel H. Greenlee, Esq., a member of the profession, late of Defiance. The Chairman thereupon appointed William Sheffield and William Carter, Esgs , upon said committee, who reported the following preamble and resolutions: WHEREAS, It has pleased the Almighty disposer of human events to remove, by death, from our midst, and from scenes of activity and usefulness, our professional brother, Samuel H. Greenlee, Esq., late of Defiance, and his brief professional career has been marked by fidelity, industry and an upright and honorable bearing; therefore Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with his afflicted family and friends in that recent bereavement which has deprived his companion of an affectionate, provident and faithful husband, his children of a kind and prudent father, this community of an energetic, efficient business man, and the members of the Defiance bar of an honorable and fair practitioner of the legal profession. Resolved, That we tender to his afflicted family and relations our sympathies in this their painful bereavement, and in testimony of respect for our deceased brother, the members of the bar will attend his funeral, and wear the usual badge of mourning for a period of thirty days. Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be presented to the widow of the deceased, and be published in the newspapers in the town of Defiance. On motion of William Carter, Esq., said report was received and adopted. H. DAVISON, Chairman. WOOLSEY WELLES, Secretary. GILBERT L MYERS died at Defiance, December 28, 1880, in the prime of manhood; one of the leading attorneys of Defiance, a citizen whom everybody respected, and whose death all mourn. In early life, Mr. Myers learned printing, under Judge Greene, in the Democrat office, At the breaking-out of the rebellion, he enlisted in the Sixty-eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served his country faithfully. At the close of the war, he returned to Defiance, studied law, and for many years was partner of Hon. W. D. Hill. His legal attainments were of a high order, and as such were recognized in all the courts of this section. Dropping off in the height of his usefulness, his death was a loss to the community. Mr. Myers married Etta, eldest daughter of H. S. Hunter, of Defiance, May 4, 1875; to them was born one daughter, Carrie Gertrude, The following are the resolutions of the Defiance County Bar, on the occasion of Mr. Myers' decease: WHEREAS, Gilbert L. Myers, who for many years was an honored member of this bar, having departed this life since the last term of this court, and we, as members of the same profession, desiring to express our high regard for the memory of the deceased, do Resolve, That in the death of Bro. Gilbert L. Myers, our profession has lost one of its most industrious, honest and useful members. Being an indefatigable worker and thorough and careful student, and fearless in the discharge of his professional duty, we have long since learned to admire him for his professional worth, and shall ever love to remember him for his good qualities and gentlemanly deportment in the practice of his profession, and, while regretting our own great loss, we are not forgetful of the afflicted family of the deceased, each of whom wo beg to assure have our heartfelt sympathy in the loss of a dear companion and father. Resolved, That it is the wish of this bar that the 98 - HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY. foregoing resolutions be spread upon the records of this court. ERASTUS H. LELAND. " Hon. Erastus H. Leland., a prominent and leading lawyer of Northwestern Ohio, died at his residence, in Defiance, March 12, 1863, of consumption, aged abort forty-eight years. The deceased was a native of Vermont, read law in Ashtabula County, Ohio, and immigrated to Williams. County about the year 1841, where he continued to reside until 1849, at which time he removed to Defiance. He represented the Defiance District in the Legislature during the session of 1854, of which body he was a leading and prominent member. He was an able and accomplished lawyer, standing second to no member of the profession in the Maumee Valley. When the Thirty-eight Regiment was organized, in the fall of 1861, he was appointed Adjutant, and -remained with the regiment through its Kentucky campaign, and until his failing health compelled him to retire from the service."—Northwestern. MAJ. SAMUEL A. STRONG. (From the Defiance Democrat.) Died, on Friday last (September 22, 1865), in this place,. Samuel A. Strong, aged thirty-five years. Maj. Strong was a native of Vermont, and he resided in Defiance about fourteen years, and possessed the confidence and esteem of the citizens generally. Maj. S. was a Captain in the Twenty-first Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the three months' service, and, on the re-organization of the regiment for three years, was appointed its Major, which he was forced to resign on account of ill-health, after something over a year's service. Mr. Strong married Emma G., only daughter of Hamilton Davison, of this place, by whom he had a family of five ehildren, three boys and two girls, viz.: Charles IL, William II., Frances, Edward A. and Marion. Charles H. graduated at Wooster University, Ohio, in June, 1879, and died at Defiance April 9, 1880, aged twenty-two years. At a meeting of the Defiance County bar, held in the court house September 23, 1865, Horace Sessions was chosen Chairman and S. T. Sutphen Secretary. William Carter and J.-F. Deatrick were appointed a committee to draft resolutions expressive of the sentiments of the bar on the much-regretted death of Brother Strong. Said committee reported the following preamble and resolutions, which, on motion, were adopted: WHEREAS, By a dispensation of an All-wise Providence, our late associate and brother, Samuel A. Strong, has been removed from our midst by death, and the bar of Defiance County, as expressive of their great loss they have sustained, do Resolve, That in the death of Samuel A, Strong he bar of Defiance County has lost one of its ablest, useful and worthy members, and this community one of its most energetic and enterprising citizens, Resolved, That we sincerely deplore the loss of our departed brother and associate, and shall revere his memory as one whose professional life was without a blemish and worthy of imitation; Resolved, That our heartfelt sympathies are hereby extended to the family of the deceased. Resolved, That the members of the bar attend his funeral in a body. Resolved, That these resolutions be published in the Defiance Democrat and Paulding Press, and copies of the same be presented to the family of the deceased, Also, on motion, it was Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be presented to the Court of Common Pleas of Defiance County, at the next term thereof with a request that they be copied into the record of said court. HORACE SESSIONS', Chairman. R. T. SUTPHEN, Secretary. THOMAS COWEN. In presenting a sketch of the life and character of Thomas Cowen to the readers of the history of Defiance County, we cannot do better than to introduce the subjoined obituary notice, published at the time of his death in the Bryan newspaper: Thomas T. Cowen was born in the city of Dublin, Ireland, February 10, 1836. His father, Benjamin Cowen, was an Irish gentleman, noted for his culti vated manners and superior business capacity. He was Clerk of the Royal Canal Company for a period of twenty-five years, during which time it is said that no blot, erasure or stain marred the records intrusted to him. While in the canal company's service, the elder Cowen acquired a competency, amounting to several thousand dollars, a part of which he proposed to set aside for the benefit of his children. Thomas, his eldest son, was the especial object of his regard, and he spared neither pains nor expense in giving him the rudiments of a first-class education. Thomas manifested a great fondness for books, and at an unusually early age he was wont to learn and declaim the speeches and arguments of learned statesmen and lawyers. In 1844, when Thomas was eight years of age, his father's health failed him, so that he was unable to do any kind of business. The care of the family and business management of the estate devolved upen Mrs. Cowen, who did the best that she could; but being a lady of retiring habits and unaccustomed to the ways of business, the means acquired gradually dwindled until 1848, when she deemed it expedient to emigrate to America, hoping HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY - 99 that a change would benefit her husband's health, and enable her to obtain a home and bring up her children in comparative comfort. They arrived at New York in August, 1848, and immediately came to Defiance, where they halted for a few weeks, and moved thence to Butler, Ind., where Benjamin Cowen died in September, 1849. The mother, never a strong woman, broke down under the accumulated weight of affliction and sorrow, and Thomas became the main stay and support of the family. It is related by those who knew the family, that Thomas, at that time but thirteen years of age, was manly beyond his years, industrious and frugal; that he labored diligently and faithfully to support his widowed mother and six erphan sisters. About 1851, Thomas removed the family to Defiance, and did such labor as a boy could find to do. He was for a time in the employ of the Wabash Railroad Company, and assisted in the preliminary surveys of that road. About 1855-56, he went into the law office of Phelps; & Leland, first as a clerk and afterward as a student. He soon attracted the attention of prominent members of the bar by his close application to study, his admirably drawn legal papers and his rare business capacity. When admitted to the bar, brilliant success was predicted for him, but the war breaking out soon thereafter, changed, for a time, his plans and purposes. He was an earnest advocate of coercion, and in furtherance of his opinions offered his services in behalf of his country. On the 4th of October, 1861, he was appointed Second Lieutenant, was soon after assigned to the Sixty-eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and, on the 21st of December following, went into camp at Napoleon. In January, 1862, the regiment moved to Camp Chase, and soon afterward to Fort Donelson, where it arrived in time to participate in the capture of that stronghold. It is unnecessary to follow the regiment in all its marches, skirmishes, battles and sieges during the war; suffice to say that its history is part of the history of the war, and its battle flags are inscribed with the evidences of the prominent part it bore in the conflict. Son after the capture of Donelson, Lieut. Cowen was promoted to First Lieutenant, and his superior qualifications and general deportment commending themselves to his superior officers, he was appointed Adjutant of the regiment, and afterward Adjutant General of Brigade, whieh position he held until some time after reaching Chattanooga, when, declining further promotion, he was mustered out of service. The trite saying that a good citizen always makes a good soldier was fully exemplified in the case of Lieut. Cowen. His comrades bear willing testimony to his valor, and his official reports were regarded as models of promptness and efficiency. Soon after his return to Defiance, he formed a partnership with Maj. Strong, and resumed his profession. The partnership was continued until the death of Mr. Strong, when Mr. Cowen became a partner of Hon. W. D. Hill, with whom he remained several years. Many important cases were intrusted to their management, and the law firm of Hill & Cowen acquired a name in the district, to which, we may say without disparagement to Mr. Hill, the junior member contributed no small share. During his residence in Defiance, Mr. Cowen was elected Mayor of the village, an office he filled to his own honor and the satisfaction of his friends. In 1866, March 8, he married Miss Georgiana Richards, or Defiance; to them were born three children, one daughter, Mary A., and two sons, Benjamin 0. and William R. Mrs. Cowen was born in Xenia, Ohio, February 8, 1837; moved to Defiance with her parents in November, 1846. In 1870, Mr. Cowen came to Bryan, and became the law partner of Hon. A M. Pratt. It was a new era for him--it brought him into closer contact with abler legal minds than he had before contended with; the field was worthy his labor; he applied himself with renewed energy, and rapidly won his way to the front, and took rank with the leading lawyers at the Williams County bar. He was on the high road to prosperity and renown when death claimed him, Never, perhaps, in its history, has this community been so profoundly shocked as it was on last Sabbath (January 19, 1873), by the sudden and wholly unexpected death of Mr. Thomas T. Cowen. For two years and more Mr. Cowen had lived and moved among us, the very picture of health, and with every prospect, to all human appearance, of a long life. Up to the very moment of his death he had appeared well and hearty, and when it was announced that he had fallen before the great destroyer, death, without a moment's warning, the announcement fell upon the community like a clap of thunder from a cloudless sky. The circumstances attending his death are as follows: He arose Sabbath morning, apparently as well as usual, except that he complained of a pain in his head. About 10 o'clock he started down street, saying to his wife that he would not go to church, but would go down to his office and write a letter to his sister in Kansas. Mrs. Cowen proceeded to church, and, after service, started home. Passing by Mr. Cowen's office, she stepped in, when there sat her husband in his chair—dead. His head was thrown back and it was evident, from the fact that the ink was not yet dry in the pen with which he had been writing, that he had been dead but a few moments. Terribly shocked, Mrs. Cowen sprang to the door and called for assistance, when persons who were passing by from church rushed in. Medical aid was at once summoned, but it was too late. [The immediate