512 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

HISTORY OF FINDLAY

TOWNSHIP VILLAGE.

CHAPTER XXVII.

FINDLAY TOWNSHIP.

ERECTION OF THE TOWNSHIP, AND DERIVATION OF NAME-SUBSEQUENT CHANGES IN ITS TERRITORY, AND PRESENT AREA - BOUNDARIES, STREAMS AND WATER PRIVILEGES-TOPOGRAPHY AND SOIL-PIONEERS COMING OF BENJAMIN J. COX TO FORT FINDLAY-FIRST WHITE CHILD BORN IN THE TOWNSHIP-SKETCHES OF THE SHIRLEYS, MORELANDS, SIMPSONS, CHAMBERLINS, HAMILTONS, SLIGHTS, GARDNERS, HEDGESES, AND ALL OF THE EARLIEST SETTLERS OF THE TOWNSHIP OUTSIDE OF THE VILLAGE - SUSPICIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF DR. WOLVERTON FROM WHITLOCK'.S TAVERN-FIRST ELECTIONS AND TOWNSHIP OFFICERS, AND LIST OF JUSTICES-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS-ROADS AND POPULATION-FACTORIES.

THE history of Findlay Township extends back to the 28th of May, 1823, on which date the commissioners of Wood County, to which Hancock was then attached, ordered, "That so much of the township of Waynesfield, as is included in the unorganized county of Hancock, be set off and organized, and the same is hereby organized into a township by the name of Findlay, and that the election for township officers be held on the 1st day of July, A. D. 1823, at the house of Wilson Vance, in the said township." The township derived its name from the fort once standing on the site of Findlay, which was commenced by Col. James Findlay, in June, 1812, and named in honor of that officer. Soon after the organization of the county, in the spring of 1828, Amanda and Welfare (now Delaware) Townships were formed from the southeast portion of Findlay, and then included the present townships of Amanda, Delaware, Jackson and Big Lick, the east half of Madison, and a part of Marion; also the townships of Ridge and Richland taken from Hancock, in 1845, in the erection of Wyandot County. September 17, 1829, Old Town Township was erected from the western portion of Findlay, comprising all of the county west of the section line one mile west of the Bellefontaine &, Perrysburg Road. This act of the commissioners engendered considerable ill feeling, the final result of which was a suit to set it aside, and in November, 1830, the court of common pleas declared the erection and organization of Old Town Township null and void. On the 6th of the following month all of the county west of the present western boundary of Findlay Township was erected as Liberty, and on the same date the territory embraced in Marion and Cass Townships was cut off from Findlay and Amanda and organized as Marion.

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Findlay Township then comprised the lands lying within the following boundaries: "Commencing at the southeast corner of Section 32, Township 1 north, Range 11; thence north to the northeast corner of Section 5, Township 2 north, Range 11; thence west to the northwest corner of Section 2, Range 10; thence south to the southwest corner of Section 35, Township 2 south; thence east to the southeast corner of Section 36, Range 10; thence north to the southeast corner of Section 36, Township 1 north; thence east to the place of beginning, which shall be a body corporate and politic, retaining the name of Findlay." These bounds embrace the present townships of Findlay and Allen, also a strip two miles wide, west of the Bellefontaine & Perrysburg Road, extending from the south line of Findlay Township to the north line of Hardin County. This strip is now the two eastern tiers of sections of Eagle Township and the two western tiers of Madison Township. March 7, 1831, Townships 1 and 2 south, Range 10, were cut off of Liberty and Findlay and erected as Van Buren, the narrow strip previously spoken of being taken from Findlay Township. What is now Allen Township was taken from Findlay March 4, 1833, in the erection of Cass and Portage, leaving this township with its present area of twenty-four square miles, or 15,360 acres, including the village of Findlay.

Though being north of the center, Findlay is generally recognized as the central subdivision of the county, and as it was the first one settled and also contains the seat of justice, it is certainly the township around which centers the deepest historic interest. It is bounded on the north by Allen Township, on the east by Marion, on the south by Jackson and Eagle, and on the west by Liberty. The township was originally covered with a heavy growth of fine timber, though a considerable strip of prairie or bottom land extended along the river in the vicinity of Findlay. The Blanchard River passes through the center of the township from east to west, taking a general northwestward course. Its largest tributaries in this township are Eagle and Lye Creeks, which flow in from the south and discharge their waters into the Blanchard within the corporate limits of Findlay. Several small streams feed the river from the north, Strother's and Hedges' Runs, named in honor of Robert L. Strother and Joshua Hedges, two deceased pioneers, being the largest. Whitney's Run, named after Jesse Whitney, a peculiar character who once lived upon it, was a small tributary located west of town between the two brickyards, and drained northward into the river. It was an old-time fishing place for the youngsters of the village, but has since been converted into an open ditch, and the land that was in early days covered with water is now under tillage. Water for stock is abundant in every part of the township, and the several streams and runs furnish ample natural drainage facilities. Very good drinking water is found at a reasonable depth in the limestone formation underlying the upper soils, but many of the wells, especially in Findlay, do not go sufficiently deep to escape the filterings from the surface, and the water in such wells is very apt to breed disease.

The topography of Findlay is little different from the adjoining townships. The Blanchard forms a bed toward which the surface tips from both the north and south, as evidenced by the course of the streams flowing into the river. South of the Blanchard the comparative level is broken by the limestone ridge, locally known as "Chamberlin's Hill." This elevation lies about a mile south of the city, and stretches westward from Eagle

516 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

Creek bottom. North of the river the surface is quite rolling, but not broken, the lands being easily tillable, and well adapted for grazing purposes. Much of the township was originally quite wet, especially along Eagle Creek, but judicious drainage has brought these lands under cultivation. The soil on the bottoms along the water courses is generally a silt or sandy loam. Away from the streams a vegetable soil, with sand or clay mixture, according to locality, predominates in the more level portions, while the higher lands are principally clay. Limestone underlies the whole township, and crops out so close to the surface south of the river that stone for foundations, roads, lime, etc., is easily quarried, and therefore abundant.

Pioneers.-In the general history of the county is mentioned briefly the coming of the first settlers to Findlay, and are given the names of those pioneers who located here prior to 1830. The first permanent settler, or rather "squatter," in what is now Findlay Township, as well as in the county, was Benjamin J. Cox. He was a native of Virginia, where he grew to manhood and married Mary Hughes. Early in the present century, with his wife and four children-two sons and two daughters-he removed to Ohio, locating near Yellow Springs, in Greene County, where Elizabeth, now the wife of Jacob Eberly, of Portage, Wood County, was born September 20, 1806. From Greene the Cox family removed to the south part of Logan County, where they lived during the war of 1812, four children having been born there, one of whom died. Mr. Cox, who was a one eyed man, served as a scout in the armies of Hull and Harrison. Upon the close of the war and the evacuation of Fort Findlay, in 1815, Mr. Cox, who had often been to the fort, brought his family to this point and took possession of a story and a half hewed-log house, erected and previously occupied by Thorp, the sutler of the garrison, while the war lasted. Here in 1816 another daughter, Lydia, was born, she being the first white child born in the township, as well as in what is now Hancock County. She is at present a resident of Michigan, herself and Mrs. Eberly being the only survivors of the family. Mr. Cox was a typical backwoodsman-a man who never thought of the morrow, and was only happy when following the chase. He cleared and cultivated same land near the fort, and also kept a sort of a frontier tavern, but most of his time was passed in hunting. He lived in harmony with the Indians, who then dwelt at several points along the Blanchard, and in 1818 when they removed to their reservation around Big Springs, the chief, Kuqua, offered Mr. Cox a farm if he would go and live with them, but he refused the offer. The land upon which Mr. Cox lived was entered by Hon. Joseph Vance, William Neill and Elnathan Cory, in July, 1821, and in the fall of 1821 he had to give up his house, to W ilson Vance and remove to a smaller cabin, which stood a little southwest of it. In 1823 Mr. Cox left Findlay and went to the Maumee, subsequently locating near Portage, Wood County, whence he and his wife removed to Indiana and there died.

Among the first settlers of Defiance County was the family of Robert Shirley, and his daughter, Mrs. Ruth Austin, widow of Rev. James B. Austin, in her "Recollections of Pioneer Life in the Maumee Valley," alludes as follows to their previous attempted settlement in Hancock County:

"My father, Robert Shirley, and two other farmers of Ross County, Messrs. Moreland and Beaver, when viewing the country in 1820, had selected Fort Findlay as the place of their settlement, and in the spring of

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1821 they each sent out a four-horse wagon, with plows, etc., seed-corn and potatoes, also a stock of provisions and a few hogs. Two men were sent with each wagon, making a party of six. My brothers, James and Elias, took father's team. They cleared and fenced land, and put in corn and potatoes. When the summer's work was done, one man returned with each wagon to Ross County, leaving a horse apiece for the three men remaining. Brother James remained and Elias returned. To fatten the hogs, slaughter and pack them down, and to gather and store the corn and potatoes for the winter was the work of those remaining; then they left all in the care of Mr. Cox's family-the only residents there-and returned to their homes. The horse left for brother James had previously got away and went back to Ross County. The alarm at home was very great when the horse arrived without its rider; all were sure he had been killed until a letter was received from him explaining the circumstance. Having heard much of the Fort Defiance region, brother James went there before coming home, and was so captivated with it that, on his return, he persuaded father to change the location of his future home from Fort Findlay to Fort Defiance."

In the spring of 1822 the Shirley family removed from Ross County to the vicinity of Fort Defiance, and in her account of the trip Mrs. Austin, then a girl of eleven years of age, says: "After accompanying us to our destination, brother James returned to Fort Findlay for the purpose of conveying the provisions stored there, for the subsistence of the family, to Fort Defiance. He made the journey through the unbroken wilderness alone, on foot, provided with his compass, gun, ammunition, flints, punk and blanket. Our parents had great fears that James would fall a prey to wild animals or Indians, but he got safely through, and purchasing a pirogue at Fort Findlay, took the provisions down Blanchard's Fork to the Auglaize, and thence down that stream to Fort Defiance. These provisions had been raised the previous year in Hancock County, with the expectation that the future home of the family would be at Fort Findlay."

The Morelands were the next family to settle in Findlay Township, the two sons, William and Jacob, having come out with the Shirleys from Ross County in the spring of 1821. They cleared a small patch of ground, put in a crop, and erected a cabin on the southwest quarter of Section 17. In the fall the whole family, consisting of the parents and two sons and four daughters, removed to this county. The father, William, Sr., built a cabin on the north bank of the river, a little northeast of the dam which crosses the stream at Findlay, and all of the children lived with him except Jacob, who kept "bachelor's hall" in the cabin up the river, on what is now the Aaron Baker farm. This tract was soon afterward entered by John P. Hamilton, and when the latter came out in the spring of 1822, Moreland was compelled to remove from the land which he had improved with the intention of entering it when able to do so. William Moreland, Sr., was one of the judges at the elections held in Findlay Township in 1823 and 1824, being elected overseer of the poor in the latter year. In 1824 he was assessed for one horse and three head of cattle, but he never owned any land, and after residing in the county about eight years he removed to Michigan. In October, 1823, Jacob Moreland entered the west half of the southwest quarter of Section 7, Township 1 north, Range 11, and settled upon it. He is found assessed in 1824 with four head of cattle. On May 4, 1826, he was married to Sarah Poe (a niece of Jacob Poe) by Robert McKinnis, justice of

518 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

the peace, this being the second marriage in Hancock County. He was elected township treasurer in April, 1828, and removed to Michigan about. the same time as his father. William Moreland, Jr., entered the north half of the northwest quarter of Section 18, Township 1 north, Range 11, December 21, 1828, and on March 12, 1827, he was married to Julia, daughter of Job Chamberlin, Sr., by Joshua Hedges, justice of the peace of Findlay Township. He afterward sold his land to William Taylor and removed to a small farm on the west bank of Eagle Creek, in what is now Madison Township. In the spring of 1831, the territory now embraced in Eagle, Van Buren, and the west half of Madison Township was cut off Liberty and Findlay and erected as Van Buren; and at the first election held in the new subdivision in June, 1831, William Moreland, Jr., was chosen as justice of the peace. In May, 1833, he purchased the improvement of John Diller, but soon afterward sold out and settled on Section 36, Findlay Township. His wife died in March, 1836, and he subsequently followed his father and brother to Michigan. Two of his sisters, Susan and Elizabeth, were married, respectively, to John and Joseph Gardner, pioneers of Hancock County, who also moved away at an early day. Another sister married John Simpson, Jr., and removed to Michigan, while the remaining one married a Mr. Locke, who lived on the Tymochtee.

John Simpson, of Ross County, Ohio, entered the east half of the northeast quarter, and the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 25, Township 1 north, Range 10, October 25, 1821, and with his son John settled upon it the same fall. About two years afterward the father was killed by a falling limb. While hoeing corn in a field which they had partly cleared up, a storm came on, and in running to the house for shelter he was struck on the head by the falling limb and killed instantly. A few years after the father's death another son, Thomas, came out from Ross County, and they subsequently sold their land to Job Chamberlin, Sr. , and John Boyd. John Simpson, Jr., married a daughter of William Moreland Sr. After selling the old homestead the Simpsons purchased of John Gardner, Sr., the west part of the southeast quarter of Section 13, whereon a portion of Findlay now stands. On the 14th of March, 1828, they sold this tract to Wilson Vance, who subsequently laid it out in town lots. George W. Simpson is also found among the electors of 1828, and it is presumed he was a member of this family. Soon after selling out to Vance they went to Michigan, toward which a considerable immigration was moving about that period. During then residence in this county the Simpsons did very little farming, but kept a pack of hounds and followed the chase like true back woods Nimrods. It is said that one of their principal inducements in going to Michigan was a report brought back by a visiting wag that all sorts of crops produced abundantly in that region without cultivation, and wild game was very plentiful. Such a land of paradise for the hunter was what the Simpsons were looking for, and they went only to find it similar to the country they had deserted.

Job Chamberlin, Sr., comes next in the order of settlement outside the town of Findlay, having located with his family on the hill which bears his name, February 15, 1822. Mr. Chamberlin and his wife, Deborah, were born, reared and married in Colchester, Connecticut. Soon after marriage they removed to Cayuga County, N. Y., where eight children were born to them, viz.: Deborah, Sally, Nancy, Lucy, Vests, Julia. Norman and Job. The

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eldest there married Benjamin O. Whitman, who afterward removed to this county. In 1819 the parents, with the seven remaining children, boated down the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers to Lawrenceburg, Ind., and settled at Georgetown, a village about six miles from Lawrenceburg. Here Nancy died, and in the spring of 1821 Mr. Chamberlin removed to Urbane, Ohio. On the 4th of October, 1821, he entered the southwest quarter of Section 30, Township 1 north, Range 11, and the following February arrived with his family at the site of his future home, leaving two daughters, Sally and Lucy, in Urbane, where they were soon afterward married, respectively, to Levi and Thomas Taylor, pioneers of Champaign County. Messrs. Vance, Cox, Moreland, Smith and Simpson, the only families then living in the township, assisted Mr. Chamberlin to build a log cabin, into which he moved with his family the third day after their arrival. He soon made a clearing which he planted in corn, and from this crop raised sufficient to winter his stock through the winter of 1822-23. Mr. Chamberlin took an active interest in all 'the early elections. In those held in 1823 and 1824 he was one of the judges of election, and in the latter year was chosen treasurer, and also one of the trustees of Findlay Township, which then embraced the whole county. He was a candidate for commissioner at the first county election in April, 1828, and was defeated, but he was elected township trustee at that election. In the first tax levy, made in 1824, Mr. Chamberlin is assessed for five head of cattle, viz.: three cows and a yoke of oxen. But in a few years he was able to furnish the pioneers, who came into the county, with hogs, cattle, sheep, wheat, corn, wool and other necessaries then very scarce in this part of the State. In 1827 he bought out John Simpson, paying for the eighty acres in hogs, and thus became the owner of 240 acres, covering a large portion of "Chamberlin's Hill." His wife died January 8, 1829, and the next year he married Miss Sarah Criner. In 1831 he divided the old homestead on the hill equally between his, two sons, Norman and Job, and removed to a farm on Section 7, Liberty Township, where he died September 4, 1847, his widow surviving him till December 28, 1854. In early life Mr. Chamberlin was a Baptist, but his second wife being a Presbyterian he united with that church after his marriage to Miss Criner. Of the four children who came with him to this county in 1822, all are dead except Job. Vesta married Joseph C. Shannon, w ho then lived on the Tymochtee, and died in about a year afterward. Julia became the wife of William Moreland, Jr., in 1827, and died in 1836. Norman married Elizabeth Baker in 1832. She died the following year, and in 1834 he was married to Eliza W Watson, sister of Richard Watson, Sr., and died at his home on the hill in 1845, while serving as coroner of the county, leaving one son, John, who, in after years, removed to Illinois. Job, with his wife and family, lived on the hill till 1874, when he moved into the village, where he is now residing-the oldest living pioneer of Hancock County.

John P. Hamilton entered the west part of the southwest quarter of Section 17, Township 1 North, Range 11, October 8, 1821; and the east part of the southwest quarter of the same section. June 10, 1822. In the spring of the latter year Mr. Hamilton brought out Matthew Reighly and wife, and settled on his land, taking possession of a cabin previously erected by Jacob Moreland, who intended entering the tract, but put it off until too late, and thus lost the land and improvements thereon. With the assistance of Mr.

520 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

Reighly a crop was put in, and in the fall Mr. Hamilton brought his family to their new home on the Blanchard. He and wife, Martha, were natives of Virginia, who had settled in Gallia County, Ohio, whence with three children, Eliza, Robert and Mary B., they came to Hancock, where Lucinda, Julia, Emily, Parmelia and John were born. Of these Mrs. Job Chamberlin and Mrs. Emily Vandenburg, of Findlay, and John and Parmelia, of Kansas, are the only survivors. In 1824 Mr. Hamilton was assessed for two horses and two head of cattle. At the first county election in April, 1828, he was elected one of the three commissioners of Hancock County, and re-elected the following October, serving until December, 1831. Mr. Hamilton was one of the progressive men of that day and took an active interest in all the early public business of the county. He died in Findlay, November 8, 1857.

Bleuford Hamilton came out with his brother, John P., in 1822, and resided with the latter till his marriage with Zibella Beard, about 1829. He was one of the voters at the first county election; but as he died in the spring of 1833, he is not very well remembered.

Thomas Slight settled in Findlay Township early in the summer of 1822. He entered the south part of the southeast quarter of Section 17, Township 1 north, Range 11, October 29, 1821, his land adjoining John P. Hamilton's on the east. Mr. Slight was assessed in 1824 with one horse and four head of cattle. In April, 1828, he was elected coroner of Hancock County, and re-elected in October following, serving till November, 1830. He was again elected to the same office in October, 1832, and once more in 1835. Mr. Slight was a native of Maryland. He reared quite a large family and some of his descendants still reside in the county. He had a brother named Joseph, who came with him to Hancock, whence most of the family removed to Indiana.

John and Elizabeth Gardner and family settled on the site of Maple Grove Cemetery late in the fall of 1822. The parents were Pennsylvania - Irish and had a family of four sons and three daughters when they came to this county. The Gardner boys, Jonathan; John, William and Joseph, are remembered as well-developed specimens of physical manhood, who had few superiors in the backwoods sports of pioneer days. The father entered over 200 acres of land in Findlay and Liberty Townships in 1821 and 1822. John and Joseph Gardner married, respectively, Susan and Elizabeth Moreland. In 1828 John Gardner, Sr., sold his land near Findlay and soon after removed to Lagrange County, Ind. The whole Gardner family left the county soon after this time, some of them settling in Indiana and others in Michigan. At the second election, held in Findlay Township in April, 1824, John Gardner was elected one of the two fence viewers; and the same spring was assessed for two horses and four head of cattle. He was also a voter at the first county election in April, 1828, and the family were residents of the county about seven years.

Joshua Hedges came from Fairfield County, Ohio, to this township in September, 1824, and settled north of the river on Section 11, where he had entered about 160 acres of land March 28, 1822. Mr. Hedges was born in Virginia May 24, 1793, and removed to Fairfield County, Ohio, with his parents when quite small, where he grew to manhood and, April 13, 1815, was married to Miss Hannah Reese, also a native of Virginia, born in September, 1796. They had a family of one son and live daughters when they came

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to Hancock County, and three children were born here. Of the nine only one survives, though several of their grandchildren reside in the county. In April, 1828, Mr. Hedges was elected justice of the peace, and re-elected to the same office. He was the first treasurer of Hancock County, serving from April to October, 1828. In 1840 he was elected coroner and served one term. Mr. Hedges died on the old homestead northwest of Findlay, in 1845. his widow surviving him ten years, dying in 1855. He was a tall, muscular, energetic man, very hospitable and strictly honest, a stanch Democrat and for many years a member of the Methodist Church.

David Gitchel, of Logan County, Ohio, settled on the southeast corner of John Simpson's land, on "Chamberlin's Hill," about 1825. He built a cabin and cleared a few acres of ground, but when Simpson sold out to Job Chamberlin, Sr., in 1821, Gitchel moved to a piece of land about a mile south of the Simpson place, and finally went back to Logan County.

In the spring of 1827 Isaac Johnson and wife, and sons, Joseph, Isaac, Miller and Eli, and daughters, Betsy and Lydia (the former of whom subsequently married Matthew Reighly, and the latter Peter Deamer), came to this township. The Johnsons removed from Virginia to Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1811, and thence to this county sixteen years afterward. The father leased a piece of land of Joshua Hedges, in Section 11; was elected overseer of the poor in April, 1828, and after several years' residence in the county he re moved to Indiana. His son, Joseph, though bending under the weight of old age, is yet a resident of the county. A sketch of him will be found in the history of Marion Township.

John Boyd purchased the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 25, now the property of Ross Bennett, of Thomas Simpson, in 1827, and at once settled upon it. He built a comfortable cabin, cleared up a good-sized farm for those days, and put out an orchard. We find his name among the voters at the first county election. Boyd was an ardent Methodist, and conducted prayer and class-meetings at his house. He could play the violin fairly well, and some of the lively, "catching" tunes he had learned on that instrument he adapted to a few of the hymns, which he sang at these meetings. It is said that one of his friends, who did not admire such music in worship, asked Boyd why he introduced these fast tunes, when the latter replied, " I do not believe the Devil should have all the good music." His wife was a very good woman, and upon her death, about 1831, Boyd fell away from the church, became rather dissipated, soon had to sell his farm to John Bishop, and finally left the county.

John Jones located northwest of Findlay in the fall of 1827, whence he removed to a piece of land on Eagle Creek, south of the town. He was elected constable of Findlay Township in April, 1828. After a few years' residence in this county he went West, and is little remembered even by the oldest settlers.

Jacob Foster was a native of Virginia who settled in Ohio, and in the fall of 1828, with his wife, Mary, and six children, located a short distance north of Findlay, where he resided till his death. His eldest son, Jacob, is a resident of Findlay Township, and one of the oldest living pioneers of the township.

Judge Robert L. Strother was born in Virginia in 1801, and about 1819 removed with his parents to Licking County, Ohio. In the summer of 1828

522 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

he visited Hancock County, and, August 18, entered the northeast quarter of Section 21, Township 1 north, Range 10, which he afterward sold to Isaac Comer. In May, 1829, he again came to the county, and, June 1st, entered the east half of the southwest quarter of Section 12, in the same township and range, upon which he at once built a cabin and began an improvement. He soon afterward brought out his mother and sister, Malinda V., the latter subsequently the wife of Joseph C. Shannon. His mother resided in the county till her death in 1851. In October, 1831, Mr. Strother was elected county commissioner; and in March, 1835, the General Assembly elected him an associate judge of Hancock County. He served one term in each office. In 1847 Judge Strother was married to Miss Elizabeth Todd, who bore him one daughter, ere her death, now a resident of Columbus, Ohio. In 1851 he married Mrs. Sarah A. Merriam, nee Baldwin, to whom were born three children by this union, two of whom, with their mother, survive. Early in the fall of 1815 Judge Strother removed from his farm into Findlay, where he died October 8, of that year.

William Dulin located immediately east of the old cemetery in January, 1830, and died in 1882. He was an Englishman who had immigrated to Maryland, there married, and subsequently removed to Virginia. In 1816 he settled in Pickaway County, Ohio, whence the family came to this township. His widow survived him until 1866, and died at the home of her son, Sanfred F., in Portage Township. The latter is the only survivor of a family of ten children, and is one of the most intelligent pioneers now living in the county.

Leonard Tritch, of Crawford County, Ohio, entered 160 acres of land east of Findlay, and now partly within the corporate limits, in October, 1829, upon which he settled the following spring. He was born and reared in Maryland, whence he removed to Pickaway County, Ohio, where he married Miss Mary Hofheins, also a native of Maryland, subsequently settling in Crawford County. In the spring of 1830 he came to Hancock, accompanied by his wife and three children. He was a carpenter, and followed that trade after locating here. His wife died in 1838, he surviving her till 1842. They reared a family of six children, five of whom survive, and all residents of the township. The wife of Dr. Charles Osterlen, of Findlay, is one of the daughters, and it was at her home that Mr. Tritch died.

Abraham and Margaret Schoonover, he a native of Pennsylvania, and she of Virginia, located on the southeast quarter of Section 1, directly north of Findlay, in the spring of 1830. Mr. Schoonover entered the land in November, 1829, and January, 1830, coming here from Franklin County, Ohio, where they had previously been living. They reared a family of four children, three of whom are now living, viz.: John, Alfred and Mrs. Samuel Bergeman, all residents of Liberty Township. Mr. Schoonover died on the old homestead, in Liberty Township, February 11, 1863; his widow surviving him till March 13, 1878.

John Baker, Richard Wade and Henry Folk all came into the township in 1830. Mr. Baker and his wife, Mary, were natives of Virginia, and located in Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1812, removing to Franklin County in 1814. Early in 1830 he visited Hancock and entered land in Sections 6 and 7, Findlay Township, settling with his family on the southwest quarter of the former section in June of that year. His sons, Isaac and Jacob, were married before coming to this county, the latter locating in Marion Township,

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and the former on a part of his father's land in Section 6, Findlay Township. The parents reared a family of nine children, of whom only two, Aaron and Reuben, survive. Mr. Baker died on the home farm in 1841, and his widow ten years afterward. Their son, Aaron, resides upon the old John P. Hamilton farm, immediately east of Findlay, and is one of the few living pioneers of the township. Richard Wade was a brother of William and Wenman Wade, two pioneers of Liberty and Union Townships, respectively. He came in the spring of 1830, and settled on the southwest quarter of Section 26. In a few years Wade removed to a farm east of Eagle Creek, Section 6, Jackson Township, where he struck gas while digging a well in October, 1836, the first gas discovered in Hancock County. He subsequently sold out and went to Wood County, Ohio. Henry Folk came here from Pickaway County, Ohio, in the fall of 1830. and settled on the northeast quarter of Section 20, not far from W Wade. He had entered eighty acres in that section September 16, 1829. Mr. Folk was a cooper and continued to work at his trade for a few years after settling in this township. He was a large, muscular man, good-natured and affable, and resided in the county until his death, which occurred in East Findlay. Some of his children are yet residents of the county.

Robert Bonham, Sr., was born in Pennsylvania, April 5, 1793, and when two years old his parents removed to Hampshire County, Va., where Robert spent his early years. In 1817 the family removed to Muskingum County, Ohio, and Mr. Bonham there married a Miss Fleming, who after a few years died, leaving two children, viz.: John, a resident of Findlay Township, and Sophia, who is living in Minnesota. In 1829 Mr. Bonham visited Hancock County, and on the 5th of September entered the northeast quarter of Section 11, Findlay Township, upon which he settled in the summer of 1831. He built a cabin and lived alone about four years, doing his own household work and opening up his farm. He then married a Mrs. Douglas, who bore him three children: Robert, Johnson and Ellen; of whom Johnson, a resident of Kansas, survives. Ellen married Dr. J. A. Kimmell, of Findlay. and died a few years ago. Several years after the death of his second wife Mr. Bonham was married to Miss Anna McCormick (the marriage occurring December 1, 1853), who still survives him. Mr. Bonham was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of Findlay, for over forty years. He was a consistent Christian-a man who attended strictly to his own business-and died on May 11, 1815, in the eighty-third year of his age.

Daniel Andreck, John Bishop, John Harritt, Benoni Culp and Jacob Feller all settled in the township in the summer and fall of 1831. Andreck located in the north part of the township, in the summer of that year, and resided here several years, finally removing to Indiana. John Bishop bought John Boyd's farm on Section 25, in the summer of 1831, But did not remain long in the county, selling out to Thomas G. Whitlock the following year. John Harritt settled on the southeast quarter of Section 23 in October, 1831, where he resided till his death, in the spring of 1875. The parents came here from Pickaway County, Ohio, and of then six children born in this township, John, who lives in Findlay, is the only survivor. The aged mother lives with her son in Findlay. Benoni Culp and family came from Fairfield County, Ohio, in September, 1831, and settled in the north west part of the township. About five ,years afterward he removed into

526 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

Portage Township and died in 1841, leaving a widow and nine children. One of his sons, Samuel, is a resident of Findlay. Jacob Feller and wife are yet residing on the farm where they settled in October, 1831. He was born in Pennsylvania, in 1806, and the next year his parents removed to Fairfield County, Ohio, where Jacob grew to maturity. In November, 1829, he entered the northwest quarter of Section 26, Findlay Township. In 1830 he was married to Miss Mary Powell, of Fairfield County, and the following year settled on his land. Seven sons and five daughters were bore of this union, nine of whom are living and three sons residents of the county. Mr. Feller and wife are one of the oldest pioneer couples in the county, where they have resided a continuous period of fifty-five years.

John Byal was perhaps one of the best known pioneers of the county. He was born in Baltimore County, Md. , July 2v, 1791, and was the second son of William Byal. a subsequent pioneer of the township. The family removed from Maryland to Pennsylvania, and in 1809 to Stark County, Ohio. Here, in 1816, John was married to Miss Elizabeth Newstutter, and resided in that county till March, 1832, when he located in Section 11, Findlay Township, on the south bank of the Blanchard, about two miles northwest of Findlay, where some of his descendants still reside. Soon after coming he built a saw-mill, close to his home, which he moved a short distance westward in 1833. In 1834 he erected the frame grist-mill yet standing and in operation near the old homestead. This mill was a great convenience to the early settlers, and Mr. Byal's enterprise deserves the highest praise. He was the father of nine children, five of whom are living, viz. : Henry, in Findlay; William, in Iowa; Catherine, in Kalida, Ohio; Nancy and Rachel, in Kansas. Mr. Byal was elected justice of the peace in April, 1833. In October, 1833, he was elected county commissioner, and re-elected in 1836, and filled the office to the entire satisfaction of the people. He died July 13, 1859, and his widow January 22, 1859. Both are still well remembered by a large circle of the younger pioneer generation.

Other settlers of 1832 were Thomas G. Whitlock, Alvin Schoonover, Peter Deamer, and Samuel Spangler. Whitlock bought John Bishop's farm on Section 25, and subsequently opened the " Green Tree " tavern, which became a resort of the " fast" youth of the surrounding country. A Canadian herb doctor named Wolverton lived at Whitlock's back in the "thirties," and practiced medicine a year or two, when he suddenly disappeared and was never again heard of. Considerable suspicion was aroused against the Whitlocks, who appropriated his horse and buggy and collected some of his back accounts. They claimed he went to Wood County to gather herbs, which was the last they ever saw of him. This story was not credited by the neighbors, to some of whom Wolverton had expressed a suspicious fear of the Whitlocks; but the officers of the law took no cognizance of the doctor's disappearance, and the matter soon blew over. After a few years the Whitlock family sold out and left for parts unknown. Alvin Schoonover was a brother of Abraham, and with his wife and mother came from Franklin County in 1832, and settled north of Findlay on Section 12, whence, in 1851, he removed to Iowa. Peter Reamer and Samuel Spangler settled northeast of Findlay. The latter is now living on the bounty of the people at the Infirmary.

In the spring of 1833 Anthony Strother, of Muskingum County, Ohio, settled northeast of Findlay, where he Wag joined by his father, Benjamin, the

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next year. Some eight years afterward the latter removed to Van Wert County. In 1840 Anthony married Mary J. McRill, who reared a family of six children, all of whom are residents of this county. Mr. Strother died in 1868 and his widow in 1884.

Frederick Duduit was born in Scioto County, Ohio, in 1801. and came to Findlay Township in the fall of 1833. His parents were natives of Paris, France, who came to the United States in 1790 with the colony of French Catholic emigrants who located on the "French Grant," one of the most stupendous swindles ever perpetrated on a confiding people. Mr. Duduit married Miss Helen H. Gilruth, a daughter of Rev. James Gilruth. a pioneer preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of this union were born ten children, four of whom are dead. Mr. Duduit came here after marriage and settled on a tract entered by his father-in-law immediately west of Findlay, his late residence being now within the corporation. Here his wife died January 12, 1886, and he on the 28th of March following. both dying on a part of the farm where they had spent more than half a century.

In September, 1833, William Byal, with his wife and four youngest children, came from Stark County, Ohio, and finally settled within the present limits of Findlay, though at that time outside the village. One son was born after coming here, and two older sons by a former marriage, John and Peter, settled in the township in 1832 and 1833. respectively. The latter is still a resident of the village of Findlay where further mention n of him will be found. The father died on his farm in April, 1840, and his eldest son by second marriage, Absalom P., is the present representative in the General Assembly from Hancock County.

Samuel K. Radebaugh, of Fairfield County, settled southwest of town, where he yet resides, in the spring of 1834. Emanuel Phifer, also of Fairfield County, located on his present homestead southwest of Findlay the same year: and about that time Eli Thompson settled in the Radebaugh neighborhood but did not remain long. Henry Baker and Samuel Snyder, both from Fairfield County, came about 1834, both locating north of the river. The latter settled on Section 8, and several of his children reside in the county. George Hollenbeck, Samuel Switzer, Henry Bear and Aaron Alban came in along about 1835-36, and many others soon afterward set tling in different parts of the township. By this time the country around Findlay was quite thickly settled, and though later comers also suffered many of the hardships and trials inseparable from pioneer life, yet they had not to undergo that feeling of loneliness and isolation which the earlier pioneers felt and suffered.

First Elections and Township Officers, and List of Justices. -In the erection of Findlay Township the commissioners of Wood County ordered an election of township officers to be held on the 1st of July, 1823. We also find in the journal of the court of common pleas of Wood County, under the date of May 28, 1823, the following minute: "Ordered that there be allowed to the township of Findlay two justices of the peace, and that the election for said justices take place in said township on the 1st day of July, next, at the house of Wilson Vance." This was the first election held in

Findlay Township, which then embraced the whole county. The original poll book reads as follows: "No. 1, Township of Findlay, County of Wood, July 1, 1823, Job Chamberlin, Sr., William Moreland and Benjamin Chan-

528 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

dler, judges; Wilson Vance and Matthew Reighly, clerks. Judges and clerks being duly sworn, entered upon their respective offices. Number of electors, thirteen. It is certified that Robert McKinnis has thirteen votes for justice of the peace, and Wilson Vance has twelve votes for justice of the peace." There is nothing on record in Wood County showing who were elected to the other township offices, though it is certain they were all filled at that time. The second election took place April 5, 1824, with Job Chamberlin, Sr , William Moreland and Jacob Poe, judges; Wilson Vance and Matthew Reighly, clerks. Eighteen votes were cast, and Job Chamberlin, Sr., Wilson Vance and Jacob Poe elected trustees; Job Chamberlin, Sr., treasurer; Matthew Reighly, clerk; Wilson Vance, listen; Philip McKinnis, constable; John Gardner and John Hunter, fence viewers; and William Moreland and Robert McKinnis, overseers of the poor. At the election held in April, 1826, Joshua Hedges and William Hackney were chosen justices of the peace to succeed Wilson Vance and Robert McKinnis. At the first county election, April 7, 1828, Findlay Township also elected officers, viz.: Job Chamberlin, Sr., Wilson Vance and Edwin S. Jones, trustees; John C. Wickham, clerk; Jacob Moreland, treasurer; Isaac Johnson and William Wade, overseers of the poor; Robert McKinnis, Asa Lake, Sampson Dildine and Joseph DeWitt, supervisors; John P. Hamilton and Asher W Wickham, fence viewers; and John Jones and J Jesse Hewitt, constables. All of the foregoing are well remembered pioneers who then lived in different parts of the county.

The following roster of justices of Findlay Township since its organization in 1823, together with the dates of their respective elections, have been compiled from the official returns: Wilson Vance and Robert McKinnis, 1823; W illiam Hackney, 18'6; Joshua Hedges, 1826 and 1829; William L. Henderson, 1831 and 1834; Elias L. Bryan, 1832; John Byal, 1833; John Campbell, 1836; Price Blackford, 1837, 1840, 1843, 1846 and 1849; Abraham Daughenbaugh, 1839; Hugh Newell, 1840; John Patterson, 1843; Paul Sours, 1846 and 1851; George W. Galloway, 1849; Jesse Wheeler, 1852 and 1855; Henry Byal, 1854, 1857 and 1860; Daniel B. Beardsley, 1858, 1861, 1864, 1867. 1870, 1873, 1876, 1879 and 1882; John H. Burket, 1863; Elijah T. Dunn, 7866; Ezra Brown, 1869; Absalom P. Byal, 1872; Oren A. Ballard, 1874, 1877 and 1880; G. C. Barnd, 1883 and 1886; Ezra Brown, l885.

Churches and Schools.-There are only two churches in the township outside of Findlay, viz.: the Methodist Episcopal or "Heck Church," on Section 11, and Lion Evangelical or "Feller Church," on the Lima road, in Section 26. The history of the former society is given in the chapter on Liberty Township, where it had its inception, the present building having been erected in 1851, twenty years after the society was organized. The first members of the Evangelical society worshiped at the Powell Church, in Eagle Creek Township, but in 1857, Samuel, Henry and Peter Powell, Jacob Feller, Jacob Wagner, Rev. C. M. Rinehart and a few other families, organized a separate society and built the present brick church, southwest of Findlay. The building cost about $1,000, and was dedicated in 1858.

It was many years after the organization of the township in 1823, before there were any schoolhouses outside of the town, where the first school was opened in the winter of 1826-27. Most of the pupils attended school in Findlay, though a good many living along the line of Liberty Township

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patronized the first schools opened in that subdivision. It is therefore impossible to tell at what date the first school was taught outside the village, but it was prior to 1840; and with the steady growth in population schoolhouses made their appearance in every part of the township, which now contains seven buildings with a large attendance.

Roads and Population.-This is the only township in the county that can be said to possess macadamized roads, which were built under a special act of the Legislature, passed on petition of the citizens, allowing a tax to be levied for that purpose. Several of the main roads have been macadamized to the township line and the good work is still going on. The stone was obtained from the quarries south of the river, and the solid roads constructed from this material in this township have been of great advantage to the whole county. It would be an act of wisdom for the people of Hancock County to build similar highways throughout every- township. Such roads would enhance the value of real estate and render travel easy, even in the wettest seasons. Bad roads two-thirds of the year are a great drawback to the growing wealth of the county, and if Hardin County could afford to macadamize her roads there is no good excuse for Hancock to remain long behind her neighbor in such necessary internal improvements.

Outside of Findlay the township has about doubled its population since 1840, though the village has so greatly extended its corporate limits since that date that the township does not cover near the amount of territory it then did. Its population in 1840 was 464; 1850, 776; 1860, 879; 1870, 758, and 1880, 920. Including the village it has been as follows: 1840, 1,024; 1850, 2,032; 1860, 3,346; 1870, 4,073, and 1880, 5,553.

Factories. In 1861 F. J. Kevis bought a piece of land, on the hill south of Findlay, of Job Chamberlin, and erected a brewery thereon. He carried on the manufacture of beer at this point in connection with his Findlay brewery till 1875, when the building was burned down and never rebuilt.

In the spring of 1870 John B. Karat began the manufacture of tiles a short distance west of town. He has ever since continued the business, which, under his efficient management, has grown to large proportions. Mr. Karat employs from five to six hands throughout the year, and annually turns out about 250,000 tiles. This branch of trade has become one of the most important as well as one of the most valuable industries in the county, and thousands of acres have been brought under cultivation and rendered highly productive by the judicious use of tiles. Without tiling the great majority of the low flat lands in northwestern Ohio would be almost worth less for agricultural purposes, and millions of dollars would thus be lost to the annually increasing wealth of the State.