50 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY appointed three commissioners to locate the line of the proposed Lake Erie and Miami Canal through the state. In that year it was in consequence, found that the eastern terminus of the canal would have to be located at a point on the Maumee River north of the Fulton Line, and as the State of Ohio was much, and financially, interested in the canal project, the reopening and final settlement of the boundary question became imperative. On February 12, 1835, the Territory of Michigan passed an act by which heavy penalties would follow an attempt by any person to administer any part of the territory without authority from the United States or the Territory of Michigan. That act was soon afterwards challenged, when an election was ordered in the disputed territory by the Ohio authorities. It was held, and Michigan at once retaliated by appointing officials, who were instructed to enforce the law, known as "the Pains and Penalties Act" and the somewhat impulsive governor of Michigan made provision to resort to military measures, if necessary, as the following letter to his military officer shows: Sir: You will herewith receive the oopy of a letter just received from Columbus. You now perceive that a collision between Ohio and Michigan is inevitable, and will therefore be prepared to meet the crisis. The governor of Ohio has issued a proclamation, but. I have neither received it nor have I been able to learn its tendency. You will use every exertion to obtain the earliest information of the military movements of our adversary, as I shall assume the responsibility of sending you such arms, etc., as may be necessary for your, successful operation, without waiting for an order from the Secretary of War, so soon as Ohio is properly in the field. Till then I am compelled to await the direction of the War Department. Very respectfully your obedient servant, STEVENS T. MASON. On March 31st, Governor Lucas, of Ohio, arrived at Perrysburg accompained by his staff and three commissioners whom he had appointed to remark the. boundary on the Harris line. General John Bell. in command of the Seventeenth Division of Ohio Militia, arrived HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 51 at about the same time. He was ordered to recruit the militia among the residents of the territory in dispute, but was unable to do so, and had to call for six hundred volunteers from other counties of Ohio. As a matter of fact, the settlers in the disputed strip were more inclined to recognize the authority of the Territory of Michigan ; and some of them actually enlisted in the Michigan army. General Bell's army went into camp near the old Fort Miami, and the hostile camp was not far distant, for Governor Mason with General Brown had arrived at Toledo, and the Michigan army was estimated to consist of from eight hundred to twelve hundred men. Both sides were resolved to carry through the object of muster and assembly, and but for the opportune arrival of two United States commissioners, sent expressly by the president, war in all probability would have resulted. These two emissaries of the federal authority used their personal influence to prevent all warlike demonstration, and at a conference, held on April 7, 1835, submitted the following propositions to the contending authorities: "First, that the Harris line should be run and remarked, pursuant to the act of the last session of the Legislature of Ohio without interruption ; Second, the civil elections under the laws of Ohio having taken place throughout the disputed territory, that the people residing upon it should be left to their own judgment, obeying the one jurisdiction, or the other, as they may prefer, without molestation from the authorities of Ohio, or Michigan, until the close of the next session of Congress." The conference ended presumably in a truce, and soon afterwards the boundary commissioners proceeded to the Harris line, to carry the remarking through to completion. They were set upon by fifty or sixty men of General Brown's command, and indeed under the command of that officer, on April 26th, and although the commissioners themselves escaped, their escort of nine men "were taken prisoners and carried away into the interior of the country." The commissioners reported that the men were made prisoners after thirty to fifty shots had been fired at them, fortunately without hurt. Further hostility was shown by the Michigan authorities by suddenly appearing, on April 11th, in armed force (about 200 strong, armed with muskets and bayonets), at Toledo, The officers of Ohio, "having been lulled into security by the assurances of the United States Commissioners," were taken by surprise, and forced to retire from the place, giving General Brown and his Michigan army "full space for the display of their gasconading, which was exhibited in puffin̊. down the flag of Ohio, and dragging it through the streets at the pulling of a horse, with other similar acts. In many parts of the disputed territory civil authorities of the Ohio administration were arrested by Michigan "banditti," which had been stationed at Adrian under the command of General Brown, "to keep a close watch on events." Although the State of Ohio recognized the right of the United States to exercise supreme authority, and therefore rested its armed demonstrations until such time as the Congress would act, Governor Lucas and the state administration did not intend that its authority should be altogether flouted by the minions of Governor Mason. Lucas 52 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY county had been organized, and Toledo had temporarily been made the county seat; and there Governor Lucas was resolved that the law court should in due season hold session. The Michigan authorities were determined to prevent it, and for this purpose the Detroit militia arrived in Monroe on the evening of September 5th. On the 6th this force, together with many volunteers, marched into Toledo, headed by Governor Mason and General Brown. The associate judges were at the village of Maumee, ten miles distant, with Colonel Van Fleet and 100 soldiers of Ohio. Such a small force could not oppose the Michigan army, and strategy was resorted to to accomplish the purpose desired. September 7th was the day set for opening of judicial court, but as a time had not been stated, it was argued that one hour was as good as another. Consequently, at 1 o'clock in the morning of the 7th, the judges started down the Maumee on horseback, escorted by the colonel and twenty soldiers, each carrying two cavalry pistols. About two hours later they arrived, and proceeded quietly to the schoolhouse by Washington Street, which was then "well out of town." The three associated judges, Jonathan H. Jerome, Baxter Bowman, and William Wilson, opened the court, appointed a clerk and three commissioners for Lucas county, and after the transaction of a little other necessary business, the court adjourned. "All present then hastily started through the woods up the Maumee River to the town of the same name," and safely arrived, with the valuable minutes of the first court. The success of the strategem practically ended the trouble. An order came removing Governor Mason from the office of governor of the Territory of Michigan, "because of his excessive zeal for its rights;" and on the 15th of June, 1836, Michigan was admitted into the Union, her southern boundary then being definitely and finally limited to the Harris Line, the disputed area. then becoming part of Ohio. CHAPTER IV SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION The present county of Fulton was organized in 1850, but settlement began almost two decades prior to that, and at a time when its territory was part of Henry and Williams counties. The creation of Lucas county, in 1835, took within its boundaries the greater part of the land which was ultimately to form Fulton county; and that portion which was embraced in Lucas county was originally put within the limits of a single township, called York. York Township was later subdivided into several smaller townships, by name: Amboy; Chesterfield; Clinton; German; Gorham; Royalton; Swan Creek; York; Franklin; Dover; Pike; and Fulton; all of which townships were organized while the land was in the jurisdiction of Lucas county, although the beginning of settlement antedated the organization of Lucas county. Unless John Grey, a fur trader who built a log cabin in Pike Township in 1824, residing therein until 1833, can be considered to have been a legitimate settler, which supposedly he can not, for he does not appear to have taken title to any land, nor to have cleared any acreage, the settlement may be stated to have begun in 1832, or 1833. As to which of the early settlers was the first to take u,p residence, i. e., permanent abode, within the county, it is hard to determine, closer than to state that the first two settlers were Eli Phillips and Joseph Bates. The former is generally acknowledged to have been the pioneer settler, but whether he should have that distinctive place is a moot point, as the following records show. The "History of Henry and Fulton Counties" (1888) states: 54 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY "In the early part of the year 1832, Eli Phillips with his young wife came to the disputed land. They were former residents of Michigan, in the vicinity of Adrian. Mr. Phillips located on sections ten and eleven, town nine south, range three east, on the tenth day of June, in that year." but the "Wauseon Republican," of July 19, 1884, carried a "Personal," which reads as follows: "We received a social call on Tuesday last from Eli Phillips, of Royalton Township. Phillips Corners was named after him. He informs us that he settled in that place June 10, 1833. At that time the Indians were the only occupants of this country. His nearest neighbor was in Michigan, five miles away; and on the east the only settler was at Sylvania, eighteen miles east. On the south, the nearest settlement was on the Maumee River, twenty-five miles away; and on the west, Angola, Indiana, was the nearest settlement." Therefore, by his own testimony, it seems that 1833 was the year in which Eli Phillips settled. Of course, typographical errors are not impossible, especially in the hastily compiled temporary record a newspaper is called upon to provide. Mistakes especially in figures often creep into the columns of a newspaper. However, a later history of Fulton county, that edited by Thomas Mikesell in 1905, gives the year of the coming of Eli Phillips as 1833, explaining that "he entered his land in Fulton county in 1832, and removed here the following year." Therefore, June 10, 1833, may be taken to have been the day upon which Eli Phillips, that worthy pioneer, arrived in Royalton Township with his wife. Consequently, his right to first place among the pioneers of Fulton county must be considered in connection with the record of Joseph Bates, the pioneer settler in Franklin Township. Joseph Bates is claimed to have been the 'first settler in Brady Township, Williams county, he having settled in the part of that township which in 1850 was added to Franklin Township, when Fulton county was created. The "History of Henry and Fulton Counties" (Aldrich, 1888) states that Joseph Bates: "Came into this territory, then Williams county, on section two, town seven north, range four east, in February, 1833, while others claim not until 1834, and on the farm known today as the Shilling Farm. In the absence of better proof, we will accept the record as given by A. W. Fisher, in his historical reminiscences of early settlers, wherein he writes of Joseph Bate's daughter, Mrs. Alvord, of Camden, Michigan, replying to which she declares that her father came in 1832; from the testimony of others, it will be doing justice to the memory of Joseph Bates to give him the benefit of a medium date, February, 1833, which would seem to correspond with the memory of many living witnesses." Other records support this deduction, one in particular supporting the belief that Joseph Bates was here long before 1834.. As will be noted in the German Township chapter of this present work, Jacob Binder, in his narrative of the coming of the pioneers of German Township in 1834, refers to Joseph Bates, "a noted hunter," whom they heard of when they had reached Defiance, in 1834, on their return from Fort Wayne, whither they had journeyed, in search of HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 55 suitable land upon which to settle, and in which search they had been up to that time unsuccessful. Mr. Binder stated that, at Defiance, "they heard of one Joseph Bates, eighteen miles north, a noted hunter, and a man of broad and accurate knowledge of the country," explaining that "Mr. Bates then lived on what is now (1896) known as the John Shilling Farm, in the southwestern part of Franklin Township, Fulton county." Continuing the narrative, Mr. Binder said: "To him they gladly came. They found him to be the man they exactly needed —brave, active, generous, and thoroughly posted on the conditions of the country, and the needs of. new settlers." Evidently,. Joseph Bates at that time was a man of wide repute; and in such country where news travelled slowly, and where a settler might live a long while unknown to, what would now be termed, comparatively near neighbors, the circumstance leads one to believe that Joseph Bates was in the territory earlier, perhaps, than 1833. However, in linking Eli Phillips and Joseph Bates as the pioneer settlers of Fulton county, justice will probably be done to the memory of both. They were both true pioneers, brave, hospitable, and resolutely active. During the Boundary Dispute, Eli Phillips sided with Michigan ; indeed, he went so far as to take military service for the Territory of Michigan at that time. He was placed in responsible command, with the grade of lieutenant-colonel, and probably recruited to the militia of the Michigan command some of the settlers within the Ohio territory in dispute. It appears that most of the settlers were in 56 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY sympathy with the Michigan administration ; at least those within what became the northern townships of Fulton county, and those in that part of the second tier of townships north of the Fulton Line. Here, in this chapter, it will be unnecessary, .perhaps, to name the other early pioneers of Fulton county, for each will be given honorable and appropriate place in the respective township chapters, where individual records can, properly, be more extensively reviewed. To make individual review of the advent of the settlers would demand considerable space, as may be imagined when it is realized that the population (white) grew from one, or two, in 1832 to more than three thousand in 1840. The population of the respective townships in 1840 as given by Historian Aldrich is as follows: Amboy Township, 452; Chesterfield, 301; Clinton, 303; German, 452 ; Gorham, 352; Royalton, 401; Swan Creek, 494; and York, 435. The other four townships of Fulton county were of later organization. York Township was, apparently, the first to be organized. Local historians place its organization as of June 6, 1836, although official records are not available to substantiate. The same condition applies to Swan Creek Township, the organization of which is stated to have been after that of York Township, but in the same year, 1836. It probably occurred after the amended organization in 1836, of Lucas county, which was somewhat hurriedly formed in 1835 when the Boundary Dispute was the matter of most urgent and portentous moment to the contending states. The other ten townships of Fulton county were organized on the dates given below: Amboy; on June 4, 1837; Chesterfield, on June 4, 1837; Royalton, on June 4, 1837 ; Clinton, on March 5, 1838; Gorham, on March 6, 1838; German, on March 4, 1839; Franklin, on March 1, 1841; Fulton, on March 1, 1841; Pike, on March 1, 1841; and Dover, on June 5, 1843. All settlers within the territory when York Township was organized were expected to proceed to York Centre to cast their vote. The early pioneers found that red men were to be their neighbors; although the Indians then in the county do not appear to have been unfriendly. As a matter of fact, they were considered by some settlers to be "a nuisance," in too frequently proffering help to incoming white people. At the best, however, the Indians constituted an uncertain element, and as the settlement by whites progressed the state authorities and the United States Government sought to induce the Indians to remove further west. Colonel Dresden W. H. Howard, than whom there has been no greater authority on the Indian history of Fulton county, wrote, in 1887: "The principal Indian village within the present limits of Fulton county, was that of the Pottawatomie chief, Winameg, located on the banks of Keeg (now Bad) Creek, and the high ridge crossing the creek, near the post-office of Winameg (in Pike Township). Smaller settlements were located on Bean Creek, and the upper branches of the St. Joseph, but were of a more temporary character." Winameg was so named, to honor the remembrance of Chief Winameg, who was well-known to, and a great friend of D. W. H. Howard and his father Edward Howard, who, "in the early years of , the 'thirties" built a trading log house near the Indian village, doing much business in furs with the inhabitants thereof. The fine, old, colonial residence later built by the Howard family at Winameg, still HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 57 stands on the site of the Indian village. Continuing, Colonel Howard wrote: "At the time of the writer's first visit to the village of Winameg, in the spring of 1827 or 1828, the aged chief, Winameg, whose head was whitened by the snows of a hundred winters, yet who was. still active in mind and body, ruled the tribe and directed its affairs, aided by his son, Wi-na-meg, and other chiefs of less importance." There were other settlements; one is referred to in the Clinton Township chapter; but undoubtedly the main Indian village was that of Winameg. Colonel D. W. H. Howard, under date of March 14, 1887, and on the stationery of the Maumee Valley Monumental Association, of which he was vice-president and one of the most active workers, wrote to Mrs. S. D. Snow, who belonged to an old Dover Township family, and at that time lived in Hartford, Michigan, as follows : "The Indian name that was applied to this portion of Fulton county (presumably the vicinity of Winameg) was a Pottawatomie, or rather French and Indian, word, signifying 'Two-Boys,' or 'Twin-Boys,' and was applied more particularly to the 'Ridge' and Springs at Etna, at the old crossing of Bad Creek—Djue-Naw-ba-Two (French, Djue) Naw-ba (Boy) Pottawatomic. Now the true word, in Indian, and as they commonly used it, was Neshe-Maw-ba, or Twin Boys. I have always had trouble in getting the printers to spell my Indian words as I write them. I spell the words, Djue-naw-ba; or Nesha-naw-ba The Pottawatomies were the tribe which you knew, and were removed, or notified by the Government to remove, in 1839 or 1840, when the remnant went, some to Canada and the rest to the north- 58 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY west. I was employed to aid in removing the greater portion of the Ottawas and Pottawatomies west of the Mississippi in 1832 and 1833." Governor Lewis Cass was one of the government officials chiefly responsible for the negotiations with the Indians relative to their removal ; and Governor Porter, of Pennsylvania, was another who sought to persuade them to depart to the new home selected for them beyond the Mississippi ; to the place where "the beautiful groves of timber, the rolling and undulating prairie land, covered with waving grass, and spangled over with flowers of the many-colored hues of the rainbow" would make their life an enviable one. One would have thought that such graphic description would have brought appreciative response from Indians who had been forced to pass their lives in a damp, swampy, mosquito-ridden country, such as was the "Black Swamp" of northwest Ohio at that time. But the seductive language of Governor Porter had little effect. The Indians were reluctant to even consider the subject of removal. Yet, they must have known, or at least the shrewd must have reasoned, that it was inevitable as the setting of the sun; and knowingly, or unwittingly, conferences ultimately ended in only one way—in the achievement of the purpose of the United States Government. Colonel Howard, who knew the Indians so well, and was so closely in their confidence, stated that "as a rule, when treaties were successfully made, there was more or less deception practiced to accomplish the objects in view." He thought it "unfortunate" that "so noble and generous a government as that of the United States" should appoint "among its agents selected to transact the business of the government with these untutored and confiding savages, men who were, to say the least, not just." Nevertheless, willingly or unwillingly, it was necessary to transport the Indians farther west; they could not be permitted to impede. the settlement and development. And they had to recognize the supreme authority of the "Great Father," the President of the United States. But the life of the Indian had been so Nomadic, that unanimity of action was scarcely to be expected of them. It was a matter of much difficulty to gather them for migration. Some remained in the "deeps" of the wilderness, while some even went into Canada, rather than cross "the muddy river" (Mississippi). From 1832 to 1840 the migration continued, and isolated Indians might have been in Fulton county somewhat later. In fact, there undoubtedly were many in Clinton Township in the early years of its settlement, as individual testimony reviewed in that township chapter of this work substantiates. But they had become so few in numbers at that time that their presence constituted no bar or hindrance to the full settlement of the region. The main migrations occurred in 1832 and 1838, those of the former year going overland in wagons and on horseback, using their own ponies, and those of 1838 going by lake steamer to Cleveland; thence by canal to Portsmouth; thence down the Ohio and up the Mississippi and Missouri to the mouth of the Kansas River; and thence to Kansas territory. Proof that Indians still were in Fulton county in 1840 is supplied by a diary for that year, kept by Mrs. Mary (Rice) Hibbard, wife of Mortimer D. Hibbard, a pioneer of Dover Township, and the first auditor of Fulton county. An entry in the diary, under date of November 29, 1840, reads: HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 59 "The Indians who formerly lived in this place have been compelled this fall to leave it and go to the far West. They heard preparations were being made to take them away, and fled two hundred miles, to a woods in Michigan. While there encamped they were overtaken, surrounded, and compelled to go. I cannot think it right to force them to leave their native woods and plains, to which they seem so attached, and go to a strange land, as they have done. They were a harmless people, never disturbing the whites, unless first misused by them—getting their living principally by hunting, picking berries, and sometimes making baskets, which they exchanged with the whites for bread, or potatoes. They frequently came here hungry and asked for victuals, for which they seemed very thankful, but I never knew them to take anything without leave. They were very fond of ornaments, silver brooches, brass rings, glass beads, or little bells, which they wore around waist, neck, or arms."   Mary B. (peland) Howard, who died in 1915 at the venerable age of ninety years, was almost as much interested in the Indians, near whom they had lived, as was her husband, Colonel D. W. H. Howard, who predeceased her by about seventeen years. She was keenly interested in pioneer history; followed closely with her husband the proceedings of the Maumee Valley Historical and Pioneer Association ; and ably aided her husband in the organization of the Maumee Valley Monumental Association, which two associations were the main factors in influencing the Ohio Legislature, in 1906, to appropriate the sum of $25,000 to erect a shaft on the site of Fort Meigs, in honor and remembrance of those national heroes who died in the defence of that fortress. Both Mr. and Mrs. Howard wrote much in later life regarding the Indians. One of Mrs. Howard's interesting articles is entitled   60 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY "The last of the Pottawatomie Indians (in the Maumee Valley) ," and because of its authenticity is deserving of place in Fulton County records. The article reads: "In 1833, the Government of the United States bought all of the land in Ohio country then belonging to the Pottawatomie Indians, and gave them a tract of land in Kansas. Now, some of the Indians hated to leave their homes ; while others did not go to Kansas at all, but went to Canada; others hid in the swamps and woods of Ohio. Among the tribe there was a man named Senalick. He and his squaw were away when the tribe moved from Ohio; and they did not come back for some years. Then they went to a white man who was a friend of the Indians (probably Colonel Howard himself), and asked the privilege to hunt and fish in their old home. They did so for many months. One day the squaw came to their white friend and told him that her husband, Senalick, was very sick. The friend went down to the wigwam, and found Senalick severely sick. A mark on the Indian's forehead indicated that in some way he had been bitten by a spider. A few days later the squaw came to their friend's house again. Black stripes were painted upon her face, and her message was that in the night the Great Spirit had come and taken her husband away. She was told that her husband could not be buried until the next day. Then she went away, and when later her friend went down to the wigwam he saw her sitting beside the corpse. She had everything ready for the burial, having laid Senalick's hunting knife, powder horn and gun beside his dead body, but her friend, knowing that she would not remain after the burial and that she would have to travel many hundreds of miles to get to her tribe, told her that she would need the gun and some powder. It was hard work to persuade her, for she believed her husband would have need of the gun when he reachd the happy hunting grounds. Senalick was buried, and for the remainder of the day, and through the night, the squaw sat at the graveside. Early next morning, the friend of the Indians stood at the door of his house, from which a clear view of the Maumee River could be obtained, and there upon the river he saw one lone canoe, drifting down. He called to his wife, and they both watched as it drifted past. When it came near they saw that in it was the squaw with two little papooses, a few blankets and sacks, and a gun. Senalick was the last Pottawatomie Indian that ever set foot in any part of this country." The Howard home, when the family first came into Ohio, was at Fort Meigs, but two years later the Howards "moved to a home in the woods, cutting a road as they went, and settling on land at the head of the rapids in the Maumee, the place now known as Grand Rapids." Just across the river was the camp of "two thousand or so Indians." There, "young Howard passed his boyhood. He attended the Indian Mission School, with the Indians, who were his only playmates. He grew up with them, learned their language, and in later life was known as the friend of the Indians, so that in all probability the "friend" Mrs. Howard writes of was her own husband, Col. D. W. H. Howard. If so, the passing of Senalick must have occurred in, or later than, 1842, for May B. Copeland was not married to Colonel Howard until that year. Col. and Mrs. D. W. H. Howard HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 61 did not take up residence on the land he owned at Winameg, Pike Township, until 1851, and from the year of their marriage to their coming to Winameg they lived for the greater part of the time at Maumee Rapids. Therefore, there is every reason to believe that the last of the Indians left the Maumee Valley in the early '40s. Mrs. Howard, in another newspaper article stated : "The saddest people that I ever saw were the Indians who used to roam through the forest which covered this county es they assembled in Toledo in 1837 (this may have been a typographical error, for most records show that the last important removal of Indians from the Maumee Valley took place in 1838, although Colonel Howard, in the letter before-quoted herein, stated that the Pottawatomies were removed, or notified to remove, in 1839 "and also in 1840"), and were waiting to be conveyed by the Government to a reservation in Kansas The removal of the Indian from Northwestern Ohio was but a demand of civilization, but it was a sad, sad day for the lone Indian, when he looked for the last time upon the hunting ground which was as dear to him as is your home to you These poor Indians were broken-hearted, but well for them that they did not know the character of the place to which they were going. When the day arrived for their leaving, one continuous pitiful wail was all that could be heard, as the Indians with solemn tread and bowed heads marched into the boats to sail away from their hunting grounds forever. Colonel Howard, as a friend of the Indian, went with them to their new reservation in Kansas." Worthy of record also in Fulton county history is "A Memory," a paper written by Mary B. Howard, and read by her daughter, Agnes Howard McClarren, at a meeting of the Wauseon Daughters of the American Revolution in May, 1913. It deals with the Indian trails of the county, and begins : "As a matter of historical fact, there were no trails of importance leading northward from the Maumee River, but with a sagacity born of living close to the great heart of nature, the Indian always selected his hunting trails on the high ridges, which later were used as thoroughfares by the white men. "The Indian camps, or villages, were all along the Maumee River, the largest being at Fort Industry, or, as we know it, Toledo, from which a trail led westward, on what is now Dorr street, passing near Holland, to Ai, thence to Winameg, where was a large village of Pottawatomies; from there it extended westward to Angola, Indiana, finally losing itself at Fort Dearborn, Chicago, only to emerge again, taking a southwesterly course towards the great Santa Fe trail, New Mexico. However, we have only a short link of it in Fulton county. "During the hunting season, this was a much traveled trail, leading as it did into such fine hunting grounds, abounding with deer, bear, and wild turkey. "This trail, now known as the Angola Road, over which the United States mail came to the early pioneers of Lucas, Fulton, and Williams counties. As early as 1840, the carrier, with his pony well saddled and his mail securely fastened on behind, left Maumee, traveling through bog and quagmire, in storm and cold over this then almost blazed trail he passed, stopping at the various cabins and settlements along his way. We know. of him first at Parchers Corners, four miles 62 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY west of Ai; thence on to Dr. Holland's, later known as the Shute Farm, where warmth, cheer, and most openhanded hospitality 'greeted him, usually much needed by the half-frozen carrier and his faithful pony. We next see him at Winameg, thirty-two miles west of Toledo, where for many years E. C. Sindel kept a postoffice, and where also was a block-house, or trading post, for the Indians. His road led still west- ward about twelve miles, jogging a little to the south, where, two miles north of what is now known as Burlington or Elmira, Samuel Darby kept a postoffice. He spent the night with them, going on the next morning to Zone, returning again to Maumee. "A trail branched northward at Winameg, passing through the Holt and Daniels farms towards Adrian, crossing the River Raisin near there; thence on to Detroit, or was lost in the forests of northern Michigan. It was over some portion of this trail that the Indians went to hide themselves when, in 1833, the Government ordered them to go farther west, to reservations in Kansas and Oklahoma. "Another trail left Winameg, going southward through the Howard, Hubbard, Trowbridge, Fewless, and Cowan farms, following the ridges through Delta, and on to the river; another left the Delta road at some point a little to the west of the town, passing towards, but east of, Wauseon, through the Lamb and Huntington farms, angling to the west along the high ground to Ridgeway, onward to the river and Fort Defiance. "There were much used and important trails from Toledo to Fort Wayne, along the water course, using the river as far as the rapids, seven miles below the town of Canal R. Then they traveled along the south bank again, taking to their canoes just above the rapids. "Another trail was one the Indians used in their annual trip to Detroit (to receive their annuity from the British Government) from Toledo to Monroe, crossing at Malden, and on to Detroit. The Harrison trail enters Ohio at Petersburg, Fort Pitt, Mahoning county. It follows the Ohio River to the mouth of Beaver Creek, going north to Lisbon and Waynesburg, Stark county, crosses the Muskingum River, near Wooster, then taking a northwesterly course to Sandusky; thence to Castalia, to Fremont. It crosses the Maumee at the foot of the rapids, follows the river to Miami; thence across to the Raisin, and along to Detroit. This was called the big trail, and was of great importance." A map of Pioneer Trails and Roads previous to 1850, giving interesting information regarding the early settlers of Clinton Township as well as outlining the trails, was prepared in pencil by Thomas Mikesell, of Wauseon, shortly before his death. It was later carefully redrawn, by a competent man, and blue-printed, so that reproduction is possible. The cut of the Mikesell map can be found by turning to a page of the Clinton Township chapter of this work. It may be supposed that traffic along Indian trails of Fulton county was heavy during the first seven or eight years of settlement by white people, although the blazed trail could not last long. Some of the settlers included in the thousand that constituted the white population of the region in 1840 perhaps did the original migration partly by water, for steam and sailing vessels regularly plied from Buffalo to Detroit from the year 1827. Earlier than that, craft plied from HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 63 Cleveland to the Raisin and Maumee rivers, with fair regularity. One steamboat, the "Walk-in-the-Water," was built expressly to ply direct from Buffalo to the Maumee Rapids; and at one time Perrysburg seemed destined to become quite an important port. As a matter of fact, the "Walk-in-the-Water" was found, when launched, to have too deep a draft, and she had to make the mouth of Swan Creek her terminus. The steamboat "Sun" commenced in 1838 regularly to travel between Manhattan and Perrysburg and Maumee; and a converted canal boat, steam-propelled, ran from the head of Maumee Rapids to Fort Wayne. The majority of the settlers of Fulton county, however, probably placed more reliance on the prairie schooner, or emigrant wagon, than in mechanical contrivances. Astounding happenings were recorded in 1836 and 1837 in the matter of railroad development. The Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad Company, in May, 1837, announced "To Emigrants and Travellers" that the railroad had been brought into full operation between Toledo and Adrian. The road was opened in 1836, and until June, 1837, when the first locomotive was delivered, the cars were drawn by horses. It was originally intended to use oak rails, but when the wooden rails were found to wear quickly, it was decided to reinforce them by tipping the oak rail with a strip of iron 2 1/2 inches wide and 5/8 of an inch thick. The "strap rails" did not prove very satisfactory still they proved a theory many thought would be impossible in practice. It proved that an engine set on a smooth rail would actually pull a load as heavy as itself. John Butler ("Uncle John"), who was one of the pioneer settlers in Chesterfield Township, and who, in 1838, carried the mails for ninety miles through the dense forests of Fulton county, and on 64 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY to Lima, Indiana, twice weekly, had to go to Sylvania for the mail, and he refers to this pioneer railroad thus: "It was while I was carrying the mail from Sylvania that I saw the greatest event of my boyhood days—the building of a railroad. During the summer of 1838, a company was building the Pontiac & Detroit Railroad, from Toledo to Adrian, and were at work at Sylvania. The rails were flat bars of iron fastened to the ties, and the cars were at first drawn by horses. I recollect seeing the first steam engine pulling three or four cars. The settlers came from miles and miles to 'see it. Few would believe it possible that an engine on a smooth rail could pull a load as heavy as itself. They scouted at the idea, and declared: that the wheels would just slip around on the rails, and that it would be impossible to move such a load. So when it was announced that a steam engine pulling a train of cars woud pass over the road we all turned out to see the wonder. You can imagine our surprise and amazement when an engine pulling four or five cars pulled up at the station. We could doubt no longer, for there stood the monster with its load." Still, neither the railroad, nor the steamboat was responsible for the opening up of Fulton county. There were not even roads when the early pioneers came. They were the roadmakers. They had to lay their road as they proceeded, in order to proceed. And when they had reached the particular "spot in the woods" to which they were entitled, they had even to forget roads, in the heavy but vital labor of clearing a few acres upon which to plant corn for the all important first harvest. And in some parts of the county, it often took a week to get from their log cabin to the nearest mill with their harvested corn for grinding, and to return home again. One settler went through dense woods for five miles over Indian trails, carrying on his shoulder a bushel of corn for grinding, and did the return journey with the HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 65 bushel of flour. Of course, in the presence of such difficulties of transportation, progress would have been almost at a standstill ; and it is probably safe to assert that prosperity in the new settlement had its beginning in the beginning of road improvement projects. The "Vistula Road" from Toledo west, through the disputed strip of land, was laid out by the Government in 1835, and was a recognized thoroughfare—a main line, as it were. There were no side tracks, or locals, and the main line, at best, was a rough road. Mrs. Wm. McClarren, writing of the early roads stated: "The oldest established roads in the county were the Toledo and Angola, the Maumee and Angola, both running westward, the most direct immigrant roads leading to the undeveloped country farther west. The automobilist who glides through our beautiful country in his electric machine, over roads as smooth as a floor, little thinks that not many years ago these delightful highways were miles upon miles of impassable roads over which the pioneer wended his weary way, with white-covered wagons which sank with every turn of the wheel to the hubs. Then for years afterwards came the improvement known as the 'corduroy,' formed of logs laid side by side, which soon left their alignment, and sank into the mud in places, making the road as uneven as before, although somewhat more passable. Afterwards came the improved 'plank road,' which for a number of years was considered sufficient. As the country improved, and the demand for better roads became necessary, it was thought best to call a meeting at the court house in Wauseon (about 1877 or 1882) for the discussion of the subject. The call was answered by a large and enthusiastic gathering of the best and most influential farmers of the county. The discussion was long, heated, and many sided. At last, one of the, active farmers arose quietly, and said: 'Gentlemen, you may not live to see it I may not live to see it, but your children, and your children's children, will live to see in Fulton county every roadway and every byway graveled, from north to south, and east to west.' " Few of the early pioneers, in the first days of settlement, were so imaginative, probably, as to even dream of graveled roads, and of those who met in the '70s, or '80s, to discuss the matter of graveling the roadways few perhaps thought the time of asphalted roads would ever come. And of those who came, in jolting springless wagons drawn by slow-moving oxen, in the '30s and '40s, and took a week to cover the distance from their home to the mill and back again, few there must have been who thought the time would ever come when it would be possible to travel from one end of the county to the other in a few hours of road travel. Few imagined the time would come when the mode of travel would so radically change that even the horse would be discarded, and that practically all the prosperous farmers would own mechanically-driven pleasure cars, and powerful swift-moving motor trucks by means of which they would be able to take their dairy product, morning after morning, ten, fifteen or twenty miles to market, without inconvenience; yes, and even do some of their tilling of the soil with mechanical implements. On the other hand, few of the pioneers, who were able to get so little, momentarily, in return for their hardest labor, would ever have imagined the time would come when the hired hand could demand a daily wage of $6, $7, or $8, during harvest time. 66 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY However, although the early settlers were simple in their lives And requirements, they were stalwart and resolute in purpose, and out of the wilderness they slowly, but surely, made a land of agriculture plenty. Through the throes of the fever and ague, which would prostrate whole families at one time, they conquered the Black Swamp, draining it acre by acre and putting its rich black soil to good use. It was not until 1859 that ditching was undertaken by the county commissioners, but the draining of land by individual owners must have commenced much earlier, for some parts of the county were actually under water, for acres. It seems almost incredible that men were to be had of sufficient courage to continue the struggle to conquer the disadvantages of the natural conditions present in the Black Swamp country during the first decades of white settlement. The pioneers literally gave their lives to development work. Racked by fever, palsied by the ague, and many suffering constantly from rheumatism contracted in the seemingly chronic dampness of the region, the pioneers still labored; the majority of them hopefully and cheerfully. Settlers came in ever-increasing numbers during the '40's, and the western part of Lucas county had become so populous that it was felt, by the inhabitants of that section, that they might demand of the state more central and accessible facilities for the processes of judicial and civil government than obtained under the jurisdiction of the County of Lucas. Difficulties of travel in those days made a journey to Maumee City, the county seat, quite an undertaking, and, as the residents in the western and north-western parts of the county thought, quite an unnecessary journey. They felt that they were entitled to demand the erection of another county. Regarding this agitation,' Miss Marie A. Hibbard, of Spring Hill, wrote, some years ago, her information being based upon family records, and upon the papers of her ancestor, Rev. Elisha Hibbard, of Dover Township. After referring to the organization of Dover Township, in 1843, she wrote: "About this time, or a little later, the 'Men of the West', that is, the western part of Lucas county, began to agitate the question of thQ formation of a new county. Among Rev. Elisha Hibbard's papers are copies of contributions to the 'Maumee River Times', in which he gives reasons for desiring the separation; schools, taxes, better roads, and other improvements. "The county seat was then at Maumee City, and there seems to have been a fear, apparently well founded, that if Lucas county should be divided, the county seat would be removed to Toledo. There seems to have been quite a lively discussion in the 'Maumee River Times' on the subject. The 'Men of the West' did not despair, however, for, under date of December 15, 1845, is this letter, written by Rev. Mr. Hibbard to his wife, from Columbus, where he had gone as a delegate to see what could be done. He writes: 'Fortune favors the brave. A favorable circumstance relative to my business here is that my old friend, Tom Irwin, is chairman of the committee on New Counties. I have not yet had an interview with him but expect to see him tomorrow. I have seen Parcher and Wood. Both are favorably inclined, and as yet I find no opposition. Tell them all not to be discouraged, everything appears favorable, and I shall do all that I can.' HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 67 "This Parcher may have been Lyman Parcher, and doubtless Wood was his cousin, Reuben Wood, afterward governor of Ohio." Favorable action, however, was not destined to come in that year. Nevertheless the movement continued to gather strength, and in 1849 a determined effort was made to get the state to take action, many of the most influential residents identifying themselves actively with the movement. Among the principal projectors were : Nathaniel Leggett, of Swan Creek ; A. C. Hough and William Hall, of Chesterfield township ; Stephen and Isaac Springer, Samuel Durgin, and others, of Fulton ; Michael Handy, D. W. H. Howard, Robert Howard, and Lyman Parcher, of Pike; Mortimer B. Hibbard and Reuben Tiffany, of Dover; Ezekiel Masters and Joseph Ely, of Franklin ; William Sutton, Israel Mattern, W. A. Mace, and Oliver B. Verity, of Gorham; James Cornell, John Newcomer and Elisha Huntington, of Clinton ; Jacob Gasche and Jonathan Barnes, of German ; Ben and George Hackett, of Amboy ; and Eli Phillips, of Royalton. Their activities quickly brought result, for the State Legislature on February 28, 1850, saw fit to set off, and erect, a new county, to be known by the name of Fulton, its powers and boundaries defined as follows : "SEC. 1. Such parts of the counties of Lucas, Henry, and Williams as are embraced in the boundaries hereinafter described, be, and the same are hereby created into a separate and distinct county, which shall be known by the name of Fulton, to wit: Beginning on the State line between the States of Michigan and Ohio, at the northeast corner of township nine, south of range four, east of the Michigan meridian; thence south on the township line to the southeast corner of town ten, south of range four east, on the Fulton line; thence west on said Fulton line to the northeast corner of town eight, north of range eight, east; thence south to the southeast corner of section number twelve in township six, north of range eight, east; thence west, on section lines, to the southwest corner of section number seven, in township six, range five, east, on the countyline between the counties of Henry and Wil- liams; thence north on slid line to the southeast corner of town seven, north of range four, east; thence north on section lines to the Fulton line; thence west on said Fulton line to the southwest corner of section number eleven, in town ten, south of range one, west of the Michigan meridian ; thence north on section lines to the said state line ; thence easterly with said state line, to the place of beginning." So, the boundaries of Fulton County have since remained. Fulton County, which it is believed was so named in honor of Robert Fulton, the world-famed inventor, and not John A. Fulton, the survivor who ran the Fulton Line, was, it is interesting to note, the eighty-seventh of the eighty-eight counties erected within the present boundaries of the State of Ohio, the eighty-eighth county, Noble, being also created in 1850. Temporary arrangements were made for continuing the civil and judicial administration under the former regime until such time as the newly created county could be properly brought into full operation, with county officers properly elected by public vote, and men appointed to those offices that were not elective. It was provided that legal cases then pending in the courts of Lucas, Williams, and Henry counties 68 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY should be continued to finality and decision, as though Fulton County had not been erected. The first Monday of April, in that year, was specified in the act as the day upon which township elections should be held in the new county; and section six, of the creating act, provided that the county should be attached to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of the State of Ohio, and that the Court of Common Pleas, and Supreme Court of the County of Fulton, should be held at some convenient house in the Township of Pike, until such time as the permanent seat of justice had been established, and the necessary accomodation procured. Laurin Dewey, of Franklin county, Mathias H. Nichols, of Allen county, and John Riley, of Carroll county, were appointed commissioners to locate the seat of justice. Pending such location, the associate judges appointed by the act, namely John Kendall, Alfred C. Hough, and Nathaniel Leggett, his successor, who, one record states, was Socrates H. Gately, and another record William E. Parmelee, decided to hold the courts at the house of Robert A. Howard, in Pike Township. Much regarding the important happenings of 1850 are recorded in "A Short History of Fulton County, Ohio," written by James S. Riddle, who was one of the active pioneer county officials. He wrote : "On, or about, the 20th of March, 1850, the voters of the new county of Fulton met in mass convention, at the residence of Daniel Knowles, of Pike Township, for the purpose of placing before the people suitable candidates for the various offices in the county, to be elected on the 1st Monday of April, 1850, and organized by calling John Kendall, Esq., of Franklin Township, to the chair. "A motion was made to nominate a union ticket composed of Whigs and Democrats, but the motion was strongly opposed by Samuel Gillis, William Sutton, and other Democrats, saying they would support none but Democrats. So each party filed off by themselves. A motion was then made by the Democrats to send a delegation of two Democrats from each township, to form a Democratic ticket. The delegation was composed of : Ben and George Hackett, of Amboy; Jenks Morey and Eli Phillips, of Royalton ; William Sutton and Abe Mace, of Gorham ; Dorsey Barnes and James Riddle, of Franklin ; Joseph Jewell and John Tiffany, of Dover; M. Handy and Boyd Dunbar, of Pike; Stephen Springer and John Watkins, of Fulton ; S. H. Cately and David Williams, of Swan Creek; Henry Fluhart and Samuel Biddle, of York; John Newcomer and Elisha Huntington, of Clinton ; Jacob Gasche and Jonathan Barnes, of German. Said committee (delegation) proposed the names of Christ Watkins, of Fulton Township, Wm. Sutton, of Gorham Township, and Jonathan Barnes, of German Township, for commissioners; A. C. Hough, for auditor; and Nathaniel Leggett, for treasurer." A. C. Hough, however, had been appointed associate judge by the Legislature, as had also Nathaniel Leggett, and neither could hold both offices, so, after further consideration the Democrats nominated Mortimer D. Hibbard, who had also been nominated by the Whigs, for the office of auditor, thus leaving 'Mr. Hough free to hold his judicial ap- pointment; and as Nathaniel Leggett was also the nominee of the Whig party, and had also been the original choice of the Democrats making his election to the office of treasurer certain, there was no pur- HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 69 pose in his taking the temporary judgeship. Therefore he declined the appointment and stood for election as treasurer. Who the Whig candidates for election as county commissioners were is not on record, but the candidates for sheriff were : G. W. Brown, Democrat; Elijah Herrick, Whig. Carl Allman, of York, was the Democratic nominee for recorder. The Democratic party was undoubtedly very strong in Fulton county at that time, for at the April election, and at the October election of that year, all of the Democratic candidates were elected. Regarding those two elections, Mr. Riddle, in another article, wrote more clearly. He stated : "As there were but two parties then (March, 1850) Whig and Democratic, a proposition was made to take one from each party, but was opposed by Samuel Gillis, William Sutton, and other Democrats. ... So each party filed off by themselves, and the Democrats placed on their tickets for Commissioners, Chris. Watkins, of Fulton ; Wm. Sutton, of Gorham ; and Jonathan Barnes, of German ; for Auditor, M. D. Hibbard, of Dover; for Treasurer, Nathaniel Leggett, of Swan Creek ; for Sheriff, G. W. Brown, of Royalton ; for Recorder, Carl Allman, of York. The Whigs nominated M. D. Hibbard and Nat. Leggett as their candidates, and the balance Whigs. The Democrats were elected. As Leggett could not serve as judge and treasurer both, he did not qualify as judge, and the Governor appointed William Parmelee in his place. In the fall of 1850, the Democrats nominated for Commissioner: for three years, Chris Watkins, of Fulton ; for two years, William Sutton, of Gorham. As Jonathan Barnes had died before the convention, Warren McCuthcheon, of German, was nominated in his place, for one year. For auditor, A. C. Hough, of Chesterfield ; for Treasurer, Nat. Leggett, of Swan Creek ; for Sheriff, G. W. Brown, of Royalton ; for Recorder, Carl Allman, of York. All the Democrats nominated at the convention were elected. As the Judges had the appointing of the Clerk of the Court prior to this time, the Court was organized and Samuel Durgin was appointed Clerk. Judge Hough resigned, and A. M. Flickinger, of Gorham, was appointed in his place. Soon afterwards, Wm. E. Parmelee resigned, and S. H. Cately was appointed in his place." It would seem that the first court held in Fulton county was in the fall of 1850, probably after the October election. In accordance with the provisions of the act by which Fulton county was created, the associate judges first appointed, or rather those who were the associate judges during the period from the first to the second election of 1850, namely John Kendall, A. C. Hough, and William E. Parmelee, designated the house of Robert A. Howard, in Pike Township, as the place at which the judges would hold court until such time as a permanent seat of justice had been selected, in accordance with the requirements of the act, but these three judges presumably did not sit in the first session of court. Mary B. Howard, wife of Col. D. W. H. Howard, wrote, regarding the first court: "Upon our return from our six months' experience in Iowa (which must have been in the latter half of 1850, for they did not go to Iowa 70 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY until 1850) we were guests of friends of Mr. Howard, in this county, and it was while visiting at Robert A. Howard's that I had the honor of attending the first court ever held in this county. The county seat had been located at Ottokee, but the court-house was not completed. His home was a large log building, with a big open fireplace, with a commodious sitting room, and it was in this room where court was held. Judge Saddler was present, and presided. . . .It was all very interesting to me."  Thomas Mikesell states that the associates of Judge Saddler in this first term of court were Socrates H. Cately, Abraham Flickinger, and William Parmelee; which statement seems to support the belief that the first court was held late in 1850, for although the Thomas Mikesell version does not agree with James S. Riddle's record (as a matter of fact, Riddle contradicted himself in a later article, stating that S. H. Cately was appointed judge, in place of Nathaniel Leggett, and W. E. Parmelee, vice Hough), it seems certain that John Flickinger's appointment resulted from the resignation of Judge Hough, so that the latter might become a candidate for county office in the October election of that year. In reality that session of court was not important, and is only noteworthy in that it was the first to be held in the newly erected county. There do not appear to have been any legal cases, criminal or otherwise, tried at that session. As a matter of fact, the courts of Lucas, Williams, and Henry continued to act in all cases that were pending at the time Fulton county came into existence and apparently no new cases had arisen. Indeed, it is on record that the judges who attended the first court of Fulton county so far departed, for a nonce, from the HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 71 dignity of the judiciary as to participate in a game of baseball, there being no legal business to ponder over and adjudicate. In April of that year, the locating commissioners appointed by the State Legislature came to the county for the purpose of designating the county seat and, as might be supposed, there was much rivalry, it being generally recognized that the seat of justice wherever located would bring added importance and prosperity to that locality. The commissioners heard the arguments in favor of the suggested sites, which were : at the center of the county ; at or near Robert A. Howard's farm in Pike Township; at Etna, in Pike Township ; at Fluhart Corners, in York ; at Delta, in York ; and at Spring Hill, in Dover Township. They selected the geographical center of the county as the best location, and on the 1st day of May, 1850, staked the site. Mary Rice Hibbard, before quoted, made diary entries of all important county events during the early pioneer years, and many historical facts have been authenticated from that record. An entry in her diary under date of May 2, 1850, gives the information that "the county seat was located yesterday, at the Centre." The "Centre" was given the distinctive and poetical name Ottokee, at the suggestion of Col. D. W. H. Howard, it has been stated. His life had been full of Indian experiences, his early days had been so fully associated with Indian scenes and life, that one would expect him, if asked for a name, to almost instinctively be prompted to perpetuate Indian memories. Ot-to-kee, brother of Wauseon, and both of them chiefs of the Ottawa tribe which had inhabited the Maumee Valley in earlier days, was worthy of remembrance; and Colonel Howard, who knew the real Indian character so well, ever showed himself wishful to defend the memory of the men of red skin, whom, in the main, he found to be innately honorable, and peaceably-minded. It is said that Col. Howard was noticed on the outskirts of the gathering (when stakes were driven, presumably), and was asked by one of the commissioners to suggest a name for the county seat, and that he immediately replied: "Ottokee." The action of the commissioners however did not settle the matter of site ; it was still necessary to obtain general approval in a public vote. And confirmation did not come in the first vote taken ; that did not give Ottokee a majority of the votes cast, although it received a greater number than were cast for any other proposed site. At the second election, Ottokee received a clear majority, and the county officials were then able to proceed with consideration of plans for the erection of buildings suitable for the purposes of the various offices of the county administration. A. H. Jordan, of Royalton Township, secured the contract for the building of the Court House, and completed it in 1851. It was a frame building, two stories high, with a frontage of about forty feet, and a depth of about eighty feet, a commodious building, made somewhat imposing and pretentious by being surmounted by a large dome. Judge W. H. Handy, wrote reminiscently of Ottokee, and said, regarding the Court House: "Do you remember the old Court House? To us, it was a massive structure, with its two tall stories and high tower, which we used to climb into and think we could see the whole world. I used to go into the court house and go to sleep listening to the lawyers, when Judge Palmer was on the bench. Remember Judge Palmer, our first judge 72 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY under the new constitution ? How some of the laywers got mad at him, and got Hank Hollister to draw a picture of him with a jackass, ears, and a certain lawyer addressing him, this lawyer being one who was said to own him." Mrs. Mary B. Howard made reference to the opening of the first court house, at Ottokee. She wrote : "It seems to me but yesterday since the first court house built in this county was dedicated. It was a grand affair, and prominent citizens from different parts of the county were present to take part in the dedication. After listening to a number of addresses, a grand ball was given, which continued until almost the break of day. It was a happy joyous assembly, composed of the early pioneers, the blushing maid and the awkward bashful boy who, at the end of nearly sixty years, have given the present generation one of the finest, most improved and richest agricultural counties in the state. Surrounded with all these blessings a shadow of sorrow flits across my mind, as I think that only one or two of those who were present at that happy event are left to tell of the dedication of Fulton county,s first court house." Probably at that ceremony and ball, most of the leading pioneers were present. And in culture, in true gentlemanliness, and in the refinements which are the heritages of some, that gathering probably would favorably compare with a like function in an eastern or southern community of that time. It would be erroneous to assume that, as the early pioneers in the first years of settlement in Fulton county were prepared to live under the most primitive conditions, they were crude and primitively inclined, in themselves. They were not. They were, rather, men and women of noble characteristics, whole-souled, and high-minded, and thus were able to hold their thoughts on a high moral plane, even though their hands became calloused by the incessant and determined hewing with the axe. The deportment of those who attended that first county ball was probably as gentlemanly and ladylike as one would take pride in noting in one,s kin. The Hon. Oliver B. Verity, who probably takes first place among the historians of Fulton county, asserted, in an article on `The Pioneers of Fulton County," that : "These early pioneers, the advance guard of a new civilization in the wilderness, were the best blood and brains of the eastern states which formed the main composition of this growing territory; whose fathers had educated their sons and daughters for the practical work of life, and they. have in turn so left their impress upon your county by their virtues and acknowledgment of a Supreme Being, together with their stern political integrity and loyalty to the government—a rich inheritance to you, worthy your gratitude and care We are apt in our present imagination, especially the generation of today, when schools are the great boast of our civilization, to look back to these old pioneers as men of little culture and learning; but in this idea you are mistaken. These noble men and women came fresh from the schools of the East, and as a whole, for noble manhood and womanhood, stand as the peers of the present generation. There were many causes in that age which induced the preference of a free, manly independent life in the woods, enduring its hardships and privations, leaving behind friends and the refinements and luxuries of the civilization of their eastern , home. Freedom was necessary for the life of these very men, and the HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 73 influence for good exerted by their teaching upon the future of your citizens will continue to widen while time lasts. We may boast of our refinement in this age, which is measured more by our large cash balances and fine clothing, which compels the churches to provide sittings for its poor, and builds up an aristocracy in your midst. In answer, let me, quote the words of F. A. Dewey, before the Pioneer Association of Lenawee county (in which county part of what is now Fulton county once was) : 'I claim that never in the history of the State has there been so much genuine manhood; so much of disinterested benevolence ; of kindness of heart; so much of sociality, and, in the best sense of the word, of Christian good feeling, as evinced in the early settlement of the country. So far as these things, and many others growing out of them, are concerned, it was the Golden Age of the State., Consequently, the scions of the pioneers of Fulton county may take pride in that fact that the noteworthy characteristics of their ancestors did not begin and end in their ability to live in primitive surroundings while, by hard work, they built homes and independence for their children, and their children,s children, out of the uninviting swamp and forest. There are very many records to prove that many of the pioneers who became prominent in township and county administration were men of broad knowledge, and strong personality. Ottokee, for almost two decades was destined to be the center of the political and judicial life of Fulton county, even though its promising development of the first two or three years was to be checked and finally deadened by the rise of Wauseon, caused by the consummation of the railroad project which gave Wauseon ready communication east and west. In the early ,fifties, it was thought that Ottokee would have railroad facilities, and the original surveys passed through, or very near to, the county seat; consequently, real estate operators for a year or two were extraordinarily active. But, alas, when it became certain that the railroad would not pass through Ottokee, the place as a county seat was doomed. It struggled for many years to hold its dignified place, but eventually had to concede the right to Wauseon. Judge W. H. Handy some years ago wrote reminiscences of old Ottokee, finding happiness in recalling the days when that place was at the zenith of its importance among the communities of Fulton county. What great times they had in Ottokee in the ,fifties. At that time, Judge Handy was an active and observing boy. He writ "I have never seen old Ottokee written up. What a great old town it was, we kids thought, the greatest in the world. Its broad street and deep sand made a lovely place for boys, if it was not so well for business. "Do you remember the old engine hall, which is still standing but changed? What a great building it was, with its stores and broom factory, and its office and living room upstairs. My, but we were proud of that. And then. our two hotels, as I recollect, the one with the sign 'Hotel by H. Taylor, on the north side, and Stow,s Hotel on the south side. Once we had two newspapers, a blacksmith,s shop and a couple of stores. H. Day will be a familiar recollection to very many. And then, how we kids would yell, when we thought of Delta and Wauseon down in the woods 74 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY "And then our old Fourth of July celebrations. They were the stuff. Always a salute of a hundred guns at sunrise. And we had a cannon, too, and we kept it, and fired it year after year, till Wauseon got big enough to steal it in the night, and haul it away and bury it. When we got it back, and had finally won, the war broke out, and it went to the front, as lots of the citizens of old Ottokee did These old-fashioned Fourth of July celebrations were great processions and fireworks, and a great free dinner in the grove, south of the Court House. By the way, many of your readers will remember that free dinner when several barrels of cookies were bought in Toledo. When they were put on the table, they found that tallow had been used for shortening. I can taste them yet. What a kick that raised. And then, at night we did not have much in the way of fireworks, excepting bonfires and turpentine balls. I would like to see an old-fashioned turpentine-ball fight again. They would get barrels of candle wicking, roll into balls 5 or 6 inches in diameter, dip them in turpentine, set them on fire, and then throw them at one another. During the day, we always heard the Declaration of Independence, and a rip-roaring speech by some one like Octavius Waters, who could soar; and when it came to beautiful flights of oratory, nobody had it on Waters. "But old Ottokee was only at the height of its glory in a political campaign. As the county seat in those days, it was political headquarters, and we always had a big political meeting. We Democratic kids, on days of big meets, always waited to see Royalton and Gorham come in. They were sure to come in long processions, headed by sheepskin bands, and some-where in each procession would be a big wagon, with pretty girls dressed in white, one for each state in the Union How we kids cheered them, and the men did lots of that, too. In those days, we (the Democrats) made about as good a show as the Republicans, much better in comparison than we did this fall. In