50 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY (RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) CHAPTER VIII. Organization of Counties on the Reserve — Botetourt — Trumbull — Geauga Cuyahoga. — Huron — Proceedings to Erect Huron County — The County Seat at Milan Changed to Norwalk — Officers — Erie County Erected — Acts Regarding It County Civil List. THE reader will remember that reference has heretofore been made in this work to the claims of the older States and colonies to the territory northwest of the Ohio River, and will also recall the fact that the colony of Virginia first exercised authority of that territory by the establishment by the House of Burgess, of the county of Botetourt in the year 1769, long years befere the " Reserve," as such, was known. In the act that established the county of Botetourt it is stated that, "whereas,. the people situated on the Mississippi will be very remote from the court-house," etc. This was an undoubted fact ; the people were certainly very remote from the county seat, as the whole territory from the Ohio to the Mississippi was included in the county so erected. But after the war of the Revolution was passed and the United States established, Virginia quit-claimed this whole county to the general government, ERECTION OF COUNTIES - 51 thus extinguishing the county of Botetourt, which, in fact, never had an organization more than in name. The next organization of which Erie county at one time formed a part, was Trumbull, which embraced the whole of the Connecticut Western Reserve. It was erected December 6, 1800, while Ohio was yet territorial land. Trumbull county now bears no resemblance to its original size or description as by the surrender of her territory to subsequent organizations there now occupies the soil, either in whole or in part, thirteen separate and distinct counties. The first county erection that called for a surrender of the territory of Trumbull was that of Geauga, under an act passed December 31, 1805, and entitled " An act for the division of Trumbull county." It has been generally supposed, and by all writers it has been generally conceded that Geauga county originally embraced a part of the Firelands. This may be true, but there exists a serious question as to the fact. The act that brought Geauga county into existence declares " that all that part of the county of Trumbull lying north and east of a line beginning on the east line of said county, on the line between the townships number eight and nine, as known by the survey of said county, and running west on the same to the west line of range number five ; thence south on said west line of range five to the northwest corner of township number five, thence west on the north line of township number five, to the middle of the Cuyahoga River, where the course of the same is northerly ; thence up the middle of said river to the intersection of the north line of township number four to the west line of range fourteen, wherever the same shall run when the county west of the Cuyahoga River shall be surveyed into townships or tracts of five miles square each, and thence north to Lake Erie, shall be, and the same is hereby set off and erected into a new county by the name of Geauga." This misunderstanding unquestionably arises from the fact that by a supplemental act passed February 10, 1807, which declares " That all that part of the Connecticut Western Reserve, which lies west of the Cuyahoga River, and north of the townships numbered four, shall belong to and be a part of the county of Geauga, until the county of Cuyahoga shall be organized," etc. This implies that Cuyahoga's organization was under way and not perfected and that some disposition must be made of that part of the reserve lands, which was done. The act also provides that the moneys derived from taxes on that land shall be used by the commissioners of Geauga county in "laying out and making roads and erecting bridges within the boundaries of said district west of the Cuyahoga." It will be seen that this attachment was, at best, but temporary and not intended as making the western district a part of Geauga county except for the purpose therein specified. Portage county was organized February 10, 1807, out of the older county 52 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY. of Trumbull by taking all thereof that lay west of the fifth range of the Reserve townships. Huron county came into life under and by virtue of an act of the General Assembly passed February 7, 1809, and entitled, " An act to set off a part of the Connecticut Western Reserve, into a separate county." By the act it was provided " That that part of the Connecticut Reserve called the Firelands, beginning at the southwest corner of said reserve, then north to the north boundary line of the United States ; then easterly along said line to where the east line of the twentieth range would intersect said boundary line ; thence south along the line of the twentieth range to the south line of the said reserve, which east line of the twentieth range is the east line of the Firelands, so called; then west along the south line of said reserve to the place of beginning, be and is hereby erected into a county by the name of Huron, to be organized whenever the Legislature shall think proper, but to remain attached to the counties of Portage and Geauga, as already by law provided, except as hereinafter provided." As is very well known Erie county, prior to its separate organization, formed an integral part of Huron county ; but at the time of the formation of Erie, by the terms of the act creating it, it was taken from the two counties, Huron and Sandusky. It was created wholly of what has been termed the Firelands. Prior to that separate organization the history of Erie county was the history of Huron county. Its townships were all formed some years earlier than the erection of either, and settlement was commenced while it was a part of the Western Reserve and before either of the counties was contemplated. The next legislative action affecting Huron county was the passage of an act January 16, 1810, providing, " That the county of Huron (as designated by an act of the Legislature, passed the 7th day of February, 1809), and also the lands lying north of township number four, and west of the fourteenth range of townships, and east of said Huron county, shall be attached to, and be a part of the county of Cuyahoga, until the same shall be organized into a separate county, or be otherwise disposed of by law." The full and complete civil organization of Huron county was accomplished by an act of the Legislature, passed January 31, 1815, whereby it was provided " that the county of Huron be, and the same is hereby erected into a separate county ; provided, that all suits and actions, whether of civil or criminal nature, which shall be pending, and all crimes which shall have been committed shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution in the county of Cuyahoga, as though the county of Huron had not been organized." The second section of the same act provides, " That on the first Monday. in April next, the legal voters residing in the county of Huron shall assemble in their respective townships, at the usual place of holding elections in said townships, and elect their several county officers, who shall hold their offices until the next annual election." ERECTION OF COUNTIES - 53 Section three provides for the annexation of certain other lands to Huron county. The first county officers, so far as their names are accurately ascertainable, were: Abijah Comstock, treasurer ; Nathan Strong, recorder ; David Abbott, clerk of the courts ; Lyman Farwell, sheriff; Caleb Palmer, Charles Parker and Eli S. Barnum, county commissioners. The Legislature, in January, 1811, appointed Ephraim Quinby, of Trumbull county, Joseph Clark, of Geauga county, and Solomon Griswold, of Ashtabula county, as commissioners to decide upon a location for the county seat. In their report they selected a site on the farm of David Abbott, in Avery (now Milan) township, and not far distant from the village of Milan. Hon. George Tod held the first Court of Common Pleas at this place, and other courts were held there until the Legislature, in January, 1818, appointed three other commissioners, William Wetmore, of Portage, Elias Lee, of Cuyahoga, and Abraham Tappan, of Geauga, to view the locality in Avery township, hear the numerous complaints that were being made against it on account of its inconvenient situation, hear the arguments presented in favor of other localities, and, should they become convinced that the best interest's of the county required a change, they were authorized and empowered to make it. The commissioners decided that Norwalk would be a much better location, whereupon the county seat was removed to that place. From the time of the complete organization of Huron county, January 31, 1815, until the subdivision thereof by the erection of Erie county, March 15, 1838, the latter formed a part of the former (excepting the small portion taken from Sandusky county), and the whole was under the control of and governed by the same officers. And it is appropriate that, before leaving this branch of the subject and confining this narrative substantially to Erie county and its history, that a record should be made of those who were connected with the county government in the administration of its affairs. This civil list of county officers is compiled from the records of Huron county: County Auditors—Asa Sanford, Moses Kimball, James Williams, Cyrus Butler, John Kennan. Treasurers—Abijah Comstock, David Abbott, Ichabod Marshall, Cyrus Butler, Ichabod Marshall, Henry Buckingham, George Sheffield, John V. Vredenburg, William H. Caswell. Clerks of the Courts—David Abbott, James Williams, David Gibbs. Recorders—Almon Ruggles, Nathan Strong, Ichabod Marshall, Paul G. Smith, Woodward Todd. Sheriffs—Lyman Farwell, D. W. Hinman, Enos Gilbert, H. G. Morse, Enos Gilbert, Philo Adams, John Miller, William Karkhuff. County Commissioners-1815, Nathan Cummins, Frederick Falley, Bildad Adams ; 1816, Falley, Adams and Ebenzer Merry; 1817, Adams, Joseph Reed and Joseph Strong ; 1818, Adams, Reed and Strong ; 1819, Adams, 54 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY. Strong and Lyman Farwell; 1820, Adams, Strong and Eli S. Barnum ; 1821, Barnum, Robert S. Southgate and Amos Woodward; 1822-23, Barnum, Southgate and Woodward ; 1824, Barnum, Woodward and Schuyler Van Rensselaer ; 1825, Barnum, Van Rensselaer and George W. Choate ; 1826, Van Rensselaer, Choate and Frederick Forsythe ; 1827-28, Choate, Forsythe and Bradford Sturtevant ; 1829-30, Choate, Sturtevant and M. McKelvey ; 1831, Sturtevant, McKelvey and George Hollister ; 1832, Sturtevant, Hollister and George W. Choate ; 1833, Hollister, Choate and Samuel B. Carpenter ; 1834, Choate, Carpenter and W. C. Spaulding; 1835, Carpenter, Spaulding and John Dounce ; 1836, Spaulding, Dounce and Benjamin Cogswell ; 1837, Spaulding, Cogswell and John Miller. ERECTION AND ORGANIZATION OF ERIE COUNTY. Without question the most important event in connection with the history of Erie county was the action of the State Legislature that gave the county an existence—the action that separated it from Huron and Sandusky counties— that enabled it to elect its own officers and atiminister its own affairs. The preliminary discussion that led to this separate organization was not of spontaneous origin ; it was not the result of a pet scheme on the part of a few persons ; it was not undertaken through any feeling of jealous rivalry between the leading towns of Huron county, Norwalk, and Sandusky city.. To be sure there was a rivalry, a growing friendly competition between these, municipalities, each striving to outstrip the other in point of population, of industry, of internal welfare, of thrift and all the essential requisites of a well appointed and well-ordered city ; a commendable and unselfish interest shown on the part of the people representing the northern and southern sections of Huron county. Again, about this time, there seemed a general tendency throughout the State to newland additional county organizations, by a reduction of the territory of the larger counties. This was not the only reason why the residents of Northern Huron county asked to be set off. Such action had become, at that time, a positive necessity. Sandusky city had become the natural center of extensive and rapidly increasing business interests—manufacturing, shipping and mercantile. She had, moreover, become tributary to a large area of agricultural country, so that by every necessary consideration she was justly entitled to become the county seat of a new county. As might naturally be expected, the proposition for the new county erection was not accepted by the whole people without strong opposition, and while the measure was very generally supported by the inhabitants in the northern part of the county, a strong opposition developed in the southern townships, and in others that were liable to be affected by the change. The petition for the new county was met by a strong remonstrance, and ERECTION OF COUNTIES - 55 for a time it seemed doubtful whether the measure would be carried. Norwalk, the county seat of Huron county, might well object for her interests more than any other locality would suffer in losing the trade of so prosperous locality as was comprised by the townships proposed to be taken. At length, after the matter had been thoroughly agitated and discussed, or and against, the Legislature of the State, on the 13th day of March, 1838, ed an act entitled, " An act to erect the county of Erie," as follows : " SEC. 1. Be it enacted, etc., That such parts of the counties of Huron and Sandusky, as are embraced by the boundaries hereinafter described, be, and the same are hereby erected into a separate and distinct county, which shall known by the name of the county of Erie, and the seat of justice in and for Said county, shall be, and is hereby fixed and established at Sandusky City, -wit : Beginning at a point on the east line of Oxford township, in the county Huron, one mile north of the southeast corner thereof, thence northerly on said east line and in the same direction, to the Canada line ; thence westerly along said Canada line to a point therein directly opposite the west line of township, in Sandusky county ; thence southerly, parallel with the east line of said Sandusky county, to the northwest corner of the township of Townsend, in Sandusky county ; thence east to the west boundary of Huron county ; thence south on said west boundary of Huron county to a point one mile north of the south line of the township of Groton, in said county of Hurron ; and from thence to the place of beginning: provided, and it is hereby declared, that if the east line of said county of Erie, as above described, will not include the whole of Cunningham's Island in Lake Erie, then, and in that case, said line shall be so far varied from the south shore of the said lake to the said Canada line that it will embrace the whole of said Cunningham's Island. "SEC. 2. That the said county of Erie be, and remain attached to the counties from which it is taken, until the same be organized by the Legislature." But the people of the newly erected county had not long to wait for the complete organization thereof, as, on the day next succeeding that on which the above act was passed, the Legislature adopted another measure, entitled, “An act to organize the county of Erie." It was as follows : "SEC. 1. Be it enacted, etc., That the county of Erie is hereby organized into a separate and distinct county. "SEC. 2. That all justices of the peace and constables residing within the territory taken from the counties of Huron and Sandusky, and embraced within the limits of the county of Erie, shall continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices until their commissions or terms of office shall expire, and their successors are chosen and qualified ; and suits commenced before the taking effect of this act shall proceed and be prosecuted as though this act had not been passed, notwithstanding the parties, or either of them, may reside 56 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY. without the limits of the said county of Erie, except that writs and process issuing after the first of April next shall be styled of Erie county, instead of Huron or Sandusky county. " SEC. 3. That on the first Monday of May next, the legal voters residing within the limits of the county of Erie shall assemble in their respective townships, at the usual places of holding elections, and proceed to elect their different county officers in the manner pointed out in the act to regulate elections, who shall hold their offices until the next annual election, and until their successors are chosen and qualified. " SEC. 4. That the county of Erie, for judicial purposes, is hereby attached to the second judicial circuit, and the first court of common pleas held in said county shall commence its session in the city of Sandusky on the second Monday of December next." In this manner, then, and by these proceedings, was Erie county brought into existence, and thus was provision made for civil, internal government and control. But, two years later, t84o, by a further act of the State Legislature, certain territory was added or attached to Erie county, and other lands at the same time were taken from it.- This change was made by the erection of the county of Ottawa, March 6, 1840, the leading clause of which was as follows : "That a new county, to be called Ottawa, be, and the same is hereby formed out of the north part of Sandusky and Erie, and the eastern part of Lucas county, commencing at a point two miles north of the southeast corner of the surveyed township number sixteen, called Bay township, Sandusky county, running thence west on section lines to the western boundary line of said county ; thence north to the Lucas county line ; thence east six miles ; thence north till it intersects the Michigan line; thence with said line until it intersects the line between the British and American governments in Lake Erie; thence down the lake with said line, so that a line to the mouth of Sandusky Bay will include Cunningham's Island ; thence up Sandusky Bay to the place of beginning." This act, it will be seen, took from Erie county the township of Danbury on the peninsula, between the bay and the lake ; also the islands, the principal of which was Cunningham's, afterwards known as Kelley's Island, both of which were set off to the county of Ottawa. But in order to give' Erie county an equivalent for the territory so taken, a further section of the act provided, " That all the territory now in the county of Huron north of the north line of the townships of Wakeman, Townsend, Norwalk, Ridgefield and Lyme, which includes the townships of Vermillion, Florence, Berlin, Milan and Huron, and also a strip from off the south side of the townships of Oxford and Groton, one mile in width, be, and the same is hereby attached to the county of Erie." Cunningham's Island, or, as it became known on its organization as a ERECTION OF COUNTIES - 57 township of Ottawa county, January 21, 1840, " Kelley's Island," remained a part of and was under the civil control and jurisdiction of the officers of Ottawa county until the year 1845, when, upon the petition of its inhabitants, setting forth their reasons, chiefest among which was the great inconvenience occasioned by their being compelled to transact their legal and county business at Port Clinton, the county seat of Ottawa county, while all their other business and social relations were associated with Erie county, the Legislature in February of that year passed an act to " set off" that tract and territory of land known as the township of Kelley's Island into the county of Erie. Thenceforth Kelley's Island became one of the townships of Erie county. These several acts, recited in detail, established the territory and boundaries of Erie county as it now exists. It parted company with Danbury township in 1840, upon the organization of Ottawa county, and that was the only considerable section of her territory, a part of the original Firelands, of which she has been deprived. And inasmuch as Danbury now forms a part of another county, and its history has been for nearly a half century associated with such other county, no chapter of this work will be devoted thereto, but rather to the things and events of the territory that now comprises the county of Erie. It is appropriate in this connection to furnish a civil list of those who at various times have been identified with the administrative affairs of the county. CIVIL LIST OF COUNTY OFFICERS. Auditors.-1838 to 1840, H. W. Conklin ; 1840 to 1841, William Neill ; 1841 to 1846, Orlando McKnight ; 1846 to 1850, George W. Smith ; 1850 to 1852, F. M. Follett ; 1852 to 1856, Charles H. Botsford ; 1856 to 1860, F. M. Follett ; 1860 to 1867, George W. Smith ; 1867 to 1881 Ebenezer Merry ; 1881 to 1884, Thomas McFall ; 1884 to 1888, William J. Bonn, the present incumbent. Treasurers.-I838 to 1841, William Smith ; 1841 to 1843, Horace Alpin; 1843 to 1845, Samuel Johnson ; 1845 to 1849, Earl Bill ; 1849 to 1851, John B. Wilbur ; 1851 to 1853, John W. Sprague ; 1853 to 1855, Thomas S. Fuller; 1855 to 1857, Holly Skinner; 1857 to 1861, Thomas S. Fernald ; 1861 to 1865, W. H. McFall ; 1865 to 1871, James D. Chamberlain ; 1871 to 1873, James S. Chandler ; 1873 to 1877, James D. Chamberlain ; 1877 to 188, Reuben Turner ; 1881 to 1883, James Alder ; 1883 to 1887, William Zimmerman; 1887 to 1889, James Alder, the present incumbent. Probate Judges.-This became an elective office under the new constitution of 1852. 1852 to 1855, Ebenezer Andres ; 1855 to 1858, A. H. Striker; 1858 to January, 1861, Rush R. Sloane ; January, 1861 to November. 1861, F. D. Parish ; November, 1861, to November, 1863, George Morton ; November, 1863, to February, 1870, A. W. Hendry ; February, 1870, to February, 1879, E. M. Colver ; February, 1879, to 1888, A. E. Merrill 58 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY. Recorders.-1838 to 1840, Horace Alpin ; 1840 to 1844, C. B. Squire; 1844 to 1850, Ebenezer Merry ; 1850 to 1854, Charles Wilbur; 1854 to 1862, James W. Cook ; 1862 to 1868, John W. Reid ; 1868 to 1880, William A. Till ; 1880 to 1887, James Flynn ; 1887 to 1889, John Strickland, the present incumbent. Sheriffs.-1838-40, Harvey Long; 1840-42, Zalmuna Phillips ; 1842-46, Ebenezer Warner ; 1846-48, Isaac Fowler ; 1848-50, Henry D. Ward ; 1850- 54, George W. Smith ; 1854-58, G. B. Gerrard ; 1858-60, Frederick F. Smith ; 1860-64, David S. Worthington ; 1864-66, Jesse S. Davis ; 1866-70, David S. Worthington ; 1870-72, Charles H. Botsford ; 1872-76, David S. Worthington ; 1876-80, M. L. Starr ; 1880-84, John Strickland ; 1884-88, Thomas A. Hughes, the present incumbent. Clerks of the Courts.-1838-39, Zenas W. Barker ; 1839-55, Rice Harper ; 1855-61, Horace N. Bill ; 1861-62, John J. Penfield ; 1862-64, George W. Penfield ; 1864-70, George O. Selkirk ; 1870-75, O. C. McLouth ; 1875-78, F. W. Alvord; 1878-85, W. J. Affieck ; 1885-89, Silas E. Bauder, the latter being the present incumbent. Prosecuting Attorneys.-1838-40, John 'S. CaMpbell ; 1840-42, Francis D. Parish ; 1842-44, Morris Homan ; 1844-48, S. F. Taylor ; 1848-52, A. W. Hendry ; 1852-56, John Mackey ; 1856-60, O. C. McLouth ; 186o-72, F. W. Cogswell; 1872-77, Benjamin F. Lee ; 1877-79, Walter W. Bowen ; 1879-80, Herman Ohly; July, 1880, to January, 1881, Walter W. Bowen ; 1881-83, Grayson Mills; 1883-88, Cyrus B. Winters, the present incumbent. Surveyors.-1838-40, S. H. Smith ; 1840-41, W. H. Smith ; 1841-45, J. B. Darling ; 1845-47, Alvin Brooks; 1847-50, J. B. Darling ; 1850-52, A. B. Foster ; 1852-54, Joel Smith ; 1854-61, J. B. Darling; 1861-63, H. C. Jones, sen.; 1863-76, J, B. Darling; 1876-79, George Morton ; 1879-85, Albert W. Judson ; 1885-87, Charles S. Ferguson ; 1887-89, Albert W. Judson. Commissioners.-Samuel B. Carpenter, Nelson Taylor, William B. Craig- hill, John Fuller, William Gill, Isaac Fowler, Philo Adams, Harley Long, Benjamin D. Turner, Ezra Sprague, Bourdette Wood, Harvey Fowler, Elihu P. Hill, Harry Sprague, Myron Sexton, Joseph Otis, John P. Dego, John Summers, C. Beardsley, Rice Harper, Isaac McKesson, Robert Bennett, G. M. Darling, Calvin Caswell, D. G. Taylor, William H. Crane, E. White, William S. Webb, Louis Wells, Stark Adams, W. W. Miller, Gustavis Graham, George W. Cleary, Henry Kelley, James Douglass, C. Victor Turner, John Homegardner, John L. Hall, William Zimmerman. Present County Officers.-Probate judge, Albert E. Merrill; recorder, John Strickland ; auditor, William J. Brown; treasurer, James Alder ; clerk of the courts, Silas E. Bauder ; sheriff, Thomas A. Hughes ; prosecuting attorney, Cyrus B. Winters ; surveyor, Albert W. Judson ; coroner, Louis Szendery; commissioners, James Douglass, John L. Hull, William Zimmerman; infirmary directors, John Holahan, Thomas McVeigh; J. W, Lyles ; superintendent of infirmary, Alex Motry.