HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY, OHIO CHAPTER I FULTON COUNTY ANTIQUITIES BEFORE the white man, the Indian; before the Indian—who? The archaeology of any county forms one of its most interesting chapters. Who the ancient dwellers were, what they did, what lives they led, are all questions of conjecture now. Their history appears only in their silent monuments, as silent as the race, the fact of whose existence they perpetuate. The relics they left are the only key that we possess of their lives, and these give a history whose antiquity seems almost Adamic. The principal remains left consist of earthworks, mounds and parapets, filled with the rude implements of the people who built them, and with the bones of these lost portions of humanity. From their proclivities to build these earthworks, these people are known as " Mound Builders," the only name that now fits their peculiar style of life. The mounds erected by them are of all sizes and shapes, and range in height from three or four feet to sixty or seventy feet. In outline, they are of equal magnitude, though none of great height were ever known to exist within the confines of Fulton county. What have been discovered are generally small in size and irregular in outline. They have in nearly all intances been much reduced in height, as the hand of modern man demands them for practical purposes.   The more pretentious earthworks are very generally distributed from western New York, along the southern shore of Lake Erie, through Michigan, to Nebraska. thence north from this line to the southern shore of Lake Superior. From this line they extend south to the Gulf of Mexico. Mounds occur in great numbers in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. They are found in less numbers in western New York, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Michigan, Iowa and portions of Mexico. In choos-   18 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   ing this vast region, extending from the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains, and from the great lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mound Builders took possession of the great system of plains, controlling the long inland water courses of the continent. Along the broad levels drained by this vast river system, the remains of prehistoric man are found. It is authoritatively stated that there are not less than thirteen thousand mounds and inclosures in the State of Ohio. Archaeologists have no difficulty in locating the places which were most densely populated, by reason of the irregular distribution of the works. It is interesting to note that in the selection of sites for these earthworks the Mound Builders were influenced by the same motives apparently, which governed their European successors. It is a well established fact that nearly every town of importance in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi and their tributaries is located on the ruins left by this ancient people: The sites selected by the Mound Builders for their most pretentious works were on the river terraces, or bottoms, no doubt because of the natural highways thus rendered available, besides the opportunities for fishing and the cultivation of the warm, quick soil, easily tilled. The earth mounds are classified as sepulchral, sacrificial, temple or truncated, mounds of observation, symbolical or animal—also known as emblematic—and mounds of defense. The first named, sepulchral, are the most common of any. Emblematical or symbolical mounds are not known to have existed in this county. If they ever did exist here, all traces of them have been obliterated by that leveler of savage country, the plow. Sepulchral mounds were devoted to the purpose of burial and were generally pyramidal in form and usually contained layers of clay, ashes, charcoal. various soils and one or more skeletons, often very many. Sacrificial mounds are usually stratified, the strata being convex layers of clay and loam, the layers alternating above a layer of fine sand. They also contain ashes, igneous stones, charcoal, calcined animal bones, beads, implements of stone, pottery and rude sculpture. They also have altars of burned clay or stone, resting in the center of the mound upon the original earth, on which the people offered sacrifice, employing fire for the purpose. Mounds of observation—sometimes termed defensive— are found upon prominent elevations. They were, doubtless, alarm posts, watch-towers, signal stations, or outlooks. They commonly occur in chains or regular systems and still bear traces of the beacon fires that once burned upon them. In addition to the division of mounds already made, some add monumental or memorial mounds, not numerous, supposed to have been erected as memorials to the distinguished dead among the Mound Builders.   Scarcely any of the few small mounds in Fulton county have been properly opened. The examinations have rarely been systematic, and hence much has been lost. Commonly the plow has been run over the mounds, regardless of the history a careful search would reveal, until almost all traces of their existence have been obliterated. This ruthless leveling of the mounds has not been perpetrated, however,   FULTON COUNTY ANTIQUITIES - 19   merely to gratify the iconoclatic propensities of the plowmen, but their cupidity moved them. They wanted the corn the mounds would produce. Running the plow-share through the mounds was not a very successful method of obtaining a knowledge of their contents.   Of the works examined in this county, those most worthy of mention are situated on the farm of the late Hon. D. W. H. Howard, in section nine, Pike township. These mounds were explored during the summer of 1892, through the efforts and under the direction of Hon. W. H. Handy, to whose excellent article upon the same we are indebted for the information here given concerning them. And much credit is also due to Mr. Howard, upon whose farm and in whose orchard most of them are situated. During all of his life he jealously guarded these mounds against vandalism, permitting no one to in any manner interfere with them, further than to cultivate the ground. The mounds are located on the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section nine, in Pike township, and are built on a high ridge, containing five or six acres of land, and follow the highest outer elevation of the bluff with three exceptions.   These mounds are in a group, twelve in number, of which eleven are located and clearly identified and the site of the twelfth is plainly indicated. One of them is built on the northern edge of the bluff, and a distinct, well-defined terrace appears on the north side of the mound. Another one is located in the public road, near by, and has been almost entirely obliterated. The others, while their outlines are somewhat indistinct, can be easily seen. The soil is a top-dressing of light sand, mixed, however, at a depth of six or seven inches with gravel. Long years after these mounds were built they were exposed to the winds and rain, and consequently they have lost much more by erosion than they have gained by decaying vegetation or otherwise. Beside, they were cultivated more or less for many years. The first excavation was made of a mound about thirty-five feet in diameter, and about ten feet from the center small pieces of charcoal were found. The soil was composed of six inches of mould, eighteen inches of white sand, with yellow sand mixed with some gravel at the surface. At about the center, two altars were uncovered, one a circle and the other a parallelogram, the circle lying directly south of the other, and being four feet in diameter, while the parallelogram was about four by six feet. On the circular altar were found some remnants of human bones that had been partially burned, among them being a jaw bone containing four teeth. On the other were found the bones of many different animals, these also being partially burned. Very near the original surface. but with the baked earth covering him, immediately under the circular altar was found the skull and a portion of the skeleton of a man, lying on his face with head to the west. The part of the skull above the nasal bones was well preserved, and, compared with the skull of an Indian, found intrusively buried in a neighboring mound, was a distinctly different type of man.   It was noticeable that the burned sand of the altars was as dry   20 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   as the dust that blows in the street, while the original soil under the altars, sod which had not been burned, was found to be moist. The ground of which the altars were composed had never been disturbed since the fires went out. This was demonstrated to a certainty, as no digging could ever have been, done without disturbing the strata, and it had never been disturbed. The baked sand, the red burned ground, and the charcoal, were in as perfect layers as if placed time by the hands of a mason. The mound mentioned as being located in the public road is, as stated above, entirely obliterated, but in an early day Col. Howard found in its center a circle of stones about four feet in diameter, containing within the circle about a bushel of charcoal and ashes, The stones were what are known as "nigger-heads."   Nearly all of these mounds were opened and examined by Judge Handy, and the report of two of them we will give in the Judge's own language. Of the one he calls Mound No. 7 he writes: "Sandy soil, light yellow sand : about eighteen inches from surface found longest thigh bones yet discovered. No traces of fire—no disturbance of soil heretofore—bones crumbled on exposure—highest of the mounds—found near center skeleton with his head to the north, lying on his back and limbs extended—near him found skeleton No. 2, with his head to the east and lying on his face, Both being large men —bones crumbled and could not be preserved—teeth perfect. We entered Mound No. 6 from the south. Soon after we commenced work here we discovered that the soil of this part of the mound had been disturbed. After digging about ten feet to the north and about fourteen inches below the surface, we found an iron tomahawk. gnash made, Close by we found the skull and part of the skeleton of an Indian lying on his side with his feet to the south. His atlIV map extended to the tomahawk. Going west of this we soon ow toground that had never been disturbed. Here we found an altar, eight feet and seven inches in diameter, and round. We cut the dirt away from this and cleared the, mould from the top, and save a portion that had been cut off by the digger early in the morning. ive had the altar as it stood when the last fires went out many centuries ago. This altar had upon it partially burned, animal and human bones. We found many pieces of human skulls, both of grown people and children; parts of the bones of the arm and the lower limbs; the hip bone, ball and socket of a child: most of them charred; some of them having a bluish tint : the charred bones of many animals all in the red burned sand on the altar. The altar was nearly level on the top. It was built up, commencing at the bottom, as follows: Yellow sand about eighteen inches, but fire had burned the life out of this; soil burned red, three inches charcoal, two and one-half or three inches; red burned soil, four inches; sand and mould, six inches.   "When we uncovered the altar in Mound No 6 and exposed it t3 view Onost in its entirety, we had before us the sacrificial altar of a great, lost, powerful people. We saw it as they saw it ten or more centuries ago, when they covered up its fires forever. It told us much —it told us nothing. They burned human beings; they burned animals.   FULTON COUNTY ANTIQUITIES - 21   Was it cremation? Hardly, for it was not complete. Was it sacrificial? Probably. But to what deity or deities ? Alas! We will never know. Who did these people succeed ? What caused the destruction of the Mound Builders? Who followed them? A thousand years from now who will have succeeded us?"   In every instance it was definitely ascertained that many persons were buried in the same mound. Mr. Howard was authority for the tatement that the Indians had no knowledge, traditionary or otherwise, concerning these earthworks, and if the Mound Builders were the ancestors of the Red Men of recent date, such fact was unknown and unsuspected by the latter. Mr. Howard associated from boyhood with them and accompanied them to their reservation be3rond the Mississippi was always their friend ; able to converse with them in their own language, to get into their inner lives, as it were; to appreciate and credit them with their virtues and condemn their faults, he easily became their confidant and possessed of their traditions. He stated at the time of the excavations that he heard old Chief Winnameg say "that the oldest man did not know who made the mounds. and that nobody knew, but he thought that a great battle had been fought there and the dead buried in the mounds." It is a well-known fact that the Indians never prepared burial places for their dead like the mounds referred to; neither did they erect altars, where animals .and human beings were immolated to secure the favor of the Great Spirit and afterward cover such altars with a mound of earth. These, and many other important considerations lead the majority of students of antiquity to the opinion that the Mound Builders were a distinct race of people, and that they inhabited a large portion of America long before the Red Men took possession..   The principal mounds in this county have now been mentioned, and it will be well to notice the implements made by the extinct race. Very few utensils, made of copper. have been found in this part of Ohio, owing partly to the fact of the unexplored condition of many of the mounds, and to the additional fact that little, if any, copper exists in this part of the United States. What does exist is in loose fragments that have been washed down from the upper lake region. When mounds are explored, great care is necessary lest these small utensils be lost, as they are commonly scattered through the mass, and are not always in close proximity to the skeletons. The copper deposits about Lake Superior furnished the prehistoric man with this metal, and, judging from the number of relics, now found, which were made of this metal, it must have been quite abundant. The population then must also have been quite numerous, as occasionally copper implements, tempered to an exceeding hardness, are found about the country. These implements are small, generally less than half a pound in weight; and seldom exceeding three pounds. There were millions of these in use during the period of the ancient dwellers, which must have been thousands of years in duration. The copper implements left on the surface soon disappeared by decomposition, to which copper is nearly as subject as iron. Only a part of the   22 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   dead Mound Builders were placed in burial mounds, and of these only a part were buried with their copper ornaments on and about them. Of those that were, only a small part have been discovered, and in many instances, the slight layer of earth over them has not prevented the decay and disappearance of the copper relics. Articles of bronze or brass are not found with the remains of the builders of the mounds, and it is evident they knew nothing of these metals in the Ohio Valley ; nor did they possess any of the copper that had been melted and cast im Moulds.   Stone relics however, are very numerous and well preserved. Stone axes, stone mauls, stone hammers, stone chisels, etc., are very plentiful yet, and were the common implements of the prehistoric man in this part of the West. None were made with holes or eyes for the insertion of a helve or handle. They were made more perfect by rubbing and polishing, probably done from time to time, after they were brought into use. A handle or helve. made of a withe or split stick, was fastened in the groove by thongs of hide. The bit is narrower than the body of the ax, which is generally not well enough balanced to be of much value as a cutting instrument. It is very seldom the material is hard enough to cut green and sound timber. The poll is usually round, but sometimes flat, and, rarely, pointed. It is much better adapted to breaking than cutting, while the smaller ones are better fitted for war clubs than tools. As a maul to break dry limbs they were very efficient, which was probably the use made of them. In weight they range from half a pound to sixteen pounds, but are generally less than three pounds. The very heavy ones must have been kept at the regular camps and villages, as they could not have been carried far, even in canoes. Such axes are occasionally found in the Indian towns on the frontier, as they were found in Ohio, among the aborigines. The Mound Builders apparently did not give them as much prominence among their implements as their savage successors. Double-headed hammers have the grooves in the middle. They were made of the same material as the axes, so balanced as to give a blow with equal force at either end. Their mechanical symmetry is often-perfect. As a weapon in war, they were indeed formidable, for which purpose they are yet used in the wilds of the far West.   Implements known as "fleshers" and "skinners," chisel-formed. commonly called "celts," were probably used as aids in peeling the skins of animals from the meat and bones. For the purpose of cutting tools from wood they were not sufficiently hard, and do not show such use, excepting a few flint chisels. They may have been applied as coal scrapers where wood had been burned ; but this could not have been a general thing without destroying the perfect edge most of them now exhibit. The grooved axes were much better adapted to this purpose. Fleshers and scrapers of various sizes and shapes are numerous in this county.   Pestles to grind maize so as to fit it for cooking have been found in a variety of forms—some cylindrical, some bell-shaped and some cone-like. The materials are also various, consisting of green stone,   FULTON COUNTY ANTIQUITIES - 23   syenite, quartz, etc., and sometimes sandstone. Most of the petles are short, with a wide base, tapering toward the top. They were probably used with one hand, and moved about in the mortar in a circle. The long, round instrument, usually called a pestle, does not appear to be fitted for crushing seeds and grain by pounding or turning in the mortar. It was probably used as a rolling pin, perhaps on a board or leveled log, but not upon stone. It is seldom found smooth or polished, and varies from seven to thirteen inches in length. In outline they taper toward each end, which is generally smooth and circular in form, as though it had been twirled in an upright position.   Perforated plates, thread sizers, shuttles, etc., generally made of striped slate, are met with in an almost endless variety of forms, most of which have tapering holes through them flat-wise, the use of which has been much discussed. They are generally symmetrical, the material `fine grained, and their proportions graceful, as though their principal use was that of ornamentation. Many of them may well have been worn suspended as beads or ornaments. Some partake of the character of badges or insignias of authority. Others, if strung together on thongs, or belts, would serve as a coat of mail, protecting the breast or back against the arrows of an enemy. A number of them would serve to size and twist twine or coarse thread made of bark, raw-hide, or sinew. The mot common theory regarding their 'ate is, however, lacking one important feature—none of them show signs of use by wearing, the edges of the holes through them being sharp and perfect. This objection applies equally well to their use as suspended ornaments. Some of them are shuttle-form, through Which coarse threads might have been passed for weaving rude cloth of bark or of fibrous plants, such as milk-weed or thitles. There are also double-ended and jointed ones, with a cross section, about the middle of which is a circle and through which is a perforation.   Badges and wands, in a variety of forms, are frequently found. A perfect specimen of a double, crescent was picked up by George Kimbell of Williams county, several years ago, and several single crescents 'have been found from time to time. Wands and badges are nearly all fabricated from striped and variegated slate, highly finished, very symmetrical and elegant in proportions, evidently designed to be ornamental. If they were stronger and heavier some of them would serve the purpose of hatchets or battle-axes. The material is com,pact and fine grained; but the eyes, or holes for handles or staves, are quite small, seldom half an inch in diameter. Their edges are not sharp, but rounded, and the body is thin, usually less than one-fourth of an inch in thickness. The form of badges known as "double- crescents" are the most elegant and expensive of any yet brought to notice. They were probably used to indicate the highest rank or office. The single crescent perhaps signified a rank next below the double. In nearly or quite all the crescents the points turn outward. The finish around the bore of all winged badges and the crescents is the same, and the size of the bore about the same—from two-fifths to   HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 24   three-fifths of an inch. On one side of all, is a narrow ridge; oh the other, a flat band, lengthwise, like a ridge that has been ground down to a width of one to two-tenths of an inch. Badges and crescents are invariably made of banded slate, generally of a greenish shade of color. The other forms of wands or badges, such as those with symmetrical wings or blades, are also made of green striped slate, highly polished, with a bore of about one-half inch in diameter, apparently to insert a light wooden rod or staff. They were probably emblems of distinction, and were not ornaments. Nothing like them is known among the modern tribes, in form or use, hence they are attributed to the Mound Builders. In addition to stone ornaments, the prehistoric man seems to have had a penchant, like his savage̊ successors, to bedaub his body with various colors, derived from different minerals. These compounds were mixed in hollowed stones or diminutive mortars—"paint cups"-in which the mineral mass of colored clay was reduced to powder and prepared for application to the body. Such paint cups are not common in this county, in fact they are quite rare.   A few pipes of special note have been found. Three were found in the east part of Williams county, of which one represented a tortoise, one a frog and one a duck. The comparative rarity of aboriginal smoking pipes is easily explained by the fact that they were not discarded, as were weapons, when those by whom they were fashioned entered upon the iron age. The advance of the whites in no way lessened the demand for pipes, nor did the whites substitute a better implement. The pipes were retained and used until worn out or broken, save the few that were buried with their dead owners. What *ill the ultimate fate of these can only be conjectured. In very few instances does an Indian grave contain a pipe. If the practice of bitting the pipe with its owner was common, it is probable that the graves were opened and robbed of this coveted article by members of he same of some other tribes.   It only remains to notice the "flints," in addition to which a few other archaeological relics of minor importance are found about the country, but none of sufficient import to merit mention, or to throw additional light on the lost tribes of America. Arrow and spear heads and other similar pieces of flaked flints are the most abundant Of any aboriginal relics in the United States. Stone implements, such as have been heretofore mentioned, have been found in all parts of Fulton tounty, but more frequently along the banks of Tiffin river and other streams. "Indian arrows," on the contrary, are found everywhere; and there is not a boy living amid pastoral surroundings, who does not treasure among hrs possessions a few of the flinty weapons. They are chiefly made of hard and brittle siliceous materials; are easily damaged in hitting any object at which they are aimed, hence many of them bear marks of violent use. Perfect specimens are, however, by nd means rare. The art of arrow-making survives to the present day among certain Indian tribes, from whom is learned the art practiced that produces them. A classification of   FULTON COUNTY ANTIQUITIES - 25   arrow-heads is not within the scope of this work ; indeed, it is rarely attempted by archaeologists. The styles are almost as numerous as their makers. In general, they are all the same in outline, mostly leaf-shaped, varying according to the taste of those who construct 'them. They may have been chipped—probably most of them were— Mud some may have been ground. Spear heads exhibit as large a Variety as arrow-heads. Like arrow-heads, spear-heads were inserted wooden handles of various lengths, though in many tribes they here fastened by thongs of untanned leather or sinews. Their modes of manufacture were generally the same. Sometimes tribes contained "arrow-makers," whose business it was to make these implements, them to or exchanging them with their neighbors for wampum or peltry. When the Indian desired an arrow-head, he could buy one of the "arrow-maker" or make one himself. The common 'Method was to take a chipping implement, generally made of the hinted rods of a deer horn, from eight to sixteen inches in length, of slender, short pieces of the same material, bound with sinews to wooden sticks, resembling arrow shafts. The "arrow-maker" held ft his left hand the flake of flint or obsidian on which he intended to operate, and pressing the point of the tool against its edge, detached scale after scale until the flake assumed the desired form.   The peculiar and distinctive features of these, various relics of past ages may be of little interest to some readers ; but the fact of their existence, and that they are the only remains of a race of human beings who passed away, possibly hundreds of years before the advent the white man on the American, continent, urges the effort to solve the mystery of the ancient people and their works. And from the great number and variety of stone implements found in Fulton county, one would suppose that this section was a favorite locality of that peculiar race; and that fact adds a local interest to what would otherwise be, perhaps. a dry subject. A nation doubtless arose and fell in the same region where now thrives an Anglo-Saxon civilization; and we, "who tread on the earth that lies over their brow," can obtain information concerning them only by a careful study of the implements and works they have left behind them. But the solution of the problem has baffled the skill, research and learning of the most noted scientists of two continents, since the existence of these "Works of human hands" was first determined. True, we have theories. ably supported by argument, and these, in the absence of absolutely established facts, we must accept, weigh, adopt, or discard, and still remain in darkness as to the origin, mission and final destiny of the Mound Builders.   Judging by the works which they have left—and that is in accord with scriptural suggestion—they were a powerful race of slightly civilized and industrious people. The earth monuments only remain, these enclosing relics of rude art, together with the last lingering remains of mortality—the crumbling skeletons—which the curious Investigators have disturbed in their resting places. But even these have yielded to scientific minds, strongly imaginative, some knowl-   26 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   edge of the character and lives of the race. The Twentieth century dawned in almost as great ignorance of the prehistoric race as did the Nineteenth ; yet in the ever restless spirit of modern investigation, efforts have been made to link the Mound Builders with some ancient and far distant race of civilized mankind.   As early as 1772, Rev. David Jones publicly noted the existence of the mounds and advanced his views concerning them. In 1784, Arthur .Lee wrote a treatise on the lost race and advanced some rather visionary ideas regarding it. But the first general survey of the works was made by Caleb Atwater of Circleville. 0., in 1819, under the auspices and at the expense of the Archaeological Society of Worcester, Mass. About 1836, Dr. Edwin Hamilton Davis of Chillicothe, was employed with Col. Charles Whittlesey in explorations and surveys of the Newark antiquities. In this work Dr. Davis became greaty interested and continued his investigations and collections ever afterward. Ephraim George Squier of New York, also became greatly interested in archaeological matters, and in 1846, he and. Dr. Davis joined in the preparation of a work which formerly stood at the head of the archaeological literature of North America. Recognizing the merit of this work, the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, D. C., assumed a protectorate over it, and in 1848 published the work of Squier and Davis, together with some plans and notes furnished by others, under title of "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley." This publication constituted the first systematic work with descriptions and figures of the numerous remains of the Mound Builders. From that day to the present, the Smithsonian Institution has continued to publish books and original papers relating m this subject. Stimulated by this national recognition, and in view of the absorbing interest of the subject, many original investigators have published manuscripts and books at private expense, some of which are very elaborate and complete.   It is a noticeable feature of all the early publications in this department of archaeology that they attach great antiquity to the Mound Builders. The variations in this regard are also very great. Some assume that thousands of years have elapsed since the building of these ancient relics, and all agree that they are very old. Eminent authorities are as widely at variance regarding their antiquity as they are concerning their origin and purpose. In closing this chapter we present the views of a number of recognized authorities as tending to show that the Mound Builders were, or may have been, the immediate predecessors of the Indians found here on the advent.of the white man,   The Marquise de Nadaillac, in his admirable work on "Prehistoric America," published in 1895, and edited and verified by W. H. Dalle, sums up a voluminous discussion as follows: "What, it may be asked, are we to believe was the character of the race to which, for the purpose of clearness, we have for the time being applied the term, `Mound Builders?' The answer must be, they were no more nor less than the immediate predecessors, in blood and culture, of the Indians   FULTON COUNTY ANTIQUITIES - 27 described by DeSoto's chroniclers and other early explorers, the Indians who inhabited the region of the mounds at the time of their discovery by civilized men. As, in the far north, the Aleuts, up to the time of their discovery, were by the testimony of the shelf heaps as well as their language, the .direct successors of the early eskimo- so in the fertile basin of the Mississippi, the Indians were the builders, or the successors of the builders, of the singular and varied structures attributed to the Mound Builders. It is here that a very different opinion has been widely entertained, chiefly by those who were not aware of the historical evidence. Even Mr. Squier, who, in his famous work on the ancient monuments of the Mississippi valley, makes no distinction in these remains, but speaks of the Mound Builders as an extinct race and contrasts their progress in the arts with the supposed low condition of the modern Indians, in a subsequent publication felt compelled to modify his views and distinguish between the earthworks of western New York, which he admits to be of purely Indian origin, and those found in southern Ohio. Further researches have shown that no line can be drawn between the two; the differences are merely of degree. For the most part the objects found in them, from the rude knife to the carved and polished ‘gorget,' might have been .taken from the inmost recesses of a mound or picked up on the surface among the debris of a recent Indian village, and the most experienced archaeologist could not decide which was their origin. Lucian Carr has recently reviewed the whole subject in a manner which cannot but carry conviction to the impatient archaeologit, but the conclusions he arrives at have the weight of other, and, as all will admit, most distinguished authority. It is not asserted that the mounds were built by any particular tribe, or at any particular period, nor that each and every tribe of the Mississippi valley erected such structures, nor that there were not differences of culture and proficiency in the arts between different tribes of Mound Builders, as between the tribes of modern Indians now known. All that can be claimed is that there is nothing in the mounds beyond the power of such people as inhabited the region when discovered; that those people are known to have constructed many of the mounds now, or recently existing, and that there is no evidence that any other, or different people, had any hand in the construction of those mounds in regard to which direct historical evidence is wanting. Summing up the results that have been attained, it may be safely said that, so far from there being any a priori reason why the red Indians could not have erected these works, the evidence shows, conclusively, that in New York and the Gulf states they did build mounds and embankments that are essentially of the same character as those found in Ohio."   Lucian Carr says: "In view of the fact that these same Indians are the only people, except the whites, who, so far as we know, have ever held the region over which these works are scattered, it is believed that we are fully justified in claiming that the mounds, and enclosures of Ohio, like those in New York and the Gulf states, were the work of   28 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   the red Indians of historic times, or of their immediate ancestors. To deny this conclusion, and to accept its alternative, ascribing these remains to a mythical people of a different civilization, is to reject a simple and satisfactory explanation of a fact in favor of one that is far-fetched and incomplete, and this is neither science nor logic."   We quote a few brief extracts from sayings of other eminent students and scholars, and leave the determination of the question to the patient reader:   "The earthworks differ less in kind than in degree from other remains respecting which history has not been entirely silent"— Haven.   "There is nothing, indeed, in the magnitude and structure of our western mounds which a semi-hunter and semi-agricultural population, like that which may be ascribed to the ancestors or Indian predecessors of the existing race, could not have executed."—Schoolcraft.   "All these earth-works—and I am inclined to assert the same of the whole of those in the Atlantic states, and the majority in the Mississippi valley—were the production, not of some mythical tribe of high civilization in remote antiquity, but of the identical nations found by the whites residing in these regions."—Brinton.   "No doubt that they were erected by the forefathers of the present Indians."—Gen. Lewis Cass.   "Nothing in them which may not have been performed by a savage peopk: '. Gallatin.   `The old idea that the Mound Builders were peoples distinct from, and other than, the Indians of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth centuries, and their progenitors, appears unfounded in fact and fanciful."—C. C. Jones.   "Mound Builders were tribes of American Indians of the same race with the tribes now living."—judge M. F. Force.   "The progress of discovery seems constantly to diminish the distinction between the ancient and modern races ; and it may not be very wide of the 'track to assert that they were the same people."— Lapham.   The preceding pages give the views of well-known scientists and explorers, both early and recent. It is not the purpose of this work to decide controverted questions, but to give both sides and allow the reader to form his own. opinions, based upon, authorities cited.   In concluding this chapter, we will state, however, that, although Fulton county may not be a rich field for arclueological research, yet the evidences in existence that this section was once the abode of these unknown earth workers, are sufficient to create a local interest in any information concerning them. Judging from the mass of published information on the subject, the Mound Builders were a race or races of people, somewhat nomadic in their habits, yet more centralized in habitation than the Indians of historic time. They were semi-agricultural in pursuits, given to hunting and fishing, and schooled in the primitive arts of warfare. They had some knowledge   FULTON COUNTY ANTIQUITIES - 29   of trade, or a system of rude barter, which brought them into possession of articles from far distant localities, since in Williams county, and particularly in the vicinity of Nettle Lake, mounds have been opened which contained copper that must have come from Lake Superior, and mica that probably had its origin in the old mines of North Carolina. But, after all, our opinions can be but deductions drawn from the mementoes they have left us, and which have withstood the forces of nature that causes less enduring materials to crumble and decay. However carefully we may study and examipe these rude and imperfect records, much will doubtless always remain shrouded in dense obscurity.   30 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY, OHIO   CHAPTER II   EARLY JURISDICTION   IT WAS not until many years after the close of the American Revolution that the Anglo-Saxon race undertook the project of colonization in the region known as the Maumee Valley, of which Fulton county is a component, and as regards population and resources, a very important division. It should not be inferred, however, that the territory contained within the present limits of the county remained unvisited by white men and unknown to them until after the epoch mentioned above. While this portion of North America was under the dominion of the French government an extensive trade with the Indians was carried on, and in pursuit of the returns that came from the traffic with the red men the wiley and skillful French traders traveled extensively over this portion of their mother country's possessions. They continued their relations with., the natives, notwithstanding that the result of the French and Indian war transferred the right of dominion to the English government, and even for years following the American Revolution they followed their vocation, undisturbed and without competition, save the rivalry exiting among themselves. So it is fair to presume that during their many excursions, in quet of trade, the present limits of Fulton county were frequently invaded ; and as their much traveled route, connecting Detroit with the Wabash river, was through this region, it can easily be inferred that the natives who then inhabited this section were the beneficiaries or victims, as the case might be, of commercial intercourse with the early French traders.   Good traditional authority exists for the belief that at least one Indian and French trail passed through Fulton county. Major. Suttenfield and wife passed over it on horseback, after Hull's surrender of the Northwestern army in the latter part of the summer of 1812, on their journey from Detroit to Fort Wayne. But railroad tracks and plow-shares have long since destroyed all vestige of this highway, so often trodden by the once powerful tribes and their eager customers. These commercial adventurers were not pioneers in the true sense of that word, and it is doubtful if they could properly be called advance agents of civilization. Their mission in these parts was neither to civilize the denizens of the forest nor to carve out homes in the western wilderness. "The white man's burden" rested not heavily upon their shoulders and gave them little or no concern, the only motive that fetched them hither being a desire to possess, at as little cost as   EARLY JURISDICTION - 31   possible, the wares which the Indians had for sale. This object being attained, they wended their way homeward and the localities which had known them knew them no more. So it remained for the forerunners of Anglo-Saxon civilization, as they led the "march of empire" in a weterly direction, to open this section of country for actual settlement and win from hostile nature—and at times a more hostile foe in human form—homes for themselves and posterity.   The Indians who inhabited the northern region east of the Mississippi at the beginning of historic times were, in language, of two great families, which are given the French names Algonquin and Iroquois. These are not the Indian names. In fact, from the word Indian itself, which is a misnomer—arising from the slowness of the early voyagers to admit that they had found unknown continents—'town to the names of the tribes, there is a confusion of nomenclature And often a deplorable misfit in the titles now fixed in hitory by long usage. The Algonquin family may more properly be termed the Lenape, and the Iroquois the Mengwe, which the English frontiersmen closely approached in the word, Mingo. The Lenape themselves, while using that name, also employed the more generic title of Wapanackki. The Iroquois, on their part, had the ancient name of Onque Honwe, and this in their tongue, as Lenape in that of the other signified men with a sense of importance—"the people," to use convenient English expression. The Lenape became a very widespread people, and different divisions of them were known in later years by various names, among which was Maumee. The Indian name of this tribe was something like Omaumeeg, and is said to have meant people of the peninsula. The French name which came into general use was Miami, pronounced Me-ah-me, though the English sometimes used Omee. From this derivation came the names of rivers in Ohio, and as late as 1835, the river flowing eastward into Lake Erie was known as "the Miami of the Lake ;" but since then, for the purpose of shortening the name and also to avoid confusion, the other form of the word has been used and the river has been called the Maumee, while Miami is used to designate rivers in Southern Ohio.   Before proceeding with an account of the organization and settlement of Fulton county, a brief review of the quetion of title to "ands will be necessary, the word title as here used having special L.:reference to racial dominion or civil jurisdiction. As is well known, the French were the first civilized people who laid claim to the territory now embraced within the state of Ohio, and France exercised nominal lordship over the region until the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, which ended the French and Indian war. Prior to this date the French nctually occupied isolated places in the vat extent of territory claimed by them (the south shore of Lake Erie, for instance) but it is an open historical quetion when such occupancy began. It is certain, how" ever, that there was not the semblance of courts or magistrates for v the trial of civil or criminal issues, and hence the chief function of civil government was lacking. And even for some years after the Ohio country passed under the control of the officials of the British   32 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   government, affairs there were managed by army officers, commandants of posts on the frontier.   Immediately after the peace of 1763 with the French, the Province of Canada was extended by act of Parliament, southerly to the. Allegheny and Ohio rivers. This of course included all of the present state of Ohio, notwithstanding the claims of the colony of Virginia that she had the title to all the land northwet of the Ohio river. This conflict of authority was at its height during the Revolutionary war, and in 1778, soon after the conquest of the British forts on the Mississippi and the Wabash, by Gen. George Rogers Clark, Virginia erected the county of Illinois. with the county seat at Kaskaskia. It practically embraced all the territory in the present states of Ohio, Michigan. Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. But the British held possession of the Ohio country and all the lake region, and in the same year (1778), Lord Dorchester. Governor-General of Canada, divided Upper Canada into four districts for civil purposes, one of which included Detroit and the lake territory.   Great Britain had promised. the Indian tribes that the whites should not settle north of the Ohio river, and the government of this almost unlimited region was, during English control, exclusively military, with Detroit as the central post Thiss was the condition during the Revolutionary war, aml even after the treaty of peace, in 1783, the same state of affairs continued until after the second, or Jay treaty, 1795. Early in 1792 the Upper Canadian parliament authorized Governor Simeoe to lay off nineteen counties to embrace that province, and it is presumed that the county of Essex, on the east bank of Detroit river, included Mk higan and northern Ohio. While this supposition. is not eouclusive, certain it is that some form of British civil authority existed at their forts and settlements until Detroit was given up and all its dependencies in August. 1796.   The treaty of 1783, which terminated the war of the Revolution, included Ohio within the boundaries of the United States, and the Seventh article of that treaty stated that the King of Great Britain would, "with all convenient speed, withdraw all his forces, garrisons and fleets from the United States. and from every post, place and harbor, within the same." Military posts were garrisoned, however, by British troops, and continued under the dominion of Great Britain for many years after that date. But preparatory to taking possession of it, and in order to avoid collision with the Indian tribes, who owned the soil, treaties were made with them from time, to tixne (of which more is said on a subsequent page), in which they ceded tothe United States their title to their lands. But the territory thus secured by treaties with Great Britain, and with the Indian tribes—and concerning which we had thus established an amicable understanding—was many years sequestered from our possession. The British government urged as an excuse the failure of Americans to fulfill that part of the treaty protecting the claims of British subjects against citizens of the United States; but, from the "aid and comfort" rendered the Indians in the campaigns of Harmar, St. Clair, and Wayne, the ap-   EARLY JURISDICTION - 33   parent prime cause was to defeat the efforts of the United States to extend their power over the country and tribes north of the Ohio, and continue to the British the advantage of the fur trade, which, from their relations with these tribes they possessed. The ultimate result of this international difficulty was the campaigns of 1790-91-94, ostensibly against the Indians, but substantially against them and their British allies, which bear so intimate a relation to the formal surrender of the country to American control, that they perform an essential part of history and are given in detail in the first volume of this work.   Virginia, however, till adhering to her claim of sovereignty over the Northwestern country, on March 1, 1784, ceded the territory to the United States, and immediately congress entered seriously upon the consideration of the problem of providing a government for the vast domain. Its deliberations resulted in the famous Compact of 1787,” which is also fully discussed and explained in the history of Ohio, which accompanies this volume. It might not be out of place here, however, to call attention to the fact that this compact, in two provisions which were inspired by Thomas Jefferson, guaranteed to all the right of religious freedom and prohibited slavery in the territory. Hence the citizens of Fulton county, in common with the citizens of Ohio and those of the sister states that were carved from Virginia's grant, can feel a pardonable pride that never under any American jurisdiction of this domain. has a witch been burned at the atake or a slave been sold on the auction block.   All these pretensions of sovereignty and conflictions of authority were aside from the claims of the real inhabitants of the country. The Iroquois Indians, or Six Nations, laid claim to the entire extent of territory, bordering on the Ohio river and northward, basing their contention upon the assumption that they had conquered it and held it by right of conquest. In 1722, a treaty had been made at Albany, New York, between the Iroquois and English, by which the lands west of the Alleghany mountains were acknowledged to belong to the Iroquois by reason of their conquests from the Eries, Conoys, Tongarias, etc.. but this claim was extinguished by the terms of the treaty of Fort Stanwix, concluded October 22, 1784. The treaty of Fort McIntosh. in 1785, was intended to quiet the claims of the Delawares, Wyandots, Ottawas and Chippewas, in the Ohio valley. The Shawanees relinquished their claims under the provisions of the treaties of Fort Finney, January 31, 1786, treaty of Fort Harmar (held by General St. Clair), January 9, 1789, by the treaty of Greenville, and various other treaties from that date until 1818. It is a notable fact that every foot of Ohio soil was acquired from the Indians through treaty or purchase, and, when compared with methods followed in other sections of America, the means employed were decidedly honorable. True, some of these treaties, as for instance the one concluded at Greenville, were entered into at the close of a long and bloody conflict, when the Indians had been conquered and reduced to a condition of helplessness, thus making them obliged to submit to any terms   34 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   offered by the victors. But when we consider the fact, demonstrated on every page of the world's history, that the tree of civilization does not grow until the soil has been fertilized by human blood, we can excuse the warfare waged against the Indians, and by comparison at least point to those treaties as Just and merciful ones.   The Greenville treaty was made by General "Mad Anthony" Wayne, on August 3, 1795, at the close of the Indian war that waged in the Maumee Valley and throughout the state during the years 1790-95. Full particulars of these hostilities, as before stated, are given in the accompanying volume—devoted to the history of Ohio— but the provisions of the treaty comes properly within the scope of the history of Fulton county, and will bear repetition. Between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas and the Maumee and Miami, south to the line from Fort Laurens to Laramiesis store, the Indians were to retain possession, and besides that they were to hold the title to all the rest of the country, west of a line from Fort Recovery to the mouth of the Kentucky river, and west and northwest of the Maumee, except Clark's grant on the Ohio river and certain reservations about Detroit and the forts in Ohio and other parts of the northwest, with the understanding that when they should sell lands, it should be to the United States alone, whose protection the Indians acknowledged, and that of no other power whatever. There was to be free passage along the Maumee, Auglaize, Sandusky and Wabash rivers and the lake. Twenty thousand dollars worth of goods were at once delivered to the 'Indians, and a promise was made of $9,500 worth every year forever.   The United States senate ratified the Wayne or Greenville treaty in due time, and northwestern Ohio, north of the treaty line and west of the Connecticut Reserve line, remained unorganized practically until 1820. About the same time (1795) John Jay, as minister to England, concluded his treaty with that country, by the terms of which the British posts were to be abandoned in the neighborhood of the Great Lakes on or before June 1, 1796. The terms not being strictly complied with, in July, 1796, the United States demanded a fulfillment of the treaty and the transfer of authority was accordingly made, General Wayne moving his headquarters thither and displacing the English commander. In the absence of General Arthur St. Clair, who was the Governor of the Northwest Territory, Secretary Winthrop Sargent went to Detroit and proclaimed the county of Wayne, which included, besides what is now parts of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, the Indian country in Ohio, the boundary of which on the south was the Greenville treaty line. The proclamation creating the county of Wayne was issued August 15, 1796, and the boundaries named therein were as follows: "Beginning at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, upon Lake Erie, and with the said river to the Portage, between it and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum ; thence down the said branch to the forks, at the carrying place above Fort Laurens; thence by a west line to   EARLY JURISDICTION - 35   the western boundary of Hamilton county (which is a due north line from the lower Shawanees town upon the Scioto river) ; thence by a line west-northerly to the southern part of the Portage, between the Miamis of the Ohio and the St. Mary's river; thence by a line also west-northerly to the most southern part of Lake Michigan; thence on the western shores of the same to the northwet part thereof. including the lands upon the streams emptying into the said lake) ; thence by a due north line to the territorial boundary in Lake Superior, and with the said boundary through Lakes Huron, Sinclair and Erie, to the mouth of Cuyahoga river, the place of beginning." From the organization of the territory, in 1788, it had had no representative government, owing to the restrictions of the "Ordinance of 1787.” A reference to this "Compact" will discover to the reader that the legislative function of the territorial government in its first stage of development, and until there should be five thousand free male inhabitants of full age in the ditrict, was lodged in the Governor of the Territory and the judges of the general (or Territorial) court, or any two of the judges and the Governor. But in 1798, a census was taken, which disclosed more than the necessary "five thousand free male inhabitants" in the Territory, and on October 29, 1798, Governor St. Clair accordingly proclaimed an election, to be held on the third Monday of December, for the choice of a house of representatives in the general assembly. to which the territory was entitled at that stage of development. The gentlemen chosen at this -`election met at Cincinnati on January 22, 1799, and organized the first elective legislative body that ever, convened within the limits of the Northwest Territory. Twenty-two representatives were chosen lr jty the nine counties then organized, and they contituted the law-making power of the territory, when taken in conjunction with a legislative council of five members, who were appointed by the United States congress.   Wayne county (of which the territory now embraced in Fulton was then a part) was represented in this assembly by Solomon Sibley, Charles F. Chaubert de Joncaire and Jacob Visger all residents of Detroit. The first named, Mr. Sibley, was an exceedingly active and influential member of this assembly and was appointed a committee of one to superintend the printing of the laws of the session. The book as printed is now in possession of the supreme court library in Columbus, and in it Mr. Sibley certifies that he has carefully compared the printed laws with the original enrolled bills, and finds them to agree. During the interim between the adjournment of the first and the meeting of the second session of this legislature, congress passed the act dividing the Northwest Territory and creating the new territory of Indiana. This act legislated Henry Vanderburg, of Vincennes, out of the legislative council, and Mr. Sibley was later promoted to that position. At the election for members of the second legislative assembly, Wayne county chose as her representatives Charles F. Chaubert de Joncaire, George McDougal and Jonathan   36 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   Schiefflin. The election of the latter two was contested, but they were declared to be entitled to their seats.   By the above-mentioned act of Congress, which was approved May 7, 1800, the old Northwest Territory was cut in two by setting off Indiana Territory west of the line of Wayne's treaty, running from a point opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river to Fort Recovery, and thence due north to the Canada line. Hence the above date marks the division of the territory embraced in the states of Ohio and Indiana, the line north of Fort Recovery being located about one and one-half miles east of the present state line. The region east of this line remained under the title of "The Territory Northwest of the Ohio river," and while by The provisions of this act the old county of Wayne was considerably reduced in extent, vet its numerical strength as regards population was probably lessened very little. By the United States census of 1800, Wayne county—which it must be remembered included Detroit—contained a population of 3,206. The first, and what proved to be the last. session of the second territorial legislature, convened at Chillicothe, November 23, 1801, and adjourned January 23, 1802; and this was the lat time that Detroit was represented in an Ohio legislative assembly.   In the Congressional enactment providing for a convention to consider the question of statehood, Wayne county was not permitted to elect delegates, owing to the fact that its population was Confined chiefly to Detroit and vicinity, which region it was not intended to include in the proposed new state. This separation, and the ensuing admission of Ohio into the Union of States, left the region of which Fulton county is now a part—though technically co lsidered a part of Hamilton—practically under no county jurisdiction; but as all the vast territory, north of the Greenville treaty line and west of the boundary of the Connecticut Reserve, was as yet the hunting ground of the aborigines, such a condition of affairs entailed no hardship upon anyone.   Among the first acts of the first state legislature, however, was the erection of eight new counties, three of which—Montgomery, Green and Franklin—were extended in jurisdiction to the northern boundary of the State, including all the Indian country, formerly a part of Wayne county, except a strip south of the Connecticut Reserve. The boundary line thus established between Montgomery and Green counties, extending north to the State line, divided the Fulton county territory, and thus it became unorganized parts of Montgomery and Green. The aforesaid act was passed March 24. 1803. and described the boundaries of these two counties as follows:   Montgomery—"Beginning at the State line at the northwest corner of the county of Butler; thence east with the lines of Butler and Warren to the eat line of section number sixteen in the third township and fifth range; thence north eighteen miles; thence east two miles; thence north to the State line; thence with the same to the west boundary of the State; thence south with the said boundary to the beginning,   EARLY JURISDICTION - 37 shall compose a third new county, called and known by the name of Montgomery."   Green—"Beginning at the southeast corner of the county of Montgomery, running thence east to Ross county line, and the same course continued eight miles into the said county of Ross; thence north to the State line; thence westwardly with the same to the eat line of Montingomery county; thence bounded by the said line of Montgomery to the beginning, shall compose a fourth new county, called and known by the name of Green."   On January 6, 1807, the county of Miami was formed out of territory taken from Montgomery county, and as its location was such as to place it immediately north of the organized part of the latter county, thus separating it from the Indian country to the north, the legislature amended the act on January 7, 1812, by the following: “Whereas by the act establishing Montgomery county, the limits of said county were extended to the northern boundary of this state, and whereas by the above-recited act, the limits of Miami county were its confined to the Indian boundary line [the Greenville treaty line], leaving a tract of country attached to Montgomery county, over which no jurisdiction can be conveniently exercised—therefore, all that part of the county of Montgomery lying north of the county of Miami, shall be, and the same is hereby attached to the said county of Miami."   By the above act of the legislature, the territory now comprising the principal portion of Fulton county passed under the jurisdiction of Miami county. and it remained so connected for a period of exactly seven years to the day. Upon January 7, 1819. the legislature erected the county of Shelby by the following enactment: "Be it exacted etc., That so much of the county of Miami as lies north of the line beginning on the lme dividing Miami and Darke counties, ,between sections twenty-seven and thirty-four in township ten, range four, and running east with said line to the Great Miami river; thence across said river; thence down said river to the middle of the twelfth range, township one, east of the Miami river, to the section line between sections twenty-one and twenty-two; thence eat with said line to Champaign county line; thence north with said line dividing the counties of Miami, Champaign and Logan, to the Indian boundary line [Greenville Treaty line] ; thence north six miles; thence west to a point so that a line drawn from said point due north will strike the Indian boundary line at the point where the line between the counties of Miami and Darke strikes said line; thence south with said line between the counties of Darke and Miami to the place of beginning, and also including the United States reservations at Fort St. Mary's, Amanda and Defiance, which shall be known by the name of Shelby; provided, that the jurisdiction of said county of Shelby shall extend rover all that territory lying north of said county and which at this lime is included within the jurisdiction of the county of Miami; and all crimes that shall be committed within the territory aforesaid shall be considered as having been committed within the said county of Shelby."   38 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   During all this time, following the Greenville treaty—and during which northwestern Ohio had been placed successively under various jurisdictions—the lands remained in the hands of the Indians with the exception of a very small amount of territory. There were a few United States reservations for military purposes, such as that of twelve miles square at the foot of the -Araumee rapids, and of six miles square at the mouth of the river, where Fort Industry, built about 1800, marked the site of the present city of Toledo. But in the main, all of northwestern Ohio was barren of white inhabitants, and so far as the present site of Fulton county is concerned, it was, in the language of the young Fourth of July orator, "a howling wilderness." The Indians and what few whites there were in the vicinity of the reservations had continued to live in comparative peace from and after the ending of hostilities by the. Greenville treaty. Even during the troublous times, incident to the war of 1812, when Tecumseh was marshalling the men of his race to assist the British forces, there was but Erie antagonism between the settlers and natives of the region known as Northwestern Ohio. Feelings of security were necessarily abnt, however, owing to the scenes of war being enacted at nearby points; and with the news of the great disaster on Raisin river—where an American force numbering 800 was almost annihilated—came a realization of the danger that menaced the settlers. The region of which we write was then included in Miami county and the communication which follows will afford a view of the tate of public opinion therein, following the catastrophe mentioned above:   Miami County, State of Ohio, Feb. 3, 1813.   "To His Excellency, R. J. Meigs, Governor of said State:   "The petition of the undersigned humbly showeth : That whereas there are a considerable number of Indians of the Delaware tribe, called in by order of General. Harrison, and are now in our county; that it is but thinly settled on the frontier, distant from a market where provisions can be furnished them, and the people of the neighborhood feel themselves in a dangerous situation in consequence of their being exposed to invasion and depredations from them, they being contiguous to the enemy; hence every opportunity of conveying information to them of our situation, moving off and joining them, and doing much mischief from their knowledge of our county, etc. This brief petition we would humbly beg your excellency to take into consideration and relieve us from a state of uneasiness and alarm, by h.lving them removed into the interior of the State, where, from its population, they will be awed into submission to the authorities having charge over them, and supported at a much less expense to the government. And we shall as in duty bound, etc.   "G. Smith Houston," and 52 others.   Occasionally, of course, there were outrages that threatened serious trouble, due to lawless elements in both races and the race hatred entertained by many of the whites; yet as a rule the Red Men of the   EARLY JURISDICTION - 39   Forest pursued their wild and favorite avocations, undisturbed by naught, save what must have been apparent to them—the irresistible and ceaseless march of Anglo-Saxon civilization. The end of his donation m the State of Ohio was rapidly approaching, and in his thoughtful moments the Indian mut have heard, reverberating through the air, in tones that a modern policeman would envy, the laconic and authoritative command—"Move on !"   On November 17, 1807, a treatyo was made at Detroit between William Hull, Governor of the Territory of Michigan and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, on the part of the United States, and the Sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Ottowa, Chippeway, Wyandotte and Pottawatamie nations of Indians on the other part. Under this treaty the following described lands were ceded to the United States : “Beginning at the mouth of the Miami river of the Lakes [Maumee] and running thence up the middle thereof to the mouth of the Great Au Glaize river; thence running due north until it intersects a parallel of latitude, to be drawn from the outlet of Lake Huron, which forms the river Sinclair ; thence running northeast, the course that may be found will lead in a direct line to White Rock, in Lake Huron ; thence due eat until it intersects the boundary line between the United States and Upper Canada, in said lake; thence southerly, following the said boundary line down said lake, through River Sinclair, Lake St. Clair and the River Detroit into Lake Erie, to a point due east of the aforesaid Miami river; thence west to the place of beginning."   The western line of this vast extent of territory, which was by the above treaty granted to the United States, passed through the western part of Fulton county and almost exactly located the present boundary line between Ridgeville township, in Henry, and Springfield in Williams county. Extended north from the Maumee, this cession of land comprised a considerable portion of the lower peninsula of Michigan in addition to the Ohio territory, included. The price paid for these lands was $10,000. The reader, in contemplating this vast domain—covered then with valuable timber and a fertile soil as yet untouched—will doubtless come to the conclusion that Uncle Sam was a shrewd "bargain-driver," and that "Poor Lo" was correspondingly "easy." But when we recall that the Greenville treaty bound the Indians to sell the land to no one but the United States, thereby rendering any possible competitor ineligible, the moralist may consider the transaction not quite up to his ethical standard.   As will readily be seen by the Hull treaty given above, all lands in: Ohio north of the Maumee river were by said treaty ceded to the United States government—excepting the territory west of a line running due north from the mouth of the Auglaize river. This exception comprised all of the present county of Williams, the greater part of Defiance and a small portion off the west side of Fulton county. In short, it can be said, with a reasonable degree of accuracy, that the Ohio lands north of the Maumee, which remained in lawful possession of the Indians after the Detroit treaty of 1807, comprised the territory included in the original county of Williams. The only change   40 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   made in creating the latter division was to straighten the southern boundary line and cause it to run due east and west, instead of following the course of the river.   For ten years longer this status of affairs continued, but on September 29, 1817, a treaty was "made and concluded at the foot of the Rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie," between Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur, commissioners of the United States, on the one part, and the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Wyandot, Seneca, Delaware, Shawanees, Pottawatomies, Ottawas, and Chippeway tribes of Indians. By the stipulations of this treaty, contained in the first article, the Wyandots ceded to the United States their lands south of the Maumee river. In Art. 2. "The Pottawatomies, Ottawas and Chippeway tribes of Indians," ceded the land described within the following boundaries: "Beginning where the western line of the State of Ohio crosses the River Miami of Lake Erie, which is about twenty-one miles above the mouth of the Great Auglaize river ; thence down the middle of the said Miami [Maumee] river, to a point north of the mouth of the Great Auglaize river : thence, with the western line of the land ceded to the United States by the treaty of Detroit, in 1807, north forty-five miles; thence west so far that aline south will strike the place of beginning; thence south to the place of beginning." The consideration paid for the above was an annuity of $1,300 for fifteen years to the Pottawatomies, $1.000 for fifteen years to the Ottawas, and $1,000 for fifteen years to the Chippewas. These three tribes were then the inhabitants of the Fulton county territory and they were to receive their annual stipend at Detroit. It will be noticed that this cession included nearly, if not all, of the present county of Hillsdale, in Michigan, but the northern boundary of Ohio was then in dispute and destined to be a subject of contention for a score of years to follow.   The subsequent treaties that were made with the Indians provided for the purchase of their lands in the reservations by the United States and their removal west of the Mississippi; and the fact remains, which is of some historical importance. that Williams was among the last of the present county divisions of the tate to pass legally from the control of the Red Man to the dominion of the Anglo-Saxon race. The last Indian title extinguished was that of the Wyandots, whose lands in the reservation at Upper Sandusky, and in the county which bears their name, was offered for sale by the United States in the autumn of 1845. The several Indian tribes were paid various sums of money in annual payments, and were required to vacate the country and migrate west. The last of them to make the journey were the Wyandots, but after the treaty of 1819, the northwestern part of Ohio was open to settlement and the Indians who remained did so as tenants by sufference of their white brothers.   Henry Howe, in his admirable work, entitled "Historical. Collections of Ohio." says: "The Delawares ceded their reservations to the United States in 1829. The Wyandots ceded theirs by a treaty made at Upper Sandusky, March 17, 1842, they being the only Int   EARLY JURISDICTION - 41   dians then remaining in the State. The commissioner on the part of the United States was Colonel John Johnston, who had the honor of making the last Indian treaty in Ohio—a State, every foot of whose Ifni' has been fairly purchased by treaties from its original possessors. –The Wyandots left for Kansas in July, 1843, and numbered at that ?time about seven hundred souls."   On the admission of Ohio to the Federal Union, the public domain, lunder the conditions named in the charter, was variously classified. The principal divisions were as follows: 1. Congress Lands; 2. United States Military Lands ; 3. Virginia Military District; 4. Con-tecticut Western Reserve; 5. Connecticut Fire Lands; 6. Ohio Company's Purchase; 7. Donation Tract; 8. Semmes Purchase ; 9. "Refugee Tract; 10. French Grant; i i. Dohrman's Grant; 12. Zane's "Grant; 13. Canal Lands; 14. Turnpike Lands; 15. Maumee Road `Sands; 16. School Lands; 17. College Lands; 18. Ministerial Lands; 19. Moravian Lands; 20. Salt Sections.   It is not necessary to enter into details regarding these various divisions, except so far as the territory embraced within the scope of work is affected. Congress Lands are so-called because they are told to purchasers by the immediate officers of the general government, conformably to such laws as are or may be, from time to time, enacted by Congress. They are all regularly surveyed into townships of six miles square each, under authority and at the expense of the Jsiational Government. The townships are again subdivided into sections of one mile square, each containing 640 acres, by lines running parallel with the township and range lines. In addition to these divisions, the sections are again subdivided into four equal parts, called the northeast qUarter section, southeast quarter section, etc. And again, by a law of Congress which went into effect in July, 1820, these quarter sections are also divided by a north and south line into two equal parts, called the east half quarter section and west half quarter 'section, containing eighty acres each. It was not until after the war of 1812-5, and the conquet of the Indian territory north of Wayne's treaty line, that surveys were ordered in the northwest section of Ohio. For this tract a base line was run on or near the forty-first parallel of latitude, corresponding to the south line of the Connecticut Reserve. The ranges were numbered east from the first meridian, being the wet line of Ohio, and the towns numbered north and south from the base. Fulton county, it will be seen, was included in the reservation known as "Congress Lands," and it might be added that the land within its limits was sold by the Federal government at the statutory price of $1.25 per acre.   Early provisions were made for the support of free schools, and Congress reserved one thirty-sixth part of all lands lying northwest of the Ohio river for their maintenance. These lands, together with other Congressional reservations for the public welfare, became, in later years, the subject of much political speculation, and in many instances were perverted by designing persons from the real purposes intended. Much fruitless legislation resulted, because of the private   42 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   or personal interests of individuals, without materially enhancing the interests of education. Passing through the varied experiences of speculation, as the early years of statehood passed, the question of school lands was finally systematized by the appointment of honest and conscientious commissioners, and the lands thus became the nucleus of the present magnificent school fund of the state.   We will now return and take up events incidental to the formation, organization and development of Fulton county. On February 12, 1820, the General Assembly of the state formed and gave names to fourteen counties, which they carved out of the territory lying north of the Greenville Treaty line and west of the boundary line of the Connecticut Reserve. In selecting names for these counties the legislature evidently referred to the galaxy of Revolutionary patriots, for among them we find such cognomens as Allen, Hancock, Henry, Marion, Putnam, Paulding, Van Wert, Williams and others. The last three were of course chosen in honor of the captors of Major Andre, who by their heroic act prevented the surrender of West .Point and defeated a treasonable plot at a critical time during our country's struggle for independence. The statute providing for the formation of these counties was entitled, "An Act for the erection of certain counties therein named." and it read thusly :   "Be it enacted, etc., That all that part of the lands lately ceded by the Indians to the United States, which lies within this State, shall be, and the same is hereby erected into fourteen separate and distinct counties to be bounded and named us follows:" (It then proceeds to give the boundarieS of each of the counties.) "Twelfth, to include all of ranges five, Six, seven and eight north of the second township north, in said ranges ; and to run north with the same to the State line as aforesaid, and to be known by the name of Henry; * * * fourteenth, to include all of the first, second, third and fourth ranges north of the third townships north in said ranges, and to run north with the same to the State line, and to be known by the name of 'Williams."   Williams. as will be seen by the description, was erected in the extreme northwestern corner of Ohio, having its northern boundary on Michigan and its western on Indiana. Henry was located directly east of Williams and included all of the present county of Fulton, save about thirty-five sections of land in the western part, which was afterwards detached from Williams. The northern boundary of these counties then, as well as the northern boundary of the state, was seriously in dispute, owing to the conflicting claims of Ohio and the territory of Michigan, the former claiming the Harris line and the latter the Fulton line as the true boundary which separated them. The strip of land between these lines comprised all of the present townships of Gorham, Chesterfield, Royalton and Amboy, and the northern half of Franklin, Dover, Pike and Fulton townships, in Fulton county.   Although these counties were created by the above mentioned act of the legislature, most of them remained unorganized, so   EARLY JURISDICTION - 43   far as governmental functions were concerned, until several years later. The act creating the fourteen counties provided for the organization Of only two of them—Wood and Sandusky—and it provided that "the 'counties of Hancock, Henry, Putnam, Paulding and Williams shall be attached to the county of Wood" for civil purposes. It provided further, ,"that the temporary seat of justice for said county of Wood shall be fixed at the town of Maumee, until commissioners shall be `appointed by the General Assembly to fix the permanent seat of jutice." This legislation by further provision of the same act went into effect on April 1, 1820, and from that date the seat of justice of the counties of northwestern Ohio was in the ancient and historical town of Maumee, where it remained for about three years and then crossed the river to Perrysburg. At a session of the Board of Com- • missioners of Wood county, held March 19, 1823, it was ordered "that so much of the township of Waynesfield as is included in the organized county of Wood, and lying and being on the south of the south channel of Maumee river, from the west line of the county to the line between the original surveyed township, in Nos. 1 and 4, in the United States reserve; thence, the north channel to the state line, be set off and organized into a township, by the name of Perrysburg." The seat of justice was then established at Perrysburg; but this was of concern to the future Fulton county for only a short time, as in a few months Williams was destined to blossom forth as a fully organized county, and Henry was attached to it for judicial purposes.   By virtue of an act passed June 20, 1835, and which was one of the "war measures" enacted by the Ohio legislature during the pendency of the boundary dispute, Henry county was called upon to surrender a portion of her territory to the formation of the new county of Lucas. The "act to establish the county of Lucas" was amended on March 14, 1836, and its domain was definitely defined as follows : "Beginning at a point on Lake Erie, where the line commonly called Tulton's line' intersects the same; thence due west with said Fulton's line, to the Maumee river; thence in a southwesterly direction, with the said river, to the east line of the county of Henry ; thence north, on said line, to the northeast corner of township six, in range eight ; thence west, on said township line, to the east line of the county of Williams ; thence north, to the northern boundary of the state, called the 'Harris line;' thence in an easterly direction, with said line, to Lake Erie ; thence due east, until a line drawn due north, from the place of beginning shall intersect the same." All of the present county of Fulton thus became a part of Lucas with the exception of two tiers of sections on the south, and the territory on the west which was afterwards detached from Williams. In the year 1834, Henry county became fully organized for all purposes, and the territory now embraced in Fulton remained under three separate jurisdictions—Lucas. Williams and Henry—until February 28, 1850, when it was erected, organized, and took its place among the separate and distinct political divisions of the State of Ohio.   Of the Indian tribes inhabiting the Maumee valley when the first   HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 44   definite knowledge of the country was acquired, the Miamis were the most prominent, while the Wyandots and Ottawas were represented in fewer numbers. Later, other tribes made their appearance, particularly in that part which is now Fulton county, and it was with the Pottawatamies, Ottawas and Chippewas that the pioneers of this immediate section had to deal. These three tribes had possession at the time of the final treaties, and it was with them that negotiations were made providing for the Indian exodus. They were slow to join with the tide of westward emigration, however, and for many years afterwards, wandering bands would annually visit their old hunting grounds in Fulton county, and their intercourse with the settlers came to be regarded more as an occasion of pleasant remembrances than of dread or danger. Some pleasant friendships were formed between the pioneer families and the former owners of the land which the pale-face was tilling.   45 - THE BOUNDARY DISBUTE   CHAPTER III   THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE   THE history of the trouble which arose over the matter of establishing a permanent boundary line between the present tates of Ohio and Michigan should be of special interest to the people of Fulton county, because of the fact that upon the decision and adjutment of the difficulty depended the question, whether the territory now embraced in the townships of Gorham, Chesterfield, Royalton and Amboy, and the northern parts of Franklin, Dover, Pike, and Fulton should be a part and parcel of the Buckeye State, or the inhabitants thereof should be numbered among the Wolverines. At one time the trouble threatened to assume the magnitude of civil war between the sovereign State of Ohio and the Territory of Michigan, supported, as the latter would unquestionably have been, by the military arm of the United States. The interest manifested was not confined to this locality, by any means, for leading members of Congress—notably John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts - took a hand in the fray, and it formed a subject for heated debate between giants of the political arena. Years have passed since the amicable settlement of this dispute, but time should not efface the record of historical events. Reasoning thus, and believing (with no desire to be invidious) that many people are not familiar with the history of the difficulty, the writer has consulted various authorities and decided to devote a a chapter in this work to what is sometimes called "The Ohio Michigan War."   The question of boundary between Ohio and Michigan antedated the admission of the former into the Union. and had its birth in the Congress that framed and adopted the "Ordinance of 1787,"—an instrument providing for the civil government of the Northwest Territory, then lately ceded to the United States. And it would be within the bounds of truth to say that this controversy, which for a time seriously threatened the peace of the country, was conceived through a blunder committed by a well-meaning though misguided Herodotus, prior to the action of the Confederate Congress. By the "Ordinance of 1787," Congress divided the Northwest Territory into three parts; the western to include all the present states of Illinois, Wisconsin and a portion of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan ; the middle to include the present State of Indiana, and north to the British line ; the eastern to include the territory bounded by Indiana. Canada, Pennsylvania, and the Ohio river ; "Provided, however, and it is further understood and declared, that the boundaries of these three         48 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   ing a common danger, united all the people of the frontier, including those of the disputed jurisdiction, in support of the general welfare, and national patriotism subdued for a time the promptings of local and selfish interests.   Yet congress, heeding the petitions of Ohio's legislative assembly, and recognizing the seriousness of the boundary dispute and the importance of its early settlement, on May 20, 1812, passed an act authorizing and instructing the Surveyor General of the United States, under the direction of the President, and as soon as the consent of the Indians could be obtained, "to cause to be surveyed, marked and designated. so much of the western and northern boundaries of the State of Ohio. which have not already been ascertained, as divides said State from the territories of Indiana and Michigan, agreeably to the boundaries as established by the [enabling] act" of 1802. As will be observed, the framers of this act had in mind the line as originally stipulated (due east from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan); but they evidently recognized the mistake made in such designation, for they instructed the Surveyor General "to cause to be made a plat or plan of so much of the boundary line as runs from the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan to Lake Erie, particularly noting the place where said line intersects the margin of said lake, and to return the same when made to Congress." But, as before stated, the war of 1812 came on, and this, with ensuing difficulties, served to defer the making of the survey as directed.   The matter remained in state quo for several years, until 1817, when, peaceful treaties having been made with the Indians, Edward Tiffin, Surveyor General of the United States, in pursuance of the instructions contained in the Act of Congress mentioned above, employed William Harris, a skillful surveyor, to run a portion of the western and all of the northern boundary line. Indiana had been erected into a state in 186. and its northern boundary, as defined by act of Congress, included "a strip of land, ten miles wide, off the southern portion of Michigan Territory." This was another recognition of the old line which had been established through a mistaken idea of the geography of the country ; but by extending Indiana ten miles further north, Congress showed its disregard for the instructions given in the Ordinance of 1787, and gave to the Ohio claimants a precedent decidedly in their favor. Harris found that a due east line from the head of Lake Michigan would intersect Lake Erie seven miles south of the most northerly cape of Maumee bay, his survey in this matter agreeing perfectly with that afterwards made by Fulton. He accordingly, in conformity to the constitution of Ohio, ran another line from the lower extremity of Lake Michigan to the northerly cape of Maumee bay. 'This line etablished the northwest corner of Ohio at a point on the Indiana line, five miles, 24 chains and 64 links north of where the due east and west line located the same. Or, in other words, the difference in the lines at this viace.was.. the distance between the northwe3t corner and southwest corner of Northwest township in Williams county.   THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE - 49   General Lewis Cass was at that time (1817) governor of the Territory of Michigan, and, after investigating the boundary question, claimed the line to be the one established by the Ordinance of 1787 and accordingly claimed the disputed territory. A lengthy correspondence followed between Governor Cass and the Surveyor General, and the matter was taken up by the Ohio legislature in January, 1818, strong resolutions being passed, affirming the Harris line as the true one and holding that Congress so decided in approving the organization of the State. Governor Cass obtained an order through William H. Crawford, then Secretary of the Treasury, to run the due east and west line, and John A. Fulton was employed to male the survey. The result of course agreed exactly with the first line run by Mr. Harris; and it became known from that time as the "Fulton line"— and line being the present boundary between the northern and middle tiers of townships in Williams county, extending thence eat through affulton, Fulton, and leaving a good portion of the city of Toledo in the present sent state of Michigan. The United States surveys, for subdividing the lands purchased from the Indians into townships and sections were completed a few years thereafter, and as they were closed in Ohio and later in Michigan upon the Fulton line, it seemed that the government had decided favorably to that boundary.   Ohio, however, claimed to the Harris line and proceeded, wherever the population was sufficient, to organize townships, etc., accordingly. Wordy discussions followed and civil officers were appointed by each claimant. Nothing serious occurred for several years, but, "a disputed jurisdiction," as Lewis Cass wrote to Edward Tiffin, is one of the greatest evils that can happen to a country." Claims which involve vast sums of money fail to provoke strifes as acrimonious as those relating to contested land boundaries. The anxiety of the inhabitants of the infant settlements, occupying the disputed tract, can be easily imagined, and almost any decision would have been welcomed by them if it ended the strife and established an undisputed jurisdiction. Dr. Horatio Conant, in December, 1823, wrote a letter from Fort Meigs to Hon. Ethan A. Brown. then a United States Senator from Ohio, appealing for some solution of the difficulty, but breathing loyalty to Ohio and the Harris line.   Dr. Conant was one of the pioneer physicians in the Maumee Valley. He was born at Mansfield, Connecticut, November 25, 1785, and was educated at Middlebury college in that State. He studied medicine in the state of New York, and, in 1816, came to Ohio, locating at Fort Meigs. where he followed the mercantile business for one year. He then began the practice of his profession and made it his chief business during life, although he held several official positions, among which was judge of the court of Common Pleas. His professional visits extended up the Maumee river to Defiance and embraced all the country below. In one instance, in making a horse" back trip to Defiance, he swam no less than eight treams and was Compelled to purchase a canoe and float hack home. Dr. Conant was among the, most public-spirited citizens who aided in planting white   50 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   settlements and civilization in this then wilderness country and earnestly endeavored to remove all obstacles to such progress. In the boundary dispute he displayed the same earnestness and good citizenship that characterized his long and useful life.   During John Quincy Adams' administration arose the question of internal improvements all over the country, and the project of uniting the waters of Lake Erie and the Wabash river by a canal was considered. As is well known, General Andrew Jackson, who succeeded Adams as president, did not favor internal improvements by the aid of the general government ; but the state of Indiana obtained an appropriation by Congress of each alternate section of land, five miles wide, on each side of the proposed canal, and extending its entire length, including the portion through Ohio. Indiana conveyed to Ohio the portion within the latter state upon the conditions of the original grant. Thus Ohio became interested, and in March, 1834, the legislature authorized Governor Lucas to appoint three commissioners to locate the canal line through the State. During the same year a survey of the proposed canal was made and it was found necessary to locate the eastern terminus at a point on the Maumee river, north of the, Fulton line, in order to reach navigable water. This re-opened the mooted boundary question and brought the partisans of the rival claimants to a frenzied state of excitement. On February 12, 1835, the Territory of Michigan passed a law inflicting heavy penalties upon any person attempting jurisdiction ovet, any part of the territory without authority from the United States or the Territory of Michigan. In accordance with a further provision of this act, Stevens T. Mason, the youthful and impulsive acting governor of Michigan, sent a message to Governor Lucas of Ohio, who in turn submitted it to the legislature, then in session. The legislature replied by passing an act on February 23, 1835, affirming the jurisdiction of Wood, Henry and Williams county to the Harris line ; and it gave notice to congress that, "it ill becomes a million of freemen to humbly petition, year after year, for what justly belongs to them and is completely within their control."   The fight was now on in earnest. The commissioners of Williams county met on March 30, 1835, and in accordance with the legislative enactment extended the county jurisdiction to the Harris line, notifying all citizens of such extension. Wood and Henry counties likewise extended. A further provision of the act of the Legislature (passed February 23, 1835) provided for the appointment of three commissioners to run and re-mark the Harris line. Uri Seely of Geauga, Jonathan Taylor of Licking, and John Patterson of Adams, were appointed such commissioners, and the first of April was named as the time to commence the survey. Governor Mason of Michigan, keenly watching the Buckeye movements, ordered Gen. Joseph W. Brown, who commanded a division of the territorial militia, to be prepared to meet the impending crisis and to "use every exertion to obtain the earliest information of the military movements of our adversary." On March 31, Governor Lucas, accompanied by his   THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE - 51   staff and the boundary commissioners, arrived at Perrysburg on their way to run and re-mark the Harris line in compliance with the act “in such case made and provided." General John Bell, in command of the Seventeenth division of the Ohio Militia, arrived about the same time with his staff and mustered into service a volunteer force of about six hundred men, fully armed and equipped. The force went into camp at old Fort Miami and awaited the orders of the chief executive. Governor Mason, with General Brown, arrived at Toledo with a force under the immediate command of the latter, variously estimated at from 800 to 1,200 men, and went into camp, ready to resist any advance of the Ohio authorities upon the disputed territory to run the boundary line or any other movement inconsistent with Michigan's claim of jurisdiction over it. As a distinguished lawyer has put it, "the two governors, having made up an issue by legislative enactments, found themselves confronted by a military force that had been called out to enforce their respective legislative pleadings. Governor Mason, representing the tenant in possession, was content to rest at his ease. Governor Lucas, representing the stiff, had to open the trial."   The whole country in the meantime became wild with excitement, and Governor Lucas had determined to order General Bell with his force to Toledo as soon as he could make the necessary preparations, and risk the consequences. No doubt such action on his part would have resulted in a serious military engagement and possibly menaced the peace of the entire country; but before he had got his preparations made, two eminent citizens—Hon. Richard Rush of Philadelphia and Col. Benjamin C. Howard of Baltimore. arrived from Washington as commissioners from the President of the United States, to use their personal influence to stop all war-like demonstrations. Hon., Elisha Whittlesey, of Ohio. accompanied the commissioners , as a voluntary peace-maker. The commissioners and Mr. Whittlesey had several conferences with both governors, and finally, on April 7, submitted the following propositions for their assent :   “1. That the Harris line should be run and re-marked pursuant to the act of the last session of the Legislature of Ohio, without interruption.   “2. 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 government, obeying the one urisdiction 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."   Governor Lucas, on the urgent request of the commissioners and Mr. Whittlesey, agreed, reluctantly, to accept the proposition as a peaceable settlement until after "the close of the next session of Congress.” Governor Mason refused to acquiesce in the propositions. otwithstanding this refusal on the part of the Michigan hotspur, Gthrernor Lucas assented to the agreement, regarding the governor ora territory as a subaltern, subject to the control of the President.   52 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   He looked upon the agreement as one made with the President, through Messrs. Rush and Howard as his representatives, and hence disbanded the military force he had collected. Governor Mason partially did likewise, but still continued to make preparations for any emergency that might arise and stationed a military force at Adrian under the command of General Brown to keep a close watch upon events.   In 1832, new observations of latitude were made, under an act of Congress, by Captain Talbott, assisted by Lieut. Robert E. Lee, then a recent graduate from West Point but afterwards the famous military chieftain of the Confederate forces and the idol of all loyal Southerners. These observations showed that the originally proposed line, if extended due east from the southern point of Lake Michigan, would not touch the international boundary in the middle of Lake Erie, but would pass several miles south of it, and coming to land again would throw into the territory of Michigan a considerable part of Northeastern Ohip. This absurdity- was so apparent that it was confidently expected that the alternative line, which was provided for in the Ohio constitution, would be confirmed—especially so, when the fact was considered that Congress, by admitting Ohio to statehood, had constructively approved it. The matter was submitted to Benjamin F. Butler, at that time Attorney General of the United States, but he, with that tenacity which is a characteristic of lawyers in adhering to the letter of the law, decided that until Congress acted otherwise Michigan had the right of dominion over the disputed strip. He softened a little, however, by saying that no harm could come from the re-survey of the Harris line, as proposed by the Ohio authorities. Accordingly. Governor Lucas thought he could run and re-mark the line without serious molestation and directed the commissioners to proceed with the work. Engineer S. Dodge, who was engaged in the construction of the Ohio canal, was employed as surveyor and together with the commissioners and a considerable party, came up the Maumee river to Defiance and then started across the country to the Northwest corner of the state to commence the survey. They arrived at the Fulton line on April 19, but as the "border" was infested with Michigan scouts the party decided not to advance without further advice from Governor Lucas. The Governor instructed them to run the line at all hazards, and they proceeded to what is now the extreme corner of Northwest township, Williams county, where they found the corner of the state as described in the field notes of Surveyor Harris. Thence the commissioners and party proceeded eastwardly along the line, finding it with little or no difficulty and re-marking it as directed, until they reached a point near the present town of Lyons, in Fulton county, on April 25. There they left the line and retired about a mile to the . Siatifh, Where expeetea `t2) spenh loshomiing clay, Sunday. At about high noon of the next day, however, they were attacked by a mounted force under General Brown, and in the melee that followed nine of the Ohio party were captured and escorted to Tecumseh,   THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE - 53   Michigan. The remainder of the force succeeded in reaching Perrysburg, and the project of re-surveying the line was indefinitely postponed.   In addition to this outrage upon the official surveying party there were numerous flagrant assaults upon individuals—some of the events being ludicrous, but all of them doubtless having a serious aspect to the victims. Among the latter was Major Stickney, one of the most interesting and famous characters who were figuring on the Maumee in those early days. It will add a humorous interest to the dry details of this boundary dispute if we digress here and devote a little space to this eccentric individual, the facts being gleaned from reminiscences penned by Thomas W. Powell. Major Stickney had been appointed by President Jefferson as Indian Agent, and as such had long resided in the Western country—first at Upper Sandusky and then at Fort Wayne. He was a man of some intelligence, and assumed to be a scholar and philosopher. His wife was a highly respectable lady—in every way amiable, and a daughter of General Stark of Revolutionary fame. But his wife's accomplishments did not prevent Major Stickney from resorting to all kinds of eccentricities. A part of this was to be as much as possible like nobody else. This he carried out in the naming of his children—not after any names found in either Christian or profane history; but the boys were to represent the numerals and the girls the states—as far as their numbers would go. The boys, therefore, were named One, and Two, etc.; and though he condescended to name his eldest daughter, from respect to Mrs. Stickney, Mary, the rest of his daughters were named after the states, Indiana, Michigan, etc. This eccentricity produced some of the most ridiculous anecdotes, among which is the following: Soon after the family moved to the Maumee Valley, and while living, in a house erected near the landing at the mouth of Swan Creek, Mrs. Stickney, one morning, came to the piazza in front of the house, where a vessel laid at anchor, and calling to her sons, said, "Two, call One to breakfast." A sailor aboard the vessel looked up and said: "Is this Maumee? It is a terrible hard country, if it takes two to call one to breakfast."   In the spring of 1821, Major Stickney was a ruling spirit in what was already a thriving settlement in the neighborhood of Swan Creek. Up to this time the little colony had been without a question within the jurisdiction of Ohio. Writs had been issued from Maumee in Wood county, to the settlers, as witnesses, jurors and suitors, and they, until then, had answered as such without a question as to jurisdiction. But other views had entered into Major Stickney's policy and philosophy. He called a public meeting of the citizens, and to them when thus assembled he represented that the citizens of the incipient city had very seriously mistaken their interest as to the question—where the true northern line of the State of Ohio was. He did not care as to what the constitution of the State of Ohio said on the subject—the true line was the one run due east from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan, which run considerably south   54 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   of the settlement and would leave them in the Territory of Michigan, instead of the State of Ohio, and therefore they were Wolverines instead of Buckeyes. He averred that it was greatly to their interest to be so; that while they were citizens of the Territory they would be cherished and protected under the auspices and guardianship of the United States, while in Ohio they could not expect anything except to be taxed. He said he was well acquainted with General Cass, the Governor of Michigan at that time, and would go to him and get a commission as justice of the peace for Michigan in the settlement, in case the citizens there would sustain him. The motion carried—the secession was complete. Major Stickney procured his commission and proceeded to exercise the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace of Michigan over the seceded territory. Soon after these things had matured, Gen. J. E. Hunt of Maumee, had some official business to transact in that vicinity as an officer of Wood county. The citizens threw every obstacle in his way to prevent the discharge of his duties and to convince him that they had really seceded. General Hunt returned with just complaint of the conduct of the citizens there. A meeting of the commissioners of the county was called and the question was, What shall be done with the seceding rebels— shall they be prosecuted and hung? Perhaps so, if justice were done them. But mild and discreet measures and counsels were adopted. It was considered that Congress and the State of Ohio would in due time settle the question, and in the meantime it was neither discreet nor prudent to get tip a war which could be avoided. This policy prevailed and Major Stickney and his followers were let "alone in their glory."   But about this time the canal question became an absorbing theme to the people of the Maumee Valley. When fully acquainted with the project, Major Stickney called another meeting of the citizens of Swan Creek, and to them he now represented that they had committed a great error in seceding from Ohio and going over to Michigan; that while they belonged to Michigan they could not expect that the State of Ohio would construct the canal to Swan Creek; they must go back to Ohio; they must secede from Michigan and go back to Ohio again; they must undo their former secession and rebellion or they could not expect to secure the canal. Thereupon all sorts of resolutions were adopted, to the effect that they were and of right ought to be a part and parcel of the Stafe of Ohio; that Ohio was a great and glorious State, and that they would maintain their position, if necessary, at the point of the bayonet. These measures succeeded in arousing Michigan to a demonstration of war. Militia soldiers were sent from Detroit by land and water to Swan Creek, to whip the rebels into subjection to their legitimate authority. They came in martial array and took possession of the territory where the proud city of Toledo now stands, making the citizens succumb to the power and jurisdiction of Michigan. They returned to Detroit in the most jubilant triumph, drinking all sorts of toasts to the glory of Michigan and to the anathematization of   THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE - 55   Major Stickney in Ohio, one of which was, "Here is to Major Stickney's potatoes and onions—we draft their tops and their bottoms volunteer !" This, however, was all to the wishes of the sycophantical Major, and in accordance with his policy he went immediately to Columbus and represented to the Governor and people of Ohio the intolerable barbarity of the Wolverines—how they had desecrated the just authority of Ohio and trampled under foot the loyal citizens kid the State. Among the individuals arrested by the Michigan authorities during the troublous times of 1835, was Major Stickley, who was taken while on a visit to friends in Monroe, Michigan. He 'ins confined in jail at the latter place for some time, as he described it, "peeping through the grates of a loathsome prison for the mon:-strous crime of having acted as the judge of an election within the “State, of Ohio." He was finally released, however, but it is doubtful it ever, in either ancient or modern history, there has been an instance of secession and rebellion so successful, or a hero of one so `ilearly entitled to the distinction as Major Stickney. ,   Other citizens of the disputed strip, who claimed allegiance to Ohio, were arrested and harshly treated, among whom being Messrs. N. Goodsell and George McKay of Toledo, and feeling was aroused to a high pitch. The commissioners appointed to remark the Harris line reported the attack upon them to Governor Lucas, and he in turn reported the facts to President Jackson. The President sent a copy of the report to Governor Mason and directed him to send a tatement "by the officers engaged in the transaction complained of." William McNair, under-sheriff of Lenawee county and the officer who made the arrests, replied, denying that the commissioners' posse was fired upon. Great excitement prevailed throughout Ohio. The press spread the news with such comments as corresponded with their views. Most of the papers advocated the cause of the Governor, and severely condemned the conduct of Michigan ; hut some few of the Whig papers, or those anti-Democratic in politics, took an opposite view and severely berated the conduct of Governor Lucas and those who sided with him. They treated the proceedings on the part of the authorities of Ohio as ridiculous and calculated to bring the State into disgrace. But the number of these papers that spoke freely against the course pursued by the State were very few. Governor Lucas, finding it impracticable to run the line or enforce jurisdiction over the disputed territory, called an extra session of the legislature to meet on the 8th day of June. That ,body passed an act "to prevent the forcible abduction of the citizens of Ohio." The act was intended of course to prevent if possible a repetition of offenses heretofore mentioned— and also had reference to counteracting the previous acts of the legislative council of Michigan—and made such offenses punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than three nor more than seven years. An act was also passed at this special session creating the county of Lucas out of the north part of Wood and Henry counties. This new county extended from the east line of Williams to Lake Erie, the   56 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   greater part of the new division lying between the rival boundary lines. An act was also passed levying appropriations to carry inta effect all laws in regard to the northern boundary. Three hundred thousand dollars were appropriated out of the treasury and the Governor was authorized to borrow three hundred thousand more on the credit of the state. The determination to run and re-mark the Harris line was still in evidence, and a resolution was adopted inviting the President to appoint a commissioner to go with the Ohioans when they, again attempted to make the survey.   The issue was now chantred; and to quote again from a legal chronicler of the events, "the United States now became defendant as claimant of title in fee." The determined attitude of Michigan to prevent Ohio from exercising any authority over the disputed strip aroused a feeling of State pride that could not well brook the idea that the thinly populated Territory of Michigan, with her stripling Governor, should successfully defy Governor Lucas and a State of a "million" inhabitants. Governor Lucas investigated the military strength of the State and found that at least twelve thousand men were ready to respond to a hurry-up call. The authorities of Michigan became exasperated. They dared the Ohio "million" to enter the disputed ground and "welcomed them to hospitable graves." Prosecutions for the crime of holding office under the laws of Ohio were conducted with greater vigor than ever, and the people of Monroe county, Michigan, were busy in acting as a sheriff's posse to make arrests of the recalcitrant Buckeyes. The partisans of Ohio being thus continually harrassed by the authorities of Michigan and attempting frequently to retaliate in kind, the disputed strip was not an attractive point for the home-seeker during the greater part of the summer of 1835.   But such a state of affairs could not permanently exist and was certain ere long to reach its culmination. The frequent arrests and imprisonments of reputable men tended to keep the matter at a fever heat, and in a few instances homicide was narrowly averted on the part of the infuriated citizens. On July 15, 1835, an 'attempt was made to arrest Two Stickney, second son of the doughty Major, and to re-arrest George McKay. The accused were found at a tavern, "in the village of Toledo," by officers Lyman Hurd and Joseph Wood, of Monroe county, Michigan; but Stickney and McKay resisted the efforts to arrest them- and in the melee that followed, Officer Wood was severely wounded by a dirk knife in the hands of Stickney. This and other similar proceedings were reported by Governor Mason to President Jackson, who was becoming strongly impressed with the necessity of interposing some check to the evident tendency towards serious trouble.   Some time previous to this, Governor Lucas, perceiving considerable uneasiness at Washington for the peace of the country, had sent to the Federal City, Noah H. Swayne, William Allen and David T. Disney to confer with the President on the subject of the boundary difficulties. The result of this mission was the urgent appeal of   THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE - 57   The President for "the mutual suspension until after the next session of Congress," of all action that would by possibility produce collision, and the assurance that an earnest recommendation would be immediately sent to the acting Governor of Michigan and the other authorities of the Territory, whom he could rightfully advise in the performance of their duty, "that no obstruction shall be interposed to the re-marking of the Harris line; that all proceedings already begun under the act of February 12, 1835, shall be immediately discontinued ; that no prosecution shall be commenced for any subsequent violations of that act, until after the next session of Congress, and that all questions about the disputed jurisdiction shall be carefully avoided, and if occurring inevitably, their discussion shall be postponed until the same period."   This arrangement was made with Messrs. Swayne, Allen and Disney, on July 3. 1835, and the provisions defined the base of operations for Ohio. The State now had the direct promise of the President that he would advise that "no obstruction shall be interposed to the re-marking of the “Harris line," etc.; but the authorities of Michigan for a time entirely disregarded the arrangements, and the pugnacious Governor Mason seemed bent upon fighting it out regardless of Federal interference or Presidential advice. The act of the Ohio legislature, erecting the new county of Lucas, also provided “that the said county of Lucas, when organized, shall be attached to the second judicial circuit; and the court of common pleas in said county shall be holden on the first Monday of September next." Accordingly, preparations were made for the holding of court at Toledo upon the date mentioned, but such action by the Ohio authorities excited very intensely the belligerent proclivities of the youthful ex-officio Governor of Michigan. He levied a small army and, on Sunday, the day before that set for holding the court, he invaded the district and encamped with a force of twelve hundred men in the lower part of the town of Toledo. This ill-advised operation was attended by no particularly serious consequences ; for the Michiganders found no one to oppose them, and of course they were barely fighting the wind. The court of Common Pleas met on Monday morning early, made a record of their session and adjourned without Governor Mason and his forces being aware of their meeting. In consequence, the court exercised its jurisdiction without being disturbed, and the gallant Governor Mason marched to Toledo with his tivelve hundred men, flourishing his drums and trumpets, and then marched back again.   There might have been further trouble had not President Jackson, at about this time, removed the obstreperous Mason from his position as acting Governor of Michigan and placed the affairs of the Territory in the hands of one whose disposition was less fiery and whose acts were governed more by reason. John S. Homer was Appointed to the position, on September 21, 1835, and immediately entered into an amicable correspondence with Governor Lucas, the effect of which was to allay all excitement and restore peaceful rela-   58 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   tions, leaving the final settlement of the question with Congress at its session the following winter. This, however, merely changed the scene of the conflict and the personnel of the combatants, for when the matter was taken up in Congress the advocates on each side displayed a feeling in the matter no less intense than that exhibited by the partisans on the Ohio frontier. John Quincy Adams championed the cause of Michigan, and declared in an impasSioned address that never before in his life had he known "a controversy in which all the right was so clearly on one side and all the power so overwhelmingly on the other." He had able assistants in the debate, but Ohio also was represented by men who were abundantly equipped with ability to do battle for the other side of the contention. Thomas Ewing in the Senate and Samuel F. Vinton in the House were the Buckeye knights, and in the following June, 1836, Ohio won the day and the disputed strip—Congress holding that the State constitution, having been solemnly accepted, authorized Ohio to annex the territory in question. In the main, this action of Congress was more in the nature of a compromise than a clear-cut decision upon the merits of the controversy. Congress is not a court of equity, and the members thereof are sometimes actuated by motives ether than a desire to give force and effect to the letter and spirit of existing law. What a chancery tribunal would have done, had a proper issue been joined and brought before it for adjustment, is of course problematical; but with the facts fully stated (as the writer has endeavored to give them in this chapter), and with the intent of the framers of the Ordinance of 1787, so apparent, it seems that exact justice would have placed the boundary line considerably further north than it•is. But following the strict letter of the Ordinance and the ensuing acts of Congress, a judge of the law would doubtless have named the Fulton line as the southern boundary of Michigan. In fact the Supreme Court of Ohio, in the case of Daniels vs. Stevens, lessee, reported in the Nineteenth Ohio Reports, Chief Justice Hitchcock delivering the opinion, affirms that Michigan had jurisdiction to the Fulton line until the act of Congress was passed, in June, 1836, which established the Harris line as the true boundary. And the United States Circuit Court, in a case of considerable interest (Piatt vs. Oliver and others, reported in 2 McLean, 267), in which the question of State jurisdiction became important, decided the right of jurisdiction to be in Michigan until the boundary line was changed by Congress, in 1836. The latter case was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, and there the jurisdiction -over the disputed territory was again treated as rightfully and clearly in Michigan.-3 Howard's R. 333.   But those were days of compromises in American politics, as is evidenced by the act of Congress admitting Missouri, the tariff law of 1833, etc., and in the settlement of this disputed boundary line, the handiwork of a skilled peace-maker is also apparent. Michigan had applied for admission to the sisterhood of states, and to secure such recognition could be easily induced to surrender her claims to   THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE - 59   narrow strip of land, averaging about eight miles wide. As additional salve for her wounded pride, however, she was given as a part of her domain the large peninsula between Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior, now so well known for its rich deposits of copper and other minerals. If "the jingle of the guinea helps the hurt that honor feels," when speaking of men, the same is doubtless true of states, and Michigan was abundantly compensated in mineral wealth for whatever damage was done to her escutcheon. The chief value to Ohio of the territory contended for was the harbor at Toledo, formed by the mouth of the Maumee—essential. as her public men belived, to enable her to reap the benefit of the commerce made by the canals to Cincinnati and Indiana. Results have shown that they judged correctly, for Toledo has proved to be the true point for the meeting of the lake and canal commerce.   Thus the angry strife, resulting from a geographical error, was happily settled through the ascendency of conciliatory statesmanship; and the citizens of the two commonwealths, once on the verge to open warfare, became united in a common interest, and nothing but tranquil and fraternal relations have since prevailed between them.     60 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY, OHIO   CHAPTER IV   SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION   THE pioneer settlement of Fulton county was commenced nearly a score of years before the county, as a separate organization, had an existence. In the early part of the year 1833, Eli Phillips, with his young wife, came to the strip of territory then in dispute between Ohio and the territory of Michigan. Mr. Phillips was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, December 18, 1806, and in early manhood removed to the State of New York. He entered his land in Fulton county, in 1832, and removed here the following year. The deed for the lands he occupied was signed by Andrew Jackson, as president of the United States, and he lived thereon until his death, November 1, 1894. At the time of his settlement here, this region was a dense forest, inhabited by Indians and infested with wolves, wildcats, deer, and other animals ; but he lived to see the forest lands almost entirely cleared of their timber, and beautiful, well cleared. and excellent producing farms take the place once occupied by timber and marsh in nearly endless extent. Mr. Phillips was a lieutenant- colonel of the Michigan territorial militia during the "Ohio and Michigan war," and 'was present at the only "battle," in which, however, no one was killed and only a few very badly scared.   Mr. Phillips was soon followed by other pioneers, among the names of whom are found Samuel Stutesman, Butler Richardson, Hiram Farwell, John Jacoby, Warren Dodge, Benjamin Davis, Chesterfield W. Clemens. George P. Clark, Daniel Berry and his son, Nicholas Berry. D. Barnes, David White. A. H. Jordon, Valentine Winslow and David Severance.   Samuel Stutesman was born in Washington county, Maryland, August 29, 1806, and settled in what is now Fulton county as early as 1833. Butler Richardson was born in Ontario county, New York, June 30, 1806, and settled in Fulton county very soon after Mr. Phillips, in 1834. John Jacoby came, in 1835. and died seven years later, in 1842. Warren Dodge settled in Fulton county, in 1834, coming here from New York, of which state he was a native. Benjamin Davis settled in 1839, and Daniel Berry in 1836, the latter being a native of New Jersey. Dorsey Barnes was born in Washington county, Maryland, September 3, 1808, and entered his farm in German township, in September, 1834. Upon the same date, a party of men raised the first log cabin in German township, owned by Christian Lawyer. David White was born in Orleans   SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION - 61   county, New York, October 2, 1818. and was one of the early pioneers of Fulton county, having settled here in 1834. He was a great hunter and game was abundant, but he found time to clear over one hundred and fifty acres of land and prepare it for cultivation. He served as constable of Amboy township for a number of years.   Amos Hosmer Jordon, another of the old settlers, was born near Bellows' Falls, Windsor county, Vermont, September 9, 1813. In the year 183o, when he was seventeen years of age, his father's family left the Green Mountain State and removed to Michigan, locating at a point near the present city of Adrian, where Amos lived until he attained his majority. He then came over to the "disputed territory" and commenced the improvement of a quarter section of land, on section twenty-three, near Phillips' Corners. After much hard work in this wild and sparsely settled country, Mr. Jordon succeeded in making a fine farm, and through thrift and energy was quite successful. He became well known and acquainted with the county's people in the year 1851, at which time he was the contracting builder of the first court house at Ottokee. This was during the infant days of Fulton county, and any person then in any manner connected with the events of the time, was an exceedingly important personage. This work Mr. Jordon performed faithfully and well, and at another time he held the position of district land appraiser for the townships of Pike, Dover and Franklin.   David L. Buler settled in Royalton township in 1834. He was born in Switzerland, January 4, 1816, and came to the United States when but three years old, remaining in New York city several ;'years, and then came to what is now Fulton county. Jared Hoadly Settled in Amboy township in January, 1834. Chesterfield W. Clemens was the first settler in Chesterfield township, and he and ''bis family located there, October 6, 1834. One of his six daughters ''is Mrs. John S. Butler, of Chesterfield township. Hiram Farwell and wife located in Gorham township, in the fall of 1834; Joseph Bates in Franklin, in 1833; Valentine Winslow in Pike, in the fall of 1833; John W. Harter in Fulton, in May. 1834; William Meeker in Swan Creek, in 1833; Elisha and William Trowbridge in York, early in 1834, and at about the same time, William and John Jones, and William, John and James King located in the same township. William Jones was born in Wayne county, Ohio, July 29, 1816, and died in Fulton county, in 1858. A colony consisting of Nicholas King, Jacob Bender, Christian Lawyer, George Meister, Jacob Grundy, Moses Kibler, and Christian Rupp, with their families, and three young men-Jacob Roth, Christian Reigsecker and Michael Figy—the party numbering forty-three in all, arrived in German township and located there, in August, 1834. It seems that every ''township had a few settlers in 1834, except two--Clinton, which was settled in the fall of 1835, and Dover where the first settlement was made in the fall of 1836. Elisha Williams was the first settler in Clinton, and William Jones the first in Dover.   HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 62   The year 1835 witnessed a considerable settlement by other families, most of whom came from the states east of this. They came to build for themselves homes and farms in the new country which was then, among Eastern people, considered to be in the far West, and on the frontier of civilization and settlement ; and so it was, at. the time, the now known western country being a vast, uninhabited tract, occupied only by the American Indian and an occasional trader, who had ventured so far from the center of settlement, for the purpose of barter among the tribes that swarmed over the region. Among those who made a settlement here, during the year 1835, are found the names of Charles D. Smith and family, John S. Butler and his father, Asa Butler ; Garner Willett, Amaziah Turner, Ammi Richards, Alexander Vaughan, Alanson Briggs, Joseph Cottrell, Erastus Cottrell, Gorham Cottrell, senior, Sardis Cottrell, James Baker, Freeman Coffin, Clement Coffin, Martin Lloyd, Stephen Chaffee, Phillip Clapper, William Lee and others.   Charles D. Smith was born in Orange county, New York, July 24, 1811, and died in Fulton county, October 21. 1858. He was one of the pioneers of Fulton county, having settled here, as stated above, in 1835. He was county treasurer for seven Years and filled other offices of trust, being a highly respected and honored citizen. John S. Butler was born m Wayne county, New York, May 18, 1824, and settled here in 1835, being one of the pioneers of the county. He served as assessor of Chesterfield township for a number of years. Wheel only a boy he served as the first mail carrier from Toledo, west to Angola, Indiana.   Garner Willett was born in Somerset counts.. New Jersey, December 2o, 1816, being of English descent on his father's side and Scotch and Irish on his mothersis. He removed with his parents to New 'York, in 1835, and at the age of nineteen took his rifle on his shoulder and started west. ,He visited Adrian, Michigan, and several 'Aces in Ofno, fed a wandering but rather happy life, viewing the country and killing deer, until 1837, when he bought a farm in Chesterfield township, now Fulton county. When he left his father's home his fortune consisted of thirty-five dollars and his rifle, and the money to purchase his farm was earned by the sweat of his brow, working on the Michigan Southern railroad and Illinois canal. He was present at the organization of Chesterfield township, being one of the pioneers of that locality, and endured many trials and privations. The nearest mill was thirty miles distant, at Tecumseh, Michigan; and the nearest neighbor four miles distant; but the obstacles were overcome, and the old pioneer spent the last days of life in abundance and ease.   Ammi Richards was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1805, and was one of the first settlers of Fulton county, moving into the woods of Fulton township, in 1835. He filled the office of township treasurer several terms and also that of trustee. Alexander Vaughan was one of the pioneers of Fulton township, having settled there in April, 1835, on lands then in the territory of Michigan, or, as will he   SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION - 63   more dearly understood, on the "disputed strip." He was a Pennsylvanian by birth, being a native of Westmoreland county, but, at the age of eighteen years, removed to Holmes county, Ohio, and from thence to Fulton, in 1835. He died in 1847. Joseph Cottrell was born in Worthington, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, April 4, 1815, and at an early age settled in what is now Gorham township. He was postmaster at Handy for eleven years, and also filled the office of township treasurer. Gorham Cottrell, Sr., was a native of Massachusetts, born in 1780, and came to what is now Fulton County, in 1835. He entered several hundred acres of land, and, with the assistance of his sons, cleared and improved the same. He became a very influential man, and at the organization of Gorham township it was named in honor of him, he being one of the very first settlers in the township. His death occurred in 1853. His son, Sardis Cottrell, also became a prominent citizen of Gorham township, and filled the positions of township treasurer, school director and supervisor. James Baker was born in Massachusetts, December 24, 1803, removed to New York State in early manhood, and came to Fulton county in 1835. William Lee was born at West Bloomfield, New York, in June. 1797, and died in Chesterfield township in 1854. He settled in Michigan, about 1825, and came to Gorham township, ten years later, where he lived until 1845. He was a tanner and currier by trade and upon settling in Gorham became engaged in that business. He was justice of the peace and clerk of Chesterfield township at the time of his death.   In 1835, the "Vistula Road," from Toledo west through the disputed lands, was laid out and built by the government. This thoroughfare has otherwise been known as the "Old Territorial Road," and its construction opened an established route of egress and in Congress for the sturdy pioneers of the region, by which they were enabled to convey their products to market, and, returning, carry to their homes such commodities as were needed in the new settlements. It opened, furthermore, into the heart of the country, a route which was easy of access and travel for hundreds of newcomers, who were seeking homes in the land now being rapidly developed and occupied. There came to the region, in 1836, a number of families, among whom are to be found the names of Ansel H. Henderson, Harlow Butler, John P. Roos, John B. Roos. Asher E. Bird, Sr. John McLaughlin, Daniel Donaldson, John Donaldson, and perhaps others, After the coming of these families, and subsequent to the year 1836, the lands became rapidly taken up and settled. "These early pioneers, the advance guard of a new civilization in the wilderness, were the 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, left their impresi upon the country by their determination, energy, perseverance, thrift, and their stern political integrity and loyalty to government."   64 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   The Indians were disposed to be peaceful, observing their promises recently spoken in the treaties made with them. No trouble whatever was experienced with them, except when under the excitement induced by the white manls "fire-water." and this very satisfactory condition of peaceful associations continued unbroken until, they bade a final adieu to the hunting grounds of their fathers.   The growth and development of the country in this section of the State had, about the year 185o, become so markeci, that it was deemed prudent that a new county should be erected out of parts 'of the counties in Northwestern Ohio. Furthermore, the county of Lucas embraced a very large tract of territory, and' in the more remote portions thereof, especially in the west and southwest, the convenience of the people demanded the erection of a new county. In this locality then, as well as now, resided men of energy, integrity, and determination, who not only felt the necessity of a new county organization in this region, but who saw the great advantage to the country of such a movement in case it could be carried out successfully. .Among those who took an active interest in the project may be recorded the names of Nathaniel Leggett, William Hall, A. C. Hough, Stephen Springer, Michael Handy, MIntimer D. Hibbard and a few others. These not only discussed the project, but gave such substantial assistance as finally completed and .consummated the work, and made the erection_ of the county of Fulton not only possible, but an established fact.   Nathaniel Leggeit, one of the most useful citizens of Fulton county in that early day, was stricken down by the grim reaper in the prime of life, during the month of February, 1862. Of his early career but little can be ascertained, but before the formation of Fulton county he resided in that part of it now embraced in Swan Creek township, where he hunted and cleared the land surrounding him, and engaged somewhat in farming. M4kino. the acquaintance of members of Lucas county bar at Maumee City, he conceived the idea of becoming a lawyer, and with that in view borrowed books of Hosnier & Hall, of Maumee City, and in the solitude of the then almost unbroken wilderness of the southeastern part of the county, began and prosecuted his studies, and was admitted to practice early in the fifties. His natural qualifications for business were excellent and he was of valuable service to the company then building the "Air Line" railway in assisting to procure the right of way through Lucas and Fulton counties. He was also treasurer of Fulton county two terms. Together with Messrs. Barber, and Sargent he laid out the village of Wauseon and became the owner of considerable valuable real estate in the village. Being immersed in matters of general business he never found the time, or so adjusted the circumstances of his life as to devote himself exclusively to his chosen profession. He is spoken of by those who knew him best, as of sterling mental qualities and full of energy and ambition. He contracted the disease which culminated in his death in Kentucky, whither he had gone on official business connected with the   SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION- 45   Union army. His remains were laid to rest in the beautiful cemetery of Wauseon, his body being the first to be buried therein. A modest memorial stone, placed there by his old friend and business associate, Col. E. L. Barber, marks the location of his last earthly home.   As there has been no event of greater importance to the county or its people than that which gave it an existence, it is deemed proper that the essential portions of the enactment which created the county should be given. The act was passed, February 28, 1850, and its first section reads as follows:   Sec. 1. Be it enacted, etc., That 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 Ohio and Michigan, 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 seection lines to the southwest corner of section number seven in township six, range five, east, on the county line between the counties of Henry and Williams; thence north on said 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 said State line; thence easterly with said State line to the place of beginning."   The name "Fulton" is said to have been chosen in honor of Robert Fulton, the eminent inventor and builder of the first steamboat, and not John A. Fulton, the surveyor who ran the Fulton line, as might be naturally inferred. Fulton was the eighty-seventh, and last but one, of the counties organized within the limits of the State, Noble county alone being younger. The original territory of the county, as defined above, has never been changed. Having described the boundaries, the legislature next made provision for the administration of county affairs, by section two of the same act, as follows: All suits, whether of a civil or criminal nature, which shall be pending within those parts of the counties of Lucas, Henry and Williams, so set off arid erected into a new county, previous to the first Monday in April, one thousand eight hundred and fifty, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution within the counties of Lucas, Henry and Williams, respectively, in the same manner as though the said county of Fulton had not been erected, and the officers of saidziOunties, respectively, shall execute all such process as shall be necessary to carry into effect such suits, prosecutions   HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 66   and judgments ; and the collectors of taxes for the counties, respectively, shall collect all taxes that shall be levied and unpaid within the aforesaid portions of their respective counties at the time of the passage of this act.   By section three it was provided : That all juStices of the peace and other township officers within those parts of the counties of Lucas, Henry and Williams, which are, by this act, erected into the county of Fulton, shall continue to exercise the functionS and discharge the duties of their respective offices until their term of service- shall expire, and until their successors shall be elected and qualified, in the same manner as if they had been elected or commissioned for the county of Fulton ; and all writs and other legal process within the territory hereby erected into the county of Fulton, shall be styled as of the county of Fulton, on and after the 1st day of April, 1850.   The election of officers for the county was provided for as follows:   Sec. 4. The legal voters residing within the limits of the county of Fulton shall, on the first Monday in April, in the year 185o, assemble in their respective townships, at the usual places of holding elections (the voters residing in each of the fractional townShips taken from the counties of Henry and Williams, shall assemble in the township immediately adjoining such fractional township and lying towards the center of said county of Fulton), and proceed to elect the different county officers, in the manner prescribed in the act to regulate elections, who shall hold their offices until the next annual election, and until their successors are elected and qualified.   The next section provides for the annexing of the fractional townships not taken for the new county, and annexing the same to adjoining townships, or creating new townships out of them, as the commissioners of the counties of Henry and Williams may deem expedient; also, empowering the commissioners of the county of Fulton to annex the fractional parts taken from Henry and Williams counties to the adjoining townships already established within Fulton county, or to erect them into new townships, as, in their judgment, shall seem prudent.   Section six of the act provides that the county of Fulton shall be attached to, and made a part of the Thirteenth Judicial Circvit of the State of Ohio, and the Courts of Common Pleas and Supreme Court of the county of Fulton, shall be holden at some convenient house in the township of Pike, until the permanent seat of justice shall be established within and for said county.   The next section provides, That Laurin Dewey, of Franklin county, Mathias H. Nichols, of Allen county, and John Riley, of Carroll county, be appointed commissioners to fix upon and locate the• sear of justice of said new county of Fulton, agreeably to the provisions of. the act entitled "an act for the establishment of seats of justice."   At that time there were but five official positions in the county,   SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION - 67   the incumbents of which were required to run the gauntlet of popular approval and have their, merits passed upon at the ballot box. These elective positions were: auditor, sheriff, recorder, treasurer and board of commissioners. The first election to fill these postions was held "on the first Monday of April," as ordered, and the balloting resulted in .the choice of the following gentlemen, who were the first to don the official garments at the behest of vox populi in Fulton county : Auditor, Mortimer D. Hibbard; sheriff, George B. Brown; recorder, Carl C. Allman; treasurer, Nathaniel Leggett; commissioners, William Sutton, Christopher Watkins, and Jonathan Barnes. The first constitution of the State, which was then in force provided for the election of only two county officials—sheriff and coroner—but gave to the Legislature power to create other positions and prescribe the mode of filling them. Associate judges, clerk of courts and the prosecuting attorney were appointive officers of that time, and the following gentlemen were appointed: Associate judges, John Kendall, Alfred C. Hough and Socrates H. Cately; clerk of courts, Samuel Durgin; prosecuting attorney, John. A. Read. The burning of the court house, in 1864, and the destruction of the county records, make it impossible to give an authentic history of the early transactions, and the curtain has fallen upon events that doubtless would be of much value in a historical sense.   The establishment of courts of justice, however, and the installation of public officers were naturally the first work attending the organizainn of Fulton county. It was provided by the act creating the county, that the courts should be held at some convenient house in the township, until the seat of justice should be decided upon. In pursuance there of the associate justices designated the residence of bert A. Howard as the place for holding courts, and there the It term was held, in 1850. Owing to the fact that the transfers cases to the counties from which Fulton was formed was inconite, and the further fact that there was but little or no business emending attention, in lieu of the usual routine, those attending engaged in a game of ball. It is said that on that memorable occa'won, such staid and grave personages as Oliver B. Verity, W. A. Bates, Spencer T. Snow, Benjamin Hallet, William Sutton, James, Augustus and William Howard, and othqrs of equal dignity, but vthose names are not recalled, took part iethe sport, and thus early was official endorsement given to the national game in Fulton county. Judge- Saddler came on horseback to preside at this first session of court.   The next, and perhaps the most important duty in connection with the organization was that of locating the seat of justice in the newly created county. On meeting for this purpose several sites were recommended to the commissioners—Etna, Fluhart's Corners, Delta, Spring Hill, and a site near the center of the county. After much deliberation and the hearing of arguments from those interested in the various places named, the commissioners decided upon the site nearest the center of the county, in the township of Dover,   68 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   at a point that then had no distinguishing name. Several cognomens were suggested by persons present, but none seemed to meet with general approval. One of the commisSioners, observing Dresden W. H. Howard on the outer line of spectators, asked that gentlemen to suggest a name for the county seat, and the reply came immediately— `Ottokeel" This was the name of a chief among the Ottawa Indians, who formerly inhabited this region, and it was at once declared to be the name of the seat of justice of the county of Fulton.   The queStion of confirming this point as the county seat was then submitted to a vote of the people of the county, and at the first election, while Ottokee received more voteS than any other site, still it had not a majority of the ballots. On the occasion of the second election the town had a clear majority, and became by the will of the people the seat of justice of Fulton county. But there had been a marked opposition to its selection, which by no means disappeared after the matter had been settled, and it manifested itself by frequent murmurings of discontent fiom various quarters. The town of Ottokee was situated in the southeastern part of Dover township, on an elevated tract of land, and as near the geographical center of the county as it well could have been. In fact, the location was well chosen, and had it not been for the building of a railroad through the county, several miles south of the place, it is much doubted whether the seat of justice would not have remained there.   The seat of justice having been located at Ottokee, the first requisite in the embryo town was buildings in which to hold court and house the county officials. As, may be readily inferred, the first county buildings were simple and in keeping with their surroundings. The court house was built in 1851; it was a frame structure, two stories high, having a frontage of about forty or fifty feet, and a depth of about eighty feet. The court and jury rooms were on the upper floor, while the offices for the county officials were below. It was a large, commodious and airy building, presenting a very good appearance with a large dome on the tip. It was erected by Athos H. Jordon, and was in continuous use until destroyed by fire, in July, 1864.   In 1853, the first jail was built at the county seat. It was an unpretentious, though substantial frame building, lined with heavy, hard wood plank, and thoroughly spiked. Although built of wood, there was never an escape from it on account of its weak construction, and it housed the county's criminals until the seat of justice was removed from Ottokee to Wauseon. Then, for several years, it was used as one of the county infirmary buildings.   The importance of the opening of a railroad was early impressed upon the minds of the enterprising citizens of the county, and about 1846-47, a project, originating with the late Ebenezer Lane and others, was undertaken to build a road from Cleveland or Norwalk, running westward, and crossing the Maumee river at the foot of the rapids, and from thence making its way on a west line to Chicago.   SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION - 69   It was known as the Junction railroad and a considerable amount of work was performed on it, including massive stone abutments for the bridge which was to cross the river to the northern bank at Maumee City. The corporation, in order to facilitate operations west of that point, solicited aid of stock subscriptions by individuals, towns, townships and counties, and succeeded in gathering an amount which aggregated a considerable sum. But another movement was on foot which was destined to defeat the above mentioned project, even if it had, in fact, any prospect of realization. The Southern Michigan & Northern Indiana Railroad Company, realizing the age it would be to their interests if the Junction enterprise should be successful, resolved upon the construction of an air line westward from Toledo to connect with their main line at Elkhart, Indiana. In 1852, representatives of this company (whose corporate name is now The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern), appeared quietly in the field with a corps of engineers and surveyed the route, asking no aid of stock subscriptions—only right of way and donation of sufficient ground for passenger and freight conveniences.   The first conductor on the road after passenger trains commenced running, in 1856, was David Moore, and the first printed through “Time Table, No. 1," took effect "on Monday, June 8, 1857, at 5 o'clock a. m." The stations named on the table were Toledo, Springfield, Centreville, Delta, Wauseon, Archbold, Stryker, Bryan, EdgerAon, Butler, Waterloo, Corunna, Kendallville, Rome, Wawaka, Ligonier, Millersburg, Goshen and Elkhart. Going west, the train left Toledo at 9:00 a. m., and reached Elkhart at 7:10 p. m., making the distance between the two points in a little over nine hours, barring accidental delays. Another train moved from Elkhart on its eastward trip at 9.4o a. m.,, and was due in Toledo at 6:4p p. m. Trains passed each other at Edgerton, that station being 64.3 mileS west of Toledo, and 68.5 miles east of Elkhart. The trains were decidedly, if, not badly, "mixed"—a locomotive, tender, one passenger and one freight car. Two trains, thus formed, made up the entire rolling stock of the road.   It is interesting to make comparison between the service then and that which is given to the people today. Now, one of the least powerful of the many locomotives, which almost hourly pass over the several railroads that thread the county, would draw with ease a train consisting of at least three times the tonnage of all the rolling stock in use on the Air-Line in 1857. Sixteen passenger trains, two fast mail and one fast express, pass over the Lake Shore daily; and on an average twenty-five through and local freights, with a capacity of 4o,000 to 8o,000 pounds per car. The Wabash railroad doubtless approaches the above showing in magnitude, and the Detroit Southern and the Fayette branch of the Lake Shore, each has a large and growing business. Two electric railways pass through the county, affording excellent passenger service, and the numerous telegraph and telephone lines have completely annihilated distance in the, matter of communication. What marvelous changes in the   70 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   means of transmitting intelligence have been produced in a period of less than half a century! Today, at any railroad station in Fulton county, connected with which is a telegraph office, one may transmit a message two thousand miles distant, or even to Europe or the Orient, and receive to it an answer in less space of time than, a half century ago, would be consumed, by the speediest mode of travel to make the distance from Metapora to Archbold and return, and, during the January and June floods that then appeared as regularly as the seasons, to communicate with a neighbor ten miles distant. Imagine a pioneer who, about three months after the presidential election of 1832, had received an Eastern letter or newspaper conveying intelligence that Andrew Jackson had been re-elected President of the United States in the prIceding November. If the settler is a Jackson man, he dons his Minting Shirt and coon-skin cap and sallies forth in search of neighbors of his political faith to communicate the glad tidings, and mingle rejoicings. News of the result of a presidential election would nOW be known in every considerable city and town in the United States and 'Europe within twenty-four hours after the close of the polls.   No community in these days can be said to have reached the progressive state until that infallible index to prosperons conditions--a newspaper—makes its periodical visits to an intelligent constituency. But it was not always thus. Fifty years ago, "journalists" were not as plentiful as they are today, and the appetite for printed news was not sufficiently keen to cause one to endure martrydom in attempting to "fill a long-felt want." So, at the time of its organization, Fulton county could not boast of a newspaper within her confines. Some time during the winter of 1851-52, however, a sheet; six-column folio in size, made its appearance in Delta with the expressive title, Fulton County Democrat, under 'the management of Lewis W. Stum, who continued its publication with varying success for about one year, when the office and paper were sold to Frank Rosenberg. The latter moved the office to Ottokee, the county seat, but a few months later he sold to J. W. Carter and H. B. Bayes. Carter & Bayes continued it some six months, when Carter bought 'he interest of his partner and became its sole editor and proprietor. He made an arrangement or lease with one Topliff, who was connected with its editorial department fora time, but about the Spring of the year 1856, the establishment was sold and the plant removed to Morenci, Michigan. The Democrat was, as its name implied, a democratic paper, and the organ of that party, which, during the early days of the county was numerically in the ascendancy.   The second newspaper venture was also made at Delta. At the time of the founding of the Fulton County Democrat, that place was perhaps the most important of any of the small towns of the county, and while the publication of a paper there was not particularly remunerative to its owners, the citizens of the place were much displeased at the sale and removal of the office of the Democrat to Ottokee; and although the latter was the county seat, Delta still   SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION- 71   held the greater population, and felt entitled to a newspaper publication. This feeling led to the establishment of the Delta Independent Press, under the management of Lewis W. Stum, formerly of the Democrat. Stum continued the paper for some months, when he sold his interest to Martin Butler, and the latter, after a short time, sold to William Stum and James K. Newcomer. These gentlemen conducted the paper for several years, when Peter James purchased Stum's interest. Under the ownership of Mr. Butler the independent tone of the paper was changed, and it became thence-forth an advocate of democratic principles. It was issued regularly until the early sixties, when for some reason it seemed to gradually decline, and the office was finally closed. The material and stock were removed to Wauseon, and gradually developed into a publication also known as the Fulton County Democrat, (not the former paper of that name), under the management and control of M. H. Butler. William Aultman, Jr., became connected with its management about this time, and some few weeks later, soldiers, home on a furlough, not liking its tone or appearance, dumped the material into the street and the Democrat at Wauseon ceased to exist.   The second effort to establish a newspaper in Ottokee was made by T. D. Montgomery, who, during the summer of 1856, issued the Signal. It was printed on the saffie press and material which had been used by Mr. Montgomery in the publication of the Star of the West, a paper started in Montpelier, Williams county, in 1854. the press, type and other fixtures were brought to Ottokee from Montpelier by wagon, and it may be assumed that difficulties were met with in performing the journey. The Signal was, published for something over six months, when it was suspended, the publisher being fully satisfied in the matter of experience. Next in the order of succession, there appeared at Ottokee, under the editorship of Henry success McElhiney a paper called the Democrat. Its firt issue appeared in the spring and in the fall it changed owners, H. Day assuming its control. He changed its tone from a Democratic to an independent paper and re-christened it the Fulton County Mirror. Under Mr. Day the paper was published about one year, when the plant was sold and became merged into the Wauseon Sentinel. This ended newspaper life in Ottokee, except for the brief existence of the Monitor, which is mentioned in a succeeding chapter.   The Sentinel, the outgrowth of which is the present Northwestern Republican, was established at Wauseon during the year 1855, by H. B. Bayes and John D. Hunter. In its political tone it was Republican, being the first to advocate the principles of the newly-formed Republican party, in this county. It was, when started, what is known among printers as a six-column folio, in neat dress for the times, and as the organ of Republicanism in the county at once took front rank, notwithstanding the fact that it changed pilots frequently. The paper had been but a short time in operation when Bayes bought the interest of his partner, and for the next two years, or thereabouts, he was its sole proprietor and editor. He then sold   72 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   it to A. E. Ball, but as editor and publisher the latter was not a success, and he disposed of his interests to E. W. Fuller. Mr. Fuller conducted the paper for something like a year, and then took a partner, John D. Devor of Elkhart, Indiana, who stayed m the office only three months, however, and then sold his interest back to Fuller. On January 1, 1858, the name of the paper was changed to the Northwestern Republican, and it was increased in size from a six to a seven-column folio. During the summer of 1858, Mr. Fuller sold a half interest in the paper to J. C. French, and this copartnership relation was maintained for a period of about six months, when Fuller sold his interest to Isaac R. Sherwood, and the firm then became French & Sherwood, editors and publishers. Thus was the Republican managed until the summer of 1861, when Sherwood purchased French's interest and became sole editor and publisher. Isaac R. Sherwood lived in Bryan at this time,' also having newspaper interestS there. He soon afterwards enlisted in the Union army, as a private soldier in the first Fourteenth regiment, three month's troops ; then joined the One Hundred and Eleventh regiment, and rose through the different grades until the insignia of a brigadier general was placed upon his uniform. He then became prominent in civil life, served two terms as Secretary of State, one term in Congress, and in other ways has been identified with public affairs. He is at present a resident of Toledo.   The United States census tells the story of the wonderful progress of Fulton county, between the years 1850 and 1860, at least so far as an increase in population is indicative of such movement. In 1850, the enumeration showed 7,780 inhabitants, and in 1860, 14,043 an increase of nearly 100 per cent. in only one decade. A large part of the population of the county is descended from German ancestors, some of whom came as political exiles resulting from the Liberal movement of 1848. This had its inception in the agitation of the question of more liberal rights for the common people and the curtailing of the power of the nobility. Many of the best German families took sides with the people, and because of their interest, and after the tumult subsided in favor of their oppressors, they were exiled from home and sought an asylum in free America. Put the earliest German settlers of Fulton county came as men seeking to improve their home conditions and occupy a country with unlimited possibilities for future advancement. They were a devout, upright, class of people, who in thankfulness for their deliverance and the prospect of a happy future, sang hymns and devoutly thanked God for the existence of the New World and their safe voyage to it. To these pioneer Germans and their posterity is due a large proportion of the solid, substantial advancement of the country where their homes were made. Their progress here, and this is characteristic of the nationality everywhere, has been wrought through incessant toil, self-denial, and careful and frugal management. There is little of the speculative in the German mind. Their preference seems to be in the pursuits of agricultural, gardening, mechanical trades, mer-   SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION - 73   chandising and manufacturing. Because of their inherent honesty, industry and frugality as a people, they soon achieve success in their various callings.   Speaking of the county in its entirety, however, it may be said that the early settlers were Americans, a large number of them coming from older portions of Ohio, while others migrated here from the more populous and less advantageous localities in States farther east. New York and Pennsylvania furnished a large number latter class; but no matter where they came from, mutual desires and interests made them all akin, and by a silent process of “benevolent assimilation" they were converted into a Fulton county family. Among them there existed very little distinction in worldly circumstances and modes of life—the disparities in conditions that we now observe having been developed gradually with the country, and emphasized by the frowns and smiles of that giddy dame, Fortune It was neither the indolent nor the opulent, as a general fact who sought homes in this region, for none but industrious men of moderate means would care to endure the preliminary privations and encounter the dangers that they knew would attend them while building homes in the almost unbroken wilderness. They came to better their condition in life; to become land-owners instead of tenants; to rid themselves of a species of land-lordism which prevailed in the Eastern States, and to emancipate themselves from a condition of semi-vassalage which threatened a doom of servitude for themselves and children.   74 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY, OHIO   CHAPTER V   THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD   DURING the interim between the settlement and organization of Fulton county and the commencement of the Civil War, the martial spirit of the people was kept in forced abeyance. This was due partially to the stern realities of a pioneer life, with which they had to contend, and partially to the lack of opportunity or occasion to show their war-like tendencies. Before the county was organized, in 1850, most of its territory was within the limits of Lucas, and a more or less nominal militia organization was effected and carried on in that county; but the semiannual musters were enjoyed by the crowds who attended more because of the frolic and roustering than of any improvement in military discipline. Aud thus, a system that had been so popular and efficient during the old Indian wars on the frontier, badk loosened its hold on the public mind during a protracted period of profound peace. The cities and larger towns in the State were the only places where military drill was appreciated, and where strict discipline and military pride attained a proficiency nearly equal to that which prevailed in the regular army.   The mutterings of internal strife, which had engaged the attention of statesmen for some years prior to 1860, in that year began to take tangible shape, and the people came to realize that the settlement of the questions of State sovereignty and slavery extension could no longer be deferred by legislative compromises. The result of the Presidential election portended the abolition of slavery in the territories and all new States to be admitted thereafter ; but in exactly what manner the decision in regard to State sovereignty should be made was a subject not agreed upon, even by national leaders at the North, where the dominant party disclosed its strength. The incoming National administration, in 1861, faced an unprecedented crisis in American history and apparently was uncertain how to proceed in the midst of the alarming dilemma that confronted it. A number of the slave-holding States had passed ordinances of secession, thereby exercising a right that had been generally claimed and not seriously disputed since the adoption of the Constitution, and those who desired the maintenance of the Union were vainly searching for a solution of the difficult problem. Able and patriotic statesmen, regardless of party affiliation, were giving their time and talents to the perplexing question, hoping to discover a pathway that would lead to a satisfactory adjustment of all differences—when   THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 75   all plans were disarranged by the firing on Fort Sumter, and the administration was afforded a pretext, if not a justification for waging a vigorous war of suppression. This overt act on the part of the South cleared the atmosphere for those who had advocated a policy of coercion, and to a large extent lessened the number of those who had talked of peaceable secession.   But all were not of one mind. In Fulton county, as elsewhere, there were those who denied the right and expediency of the government's action; but they were comparatively few in number, and owing to the heated condition of the public mind they were the subjects of bitter denunciation, epithets and contemptuous opprobrium. However, it is not the purpose of this apparent digression to recall unpleasant memories or argue questions long since settled—we desire merely to describe conditions and record pertinent historical facts, before entering upon the proud record of Fulton county during those dark days of internecine strife.   The news of the firing on Fort Sumter was followed in a few days by the President's call for seventy-five thousand troops. By the 29th of April, just seventeen days after the first shot was fired, the old Buckeye State offered seventy-one thousand soldiers, and eight days later increased her offering to eighty-one thousand. Public meetings were held all over Fulton county and, in a few days, two full companies were raised. Owing to the rapidity with which Ohio's quota was filled, but one of these companies could be accepted. It was ninety-seven strong and was commanded by Epaphras L. Barber, captain : Thomas M. Ward, first lieutenant, and Rezin A. Franks, second lieutenant. The other company was ordered to Camp Herrick, in Swanton, where, after being drilled for about one month, it was mustered out and paid off by the State. Captain Barber's company enlisted in the three months' service, and served in the Fourteenth regiment.   Enlistments and company organizations followed in rapid succession, and while the Wauseon company was the, only completed organization from the county in the first three months' service, the men who composed it were not the only troops, as some twenty or thirty boys residing in the northern part joined Michigan regiments, others went into Williams county, and still others sought military organizations in Henry and Lucas. It is probable that not less than sixty thus found means to serve their country outside the county limits counting these and the company in the Fourteenth, it will be seen that fully one hundred and fifty men from the county were in the first three months' service. The professions, merchants, mechanics, farmer boys and laborers, all were imbued with the same spirit, and promptly laid aside their several vocations, and joined in the supreme effort to preserve the Union of the States. Gentlemen of the cloth laid aside their shepherd's crooks and went to the front in various capacities. During the four years of bloody warfare, Ohio met every call for troops in advance of the time limit, and Fulton county was always among the first to respond with her quota.   76 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   And while the "boys" were at the front, the citizens at home were not idle, and the devoted mothers, wives, sisters and sweethearts, imbued with the same spirit which had taken their loved ones from them, assisted in organizing relief associations. There was much outward show of sympathy and interest during the first few months, but by the following year, after the disasters of the Peninsula campaign, matters settled down to a war basis, and sentiment was banished in the interest of helpful needs. Public and private ,donations to the Federal cause were kept up until the final capitulation at Appomattox.   It would be impossible to trace the record of Fulton county's valiant soldiers through the ranging fortunes of four years of bloody war; neither would space permit, should such be possible. Without disparagement to the heroic services of any, it shall be the purpose of this article to mention the organizations, which, as a whole, are more closely connected with Fulton county than other military organizations. Reference is here made to the Fourteenth, Thirty-eighth, Forty-seventh, Sixty-seventh, Sixty-eighth, Eighty-fifth, Eighty-sixth, One Hundredth, One Hundred and Eleventh, One Hundred and Thirtieth, and One Hundred and Eighty-second regiments of Ohio Infantry, the Forty-fourth Illinois Infantry, and the Third Ohio Cavalry. While other regiments may have achieved equal honors on the bloody fields, it is morally certain that none surpassed those mentioned in the performance of stern duty. The Fourteenth, in the three months' service, contained one Fulton county company and was organized at Toledo. In three days it was ready for the field, and in twelve days after the fall of Sumter it moved from Toledo to Cal m Taylor, Cleveland, where it was drilled and the organization comp ted. On May 18, 1861, it was transferred from the State to the General Government. On the 22nd, it received its arms at Columbus, then moved to Zanesville, Marietta and Parkersburg, Va., at which latter place its first Services were required in protecting bridges from the torch of the enemy. On the 29th, Clarksburg was reached, where trains were put to running for supplies. On June 2, the march from Webster to Phillipi (thirteen miles) was made on a dismal rainy night to surprise 2,000 Confederate cavalry, upon whom an artillery fire was poured at daybreak. The enemy was routed and scattered to the hills, leaving stores, arms, and munitions behind them. The Fourteenth went into camp in the rear of the town of Phillipi, expeditions being sent out against the guerrilla bands which mfested that region. It was engaged before the enemy at Phillipi, June 3, Laurel Hill, July 8, and Carrick's Ford, July 14, with a loss of eight brave men killed and many wounded. The regiment remained in camp on Laurel Hill until July 22, when its term of service having expired, it was ordered home, arriving at Toledo, July 25, and on August 13, 1861, was mustered out of the United States Service.   The war had been in progress nearly six months and the "before breakfast job" of the three months men had been prolonged to nearly   THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 77   twice their term of service, and up to this date, the Confederates had been successful on nearly every field. An enlistment for three years' service this time meant more than a brief term of a few months. The first spontaneous outburst had been succeeded by a candid and thoughtful consideration of the momentous task, with the record of is past events pointing to possible failure. This was the condition of when the gallant Thirty-eighth was raised in response to the President's first call for three hundred thousand troops for a period of “three years or during the war." Capt. Edwin D. Bradley, of Stryoker, who commanded Company E, of the Fourteenth, accepted the colonelcy, and the second position went to Edward H. Phelps. Recruiting stations were established in Williams, Fulton and adjacent counties, and the headquarters of the embryo regiment were located at Defiance. Company encampments were opened in other places. Enlistments moved along slowly, but by September 22d, the regimental organization was complete, and on October 5, 1861, it was mustered into the service of the United States at Nicholasville, Ky. The work of drilling and equipping the regiment had been well attended to and by the time it was ordered to the field the discipline, drill and apparent efficiency of the regiment were alike creditable to the officers and the men.   It might be said that Company E of the Fourteenth regiment in the three months' service, which contained several Fulton county boys, was the nucleus of this regiment, and, as before stated, its captain was chosen as the colonel of the new organization, but he resigned on account of ill-health on February 6, 1862. That the reader may have some idea of the casualties of the regiment, let it be said that sixty-four men were commissioned as field, staff and line officers, while thirty-six is the complement for a regiment. Of these, a few resigned, and some were promoted, but it is safe to assert that at least twenty officers were killed or disabled in the Service. The regiment lost one hundred and twenty-seven men, killed in battle or died of wounds; while the number who died from disease and accidents, were incapacitated, either by wounds or ill-health, for further service, amounted to five hundred and thirty-one. The regiment when tered in was fully a thousand strong, hence the casualties lied at least sixty-five per cent. of the number of men entering service with the organization of the regiment.   The active service of the Thirty-eighth began in the army operating in Kentucky, under Gen. W. T. Sherman. It would be interesting to follow the regiment through its wonderfully active career of nearly four years at the front, but a brief resume of events must suffice.. It participated in ten hard-fought battles, some of which were the moSt disastrous in the annals of the war. To reach these various scenes of carnage in several different states, it traveled thousands of miles on weary marches, through rain and snow and mud; in intense heat, or equally uncomfortable cold; wading streams, climbing and descending mountains, each soldier carrying, in full equipment, some sixty pounds of baggage. It is estimated that in   78 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   ordinary warfare, a soldier is under fire in skirmishing, and other desultory fighting. at least five times to each general engagement in which he participates; hence a record of battles is no fair estimate as to a soldier's actual service.   The Thirty-eighth fought under Buell in Kentucky; under Rosecrans and Grant in Tennessee, on the Atlanta campaign under Sherman and thence on the memorable "March to the Sea." At the assault on Mission Ridge, it was on the extreme left, and though the fire from the Confederate batteries was hot and terrific, it moved up, up to the very summit, losing seven men killed and forty-one wounded. It pursued the enemy to Ringgold, Ga., then returned to Chattanooga, and there "veteranized," only one hundred and twelve of the entire regiment refusing to continue in the service after the expiration of the first term of enlistment. January 14, 1864, the Fulton county contingent of the regiment reached home on veteran furlough, and a grand ovation was tendered it. A vast outpouring of citizens met the soldier boys at the station, but the veterans, after more than two years' absence, were anxious to meet loved ones around the home firesides, and so dispersed to their several homes to enjoy a thirty days' respite in the quiet pursuits of civil life. At the expiration of the furlough, the regiment reported at Ringgold, Georgia, and there resumed the routine of camp life until the beginning of the thrilling events in the campaign of 1864. It participated in. the battles, marches and skirmishes of the Atlanta campaign, and was among the firt to enter the beleaguered city. Continuing the triumphal march to the sea, and up through the Carolinas, fighting its way, as enemies confronted it, the Grand Review at Washington put a fitting finale to the record of the preceding years.   The Forty-seventh regiment of infantry was principally raised in the southwestern part of the State, and was organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, August 27, 1861. The odds and ends of several companies joined it at Camp Dennison, among which were fifty-two men from Fulton county, forty-two of which were mustered into Company I, and the other ten joined different companies of the regiment. The term of enlistment was three years, and on the expiration of service the original members (except veterans) were mustered out, and the organization composed of veterans and recruits remained in service until August 11, 1865. when it was mustered out in accordance with orders from the War Department.   The Sixty-seventh regiment of infantry was organized in the State of Ohio, at large, from October, 1861, to January, 1862, to serve three years. At the muster in of the regiment there were 211 men from Fulton county, as follows: Company A, 63 men; Company B, 30 men; Company C, 18 men; Company D, 2 men; Company E, 1.7 men; Company F, 35 men; Company I, 46 men; total, 211. On the expiration of its term of service the original members (except veterans), were mustered out, and the organization, composed of veterans and recruits, remained in the service. The Sixty-second regiment of Ohio infantry was consolidated with it, September 1, 1865. It   THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 79   was mustered out, December 7, 1865, in accordance with orders from the War Department.   Sixty-eighth regiment of infantry was composed in part of Fulton county troops, one company being gathered entirely from this county. This regiment was enlisted in Northwestern Ohio counties, and was organized at Camp Latty, Napoleon. On January 19, 1862, it moved to Camp Chase, and from there, on February 7, Fort Donelson, where it arrived on the evening of the 14th, during the time of the fighting at the fort. It was assigned to Gen. Charles F. Smith's division and moved, about the middle of March, to Pittsburg Landing, and at the battle there guarded ordnance and supply trains. In the Spring of 1863, it worked on various canals in Louisiana, and, on April 25, it began to march around Vicksburg and reached the Mississippi at Grand Gulf. May 1, 1863, by a forced march; it fought at Thompson's Hill, and subsequently at Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, and was engaged throughout the seige of Vicksburg. On February 5, 1864, it fought at Clinton and Jackson, Miss. Just before this,‘ it "veteranized," and soon after returned home, where it was received with all the "pomp and circumstance of glorious war." On June , the regiment joined Sherman's army at Acworth, Georgia, and during the remainder of the Atlanta campaign, the Sixty-eighth was almost constantly under fire, being on the advance sixty-five days. It fought at Kenesaw Mountain, Big Shanty, Nickajack Creek, Atlanta, July 22 and 28, Jonesboro and Lovejoy Station. It then moved with Sherman to the sea, up through the Carolina campaign; then by the way of Washington to Louisville, Kentucky, whence it was ordered to Cleveland for payment and discharge—the latter taking place on July 18, 1865.   The Eighty-fifth regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was organized in the State of Ohio at large, in May and June. 1862, to serve three months, and was retained at Camp Chase, Ohio, to aid in guarding the large number of Confederate prisoners in confinement at that place. It was mustered out, September 23 and 27, 1862. by rreason of expiration of term of service. Fulton county furnished one full company (G), for this regiment, ninety-seven men rank and file.   The Eighty-sixth regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry was enlisted in June, 1863, for six months. It was organized at Camp ''Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio, July 14, 1863, and was mustered out at the same camp, February 10, 1864, because of expiration of term of service. It was made up of companies from various counties in Northern Ohio, Fulton county furnishing one whole company (H), and part of another (F), besides a few in other companies. It was a regiment of boys, 676 of them being under twenty-one years old, many being only sixteen to eighteen. In July, the regiment was moved to Camp Tod. Columbus, Ohio, and when Morgan's raiders passed through the State, they were put into the chase and were within a few miles of him when he was captured, July 26, 1863.   80 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   The regiment left Camp Tod, on August 9, 1863, for Camp Nelson, Kentucky, and soon after started for Cumberland Gap, arriving near there September 8. The next day (September 9), the place was sury rendered to Colonel De Courcey and the Eighty-sixth, in fact, but in form to General Burnside, who was two miles away at the time, The regiment guarded the 2,100 prisoners to Lexington, Kentucky and then marched back to the Gap, where they remained to guard the place until the middle of January, 1864, and then returned to Camp Cleveland.   The One Hundredth regiment of Ohio Volunteers had one company entirely made up of Fulton county boys, and about tweet other men scattered through the different companies of the regiment. The Fulton county organization was Company H, and if: was commanded first by Lawrence B. Smith, captain; John H. Palmer, first lieutenant, and Emmett Losure, second lieutenant. This regiment was organized at Camp Toledo, Ohio, in July, August and September, 1862, to serve three years, and was mustered out of service, June 20, 1865, in accordance with orders from the Was Department. The regiment participated in the defense of Knoxville, and after active duty in East Tennessee, moved, in the Spring of 1864, to Tunnel Hill, Georgia, and joined General Sherman. it participated in the Atlanta campaign, fighting in almost every battle. On August 6, it assaulted the Confederate works at Utoy Creek,, in front of Atlanta, suffering a loss of 103 men, killed and wounded, out of 300 engaged. The regiment joined in the pursuit of Hood participated in the desperate battles of Franklin and Nashville, and finally moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, where it was actively engaged. It lost during its term of service, sixty-five men killed in. action; one hundred and forty-two wounded; twenty-seven died of wounds; one hundred and eight died of disease; three hundred and twenty-five were captured by the enemy, and eighty-five died in Confederate prisons.   Company K, of the One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was largely if not entirely a Fulton county company. Its captain was Dening W. H. Day, while its first and second lieutenants were Joseph O. Allen and Jeremiah Bowlin, respectively. The One Hundred and Eleventh regiment was organized at Camp Toledo, Ohio, September 5 and 6, 1862, to serve three years, and was mustered out of service, June 27, 1865, in accordance with orders from the War Department. It began its active military operations in Tennessee. After various marches, expeditions, scouts and skirmishes, the regiment found itself, on November 14, 1863, confronted by Longstreet at Huff's Ferry. It charged with its brigade and was successful, forcing the Confederates back and losing but few men. At Loudon Creek, the regiment skirmished briskly with the Sixth South Carolina, and lost four killed and twelve wounded. In the engagement at Campbell's Station, the regiment was for six hours exposed to the artillery fire of two Confederate batteries, though the loss was only eight, owing to the percussion shell used,   THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 81   which fell mainly in the rear. At the siege of Knoxville, it lot six men killed and wounded. It skirmished at Blair's Cross Roads and Dandridge, Tenn. It participated in the Atlanta campaign, fighting at Buzzard's Roost Gap, Dalton, Resaca, Kenesaw, Pine Mountain, Lost Mountain. Nickajack Creek, Chattahoochee River, Peach Tree Creek, seige of Atlanta and the skirmishes at Utoy Creek and Lovejoy Station. It skirmished at Columbia, Tenn., and repulsed two charges of the enemy near Franklin. It fought desperately in the engagement that followed, losing in this "hottest battle of the war," twenty-two men killed on the field and forty wounded out of the one hundred and eighty men engaged. The regiment fought gallantly both days at Nashville, and in a charge on the second day captured three Confederate battle-flags and a large number of prisoners, losing seven killed and fifteen wounded. Soon after this it participated in the Carolina campaign, which ended hostilities. The numbered one thousand and fifty men when it entered the service, and received eighty-five recruits. Two hundred and thirty-four were discharged for disability, hundred died of disease and wounds ; two died of disease contracted in the service ; two hundred and fifty-two were killed in battle or died of wounds, and four hundred and one were mustered out.   The Hundred and Thirtieth Volunteer Infantry was organized at Johnson's Island, Ohio, from the 13th to the 31st of May, 1864, to serve one hundred days. It was composed of the First Regiment Ohio National Guard, from Lucas county, and the Seventy-fifth On Battalion Ohio National Guard, from Fulton county. Fulton county reported with three full companies, but there being eleven companies: already reported, one of them from Fulton couy was broken up and distributed among the other companies of the regiment, fining those companies nearly to the maximum number. The regiment left Toledo. May 12, 1864, to report to Brigadier-General Hill, at Sandusky, for consolidation and muster-in. It removed to Johnston’s Island, and was engaged in guarding Confederate prisoners. On June 4, the regiment took the cars for Washington City. It remained there three days, and then embarked on the transport George Weems, and reported to General Butler. at Bermuda Hundred, from which place it was ordered to Point of Rocks. The time was occupied in drilling, digging rifle-pits, and picketing the lines, until June 21, when it marched to Deep Bottom. On August 11, it marched to Bermuda Hundred, and proceeded, on transports, to Fort Powhatan, where it was ordered to be mustered out. It was mustered out at Toledo, Ohio, September 22, 1864, on expiration of term of service.   One Hundred and Eighty-second regiment was organized in the State of Ohio at large from August 4, to October 27, 1864, to serve one year. On November 1, the regiment was ordered to move to Nashville, Tennessee, and on November 6, joined General Sherman's forces at that place. The One Hundred and Eighty-second took part in the battle of Nashville, where it remained per-   82 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   forming guard and provost duty until July 7, 1865, when it was mustered out in accordance with orders from the War Department. Fulton county furnished sixty-one men for this regiment, forty-five for Company B, and sixteen for Company K.   Fulton county furnished one entire company (Company D), for the Forty-fourth Illinois infantry. The company was commanded by E. L. Hayes, captain ; Jacob Hoffmire, first lieutenant ; Jacob Fashbaugh, second lieutenant. The regiment was raised in Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, and some other of the Western States, and was to be called the Northwestern Sharpshooters, but as the officers from other States were commissioned by the governor of Illinois, they came under the control of that State, and despite the agreement that the regiment should be known as the First Regiment Northwestern Sharpshooters, it was mustered into the United States service as the Forty-fourth Illinois Infantry, and served as such during the war. Capt. Hayes and others made Strenuous objection, but without avail. Many of the officers were put under arrest on account of their opposition to being forced to go into an organization for which they did not volunteer, and for the first year and a half after the regiment entered the service, there was a continual quarrel and dispute between the officers and men representing the different States. It, however, quieted down to some extent, and the regiment for the last two years of the war did efficient service. At the muster in of the regiment Company D had ninety-seven men, including officers, and during the war it received twenty-seven recruits from Fulton county.   The Third Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, containing Fulton county men in each of Companies A, C, F, H and I, was organized from the State at large, at Monroeville, Huron county, Ohio, from September 4, 1861, to December 11, 1861, to serve three years. On the expiration of their term of service, the original members (except veterans) were mustered out, and the organization composed of veterans and recruits was retained in service until August 4. 1865, when it was mustered out in accordance with orders from the War Department. The greatest number of the Fulton county men were mustered into Company H, and this company was commanded originally by Charles W. Skinner, with William Maxwell and Samuel J. Hansey as first and second lieutenants, respectively. The regiment's first initiation into actual warfare was during the siege of Corinth. Mississippi, beginning on April 3o. 1862. After occupying various positions and participating in numerous foraging and other expeditions and several skirmishes, the first battalion of the Third had a sharp engagement with the enemy at Munfordville, Kentucky, losing two killed and twelve wounded. In a severe attack on the enemy, near Bardstown, Kentucky, the Third lost six men killed, twenty wounded and seventeen captured. After the battle of Stone River, in Tennessee, the regiment pursued the enemy. captured one of his trains, and then encamped at Murfreesboro. The regiment fought at Middleton and McMinnville, losing many killed and wounded. It   THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 83   fought on the Shelbyville Pike, near Farmington, Tennessee, losing in the latter engagement two killed and twenty-three captured. After "veteranizing" and being furloughed home, it took the field again in Tennessee, fought the Confederates at Decatur, Alabama, at Moulton, Alabama, and at Noonday Creek. A severe fight was had at ch Tree Creek, and on the return raids into Tennessee. It participated in the Kilpatrick and the Stoneman raids around Atlanta, skirmished at Jonesboro and Lovejoy Station in pursuit of Hood. It fought at Franklin, Tennessee, losing heavily, after which it pursued Hood into Alabama, and then participated in the Wilson raid, fighting at Selma, Columbus and Macon, and participated in the chase of Jeff Davis.   The field and staff officers of the various regiments, in which Fulton county was represented, were subject to frequent change, there being resignations, discharges and deaths. A number of resignations were due to promotions to higher rank in the same or other organizations, and the places thus made vacant were filled by promotions. A number of line officers were chosen from among Fulton county soldiers, and usually promotions were made from the companies where the vacancies occurred. Some of the Fulton county officers are given more extended mention on other pages of this volume, but it will be eminently appropriate to mention a few of them here.   Col. Epaphras Lord Barber was a native of Ohio, and was born at Cleveland, December 6, 1830. The days of his boyhood and youth were spent on his father's farm at work, and in attending the district school during the winter terms. At the age of eighteen years young Barber joined an engineer corps and was employed on the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati railroad, where he obtained a practical education in surveying and civil engineering. After a few months engaged in this work- he attended a private school for nearly two years, but again returned to engineering and perfected himself in that profession. After leaving the C., C. & C. road he was engaged on other work of the same character, and in 1853 came to Fulton county, being then employed on the Air Line, now the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad. In conection with the work in this county he had headquarters at Delta. Mr. Barber continued his connection with the construction of this road until about 1856, when, having become intereted in lands in the vicinity of Wauseon and elsewhere in the county, he severed his connection with the road to give attention to the real estate business. Two years later he was appointed station agent at Wauseon, and held that position for two years, resigning in 1860 to resume his real estate business, but to continue therein for a single year only, when loyalty and patriotism called him into an entirely new field of action. When, in April, 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon, in answer to the President's call for ,troops, a company was at once raised at Wauseon, and among the others Mr. Barber's name was found. At the election of officers he was chosen captain of Company H, of the. Fourteenth Ohio In-   84 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   fantry, and served with that command during the term of its enlistment, and was mustered out at Toledo in August, 1861. Prior to muster-out, and while awaiting that event, Captain Barber re-enlisted and was appointed major in the Thirty-eighth Infantry, which then forming. With this regiment he served for a period of e months in Kentucky, when, on account of the death of hiS bu partner, Nathaniel Leggett, he resigned his commission and ret home. Not long, however, was he to remain there, for he was called to Columbus by Governor Tod, advanced to the rank of colonel and directed to organize the One Hundredth and the One dred and Eleventh regiments. This he did promptly and well, was placed in command of the latter and went to Cincinnati with them to repel the threatened invasion of the State by Confederate forces under General Bragg. The duties assigned by the governor being fulfilled, Colonel Barber returned to business interests at Wauseon in the fall of 1862. In connection the military career of Colonel Barber it may be remarked that tat time of his enlistment, in the spring of 1861, he had no special for advancement to a position more exalted than that occupied his comrades; but they made him captain, knowing his capacity a. man of business, and having full confidence in his ability as a manding officer. As an officer, in preparing his command for the field, Colonel Barber was a strict disciplinarian; so rigidly, indeed did he enforce the rules and regulations of tactics, and so thorou did he instruct and drill the men, that murmurs of discontent not infrequent ; yet, after the three months men were discharged a re-enlisted, of those of his company that returned to the sera no less than twelve were made commissioned Officers, thus reaping direct benefit from the instruction received at his hands. Again, as an organizer he was no less efficient ; insomuch that the governor called him from private life to organize two regiments for the service, besides the other important duties entrusted to his charge.   Jacob B. Fashbaugh was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, June 5, 1834. He enlisted in 1864, in the First Regiment, O. N. G., Company C. He was appointed eighth corporal, and was afterwards transferred to the 130th Regiment, O. N. G., and received a commission, first of second lieutenant, and then of first lieutenant. While engaged in a skirmish, August 4, 1864, before Petersburg, he was sunstruck and disabled from further duty.   Charles Luther Allen was born in the town of Clarkson, New York, November 6, 1838. Until 1859, he lived at his father's home, but in that year came to Fulton county and took up his abode in Gorham township, where his brother, Dr. Allen, was then a resident. There Charles taught school for a time, but afterward accepted a position in the store of Thompson & Cadwell, where he remained until August, 1861. He then enlisted in Company K, Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and, upon the organization of the company, was elected second lieutenant. In this capacity he served for about six months, when, after the battle at Mill Springs,   THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 85   he was assigned to duty on the staff of General Shoeppf, commanding Ohio brigade. Some time later, Lieutenant Allen was promoted to first lieutenant and made regimental quartermaster, serving as such nearly a year, when he was assigned to duty as regimental adjutant. On January 1, 1864, Lieutenant Allen, on account Hides of disabilities that unfitted him for active field service, resigned which resignation being accepted, he returned to Fayette the same month. For the succeeding four or five months, Mr. Allen acted as enrolling officer at Fayette, and rendered efficient service in that capacity during the latter part of the war.   Brice H. Jay entered the service as a private in Company K, in the Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was promoted to sergeant major of the regiment on March 16, 1863. He died, December 20, 1863, of wounds received, November 25, 1863, in the battle of Mission Ridge, Tennessee. Martin H. Trowbridge entered the service on August 25, 1861, as a private in Company I, of the Thirty-eighth regiment. He was appointed corporal on June 1, 1862, and promoted to sergeant on July 5, 1862, and to quartermaster sergeant regiment, June 10, 1865. He "veteranized" and was mustered out with the regiment, July 12, 1865.   Lewis Butler entered the service on October 4, 1861, as second lieuteniant, and on December 18, 1861, was appointed captain of Company I, Sixty-seventh Ohio Infantry, and was promoted to major, January 13, 1863. On October 10, 1864, he was promoted to colonel of the One Hundred and Eighty-second Ohio Volunteer infantry.   A large majority of the soldiers which comprised the Sixty-eighth Regiment were gathered from other counties, and consequently Fulton was not extensively represented among the field and staff officers. There were two exceptions, however, Ithamer Culbertson serving as principal musician and John B. Mikesell as fife major. Ithamer Culbertson entered the service on December 5, 1861, as a private in Company E, and was promoted to principal musician on April 12, 1862. He was mustered out with the regiment, July 10, 1865, as a veteran.   John B. Mikesell was born July 12, 1837, in that portion of Lucas which is now included in Fulton county, and there he grew to manhood. At the alarm of war, he enlisted in Company H, Fourteenth Ohio Infantry, three months service, and served during the term of his enlistment, being discharged August 13. 1861. He enlisted again the following November, in Company E, Sixty-eighth Ohio Infantry. He was appointed fife major of the regiment on January 19, 1862, and served in that position until his death. Exposure at the battle of Fort Donelson, in February, 1862, brought on a cold which developed into pneumonia, from which he died on March 12, 1862. Elihu T. Crout and Paul Lingle entered the service on May 28, 1862, as musicians of Company G, Eighty-fifth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. They were promoted to principal musicians of   86 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   the regiment on June , 1862, and were mustered cut with the regiment, September 23, 1862.   Edwin L. Hayes entered the service from Wauseon, in the Northwestern Rifle Regiment (mustered in as the Forty-fourth Illinois Infantry), in June, 1861. He was chosen captain of Company D and served as such until 1862, when he resigned and was appointed major of the One Hundredth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, on August 26, 1862. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, May 13, 1863, and to colonel, January 2, 1865, but was not mustered. He became a brevet brigadier general, January 12, 1865, and resigned from the army on May 12, 1865. Immediately after the war he located in New Jersey and still resides there, having been a prominent real estate dealer for years. Thus, the One Hundredth Regiment had only one field or staff officer from Fulton county, but the One Hundred and Eleventh had three—Lieutenant Colonel Moses R. Brailey, Adjutant Wesley S. Thurston, and Sergeant-Major Rudolph Williams. Colonel Brailey is given extended mention in the chapter devoted to Bench and Bar. Wesley S. Thurston entered the service as first sergeant of Company K, August 12, 1862. He was promoted to second lieutenant, June 15, 1863, and to first lieutenant and adjutant, September to, 1863 ; to captain of Company D, May 31, 1865, and was mustered out with that company June 27, 1865. Rudolph Williams entered the service as sergeant of Company K, August 12, 1862, and was promoted to sergeant major, February 6, 1863; to second lieutenant of Company A, February 9, 1863. He was promoted to first lieutenant on March 3, 1864, but was not mustered. He was detailed as ordnance officer in Twenty-third army corps to date, July 23, 1863, and was mustered out with his company, June 27, 1865.   Did space permit, it would be a pleasure to include the names and service of the "men who bore the guns," many of whom performed feats of daring, and services of incalculable value to the cause, wholly prompted by the innate desire for national preservation, and without the hope of official reward. Some even declined promotion, on the conscientious ground that they would then be serving for the emoluments and honors of office, while the charge would he groundless if the salary remained at thirteen dollars a month! Such conduct as that, it seems, should be a sufficient refutation of the latter-day doctrine that greed is the only incentive to human exertion. There were representatives of Fulton county in nearly every regiment organized in Northwestern Ohio and Southern Michigan, either by original enlistment, transfer or promotion ; and wherever they were, and by whatever organization they were known, the famous Buckeyes always performed their duty, and reflected honor upon themselves, and credit upon the noble State which they represented.   In conclusion, we may add that Fulton county was represented, to a greater or less extent, in the following organizations : Ohio infantry regiments—Seventh, Fourteenth, Twenty-fifth, Thirty-seventh, Thirty-eighth, Forty-seventh, Fifty-second, Sixtieth, Sixty-   THE COUNTY'S WAR RECORD - 87   seventh, Sixty-eighth, Sixty-ninth, Seventy-fifth, Eighty-fourth, Eighty-fifth, Eighty-sixth, One Hundredth, One Hundred and Eleventh, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth, One Hundred and Twenty-One, Hundred and Twenty-ninth, One Hundred and Thirtieth, One Hundred and Fiftieth, One Hundred and Sixty-third, One and Eighty-second, One Hundred and Eighty-fifth, One and Eighty-ninth, One Hundred and Ninety-fifth and One and Ninety-seventh; of cavalry—the Third, Sixth, Tenth and Thirteenth; also the Forty-fourth Illinois Infantry, the Fourth, Ninth Michigan Cavalry, Fourth Michigan Infantry and Sixth Michigan Heavy Artillery; and perhaps some others, besides en in the naval branch of the service.   88 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY, OHIO   CHAPTER VI   THE LAST FORTY YEARS   IN the year 1862, a new weekly publication was launched at Wauseon, entitled the "Fulton County Union," under the editorial management of J. C. French, of some local newspaper fame. It was a well-edited and nicely-printed sheet, but continued to make its weekly visits for a period of only a few months, when Isaac R. Sherwood became its purchaser, consolidated it with the "Republican," and the two papers thereafter appeared as one publication, retaining, however, the name of the latter. About this time the office was leased to Joseph Cable, but under his control the paper did not prosper. In some manner he antagonized the controlling element of the Republican party in the county, and the official printing was taken away from him and given to the "Monitor," a paper published at Ottokee. The "Monitor" was a venture into the field of journalism made by H. B. Bayes, in June, 1863. This paper was also short lived, and in the month of February of the following year, 1864, it was sold to James H. Sherwood, of the . "Northwestern Republican," and by him merged into the last-named paper. After the term of Mr. Cable's lease had expired the office and material pasSed, by purchase, to James H. Sherwood, brother of Isaac R. Sherwood. The new proprietor at once commenced, and succeeding in, accomplishing the work of building up and re-establishing the "Republican" on a profitable footing, and brought back to it the favor and support which it had lost during Mr. Cable's leasehold. In the year 1867, James H. Sherwood sold back to his brother Isaac, now honored with the military title of General. General Sherwood ran it about a year and then took a partner, Col. Albert B. Smith, a practical 'printer, with whom he became associated under the firm name and style of Sherwood & Smith. Under this management the paper met with good success; it was well edited, appeared in a plain, but neat dress, and became largely patronized throughout the county and even beyond the county's borders; its exchange list was large, and the paper took rank 'as the leading publication of the region. It was, and continued to be, the organ of the Republican party of the county, and became an able exponent of the principles of that party. In the year 1869, James H. Sherwood purchased the General's interest, and the firm name then changed to Smith & Sherwood. It was conducted by the latter firm until the year 1871, when Colonel Smith sold his interest to M. P. Brewer, a former resident of Wood county. About six months later Brewer resold to Colonel Smith, and in 1877, Mr. Sherwood purchased Col-   THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 89   onel Smith’s, interest and again became sole proprietor. He conducted it successfully until about 1881, when a half interest was taken by E. M. Ogle, but the latter only remained in the office a few months, when he sold to W. C. Williams, who was associated with Mr. Sherwood continuously until 1896. Since the latter year, the “Republican" has been published under the management of James H. Sherwood & Sons, and we may properly add, with marked ability success.   Col. Albert B. Smith, who was for years prominently identified with Fulton county newspapers and other public affairs, was born in Tumbull county, Ohio, July 5, 1839, and settled in Fulton county in 1859. He enlisted at Wauseon, August 2, 1862, in Company H, One Hundredth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry (having served three months previous to this in the Fourteenth Regiment). In September, 1862, he was promoted to first sergeant, in December, 1862, to second lieutenant, and again in February, 1863, to first lieutenant, in August following to captain of Company E, and immediately transferred to Company H, and breveted major in June, 1865, and lieutenant colonel in August following, which position he held when the war closed.   In the year 1863, Wauseon made an attempt under an act of the Legislature, known as "an enabling act," to secure a removal of the county seat from Ottokee, but, on a submission of the proposition to the people, it was voted down. The town of Delta then asked that the seat of justice be removed to that place, and urged, in support of argument, that a tier of townships would be taken from that the Lucas county on the east, thus increasing the area and population of Fulton county; and, furthermore, that Delta would then be situated in, the geographical center of the county, as enlarged, and the most accessible place for the county seat. In the legislature of 1864, an act was passed similar to the Wauseon act, and the question was submitted to the people, but the proposition was defeated by a large majority. In the midst of this agitation for the removal of the seat of justice, on July 6, 1864, the courthouse building at Ottokee was destroyed by fire, and with it all of the county records and other valuable articles in the offices of the county officials. During the following year, 1865, the county commissioners entered into a contract with Hiram Pritchard for the erection of a new brick courthouse on the site of the old structure. This was a one-story brick building, plain but substantial, and it was arranged to be used only for court purposes, the county officers' apartments being in a separate building, on land adjoining the court house. These rate on land buildings answered the needs of the county for several years; but attending court or transacting other business at the county seat was attended with great inconveniences. The railroad had become a recognized thoroughfare of travel, and to all parties from outside the county, as well as many within it, a carriage or stage ride of at least four miles was necessitated. This inconvenience was all the more marked, as the growing towns of Wauseon and Delta were on the line of   90 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   the railroad, and naturally there was soon another and a successful effort made to remove the seat of justice. In the -year 1869, the Legislature passed another enabling act, permitting the people of Fulton county to vote upon the question of removing the county seat from Ottokee to Wauseon. The election was held in October of the above year, and although the result was close, the proposition was carried by a safe majority. The enabling act contained a condition that before the change could be accomplished, there should be donated by those desiring the change the sum of $5,000, which sum should be paid over to the county commissioners and used as a part of the building fund. On January 19, 1870, Isaac Springer, trustee of the required fund, which had been raised in full by subscription, paid the same into the hands of the county commissioners. The gentlemen who comprised the board at that time were Joseph Ely, A. B. Gunn and M. O. McCaskey, and lots No. 149 and 189 of the original plat of Wauseon were deeded to them and their successors in -office, for the site of the court-house building. TheSe lots were situated at the southwest corner of Fulton and Chestnut treets, and thereon the court-house was erected. A sale of the contract for building was advertised and held, and the lowest bidder was F. M. Brooker; but after the contract had been let to him he failed to give the required-bond, and it was then awarded to Alexander Voss and H. B. Bensman, their bid being $44,350. The contract for the construction was made on May 31, 1870, and the building was first used for court purposes in the early part of the year 1872. The structure is of brick, two stories high, with a tower and belfry on the front which faces on Fulton Street. It is a very substantial building, the interior being admirably arranged for the accommodation of the county officials and others having business therein. The total cost of the building, including all extra, work, amounted to $45,772.27.   Joseph Ely, who officiated as one of the county commissioners during the construction of the court house at Wauseon, was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, March 4, 1814, and lived a portion of his early life in Morrow county, Ohio. He settled near Fayette, in what is now Fulton county, in 1838, and soon became a leading man in public affairs. He served as county commissioner for fifteen years, as clerk of Gorham township four years, township trustee four years and justice of the peace three years. He was a prominent farmer and stock raiser.   Alfred B. Gunn, another member of the board of commissioners at that time, was born in Franklin county, Massachusetts, January 28, 1817, and the same year was brought to Ohio by his parents, who were early settlers in the Maumee Valley. In 1844, Mr. Gunn located in York township, at that time a part of Henry county, but which afterwards was as a part of Fulton. He was one of the delegates to the convention which fixed the boundary line of the county, and filled many other positions of honor and trust. He was postmaster at Beta for many years, filled the office of assessor two   THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 91   years, justice of the peace six years, and county commissioner nine years.   The past of the Grand Army of the Republic in the county was organized at Wauseon, in the latter part of the year 1866. It remained in existence for a few years, when dissensions arose and it was disbanded.   During the summer of 1867, occurred the first match game of baseball, in Wauseon, and probably in Fulton county. There appeared to be a great interest in the national sport, that year, as the people were being taught the distinction between it and "town ball," or “two-old-cat.’   It was in the autumn of 1867 that Weston, the great pedestrian, accomplished the remarkable feat of walking from Portland, Maine, to Chicago, over the post road—a distance of 1,228 miles—in twenty-six days. His route lay through Fulton county, and great interest was manifested by the citizens thereof in the walker's contest with distance and time. He passed through Wauseon on Friday, November 23, and the streets were well filled with people curious to see the pedestrian and his retinue.   The census report showed that, in 187o, the population of Fulton county was 17,789. The increase during the previous decade had been 3,749.   The political campaign of 1872, Grant and Greeley being the contestants, aroused much political enthusiasm, features of which were the tannery habiliments, worn by the followers of one candidate, and the conspicuous white hats, representing loyalty to the other.   In the year 1872, the Chicago & Canada Southern Railway Company completed the construction of its line to Fayette, and ran the first train in to the town, July 4, since which date Fayette has been the terminal paint. It furnished a good outlet for the produce of the contiguous, and makes that village a good market for all produce. The construction of the Wabash line, with a station one and a half miles directly north of the village, also furnishes good shipping facilities, with a healthy competition in Gorham township. Its station is called North Fayette, just over the State line.   A serious epidemic, known as "epizootic," crippled all industries requiring the use of horses during the latter part of 1872, and left horse owners with diseased and imperfect animals for a number of years afterward. The plague was universal throughout the country.   In 1873, Fulton county sent the late Ozias Merrill, as a representative to the State constitutional convention. Mr. Merrill was a native of Maine, and came to Fulton county with his parents in 1838.   The Grange movement took shape in this county in 1873, and organizations came into existence all over the county. Some of these are still in existence, though most have been abandoned. Among the active movers during the early agitation were Messrs. M. H. Hayes of Clinton township; J. H. Brigham of Delta, and W. A. Blake of Clinton. With these were associated other local workers   92 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   in various townships, among them being the following: George Gasche, Lafayette Ely, George Roos, Albert Deyo, Socrates H. Cately and S. B. Skeels. These names will all be recognized as of men who were leaders in all movements looking to the betterment of conditions generally. The first subordinate Grange organized was Fulton Grange No. 217, which was instituted November 15, 1873, in a vacant dwelling, house on the farm of S. B. Skeels, in the southeat part of York township. The first corps of officials were: S. B. Skeels, master; Henry Bowen, overseer; S. G. Aumond, lecturer; J. F. Baker, steward; James Slater, assistant steward; George Miller, chaplain; E. R. Bowerman, treasurer ; A. B. Gunn, secretary; A. C. Tremaine, gate-keeper; Mrs. Jane D. Gunn, ceres; Mrs. Catharine Tremaine, pomona ; Mrs. Ida L. Tremaine, flora ; and Mrs. S. B. Skeels, lady assistant steward. North Star Grange was organized in Wauseon, December 7, 1873. Col. J. H. Brigham was its first master, prominent among the members being M. H. Hayes and wife, J. M. Williams and wife, Tilden Williams, W. A. Blake and wife, Adam Rupert • and wife, George Gasche and wife, A. S. Fleet and wife, John Linfoot and wife, and others. Aetna, Ottokee, Chesterfield, Gorham, Champion, Franklin and Royalton Granges were organized the following year. Among the earlier members were the following: W. W. Williams, G. P. Roos, G. W. Roos, C. H. Stutesman, J. H. Turner, R. P. Boody, A. M. Lee, O. B. Verity, J. D. Aldrich, J. L. Chatfield, Joseph Shadle, J. W. Howard, G. M. Tappan, J. M. Sindel, W. H., E. M. and E. S. Strong, R. H. Scott, W. P. Garrison, John Borton, L. G. Ely, H. S. Persing, A. W. Borston and their wives, besides many others. The Fulton County Pomona. Grange, membership in which is one degree higher than in the subordinate lodges, was organized in Wauseon, September 2, 1876, W. W. Williams of Chesterfield being chosen master. Mr. Williams died soon afterward and S. B. Skeels was elected his successor, holding the position for several years. The present membership of the Pomona Grange is about one hundred and fifty. There are also nine subordinate granges in the county, with an approximate membership of seven hundred. Particularly prominent in the Grange movement became Col. J. H. Brigham, and he probably was the most widely known member of the order in the United States. As Master of the National Grange he traveled extensively, and he filled other positions of great responsibility, all of which are mentioned in a sketch of him which appears on another page. Marcus H. Hayes was an influential and representative man of Fulton county, and was born in Bloomfield, Ontario county, New York, June 7, 1822. In early life he became engaged in the mercantile business in Iowa, and for several years was a justice of the peace and mayor of Guttenburg, that state. He came to Wauseon in June, 1854, and became engaged in the buying and selling of stock. He was elected sheriff of Fulton county, in 1856, and again in 1858, and after the expiration of his term of service in that position he devoted his attention to farming, which occupation he followed until his retirement   THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 93   from active life, a few years before his death. The latter event occurred April 9, 1895.The yea   The year 1874 is remembered as the time of the "Women's Crusade." The movement developed in the mouth of February, and through perhaps but few, if any, saloon-keepers were driven out of business, yet the sentiment created, no doubt, had a salutary effect in curtailing lawlessness in the liquor traffic. From it developed the Women's Christian Temperance Union, which has accomplished great good, and is going forward yet in the work.   In 1874, the need of a building for the poor gained official action. The increase in population in this locality, the same as in nearly every county in the State, the incoming of new families, the infirmities of age and the unfortunate condition of some persons who had become a charge upon the public, led to the establishment of an institution within the county, to be maintained at public expense, called the Infirmary, by which it is commonly known throughout most localities, as a home for aged, decrepit and indigent persons. The buildings at Ottokee, having been vacated by the change of the county seat, seat, were still owned by the county, and early in the month of May, 1874, they were turned over by the commissioners to James Riddle, Robert Lewis and 0. A. Cobb, as infirmary directors, and the work of making the changes necessary for the intended use was at once commenced. A tract of land, some three hundred acres in extent, was purchased in the vicinity and a sufficient county farm was established, the same being ready for occupancy on May 1, 1874. These buildings sufficed for the county's needs for about twenty years, but, in 1894, new ones were erected, and in the autumn of that year new quarters were occupied by the county's wards. These new buildings are elaborate and expensive, and with, the grounds surrounding them cover several acres of land. The infirmary my proper is a three-story brick structure, with a basement, conveniently arranged for heating, with the least possible danger of fire. An insane ward is also provided for the care of patients designated as "harmless and incurable." A district school, near by, affords the means to properly rear and train the unfortunate children who are taken in charge at the infirmary. The farm contains two hundred and eighty acres, and produces surplus products not consumed in the institution, to the value of about two thousand dollars annually. The infirmary directors have supreme control, and employ, subordinate to their directions, a superintendent and matron, who attend to the details of the institution. Inmates who are able to work are employed on the farm, or in caring for stock and "choring" on the premises. Good, wholesome and substantial food is provided in abundance, as is also comfortable and seasonable clothing, and a church near by, at which services are held regularly, supplies the spiritual needs. At the time of the semi-annual report in March, 1905, there were forty-three inmates in the institution.   James S. Riddle, who served on the first board of infirmary directors of Fulton county, was one of the representative men of Frank-   94 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   lin township. He was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, June 9, 1812, and settled in Fulton county in 1845, purchasing his homestead of eighty acres in Franklin township and paying for the same two dollars and fifty cents per acre. He had a wife and five children, and began life here with a York shilling in his pocket, and, as may be said, in the dense forest of Franklin. township, which was almost literally true at that time. Mr. Riddle served as justice of the peace for fifteen years, as'trustee, and as infirmary director for three terms.   Oscar A. Cobb was a pioneer of Dover township, and was born in Griswold, New London county, Connecticut, in 1817. He settled in what is now Fulton county in 1846, and soon became active in public affairs. He served as sheriff of the county four years, from 1860 to 1864, was director of the infirmary two terms, and also held other minor offices.   No effort was made, to establish a Democratic paper in Fulton county after those recounted in a previous chapter, until in the month of January, 1875, when William H. Handy launched the "Democratic Expositor." Mr. Handy conducted the paper until April, 1877, when by sale it paSsed into the hands of J. C. Bollmeyer, who was its editor and publisher from that time until his death, November 3, 1898. It was then conducted by the family of the deceased until June, 1899, when the paper was purchased by W. W. Croninger, who has since continued its publication. The "Expositor" is a six-column quarto, in clean dress, and makes an attractive appearance, its local department being, perhaps, as full and complete. as any of the other papers of the county. For the past forty years, Fulton county has been very creditably represented by newspapers, reflecting, of course, differing political views, but at the same time registering the story of the county's progress and prosperity. We are largely indebted to the files of these weekly publications for a great 'deal of the history contained in this chapter.   In January, 1876, a newspaper was established at Fayette, called the "Fayette Record," by W. A. Baker. The following month, February, O. H. Holcomb and M. Lewis assumed control of it and ran the journal till May, 1878, when Mr. Holcomb sold out to G. W. Griffin, the firm name then changing to Lewis & Griffin. In a disastrous conflagration that occurred at Fayette on May 8, 1880, the entire plant was destroyed, but in about sixty days' time another office was established, and the "Record" again appeared in a complete new dress. The office, too, was much improved by the introduction of a new cylinder press, the first to be used in the county. In 1882, the publishers erected a substantial two-story frame build ing, which they occupied until February 28. 1883, when the entire office was again destroyed by fire. But phoenix-like, the enterprising proprietors again "arose from the ashes," rebuilt their office and issued the "Record" within the brief space of thirty days, in a new outfit. Lewis & Griffin conducted the paper for several years longer and then sold the outfit and good-will to John Young. Since 1903, Frank C. Young, son of the above, has officiated as editor and   THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 95   publisher, and under his management the paper is meeting with well-merited success.   A new weekly paper was established at Delta, in 1876. The "Delta Avalanche," E. L. Waltz, editor, issued No. 1 of volume I, on February 22. It aimed to furnish for its readers both local and general news such as would prove of interest and value, without espousing the cause of any political party. About three years later, the name of Col. Albert B. Smith appeared as editor and publisher, but the connection of the latter with the paper was of but short duration, for in about one year he sold to E J. Patch, by whom it was continued for about the same length of time. Mr. Patch sold to W. O. Knapp, who officiated as editor until 1884, when he exchanged his ownnership therein for a half interest in the "Fulton County Tribune" with J. H. Fluhart. The latter made the "Avalanche" a Republican paper and continued its publication for several years, when he sold the paper to the Atlas Printing Company, who merged it into the “Delta Atlas."   Although Ottokee ceased to be the county seat of Fulton county in the year 1871, the jail, the place of confinement for offenders, was maintained at that place for nearly four years longer, and until the building of the present jail and sheriff's residence at Wauseon, in the year 1876. The contract for this building was let on the 16th day of February, of that year, to John Lichtenberger of Fort Wayne, Indiana, the contract price being $18,500. The building was completed in the autumn following, and is in all respects a model county jail, both in point of security and arrangement.   John Spillane, an early settler in Clinton township, died in March, 1879. For years he was a prominent farmer and dairyman in the township. He was born in Buffalo, New York, May 4, 1824, and settled in Fulton county, thirty years later. He filled the office of county surveyor and was otherwise connected with public affairs.   The telephone made its appearance in Fulton county at about this time. It was looked upon with the same curiosity which met the introduction of electric railways, in more recent years. A telephone exchange was established at Wauseon, a little later, by which time the new invention had been greatly improved and popularized.   The results of the census of 1880 showed a total population for Fulton county of 21,053, a gain over 1870 of 3,264.   The news of the shooting of President Garfield on July 2, 1881, created tremendous excitement. .After his long period of suffering, and final death, the citizens of Wauseon showed their grief and sympathy by holding a meeting of all creeds, where the pastors of the various churches and others conducted a fitting memorial service in the presence of a vast throng of sorrowing people. All public offices and business houses were closed from ten to four o'clock.   On. October 27, 1881, occurred the death of Rev. John Miller, who alas well known to the citizens of Wauseon and surrounding country, having been the, founder of the United Brethren church in that village and a prominent worker in the evangelistic field.   96 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   On February 22, 1883, the Fulton County Pioneer and Historical Association was formed. embracing among its charter members a number of men whose families were among the earliest pioneers of Fulton county. The account of its organization is thus given in Aldrich's history of Fulton county: "For a period of several years pier to the actual organization of this association its necessity was recognized by the older residents of the county. It was felt that to the pioneers, who at an early day located in this region, and Aviv) by their lives, privations, toil and industry, succeeded, through a period of almost incredible hardships and sufferings, in laying the foundation upon which the superstructure of the county has since been built and enlarged by new-corners and later generations, there should be erected in some suitable manner, a monument to their memory, and the memory of their deeds and lives; a monument, permanent and imperishable, that the children of all coming generations might know to whom the honor and credit of the early settlements of the county is actually due. It was therefore considered advisable that a society should at once be organized, the object of who should be to gather while possible the facts and incidents relative to the pioneer days of the county, and to record them in substantial form for future use and reference, It was deemed important, tee, that this work should be done, if ever, during the lifetime ad the pioneer, while a complete and accurate record .could be made. To this end, and for the accomplishment of the purpose expressed, a call was made upon the older residents of the county, inviting them to meet at the court house, at Wauseon, on February 22, in the year 1883, that there might be a full and free interchange of views on the subject, and complete organization effected. In obedience to the invitation there was a large attendance upon the occasion, and for the purpose of temporary organization, Michael Handy was made chairman and L. G. Ely, secretary. The object of the meeting was then fully and carefully outlined by Hon. D. W. H. Howard, substantially as set forth in the early part of this sketch, after which a committee on constitution and by-laws was appointed as follows: D. W. H. Howard, Albert Deyo, Joseph Shadle, L. G.-Ely and James S. Dean. Upon the report of the committee the constitution and by-laws were adopted, and the society, to be known as the "Fulton County Pioneer and Historical Association," was brought into existence. It was provided that the president should be the person who had resided the greatest number of years in the Maumee Valley, and that the vice-presidents should be the persons who had the longest residence in the townships from which they were respectively chosen, it being provided that there should be one vice- president from each township in the county." Hon. Dresden W. H. Howard, being at that time the oldest resident, was made president of the association, an office he filled most acceptably and capably until his death, November 9, 1899. The vice-presidents were as follows: John Jones, York; J. M. Williams, Clinton; John S. Butler, Chesterfield; Heman A. Canfield, Gorham; J. S. Riddle, Franklin;   THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 97   David Ayers, Dover; John McQuillen, Pike ; James Fenton, Fulton; Socrates H. Cately, Swan Creek; George R. Betts, German; Dallas Brown, Royalton; John Clendenin, Amboy. The other officers were L. G. Ely, secretary ; Socrates H. Cately, treasurer ; Levi W. Brwon, S C. Biddle, Michael Handy, Ozias Merrill and J. P. Roos constituted the executive committee, and Hon. Oliver B. Verity was chosen as the historian of the association. Meetings were appointed to be held on the 22d day in the months of February and August of each year. The object of the association being so worthy, it has met with marked success during its existence, and from the first steadily increase in membership until it numbered nearly all the old substantial pioneer element of the county. Its present officers are as follows: President, Mrs. John S. Butler ; secretary, Charles F. Handy; treasurer, George D. Newcomer.   A large number of those mentioned in connection with the organization of this pioneer association are spoken of more at length in other parts of this volume, and others are deserving of special notice here. David Ayers was born near Shreve, in Wayne county, this State, on April 2, 1828, and, at the time of the family's settlement in this locality, was but ten years of age. There was no school in Dover township, where the family settled, so David, when old enough, was put at work in a tannery conducted by his father ; but the damp and unpleasant atmosphere told severely against him, in fact, it was then thought that he had not long to live. At the age of twenty years he went to Adrian, Michigan, and attended school for about six months, after which he entered the Bethany College, in West Virginia. There he remained two and one-half years, when his health failed and compelled him to return home. In 1853, he went to California, induced to make the journey in the hope of restoring health and strength, and, in part, to acquire a fortune. The first and perhaps the most important, of these desires was realized, for his physical strength was recovered, but in the acquisition of a fortune his efforts were not so fully rewarded. He worked a claim on the Yuba river for one full season, and at its close was just $300 out of pocket. He then engaged in shingle making, and later worked on a farm until the year 1856, when he returned to Fulton county to reside. From the time of his return home from the far west until his death, David Ayers was a respected citizen of Dover township ; but from this time must be excepted the four years of his incumbency of the office of county treasurer, during which he lived at Wauseon.   John Clendenin was born in Livingston county, New York, March 16, 1815, and settled in Amboy township,. Fulton county, in an early day. He became a prominent citizen and filled the office of justice of the peace for years.   John P. Roos was born in Dutchess county, New York, December 1, 1821, and settled with his parents in Fulton county, Ohio, in 1836. He lived a useful life in Chesterfield township, and was honored with   HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 98   several elective positions, among them being township trustee and assessor, serving in the latter capacity for a period of twelve years.   The "Fulton County Tribune" was the outgrowth of a divided sentiment in the ranks of the Republican party, and was first issued on May 18, 1883, Col. Albert B. Smith and J. H. Fluhart, being the proprietors at that time. The paper was well received by the reading public, and it. rapidly grew in general favor until it was soon numbered with the best of the county's papers. Mr. Fluhart continued his connection with the "Tribune" until June, 1884, when he was succeeded by W. 0.. Knapp, the latter having exchanged the Delta "Avalanche" for Mr. Fluhart's interest in the "Tribune." The firm then became Smith & Knapp, which relation was maintained until 1889, when Walter J. Sherwood purchased Mr.. Knapp's-interest. On April 25, 1890, Mr. Sherwood assumed entire control and conducted the paper until August 29, 1892, when he sold to Levi S. Jamison, who presided over its destinies until March, 1903. Mr. Jamison then sold to James L. Shinnabarger, who managed it until January 1, 1904, when Frank H. Reighard assumed control. On July 13, 1883, occurred the death of William Mikesell, a prominent resident of Fulton county. He was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, January 16, 181o, and settled in Fulton county in 1837. For years he served as justice of the peace, and at the time of his death was the oldest living settler of Clinton township.   The Presidential campaign of 1884 is memorable, as having been more exciting in Fulton county than any preceding one. Cleveland and Blaine had the magnetism to solidify the ranks of their respestive followers, and, party lines were closely drawn. The young men of both parties organized marching dubs, and wore uniforms, or hats, designating their party affiliations. The "Cleveland and Hendricks Clubs" were the organizations of the Democrats, organized in the several towns of the county, and composed of scores of staunch adherents to the principles advocated by "the man from Buffalo." The different clubs united at various meetings during the campaign and kept the Cleveland enthusiasm at white heat.. The Republican . clubs were equally zealous and active ; and though they were denied the privilege of seeing their chieftain elected to the high office which he sought, many of his followers had the pleasure of seeing and hearing him during the campaign. Although Blaine did not come to Wauseon in his speech-making tour, he visited several neighboring points.   The brief, but eventful career of "Der Deutsche Gazette" was be gun in the early part of the year 1886, under the ownership of Voll & Howe. The paper, a seven-column folio, with patent sides, 'was printed in German, and had an extensive circulation among the many German families of the county, but the worthy managers were at fault in their habits, and the paper gradually went to pieces. Howe retired from its office and Voll soon afterward sold the subscription list to the Henry county "Democrat," and the paper as a Fulton , county enterprise ceased to exist.   THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 99   The Swanton "Enterprise" was founded, April 23, 1886, by H. S. Bassett, who conducted it until March, 1887, when Charles H. Rowland became a half-owner in the paper, and the firm became known as Bassett & Rowland. The publication has changed hands several times since then, and is now being conducted under the guidance of A. Hochstrasser.   The Delta "Atlas," published by the Atlas Printing Company at Delta founded June 6, 1886, with C. R. P. Waltz, manager, and E. L. Waltz, editor. On March 19, 1887, the office was consumed by fire, but, with commendable zeal and energy, new material was at once obtained and the paper continued without serious interruption of delay. Several years ago it absorbed its competitor, the “Delta Avalanche," and it has since been recognized as one of the leading publications in Fulton county.   A temperance paper was started in Bryan, in October, 1886, with “Maumee Valley Prohibitionist" as its name and an especial weekly edition for Fulton county. It was a neatly printed six-column quarto, and was edited by W. J. Sherwood of Wauseon. In June, 1889, the plant was moved to Toledo, where the publication was continued for a time.   The Archbold "Herald" first made its appearance in the year 1886, under the management of Taylor Brothers. A few years later arrival for public favor appeared in the field, called the Archbold "Advocate,” and the two papers were finally consolidated under the name of the latter, which publication is still in existence.   As well have been noticed, the year 1886 was a very prolific one in the matter of projecting newspapers in Fulton county ; but as evidence that there was a field for them it can be stated that they, are all alive today and apparently doing well, having as company not only the older papers of the county but several younger ones as well. The latter consist of the Metamora "Record," Lyons "Herald," Fayette "Review," and Archbold "Buckeye," the last named being the latest to make an appearance, in August, 1905.   The "grippe" became epidemic in Fulton county in 1890, when there were hundreds of cases, many of which were fatal.   The United States census of 1890, showed a population in the of 22,023, a gain in the preceding decade of 970.   The Wauseon Columbian Guards were mustered into the State service on January 21, 1893, becoming Company G of the Sixteenth Ohio National Guard, with J. J. Waffle, captain; John A. Weir, first lieutenant ; Frank Williams, second lieutenant. The sergeants were G. R. Anderson, Frank Sams, Harry Gingery, H. A. Lee and J. F. Outcalt, The company was on active duty during the miners' riots in Southeastern Ohio in June, 1894. In the spring of 1898 came the declaration of war between the United States and Spain,, and the equipment of an army and navy to combat the haughty Spaniard. In the settlement of this trouble, Fulton county responded with old-time vigor and enthusiasm. The noble sons of patriotic sires promptly offered their services in the cause of liberty and per-   100 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   formed their duty with commendable devotion. The response was so universal over the land that .many were disappointed in not reaching; the scene of action ; but they had shown their devotion to country, and sympathy with the down-trodden and oppressed. The Fulton. county boys, mostly members of Company G, of the Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, were off to the rendezvous at the earliest opportunity. They returned after a few months of service, but were dissatisfied that they could not have done more A grand reception was accorded the company on its return, and then its members resumed the thread of peaceful life. A few Fulton county men reached the scene of action in the Philippines, where they rendered valiant service and proved their worthiness on every field. The officers of Company G of the Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry were Captain, John A. Weir ; first lieutenant, John F. Outcalt ; second lieutenant, M. W. . McConkey. Wellington Whitehorn and Samuel Williams were two Fulton county boys who contracted disease in the service and died. The military company at Wauseon disbanded soon after the close of the Spanish-American war and has never been reorganized.   The year 1894 was characterized by the great labor strikes all over the country, and the exceptionally "hard times" incident to and following a world-wide monetary stringency. Coxey, and his army, of followers, marched through the land en route to Washington, where he hoped that a "petition in boots" would stimulate favorable consideration of relief measures by the Congressional bodies. But Coxey's interest in the "common weal" brought an entirely different result—he was arrested for "walking on the park grass" in Washington. A few of his followers passed through Fulton county.   The Klondike excitement was somewhat abated during the Spanish troubles, and many young men who would otherwise have gone to the new territory of the far northwest, were diverted from that purpose to enter the army. But Fulton county had its representatives Ill tik Alaskan gold fields, several young men having tried their fortunes and their endurance, with results not entirely satisfactory.   Absorbing interest was manifested in the national campaign of 1900, as it had been on a similar occurrence, in 1896. In both cases, distinguished citizen of the State led the successful party, In Fulton county the two campaigns were fought with remarkable vigor the adherents to each party creed.   The United States census of 1900 showed the population of county to be 22,801. By townships the population was as follows: Amboy, 1,423; Chesterfield, 1,078; Clinton, 3,934; Dover, 1,714 Franklin, 1,138; Fulton, 1,693; German, 2,989; Gorham, 2,218; Pike, 1,147; Royalton, 1,198; Swan Creek, 2,303 ; York, 2,509. These figures include the following villages in various townships: Meta. mora, 263; Wauseon, 2,148; Swanton, 887; Archbold, 958; Fayette; 1886; Delta, 1,230.   Beginning as far back as the 70's, Northwestern Ohio, and especi Fulton and Williams counties, was for many years the scene of astrous conflagrations, frequent in occurrence and plainly incendia   THE LAST FORTY YEARS - 101   in character. Dwelling houses, barns and business houses with their stocks of merchandise were in turn victims of the fire fiend, until every citizens felt insecure and insurance companies preferred other localities in which to transact business. The State Fire Marshall and his deputies were tireless in their efforts to find the guilty parties, but year after year passed by with small prospects of success. In May, 1903, however, the Williams county grand jury was furnished with sufficient evidence to cause them to return indictments against a number of men charged with burning different buildings, and the. Fulton county grand jury soon afterwards also returned several indictments. So thorough had been the work of the officers, and so complete the information secured, that out of eighteen who were arraigned in the two counties and charged with such crime, sixteen plead guilty and the remaining two were easily convicted upon trial. It is too early as yet to write the history of these transactions, for it is understood that there are other developments to follow. However this may be, it is hoped are other a quietus has been put upon the organized band who so long plied their nefarious vocation in this locality.   About 1884 or 1885, the subject of gravel roads was first agitated in Fulton county, but there was so much opposition that for several years the project was held in abeyance. About 1891, however, Clinton township graveled a mile of road, south of Wauseon, and, in 1893, two miles were graveled north of Wauseon. This township, law, which following the allows a levy of four mills tax for road improvement, has now nearly all of its roads graveled. Other townships have done something in this way, also, but during the last few years, working under new law which taxes those benefitted, some townships have been very busy improving their roads.   The twentieth century has started with fine prospects for Fulton county in a material sense. In 1901, the Wabash railroad built a branch from Montpelier to Toledo, passing through Wauseon and other important towns; in 1902, an electric railway, the Toledo & Western, was built through the northern part of the county, touching Metamora, Lyons and Fayette, and early in 1903, the Toledo & Indiana Electric Railway was built, service from Wauseon beginning April 1, 1903. In 1905, it was extended west to Bryan, and by this line Swanton, Delta, Wauseon, Pettisville and Archbold are each given the advantages of an electric road. Other highways of travel and commerce are promised, and with her fertile fields, thriving towns and excellent people, Fulton takes a high rank among her sister counties of the Buckeye State. 101