(RETURN TO THE HENRY & FULTON COUNTY INDEX) 200 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. township ; these lands were held for speculation, and were not for sale. (3) There were no roads nor access to market. (4) There were plenty of more desirable and eligibly located lands to be had at a cheap price. The construction of the Dayton and Michigan Railroad, which enters the township on the east near the half section line of section twelve, running southwesterly and leaving near the middle of section thirty-four on the solidi, was the frrst break made in the wilderness. The construction of this road necessitated drainage, but it was very superficial. A large reservoir was constructed at the place where Deshler now stands, and the surface water drained into it through Brush Creek, and became a main watering place for the railroad. The real improvement of Bartlow began with the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway in 1869. A frame building was erected and a supply store for the contractors and employees opened at tile reservoir, and the D. and then made that place a regular station, giving it the name of Alma. The B. and 0. enters the township near the middle of section twenty-four and runs in a northwestern direction, leaving at the northwest corner of section eighteen. The Deshler and McComb Railroad roils through sections thirty-six and twenty-five, terminating at Deshler in section twenty-three. The West Branch of Beaver Creek, Hammer Creek, Beaver Creek, Brush Creek, all cleaned out, widened and deepened, and surface and underground, together with the railroad ditches, affords good and sufficient drainage ; and fair roads are now constructed to almost every part of the township. THE VILLAGE OF DESHLER. This is the only town in the township. It was so named in recognition of John G. Deshler, the large land owner already referred to, but was laid out and platted by Frederick H. Short for himself and as trustees for a syndicate composed of Daniel McLane, Stephen S. L'Hommedieu, William Beckett, William E. Boven, Theodore Stanwood, John W. Hartwell, and John G. Deshler. The plat was recorded August 23, 1873. It is located in the southeast corner of section twenty-three, and the southwest corner of section twenty, four. It consists of two hundred lots, twenty out lots, and two public squares. North, Plum, Elm, Maple, Main, Mulberry, and Walnut streets, and frve alleys, run east and west ; Wood, Vine, Park, East, Lind streets, Keyser avenue and four alleys run east and west. On the 8th of February, 1875, Silas D. Stearnes, Justus Stearnes, and Josiah H. Stearnes platted an addition in the north side of the southwest quarter of section twenty-four, east of the D. & M. Railrord, and on both sides of the B. & 0. Railway. North, Plum, Elm, Maple, Main, and Mulberry streets were continued and Short street added, running east ; East and Lind streets were continued, and Ash and Oak added, running north ; Water, Holmes, and Bart- low streets and four alleys run southeast, and Stearnes avenue, Pine, Beach, HENRY COUNTY - 201 Sycamore, and Butternut streets, with five alleys, run northwest. One square is dedicated to the public. On the 18th of September, 1873, Short, for himself and as trustee, as already mentioned, added addition to the village embracing eighteen of the out lots in the original plat, the part of the northeast quarter of section twenty-three not before platted, eighty acres in the northwest quarter of section twenty-three, fifteen and a half acres in the southwest quarter of section twenty-three, thirty-five acres in the southeast quarter of the same section, forty-nine acres in the southeast quarter, and seven acres in the southwest quarter of section fourteen. The addition was on both sides of the B. &.O. Railway. It continued North, Plum, Elm, Maple, Main, and Mulberry streets, with the alleys on the north side of the railway, and continued Walnut, and added South, Buckeye, Marion, and Harrison, running east and west, on the south of the railway. It also continued Keyser avenue, Park, Vine, and Wood streets, and alleys, and added Washington, Chestnut, and Deshler streets, running north and south. The incorporation of the village was perfected on the 3oth day of April, 1876. It has now a population of about fourteen hundred ; maintains a fire department, is grading and improying its streets, sidewalks, etc. It has a fine $3,000 brick school building, and an excellent graded school is taught nine months in the year. A Methodist Episcopal brick church, a Roman Catholic frame church, and a Free Methodist frame church furnish sufficient places for worship. The Deshler Flag, a five-column quarto weekly journal, is published here. There is also a machine shop and foundry. One of the m0st extensive stave factories in northwestern Ohio is owned and operated by Mr. A. W. Lee. A large saw-mill, owned by Messrs. Ball and Smith, has a capacity of 35,000 feet per day, and turns out annually 2,000,000 feet of sycamore lumber, used almost entirely for tobacco boxes, besides a large amount of ash, oak, and hickory for domestic and shipping purposes. Heidelbach Brothers are manufacturing tobacco boxes, and deal in lumber, sash, doors, etc., on an extensive scale. Mitchell & Widdner are the proprietors of the Deshler brick and tile works, an industry which is assuming large proportions. Through the enterprise of Mr. Mace Baer, a large brick block has been erected within the last two years. The citizens are energetic and enterprising. When we glance back and see the wonderful changes and transformations which have taken place within s0 few years, eastern fable assumes a shade of plausibility, and Aladdin's lamp seems a possibility. William Hubbard, when editor of the Northwest, in appreciation of the wonderful improvement, and partly joking Tontogany, a village in Wood county, wrote the following fable, which js worth preserving : 202 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. THE OLD TIME AND THE NEW. BY A FROG AND AN OWL. There was a great big Frog, and lie Sat on a great big log, and he Croaked thus : " I'm old Mahogany, " First settler at Tontogany ! " Boola-ba-lum !—Lum !—Lum! " Boola-ba-lum !—Lum !—m -m! " I've seen a settler ' shiver and shake, Until I thought his liver would break ! Then bitters and barks endivver ' to take, And gag, and hid-je-ous ' faces make ! " I've known the fog so thick at night You'd get from your candlewick no light But stir the air with a stick, you might, And the smell it would make you sick outright. "The doctor he kept a mercury can, And found the practice hard work for a man ; But feeling your pulse with a jerk, he ran To measure your calomel out in a pan ! " The sick were as ten to one well, you know, And the well one a doctor would tell to Go ! 'For daddy and mamma is awful low, And you'll find our house by the cow-bell, O !' " The doctor behind him fastened a boat, A life-preserver tied round his throat, And with rubber pants and vest and coat, He was ready to ride, or row, or float ! " If an old she-bear didn't cross his way, Or a catamount chaw him up ' for prey, He would reach the house by break of day, And on the road home would whistle for pay !" Thus spoke the old bull-frog, and he Dodged under his slippery log, then he Croaked out : " Good-bye, Tontogany ! "You'll see no more of Mahogany ! " Boola-ba-lurn !—Lum !—Lum! " Ker-chug !" There was an owl perched on a tree ; She oped her eyes that she might see— She wondered what in the world could be The cause of the croak at Tontogany. " Too-hoot !—To-hoot !—To-hoo! " To-hoot !—To hoot !—To-hoo-oo-oo ! "No 'fevernagur ' now is near, Nor harks nor bitters are wanted here— The fog is gone and the sky is clear, And health has reigned for many a year. HENRY COUNTY - 203 " The doctor has sold his mercury can, He keeps no more a calomel pan, His life-preserver was bought by a man,' And he made of his boat a bin for bran. "A thousand channels are digged. you see, Our rich, wild lands from water are free ; And the rivulets ripple and roll in glee To swell the waves of the broad Maumee. " The she-bear and her cubs are gone — The wolves died howling one by one, To the crack of the settler's deadly gun, When the day was past and the chopping done. “Let croakers such as Mahogany, Do just as did that frog, when he Went under the slippery log, and he Said Good-bye, old Tontogany! Boola-ba-lum !—Lum!—m Tier-chug ! "The old time's past— to-hoot ! — to-hoo oo ! We welcome now the new- !" CHAPTER XVIII. HISTORY OF DAMASCUS TOWNSHIP. IT would appear that the biography of a middle aged man could be easily written, and the information obtainable from one person. So should the history of a county, young as that of Henry, be accurately and speedily compiled. We are, however, confronted with a mountain of difficulties seemingly insurmountable. The smoke of the element, to the music of which Nero is said to have kept time with his fiddle, has obscured the early foot-prints ; ignorance has made no record, and when made carelessness has permitted it to be destroyed. Unlike an old settled county one generation has not stepped into the tracks of its predecessor, and tradition preserved the record ; but like the Toltecs and the Aztecs, the successor has inherited no history of its predecessor, and it is only from a few landmarks and the impaired recollection of a very few of the remaining members of the original tribe of Abraham that we are ,enabled to gather a few recollections worth preserving and embalming in print. THREE STAGES OF CIVILIZATION. We find three types of civilization as having existed here. Pioneer is rather a misnomer for the first, as he came not as a settler, removed but few obstruc- 204 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. tions, and cleared a very narrow way tor those who were to follow ; he was rather an adventurer, restless in civilization and happy only in the solitude of wild nature ; the rifle and the dog were his companions, and the fruit of the hunt and trap his only means of support. Very little improvement was made by this type ; a small corn and truck patch was cleared, and a rude log cabin erected, but the immense forests remained comparatively undisturbed. He was followed by the man with the ax, and in his footsteps came the saw-mill. This was the timbering period, and the giants of the forest fell rapidly before the woodman's ax. The monster oaks were felled, hewed, sleded to the Maumee, rafted to Toledo, thence on vessels to Montreal and Quebec, and then to Liverpool, England, where they were converted into vessels. The walnut, ash and poplar were converted into lumber and shipped to Eastern markets. The soft wood has become valuable only in late years and since the advent of the stave factory and hoop maker. With the lumbermen came many who remained, and accompanied or followed by others in search of cheap homes. These with their descendants, eastern arrivals and foreign immigration make up the present population and civilization. CIVIL ORGANIZATION Damascus township was organized as a voting precinct in 1823, included the whole of what was then Henry county, with the voting place at Independence, now in Defiance county. As time advanced improvements multiplied and population increased, new civil townships were formed, until Damascus is at present limited to the original government-surveyed township No. Five, north of range eight, east, minus so much as lies north of the Maumee River, and forms part of Washington township, being sections 1 and 6, the most of 5 and 7, and parts of three and 4. It is, of course, bounded on the north by the Maumee, on the east by Wood county, on the south by Richfield, and on the west by Harrison township. In 1840, when its territory, divided with Richfield and Flat Rock, embraced all of the county south of the river, it had a population of only 489. In 1860, reduced to its present dimensions, it contained 761 souls, which in 1870 had increased to 1,179, this grew to 1,415 in 188o, and at present, estimating from the voting population and including the village of McClure, which has sprung up since, must number not less than 2,000 persons. TOPOGRAPHY The township, in common with the county, is very level, or rather flat. It is, however, easily drained into the several natural water courses which run through the township, emptying into the Maumee. The south branch of Turkey Foot, the main creek south of the Maumee, enters the township in the southwest quarter of section nineteen, running north- HENRY COUNTY - 205 easterly through sections nineteen, eighteen and seventeen and emptying into the river in the west half of section eight. Lick Creek starts in the southwest corner of section twenty-nine, also running in a northeasterly direction until it reaches the river in the northwest corner of section three, a fragment of which lies south of the river. The east branch of this creek commences in the southwest corner of section sixteen, uniting with the main creek in the southeast corner of section nine. Big Creek starts in the southwest quarter of section thirty-four, running south, tending slightly to the east, through sections twenty-seven, twenty-two, fifteen and eleven, reaching the river in the southwest quarter of the latter section. The channels of these creeks have been greatly improved by widening and deepening, and with the system of artificial drainage, both surface and under-ground tiling, completely drain the township, which is now one of the best improved and most productive in the county, the soil being mainly black alluvium and its fertility seemingly inexhaustible. The Coldwater, Mansfield and Lake Michigan Railroad is located through the township, its road commencing at the east side of the southwest quarter of section twenty-five and running in a southwestern direction through sections twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty and nineteen. The "Narrow Guage," now converted into a standard, and known as the "Clover Leaf" route, also runs through the township, entering on the east line at the northeast corner of section thirteen and running diagonally through the township, southwesterly to the southwest corner of section thirty-one. It crosses the road bed of the C. M. & L. M. Railroad, in the northeast quarter of section twenty-eight. The location of the railroads, and especially the construction of the narrow guage, gave birth to the VILLAGE OF MCCLURE This, the only village in the township, was laid out and platted into town lots by John McClure, and entered of record in the office of the recorder of Henry County, April 15, 1880, and is situated '' in the northeast part of the northeast quarter of section twenty-eight,'' on the hne of the Delphos and Toledo (narrow guage) Railroad. The original plat was 711 feet square and was divided into twenty-eight lots, including the depot grounds. On the 7th day of February, 1881, Mr, McClure added an addition of thirty-two lots on the south of the town, increasing the number of lots to sixty. April 7, 1881, David Foltz platted an addition of six lots to the east side of the town, and August 26, 1881, added another addition of four lots on the south of the town. October 19, 1881, J. G. Markley's addition of twenty-four lots was added to the north of the town. Sept. 23, 1881, Mr. McClure added his second addition of twenty-six lots on the west of his first addition. Sept. 5, 1882, Ammond Smith platted an addition of five lots to the west of McClure'S second addition. April 10, 1885, J. G. Markley added a second addition of sixteen lots on the west of his first addition. 206 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. The village was incorporated in 1886, and the plat admitted to record on the loth day of August of that year. The first substantial building erected in the village was in 1880, on lot fifteen on the original plat, by Thomas W. Durbin, who for a number of years had been merchandising at Texas, in Washington township. The building is a two-story frame, one hundred and thirty feet deep, and twenty-two feet wide. A general mercantile business is carried on by the " Durbin boys "—Dickinson, Charles and Clark, sons of the proprietor. The same year Andrew Johnson erected a commodious hotel ; the year following the Rowland brothers put up an elevator and also a store-room ; following were the Counselman brothers with still another store ; then came the stave factory, planing-mill, etc. The town at present contains a population of five hundred, has a post, express and telegraph office, one church, a large two-story school-house, three general stores, one drug store, a hardware store, saw-mill, stave factory, planing-mill, and the various mechanical artisans. Gas and oil have lately been struck, mains and pipes have been laid, and the town is now heated and lighted by the natural vapor. EARLY SETTLERS. In 1837 there were but three hundred and eighty-five acres of land in what is now Damascus township, on the duphcate for taxation, and it was a number of years after that date before settlement commenced. John Savage was, perhaps, one of the very first actual settlers ; Abraham Snyder came from Virginia in 1840, but first settled in 'Washington, at that time called Myo township ; James Reid came in 1843 ; James Fiser, also from Virginia, came the same year ; Samuel Dcmer in 1849, and Solomon Domer the year following; Milton Jennings came in 1851; Jacob Beaver was one of the early settlers; William Bell, Philip W. Counselman, the Shepard family, John M. McClure, John Foltz, John C. McLain, may be mentioned among the pioneers to whom is due the credit of converting the forests of Damascus into a garden. Present Condition.—Not less than three fourths of the lands of this township were under a high state of cultivation, worth from $25 to $85 per acre. The township is well ditched, has good roads on almost every section line; its residences and farm buildings are surpassed by few localities, and it has more churches and school-houses than any other township in the county, or, in fact, in most any other county. Its population is very moral, sober and industrious, in fact a more desirable community or better county in which to live, will be hard to find. Damascus township presents several sad examples from which the farmer and agriculturist should profit. Several of her pioneer and best to do farmers who purchased government lands at a low price in the early days of the county, settled in the wilderness, and patiently enduring all hardships and deprivations, HENRY COUNTY - 207 were in their old age induced by their boys, who had become fascinated with town life, or felt too proud to farm, to sell their hard earned homes, now valuable, and remove to the neighboring town and engage in merchandising, a business of which neither they or their boys knew anything. In discussing the reasons why so many of the boys born and bred on farms, become dissatisfied with rural life, and why so few follow the occupation at which their fathers had won success, there is one that is too little considered. Most of these young men expect some day to marry, and seeing how hard a time their mothers usually have, are properly unwilling to oblige the girls they love to assume such arduous responsibilities. In fact, they cannot oblige a girl to become a farmer's wife if they would. The time for such obligation has not yet come, and in ninety- nine cases out of one hundred, ambitious girls, who like a man well enough for himself, suppress their feelings and give him the go-by, if this be the prospect in life that he holds out " for better or for worse." It is, unfortunately, not altogether a prejudice that thus influences young women against the farm, or rather it is the natural prejudgment of their own fate from the facts in farmers' wives' experiences with which they are themselves familiar. Undoubtedly the greatest improvement in farming life now needed consists in greater comforts and conveniences for farmers' wives. The farmer himself has all sorts of labor-saving machinery. The wife often has to do with only the same conveniences provided for her mother and grandmother before her. As social duties become more exacting her time and leisure are less than formerly. Children 0n the farm do not " rough it " as much as they used to. Just all the difference in their appearance marks so much the greater care thrown upon the mother. It is more difficult than formerly to get good help in the house in the country. Girls who work in private families prefer city life. They, too, had rather find a beau among the young men in some city avocation than on a farm. Now, as far as possible, a farmer should make his wife's work proportionately as easy as his own, or he should quit the business if satisfied that this cannot be done. Usually the hardest jobs in the house may be saved by a little timely thoughtfulness on the part of the husband and men folks. Having a good supply of wood or other fuel in a convenient place ought to be a requirement from every housewife. So, too, should good hard and soft water convenient for use. Many steps may be saved by constructing sewage drains to convey slops from the house. This drain should terminate in some receptacle at a distance from the house, which, kept disinfected, will more than pay its way in providing fertilizers for the farm. It is presumed that most farmers' wives have sewing machines. They are as great help in the house as mowers and harvesters are on the farm, and may be used many more days in the year. The ice-house and creamery should be maintained wherever a cow js kept. They make a great saving in the labor of 208 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. caring for milk, and are besides well worth their cost in making more and better butter than by the old laborious methods. The ice-cold milk from the creamer is an excellent drink for hard working men. With every particle of cream removed it is as nutritious as it ever was, and its coolness, combined with nutrition, makes it yaluable for a drink to men in the hay and harvest fields. Then, too, with plenty of ice it is easy to have ice cream easily, made cheaply and better than nine-tenths of what is sold in cities. With beautiful home-grown flowers in the dooryard, and perhaps a green-house for them in winter, the farmer's wife need ask no odds of her city sisters with equal wealth in the pleasures and refinements of life which each may enjoy. The trouble with most farmers is that they do not make the most of little things where they can easily and cheaply increase the comforts and luxuries of life. Lacking these they look with greater envy 0n the supposed advantages of city residents, and of course become discontented and unhappy. If farmers asked the advice of their wives more than they do about household arrangements, and gave them their way in these, they would find the comforts of their homes greatly increased thereby. Perhaps then their sons, whom they hope to leave as prosperous farmers, would not be deterred from their fatherls business by their inability to find lovable and intelligent young women willing to share such a life with them. CHAPTER XIX. HISTORY OF FLAT ROCK TOWNSHIP. IN the year 1833, about September, my parents (Jared and Susanna Scofield) left Delaware county, N. Y., for the Maumee Valley. We boarded a canal boat at Utica, N. Y., on the Erie Canal, which took us to Buffalo; thence by sail up Lake Erie. After a tedious journey of several days we arrived at a place called Portland (now Sandusky City) east of the mouth of Sandusky River; thence by wagon to Lower Sandusky (now Fremont); thence across to Perrysburg, through what was then called the Black Swamp, which, indeed, was properly named. The road is now macadamized, but then was black swamp the entire distance. I recollect one day our progress was so slow that we did not get far enough to find a place to stay over night without camping in the mud and water, and we were without horse feed. We left the wagons, went back and stayed at the place we had stayed the night before. After this tedious (1) Written and contributed for this volume by James E. Scofield, a pioneer of the Maumee Valley, from personal recollections, records, and information derived from other early settlers. HENRY COUNTY - 209 journey of several days (thirty-one miles) we arrived at Perrysburg, there forded the Maumee River, and went up the north bank to Providence. There we camped in a log cabin, without floor or windows, and allowed the teams to return to their homes in Portland. Our emigrant train consisted of father, mother and seven children, four boys and three girls, and grandmother ; also Uncle and Aunt Lucinda Morse (mother's sister), with two children, a boy and a girl. My father went prospecting (being some acquainted with the country from a visit here the year before) with his niece and her husband, Joseph Heath, who also located here in the spring of the same year, on the north bank of the river, opposite Girty's Island. The remainder of the family remained in camp in regular Indian style, hunting and fishing. Game and fish were plenty. Upon my father's return, after an absence of a week, we broke camp and embarked on a double pirogue, which consisted of two huge trees being dug out in proper shape, with reasonably thin sides and bottom to make them light as possible, and yet substantial enough to endure some hardships, then laid side by side matched together and caulked in the seam to prevent leaking. Then " wales " were added around the top of the sides for poling, or propelling purposes. I believe they had a name for the craft to designate it from a pirogue, which is one huge tree dug out like a canoe. Thus equipped, and under command of Captain Carver, we weighed anchor and glided up the placid Maumee, using poles for power, and arrived late in the evening of the same day at Girty's Island, and the residence of Joseph Heath, before mentioned. All the parties were mutually acquainted in the State of New York. In this neighborhood I have resided since. On coming up the river a fine buck was seen swimming across at some distance above us. Uncle Orrin being anxious to have the first deer made a shot, at a long distance, but failed to hit him. Shortly after when nearer, father made a better shot, killing the deer. Upon arriving at the spot, the water being shallow and full of grass, the deer did not sink but was easily pulled into the boat. This was our first venison captured in Ohio, or perhaps any other place. It is my first recollection of venison. At this time (about October, 1833) Napoleon was not known. Not a tree was cut. The branches of trees hung over the banks of the river on either side all the way up, and indeed, all the way to Defiance, and also Fort Wayne, Ind. Now and then were observed small clearings, one of which was that of John Patrick, (a pioneer of 1824) three miles east of Napoleon. Another owned by widow Bucklin, near the mouth of Turkey Foot Creek; Mr. Gunn's, at Prairie du Masque; Samuel Bowers's about one mile west, and Elisha Scribner's, off the river farther north. The next clearing west of John Patrick was that of Elijah Gunn, a pioneer of 1826, at Girty's Point, opposite of the east end of Girty's Island, in (now) Flat Rock township; then Joseph Heath's, op- 210 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. posite the west end of the island, on the north bank of the river. On the south bank were Reuben Wait and Amos Cole. The three last named families were pioneers of 1833. Then came John Lowry's plan, up near Snake Town, formerly an Indian town on the south bank, opposite the (now) town of Florida; then John Carver, at Snake Town. William Hunter's inn, or hotel, was a double log cabin on the north bank (now Florida); Thomas Brown lived a half mile east ; William Bowen, who afterward laid out the town of Florida, lived on his land. He had a small clearing, as also had Mr. Hunter and Mr. Brown. The next clearing, west of Florida, was that of Richard Grimes, on the north side of the river and a little back (now the residence of Dr. Gibbons Parry). The next on the river bank, in succession, now in Richland township, Defiance county, were Mr. Tuttle, Samuel Rohn, Dr. Jonathan Evans, Hively, Isaac Brancher and Pierce Evans (near Defiance). On the south bank were Dr. J. L. Watkins (in now Flat Rock), Graves (now Richland) and Samuel Kepler. Then Fort Defiance, at the junction of the Au Glaize and Maumee Rivers. TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION—ELECTION RECORDS. Flat Rock township was organized on the 23d day of May, 1835. The records show the election of its first officers of that date. William Bowen and Samuel Rohn were judges, and Jared Scofield and Amos Cole, clerks of election. The book shows ten votes polled. Amos Cole was elected justice of the peace; John L. Watkins, Richard Grimes and Jared Scofield, trustees; Joseph Heath, clerk and constable; William Bowen and George Lowry, overseers of the poor ; John Lowry and Jesse King, fence viewers; John L. Watkins and Elijah Gunn, road supervisors. June 22, 1835. Trustees met and divided the township into school districts. Number three included Pleasant township and Marion and Monroe, if they had any inhabitants. The records do not show when these townships were detached, neither do they show how Richland and Flat Rock were together, but from memory (as a boy fifteen years old), the election was held on the bank of the river, on the territory now of Richland, using a hat for the ballot box. Some of the voters lived there then, and since to time of their decease. The first State and county election was held October 13, 1835. John L. Watkins, Jared Scofield and Richard Grimes were the judges, and Samuel Rohn and William Wait, clerks of said election. Patrick G. Good received eight votes for senator, Stacy Taylor five, John E. Hunt, five, and John C. Spink, three ; Samuel Marshal had five votes for representative; for county commissioner, Amos Cole had thirteen, Isaac Brancher, ten, and Jonathan Mead, eight votes; for surveyor, John L. Watkins had ten, and Frederick Lord two; for sheriff, Samuel Bowers had thirteen; for coroner, William Bowers had thirteen; for auditor, Hazael Strong had thirteen; for recorder, John N. HENRY COUNTY - 211 Evans had thirteen; for prosecuting att0rney, Frederick Lord had four ; for treasurer, Israel Wait had twelve, and for county assessor, Willis Wait had thirteen votes. The first settlement with township officers was held March 7, 1836. Trustees present, John L. Watkins, Jared Scofield and Richard Grimes. The next township election was held April 4, 1836. Jared Scofield, John L. Watkins and Richard Grimes were judges, and Joseph Heath and Reuben Wait, clerks. Reuben Wait, Jared Scofield and Richard Grimes were elected trustees. and Joseph Heath clerk. The following October my father, Jared Scofield. died, which ended his further action in developing this, then, wilderness. The second State and county election was held October It, 1836, with twenty-four electors present. For governor, Joseph Vance had seventeen votes, and Eli Baldwin seven; for congress, Patrick G. Good had seventeen, and James Brown seven; for representative in State legislature, John Holister had seventeen votes, and Amos Evans seven ; for county commissioner, John Patrick had twenty-four votes ; for recorder, Hazael Strong had eighteen votes, and John Glass six. From this record it would seem that the Whigs were in the ascendancy. (A much different state of affairs now exists ) From my recollection the persons receiving the larger number of votes were all Whigs. The Democratic majority over the Republicans will run an even hundred, and perhaps a little more at this time (1887). The next township election was held April 3, 1837. Sixteen electors were present. Reuben Wait, Richard Grimes and Jesse King were elected trustees; Joseph A. Brewer, clerk; William B0wen, treasurer; for school examiner, Wm. C. Brownell had fifteen votes, Isaac P. Whipple sixteen, and Reuben sixteen. The record does not show how the tie vote was settled. The next State and county election was held October to, 1837, with thirty-two electors present. For State senator, John Patterson had twenty-one votes, and Curtis Bates eleven; for representative, George W. Crawford had twenty-one, and Parley Carlan eleven ; for county commissioners, Isaac Brancher had twenty- two, and James Magill eight ; for treasurer, Israel Wait had twenty-two, and John Glass, five; for auditor, John Powell had twenty-one and Frederick Lord eleven ; for sheriff, Alexander Craig had nineteen votes, and Henry Leonard twelve; for coroner, John B. Rundel had twenty-one, and Joseph Heath ten ; for prosecuting attorney, William D. Barry had ten, and Frederick Lord twenty-one; for assessor, Adolphus Patrick had eleven, and Willis Wait twenty-one. The next township election was held April 2, 1838. Reuben Wait, Richard Grimes and Jesse King were elected trustees, and William C. Brownell clerk. At this election William C. Brownell, Richard Grimes and Amos Cole were elected school land trustees. On the loth day of May, 1838, Amos Cole was elected justice of the peace for a second term, and John B. Rundel for a fjrst term, making two justices in the township. 212 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. The next State and county electi0n was held October 9, 1838. Number of electors present, 25. For governor, Joseph Vance had 14 votes, and Wilson Shannon It ; Congress, Patrick G. Good had 14, William Sawyer 11 ; State senator, John Hollister 14, and Curtis Bates 11 ; representative, William Taylor had 04; and Perley Carlin t1 ; county commissioner, Jonathan F. Evans 12, and Henry Leonard 13 ; surveyor, William C. Brownell 24, Frederick Lord 1. The next township election was held April 1, 1839. Reuben Wait, Richard Grimes and Jesse King were elected trustees, and Wm. C. Brownell, clerk; William Bowen, treasurer, and Jacob Barnhart, justice of the peace, in place of John B. Rundel, deceased. The next State and county election was held October 8, 1839. For State senator, John E. Hunt had 17 votes, and Jonathan Taylor 14; representative, Moses McNelly had 16, and William Taylor 14 ; sheriff, Alexander Craig had 22, and William D. Barry 5 ; treasurer, John Patrick 16, and Samuel Bowers, 14; auditor, John Powell 16, and Lorenzo L. Patrick 1 2 ; commissioner, John Knapp 14, and David Edwards 14 ; assessor, Benjamin B. Abell 17, and William C. Brownell 14 ; recorder, Hazael Strong 21, and John Glass 3 ; coroner, Joseph Heath 18, and John Patrick n0. On the sec0nd day of March, 1840, George A. Young, a citizen of T. 3, N. R. 6, E. (now Pleasant township), presented a petition signed by citizens of that part of territory of Flat Rock township, praying to be set off in a separate school district, known as No. 4, to include No. 3 north of ranges 6 and 7, east (now Pleasant and Marion townships), which was granted ; also, at the same time, altered that part of school districts Nos. 2 and 3, as originally divided, as follows : All of No. 3, in Flat Rock township (T. 4, north of range 6, east), to be included in No. 3 ; also to include all of No. 4, north, range 7, east (now Monr0e township). This left Nos. i and 3, all on the north side of the river, in No. 4, north of range 6, east, which has ever since remained in Flat Rock township. The next township election was held April 6, 1840. Reuben Wait, Jesse King and Richard Grimes were elected trustees; Isaac Bowen, treasurer. The records for federal, State and county election do not appear on the minutes for this year. The writer of this chapter was attending school at Lancaster, Fairfield county, 0., that summer. There he saw General William H. Harrison, candidate for president on the Whig ticket, and Colonel Richard M. Johnson, candidate on the Democrat ticket for vice-president ; also Thomas Corwin, candidate for governor of Ohio, and Hon. William Allen, since member of Congress from that portion of Ohio, and governor of the State, and many other leading politicians of that day. The next township election was held April 6, 1840. Trustees elected, Reuben Wait, Jesse King and Richard Grimes ; clerk, William Wait ; treasurer, Isaac Bowen. For the first time, G. A. Young, a citizen of the territory of HENRY COUNTY - 213 (now) Pleasant township, was elected supervisor of road district No. 4. The records do not show when this road district was created. Road districts Nos. 1, 2 and 3, were in existence some time before this, and, at this election, George Luciobel was elected for district No. I ; William Miller for No. 2, and Isaac P. Whipple for No. 3 ; overseers of the poor, Isaac Bowen and Washington Lowry; fence viewers, Addison Goodyear, Cyrus Howard and Jesse King; constables, Adam Stout and Henry Banks, The next township election was held April 5, 1841. Richard Grimes, Jesse King and Amos Cole were elected trustees, and David Harley, clerk ; treasurer, Isaac Bowen ; overseers of the poor, David Harley and Cyrus Howard. On May 21, Cyrus Howard was elected justice of the peace at a special election. The next election was held April 4, 1842. School land trustees, John Lowry, Amos Cole and Isaac P. Whipple ; trustees of township, Cyrus Howard, David Harley and William Wait ; clerk, George W. Patterson ; assessor, William C. Brownell ; treasurer, Isaac Bowen. The records do not show State and county election. The next township election was held April 3, 1843. Cyrus Howard, Washington Lowry and Adam Stout were elected trustees; George W. Patterson, clerk ; treasurer, Isaac Bowen; assessor, Andrew Rundel. The next annual township election was held April 1, 1844. Amos Cole, Robert Newell and Reuben Wait were elected trustees; Jared McCarty, clerk ; Andrew Rundel, assessor ; Cyrus Howard, treasurer, The latter did not qualify, and Lyman Back was appointed by the trustees to fill the vacancy. Cyrus Howard was also elected justice of the peace, at this election, but did not qualify, and, on the 22d day of June, 1844, Amos Cole was elected to fill the vacancy. At the next annual election, held April 7, 1845, Reuben Wait, Amos Cole and Robert Newell were elected trustees ; Jared McCarty, clerk ; Daniel A. Blodget, treasurer; Amos Cole, assessor. The next annual township election was held April 6, 1846. Robert Newell, Reuben Wait and Lemuel Sapp were elected trustees ; Gibbons Parry, clerk ; Daniel Blodget, treasurer, and Jared McCarty, assessor. The next annual election for township was held April 5, 1847. Amos Cole was elected justice of the peace ; Robert Newell, Amos Cole and Elijah Gunn, trustees ; Lyman Back, clerk ; Adam Stout, treasurer, and James E. Scofield, assessor. The next annual election was held April 6, 1848. Lyman Back was elected justice of the peace ; Emanuel Barnhart, David Harley and Amos Cole, trustees; Andrew J. Scofield, clerk ; Adam Stout, treasurer, and James E. Scofield, assessor. The next annual election was held April 2, 1849. Emanuel Barnhart, Eli- 214 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. jah Carr and David Harley were elected trustees ; Andrew J. Scofield, clerk; Adam Stout, treasurer, and James E. Scofield, assessor. The next annual election was held April 1, 1850. Emanuel Barnhart, Elijah Carr and Amos Cole were elected trustees ; J. C. McCracken, clerk ; Adam Stout, treasurer, and Charles G. Shull, assessor ; also, Elijah Carr was elected justice of the peace. On June 25, Lyman Back resigned his office of justice of the peace, and Jonathan Cook was elected to fill the vacancy, October 8, 1850. The next annual election for township officers was held April 7, 1851. Amos Cole, Elijah Carr and John Brubaker were elected trustees ; Adam Stout, treasurer ; Charles G. Shull, assessor, and J. C. McCracken, clerk. The next annual township election was held April 5, 1852. Amos Cole, John Brubaker and Elijah Carr were elected trustees ; treasurer, Adam Stout; clerk, George W. Waterman, and assessor, James E. Scofield. The next annual election was held April 4, 1853. Amos Cole, Elijah Carr and John Brubaker were elected trustees ; George W. Waterman, clerk ; Emanuel Barnhart, treasurer and assessor. The next was held April 3, 1854. Amos Cole, John Brubaker and Jeremiah Huston were elected trustees ; George W. Waterman, clerk ; R. K. Scott, assessor, and James E. Scofield, treasurer. This year the election for State and county officers appears again, and was held October 10, 1854. For representative in Congress, Richard Mott received 90 votes ; Henry S. Cornmager, 28 ; Joseph R. Swan, 85, and Shepard F. Norris 35, for judge of State Supreme Court. Board of Public Works, Jacob Blickensderfer, 87, and Alexander P. Miller 33 ; probate judge, Hazael Strong 78, and Harvey Allen 42; county clerk, George B. Pfeifer 83, and Asa H. Tyler, 37 ; sheriff, William Durbin 77, and Henry N. Low 42 ; surveyor, William H. Brownell 84, and Charles Hornung 33 ; commissioner, James E. Scofield 81, and Ward Woodward 35. Whole number of votes polled 120. At that time the people were dividing some in politics, caused largely by Congress agitating the slavery question ; the persons receiving the majority vote being Whigs, except two of the commissioners, both of wh0m belonged to the Democratic party. James E. Scofield, the Republican member of the board, was wavering, and voted for Richard Mott, which undoubtedly caused his Whig friends to give him a good vote. The vote shows that something did it. The next annual township election was held April 2, 1855. Amos Cole, John Brubaker and Jeremiah Huston were elected trustees ; George W. Waterman, clerk ; Isaac Karsner, treasurer, and Robert K. Scott, assessor. On the third day of March, 1856, James E. Scofield was appointed clerk to fill vacancy caused by G. W. Waterman's removing from the township. The next annual election for township offrcers was held April 7, 1856. James E. Scofield was elected justice of the peace ; Amos Cole, John Brubaker and Jeremiah Huston, trustees; Robert K. Scott, clerk ; Matthias Diemer, as- HENRY COUNTY - 215 sessor, and Isaac Karsner, treasurer.   James E. Scofield was continued clerk by appointment, as R. K. Scott did not quahfy. The next annual election was held April 6, 1857. Amos Cole, John Brubaker and Henry R. Andrews were elected trustees ; Isaac Karsner, treasurer ; Milton Stout, assessor, and James E. Scofield, clerk. The next annual election for township offrcers was held April 5, 1858. John A. Vincent was elected justice of the peace ; Amos Cole, H. R. Andrews and John Brubaker, trustees ; James E. Scofield, clerk ; Isaac Karsner, treasurer, and Henry Banks, assessor. The next annual township election was held April 4, 1859. Amos Cole, H. R. Andrews and John Brubaker were elected trustees ; James E. Scofield, clerk; R. K. Scott, treasurer, and Henry Banks, assessor; James E. Scofield, justice of the peaee. The next annual t0wnship election was held April 2, 1860. Amos Cole, Henry R. Andrews and John Brubaker were elected trustees ; James E. Scofield, clerk ; George W. Armund, treasurer ; Matthias Diemer, assessor. The next annual township election was held April 1, 1861. Henry R. Andrews, Amos Cole and John Brubaker were elected trustees; James E. Scofjeld, clerk ; George W. Armund, treasurer, and Henry Banks, assessor. John A. Vincent was also elected justice of the peace. The next annual election was held April 7, 1862. Henry R. Andrews, John Brubaker and John Knipp were elected trustees ; James E. Scofield, clerk ; Isaac Karsner, treasurer, and Henry Banks, assessor ; James E. Scofield was also elected justice of the peace (his own successor), receiving all the votes polled, 81 ; and 137 out of 142 for clerk. The next annual election, April 6, 1863. John Knipp, Henry R. Andrews and Joseph Bachman were elected trustees ; James E. Scofield, clerk ; Isaac Karsner, treasurer (being his own successor without opposition ; as also was James E. Scofield, clerk). Curtis L. Morse, assessor. The next annual election was held April 4, 1864. John Knipp, Henry R. Andrews and John Brubaker were elected trustees ; Isaac Karsner, treasurer ; John A. Vincent, clerk, and George Schneider, assessor ; also, John A. Vincent, justice of the peace, being his own successor. The minutes do not show who was the successor of James E. Scofield, resigned, and moved out of the township temporarily, which event, to his knowledge, occurred the 24th day of February in the year 1864. He resigned, both as clerk and justice of the peace, and also postmaster at Florida. James E. Scofield was assistant postmaster at Florida in the year 1850. In July, of that year, Lyman Back, the postmaster, died, leaving the offrce in Scofield's possession. Shortly after this time the latter was appointed postmaster and remained such until after the nomination of James Buchanan, for president, in 1856. This offrcial refused to support Mr. Buchanan, in consequence of 216 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. which his " head went into the basket," and Henry Andrews was appointed his successor. Mr. Andrews remained a year or two, when he, too, was deposed, and Isaac Karsner was appointed his successor. Shortly after the election of Abraham Lincoln, in 1860, Mr. Karsner turned the office over to Scofield, as assistant, and, after the inauguration of President Lincoln, in 1861, the latter was appointed postmaster, and remained as such until his resignation, in February, 1864, leaving in charge John A. Vincent, who was shortly afterward appointed to fill the vacancy. In 1833 there was no post-office nearer than Defiance, but one was established in about 1834, called McLean, after John McLean, the postmaster-general. Jared Scofield and Isaac P. Whipple, his brother-in-law, were both candidates for postmaster, which was amicably settled between them, and Isaac P. Whipple became the appointee, this being the first post-office in the township, and perhaps the first one in the territory of Henry county. Mail was received about once each month, carried on horseback, by John Omens, as near as can be ascertained. This post-office was situated about one mile east of the present town of Folrida. Florida was laid out about this time, or soon after, by William Bowen, who recorded twenty-four lots on the Williams county records. The records of Henry county being destroyed in the year 1847, by the burning of the court-house, left Florida without any available plat. About 1872 it became necessary for some cause, to search for records of some lots and corners in dispute, and it was found that none of the lot lines and alleys would correspond with others. Owing to this unfortunate state of affairs, many and serious complications and disputes arose, but the surveyor had, fortunately, recourse to the records of Williams county, to which Henry county was formerly attached, where he found the original twenty-four lots there recorded. An application was made to the Legislature for a special act for replatting the town, which was granted in the winter of 1873, but it was found that no law authorizing such an act existed, and therefore the act was made general. By that act the commissioners of Henry county appointed the writer to re-survey and plat Florida, which was done. About the year 1865 or '66, a post-office was established and called Okolona, and Mr. Scofield was appointed postmaster and remained as such until about January, 1872, when John H. Benson, who succeeded to the business of the former incumbent, was appointed. The next election for the township offices was held April 8, 1865. Henry R. Andrews, John Brubaker and John Knipp were elected trustees; Isaac Karsner, treasurer ; John A. Vincent, clerk, and George Schneider, assessor. The next annual election was held April 2, 1866. Henry Andrew, John Brubaker and John Knipp were elected trustees ; Isaac Karsner, treasurer; John A. Vincent, clerk ; and George Schneider, assessor. At this election John A. Vincent failed to qualify, and Andrew J. Scofield was appointed April 2 st by John Knipp and H. R, Andrew (two of trustees) to fill vacancy. Da- HENRY COUNTY - 217 vid Smith was also elected justice of the peace at this election. On May 26, 1866, an order was received from the probate judge for an additional justice of the peace, and on the 12th day of June, 1886, M. V. B. McKinney was elected. On the 9th day of October, 1866, Jerome Thayer was elected justice of the peace. The next annual township election was held April 1, 1867. Henry R. Andrew, John Brubaker and John Knipp were elected trustees; Andrew J. Scofield, clerk ; Henry L Weaver, treasurer ; George Schneider, assessor; Andrew J. Scofield was also elected justice of the peace. The next annual township election was held April 6. 1868, John Knipp, John Brubaker and Henry R. Andrew were elected trustees ; Joseph Ice, clerk ; Henry L. Weaver, treasurer, and George Schneider, assessor. The next annual election was held April 5, 1869. John Brubaker, Henry R. Andrew and John Knipp were elected trustees ; Andrew J. Scofield, clerk ; Henry L. Weaver, treasurer, and William Kemmer, assessor. On the 12th day of October, 1869, Elias Parker was elected justice of the peace, and James E. Scofield land appraiser. The next annual township election was held April 4, 1870. John Brubaker, John Knipp and Henry R. Andrew, trustees ; Andrew J. Scofield, clerk ; Henry L. Weaver treasurer, and \Villiam Kemmer, assessor. Andrew J. Scofield was also elected justice of the peace on the same day. The next annual election was held April 3, 1871. John Brubaker, John Knipp and Henry R. Andrew were elected trustees; Andrew J. Scofield, clerk; Henry L. Weaver, treasurer ; William Kemmer, assessor. The next annual election was held April I, 1872. James E. Scofield, George Hoffman and John Brinkman were elected trustees ; Andrew J. Scofield, clerk ; Henry L. Weaver, treasurer, and William Kemmer, assessor. The next annual election was held April 7, 1873. John Brinkman, Ge0rge Bortz and John Brubaker were elected trustees ; Andrew J. Scofield, clerk ; Henry L. Weaver, treasurer ; William Kemmer, assessor. At the same election Newton S. Cole and William J. Barr were elected justices of the peace. The next annual election was held April 6, 1874. John Brinkman, George Bortz and Martin Lowry were elected trustees ; Joseph Weibel, clerk ; Frederick Loenhart, treasurer, and William H. Stockman, assessor. The next annual election for township officers was held April 5, 1875. Martin Lowry, John Brinkman and George Bortz were elected trustees ; Frederick Loenhart, treasurer ; Joseph Weibel, clerk, and William Kemmer, assessor. The next annual township election April 3, 1876. John Brinkman, Martin Lowry and George B. Rettig were elected trustees ; Joseph Weibel, clerk ; Lewis F. Richholt treasurer, and William Kemmer assessor. The next annual election was held April 2, 1877. John Brinkman, Martin Lowry and George B. Rettig were elected trustees ; Lewis F. Richholt, treasurer; Joseph Weibel, clerk, and William Kemmer, assessor. 28 218 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. The next election for township offrcers was held April I, 1878. John Brinkman, George B. Rettig and Martin Lowry were elected trustees ; Lewis F. Richholt, treasurer ; Andrew J. Scofield, clerk, and William Kemmer, assessor. The next township election was held April 7, 1879. John Brinkman, George B. Rettig and James E. Scofield were elected trustees ; Joseph Weibel, clerk ; Lewis F. Richholt. treasurer, and William Kemmer, assessor. At this election Joseph Weibel and Abraham Huff were elected justices of the peace. The next annual election for township officers was held April 5, 1880. James E. Scofield, George B. Rettig and John Brinkman were elected trustees; Joseph Weibel, clerk ; Lewis F. Richholt, treasurer, and William Kemmer, assessor. The next annual election for township officers was held April 4, 1881. John Brinkman, James E. Scofield and George B. Rettig were elected trustees ; Joseph Weibel, clerk; Lewis F. Richholt, treasurer, and William Kemmer, assessor. The next annual election for township officers was held April 3, 1882. Frederick Nischwitz, George B. Rettig and James E. Scofield were elected trustees; John W. Long, clerk ; Lewis F. Richholt, treasurer, and Abraham Hough, assessor. Also at this election James E. Scofield and Abraham Hough were elected justices of the peace. The next annual election for township officers was held April 2, 1883. Frederick Nischwitz, William Art and William N. Brubaker were elected trustees ; Frederick B. Loenhart, treasurer ; John W. Long, clerk, and William H. Dancer, assessor. The next was held April 7, 1884. Gotleib F. Rothenberger, John A. Knipp and James E. Scofield were elected trustees ; Frederick B. Loenhardt, treasurer ; John W. Long, clerk, and Martin V. Brubaker, assessor. The next election was held April 6, 1885. James E. Scofield was elected justice of the peace ; John A. Knipp, Conrad C. Groll and James E. Scofield, trustees ; F. B. Loenhardt, treasurer ; John W. Long, clerk, and William E. Decker, assessor. The next April 5, 1886, Conrad C. Groll was elected trustee for three years ; G. F. Rothenberger for two years, and Philip Huston for one year ; F. B. Loenhardt, treasurer ; John W. Long, clerk, and Martin V. Brubaker, assessor. The next minutes of election do not appear on the books, but the meetings of the trustees for the qualification of the officers elected was held April 11, 1887. The trustees of Flat Rock township met April 11, 1887, for the purpose of qualifying officers for the respective offices to which they had been elected as follows ; James E. Scofield, trustee for three years ; Conrad C. Groli two years, and Gotleib F. Rothenberger one year ; Frederick Loenhardt, treasurer, one year ; John W. Long clerk, 1 year ; Peter Kemmer assessor, HENRY COUNTY - 219 one year; Joseph H. Rennicker, and Samuel Travis constables, one year each ; Henry Egler, supervisor road district No. 1, one year; Christian Baur, No. 2 ; William Rush, No. 4; John Sell, No. 5 ; Peter Loenhart, No. 6; John Currans, No. 7 ; Jacob Brecheisen, No. 8 ; Charles Crossman, No. 9 ; C. H. Weslenhausen, No. 10, and Frederick Kemmer No. 1 ; Henry J. Kesler, justice of the peace, three years, and James E. Scofield yet to serve one year. Road district No. 3 has been recently attached to No. 1, therefore no supervisor of that district was elected, but it is in charge of No. 1. The reader will see that the growth of this county has been rapid when he considers that only three road districts existed at the commencement, and the territory comprised four original surveyed townships—Flat Rock, Pleasant, Marion and Monroe—twelve miles square, which will appear separately written in this work, Each now has its own road districts, and good farms along their roads ; but formerly it was a wilderness, the haunt of wolves, bear, deer, wild turkeys and frogs. No pen picture can make the reader realize the change that this region has undergone. In all this territory were only a few inhabitants, and they settled along the river in the original survey (Flat Rock township), within a distance of about three miles, and the land they tilled would not equal a section (640 acres) of territory. Now good farms and roads are all over this territory. Fiat Rock township, six miles square, contains eleven road districts and good roads. Florida, the first village in the township and county, is situated on the Miami and Erie Canal and Maumee River, and here the township records are kept, and township business done. Its early business men have passed away. Many are dead ; some have removed, and a few are yet living here. Adam Stout, Lyman Back and Jared McCarty, the last two under the firm name of Back & McCarty (all deceased) were its first permanent merchants. There were a few others at the commencement of digging the canal—Adam Stout as early as 1840, and Back & McCarty about the autumn of 1842. About 1846 Back & McCarty dissolved partnership, Mr. McCarty retiring. Mr. Back continued the business until his death, in 1850, and Mr. Stout until about 1852, when he sold to Emanuel Barnhart and Isaac Karsner, who continued the business for a time, when they dissolved, Mr. Barnhart retiring. Mr. Karsner continued for some years, when he s0ld to Dr. Robert K. Scott. Dr. Scott sold out to Mr. Karsner, and removed to Napoleon and associated himself with S. M. Heller, then in business at that place. Mr. Karsner continued the business until about the close of the war, when he took as partner his stepson, Captain Washington W. Bowen. This firm was of short duration, when the firm name was again changed to Weaver & Viers, Dr. Henry L. Weaver and Ezra Viers having purchased the stock of goods. This also was a short- lived firm, Mr. Viers selling to Mr. Karsner, when the frrm name became Weaver & Karsner, and continued until about 1875, when it again changed to 220 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. Isaac Karsner & Son. This firm continued to perhaps about 1879, when they closed their business entirely, leaving the house out of business. About this time, or before, S. M. Heller & Co., of Napoleon, opened a branch store in the building erected by Tuttle & Egler, and continued the business for a time when they removed their goods and left the village. About 1869 Andrew Tuttle, of Defiance, and Jacob Egler erected a store building on the present site of John Dancer & Son's storeroom, and opened a stock of dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, etc., under the firm name Tuttle & Egler. About 1871 Mr. Egler sold his interest to E. Y. King. Shortly after Mr. Tuttle sold to Miner Ice. Shortly after Mr. Ice sold to David F. Brubaker, and the store was continued for a time by King & Brubaker, when the latter retired and Mr. King became sole proprietor. Shortly after this Mr. King closed out entirely and went to Harvey county, Kan., and engaged in farming. About this same time George C. Weaver opened a stock of dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, queensware, etc., in the old building of Isaac Karsner & Son, where he continued to the time of his death, in April, 1881, when John Dancer bought the stock and removed it to the old stand of E. Y. King. After having erected a new building in place of the former, which was destroyed by fire, the business was continued for a time under the firm name of John Dancer & Son, the son, William H. Dancer, being the partner. This firm was succeeded by John W. Long and Andrew Tuttle, under firm name of Long & Tuttle, by whom the purchased goods were removed to their newly repaired building which they yet occupy. This firm is doing an extensive business in dry goods and groceries, boots and shoes, besides buying grain of all kinds, and selling agricultural machinery. Long & Tuttle bought and repaired two of the old warehouses and storerooms occupied in earlier times when the canal was doing a lively business, and until the railroads were built on either side, the Wabash first, then the Baltimore and Ohio. This firm have repaired two of these buildings—one a commodious storer0om and the other a warehouse, in which they have placed an engine for elevating grain and shelling corn. Their grain business this year will amount to about forty-five thousand bushels of wheat, besides barley, rye, corn and oats. In the year 1850 James E. Scofield engaged in tbe mercantile business at Florida, which was of short duration, when he took a partner in the person of George W. Waterman, under the firm name of Scofield & Waterman. They erected an ashery, and ran it in connection with their other trade. The firm soon dissolved, Mr. Waterman taking the ashery, and Mr. Scofield the store. Mr. Waterman added an oven for pearl-ash, which he continued for some time, when he closed out and removed to Hutchinson, Kan., but was, during or since the war, in South Carolina with his brother-in-law, Governor R. K. Scott, in the railroad business. Mr. Scofield continued in the dry goods and grain business up to about 1852, when he sold his goods to Barnhart & Kars- HENRY COUNTY - 221 ner, but continued in his storero0m, selling drugs and medicines. On February 24, 1864, he went to Oakland Station (now Okolona), on the Wabash Railroad, in Napoleon township. In about the autumn of 1849 David Harley erected the storeroom now known as the old school-house, and engaged in merchandising, which he continued for a time when he sold the building to the school directors, they converting it into a school-house. In about 1852 John and Jacob Frease bought, at administrator's sale of the estate of Lyman Back, the plank warehouse and storeroom combined, erected by him just before his death in 1850. They put in it a stock of goods usually kept in a first-class country store. It was placed in charge 0f George Frease. This firm sold their stock of goods to David Harley and F. A. Woodward, and removed to Napoleon. The new firm of Harley & Woodward c0ntinued the business in all its parts for a time, when C. K. Woodward bought Mr. Harley's interest. Soon after this John J. Stockman bought the warehouse and storeroom, when the old firm removed their goods to a small storeroom in the house now occupied by Long & Tuttle. The storeroom at that time was much smaller than now, it having since been remodeled and enlarged by the latter firm. The firm 0f Woodward Brothers continued for a time, when they closed out, C. K. Woodward returning to his farm in Liberty township, and F. A. Woodward and David Harley moving to Napoleon, where they again engaged in merchandising. Some time after this, about 1865, John J. Stockman opened a store in the plank warehouse, of which he was now the owner, and continued the business, together with grain buying, for a time, when he took a partner jn the person of Joseph Ice. This firm continued for a time, when William H., a son of the elder Stockman, became the partner, which latter firm was continued up to the death of John J. Stockman, when the entire stock of goods was closed out at administrator's sale. Since that time there has been nothing of any importance in the old plank warehouse. A hardware stock of small amount was continued there for a time, supposed to be the property of W. H. Stockman, but the store was in charge of W. T. Faucet, neither of which persons are now residents. The business now being generally closed along the canal, the little village of Florida began to decline. The probable cause of this may not be out of place. The firm of Smith & Scofield, at Oakland Station, on the Wabash Railroad, north of Florida, drew largely from all the former patrons of the place, and, moreover, the county seat, Napoleon, had grown since 1835, and down to 1850 in more than double proportions, and became a natural trading center to which the farming people were glad to resort. The Wabash road went into operation about 1852. It passed about two miles north of the town, and where once had been the most flourishing village of the county, there was nothing but a way station on the old canal, which, too, had practically gone into disuse. Many business men left about this time, of com- 222 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. pletion of the Wabash Railroad. About twelve or fourteen years later the the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was finished, passing the town on the south, and Holgate, a new town on that road, cut the trade again. Florida, however, has not become wholly depopulated. The country in the vicinity contains many fine farms, and the village still holds some small trade. The village is pleasantly situated on the river in the northwest part of Flat Rock township, and contains some two hundred and fifty inhabitants. It has had some manufacturing industries. David Harley, a contractor on the canal during its construction, shortly afterward erected a saw-mill on the present site of the flouring-mill of J. E. Klingelhofer. To this was added one run of stone for flouring and grinding corn. This was the first grist-mill in Henry county after its organization in 1835. Isaac Karsner was foreman in the mill for a time. It afterward became the property of Gibbons Parry and Isaac Karsner, under the firm name of Karsner & Parry. This continued for a time when Daniel Fribley and Peters Gibbons were added to the firm, and Mr. Karsner retired and went to merchandising. The firm name then changed to Parry, Gibbons & Fribley, wh0 in about 1856, erected the flouring-mill now owned by J. E. Klingelhofer. This mill had two heavy run of stone, together with the light ones in the old mill. This firm remained until about 1860, when it dissolved, Dr. Parry retiring, and Mr. Fribley selling his interest in the sawmill, but retained it in the flouring-mill, of which he became sole proprietor. Austin F. Gitchel became a partner with Peters Gibbons. They entirely rebuilt the saw-mill. The firm name became Gibbons & Gitchel, which was continued until ch0ice timber was scarce and portable mills became frequent, after which it went into disuse and decay. But little of it is now left, only the flume which supplies the flouring-mill. About 1865 the flouring-mill passed into the hands of John Spangler and David Boor, of Defiance. This firm remained for a time when Mr. Boor sold his interest to Alfred Elkins, and the firm then changed to Elkins & Spangler. After a short time Mr. Elkins became sole proprietor and continued up to his death, in March, 1881, he being killed in the mill. His widow, with her two sons, John and Newton Elkins, continued the business for a time, when it was sold to Sigg & Klingelhofer under whom it was quite extensively repaired. In 1886 it passed to J. E Klingelhofer, Mr. Sigg retiring. J. E. Klingelhofer, the present enterprising owner, had all the old machinery taken out and replaced with full roller pro. cess, second to none in northwestern Ohio. Florida, being located in the center of a large grain growing country, with a good flouring-mill, for sale and custom work, will add materially to its presen trade. Mr. K. intends manufacturing flour for shipment, which will give employment in winter when the canal is closed. The first physician of the vil loge was Dr. John L. Watson. He was here on a farm in the woods, on thl south side of, and up the river from Florida. Whether a graduate is no known, but it is presumed that he was, as he was a man of excellent education HENRY COUNTY - 223 About 1842 Dr. George W. Patterson located in Florida and practiced for some years, when he moved away. In 1840 Dr. Gibbons Parry located at Independence, some five miles above Florida. His practice extended to this point, and further east along the canal, then in course of construction. Shortly after he removed to Florida, where he has since remained. He obtained a lucrative practice, and now lives on his farm a little out of town, enjoying the fruits of his well spent life, and is aged over eighty years. There were several other physicians, but of short residence, many of whose names are forg0tten by the present inhabitants. In about 1860 Drs. Henry L. Weaver and Abraham McKinney located here and commenced practice under the firm name of Weaver & McKinney. They remained for a time, when a dissolution occurred, Dr. Weaver retiring, and went to merchandising. Dr. McKinney continued for a time, when he removed to Defiance, and is yet in practice. About 1866 Dr. Tyler located here and practiced, but soon returned to Napoleon. About 1872, Dr. J. M. Stout came here and practiced and Dr. H. L. Weaver became ass0ciated with him. This firm practiced for a time, when Dr. Weaver returned, went into other business, and Dr. Stout moved t0 Holgate, where he is yet in practice. About 1876 Dr. Albert M. Pherson located at Florida, and yet continues in his practice. Dr. Stanton E. Miller located here in the spring of 1887. About 1848 Dr. John L. Arnold located here and practiced in connection with his other business (groceries and provisions) together with his farm, which he obtained soon after his location. Issac Karsner read medicine with Dr. Gibbons Parry to better prepare himself for the profession, having had some practice in earlier days of the country. He practiced in connection with his other business for a time, and is yet living in the town, but doing no other business than looking after his farm. He is now in the sixty-seventh year of life. Among the business interests of Florida not before mentioned, there may be named the following: R. A. Wood opened a stock of dry goods and boots and shoes, which was continued for a time, and then sold to Jones & Andrew (Millet Jones and Calvin R. Andrew). These firms were in the building now occupied by Long & Tuttle. The business was, after a few years, closed out, Mr. Andrew going to Dakota, and Mr. Jones resumed his trade as a carpenter. About 1846 Lyman Back, in connection with his dry g0ods business on the street north of the canal, opened a grocery and feed store for the accommodation of the boating people. This was soon followed by Adam Stout and others, some adding "fire water " and other beverages for the inner man. The saloon business became common, and in fact at one time outranked other branches of trade, but with the general decline these went down, so that there is but one saloon in Florida at this time. About 1847 Matthias Diemer and Andrew Bolley opened a general boat and feed store, all kinds of groceries and provisions, vegetables, including "fire water," and did a prosperous business 224 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. for some years. Diemer Brothers' business so increased that they were compelled to add more room, which they did by erecting a new and more commodious building to accommodate their increasing trade. Boatmen made it a point, when going east, to lay in supplies, such as oats, potatoes, cabbage, and other commodities for the round trip to Toledo and return, including as much water as vessels would hold. Diemer Brothers continued this business until about 1860, when Jacob Diemer retired and went to Napoleon, and engaged in the grocery and salo0n business. Matthias Diemer continued in the old stand until about 1866, when he sold to Lewis F. Richholt, and went to Napoleon, where he engaged with his brother. Mr. Richholt continued for a time in connection with his saloon. When the canal became of little importance for trade he purchased the old warehouse 0f Karsner & Son, remodeled it, and engaged in the grain trade both here and at Toledo. He also erected a grocery house in town. Mr. Richholt was elected treasurer of Flat Rock township three terms. He erected the new school-house in 1882-3, after which he closed out and went to Dakota, leaving his treasury bondmen and grain creditors to account his folly in grain gambling and the neglect of other business. About 1838 Robert Newell engaged in blacksmithing. He was the first regular smith in the village, and continued up to his death, in 1851 or 1852. Peter Sester was the next, who now lives on his farm in Napoleon township. William Calhoun, Jacob T. Groshner, William Goldenstar, all followed in the same trade. Frederick Loenbart, John J. Andrew and F. B. Loenhart are the present smiths in the village. About 1850 Henry Andrew (now deceased), together with his son-in-law, J0seph Rogers, engaged in cabinet work. About 1844 John Truby engaged in wagon making. He was followed by George Hopkins, Jasper H. Smith, Smith & Loenhart, and F. B. Loenhart, who yet continues in c0nnection with blacksmithing. The first shoemaker of the town was Jacob Barnhart, about 1840 ; the last were Henry Harris and D. Rasmus, who are now in that business. The first hotel was erected about 1840 by Joseph A. Brewer, but was first used for store purposes and as an ashery. Mr. Brewer moved away, when the storeroom, with additional buildings, was converted int0 a hotel, and the ashery into stables by John B. Rundle, and by him occupied as a hotel. The subsequent proprietors were Hiram Scobel, Dr. Gibbons Parry and William Goldenstar. It was finally converted into a dwelling and occupied by different families. This house is yet standing and occupied as a dwelling by its owner. The next hotel was erected soon after the first, and was occupied by Christian Stoat. Then J. C. McCrackin became host; then Joseph Stout. The property was afterward sold to George Hopkins, who continued it for a time and called it " White Hall." It was again sold to John Dancer for a private dwelling, but eventually became the property of the M. E. Church society for parsonage and church purposes. HENRY COUNTY - 225 In 1871 this society erected their church on the property. This was the first church building in the village. Soon afterward followed the United Brethren Church in 18i4; then the Evangelical German Reform Church in 1875. A few years later the German Lutheran society built a brick church edifice. These four buildings are neat and substantial edifices sufficient for the necessities of their respective societies. Prior to the several church erections worship was conducted in private dwellings and school-houses. At an early day William Bowen, a devout Methodist, and proprietor of the village, donated a portion of his lands for church and school purposes. A small frame building was erected by the school authorities and church members and was used by both up to and after the death of Mr. Bowen, when it was found that neither had any title in fee simple. The property was deeded by the heirs to the school authorities, and was used many years for school and church purposes. The first post-office at or near Florida was established about 1834, with Isaac P. Whipple as postmaster. It remained there until about 1842, when, at the death of Mr. Whipple, it was moved to Florida and Ge0rge W. Patterson appointed postmaster. In about two or three years Mr. Patterson left the town and Lyman Back became postmaster, and continued as such to the time of his death in 1850, when James E. Scofield became his successor. He continued to 1856, when he was deposed for refusing t0 support James Buchanan for president, and Henry Andrew became his successor. In about a year Mr. Andrew was succeeded by Isaac Karsner. In 1860 James E. Scofield became Mr. Karsner's assistant and removed the office back to its 0ld quarters. In 1861 Mr. Scofield was appointed to fill vacancy caused by Mr. Karsner's resignation, and continued to 1864, when he resigned and removed to the little station of Oakland, on the Wabash railroad (now Okolona) where he again became postmaster for a term of years, mention of which has been made in this chapter. John A. Vincent became his success0r at Florida, hut soon moved away, and Henry L. Weaver became his successor and remained until his resignation in 1885. John W. Long, the present incumbent, next succeeded to the office. It may be well here to mention that during Mr. Weaver's term the office was in the hands of an assistant, and at three different locations besides the first. Early and Prominent Settlers.— Elijah Gunn, jn about 1826, settled on what is known in history as " Girty's Point," which contains a large extent of as fertile land as is in the State. The Gunn tract is now owned by his heirs who reside thereon. Much of this rich and highly productive land, which gently rises back from the river at this historic point, and including Girty's Island, is owned by different parties, among whom are Leroy Wait, Anthony Shultz's heirs, and Henry Boesling. All these farms are under excellent cultivation, having good buildings, rendering them very valuable farming lands. 226 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. In 1833 Girty's Island was a dense forest with an undergrowth of whortleberry, wild grapes, buckeye, and other growth indigenous to the rich soil. On some of the small islands surrounding it, grew great quantities of wild onions. The smaller islands have disappeared. The larger portion of the main island, containing about thirty acres, has been s0mewhat diminished from its original size by ice and wash. About one-half is now under cultivation. This island is yet the favorite resort of pleasure seekers for recreation. It was commonly reported that a cannon was shoved off the foot of the island during the war along the Maumee. Some of the boys of 1833-4 have sought for it without result, the water at that point being extremely deep. Many relics of warfare have been plowed up on the farms adjoining the river, such as sabres, gun- barrels and bullets ; also Indian relics such as rings, brooches, buckles, tomahawks, pipes, stone hammers and arrow heads of flint. At that time (1833) the Indians were more numerous than the whites, but perfectly civil. They had camps near this island on the south bank of the stream, and came each year and burned bones at the graves of their deceased friends. The old forest farms of Judges Wait and Cole, on the south bank of the river opposite and west of this island, are now in the possession of heirs and purchasers, but in a good state of cultivation, now having but little woodlands as compared with their state fifty years ago. No pen picture can make the reader realize the change from then to the present. Among the enterprising residents might be named Henry L. Weaver, Ernest Weaver, Joseph Lowry, John A. Andrew, John Brinkman, William Goldenstar, Isaac Karsner, Dr. Gibbons Parry, Christian Stout, James E. Scofield, John Brubaker and David Brubaker. All of these owned and lived on their farms between, 1833 and 1850, except Ernest Weaver, John Brinkman and William Goldenstar the latter two having bought improved farms. There are many other excellent old farms near Florida, but they are mostly owned by farmers that bought already cleared farms from heirs and some of the older inhabitants who have removed from the township. Many others in the immediate neighborhood and in Richland township, Defiance county, contribute liberally to the trade of Florida, which makes it a village of much prosperity and likely to remain so in the future. It will grow in number of inhabitants as the country and soil is capable of sustaining a population multiplied by ten or twenty of its present. The same may be said of the county in general, and indeed, of all northwestern Ohio. Flat Rock is one of the best " cleared up " townships in the county, containing more of the " old " farms, perhaps, than any other section. HENRY COUNTY - 227 CHAPTER XX. HISTORY OF FREEDOM TOWNSHIP. EVERYWHERE we turn we are bewildered by the fire of 1847. Even the record of the civil organization of the townships cannot be found. It is known, however, that Freedom was one of the first of the five townships organized in the territory now composing Henry county; that it, and Napoleon township, in 1840, included nearly, if not all of the said territory north of the Maumee River, together with all of Fulton county, which was organized in 1850. At that time, with all of its territory, it had a population of only one hundred and five. By the organization of Fulton county, there was left to Freedom township not even the originally surveyed territory—two tiers of sections having been taken from the north and given to Fulton county; and there is now left to Freedom township but twenty-four sections of land. N0twithstanding this, the township has had a wonderful growth both in population and valuation. In 1850 it contained four hundred and sixty souls, and the taxable valuation of the property amounted to $27,602. In 1860 the population, with greatly diminished territory, was four hundred and fifty and the valuation $71,697. In 1870 the population was eight hundred and twelve, and the valuation of land $85,279. In 1880 the census showed twelye hundred and thirty-five population, and the land was valued for taxation at $230,480. The township is situated in the northern part of Henry county. Is bounded on the north by Fulton county, on the east by Liberty township, on the south by Napoleon township and on the west by Ridgeville township. The topography is that in common with the balance of the county, level, and the soil exceedingly good and fertile. The township is devoid of waterways, with the exception of three small creeks, the largest being Napoleon Creek and Oberhaus Creek. These traverse nearly the whole width of the township. Through the southwest corner of the township runs the bed of the defunct Coldwater and Mansfield Railroad. The early settlers of this section were few; not more than a score lived in the township prior to 1860 ; among those who did live in this part of the county, from 1838 to 1850, may be mentioned Daniel Shinaman, John Miller, Samuel and Lewis Eckhart, John Sorrick, John Knapp,- Harmon Kline, junior and senior, Conrad Clay, George Struble, John Harmon and Benjamin Holler The first-school house ever erected in this township was one of unhewed logs, a very primitive and small building. It stood in what is now section twenty-eight. Daniel Shinaman, John Harmon, Benjamin Holler and Harmon Kline were the builders. The first church was a United Brethren. It was built in 1852, or there- 228 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. abouts, and also stood in section twenty-eight. Here the settlers from far and near would congregate on Sabbath day and listen to the Word of God interpreted by George Struble. The township is, as far as is possible to learn, devoid of many of those stirring incidents which make the life of the settler exciting, and for this reason facts of record can only be dealt with, " pleasing incidents of frontier life" will be conspicuous by their absence. And we will proceed to what the township was after the year 1860; not that it was civilized by this time, but because the facts are within our grasp. From 1860 up to the present time there has been an influx of Germans to this county, and especially to Freedom township. To this frugal people may be given a great deal of the credit of converting a wilderness into a garden, for the reason that they were not choice as to the kind of land Uncle Sam gave them, and whether a swamp or ridge it was the same to them and they went to work. Now Freedom township is a model of well-kept farms; now there are six fine school-houses, a couple of churches and scores of brick dwellings. The first one was built by Harmon Kline and the others followed thick and fast, and now as one rides through the county, a palatial brick residence, well kept grounds—a sure sign of thrift and wealth — is an ordinary sight. Although this township is not a locality for pioneer reminiscences it has a history which entitles it to the name of the "dark and bloody ground of Henry county," three persons having been murdered by the pretended friends of the victims, for the sole purpose of gain. The Murder of W. W. Treadwell.—On July 14, 1864, Math. Bowen while walking through the woods near what was known as the little Red School-house, suddenly came upon the body of a man. The body had evidently lain for some time as the birds of prey, and decomposition, had so disfigured the remains that identification was well-nigh imp0ssible. Two bullet- holes were found in the skull, the bullet evidently entering just back of the right ear, and coming out above the right eye. The right side of the head was also beaten with a club, which was found near by. On his person was found a number of trifles, together with an upper set of false teeth, on a heavy gold plate; seven dollars in bills and some eatables. Some weeks later a report came from Adrian, Mich., saying that two men had escaped from the jail there. The description of one of the men tallied with that of the murdered man. Investigation was at once begun, and it was learned that the name of the murdered man was W. W. Treadwell, formerly a banker of Hudson, Mich., who had been confined in the Adrian jail for operations not exactly legitimate. The man with whom he escaped was incarcerated for horse stealing. His name was John Crowell, and he was subsequently arrested in Sandusky, tried and bound over, and on the loth of May, 1865, his trial begun with Hon. A. S. Latty on the bench. The facts disclosed were as follows: Treadwell having HENRY COUNTY - 229 secured large loans from other banks, absconded, was arrested in Mansfield, 0., taken back, tried, convicted, and remanded in jail to await sentence. Crowell was arrested in Erie county, this State, for stealing horses in Michigan, tried and convicted at the same term of court as Treadwell was, and also remanded. In jail they were put together, and at five o'cl0ck on the 1st of July escaped. Identification of the two men now became an easy matter ; they traveled through the northern part of the county inquiring for lost cattle. The club now became an important factor, and every witness pointed it out as being carried by Crowell. The chain of evidence was quickly woven around him. The identification of Treadwell was established beyond a doubt. The object of the crime was $900 in the possession of Treadwell. The sum having been given to him by his wife shortly before his escape. It was all in $100 bills, and the most of them upon the bank of Rochester. One of these Rochester bills was found upon Crowell. On Monday, May 15, 1865, the case was given to the jury ; an hour later, came the verdict of " guilty." A motion for a new trial was made but denied. Judge Latty then sentenced Crowell to be hanged on Friday, the 11th of July, 1865. The execution was under the direction and charge of 0. E. Barnes, who was then sheriff. While making preparations for the execution, and even upon the scaffold, the prisoner was the most collected of all present. Upon the scaffold the sheriff asked him if he had anything to say before the sentence of the court was executed, and he replied, " No sir, I am guilty." The sheriff asked him if he wished it understood that he was guilty of the crime for which he stood condemned. Crowell replied slowly and distinctly, " Yes sir, my punishment is just." He then knelt with his spiritual adviser, Father Carroll, after which the pinioning, placing of the cap, etc., was proceeded with, and all the time Crowell showed the least emotion of any present. At sixteen minutes before 1 P. M., the trap was sprung, and John Crowell had expiated his crime. The Murder of George Williams and Wife. The second murder was the one of George Williams and wife, by Wesley Johnson, on October 23, 1883, the details of which are as horrible as any instance of the kind in the State. On the evening of October 25, 1883, Addison Crew, a farmer living near the farm of George Williams, had occasion to go to Williams's place. On first going to the barn his eye met a ghastly sight. There, upon the floor he saw the lifeless body of George Williams, with head split open, and throat cut from ear to ear. He raised a cry and with several others went to the house, where, upon the floor of their sleeping. room, lay the body of George Williamsls wife, terribly mutilated. Upon the bed was a nearly famished infant. From the state of the bodies it was supposed that they had lain in this state for several days. Suspicion immediately fell upon Wesley Johnson, a young man in the employ of John Williams, because of his behavior, and the hour he retired two or three 230 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. nights previously. He was arrested but stoutly maintained his innocence. But proof was not lacking, and at the preliminary examination, there was proof enough to bind him over. His trial began in January, 1884, and long will it be remembered as the most exciting trial ever witnessed in the county, and during the whole trial, Johnson's demeanor was that of a statue, showing no emotion or feeling. When, on the evening of February 12, 1884, the jury brought in a verdict of " guilty," there was a general " amen." The case was conducted for the State by prosecuting attorney R. W. Cahill and J. M. Haag ; for the defense Messrs. Martin Knupp and William H. Hubbard. Judge J. J. Moore presided. He was sentenced on the 16th of February, to be hanged on the 29th of May, 1884. The execution was conducted by Frederick Aller, then sheriff, and took place in the jail. With the same nerve that marked Crowell, Johnson displayed, he ascending the scaffold with the same fearless step. When the sheriff asked if his punishment was just, he answered " yes." At 10 A. M. the trap was sprung, and Johnson's soul was dangling in the balance, and his body between heaven and earth. CHAPTER XXI. HISTORY OF HARRISON TOWNSHIP. THIS township, named in honor of the hero of Tippecanoe and Fort Meigs, and the ninth president of the United States, when first organized, early in the forties, embraced townships three, four and five of range seven. Number three is now the township of Marion ; four was, in 1850, organized into Monroe. On the north of the Maumee River, which is now the northern boundary of the township, sections one, two, three, four, five, six, most of seven and parts of eight, nine, ten, eleven and twelve were, previous to 1850, attached to Liberty township as a convenience for voting purposes. The township lies immediately west of Damascus, and all that has been said of the latter township, of the general character of the soil, drainage, roads, early settlement, present degree of improvement, and population may be applied to Harrison. Among the earliest settlers of the county may be named Hazael Strong. He came to the county as early as 1833, and lived in what is now Harrison township for several years before coming to Napoleon to take charge of the auditor's office. The Sheats family came in 1834 ; Alonzo Packard in 1843; Americus M. Spafford, 1845 ; Harper Centre, 1847 ; Isaac Ingle, 1849; Noah Jackson, 1852 ; John C. Lighthiser, 1853 ; Michael Kryder, 1853; HENRY COUNTY - 231 the Ritter family, as also that of the Reiter, the Spangler and the Palmer families were among the early settlers, as were also Campbell Wilford and Gideon G. Creger. In 1847, according to the oldest preserved duplicate we have, there were, on the seventy-two sections of land which then constituted the township, only forty-nine persons who paid personal tax, and the value of all this land,- 69,120 acres,—was $22,168; and the personal property was valued at $5,217. The total tax collected was $2,071.61. The duplicate for 1887 shows that at present this township, with less than twenty-eight sections remaining to it, has a real estate value, for taxable purposes, of $323,905, and personal property, listed for the same purpose, amounting to $59,340. This township was tardy in settlement and slow to improve. There were good reasons for this. The construction of the canal and especially the Wabash Railroad, on the south of the river, affording convenient shipments to market. The construction of the dam at Providence had made the river unfordable between that point and the rapids at Florida ; on the south side were not only no railroads, but no roads of any kind, and, in order to reach a market of any sort, it became necessary to ferry the river, which in seasons was difficult. Lands being equally cheap on the north the early settlers naturally secured homes there. True, there were men hardy and courageous enough to enter these dense forests, and, braving all the difficulties and encountering all the inconveniences, made homes in the wilderness. Along the river bank, in section ten, was Samuel Bowers ; in nine Hazael Strong had settled ; in section eight the Rugg farm farther up the river and nearly opposite Napoleon, in section eighteen, Charles and Reuben Reiter had made large clearings; on section fifteen road were the Palmers, John D. Thorn and a few others ; John Sheats was in section twenty-two ; and on Turkey Foot road were John C. Lighthiser, Levi Spangler and others. There were also a few settlers along the banks of Turkey Foot Creek. G. G. Creager was on section twenty-four, and Campbell Wilford on section twenty-five. It was not, however, until after the construction of the bridge across the Maumee at Napoleon, in 1860, that settlement can be said to have really begun in earnest in Harrison township. After that roads were cut out and improved and a system of drainage commenced. This led to heavy taxation and assessments, compelling non-resident land owners to dispose of the lands they had purchased for speculative purposes, and these passed into the hands of persons who became actual settlers and made farms from the forest. To assist in this, and in many cases to pay for the land itself, the giant oaks, walnut and poplar were sold to the ship-timber and other timber merchants, who brought great gangs of men from Canada, and soon made room for the sunshine to dry the swamps. Then came the saw-mill and the stave-factory, so that to-day Harrison township has no more timber than is 232 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. necessary for her fences and family fuel ; fully four-fifths of her soil being under cultivation and all highly productive. The township is well drained, naturally, by Turkey Foot Creek which runs through the south and southeastern part ; Randall Creek through northeast, and Bowers' Creek with its branches runs through the center, all emptying into the Maumee ; and by artificial surface and underground ditches. Good roads are established and kept in repair in almost every section line. The township is divided into eight school districts, with a good building on each, most of them brick. There are six churches, all Protestant, in the township. The dwellings and farm buildings are new, large, c0nvenient and well appointed. The township is without railroads and without villages. The Mansfield, Coldwater and Lake Michigan Railroad bed was graded through the township and the "Clover Leaf " route passed close to the southeast corner where Harrison, Damascus, Richfield and Monroe come together, and here is laid out the THE HAMLET OF GRELLETON. The original plat of this hamlet was laid out in the southeast corner of section thirty-six in Harrison, by William Mead, and was recorded August 14, 1880. It consisted of fifteen lots, Main street on the east, Monroe street on the south, Fourth street on the west, Emery street on the north, and three alleys. The subsequent additions to the hamlet were in the adjoining township, mainly in Monroe, and will be treated of in the history of that township. THE HENRY COUNTY FAIR GROUNDS Are located on section fifteen in this township. A short sketch of the organization and management of this institution may not be uninteresting: In the summer of 1883 the Patrons of Husbandry decided to hold a one day fair at the hall of Harrison Grange, each member of the order to bring some of their best stock and farm products for display, and to invite their fellow farmers outside the order to assist. The object was to get farmers together to discuss the best methods of growing the various kinds of crops adapted to the climate and soil of Henry county, also as to the most profitable kind of stock to raise, etc. ; the Grange Hall being used as a floral and vegetable hall. An admission fee of ten cents was charged and about five hundred tickets were sold. The unexpected success of this the first attempt to hold a fair encouraged the Grange to organize, for the following year, what was known as the Henry County Grange Fair. The constitution provided that the officers of the County Grange should be the officers of the fair, including a board of ten directors chosen from among its members. Under these provisions John Garster was made president ; E. M. Hollipeter, secretary, and John Sheets, treasurer. Under this organization the ground was leased and buildings erected, four miles east of Napoleon in Harrison township, on the farm of HENRY COUNTY - 233 Mr. Henry Blythe, and a very successful fair was held. The following year there was a change made in the provision of the constitution for the election of officers and the name was changed and called the Henry County Farmers' Association, and the following officers elected : E. M. Hoilipeter, president; John Ervin, vice-president ; Eli Culbertson. secretary ; John Garster, treasurer. There was but one change made in the election of of officers for 1886, the year following, Rufus Spangler being elected president. In 1887 it was reorganized under a c0nstitution according to the provision of the laws of Ohio regulating agricultural fairs, and is now known as the Henry County Agricultural Fair. Each year the fair has pr0ven a grand success in the display of the best stock and farm products of Henry and from adjoining counties. List of officers of the Henry County Fair : Rufus Spangler, president ; Joseph Leatherman, vice-president ; John C. McClain, treasurer ; C. E. Weaks, secretary. Directors : Isaiah Foor, D. D. Myers, Joseph Leatherman, Peter Deitric, Eli Culbertson, C. E. Weaks, John Shelt, S. L. Snyder, Rufus Spangler, Francis Ginsel, John Garster, J. C. McClain. It may not be out of place in this connection to give a few facts pertaining to the origin and history of agricultural associations. The number of societies in England holding fairs relating to agriculture, live stock, etc., is officially stated at one hundred and ten. Among those are the Bath and \Vest of England Society, organized in 1777, the first farmers' club in England. The R0yal Agricultural Society, which has exerted so wide an influence upon improved processes and cultivation in soil and animal farming of the world, was founded in 1838. Its motto was "Practice with Science." In 1810 England had organized a board of agriculture, of which Sir John Sinclair was president, and Arthur Young secretary. There were in this year eighty-one agricultural societies in regular working order, and of one of these the Badenach and Strathspey Society, the celebrated Duchess of Gordon was president. The first agricultural society formed in America was The Philadelphia (Pa.) Society for Promoting Agriculture. Among the awards of this society in 1790, was a gold medal to Mr. Matheson for the best sample and greatest quantity of cheese. The first agricultural society ever incorporated in America was the Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, of South Carolina, established in 1795. Its objects included, among others, the institution of a farm for experiments, and the importation and distribution of products suited to the climate of that State. In New York, a Society for the Advancement of Agriculture was incorporated in 1791, but it died at the age of ten years. The Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts, in which agriculture was 234 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. first named, established in 1804, published seven volumes of transactions previous to 1815. The New York State Agricultural Society held its first regular fair in 1840, the admission being twelve and one-half cents. In Massachusetts, in 1803, the trustees of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture offered, among others, a premium of one hundred dollars, or the society's gold medal for a cheap and effectual method of destroying the canker worm. From the beginnings thus noted, agriculture, horticulture, pomology, forestry and floriculture have gradually increased. Agricultural societies offering premiums are found in every State and most of the Territories. Popular interest is especially active in agricultural societies in the West and is constantly increasing in the South. It is safe to say the agricultural societies of the United States have exercised a greater influence for the advancement of agriculture than any other means. Harrison township has furnished her full quota of both military and civil officers. Wm. A. Choate was not only prosecuting attorney of the county, but also colonel of the Thirty-eighth Regiment, 0. V. I.; L. G. Randall was quartermaster of the Sixty-eighth 0. V. I., and was also postmaster at Napoleon; Arthur Crockett was major of the Sixty-eighth 0. V. I.; Benjamin F. Pindar was captain of Company B, Thirty-eighth 0. V. I. Levi Spangler was a county commissioner, Reuben Rieter both clerk and sheriff, his brother Reuben a commissioner, Benjamin F. Stout, auditor; William M. Becknam, was, by the appointment of the governor, probate judge to fill a vacancy, and Thomas Castel was infirmary director. Booming may do for Kansas and other western States, for the mining, the gas and the oil regions, but he who is content to lead a quiet, honest life in the quiet luxuries and enjoyments of a home, need not go beyond the boundaries of Henry county. Here can be had a cheap, comfortable and productive home, where the investment is certain, sure and cannot diminish in value, but must increase; here is education and culture, refinement and the highest civilization; here, right at hand, are not only the necessaries and comforts, but the luxuries of life. Many of our people who were induced to "go west" by the glittering promises of speculators and jobbers, have been glad to return, and many more are sorry that they have not means left to do so. Harrison township furnishes one notable example. We refer to the Crockett family, and know that we will be pardoned for doing so. Being among the early settlers, they had made and owned a good and valuable farm in the township. Seduced by the brilliant pictures of the West, they sold out and followed the westward star. They met with disappointment; sickness and death overtook them, and but a year ago, the mother, aged and impoverished, save for a grateful government which rewarded her for the patriotism of her sons, returned to Henry county and purchased the old Rugg farm in her old township, where she now lives, happy, comfortable and contented with her only remaining son, Edward. HENRY COUNTY - 235 The growth of this township, in common with all in the county, has been rapid. In 1860 it contained a population of 781; in 1870 it was 1293 and in 1880 it had grown to 1382, and by the next census it may be safely predicted will amount to 2,000. CHAPTER XXII. HISTORY OF LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. THIS is one of the best, one of the earliest settled and first improved town- ships in the county. It possesses more intrinsic historic interest than any of the thirteen. In the government survey it is known as township six, north of range seven, east. This territory was reduced by the detachment of the two northern tiers of sections in the formation of Fulton county. It was, however, increased by the annexation of sections one, two, three, four, five and six, and the most of seven and half of eight, nine and twelve, and a small slice off the northern part of ten and eleven of township five in the same range (Harrison) at the time the Maumee River was made the dividing line between the townships. The part of section twelve taken from Harrison, and section seven of Washington (originally Damascus) constituted what was known to the pioneers as Prairie du Masque, having been so named by the early French adventurers, traders, or religious enthusiasts, who were attracted to the valley of the Maumee, ambitious of conquest, for greed of gain, or desire for religious proselytism. This was a camping ground for the army of General Wayne on his march to the battle field of Fallen Timbers. Upon this division of land, thus designated as Prairie du Masque, and long before the division of the northwestern territory into counties, much less townships, the white man had dared to penetrate. He invaded the wilderness which then enshrouded the county of Henry and the outposts of which were guarded by the most savage of the Indian tribes, and settled there. The names of the representatives of the white man as can now be ascertained, were John Butler, David and Jacob Delong, Charles Gunn, George Chilson, David Bucklin and Samuel Vance. These brave men located on the prairie in 1814, and Elisha and Edwin Scribner came in 1818. These early settlers are, alas, all dead. The ashes of some of them rest in obscurely marked and almost forgotten graves along the banks of the Maumee. The last survivor of these pioneers was Edwin Scribner, who died during the present (1887) year, at the residence of his son-in-law in Napoleon. 236 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. At a date so early that its date cannot now be determined with certainty, but surely no later than 1820, Samuel Vance, already mentioned, erected on section twelve, a double log house, called it a tavern and suspended a sign announcing " accommodation for man and beast." The cellar of this primitive tavern still remains on the banks of the Maumee, close to the " old orchard"—the first planted in the connty—near the town of Damascus. The brick for this cellar were boated from Toledo (so at present named) on pirogues. At that time this was the only house between Defiance and the Rapids, where Peter Manor then lived. A short time afterwards Joseph Cowdrick, whose sons are now residents of Napoleon, built a small house on the river below Vance's, but subsequently removed further up the river about half way between Damascus and Napoleon, where Joseph Rogers now lives. In 1826, on the 17th of November, John Patrick, the father of George, who still resides on the old place, settled on the river three miles east of Napoleon. He purchased the land of one Cornelius Thompson, who obtained it from the government on land scrip issued to him for services under Wayne in his Indian campaigns. Mr. Patrick erected a large house at this place, and also opened a house of public entertainment, and which subsequently became the main " tavern," as they were called in those days, between Defiance and Toledo during the days of canal navigation and packet travel, which began in 1843 and remained brisk until the construction of the Wabash Railroad. Long before work on the canal had commenced Edwin Scribner, already referred to, erected a " thunder gust " saw-mill on Dry Creek, and this was the first saw-mill in the county. After the completion of the canal, Burlin & Taylor started a mill at Damascus, and the mill has ever since been retained and is still one of the principle stationary ones in the county. Burlin & Taylor also opened a general store, the first in the county, and managed the tavern which had been established by Vance. A town was laid out at this point, but if ever platted the plat was destroyed in the fire of 1847. In 1859, however, under direction of the auditor, the assessor made a plat of the lots in section twelve (Damascus), which was recorded on the 5th of December of that year. By this it is learned that there were in all seventeen lots—fifteen of which are on the north of the canal and two on the south. In early days this was the most promising business point on the canal within the county of Henry, and was ambitious enough to rival Napoleon for the county seat. The inability of the canal to compete with the railroads and retain the carrying trade, has ruined Damascus as a town and converted it into a magnificent farm. In those early days, to use pioneer language, "it was pretty rough sledding." When John Patrick came to the river in 1866, the nearest mill was at Waterville, a distance of twenty-five miles, and the settlers were often compelled to go to Brunersburg, on Beam Creek, in what is now Defiance county, and not unfrequently to Monroe, in Michigan, taking along an ax and log chain to clear out the Indian trail, the only road to travel. HENRY COUNTY - 237 After the completion of the canal, and the commencement of navigation on its muddy waters, the settlers along its banks began to multiply with geometrical progression, and in 1847, the earliest preserved duplicate discloses the fact that there were residing on the territory which at present is embraced within the limits of Liberty township, sixty-six persons who paid tax on personal property. Among these contributors to the public revenues who resided on the sections detached from Harrison, were General Ezra S. Dodd, whose ashes repose in the Damascus grave-yard ; Joseph Cowdrick, already referred to ; Samuel Bowers, dead and buried on the farm he cut and cultivated from the wilderness ; and George Bowers, who is still living and rejoicing in great- grandchildren ; Judge Meekison, a banker at Napoleon, being the father of the latest addition. Prominent among those who resided in the other part of or rather the orignal township, may be named: Alonzo, Lorenzo, Solomon, James H., and a large family of Babcocks, most of whom are still living ; George Chroninger, one of the jolliest old men, surrounded by a happy family, who still lives in the township, having by his industry, frugal habits and honest dealings, acquired a competency which will certainly protect him from the charity of the infirmary director; Hosea Harrison, Rensselaer, and several others of the Hudson family, whose names have become interwoven into the official history and progress of Henry county John and several others of the Knapp family, still prominent in the township ; John M. Meek, a brother-in-law of Judge Cory, who came to the county at a very early period, was prominent in local government, and whose only remaining descendant by his first marriage, is the wife of Judge J. M. Haag, of Napoleon ; the Redfield family; Samuel H. Steedman, who was the first colonel of the Sixty-eighth 0. V. Infantry: James B. Steedman, subsequently the hero of Chickamauga, and whose monument is now the chief ornament of the city of Toledo ; John Wright, sr., John Wright, jr., and Nathan Wright ; Ward Woodward, now of Liberty Center, Samuel Winters, and George Crawford, at one time county commissioner and prominent in local politics, whose children still reside in the vicinity. The duplicate of 1847 shows the township charged with eighteen thousand four hundred and forty-two acres of land, valued at $38,764.95, and chattels valued at $4,988. The total tax paid was $1,316.66, with an additional for school-house of $49.22. A comparison and a calculation of the growth and prosperity of the township may be made from the following figures : The duplicate of 1887 shows seventeen thousand five hundred and ninety- one acres of land, exclusive of town sites, and railroad right-of-ways, valued at $330,725 ; chattels listed at $136,487, paying a total tax including the village of Liberty Center, of $10,139. The township had a population of 1,119 in 1860; 1,766 in 1870; in 1880 the population amounted to 1,946. It may be safely estimated at present at 2,400. 238 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. Outside of the town of Liberty Center, there are eight school-houses, most of them brick, and all well appointed, with school maintained for at least half the year. The Christian Union has a church edifice in section thirty-two and also in section fifteen, and the United Brethren have a chapel in section fifteen. The main and several branches of Turkey Foot Creek (north of the Maumee) and Dry Creek, afford the township very good natural drainage, and artificial surface and underground ditches have contributed to make this perhaps the best farming township in the county ; and which, together with good roads, commodious, comfortable and well-constructed residences and farm buildings give to it, as a body, an average value greater than that possessed by any other farming land in northwestern Ohio. The construction of the Wabash Railway did much to develop the township and hasten its improvement. While it destroyed the plant of the towns along the canal, it converted the wilderness along its track into many flourishing villages. Among them is LIBERTY CENTER, at present a flourishing village with a population between five and six hundred. It was the second village in the county to become incorporated, and has taken advantage of its corporate franchise to secure good sidewalks, streets and drainage. It is located in sections twenty-five and thirty-six of the original surveyed township, is a railroad and telegraph station on the Wabash, has the third best post-office in the county, and a printing offrce from which the Liberty Press is issued weekly. The village has a good hotel, a livery stable, a hardware store, a drug store, three dry goods stores, several saloons and restaurants, several fine brick blocks, and the mechanical artists usual to all villages. A handsome roller process grist-mill is a considerable attraction to the trade of the village, and a saw-mill furnishes a market for the few trees which remain to be converted into timber. It has four churches,—one Methodist Episcopal, one German Reformed, one United Brethren and one Seventh Day Adventist. Its greatest ornament, however, and its chief pride is its new graded school building, erected during the year 1886. It is a two-story, finely finished building, in which is maintained one of the best educational schools in the county. On the 4th of June, 1863, Alpheas Buchanan first conceived the idea of establishing a trading-point in Liberty township, and on that day recorded a plat of twelve lots in the northeast quarter of section twenty-five, on the south side of the Wabash Railway. To this was added his first, second and third additions. January 7, 1867, Calvin C. Young added an addition of twelve lots ; and June 7, 1868, E. T. Coon contributed an addition of ten lots more, with requisite streets and alleys ; January 2, 1869, G. P. Parrish stimulated the growth HENRY COUNTY - 239 of the village by adding eighteen more lots to the town plat, being in the northeast corner of section thirty-six. Ward Woodward, one of the early settlers of the township already mentioned, not wishing to be outdone by those to the manor born subsequent to himself, on the 19th of July, 1869, contributed to the village a triangular addition of ten lots and an alley, on the south side of the Wabash Railway. Ode Buchanan, awakening from a sort of Rip Van Winkle sleep, determined not to be outdone by those whom he termed the "boys," and, on the 24th of July, added an addition of eight irregular lots, and a street of thirty feet on the north of the railway, and caused the erection of a handle and excelsior factory in his addition, This enterprise served to again arouse old " Uncle George Parrish, who, getting on his muscle, added a second addition of four irregular lots on the west of his former addition and separated from it by Parrish street. On the 22d day of September, 1882, Damel Ehrgood gave to the village its last contribution, which consisted of sixteen lots, continuing East street and adding Garfield, Lincoln, Cherry and Plum and an alley, which gives to the village one hundred and forty-one platted lots upon most of which are neat and handsome residences or business buildings, and is the site of one of the pleasantest, most prosperous and enterprising towns along the line of the Wabash Railway. This township is divided into two voting precincts. The elections for the eastern is held at Liberty Center, and that for the western at Chroninger's school-house. CHAPTER XXIII. HISTORY OF MARION TOWNSHIP. MARION is the extreme southern township in the county of range seven, being bounded on the south by township two of that range, the line between the two forming the line between Putnam and Henry counties. There is little to distinguish this township from the balance of the county except the south or (as named by the geologists of the State) Belmore Ridge, which runs through it, entering the township near the half section line of section thirty, and runmng in a winding track eastward through sections twenty- nine, twenty-eight and twenty-seven, when it turns southeasterly through sections twenty-six, thirty-five and thirty-six, crossing the township line near the southeast corner of the latter section. The lands along this ridge are high and dry. The remainder of the township is, or rather was, very wet, but exceedingly well timbered with burr and white oak, walnut, maple, poplar, ash and the softer woods. 240 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. The settlement of the township has been slow, and even comparatively modern. Located in a dense forest, no roads, not even " cow paths," and no way to reach market except on foot, it was absolutely inaccessible, except from the ridge, which made a good natural road to Defiance. The wetness of the soil, the density of the forest and the isolation of the territory from market and civilization, were, however, not the only causes which retarded the settlement and improvement of the township. In the years 1850-51, before the adoption of the new constitution, Samuel Medary, then editor of the Ohio Statesman, and other Columbus gentlemen and capitalists, conceived the idea of founding a settlement in the " Black Swamp," and laid out a village, which they named Medary, in township two of this range of land, in Putnam county. About the same time a scheme was formulated by John M. Palmer, who subsequently became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, to construct a plank road from the above village, northward, to intersect the Kalida pike in section thirty, Monroe township. The road is still known as the Medary road. Palmer, by some process of manipulation in which rascality is ever fruitful, succeeded in getting a board of stupid trustees to issue the bonds of Marion township, which at that time had scarcely any population, in the sum of five thousand dollars for the ostensible purpose of building this plank road. Having secured the bonds Palmer negotiated them at once, put the proceeds in his pocket, and the road was never built. The debt, however, was entailed on the township, and to that extent was a mortgage on all the land. The lands were valued very low, and the duplicate being small, the tax was correspondingly high, and the debt was not finally paid until 1864. This aided materially in preserving Marion as the camping and squatting ground of the hunter, and gave to it the name of " Big Woods." The township was organized in the spring of 1847, at which time there were but ten voters living in it. The duplicate of that year shows but seven chattel tax payers: John Hamler, Samuel H. Harshberger, Daniel Harshberger, William Bales, William Rayle, S. K. Warnick and W. M. Warner. The value of the personal property was $680; that of the land, there being but 9,266 adres listed for taxation, was $13,031.15, and the total tax paid was $480.45. Most of the persons named are either dead or removed. The descendants of Samuel H. Harshberger and of William Rayle still reside in the township and are the owners of some of the best farms in Marion, well improved, good, and large buildings erected, and the land under a high state of cultivation. W. M. Warner soon tired of wood life and sold out to Casper Zeirolf, now dead, but the old farm, perhaps in all respects, being situated on the ridge, the best in the township, is owned and occupied by his son William, at present one of the commissioners of the c0unty. Samuel Harshberger, son of Samuel H., was the first white child born in the township, and inherited from his ancestors one of the best farms in the township, upon which he now resides. HENRY COUNTY - 241 Of these pioneers John Hamler deserves more than a passing notice, although he is elsewhere spoken of in this book. He was the first settler in the township, having entered land and located in section twenty-one, September 16, 1846. The forest was dense, and wild beasts and mosquitoes the only inhabitants. The Indians, a remnant of the Ottowas, were only twenty-six miles east ; the nearest house was fourteen miles, twenty miles to the nearest trading point, and thirty miles to mill, may give some idea of the inconveniences and hardships of frontier life. Yet Mr. Hamler says that his life was not devoid of enjoyment, and that he took almost as much pleasure in the rude and wild life of the woods as he does now surrounded by all the comforts and luxuries of civilization. The real impr0vement and settlement of the township did not commence until 1869, when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was constructed. This road enters the township at the southeast corner of section twelve and runs northwesterly to the northwest corner of section six. The constructi0n of this road assisted largely in draining the lands, lead to the erection of saw-mills and stave factories ; the cleaning out and deepening of the creeks, the main ones of which are Turkey Foot, Beaver, Brush and Lost creeks, and to the location, construction and improvements of roads. These improvements caused heavy taxation and assessments, and this obliged the non-resident land speculator to dispose of his holdings, which, passing into the hands of those who became permanent settlers, improvements seemed to spring up like Jack's bean pole, in a single night, and makes Marion to-day as good a township as there is in the county. The growth of the township may be indicated by the tax duplicate and the census returns. We have already shown the duplicate of 1847. That for 1887 shows 22,962 acres of land for taxation valued at $203,035, and personal property to the amount of $130,613, and the amount of taxes paid to be $7,541.17. The population in 1860 was only 195 souls; in 1870 it amounted to 513 ; in 1880, to 1,202, and at present may be safely estimated at 1,500. The educational interests of the township have been carefully provided for and there are at present, in addition to the graded school at Hamler, nine good and substantial schools-houses erected. In each of the villages and at one or two points in the country, church buildings have also been erected. The growth of this township has certainly been phenomenal and is owing largely to foreign immigration, the population outside of the descendants of the pioneers and the few Yankees who have been attracted by the wealth to be made of the great forests of timber, being composed mostly of industrious, sober, quiet and religious classes of Irish and German. These people mixing and inter-marrying, including the native born, make the progressive and energetic homogeneous American, and indicates that our national motto, e pluri bus mom, means not only one State for many States, but one nation from all the 242 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. nations of the earth, and that the motto has not yet degenerated into a trade mark for the standard dollar, but still deserves a place on the broad standard of human rights and human hopes. It also indicates a population of healthy sentiment. No agrarian or communism here. An honest, industrious people came here into the wild forest, when cheap lands could be obtained, and lands inexhaustible in fertility, which by hard work could be converted into homes, where old age might rest in comfort and its descendants live in luxury. Men like these, who settled and peopled Marion, were present in the mind of the poet when he asked: "What constitutes a State?" and answered: “Not raised battlement and labored mound, Thick wall or moated gate; Not cities proud  Men, high-minded men. . . Men who their duties know, But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain — Prevent the long aimed blow, And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain— THESE CONSTITUTE THE STATE!" EDWARDSVILLE Is a triangular tract of land in the northeast corner of the n0rthwest quarter of section twenty-eight, formed by the crossing of the Medary road and the Ridge road. It consists of seven lots and two out lots, and was laid out by George W. Edwards and John Rayle on the 6th of September, 1863, and recorded on the 7th of the same month. A post-offrce was established here as early as 1861 and named Ridgeland. The post-office still remains, but the hamlet has not grown beyond two or three dwellings. William P. Young has, however, erected a saw-mill, stave factory and tile manufactory within a stone throw, and is doing a thriving business. HAMLER. This flourishing village, named in honor of John Hamler, is situated in section eleven, where the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad crosses the Turkey Foot road. It has a population of about five hundred, a post-office, and is a telegraph and express station. A large and extensive stave factory is located here, affording a good and profitable market for the large quantity of soft wood still growing in the township. A fine two-story brick building affords excellent accommodation for the graded school held in it. A new commodious Catholic church, and a Methodist Episcopal furnish places of worship, and indicates the religious leaning of those with enterprise sufficient to erect a building. The various mechanical trades are represented ; three dry goods stores, doing a general business ; one hardware store, an agricultural implement warehouse indicate a thrifty business ; and a good hotel, two saloons and restaurants furnish accomm0dations for the stranger. The Odd Fellows have a lodge here and the Grand Army a post. HENRY COUNTY - 243 The village was originally platted by Hon. William D. Hill, of Defiance, and his wife, Augusta B., on the l0th of July, 1874, and recorded December 23, 1875. Five and one-third acres were appropriated to depot grounds ; seventy-five lots were platted on the south side of the railroad, and ninety-six on the north ; there were ten alleys, and the streets running east and west were named respectively, Green, English, Edgerton, Baltimore, Randolph, Benton and Cowan ; and those running north and south were christened White, Main, Lee and Pendleton. Turkey Foot road, known as Marion street, runs diagonally southwesterly through the village. The lots are four by eight rods, except those lying west of Marion street, which are eighteen links in width. On the 6th of January, 1875, J. W. Sargent laid out an addition of seventeen lots, which was recorded on the 8th of the same month. It comprises four acres of land, including streets and alleys, and is the east part of the northeast corner of the north half of the southeast quarter of section ten. Mr. Hill and wife added their first addition of three out lots November 28; 1881. It is triangular, west of Marion street, south of the railroad and east of the west section line of section eleven. On the 7th of April, 1887, recorded on the 21st of the same month, Mr. Hill and wife added a second addition of ninety-six regular lots, six irregular, and blocks A and B. Chestnut, Cleveland, Blaine and Hubbard streets run east and west, and First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth north and south ; there are seven alleys. This addition is in the southwest corner of section eleven and southwest of the original plat. CHAPTER XXIV. HISTORY OF MONROE TOWNSHIP THIS is another township which has recently been cut out of the " Big Woods," and thus destroyed a large part of the happy hunting ground of the sportsman. It was organized as a geographical township in 1850, being detached from Harrison to which it had previously belonged. In the government survey it is known as township four, north of range seven, east. The duplicate of 1851 sh0ws only seven chattel taxpayers resident in the township. We give the names with the amount of tax paid by each : Samuel E. Edwards (author of the " Ohio Hunter," who then resided on the farm now owned and occupied by Phihp Heckler), $2.40 ; William Hill, $1.89 ; Michael Hill, $2.02 ; Waite Hill, jr., $1.09; Christopher Kemm, $3.38 ; Matthias Knopsley, $.97; Amonah Parkison, $1.05 ; Paulus Quitman, $1.01. The number of 244 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. acres of land entered and subject to taxation was 14,463, valued at $22,268.21; while the value of the chattel property was only $476, and the total tax paid, including specials, was $1,698.35. In this connection the duplicate of 1887 may as well be given. It shows 22,960 acres of land, valued at $233,210, subject to taxation ; the chattel property is valued at $80,376, and the total tax paid $7,244.62. The population of the township was, in 1860, three hundred and fifty-tw0 souls ; in 1870 six hundred and fifty-eight ; in 1880 it had grown to one thousand one hundred and forty-eight, and is at present not less than fifteen hundred. The township is divided into nine school districts and has as many good and commodious school buildings ; and five churches, all Protestant,— one a United Brethren, near Levi Dresbeck's; two Lutheran churches one on section 18, and one on section 33, The others will be spoken of when we write of the villages. Among the early settlers of the township, in addition to those already named, we may add : David Latta, Matthew Hill, Daniel and W. H. Bigford, Rev. Williamson Barnhill, Charles Huber, John Bensing, John Frankforther, Peter Reimond, John B. Meyers, Rev. Frederick \Witzgall, and Jac0b Snyder, who made the early improvements on the valuable farm now owned and occupied by John Rentz. All of these persons or their immediate descendants or families are still living in the township. For many years this township was a stunted child, and its healthy growth commenced with the construction of the Toledo, Delphos and Burlington Railroad, a narrow guage, but which has in the present year been extended to a standard guage, and is now known as the Clover Leaf" route. The road enters the township at the northeast corner of section 0ne, on the east line, runs in a southwest direction, leaving the township in the northwest quarter of section thirty-one, on the west line. The lands in this township, as in the whole county with the exception of the ridge, are low, flat, level, and were wet, requiring considerable drainage. This has been accomplished and three-fourths of the township is now under a good state of cultivation. The drainage is accomplished by the cleaning out, widening and deepening of the natural water courses, the main one of which is Turkey Foot. This creek enters the township in the south at the line between section thirty-five and thirty-six, running north in a winding direction through sections thirty-five, twenty-six, twenty-three, twenty-two, fourteen, fifteen, ten, three, four and five, entering Harrison township near the center of the latter section on the south township line. School Creek enters the township in the west near the southwest quarter of section nineteen, and runs northerly, winding through sections eighteen and eight, emptying into Turkey Foot in section four. Lost Creek and Ash Creek also run from the south to the north, both adding their waters to Turkey Foot. Into these several streams artificial drainage, both surface and sub-soil, have been constructed, pretty thoroughly HENRY COUNTY - 245 draining the township and fitting it for cultivation. Good roads have been constructed on almost every section line, both north and south and east and west, many of which have by the county commissioners been improved under the laws of the Legislature enacted for that purpose, and the township to-day ranks among the best and wealthiest in the county. The hamlets and villages in the township are Ellery (or, as known on the plat book, Herrtown) Grelleton and Malinta. Of these in order : HERRTOWN or ELLERY. On the plat book this hamlet is known as Herrtown, but the postoffice located there having been named Ellery, the latter has become the accepted name. It is situated in the south part of the east half of the southwest quarter of section sixteen on the " Clover Leaf " route. It consists of seventeen lots ; is a railway station, has a postoffice and small store. It was platted by Peter Ritter, January 29, 1881. It may be said to be extensively laid out but thinly settled. GRELLETON. This village, or more properly hamlet, is located where the township of Harrison, Damascus, Richfield and M0nroe corner. It is also on the " Clover Leaf" route. On the 23d of March, 1881, Eli C. Clay laid out an addition of seventeen lots and erected a saw-mill in the northeast corner of section one in the latter township. On the l0th of May, 1884, Mr. Clay platted another addition in this township, in the southeast corner of the northwest quarter of the same section. It consists of thirteen lots, and was recorded December 27, 1884. The hamlet has a good school-house, two dry goods stores, a meat market, restaurant, a saw-mill, hoop factory, stave factory, a railroad depot, express, telegraph and post-offices, and contains a population of from three hundred to three hundred and fifty. Among the first settlers and present residents of the place may be enumerated Thomas B. Emery, Joseph B. Ward, Eli C. Clay, William Mead, C. H. Thompson, Jonathan Scheidler, Leroy Thompson, Randall & Hughes, hoop factory, and the Dewey Stave Company. MALINTA. This is the principal village in the township. It is also on the hne of the " Clover Leaf," and is located in sections ten and eleven. It contains a population of from four hundred to four hundred and fifty. It has four dry goods and general stores, two hardware stores, two salo0ns and restaurants, one sawmill, stave factory, tile and brick factory, picture gallery, blacksmith shops, shoemaker, etc. It is a railroad station and has an express, telegraph and post- office. Two churches, one Lutheran and one United Brethren, are erected here. 246 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. The village was first platted and laid out by John Bensing, September 21, 1880, in the west part 0f the northwest quarter of section eleven, on the north side of the railroad. Turkey Foot avenue bounded it on the west, Main street on the north, an alley on the east, and an alley between the plat and the railroad on the south. It was constituted of twenty lots, with Center street running east and west, and Henry street and an alley north and south. Depot grounds were also laid out on the south of the railroad. Mr. Bensing platted and recorded his first addition to the village, April, 1881. It is in the west part of the northwest quarter of section eleven, south of the railroad, west of the dep0t grounds and east of Turkey Foot avenue. It consists of twenty-six lots. Washington and Adams streets and one alley run east and west ; Henry street continued and two alleys run north and south. May 28, 1881, L. and L. Horn added an addition to the village, located in part of the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section ten. It embraced four and a half acres west of Turkey Foot avenue. It consists of twelve lots, two alleys running east and west and one north and south, on the south side of the railroad; and seventeen lots, Monroe street and three alleys, east and west and one alley north and south, on the north of the railroad. The town is thrifty, the population enterprising, and it will doubtless, before many years, rank among the foremost villages in the county. Before closing this chapter a word should be said in memory of the men who first undertook the task of making delightful homes of the "tangled for-gists." THE STURDY PIONEER. "Peace has her victories as well as war;" with equal truth may civil life be said to have its heroes as well as the tented field, and if ever man deserved the title of hero, that man is the pioneer. Language cannot be woven into a fitting uniform for this hero ; he was not an adventurer ; he possessed all the elements of the true soldier ; courage, fortitude, determination, endurance, self-reliance, perseverance were his characteristics. He went forth, venturing where no other white foot had ever trod, a colonist, founding new homes and building new States. The race of pioneers was a constructive one, and its conquests were pushed, not only beyond the mountains, but from ocean to ocean, and where its seeds of thought, religion and civilization were once planted, there they grew and flourished. Time too readily blots from the memory of the rising generation the glorious achievements of their ancestors, and the hardships, trials and deprivations suffered by them that they might crown "a youth of labor with an age of ease" and leave behind them homes of comfort as inheritances to their posterity; and the bravest, the best and the noblest are laid away, in a few years to be forgotten. HENRY COUNTY - 247 There is something grand in the gradual development of human hist0ry and human progress. The actors at any period may wholly fail to appreciate the effect of their action on the future, and be ignorant of the links and succession of events which connect past, present and future. The actor knows only to face and to do his duty as day by day it is presented to him, and he too often remains unconscious of his relation to predecessor and successor and of the gradual unfolding of the great plan of human development and progress. In all human movements we have the temporary and the permanent, the transient form and non-essential incident with the permanent substance and the essential truth. There must be personal actors, as well as potential causes and irresistable current. Every age has its heroes, martyrs and victims, and every cause its defenders, advocates and enemies, and to the heroic men who preceded us to the pathless wilderness we owe the heritage we now enjoy, and it is proper that to them honor be paid and their memories cherished. No nation ever did anything worth remembering that failed to honor its heroic dead and count among its national treasures the fame of its illustrious ancestors. As we gaze over the expansive and fertile fields and see the comfortable and pleasant homes of Henry county, reflect that but a few years ago it was but a "matted woods, where birds forget to sing," and recall the labors, toils, sacrifices and dangers which made up the life of the pioneer heroes whose graves indent our soil, and as we appreciate the triumphs won by them which have given to us the noble heritage we now enjoy, and cast ourselves into the beckoning future which these men and their labors made possible, our hearts cannot fail to fill with pride, and love and gratitude, and in the sight of country and of the world we lift up their honored names, and ask posterity to emulate the pioneer. There seems to be a neglect of duty on the part of the children of the pioneer. There should be monuments erected to commemorate the achievements of these brave and great men. Monuments are the links which connect names and events to fame. Let monuments be built in each township and stand as a silent, but eloquent witness, not only to the devotion and daring, but as a constant witness that we, the sons and daughters of these pioneers, hold in greatful recollection those to whom we are so largely indebted for the blessings we to-day enjoy. 248 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. CHAPTER XXV. HISTORY OF NAPOLEON TOWNSHIP. THIS township was organized in the spring of 1835, soon after the full organization of Henry county. The population in 1880 was 1,472 not including the town of Napoleon ; this has increased considerably. The township contains thirty-six square miles, without deducting the space covered by the Maumee River. The larger portion of this area is in an advanced state of cultivation. It lies near the middle of the famous Black Swamp, which was formerly such a terror to emigrants, and which caused it to be passed by by early settlers, who were seeking homes, in what was in the beginning of the century, the "far west." Its surface is remarkably even, except in the immediate vicinity of its water courses, where the surface drift has been washed away, during and since the glacial epoch. The soil, like that of the Black Swamp generally, is remarkable for its great fertility. It is underlaid by what is known as the Erie clay, which was deposited during the long ages when the township formed a portion of the bed of Lake Erie. This clay on account of its great tenacity, furnishes the best possible foundation for a fertile soil. In itself it furnishes a large amount of plant food, and after being exposed to the disintegrating effects of frost and heat, becomes a very productive soil. The great growth of vegetation, previous to its discovery and settlement by the white man, gave it a rich coat of soil, which the retentiveness of the clay preserved for future use. The beautiful Maumee River furnishes the great center of drainage to the township, as well as to the greater portion of the county. The general trend of the surface is towards the Maumee River, and Lake Erie, i. e., on the northern side of the river the slope is toward the southeast, while that of the southern side of the river is at right angles, or towards the northeast. The rate of descent is between four and six feet to the mile, which gives sufficient fall, when skillfully distributed, to secure the benefits of thorough under-draining, which in the Black Swamp is the one great necessity in securing the conditions of successful agriculture. There are five small streams with their branches, that empty into the river from the northern side, while there are none of importance in that small portion of the township lying south of the river. Much time, labor and money have been expended in bringing the township out of its original condition of a dense swampy forest, to its present advanced state of productiveness. Much, however, remains to be done. It took no small amount of courage to attack the swamps and forests of this locality half a century ago. More hardships were endured, and more lives lost in the work of clearing up and preparing the conditions which now exist in the form of beautiful productive farms, which are to be seen throughout the town- HENRY COUNTY - 249 ship, than were endured to subdue the hostile and treacherous Indians which once occupied the country. We have here no early history of Indian or other wars, through which the earlier settlers of this region had to pass. The battle of the Fallen Timbers at Presque Isle, on the Maumee River, three miles above Maumee, so broke the power of the Indians, that no further trouble was had with them. As that memorable battle occurred in the latter part of the eighteenth century, when there was probably not a single white resident (unless it may have been the renegade Simon Girty), in the whole county, we have therefore no blood-curdling stories of hair-breadth escapes from the Indians, or of ambuscades or battles. All has been peaceful since the organization of the county. Our modest story will therefore lack interest to those who require something of a blood-curdling nature. The early settlers here had enough to contend with in the shape of inhospitable nature, and were very well satisfied with the fact, that the lives of their wives and httle ones, as well as their own scalps were in no danger from the savage Indians. We see around us now many of the aged pioneers both male and female, who took part in this great contest with savage nature, whose tottering frames show very clearly that they have endured great privations, such as but few of their children would undertake. Fortunately for the children, they have nothing to do but enjoy the fruits of their parents indomitable pluck and perseverance. These old pioneers are rapidly passing away, and soon will be only known by the works they have done. Yet, before passing away they have had the great satisfaction of knowing that they have left a heritage for their children, where they may enjoy all the comforts of life without enduring tbe trials, privations and inconveniences they were compelled to endure. It is to be hoped that the children will continue to develop the resources of the land their parents have done so much to make ready for their occupation. In the very nature of things the future resources of this township will mainly depend upon agriculture. There seems, at present, to be little else upon which the people of Napoleon township can depend except that which may be gained from the cultivation of the soil. This is not a cause for discouragement. We have the city of Toledo, with its phenomenal growth, which may fairly entitle it to the appellation of the " Future Great ;" also the embryo cities of Findlay, Bowling Green and Lima, with their great flow of oil and gas, which cannot help making them great manufacturing centers. All of these are our near neighbors, and they will need everything we can produce, and will therefore furnish a market at our very doors, and at remunerative prices. The early settlers of the township are rapidly passing over to the majority beyond the river, therefore it is well to place on record their early trials and privations, and their heroic struggles with poverty and disease ; in their efforts to subdue the