368 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

CHAPTER XII.

BIG LICE TOWNSHIP.

EVENTS LEADING TO THE ERECTION OF THIS TOWNSHIP-SUBSEQUENT CHANGES IN ITS TERRITORY AND PRESENT AREA-BOUNDARIES, AND DERIVATION OF NAME-A HUNTERS' RESORT-TOPOGRAPHY AND STREAMS-PRAIRIE MARSH, SOIL AND ORIGINAL APPEARANCE-FIRST ELECTION AND POPULATION BY DECADES-FIRST SETTLERS-JUSTICES OF THE PEACE-SCHOOLS - CHURCHES -VILLAGES AND POSTOFFICES.

UPON the organization of Hancock County in 1828, the commissioners erected from Findlay Township, which then embraced the whole county, the townships of Amanda and Welfare, the name of the latter being subsequently changed to Delaware. In 1829 Jackson was formed from Delaware and Amanda, and the following year Marion was cut off from Amanda and Findlay. Thus it stood till March 7, 1831, when Big Lick was erected from territory previously embraced in Amanda, and then contained all of the lands, lying in Township 1 north. Range 12 east, except Sections 34 and 35, which remained attached to Amanda till June 3, 1833, on which date the commissioners transferred them to Big Lick. On the 5th of June, 1838, Peter Kiser, Andrew Thompson, Samuel Lininger and other citizens, of Big Lick and Amanda Townships, petitioned the board of commissioners for a new township named Ridge, to be formed from pane of Amanda and Big Lick. The petition was granted, and the two southern tiers of sections in Township 1 north, Range 12, were taken from Big Lick in the erection of Ridge. The first election in the latter subdivision was held at the house of Samuel Sargent, on Section 34, in July, 1838. The territory taken from Big Lick remained a part of Ridge until March 5, 1845, when the erection of Wyandot County took forty-five sections off the southeast corner of Hancock, making a new formation of township lines a necessity. Ridge Township, as a subdivision of this county, was abolished, and its sixteen sections remaining in Hancock were attached to Big Lick and Amanda, this township receiving back the twelve sections from 25 to 36 inclusive-taken in the formation of Ridge seven years before. Big Lick has ever since been a full Congressional township, with an area of 23,040 acres,

This township lies in the eastern part of the county, and is bounded on the north by Washington Township, on the east by Seneca County, on the south by Wyandot. County and Amanda Township, and on the west by Marion Township. Big Lick received its name from the sulphur springs, or Deer Lick, on the farm of Robert Long, in Section 21, a noted resort of hunters throughout the pioneer days, and familiarly known as " The Big Lick." Here the hunter, perched in one of the trees close by, patiently awaited until the shades of evening brought forth his unsuspecting game, The deer would then leave their hiding places and steal through the forest to the lick, and while quietly enjoying the feast would he shot down by the

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hidden foe. Many deer were killed at this lick by Mr. Long and other well-known hunters during the earlier years of the county's history, while from time immemorial the Indian sportsman pitched his wigwam in the vicinity of this celebrated spot, where his stock of venison could be replenished without much exertion.

The physical topography of Big Lick Township is generally level, though in some places flat, and in others slightly rolling, with a perceptible tip toward the northwest. This may be especially noticed in the sluggish outlet of the prairie, which rises in Seneca County, winds northwestward across Big Lick, and discharges its waters into the Blanchard near the northeast corner of Section 23, Marion Township. The outlet receives several small runs in its route, the largest flowing in a general southwest course from the north line of the township, and striking the main branch in the southeast corner of Section 18. Fostoria Creek, or the East Branch of Portage River, rises in the northeast corner of the township, and drains that portion northward into the main stream.

In the southern portion of the township, lying on each side of the outlet, is a marsh, or flat, wet prairie containing between 1,500 and 2,000 acres of land, composed of a deep silt and vegetable deposit of inexhaustible fertility. In pioneer days this prairie was a famous cattle range, but much of it has been reclaimed by judicious drainage, and ere many years it will all be brought under cultivation. South of the prairie is a limestone ridge a sand and clay formation underlaid with limestone. Old settlers tell us that when the first cabins were built in the township the surface of this ridge was pretty thickly covered with flakes of limestone; hence the name. Excepting on the prairie and ridge, a clay loam is the prevailing soil throughout the township. The surface of Big Lick, except the prairie, originally bore up a splendid forest indigenous to this Section of the State. But with the passing years the scene changed rapidly; the stately trees gave way to well-tilled farms, and the Indian wigwams to comfortable homes. Very little of the more valuable timber now remains, but what does is highly prized by the judicious owner, and is carefully preserved from destruction.

First Election and Population.-Big Lick was erected in March, 1831, and the following month an election was held and the township regularly organized. The voting place was at the house of John Long, in Section 21, and the following pioneers cast their votes at that election: John Long, Robert Long, John Huff, John Shoemaker, Philip Essex, Levi Poulson, Moses Saylor and Amos Dunken, a total of eight electors, The day was spent in backwoods sport and recreation, Mrs. John Long treating the company to a good, old-fashioned dinner, in which wild game occupied a prominent place. From that time forward the township increased in population, and in 1840 contained 431 inhabitants, In 1850 it had 1,008; 1880, 1,258; 1870, 1,179, and 1880, 1, 261.

First Settlers.-The land hunter found his way into this township earlier than any other portion of the county, except Findlay and Delaware Townships, for on record is an entry of the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 34, by Henry McWhorter, in September, 1821. The same gentleman entered, February 27, 1822, the west half of the northeast quarter of Sec tion 3, Amanda Township, lying immediately south of his first entry. It is believed that Mr, McWhorter and wife, Margaret, located on his land

370 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

in Big Lick in 1823. In the first assessment made by Wilson Vance, lister of Findlay Township, in 1824, Henry McWhorter is assessed for two horses and ten head of cattle. It will be remembered that the whole of Hancock was then embraced in Findlay Township, and under the jurisdiction of Wood County. Mr. Vance was elected lister of Findlay Township April 5, 1824, and the same spring made a list of all horses and cattle in the town ship, over three years old. McWhorter was then living in Section 34, and was therefore the first settler in what is now Big Lick Township. He owned 320 acres of land in Big Lick and Amanda, which he subsequently sold to Samuel Sargent and Abraham Huff. These gentlemen made a joint division of this tract in the spring of 1829, Huff retaining eighty acres in each township. all of Sargent's land lying in Big Lick. In April, 1830, McWhorter brought suit against the purchasers to recover the face of a note of $237.83 and damages, He recovered the amount of his note, and damages were assessed at one cent. After selling his lands McWhorter removed from the county and is not very well remembered.

Samuel Sargent, a native of Hampshire County, Va., took up his abode in Crawford County (now Wyandot), Ohio, in 1825, and in 1827 settled on Limestone Ridge in Section 34, and was the second settler of Big Lick. Mr. Sargent voted at the first county election in April, 1828. He married Eliza, daughter of Judge Jacob Smith of Crawford (now Wyandot) County, Ohio, who bore him nine children, two of whom-Mrs. Adam Nigh and Mrs, David Chambers-are residents of this township. Mr. Sargent was a public spirited man and resided upon the same farm till his death, which occurred November 6, 1849, in his fifty-first year. His widow who was born in Virginia, August 9, 1807, subsequently remarried and moved to Putnam County, but returned and died at her daughter's (Mrs. Chambers, ) home, July 10, 1885, in her seventh-eighth year.

The family of John Long was the third to locate here, coming to the county in the fall of 1826. They first "squatted" in Amanda Township, thence removed to the south part of Big Lick, and subsequently settled on the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 21, which was entered by John Long, in November, 1829. John and Isabella Long were natives of Pennsylvania, and removed to Kentucky, where Robert was born in February, 1801. From Kentucky they came to Fairfield County, Ohio, and thence finally to this township. John and Robert voted at the first election for township officers in April, 1831. The parents died in this township many pears ago, the father in 1835, and Robert and Jephtha are the only survivors of their nine children. Robert Long was in his twenty-sixth year when his father came to this county, and, in 1832, married Polly, daughter of Philip Essex, and she bore him four children, one of whom survives. Mrs. Long died in 1840, and he was afterward married to Mary Graham, a daughter of John Graham, who came to the township in 1833. Of this union seven children were born, five of whom are living. The mother died August 6, 1879. Mr. Long was a noted hunter during his more youthful days, and he loves yet to recount stories of the chase, when Indians roamed the forest, and the larger wild animals were more plentiful than domestic stock. Upon his farm was located the celebrated "Big Lick," from which the township derives its name. In a tree close by, a part of which is yet standing, Mr, Long constructed a seat where he comfortably waited the coming of the deer to enjoy their nightly feast, when he easily secured a choice venison.

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During one of those silent watches a negro pitched his camp close to the lick, and, supposing that he too had come to secure a deer, Mr. Long concluded to try and scare him away. He began imitating the Indian whoop, and the negro at once fled through the forest toward Findlay, where he afterward died from the effects of his overexertion. Mr. Long did not expect such a serious result from his ruse to protect his game preserve, and very much regretted the poor fellow's death. He is now (July, 1885) in his eighty-fifth year, and shows the ravages time has made on his once rugged frame.

John Huff first located in the north part of Amanda Township in 1828, entering the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 3, May 2nd of that year; but in the fall of 1828 he removed to the west half of the south east quarter of Section 17, Big Lick, which he did not enter, however, until 1829. Huff was a son-in-law of John Long, having married his daughter, Sibbie, in Fairfield County, Ohio, ere coming to Hancock. He voted at the first county election in April, 1828. They reared a large family, none of whom now reside in the county. In 1868, Mr. Huff sold his farm to John Moore, and went to Missouri, where both he and his wife died.

John Shoemaker, of Fairfield County, also a son-in-law of John Long, came to the county in 1826. He entered land in Amanda Township that year, and at once settled upon it. He voted at the first county election in April, 1828, and, December 15, 1828, entered the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 17, Big Lick Township, and removed there in February, 1829. His wife, Sarah, was the mother of a large family, Mrs, Henry Thomas being the only one of the number now living in Big Lick. Mrs, Shoemaker died upon the old homestead in 1879, Mr. Shoemaker in May, 1882, while on a visit to Indiana. He was always regarded as an upright, honest man, and a kind, hospitable neighbor.

In 1830 Philip Essex and family located in the township, and in September of that Tear entered land in Section 21. Both he and his wife, Hannah, are buried in Big Lick Township. Their daughter, Polly, married Robert Long, and died in 1840. None of their children are now residents of the county.

Andrew Poulson and family came here from Pickaway County in 1830. The eldest son, Levi, had come to the county two years before, as his name is found among the electors of Amanda Township in October, 1828. He was the second justice of Big Lick, and resided in the township till his death, as did also his father, Andrew, and brother, Cornelius, while his brother James removed to Indiana.

Amos Dunken settled in the south, part of the township in 1830. He was the first justice of the peace of Big Lick, elected in April, 1831. After a residence here of several years he removed to Van Wert County, and there died.

Owen and Letitia Roberts and family settled in the southwest part of the township in 1832 or 1833. Both have been dead many years, but David, one of their children, is a substantial farmer of Big Lick. He resides in Section 29. and is regarded as one of the pioneers.

John and Sarah Graham, natives of Kentucky, and pioneers of Madison County, Ohio, came to the township in the fall of 1832, and built their cabin in the southwest quarter of Section 15. Here a son, George W., now a resident of Findlay, was born the following year. John was the son

372 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

of James and Mary Graham, who reared a family of nine children. The father died in Madison County, and in 1833 the widow, with her sons James and George W., joined the settlement in Big Lick Township, locating in Section 14. John Graham served twenty-four consecutive years as justice of the peace, and six as commissioner of Hancock County. He died in Findlay in the fall of 1885. George W. died upon the old homestead, and James in Minnesota, whither he had removed.

Baldsworth and Mary Baringer came about the same time as the Grahams. They were natives of Germany, and immigrated to Maryland, thence came west to Stark County, Ohio, in 1823 or 1824, and some eight years afterward settled in the southeast quarter of Section 2, Big Lick Township, entered May 22, 1833, where both resided till their death. They had a family of ten children. Joseph, the eldest son, now occupies the old homestead, and is one of the substantial farmers of the township.

In the fall of 1833 two pioneers came here together and put up cabins in the forest of Big Lick. These men were William Roller and his son-in-law, John Moore. Both were natives of Pennsylvania, and came to Hancock from Richland (now Ashland) County, Ohio. Mr. Roller erected his cabin on Section 15, and, in the spring of 1834, brought out his family, consisting of his wife, Nancy, and eight children. Soon after coming to Big Lick he was elected justice of the peace, and the General Assembly of 1836 appointed him associate judge of Hancock County, which position he held thirteen years. He entered 1,120 acres of land in the fall of 1833, most of which was inherited by his children; he and his wife died in this township. Of their children, Michael, the eldest son, resides on Section 7, and two of the daughters, Mrs, John Moore and Mrs, Moses McAnelly, are also living in the township. Mr. Roller won and retained many friends during his residence in the county.

John Moore built his cabin in the northwest quarter of Section 15, now the farm of his son-in-law, A. J. Moore. He married Agnes W. Roller in the fall of 1833, and removed to this township the following spring. Their first-born, Nancy, the wife of A. J. Moore, was rocked in a sugar trough, which Mr. Moore says was made by the Wyandot chief Big River. For more than half a century Mr. Moore and his wife have borne the trials and burdens of life together. They reared a family of ten children, all of whom are living in Hancock County, and seven in the vicinity of the old homestead, only one now remaining at home. Mr. Moore purchased his present farm of John Huff, in 1868, who removed to Missouri. He is one of the substantial pioneer farmers of Big Lick, where he settled over fifty years ago, comparatively penniless, Few men of his times can point to a more honorable life than this successful old settler, who is highly respected by young and old throughout this portion of the county.

Jesse Wiseley, a native of Fairfield County, Ohio, built his cabin on the southeast quarter of Section 7, in 1835. Mr. Wiseley brought with him his wife, Keziah, and son, John, and thus began life in the wilderness. He claims to have erected the first frame house in the township, which is yet standing. Mr, Wiseley has lived upon the same farm since coming to the county.

Henry and Jane Thomas, natives of Ireland, immigrated to Virginia, in 1816, thence removed to Pennsylvania, and about 1827, to Wayne County, Ohio. In October, 1833, Mr. Thomas entered 320 acres of land in the

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north part of Big Lick in Sections 5 and 9, upon which they located in 1885. They reared a large family, two sons, Henry and Samuel L. being still residents of the township, where the parents spent the balance of their lives,

Moses McAnelly was one of the most prominent citizens of Hancock County up to his death in 1852. He married Mary, daughter of William Roller, and in 1836-37 settled in the northeast quarter of Section 17. Mr. McAnelly possessed a good education and considerable force of character, and soon took a leading place in public affairs, He served four successive terms as justice of the peace, and in 1839 was elected to the Legislature and re-elected in 1840, and elected to the State Senate in 1842, serving with honor in each body. Mr. McAnelly was a pioneer school teacher and a local politician of considerable influence, and a man of upright character and unswerving integrity. His widow and some of the children are residing upon the old homestead in Big Lick.

Among other settlers of this period were John P. Ebersole, Jacob Barger, William and Henry Deibly, Charles Henderson, James Wright, Robert L. Martin, William Wilson, Uriah E. Drake, Jackson Stall, Leonard Baumgartner, Samuel B., Silas, William K. and Abner Leonard, William Brown, John Sheridan, John A. Metzger, James Ruckman and Richard Bayliss, all of whom came between 1835 and 1838. Some of these are long since dead, while others are yet residing in the township, and among its worthy citizens,

Justices of the Peace.-The following citizens have filled the office of justice in Big Lick Township, some of them serving several terms: Amos Dunken, Levi Poulson, William Roller, James Wright, Robert L. Martin, William Wilson, Leonard Baumgartner, Moses McAnelly, Charles Henderson, John Graham, Jeremiah Ricketts, James Ruckman, Frederick Roamer, J. P. Edwards, Abraham Mumma, William K. Leonard, George W. Graham, J. W. Gibson, John Newhouse, George W. Brown, David E. Neely, Andrew J. Moore and A. M. Jacobs.

Schools. Five years after the organization of the township, the first log schoolhouse was erected in Section 14, on the farm of George W. Graham, Sr. Here most of the school youth were taught for a few years. The Rollers, Moores, Martins, Hendersons, Grahams, Wilsons, Leonards and others attended this school. The second school building, also a log structure, was erected in Section 8, on the land now owned by J. D. Ewing. The Thomases, Wiseleys, McAnellys and other families of the neighborhood sent children to this school. Among the first teachers of Big Lick, we find the names of Moses McAnelly, Susan Roller, Robert L. Martin and William K. Leonard. With the growth in population the number of schoolhouses also increased, and better buildings began to make their appearance, until to-day the township contains ten good schoolhouses, which are in full operation throughout the school year.

Churches.-The Methodist Episcopal denomination organized a class at the house of Leonard Baumgartner, in Section 29, as early as 1837-38. The Robertses, Baumgartners and Bakers were perhaps its principal members, and Rev. Thomas Thompson was the minister who accomplished the good work. Some of its members lived in Marion Township, and after several years a frame building was put up on the farm of Jacob Baker in Section 24 of that subdivision, In the course of time the society became extinct, and

376 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

the church was sold to Mr. Corbin, who removed it to his farm in this township, where it has since done service as an outbuilding. The Methodists also organized a society quite early in the old log schoolhouse in the eastern part of the township, to which some of the Poulsons, Grahams, Sheridans and Hendersons belonged. Soon after 1840 they erected a log building on Section 13, which served the congregation until their present frame structure was built, in the northeast corner of Section' 23, southwest of the old site. The Methodist Episcopal denomination has now two churches in the township, where regular services are held.

Enon Valley Presbyterian Church was organized November 13, 1841, with the following membership: Robert Leonard, Francis Leonard, Richard Bayliss, Nancy Bayliss, William Moore, Anna Moore, John Moffitt, James Thomas, Mary Ann Thomas, Jane Thomas, Elizabeth Leonard and Silas Leonard. Richard Bayliss, John Moffitt and Robert Leonard were chosen elders of the new society, and the pastor of the Findlay church attended this charge at intervals. Ground for a church and cemetery were donated to the society by Jacob W earner. In 1844 work was commenced toward the erection of a hewed-log building farther west than the site given by Weamer on Section 4, to which the logs were afterward removed. The structure was erected early in 1845, and the first services held therein in May of that year. This old church served the congregation for several years, and was then replaced by the present frame.

Big Lick also contains two United Brethren, two Evangelical, one Christian Union and one German Baptist Church, and is therefore well supplied with houses of worship. Six different denominations teach the doctrines of their respective sects, and the weary wayfarer may here take his choice of these several roads to salvation.

Villages and Postoffices.-The first attempt to start a village in Big Lick was made September 26, 1836, when a town called Freedom was laid out by Uriah E, Drake, on the east half of the southwest quarter of Section 19; but no lots were sold or buildings erected.

In December, 1849, George and Peter Wyant and Henry M. Grose laid out West Independence. It contained silty lots on the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 2. A few lots were sold and some buildings erected, and, because of its location on the road from Findlay to Tiffin, the proprietors hoped that a prosperous village might spring up. In this, however, they were disappointed, as it has never made much progress, and yet remains a small country hamlet. The business of West Independence consists of two small grocery stores, a hotel, a shoe shop, a saw-mill, a blacksmith and wagon shop, and two physicians. The United Brethren and Evangelical denominations have each a church here, and it also contains a good schoolhouse. A neat little cemetery lies immediately west of the village. In 1856 a postoffice was established in West Independence, which has been successively filled by Frederick Roamer, J. L. Kenower, Jacob Ruth, John Peters, William Blinn, A. J. Maurer and J. W. Wynkoop. Big Lick Lodge No. 744, I. O. O. F., was organized in the village October 7, 1885, with the following charter members: J. G. Wiseman, J. W. Wynkoop, A. J, Maurer, J. W. Gibson, R. R. Wiseman, H. M. Wiseman, George Ruch, A. Gleckner, J. M. Green, William Green, S. S. Ward, Fremont Gibson, S. E. Crawford, N. C, Miller and A. J. Thomas. The society has fitted up a lodge-room, where they hold their meetings regularly,

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A postoffice named "Big Lick" Was established at the house of A. J. Moore, on Section 22, in 1852. It continued in operation until 1864, and Mr, Moore was postmaster during its existence. The office was a great accommodation to that part of the township, and never cost the Government one cent to establish and keep in operation.