(RETURN TO THE HENRY & FULTON COUNTY INDEX) 400 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. with him opened a law office at Wauseon. Previous to his leaving the State of his nativity he married Miss Charlotte Scudder, the mother of his three promising sons, Thomas Frank, and Harry. In the office of H. H. and T. F. Ham the rule and system of a division of labor has always been observed and the subject of this sketch since the establishment of their professional business, has been distinctly and avowedly the office lawyer. In the main the purely business branch of the law has devolved upon him, and much of the advisory part and largely the direction of the clerical work. He is a safe counsellor and a careful and methodical business and commercial lawyer, and is weh versed in legal principles. L. M. Murphy is of Irish descent hut was born in Belmont county, O., on the 28th of September, 1849. He received an academic education and engaged hi public school work in different parts of the State until 1876, when because of ill health, produced by continuous teaching he gave up the work which he had chosen for a life vocation and began studying law with Southard and Southard of Zanesville, 0. Remaining with this firm but about six months he then went to Mt. Vernon, 0., and studied in the office of McIntyre and Kirk, prominent attorneys of that city, for two years, when in 1879 he was admitted to the bar. In 1880 he located in Wauseon, 0., and in point of time as a legal practitioner, is the youngest at the Fulton county bar. He was associated with Air. Slusser in business for about four years and with M. Handy esq., for one year. lie was mayor of Wauseon for nearly five years and for the last four years has been president of the Fulton county board of school examiners, still evincing much interest in and giving considerable attention to educational matters. It should not be left unmentioned that Mr. Murphy became a Union soldier at the age of fifteen years, and honorably and faithfully served his country in the field during the last year of the rebellion. In point of scholarly qualifications Mr. Murphy is probably excelled by no member of the bar of Northwestern Ohio, either as to range or thoroughness. His early education was by no means neglected and his most intimate associates have been his books, yet neither his tastes nor his experience as a teacher has made him pedantic. As a lawyer lie may safely for his experience be pronounced a very excellent general practitioner, and is conspicuously able as an advocate. If eloquence be, as defined by a celebrated modern historian, a fusion of reason and passion, then Mr. Murphy is an eloquent orator. A lawsuit with him is a kingdom to be conquered by hard fighting and he gives blows often with fierceness and always receives them with equanimity. Of great warmth of feeling and temperament it is not likely that he ever harbored a resentment a moment after the occasion therefor passed away. Among the leaders of the Fulton county bar he is fast becoming conspicuous and evinces promising talent as a nisi prius lawyer. While prosecuting his legal studies Mr. Murphy was married and is the father of three children. FULTON COUNTY - 401 Mazzini Slusser, the present prosecuting attorney of Fulton county, is thirty- five years old, and received his legal education in the office of A. C. Baldwin, at Pontiac, Mich., and at the Michigan University, graduating in the law department thereof, in 1876. His rudimentary and literary training was acquired in the public schools of Bryan, 0., and at an academy which flourished there some years ago. After spending two years in public school work, Mr. Slusser located at Wauseon, in 1878, and followed the business of general insurance until 1880, when he formed a partnership with L. M. Murphy, esq.. and began the active practice of the law. In 885 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Fulton county, since which time he has had no partnership associate. Though yet young in the law practice, Mr. Slusser has attained to a profitable business, and gives earnest of fine ability, especially in the direction of chancery proceedings. He is well versed in legal principles, and is careful and painstaking. He possesses excellent business ability, without which no permanent and substantial success can be acquired, especially in the domain of civil practice. As prosecuting attorney, he has achieved success in a fair degreel but the bent of his mind, and the whole tenor of his legal training, seems more in the direction of that responsible class of legal business which is taken care of and receives its final disposition on the equity side of the court, as it is called in the careless language of the practicing lawyer. Mr. Slusser is a married man, the father of three promising boys. His conduct in all the relations of life is most exemplary. He is sober, relf-respecting, and though not brilliant, is destined to solid prominence both as a citizen and lawyer. William H. Gavitt was born in Franklin county, 0., on the 12th day of November, 1844. He is the son of a prominent Methodist clergyman, who made Northwestern Ohio the scene of his active labors in the dispensation of the gospel during the years it was slowly emerging from the wilderness. Mr. Gavitt was educated at the Ohio Wesleyan University, one of the most prominent educational institutions in the country under the immediate ecclesiastical control of the Methodist Episcopal Church. On the 12th day of January, 1863, he began studying law with M. Handy, esq., at Ottokee, the old county-seat of Fulton county, but completed his studies at Delaware, in the office of James R. Hubble, at that time a leading lawyer of Central Ohio. On November 25, 1865, Mr. Gavitt was admitted to the bar, and immediately opened an office at Wauseon. Wearying somewhat of the law after a few years, he went to Isabel county, Mich., where in connection with Dr. S. T. Norden, whose daughter he had married, he engaged in the drug business. In 1876 he returned to Fulton county, and again embarked in the legal practice, this time at Delta, where he has since resided. In 1880 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Fulton county, and two years later was re-elected. Mr. Gavitt is a good general lawyer. He is in no sense a specialist, but seems as much at home in one department of the law as another. He is a good 402 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. pleader, and a good advocate, yet has always given careful attention to commercial and office practice. He is noted as a speaker who is never at a loss for something weighty and plausible to say in defense of a cause which has all the appearance of hopelessness, and he can be daunted by no discouragements. His manners are dignified and pleasant, and he is deservedly popular with his legal brethren. John Quincy Files is a native of Greene county, 0., and was born September 21, 1846. He was educated at the village school of a small and antiquated place designated indifferently in local parlance as Oldtown, or old Chilicothe in that county. At the age of nineteen years Mr. Files left home, and began the battle of life for himself. In 1870, being then a resident of Louisville, Ky., he completed the course of book-keeping in Bryant and Stratton's business college of that city, after which for several years he was a traveling salesman, and sold goods throughout many of the western States. In 1875 he located at Holland, Lucas county, and for three years followed farming. Here he made the acquaintance of B. T. Geer, esq., a prominent lawyer of Lucas county, with whom in 1878, he began studying law, finishing his course and being admitted to the bar in 1880, since which time he has been practicing at Swanton, and has met with considerable success. Though beginning the law somewhat late in life, by energy and good business judgment, added to careful mastery of elementary principles, Mr. Files has risen rapidly, and become justly prominent among the leading lawyers of Fulton county. As an evidence of the esteem with which he is regarded by his fellow-citizens, we may mention that he is mayor of the village of Swanton, and for several years was solicitor of that incorporation. He has been twice married, having lost his first wife and child by death before he became a lawyer. William W. Williams is a native of Michigan. He was born at Monroe county, in that State, in 1836, but early in life came to Ohio, and received his education in the common schools of Fulton county. During the war he served his country with credit as a volunteer soldier, incurring disabilities from which he has not recovered. At the mature age of thirty-six, he began the study of law, at Delta, with Lucius H. Upham, and was admitted to practice in 1875, since which time he has resided at Delta, and practiced in Fulton county. Charles F. Greenough, son of Elbridge T. Greenough, was born July 29, 1849, at Saulsbury, New Hampshire. He came with his parents to Fulton county, 0., and was educated in the public schools of Wauseon. He studied law in his father's office, and was licensed to practice in the courts of Ohio, in 1872, since which time he has been a member of the Fulton county bar. Cicero E. G. Roseborough is the eldest son of John W. Roseborough, and has always resided in Fulton county. He was born in 1863, and in 1884 was graduated at the Fayette Normal School.. He studied law in the office of his and was licensed to practice by the Supreme Court of the State, in FULTON COUNTY - 403 1886. He at once opened an office in Wauseon, but failing health compelled him to relinquish the profession for which he had thoroughly qualified himself. He now resides at the home of his parents at Burlington. This chapter, which has been devoted to a brief history of the bench and bar of Fulton county, and a slight attempt at estimating the professional qualities and more salient characteristics of those who have occupied and now are occupying places thereat, may, perhaps, be properly concluded by an enumeration of those fugitive and evanescent characters, who, from unsteadiness of purpose, from causes which it would be unkind and uncharitable to mention, or from the thirst and desire for brighter and more profitable worlds to conquer, tarried not long in Fulton county, or sadly fell by the wayside, or renounced and gave up that most laborious calling which, as Blackstone says, "employs in its theories the noblest faculties of the soul," long before, by toil and perseverance, they had climbed up into " the gladsome light of jurisprudence." Their names are given here that the list of the bench and bar of Fulton county may be complete, and that the worthy impulse and the honorable, though wavering, ambition which prompted them to essay the difficulties of legal study and practice, may not be left entirely unremembered and unrecorded : Richard Patterson, Henry H. McElhinny, John T. Birdseye, William Welker, Ray McConahey, Rezin Franks, Worling B. Leggett, George Denman, George R. Walker, Henry Hogaboam, Edward Tiffany, S. M. Huyck, Warren Upham, Henry Tiffanyl and Allen G. Carmichael. CHAPTER XXXIX. THE MEDICAL PROFESSION. FOR all time in the history of this portion of our State, prior to about thirty or forty years ago, it was generally believed by people that had no understanding of medicine or surgery, that the most successful curatives were "roots and herbs ;" and in various places in this work will be found mentioned the names of persons, men and women, who were positive blessings to the community on account of their ready understanding of each and every "case" which could be easily brought into subjection by a timely " potion " of boneset, catnip, pennyroyal or ginger tea, and that the presence of a man of science, or physician, was unnecessary, and only entailed a needless expense. This, in a measure, is an undeniable truth, for it does seem that half a century ago there were not the tenth part of the ailments and diseases that now afflict mankind, or at least there were not, by far, so many named diseases as now present 404 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. themselves for professional treatment. It was a common remark, forty years ago, that the presence of a doctor in any rural community meant future trouble—in fact that doctors " bred disorders." Notwithstanding these there not infrequently came the hour when the physician proved a blessing, and his efforts were duly appreciated, though there stood by at the time the redoubtable " root and herb" devotee, with the ever-ready "hot drink of boneset" or other "infallible cure," unless the patient died. The history of the medical profession has been written in the life and practice of every physician now, or heretofore, in this county. It is written in the innumerable hasty calls from home at midnight, and frequently when tired nature seeks and needs rest and repose. How great seems the hardship to be compelled to start from home and ride perhaps ten or fifteen miles through rain and storm, to fetch the doctor to some loved one m the family. But who ever thinks the physician suffers from such a ride, or from such a storm, or who ever thinks it any inconvenience to him to leave a bed of rest when, perhaps, the day previous he has driven twenty miles visiting patients. The history of the profession is written in each and every of these hardships, in each and every case that he is called to treat. We might possibly add the remark of some wag—that the history of the profession is written " on every tombstone" --but honor and respect for a noble profession forbids that any but pleasant remembrances should find place here. There lives not one physician in practice for any length of time but has lost patients, but this is but rarely the fault of the physician ; and of all that may chance to read these pages, there is not one that can honestly and conscientiously say that a physician has not tried to effect a cure. Cases are not wanting in which a mistaken diagnosis has been made—" to err is human," and no man is exempt from it. With the physician his reputation is at stake, and more than that, to his charge is committed, perhaps, a life. And who shall say he has been careless or negligent of it? The profession in Fulton county is the same as elsewhere, and the medical history of this is that of every county in the State. The Fulton County Medical Society.—This association of the physicians of the county has been in existence for twenty years. It was organized on the 15th day of February, 1868, with the following charter members; Dr. William Hyde, Dr. De Dr. N. W. Jewell, Dr. William Ramsey, Dr. S. P. Bishop, Dr. S. Hubbard, Dr. A. J. Murbach, Dr. S. F. Worden, and Dr. Josiah H. Bennett. The society prospered and grew in membership and interest for several years, and became auxiliary to the State Medical Society, and was recognized as one of the strongest members of the State organization. Of late years, however, the interest in the local society seems to have declined, and the meetings are not as well attended as the importance of the organization requires. Appended to this chapter will be found brief sketches of the early, and FULTON COUNTY - 405 some, of the present physicians of the county. Every reasonable effort has been made to obtain information from each now in practice, but that effort has not met with the success it honestly deserved. Should any be found missing, the fault rests only with the person, as ample time has been granted in which to furnish data. Of the resident physicians of the county of whom no information or data has been obtained, there are several. For a personal sketch of Drs. De Witt Hollister, A. J. Murbach, Estell H. Rorick and L. A. Bassett, reference is hereby made to the biographical department of this volume. The other resident physicians of the county are as for. P. F. Lenhart, Wauseon ; J. O. Allen, Fayette ; Dr. Clark, Metamora ; Ezra Mann, Lyons; Dr. O'Dell, Delta; A. J. Cunningham, Phillips Corners ; J. H. Waddle, Wauseon ; Dr. Longman, Wauseon ; G. E. Turrill, Wauseon ; Dr. Tompkins, Metamora ; Dr. Fletcher, Delta ; G. W. Hartman, Archbold. BRIEF SKETCHES OF EARLY AND PRESENT PHYSICIANS. William Holland was born at Oakham, Mass. in the year 1766 ; came to Fulton county in 1842 and purchased a tract of land in Pike township, returning soon to Massachusetts. His daughter, Louisa Holland, married Alfred A. Shute, September 11, 1843, and soon after decided to come to Fulton county. With Dr. Holland and family, they arrived in Pike township about the 1st of October, 1843, and the whole family soon became closely identified with the then few inhabitants of the township. He was educated in private schools then common in New England. After reaching the age of twenty-one he commenced the study of Latin under the instruction of Rev. M. Bascom, to prepare himself for the study of medicine. He read medicine with the most prominent members of the profession of the day, and united with the Massachusetts State Medical Association. At the age of twenty-six he commenced the practice. From 1792 to the year of his removal from Massachusetts, 1843, he practiced his profession. After arriving in Fulton county, and at the age of ninety years, he practiced some. even when he had to be carried to and from his house and vehicle. It can be said with truth that no other township in Fulton county save Pike, has laid to rest a man born ten years before the Revolution. William Hyde, son of William Hyde, a silk manufacturer, was born in London, England, July 8, 1813. He became a physician, not from choice, but from circumstances. When four years old he fell from a two-story window, sustaining a fracture above and below the knee. Dr. Taylor attended him, a young physician, and friend of the family. This being his first case in surgery, he wished to have him for a student, to which his father agreed, and when old enough, he was sent to study under him. Seven years of his life was spent in practice in a hospital. When twenty years old he was married to Kathern East. In 1835 he left England and came to America. One year 406 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. previous to this he kept drug store and followed his profession, but disliking the latter he determined not to follow it when he should arrive in this country, but circumstances forced themselves upon him. When crossing the ocean there was a case of typhus fever, and being the only doctor on board he was called upon by the captain to take the case. He did so, and the man recovered. When they arrived in New York his success was related, and he was offered a position in that city, but true to his purpose of discarding his profession, he refused the offer, and went to Cleveland, where he clerked in a whole- sale drug store four years. Afterwards he bought a farm in Wayne county, and followed that occupation. Again his evil genius followed him. A child in the neighborhood had the croup, and being so far from any doctor, the father called on Dr. Hyde. He refused to attend the child, but the father called the second time, and in such strong terms urged him, that he went. From that time his practice increased so that he was forced to give up farming, and moved to Millbrook, 0. In 1847 he moved to Fulton county, bought a farm and had a large practice, which so increased that he gave up farming and moved to Spring Hill ; from there to Wauseon. In 1873 he went to Chicago to live with Mrs. Swart, his daughter. He died June 8, 1881 ; the cause of his death inflammation of the bowels. He was buried in Goshen, Ind.l where the rest of his family, a son and daughter, reside. James J. Kittredge was born in Woburn, Mass., April 11, 1816; studied medicine with his uncle, Paul Kittredge, M. D., of Chelmsford, Mass.; attended two full courses of lectures at the Berkshire Medical Institution in Pittsfield, Mass., the first in the fall of 1844 ; the second in the fall of 1845 ; moved to Chesterfield, Fulton county, 0., June 21, 1846. The first professional call .after reaching Chesterfield was to the family of James Taylor, June 22, of the same month; moved from Chesterfield to Morenci, Mich., September , 1860, and immediately formed a partnership with Dr. Joseph Tripp, of Morenci; left Morenci in November, 1864, and made his residence in Crystal Valley, Mich., which place is still his home. Dr. Kendall was born in New York State, June 30, 1793 ; received his medical education in New York; came to Fulton county November, 1839, and practiced in all thirty-six years; died January I, 1873, in Pettisville, Fulton county. S. W. Jewell was born in Wayne county, 0., Jan. 20, 1826 ; moved with his family to then Lucas county, 0., in the year 1842, in the vicinity of Spring Hill. At the age of twenty-one he commenced to study medicine with Dr. Wm. Hyde, who had recently moved into the neighborhood, remained with him as a student two years. During the fall of 1848, owing to the amount of sickness and lack of physicians he treated quite a number of families without the aid of his preceptor, allowing him the fee. FULTON COUNTY - 407 In the spring of 1849 he commenced to practice medicine for himself. In 1850 he concluded to attend medical lectures. Accordingly, in the month of October he mounted his horse and rode into Wayne county, the place of his birthl intending to sell his horse there, and with the proceeds attend medical lectures during the winter. Failing to sell as expected, he left his horse with a friend and started for Cleveland, 0., on foot, where he arrived in due time, matriculated at the college, bought a ticket on anatomy and received a ticket of general admission to all the lectures good for six weeks. At the end of the time his money was all gone and he was compelled to return home. Thus armed with a little knowledge of anatomy and what he had seen in the clinics of the college, he went forth again to battle with disease, feeling at least that he was as competent as any of his competitors. In January, 1855, he married and moved to Toledo, 0. ; practiced medicine in that city during the summer and fall. In January, 1856, he moved to Wauseon, 0., a thriving town on the Air Line Railroad, and within the bounds of his old field of practice. In the fall of 1859 he removed to Valparaiso, Ind., opened an office in that city and practiced until the spring of 1861, when from the earnest solicitations of many of his old patrons he moved back to Wauseon, 0., where he has remained ever since. During the war he was commissioned surgeon for Fulton county to examine applicants for exemption from military duty. Served during the continuance of the war. While in Valparaiso, Ind., he learned the business of dentistry as taught in that early day, and when he returned to Wauseon, he practiced jointly medicine, surgery and dentistry for many years. In the fall of 1864 he concluded to attend lectures again and obtain the degree of doctor of medicine ; to that end he attended Bellevue Hospital Medical College during the session of 1864 and 1865. He learned after a time that he could not graduate at that institution, however well qualified he might be, in consequence of their rules requiring two full courses of lectures, his course at Cleveland, 0., in 1850 being only a partial course, rendered him ineligible as a candidate for graduation. At the close of the session he returned home, and not wishing to make another break in practice he concluded to avail himself of the opportunity of attending the spring session of the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery for the year 1865, the only college in the west at that time holding a spring session. He repaired at once to Cincinnati, entered the college, and at the close of the term received his diploma bearing date June 19, A. D., 1865. Since his graduation he has attended medical lectures at Chicago, Ill., in 1873, and at Philadelphia and Baltimore, Md., in the year 1881. Also in the same city he attended, during the months of January and February the daily clinics of Prof. Chisholm at the Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. W. A. Scott was born August 21, 1823, in Fairfield, Huron county, 0. ; 408 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. came to what is now Swanton township, Lucas county, with his parents, in April, 1835. His preliminary education was obtained in common schools, with two terms of select school in Maumee City. He taught school several winters, two terms of which were in Toledo, 0. ; studied medicine with Dr. Calvin Smith, of Toledo, who died of cholera, in 1852. While pursuing his studies was physician for Lucas County Infirmary, for fifteen months ; clerked in a drug store in Topledo, one year, for the purpose of obtaining a practical knowledge of drugs and their preparation ; attended medical lectures in Cleveland. Estell H. Rorick was born in Lenawee county, Mich., in 1842. He obtained his rudimentary professional education with Dr. Werds, with whom he spent some months at the army hospital at Nashville, Tenn. He attended the lectures at the medical department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and graduated in 1859. He first located in this county at Spring Hill, and afterwards moved to Fayette, his present residence. Dr. Rorick also took a course of lectures at the Detroit Medical College, at Edinburgh, Scotland, and at Mobile, Ala. His success in the field of medicine has been deserved, and he ranks among the leading physicians of the county and State. Josiah Hibbard Bennett was born July 22, 1825, in Allegany county, State of New York ; of American parentage, and of English and French ancestry. He was principally educated in Temple Hill Seminary, at Geneseo, N. Y., and emigrated to Ohio in 1846. He commenced the study of medicine under the tuition of Dr. William C. Porter, of Defiance, 0., remaining with him for two' years, then continuing his studies with Drs. John Paul and Jonas Colby, one year longer. Subsequently, he finished his course of study at Starling Medical College, Columbus, 0., in the winter of 1849-50. He commenced the practice of his profession in the spring of 1850, at Evansport, Defiance county, 0., and was one of the pioneer physicians and surgeons of Northwestern Ohio. He remained there thirteen years, practicing his profession with satisfactory success, without absence for recreation or rest, riding through streams, swamps, thickets and by-paths, upon horse-back, frequently being lost in the dense forest in the night ; would have to sit upon a log, lay upon the ground, or stand till daylight, weary, sleepy and hungry. Some years, in his early practice, in very sickly seasons, would ride day and. night, for two or three months, without resting upon a bed one whole night. In August, 1863, he moved to Wauseon, Fulton county, 0., where he has ever since resided, and where he is known and recognized as an able physician and. surgeon. In 1869 he was appointed surgeon for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad Company, upon the special recommendation of Hon. M. R. Waite, FULTON COUNTY - 409 the present chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, which position he still occupies, with credit to himself, with satisfaction to the company, and with honor to the profession. His leisure time has usually been spent in medical colleges and hospitals, especially in the surgical room. Dr. Bennett has been a close medical student for some forty years, and his application has resulted in originating the principles of dry surgical dressings, which he has used with great success, for twenty-five years, basing his theory upon dry, infrequent dressing of wounds, with absolute rest and positive position, as most needful for convalescence. He has had the satisfaction of seeing his method adopted in many of the hospitals of this country and in Europe. Dr. Bennett is an active member of the Fulton County Medical Society, and also of the United States Medical Congress, since 1856. He also was a member of the International Medical Congress, which convened at London, England, in 1881. William Ramsey, of Delta, 0 , was born in the north of Ireland, in 1827, of Scotch parentage; came to Ohio in 1842, and settled near Bolivar, with a widowed mother, three brothers and one sister. He commenced teaching school when seventeen years old and taught until 1847, when he commenced the study of medicine in the office of Drs. Bennett and Dodge, in Bolivar, and attended lectures at the Cleveland Medical College in the years of 1848 and '49; went into the drug business in Loudonville, 0., in the fall of 1851, and the following spring sold out and moved to Delta, where he practiced medicine up to 1873, when, owing to failing health, he established what is known as the Bank of Delta, which venture proved remunerative in his hands, as had his profession. He still lives in Delta, enjoying the confidence of all who knew him as a physician, and now as one of the leading bankers of the county. H. F. Van Buskirk was born in Fayette, 0., July 25, 1861, and is a son of the late Dr. J. T. Van Buskirk, of the same place ; began the study of medicine in the fall of 1878, and continued under the direction of Drs. McLean and Bachman, of Stanton, Mich., until September, 1876, when he commenced a six months' course of lectures at the Detroit Medical College. In the spring of 1880 he went to Philadelphia, Pa., where he began attending the Jefferson Medical College, where he remained until graduating April 1, 1882. Soon after completing his studies he located in his former home, Fayette, 0., where he still remains in the practice of his profession. Charles E. Bennett was born in Evansport, 0., March 1, 1856 ; removed with parents to Wauseon, 0., in October, 1863, where he attended the graded schools until 1873, when he began the study of medicine with his father, Dr. J. H. Bennett ; attended the Detroit Medical College, with Prof. E. W. Jenks as his preceptor, he being president of the institution, and professor of surgical diseases of women and obstetrics. Dr. Bennett attended two regular sessions and was a member, during the 410 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. spring and summer of 1875, of the five months' recitation term, graduated the 29th of February, 1876, and commenced practice March 1, 1876, at Wauseon, with his father, where he has constantly resided since, actively practicing his profession. S. P. Bishop was born in Licking county, 0., Dec. 3, 1839. Moved with his parents to Bryan, 0., in 1856. Attended the high school in the same place for several years. Read medicine with Dr. H. C. Long of Bryan. Attended the medical department of the University of Michigan in 1862, and '63, and Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1864 and '65. Received the .degree of doctor of medicine in March, 1865, at the last named institution. Permanently located in Delta, 0., April, 1865, where he has an extensive and remunerative practice, and is known as a thorough and highly competent physician and surgeon. L. A. Bassett was born in Amsden Corners (now Bellevue) Huron county, on October 25, 825. Commenced the practice of medicine in an early day after several years study and riding with Dr. John Osborne, in Wood county, 0. Has been a resident and practitioner of medicine in Fulton county since 1857. Now resides in Swanton. John A. Wilkins was born May 1, in New York. Studied medicine with Dr. Alfred Follett, Granville, 0., and graduated at the Starling Medical College, Columbus, 0. Received the degree of A.M. at Dennison University. Practiced medicine and surgery at Delta, 0., fourteen years, at which place he still resides. Dr. Wilkins was a member of the Ohio State Senate in 1880 and '81. G. P. Campbell was born March 19, 1847, at Carmichaeltown, Green county, Pa. Moyed to Ohio in 1855. Read medicine with Dr. J. H. Todd, of Wooster, 0. Graduated at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York city, in March, 1870. Located at Ridgeville, Henry county, 0., soon after graduating and practiced there until May, 1872, when he moved to Tedrow, Fulton county, 0., where he has ever since resided attending to a large and lucrative practice. Arthur B. Lathrop was born in Richfield township, Lucas county, 0., September 27, 1857. Attended the following literary schools : Raisin Valley Seminary, two years ; Valparaiso Normal School, seven months; Hillsdale College, two and one-half years. In medical studies Dr. Congrove, of Sylvania, 0., was his preceptor. He took a five months preparatory course at what is now known as the N. W. 0. Medical School. He took a course of study at Starling Medical College two years, graduating from the same in 1882. In the fall of 1882 he attended a course at Bellevue Medical College, New York city, graduating in the spring of 1883, after which he located at Swanton, Fulton county, 0., where he still resides, practicing his profession with satisfactory success. FULTON COUNTY - 411 L. E Miley was born February 25, 1852, in Clinton township, Fulton county. His early life was spent on the farm and in attending district school during the winter. At about the age of sixteen entered the high school at Wauseon, where he attended two years, after which he taught and attended school some eight years, one year of which he attended the Bryan Normal and Business College. In the winter of 1877 and '78 he began the study of medicine with Dr. G. P. Campbell of Tedrow, 0 , and on October 1, 1879, entered the medical department of the University of Michigan. He graduated from the university June 30, 1881. In August, 1881, he began practice at Ai, Fulton county, remaining there one year and a half. He then located at Louisville, Ky., when ill health compelled him after nearly a year in the city to return north. February 28, 1884, was married to Ella F. Deyo, daughter of Hon. Albert Deyo. Removing then to Wauseon, 0., he has continued to reside there still engaged in the practice of his profession. H. H. Brown, of Lyons, 0., was born at Williamsport, Pa., July 8, 1863. Attended literary school at Clinton, Me., high school and University of Michigan. Took three years course in department of medicine and surgery at the University of Michigan, entering fall of 1883, and graduating July 1, 1886. Located at Lyons soon after completing his studies, where he still resides practicing his profession. CHAPTER XL. THE PRESS OF FULTON COUNTY. PERHAPS the scope of this chapter would but ordinarily include and refer to those papers that are now, or heretofore may have been, published or issued in various portions of the county, and without any allusion to any advance or retrograde movement in journalism, from the organization of the county to the present time. It is a known truth that there was no newspaper within the limits of Fulton county prior to its civil organization, and, at that day, the intelhgent reader was for information compelled to depend almost entirely upon papers printed and published many miles from his abode, and even then the average citizen cared but little for the current events of the nation ; happenings outside of the circle of his own limited acquaintance. The cable system for rapid transmission of news from foreign countries, was an unheard of and unconceived idea. The telegraphic system was, in a great measure, in an imperfect condition, and but little used in carrying public news for the press. But as our country grew in population and wealth, so its people also advanced in point of 412 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. intelligence, and a desire to become conversant with the affairs of the country in general, especially in relation to its political advance and status. Forty years ago there was not one person in the hundred that could, or would, attempt an intelligent conversation and argument upon any topic of public interest ; content were they rather, on a stormy day to gather at the country store (always near a cross-roads), and discuss crops and incidents, and accidents -occurring in their own community, and should, perchance, any one venture an opinion upon a matter of public or national interest, they, to a man, would become silent listeners, and only within the private of the home and family, could an opinion be drawn from them. Why? because they knew not, nor did they much care, about affairs outside their own c0mmunity. At the polls they would vote in accordance with their inherited party preferences, and further than this they had no interest. How many sons of fathers, forty and more years ago, dared to, or even thought of departing from the political course of the father, and voting with an opposition party. In those days young men inherited their political allegiance from their parents. Then a newspaper was read, its contents for a time were a source of wonder and amazement, and did it happen to be an organ opposed to the sentiment of the household, it was at once dropped, its doctrines were heresy. But in the course of American progress, there came a change, a wonderful change, in every community, brought about by a constant interchange of ideas and sentiments among the people, and among the people of the rural districts as well as in thickly populated communities. One step forward has created a desire to go further on, until now, in every part of our land, the people are well informed both as to political and other affairs, and anything that tends to eleyate and enlighten, and place the people upon a higher plane of intelligence. In answer to the queryl what has caused this change ? the answer is clear— American progress and the American newspaper. Again, the question presents itself: Has there been the same improvement, the same advancement in journalism, as in other trades, pursuits and occupations ? For answer only turn to an old paper published half a century ago, and compare it with the average journal of the present day. From the old screw press on which a paper could be printed on one side at about rate of one each minute, we now see in use presses that print on both sides at the rate of about twelve thousand per hour, or about two hundred per minute. And, too, in a great ratio has there been an increase in number of papers in the country, until now the press is regarded and acknowledged as the great medium of exchange, the means of communication between occurring events and an intelligent reading people. The citizens of this country are now sufficiently educated, sufficiently advanced, and sufficiently American as to demand that there be placed at their houses one or more newspapers, and that the affairs of the nation shall. be found in their paper's columns. This demand has 'peen fully met by the publisher, FULTON COUNTY - 413 both as an advance step and a positive necessity; but it entailed such an additional expense, that some means must be devised to reduce that expense, or the alternative, the increased subscription price. This necessity led some years ago to the introduction of a system of producing what has been, for convenience, termed " patent sides." By this system the paper was, and now is, printed on one side at some large city, with the best and most carefully selected miscellaneous matter, and furnished to the proprietors of many offices throughout the country, at a price far less than the matter could be set up and printed in the office of the paper. The benefit of this is readily apparent iii the now reasonable price of all country papers, by which the same reaches nearly every family in the country, at a cost seldom reaching beyond $1.50 per year. Another practice, and a popular one to, is in the stereotyping of column of printed matter, and moulding it into "plates," or "slugs, which are for sale at many large offices, at so much per foot, or yard. By far a greater portion of the rural papers published in this county are, at least partially, made up in one or the other of the methods named, and the greatest benefit from it is derived by the reader, and there is not now, it is safe to say, a single paper issued or published in Fulton county, but that is in part made up in this manner. But what has Fulton county done in the way of newspaper publications ? And aside from those now issued in the county, let us look into the past and see what has been the record of those that are no more. From it the fact is clear that the life of the average editor and publisher has not been altogether strewn with roses, nor has his pathway been paved with gold. Journalism, like any other profession, has its ups and downs, and of the hundreds and thousands who have ventured into its limitless field, but a small proportion have achieved success. Ability and scholarship are not alone the chief requisites for the conduct of a successful paper, but tact and management likewise constitute an important element in the work, and any aspirant who lacks any one of these accomplishments, had best avoid the sanctum, the desk, and the case. Of the early papers published in this county no record exists, and such information as can be had concerning them comes from the memory of old residents. It is, therefore, possible that some inaccuracies may be found in the in statements following ; yet, on the whole, it is believed that they will be found generally correct. The Fulton County Democrat. — The village of Delta may lay just claim to the distinction of having the pioneer newspaper of the county, in the publication at that place, of the Fulton county Democrat; a six-column folio, all home work (at that time patent sheets were unknown). It was established some time during the winter of 1851-52 by Lewis W. Stum, who continued its publication with varying success for about one year, when the office and paper were sold to one Rosenberg. The latter moved the office to Ottokee, the county 414 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. seat, but a few months later he sold to J. W. Carter and H. B. Bayes. Cartel and Bayes continued it some six months when Carter bought the interest of his partner, Bayes, and became its sole editor and proprietor. Carter made an arrangement or lease with one Topliff, who was connected with its editorial department for a time, but about the spring of the yea. 1856, the establishment was sold, and the plant removed to Morenci, Mich The Democrat was, as its name implied, a democratic paper, and the organ of that party, which during the infant days of the county was numerically in till ascendency. The Delta Independent Press. —At the time of the founding of the Fulton County Democrat at Delta, that place was perhaps the most important of any of the small towns of the county, and while the publication of a paper there wa not particularly remunerative to its owners, the citizens of the place were mud displeased at the sale and removal of the office of the Democrat to Ottokee; am although the latter was the county seat, Delta still held the greater population and felt entitled to a newspaper publication. This feeling led to the establish ment of the Delta Independent Press, under the management of Lewis W. Stum formerly of the Democrat. Stum continued the paper for some months, when he sold his interest to Martin Butler, and the latter, after a short time sold t( William Stum and James K. Newcomer. These gentlemen held its office fo several years when Peter James purchased Stum's interest. Under the owner ship of Mr. Butler the independent tone of the paper was changed, and it be came thenceforth an advocate of democratic principles. It was issued regularly down to about the time of the war, when for some reason it seemed to gradual decline, and the office was finally closed. The material and stock were moved to Wauseon, and gradually developed into a publication also known as the Fulton County Democrat (not the former paper of that name), under the manage merit and control of M. H. Butler. William Aultman, jr., became connected with its management about this time. Some few weeks later the soldiers cam home on a furlough, and it is said, they not liking the tone or manner of it appearance, dumped the material into the street, and the Democrat at Wauseon ceased to exist. The Signal. A short time after the sale and removal of the Democrat from Ottokee to Morenci, a new paper called the Signal, made its appearance at the county seat, under the editorship of B. F. Montgomery. It lived only about six months. Tile paper became distinguished by its brief existence, and possibly somewhat by its name, as it proved a signal failure, and the material was moved to Montpelier, Williams county. The Democrat, (Mirror). Next in the order of succession, there appeared at Ottokee, under the editorship of Henry McElhiney, a paper called the Democrat. Its. first issue appeared in the spring and in the fall it changed owners, H Day assuming its control. He changed its tone from a Democratic to an FULTON COUNTY - 415 independent paper and re-christened it the Fulton County Mirror. Under Mr. Day the paper was published about one year when the plant was sold and became merged into the Wauseon Sentinel. This ends the life of the press in the county so far as Ottokee is concerned, except for the very brief existence of the Monitor. The Monitor. This venture into the field of journalism was made at Ottokee, in the month of June, 1863, by H. B. Bayes, but the paper was short lived, as in the month of February of the following year, 864, it was sold to James H. Sherwood, of the Northwestern Republican, and by him merged into the last named paper. The Fulton County Union. The Union was started in the year 1862, by J. C. French, as an opposition paper to the Northwestern Republican, which was then the leading paper of the county. But this venture on the part of Mr. French failed in its intent, as it only survived the fall campaign of the year of its founding, when it was sold, Isaac R. Sherwood, then the publisher of the paper which the Union had sought to destroy, becoming its purchaser, and by him the Union was merged into the Republican. The Sentinel. This paper, the outgrowth of which is the present Northwestern Republican, was established in the year 1855, by H. B. Bayes and John D. Hunter. In its political tone it was Republican, being the first to advocate the principles of the newly-formed Republican party in this county. It was, when started, what is known among printers as a six-column quarto, in neat dress for the times, and as the organ of Republicanism in the county, at once took front rank, notwithstanding the fact of its frequent change in ownership. The paper had been but a short time in operation when Bayes bought the interest of his partner (Hunter), and for the next two years, or thereabouts he was its sole proprietor and editor. He then sold it to A. E. Ball. As an editor and publisher Ball was not a success, but as one who could accumulate a fair proportion of "bills payable," he was a complete success. He sold, or transferred at least, to E. W. Fuller and suddenly left the county, too suddenly in fact, for his creditors. Mr. Fuller conducted the paper for something like a year when he took a partner, John D. Devor, of Elkhart, Ind. He stayed in the office only about three or four months and then sold back his interest to Fuller, On the first day of January, 1858, the headline and name of the paper was changed to the Northwestern Republican, and it was increased in size from a six, to a seven-column folio. From this date the history of this paper is the record made by the Republican, which, being now in existence, well-managed, well-edited and well-supported, is deserving of notice among the " things that be," rather than of the past. Der Deutsche Gazette. The brief, but eventful career of Der Gazette was begun in the early part of the year 1886, under the ownership of Voll & Howe. 416 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. The paper, a seven-column folio, with patent sides, was printed in German, and had an extensive circulation among the many German families of the county, but the worthy managers were at fault in their habits, and the paper gradually went to pieces when it might have been one of the best paying investments in the county. Howe retired from its office and Voll soon afterward sold the subscription list to the Henry county Democrat, and the paper as a Fulton county enterprise it failed to appear. With the exception of a small religious paper (monthly) published for a short time under the editorial control of the pastor of one of the Wauseon churches, it is believed that the foregoing record comprises all of the newspaper publications printed at any time within Fulton county, and it is believed that the record can, in the main, be relied upon, although difficulty was encountered in fixing dates accurately, and for that reason, in such cases as the date appears to be approximated, the lack of positive information must excuse the absence of it. THE PRESENT PRESS OF THE COUNTY. The papers of the present day, within the limits of Fulton county, appear to be established on a sound and profitable basis, and under competent control, Of the ten that are now published, five have their base of operation at Wauseon. From this statement there may be excepted, perhaps, two, which, although they appear and are issued as Fulton county papers, are, nevertheless, printed elsewhere, the Wauseon office furnishing only local news, the papers being in fact, branch editions of publications made beyond the limits of the county. The county papers are the Northwestern Republican, the Fulton County Tribune, the Expositor, the Fulton County Wachter (German), the Maumee Valley Prohibitionist, the Delta Atlas, the Delta Avalanche, the Swanton Enterprise, the Archbold Herald and the Fayette Record. The Maumee Valley Prohibitionist and the Fulton County Wachter are those referred to as being printed outside the county, but each having an editor and local office within the county, from which they respectively circulate. The Northwestern Republican. Upon the changing of the name of the Sentinel, the Republican was brought into existence. It was enlarged, as stated heretofore, from a six to a seven column folio. During the last few months of the life of the Sentinel, and under the editorial management of Fuller & Devor, these changes were made, but Mr. Fuller soon again became sole proprietor, and so remained until during that summer, 1858, when he sold a half interest to J. C. French. This copartnership relation was maintained for a period of about six months when Fuller sold his interest to Isaac R. Sherwood, and the firm then became Fuller & Sherwood, editors and publishers. Thus was the Republican managed until the summer of the year 1861, when Sherwood purchased French's interest and became sole editor and publisher. FULTON COUNTY -417 One year later, 1862, the office was leased to Joseph Cable, but under his control the paper did not prosper. He had in some manner antagonized a strong element of the Republican party in the county, and the county printing was taken away from him and given to the Monitor, a paper published at Ottokee by H. B. Bayes. After the term of Cable's lease had expired the office and material passed, by purchase, to James H. Sherwoodl brother of Isaac Sherwood. The new proprietor at once commenced and succeeded in accomplishing the work of building up and re-establishing the Republican on a profitable footing, and brought back to it the favor and support which it had lost during Mr. Cable's leasehold. In the year 1867, James H. Sherwood sold back to his brother Isaac, now honored with the military title of general. General Sherwood ran it about a year and then took a partner, Colonel Albert B. Smith, a practical printer, with whom he became associated under the firm name and style of Sherwood & Smith. Under this management the paper met with good success ; it was well edited, appeared in a plain, but neat dress, and became largely patronized throughout the county and even beyond the county's borders ; its exchange list was large, and the paper took rank as the leading publication of the region. It was, and continued to be, the organ of the Republican party, and became an able exponent of Republican doctrines.. In the year 1869 James H. Sherwood purchased the general's interest, and the firm style then changed to Smith & Sherwood. It was, by the latter firm, conducted until the year 1871, when Colonel Smith sold his interest to M. P. Brewer, a former resident of Wood county. About six months later Brewer resold to Colonel Smith. In 1877 Mr. Sherwood purchased Colonel Smith's interest and again became sole proprietor. He conducted it successfully until about 1881, when a half interest was taken by E. M. Ogle, but the latter only remained in the office a few months, when he sold to W. C. Williams, who, with James H. Sherwood, are the present owners, under the name and style of Sherwood & Williams. The North-Western Republican is to-day the most extensively circulating paper in the county, and with its contemporary, the Fulton County Tribune, guards well the interests of the Republican party. The Republican now appears as a six-column quarto, and enjoys a paying circulation of between thirteen and fourteen hundred. The Democratic Expositor. As its name implies, the Expositor is the representative Democratic journal of Fulton county, and the only paper now advocating the principles of Democracy, although others preceding it were of that faith. The Expositor was established in the month of January, 1875, by W. H. Handy, now Judge Handy, of the Common Pleas. During the time the paper was edited the paper was edited by Mr. Handy it is well remembered as being among the best conducted of the county's papers ; its local columns were filled with well- 418 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. selected and spicy reading matter, and its editorial comments and leaders were noted for their brilliancy and ability. It was, in ;fact, just what it purported to be—the organ of the Democratic party, and upon that assumption it built for itself a reputation that has been well maintained to the present day. In April, 1877, the Expositor passed, by sale, into the hands of J. C. Bollmeyer, who has since been its sole editor and publisher. Under him, as well as his predecessor, the paper has been a successful venture from a business point of view. At present the Expositor is the official paper of Fulton county. It is a nine-column folio, in clean dress, and makes an attractive appearance. Its local department is, perhaps, as full and complete as contained in any of the papers of the county. The subscription price of the Expositor is $1.30 per year. It has at this time a circulation numbering over one thousand subscribers. The Delta Avalanche. This paper (weekly) made its first appearance on the 22d of February, in the year 1876, under the ownership of E. L. Waltz. It aimed to furnish to its readers news, local and general, as would prove of interest and value, but without espousing the cause of either of the great political parties ; in fact it was an independent paper. After having edited and published the Avalanche for about three years, Mr. Waltz sold to Colonel Albert B. Smith. By the latter its tone was changed, or rather, perhaps, Colonel Smith gave it tone, in making it a Republican paper. His connection with it, however, was brief, for in about a year he sold to E. J. Patch, by whom it was continued for about the same length of time. Mr. Patch sold to W. 0. Knapp, and by the latter person the Avalanche was returned to its original character, independent. In the year 1884 Mr. Knapp exchanged the ownership of this for a half interest in the Fulton County Tribune with J. H. Fluhart. The latter made the Avalanche again a Republican paper. It is a seven-column quarto. The Fayette Record. The Record was established in the month of January, 1876, by W. A. Baker, but in the next month, February, it was purchased by 0. M. Holcomb and M. Lewis, and managed under the firm name of Holcomb & Lewis. They conducted the paper until May, 1878, when G. W. Griffin purchased Holcomb's interest, the firm name then changing to Lewis & Griffin. In a disastrous conflagration that occurred at Fayette on May 8, 1880, the entire plant was destroyed, but in about sixty days' time another office was estabhshed, and the Record again appeared in a complete new dress. The office too, was much improved by the introduction of a new cylinder press, the first to be used in the county. In 1882 the publishers erected a substantial two-story frame building, which they occupied until February 28, 1883, when the entire office was again destroyed by fire. But phoenix-like, the enterprising proprietors again "arose from the ashes," rebuilt their offices and issued the Record within the brief space of thirty days, in a new outfit. Since this last misfortune the Record has enjoyed an abundant degree of prosperity, and FULTON COUNTY - 419 is now among the leading journals of Northwestern Ohio. It is an independent family newspaper, having no political bias. The Fulton County Tribune. The Tribune was the outgrowth of a divided sentiment in the ranks of the Republican party ; and while the paper was not started for the purpose of favoring either element or faction of the party, it was, nevertheless, founded and started as representing the interests of the whole party, which many people felt were not represented at the time. Colonel Albert B. Smith and J. H. Fluhart were the proprietors at the time of its first issue, May 19, 1883. The paper was well received by the reading public, and by the fairness of its leaders and its utter absence of comment tending to foster or continue feelings of dissatisfaction in the party, together with its general worth as a well-edited and well-managed paper, the Tribune has grown in general favor until it is now numbered with the best of the county's papers. Mr. Fluhart continued his connection with the Tribune until June, 1884., when he was succeeded by W. O. Knapp, the latter having exchanged the Delta Avalanche for Mr. Fluhart's interest in the Tribune. The firm therefore became Smith & Knapp, which relation has ever since been maintained. The Tribune is a seven-column quarto, and enjoys a present circulation of about thirteen hundred. Its exchange list is large, and the paper is considered as among the best of the weekly journals in Northwestern Ohio. The Swanton Enterprise. The Enterprise was founded April 23, 1886, by H. S. Bassett, and is issued from the office at Swanton, in the eastern part of Fulton county. It is a six-column quarto, local family newspaper, independent in politics, and devoted to the interests of the people of Swanton and surrounding country. In the month of March, 1887, Charles H. Rowland became a half-owner in the paper, and the firm became known as Bassett & Rowland. The paper opened its second year with six hundred and fifty subscribers, and shows a healthful and substantial increase in popularity. The Delta Atlas. The Atlas, an eight-page, forty-column, independent family newepaper, published by the Atlas Printing Company, at Delta, was founded June 6, 1886, with C. R. P. Waltz, manager and E. L. Waltz, editor. It has been the aim of the proprietors to make it the leading family newspaper of the county, and they have so far succeeded that it now enjoys a circulation nearly equal to any in the county. On the 19th of March, 1887, the office was consumed by fire, but, with commendable zeal and energy, new material was at once obtained and the paper continued without serious interruption or delay. By care in the selection of matter for its columns, and in securing the latest important news, and promptness in publication, the Atlas has become not only a household treasure, but a valuable advertising medium. The office is well supplied with material for all classes of job-work. The Atlas is furnished to its regular yearly subscribers at the price of one dollar. Maumee Valley Prohibitionist. This paper made its first appearance in the 420 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. county late in the month of October, 1886, and although it is not printed within the county, it has so great a circulation, and a local news department, that it is unquestionably worthy of record among the county's papers. The Prohibitionist is edited and issued from an office at Bryan, Williams county, by Walter J. Sherwood. Its columns are devoted to the cause of temperance, in particular, and it contains besides, an abundance of general and local news. The Fulton county edition has a circulation of about one thousand. The Archbold Herald The Herald first made its appearance in the year 1886, under the management of Taylor Brothers, at Archbold, in the western Dart of Fulton county. During the first six months of its existence it experienced, or rather the proprietors did, a hard struggle for official life and continuance, but with the introduction of a series of humorous articles and paragraphs, the paper grew in popular favor, and the subscription list (the greatest support of any paper) rapidly increased, and the Herald is now in a flourishing and prosperous condition. It is a five-column quarto, independent family paper, and enjoys a fair circulation. The Fulton County Waechter (German). The Waechter is printed at Dayton, 0., but has a resident editor at Wauseon. On the 4th of March, 1887, its first number appeared. It then had a circulation of three hundred copies among the German families of the county. It is independent in politics, and furnishes general and local news. About one-third of its columns are devoted to advertisements, and the balance to well selected miscellaneous reading matter. Its editors and proprietors are Baecker & Bussdicker, the former being the resident editor. The offices are intended to be removed to Wauseon as soon as practicable. CHAPTER XLI. HISTORY OF THE INCORPORATED VILLAGE OF WAUSEON, THE SEAT OF JUSTICE OF FULTON COUNTY. THE village of Wauseon, the seat of justice of Fulton county, was laid out in the year 1854, by Epaphras L. Barber, John H. Sargent, Nathaniel Leggett and William Hall. It, with all its subsequent additions and divisions, As comprised of parts of sections twenty-three and twenty-six in Clinton township. At that time the Air Line Division of the New York Central and Lake Shore system of railways, as it at present is, had just been extended far enough west of the city of Toledo, its initial point, to pierce the site of this beautiful and prosperous town, and was constructed by the old Southern Michigan and FULTON COUNTY - 421 Northern Indiana Railway Company. No stock therefor was issued ; the entire expense of building and equipping the road was paid by the corporation projecting the route ; its design in the main being to have a double track from Toledo, to Elkhart, Ind. From Toledo to Butler, situated at the extreme eastern edge of Indiana, a distance of eighty miles, there is not a bend or curve in the line, and for many years past it has carried the largest proportion of the passenger travel of the Lake Shore System from Toledo to Chicago, and Wauseon has grown to be one of the most important stations on the route. Mr. Barber, at that time a young man, and one of the civil engineers engaged in the survey and construction of the road, and a resident of the city of Cleveland, learning of the probability that a station would be established at the present site of Wauseon, in conjunction with John H. Sargent, also a resident of Cleveland, and assistant chief engineer of the road, and Nathaniel Leggett, an enterprising citizen of Swan Creek township, and William Halll an attorney of Maumee city, Lucas county, 0., bought of Thomas Bayes, an early settler of Northwestern Ohio, one hundred and sixty acres of land, which comprised what is known in the records of the county as the original plat of Wauseon. Barber and Sargent owned two-thirds of tract in common and Leggett and Hall by the same title owned one-third thereof. The price paid for the land was sixteen dollars per acre, and the entire parcel was in nearly a wild state. The ax and the torch were the first things brought into requisition to make the tract fit for habitations. At that time out-lying land, but immediately adjacent to the newly projected town, was selling for six to eight dollars per acre, the most of it having already passed from the control of the government, not only near but in any direction and quite a distance from the site of the new village destined for a time to grow quite rapidly. Even at such low figures buyers were not very plentiful. Mr. Hall was interested in the transaction only until the completion of the laying out of the first one hundred and forty lots when he sold his interest to Mr. Leggett. The residence of Mr. Bayes at this time was a log building standing on the present site of the pleasant home of Mr. Andrew B. Clark on Vine street. Coeval with the sale of lots building began, and every one was anxious to get near the line of the railroad, of which predilection the citizens have not yet been entirely cured. As is customary in all modern American towns, the streets were platted to intersect each other at right angles, and Fulton street, the principal business thoroughfare, was made full one hundred feet in width. This street with its subsequent addition of Fulton avenue, which became its northern extension when Newcomer's addition was joined to the original plat, is one mile in length, but is considerably narrower as to the avenue portion of it. The streets of the original plat extending east and west with unimportant exceptions were named from the species of trees abounding in the forests about ; and those extending north and south got their appellations from 422 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. the biographies of our country's great men. Fulton street may, however, be an exception. It is not distinctly known whether the memory of Robert Fulton, the inventor of steamboats, was to be suggested and preserved by the name bestowed upon the principal street, or whether it was given in honor of the surveyor whose boundary line gave rise to the ludicrous uproar between Ohio and Michigan known as the " Toledo war." For the reason stated, although there have been some deviations from the plan, the street nomenclature of Wauseon is quite easy of recollection. In later additions to the village, of which there have been several, the original system of street naming has been deviated from somewhat. On the extreme east and parallel with Fulton we have Prospect street, and on the extreme west, preserving the same parallel, we have the decidedly Gallic name of Brunelle. It is claimed, however, that this street was named in honor of John Brunelle, a celebrated English civil engineer. The streets lying between, exclusive of Fulton, are Franklin, Clinton, Madison, and Monroe. At the extreme southern limit of the original plat extending due east and west is Leggett street, so named in honor of one of the founders of the town. The names of the streets, intersecting Fulton and parallel with the railroad, are as follows, beginning at the first one north of Leggett street : Cherry, Chestnut, Birch, Beech, Elm, Oak, Sycamore, Walnut, Mulberry, Hickory and Willow. But here an exception must be noted. Just south of the railroad and west of Fulton street, the street, the eastern half of which is known as Birch street, is as to the western half called Commercial street, probably getting so ambitious a designation from the fact that it is the only thoroughfare of the drayage of merchandise and freights from the depot, and on the north side of the railroad a portion of street which properly should be called Beech street, and belongs thereto on every principle of proper nomenclature, is called Depot street. It contains many pretty residences, but the only saving virtue in the unappropriate name, is that when the residents thereof run out of other subject of talk, they can have a friendly and scholarly dispute as to the proper pronunciation of the name of the street they live on. Beginning at the northwest corner of Livermore and Munn's addition, and extending from Chestnut to Leggett street in a direction slightly west of north is a short street called Vine, and north of the railroad and extending from Oak street to Walnut is another short street called Cedar. On the eastern side of the town there formerly was a street called Marshall by some one who admired the character of the great chief justice, but unfortunately it fell into disuse, and long since was abandoned. Third street passes through Newcomer's addition, east of and parallel with Fulton avenue ; and Ottokee street, a reminder of the old county seat, bounds that addition on the west. The streets running north and south in Livermore and Munn's addition are respectively, Division, Main and West Park, the last probably so named from the small but beautiful park which it bounds on the FULTON COUNTY - 423 west side ; and those of this addition extending in a contrary direction are Lincoln and Superior streets. The southern two-thirds of the large mound of about three acres, between Madison and Monroe streets, was set apart by its first owners and deeded to the village for a park. Under the direction of the park commissioners of the village some progress has been made toward ornamenting it, and some years since the project of erecting a monument to the memory of the soldiers of Fulton county who fell in the War of the Rebellion was started, but no farther progress was made than to put in the foundation and erect the base. Sliaftless and uncrowned, the base stands there a perpetual reproach to those who so soon could forget and neglect the memory- of the men who freely gave their life blood that we might have a united and free country. On the 27th day of February, 1865, the plat of Newcomer's addition was filed in the office of the recorder of Fulton county, and that addition containing lots one to one hundred and twenty-six inclusive, besides several acreage lots designated by the letters of the English alphabet, became a part of the village. It lies north of the original plat, and is bounded on the north by the York Center road. June 7, 1865, Sargent and Barber's addition was legally made to the northwestern part of the original plat. It contains lots 387 to 489 inclusive, the designation of the lots being a continuation in numerical order of those of the first lots laid out. On the 21st day of June, 1867, Barber and Merrill's addition containing fifty-seven lots was joined on ; Livermore and Munn's addition of ninety-seven lots was made on the 12th day of June, 1865 ; Palmer's addition of thirty-four lots on June 9, 1873 ; E. F. Greenough's, containing thirteen lots, March 14, 1867 ; and C. F. Greenough's addition of twelve lots, February 16, 1874. The Greenoughs' additions are on the east side of the original plat. Barber and Merrill's is at the northeast, and Palmer's is at the southwestern corner thereof. The author desires here to digress long enough to give a brief sketch of one of the men who founded the village which is the subject of this sketch. Reference is made to Mr. Sargent. He was a native of western New York, but of New England parentage. When quite young he came with his parents to Cleveland, 0. He received his training for his profession, that of civil engineering, at an excellent private academy in the State of New Hampshire, and about the first of his professional employment was in the surveying and construction of the Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark Railroad, now the Lake Erie Division of the Baltimore and Ohio system. He was one of the most reliable and trusted employees of the corporation that built the Air Line Railway. In 1856 he was married to Mrs. Julia Hull. He is still living at Cleveland, of which for many years he was city engineer, and is both affluent in circumstances and very highly regarded. The first house built on the site of Wauseon after it was laid out, was erected 424 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. at the corner of Birch and Fulton streets by E. L. Hayes. It occupied the place where now stands the spacious three-story brick block owned by the Masonic fraternity of Wauseon, and by the firm of Prichard & Smallman and Isaiah Bogart. The upper story of the new building contains a beautiful and elegant Masonic Hall, the second is used for offices, and the third is occupied by the hardware store of Benjamin Biddle, and the grocery, produce and grain establishment of Prichard & Smallman. The old structure was a two-story frame house. Its first floor was utilized for a general or country store kept by Mr. Hayes, and his family lived up-stairs. In 8—, for the purpose of making room for the new brick building, it was removed to the farm just at the southeast edge of the village now owned by Mrs. W. C. Kelley, and remodeled into a very comfortable and roomy farm dwelling. Sometime in the first year of the War of the Rebellion, Mr. Hayes entered the Union Army as a captain in the Forty-fourth Illinois Infantry. In 1862 he was transferred to the One Hundredth Ohio Infantry Volunteers. He saw arduous and dangerous service, was successively promoted for soldiery conduct through the different grades, and at the close of the war was mustered out as a brevet brigadier-general. He now resides in Bloomville, N. J. Wauseon got its name from that of a Pottawotomie chief, the same as did the old seat of justice of Fulton county. Ottokee and Wauseon were brothers, Wauseon being, according to tradition, the younger. The first plat, however, of the village of Wauseon was called Litchfield, it being the intention to name all the stations along the line of the new railroad each for some one of its directors. There were two Litchfields residing in New York City, who were directors, one of them was Edwin C., and the other one Elisha C., and this name was given for them. They were engaged in the wholesale grocery business in that city. H. L. Hosmer, of Toledo, was applied to when the projectors of the new town came to reconsider the name by which it should be known, and, among other names, he suggested that of Wauseon, which was adopted more because of its Indian origin than anything else. Its spelling is said to be incorrect, and the pronunciation is slightly different from what it was in its aboriginal purity, but it is said to be more musical in sound since changed from a savage to a civilized appellation. Some carelessness has existed as to the preservation of the municipal records of Wauseon since its incorporation, and there are no official sources from which to ascertain the names of its different officers, except for a few years back. It was incorporated in 1859; but the county record, embodying the history of its municipal organization, was burned in the conflagration of the first court-house at Ottokee, in 1864. The first mayor of Wauseon was Nathaniel Leggett. The names of most of the remainder of its former or present citizens, who at different times have been at the head of its municipal government, are E. L. Barber, N. W. Jewell, Anson Huntington, Andrew J. Knapp, FULTON COUNTY - 425 Sydenham Shaffer, Naaman Merrill, Michael Handy, William C. Kelley, I oel Brigham, James S. Brailey, and L. M. Murphy. Eugene S. Blake is the present incumbent of the mayor's office. Michael Handy served but one mouth, his election being successfully contested by William C. Kelley, who became mayor in the month of May, 1874. Mr. Handy's career, therefore, as mayor. was the briefest in the history of Wauseon. L. M. Murphy served the longest, his time in that office comprising a portion of a term as the appointee of the council to fill a vacancy, and he was twice elected. During the administration of Mayor Joel Brigham, from 1878 to 1881, the most important municipal improvements were made. It was during this time that an excellent and extensive system of sewerage was put in, giving the village as good a system of drainage as that of any town or city in northwestern Ohio. The cost of the material and construction was about six thousand dollars, the greater part of which was paid by special tax, ano the remainder by a general tax. The city hall was erected during the same administration. It stands at the eastern corner of Depot and Clinton streets, and, excepting the court-house, is the finest building in the village. Its cost was a little in excess of twelve thousand dollars. It contains a large and elegantly finished hall devoted to the public use, comfortable rooms for the business and social meetings of the members of the Wauseon Fire Department, the council chamber, village prison, Clinton township hall, used for election and all general official purposes of the township, and a large fire engine, hose, hook and ladder, and truck room. Clinton township hall was sold by the village to that township for the sum of fifteen hundred dollars. The Bank of Wauseon is the only institution of that kind Wauseon has ever had. It was started by E. L. Barber, the present senior partner of the banking firm on the 1st day of February, 1863. It is not now and never was incorporated. Its business was first begun in the small frame building on the east side of Fulton street, south of the railroad, now owned and occupied by James Robinson as a grocery and dwelling house. From this place, in a short time, it was moved directly across the street and into a small building which stood where the office of the Fulton County Tribune now is, whence again, in about a year, it was placed in the frame business block which once stood on the eastern corner of Commercial and Fulton streets, and on the site of the Eager House. From this . location it was again removed, and became an up-stairs business place, occupying the rooms above the dry-goods store of Springer & Co., on the west side of Fulton street, north of the railroad. Previous to this Naaman Merrill, who had been clerk of the county courts, became a partner, and the firm was Barber & Merrill, and so continued until the year 1879, when E. S. Callendar, of Champaign county, 0., became a partner, when it was changed to Barber, Merrill & Co. Late in the fall of 1879 Mr. Merrill died, and then the firm became and since has continued to be Barber & Ca;;en- 426 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. dar. In 1871 the commodious and fine bank building on the east side of Fulton street, north of the railroad, was built, since which time the bank has been located therein. Wauseon's first hotell or " tarvern," as many of its Yankee inhabitants called it, was built in the year 1854, by John Williams. It was a frame dwelling, and the settlers from miles around gathered to attend the " raising bee." It stood on the corner of Beech and Fulton streets, and was first called the Estelle House. Its first landlords and proprietors were W. E. and D. O. Livermore, who came to Wauseon from Utica, N. Y., their native city and State. They long since went farther west, and the former now lives in California, while the latter is a resident of Washington Territory. In the course of a few years the name of the house was changed, and it became for a while the Clinton House, and then was called and remained the Sherman House, until it burned down in 1872. For a number of years it was conducted by the Cornell Bros., I. C. and Thomas, and was the leading hostelry of the county. The next hotel in point of chronology was the one, yet standing, on Depot street, just east of the new city hall. The date of its erection cannot be stated with exactness, for it is a kind of mosaic of old houses moved together, on a vacant spot. Its most popular days were when it was kept by George M. Hawes, who, for many years previous to his becoming a landlord and caterer to the traveling public, had been a commercial traveler. He made the old Wauseon House, so long as he kept it, a decided favorite with the modern traveler. The Eager Meuse, a commodious three-story brick building, stands at the corner of Fulton and Commercial streets. It was built by its present proprietor and host in 1875. Its site was first occupied by a large, rambling- frame building, the second story of which was devoted to offices and the first to mercantile business. The Clinton House, on the corner of Clinton and Depot streets, was built in 1868. It is a frame structure. There is a tradition among the first inhabitants, not very old, it is true, and not very hoary, and which they seem determined not to let die, that the site of this pleasant hotel was a tamarack swamp, and -fishing for bullheads therein has become a many-times-told tale. In this connection, let it be stated, that there are no living streams of water in the region of Wauseon, but it is undoubtedly true that the entire site of the village was quite swampy. In making a foundation for many of the buildings, trenches conforming to the size and shape thereof, would be dug and heavy planks laid down in the water, which would rapidly soak in, to get a commencement for a foundation. On this square timbers would be laid and the superstructure placed thereon. Oftentimes blocks of wood were used to set a frame on, for there was no stone, and it was difficult to find clay suitable for the manufacture of brick, in the immediate vicinity. At least, for a long time, such was the prevailing idea ; but nowadays as fine brick as can be found are weekly turned out by the thousands, at the two large brick and tile factories in the village. FULTON COUNTY - 427 In 1881, the Fountain City Hotel, on the west of Fulton street, near the courthouse, was started by its present proprietor, Eli Snelbaker ; and there stands on the east side of Fulton, at its intersection with Oak street, an old building formerly known as the Farmer’s Hotel. It has not, for some years. been kept as a hotel, and is now a private dwelling house. The first church building in the village was the Methodist Episcopal. It was a wooden house, and stood at the northeast corner of Fulton and Oak. streets on the spot where now is the brick block belonging to Charles Gray,. the upper floor of which is occupied by the printing office of the Northwestern Republican. In 1872 the Catholic society, or church, of Wauseon, purchased the old Methodist house of worship and moved it to the northwest corner of. Clinton streetl and repaired it, making it tasteful and comfortable, and it is now known as St. Caspar's church. In 1871 the Methodist Episcopal people of Wauseon erected the finest house of worship in the county. It is of brick, of modern architecture, and stands but a short distance north and on the same side of the street as did the old one. The expense of building was great. but cheerfully borne by the members, and this society, both during the days of the old frame meeting-house and those of their new, costly and elegant edifice, has done great good and wielded a grand influence in behalf of good morals and religious culture, in Wauseon and the surrounding neighborhood. Conspicuous among the Methodist clergymen stationed at Wauseon, at different periods during the last thirty years, who labored with zeal and efficiency for the faith of their espousal, were the Revs. Herbert, Charles G. Ferris, John R. Colgin, A. E. Berry, N. B. C. Love, John H. Wilson, Greenberry Priddy, E. S. Dunham, J. H. Simms. J. H. Fitzwater is the present officiating minister. It would be invidious to mention any names of laymen, and it is sufficient to say that many of the pioneer familiesl as well as those who came to Wauseon or its vicinity too late to lay claims to the distinctive merits of pioneers, received the precepts of the gospel, and were constrained to the practice of religion through the ministration of this church. Rev. Father J. G. Vogt came to Wauseon in 1865. It then was but a Catholic mission field. Through his labors and those who followed him, and among them Fathers Franche and Delbare, a house of worship was procured, and there are now some twenty families at Wauseon, communicants of the Catholic Church. The Disciples, or Christian Church, was organized in 1862, but no house of worship was erected until 1864. The house then built still stands. It is on the north side of Elm street, east of Fulton. This church has been an influential body of worshiping Christians since its organization. Its first pastor was the Rev. Elberry Smith. He was succeeded by the Rev. L. L. Carpenter, who was an active, enterprising citizen of Fulton county for many years, as well as an earnest and able clergyman. He was treasurer of the county two 428 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. terms, and his honesty and ability in that office have passed into a local proverb. Elder Carpenter was succeeded in the pastorate of this church by Elder Parker, and its successive pastors thereafter were Elders Baker, Gibbs, Terry, White, Atwater, Nesslage, Newton and Moore. Probably one of the most learned and powerful preachers that ever resided at Wauseon was John M. Atwater. He possessed rare intellectual gifts, supplemented by powers of intense arid discriminating application given to but few men. The United Brethren Church in Wauseon is largely the result of the efforts of an aged, retired preacher of that faith named John Miller, who, desiring a place of worship for the people living in Newcomer's Addition, built, in 1874, a small house of worship out of his own means, near the center of that addition on land belonging to himself, and which by common consent was called Miller's Chapel. This was the nucleus for the people of that faith, and they grew in numbers and resources, until in 1879 they began, and in 1880 completed, a good brick meeting-house on the east side of Fulton Avenue, its dedication taking place in August, 1880. Bishop Weaver, of Westerville, 0., conducted the dedicatory services. There is no Evangelical Church building in Wauseon, although there are quite a number of professors of the tenets of that church in the village and neighborhood. For several years past they have rented a room on Elm street in the Cheadle block, and conducted religious services there. Some of their pastors have been noted for their humble piety and devotion to the cause of practical religion, and have accomplished much permanent good. The First Baptist Church of Wauseon took organized form in the year 1864, but its house of worship was not built until 1868. It is a well designed and large brick edifice on the west side of Fulton street, south of the railroad, and in the near neighborhood of the Congregational Church_ Prominent among those who established the Baptist Church in Wauseon may be mentioned Deacon Abraham Falconer, a good and faithful servant of his divine Master, and Deacon Hiram L. Moseley, one of the former treasurers of the county. Deacon Falconer passed to his final reward in the early spring of 1886. The successive pastors of this church since the building and dedication of its place of worship, were Revs. George Leonard, Homer Eddy, J. J. Davis and Stephen F. Massett. The distinctive faith of New England Congregationalism has been prominent in the religious culture of the citizens of Wauseon. A number of its leading families are from the land of Puritanism. This name is not by any means here given in derision, for, used as it was, more than two centuries ago, as an obnoxious and derisive epithet, it soon became England's glory, and will live in immortal splendor by the side of the illustrious names of Somers, Hampden and Henry Vane. None of the history either of England or this country was more fruitful of true freedom, or fuller of the promise of the splen- FULTON COUNTY - 429 did things that have made England and the United States the freest of goyernments, and the most powerful and influential of all the world's countries, than during the time of the dominant prevalence in both lands of Puritanism. The Congregational society of Wauseon dates back to 1856. Their plain, but commodious place of worship was built and dedicated in 1862. It stands On the east side of South Fulton street. Its pulpit nearly always has been filled by thoughtful and scholarly men, than whom none were more able and influential in the community than Dr. Waugh, and Rev. R. R. Davies. Journalism now is represented in Wauseon by three newspapers, the Northwestern Republican, the Democratic Expositor, and the Fulton county Tribune. The first named is the oldest paper. It was established in 1835 under the name of the Sentinel, by H. D. Bayes and John D. Hunter. Not long after this A. E. Ball bought it, and after a brief period he sold out to E. W. Fuller. Mr. Fuller associated with himself in the ownership and management of the paper, John D. Devor, of Elkhart, Ind. These gentlemen then enlarged the journal and changed the name and called it the Northwestern Republican. In 1859 J. C. French was for a short tire a part owner with Fuller, then General Isaac R. Sherwood bought both Fuller and French out in 1860, running the entire paper himself. General Sherwood was a member of Congress from the Toledo district, and secretary of state of Ohio for two terms. His military title was won in the late was as a Union volunteer. He now resides in Toledo. For a number of years, until about 1878, James H. Sherwood, one of the present proprietors of the Republican, and Colonel Albert B. Smith, owned and conducted the paper. On his election as clerk of courts in 1878, Colonel Smith retired, and in 1882 W. C. Williams became and now is part proprietor and one of the editors of the Republican. As its name indicates, this journal is Republican in politics, but is conservative and careful. The moral tone of the paper is excellent. The Democratic Expositor was started in 1874 by Hon. William H. Handy, now judge of the Court o Common Pleas in the judicial subdivision of which Fulton county is a part, and Peter Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan, a very intelligent and promising young man, afterward went to Washington, where he became connected with the Washington Post. He died in that city in 1881. In 877 John C. Bollmeyer, formerly of Port Clinton, 0., bought the Expositorl and has, since his control of it, conducted it as a Democratic paper of the "strictest sect." It is the organ of the Democratic party of the county, and has fearlessly fought the battles of the party whose principles it represents. The Tribune began its existence in 1882. Colonel A. B. Smith and James Fluhart were its first publishers. It is now owned by Smith & Knapp. It is aRepublican paper, firm in the faith and ardent in the advocacy of Republican doctrines. It makes a specialty of the local news of the county, and is an interesting and instructive newspaper. 430 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. At the western limits of the village, comprising ten acres of mound-shaped land, is the beautiful cemetery of Wauseon. The native growth of the timber, with the exception of scattered large and shapely trees, was cut away when it began to be used for a burial ground in 1862, but evergreen trees and many varieties of ornamental shrubbery have been set out and properly cared for until now, in the summer time, the whole mound seems embowered in flowers and leafy foliage. With the birds caroling and twittering among the fluttering leaves, and the white monuments glistening in the sunshine, were there no sad and somber thoughts connected with its sacred use, it would present a lovely view ; yet it is well situated and designed for the place of final rest to which it was dedicated. The circumstances of its beginning were about as follows : In February, 1862, Nathaniel Leggett died. At this time the village had no cemetry. On the morning following Mr. Leggett's death, Joel Brigham, James Cornell, and Anson Huntington took mattocks and started out to find a suitable spot for his grave. They went first to the farm of Mr. Cornell about a mile south of the village, but finding no ground there adapted to their purpose, they then went to the hill where now stands the large residence of Colonel Howard, and then to the sand mound where the union school house is now situated. Being unsuited at either of these places, they selected the site where the cemetery is located, and therein Mr. Leggett was buried. The land, comprising at first thirteen acres, was bought of William Mikesell at a cost of one hundred dollars per acre; but the three acres of low- lying ground on the east were sold off to Joel Bingham. Thirteen citizens first purchased this land, and for about three years were the sole owners of the cemetery, but the lots were disposed of for just enough to reimburse the proprietors for the original cost of the land and the necessary outlay for its improvement in a proper manner. On the 13th of March, 1865, the Wauseon Cemetery Association, composed of thirty-two persons, was formed. Its organization was under and pursuant to the laws of the State. The first trustees elected were Isaac Springer, Andrew J. Knapp, and James M. Gillett. The treasurer and clerk were respectively E. L. Barber and Naaman Merrill. On the 29th day of April, 1867, under and by virtue of a legislative enactment of the State, passed in 1865, a meeting of the association was held, and. by a vote of a majority of the members thereof, a transfer of the cemetery was made to the trustees of Clinton township and the council of the incorporated village of Wauseon, since which time it has been jointly controlled by a board of trustees, a part of whom are elected by the qualified votes of the incorporation, and the remainder by the votes of Clinton township. At the date of the transfer the indebtedness of the association was assumed by the joint proprietors, and the deed stipulates that the transfer is for the benefit of all the citizens of the township, both within and outside of the corporate limits of the village. FULTON COUNTY - 431 The first brick dwelling house in Wauseon was built by William W. Hunt, who came from Massachusetts. He is a typical Yankee in appearance and in manner and form of speech.    His house stands near the southern extremity and on the east side of Fulton street. He and his family have resided in it since its completion in 1859. Mr. Hunt has lived in Wauseon since 1857. His brothers, Fred. and James Hunt, built the first brick business block in Wauseon. Its location was on North Fulton street, on the east side, not far from the corner of that street and Depot street. For a number of years they carried on a general mercantile business in the building. _Fred. Hunt now lives in Aspen, Colo., and James Hunt died in the early autumn of 1886, at Elkhart, Ind., where, previously, for several years, he had resided. He was brought to Wauseon and interred in its cemetery. The store building, erected by the Hunt boys, was, in 1883, partially rebuilt and considerably enlarged by the business firm of Lyon & Mercer, and is now used by them for a dry goods and carpet emporium. The other leading business and principal business blocks are the Riddle and Hull block, on the west side of Fulton, between Elm and Depot streets, the Cheadle block at the southwest corner of Fulton and Elm streets, the Hollister, three-story brick, on the east side of Fulton between Elm and Depot streets, the Woolson and Madison blocks near thereto, the Haumesser and Ham blocks on Depot street, between Fulton and Clinton streets, and the fine and substantial business buildings of Read Son, Eager & Green, and B. Miller. In 1873, in the month of December, the Cheadle block burned down, but was immediately rebuilt. It was first erected in 1862. The Riddle and Hull block was built in 1870. Prichard & Smallman, and J. Q. Riddle were its first owners. It is now owned by Mr. Riddle and George W. and Henry S. Hull. The Hollister building was erected in 1864. The third story was designed for, and always has been used as an Odd Fellows Hall. The Woolson block was built in 1876. The Madison block was an old and somewhat dilapidated building and was partially destroyed by fire in 1885. In 1886 it was rebuilt and made a good business block, by its present owner, Joseph Mattison. The Ham block was built in 1886, the main design of its construction being to provide a good building for the Wauseon post-office. J. A. Read & Son's fine building was erected in 1880 by its present owners, and the Eager & Green dry goods block but a few years previous. The Miller block was built for a furniture store and manufactury, in 1870, and is still used for that purpose. For some years a hall in the Cheadle block was devoted to public amusements, it succeeding an old hall in what was called the Mikesell block, and which stood at the northeast corner of Fulton and Elm. This building was destroyed by fire in 1867, and its site remained vacant until 1882, when -a billiard hall and saloon building was placed thereon. When the court-house was built the court room was then somewhat used for assemblages of a public char- 432 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. acter, but of course not for amusements or theatrical performances. For the purpose of gratifying the public taste for a class of amusements better than could find suitable facilities in the Cheadle Hall, Walter Scott, an enterprising citizen, built the Wauseon Opera House in 1879. It stands on the east side of South Fulton street. The first story contains two very large business rooms, and the second is all included in an auditorium capable of seating six hundred people, with an ample stage, and the usual scenery and facilities of a first-class opera house. In the winter of 1879-80 it was formally opened to the public. The most prominent manufacturing enterprise in Wauseon is the flouring mill. It was built in 1862 by J. C. Cornell, and was the old-fashioned buhr mill, and steam was the motive power. To procure water a reservoir was made by removing the dirt from a space of about one-fourth of an acre of land, which, thereby, became a sort of drainage deposit for the extreme wetness of the surrounding soil, and a basin for rainfalls. This plan is still used to procure water for the large mill which now occupies the place of the old one, which was burned in the month of February, 1881. Immediately upon the destruction of the old mill, a new one, with all the new and improved kinds of machinery, was built. Its capacity is two hundred and fifty barrels of flour per day, and it is run without cessation the year round, except on the Sabbath. A large portion of the productions of this mill is exported to foreign countries. Marcus Lyon, George S. Clement and Charles S. Greenleaf, gentlemen who long have been prominently identified with the business interests of Wauseon, now are, and for a number of years have been, the owners of this property. The other manufactories of Wauseon are of minor importance, consisting only of those necessary to supply local needs, except the Automatic Plow Company, which was formed in 1886. This company manufactures corn- plows. Their factory was built late in 1886, and is on Commercial street. At the October election in the year 1869, the removal of the seat of justice from Ottokee to Wauseon, was submitted to the qualified voters of the county for their decision. By a slight majority the vote was in favor of removal ; and the subsequent winter the General Assembly passed an act whereby Wauseon became the county seat. The county commissioners at this time were Joseph Ely, of Franklin township, A. B. Gunn, of York township, and Milton McCaskey, of Fulton township. Early in 1870 the board of commissioners purchased land on the west side of South Fulton at the southwest corner of that street and Chestnut, from John A. Read and Walter Scott, and soon thereafter began the construction of the court-house thereon. The contract for the court-house was let to Vass & Bensman, of Perryburg, 0., for the sum of forty-six thousand dollars, and for the jail to John Litzenberger, for eighteen thousand five hundred dollars. C. C. Miller was the architect of the courthouse. By the first day of January, 1872, the building was completed and ready for occupancy. In the same month the county records were removed to Wau- FULTON COUNTY - 433 seon, the county officers duly installed in their respective offices, and the spring term of the Common Pleas Court held at Wauseon. As speedily as possible the county jail and sheriff's residence were built, and Wauseon took a new lease of prosperity. From 1870 to 1880 the population of the village increased about thirty per cent. Wauseon's first school-house still stands at the northeast corner of Clinton and Elm street. It is an old-fashioned building of wood, put up in 1856. It contains two rooms and is yet used, it being the place where the youngest children of school age in the yillage receive their first instruction. The next, a small brick, was erected on the north side of Chestnut street. It fell into disuse for educational purposes when in 1868 the building for a special school district, of which Wauseon was quite the larger part, was built on Monroe street, near the park known as Monumental Park. The special school district building is a three-story brick, containing six rooms, and the usual halls necessary to a building of that size for school purposes. It was built by J. Q. Riddle and a man named Cutshaw, the latter being the mechanic, and the former furnishing the material. Its cost was $15,000. This building was not well designed for its use, and although expensive, it was not well built. It is about the only institution of the town of which the average Wauseon citizen is not reasonably proud. It is not stating the case too strongly to say that the excellent people of the village are thoroughly ashamed of the unsightly, badly designed, and probably dangerous school-house where their children receive their education. So far as the management of this school is concerned, it always has been excellent, both on the part of the board of education and the teachers, and a number of the graduates of the high school have become intelligent and useful members of society. Many who went forth from its walls have been and now are numbered among the most efficient of the common school teachers of Fulton county. The average yearly attendance in all its schools for the last ten years has been about two hundred and seventy-five pupils. An examination of the business history of Wauseon discloses the fact that the representatives of its trade in all channels since its first rude beginnings in the woods, have been unusually reliable and solvent. In proportion to its business and population, the failures have been few, and commercial disasters of any magnitude entirely unknown. The trades and general business are now represented by about fifty establishments. Its express and freight receipts will compare favorably with many places of twice the population. Its citizens travel and mingle with the outside world and patronize the public library, and are thrifty intelligent and generous. Poverty and want among any of the inhabitants are exceptions to the general prosperity of the people, of rare occurrence, and the different church organizations, the civic societies, comprising the Masonic, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and the noble fraternity of the Grand Army of the Republic, are ever ready to alleviate privation and distress. None of the chil- 434 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. dren of Wauseon go hungry, but few ill-clad, and the means of moral and mental culture are freely provided for all. Surely the paths of this pretty village have been and shall continue to be prosperous and pleasant. CHAPTER XLII. HISTORY OF AMBOY TOWNSHIP. AT the date of the first settlement of Amboy township by the whites, as Iearly as 1834 or 1835, that part north of the " Fulton line " was included in the territory of Michigan, and, with all the other townships north of said line, the people did all their legal business, and paid their taxes at the city of Adrian, the county seat of Lenawee county, and continued to do so until in December, 1836, when this entire strip of land became an integral part of Ohio, under the jurisdiction of Lucas county. The land office on this survey was at the city of Monroe, near the mouth of the River Raisin, at or near the head of Lake Erie. All persons living on this disputed strip prior to its transfer to Ohio, were residents of Fairfield township, Lenawee county, and Territory of Michigan. At a commissioners' meeting held at the city of Toledo, June 4, 1837, the township of Amboy was organized by taking all of town nine south, range four east, south of the Harris line (now the State line of Michigan), and all of fractional township ten south, range four east, extending to the " Fulton line" south. The first election under this organization was held at the residence of David Duncan. The officers assumed jurisdiction and held the same until M arch I, 1841, when the south part (all of town ten south, range four east) was erected into Fulton township, and passed under her jurisdiction, and so remained until 1846, when, at a commissioners' meeting held June 2, at the city of Maumee, upon a petition signed by many of the residents of Fulton township (there being no remonstrance from citizens of Amboy), they attached to Fulton township the south tier of sections of town nine south, range four east, to wit : Sections 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36. Amboy at present contains about twenty-six full sections of land, or an area of 16,677 acres, valued at the last assessment, together with the personal property, at $333,640, as shown upon the duplicate of the county for 1886. All of the alterations of this township were made when this county's territory was a part and parcel of Lucas county, prior to 1850, the time of the organization of Fulton county. FULTON COUNTY - 435 Boundaries.—This township is in the extreme northeastern part of the county, and bounded on the east by Richfield township, in the county of Lucas; on the south by Fulton township ; on the west by Royalton township, and on the north by Ogden township, Lenawee county, in the State of Michigan, or the " Harris line." Amboy lies wholly within the disputed territory which was adjusted by the Congress of the United States in December, 1836, and was then turned over to Ohio. It was the third township organization of Lucas prior to Fulton county. The extreme eastern part of this township is west from the city of Toledo about fifteen miles, and on an average of twenty miles from Wauseon, the county seat. Its nearest railroad station is about six miles south, Swanton, on the Lake Shore Railroad. Soil.—The soil of this township is referable entirely to the drift deposits, and would be classified as drift clays. The township is traversed from the southwest to the northeast, near the center, with a beach ridge of sand and gravel. This clay, with slight deposits of sand and gravel, covers the major portion of the territory, and is deposited with a flat and often a very level surface. This beach ridge, crossing nearly through the center of the township, has, with its branches, but a small area, yet it crosses many farms that would be otherwise destitute of sand, and it affords to the farms and the township a desirable variety. This beach of sand and gravel abruptly terminates about two miles south of Metamora, a small village near the northeast corner. Clay suitable for brick-making can be found in this township in abundance, but, as yet, few bricks have been made. Timber.—The clays of this township support a heavy forest growth, in which no single class predominates. White oak, burr oak, white elm, white ash, and basswood, with a sprinkling of sugar maple, cottonwood, and some whitewood, sycamore, and but few beeches are met with, and this forms the growth of timber upon its soil, as it appears to-day, and was found by the first settlers. Where this sand and gravel beach overlays the clay, elm, basswood and beech become rare, yet a heavy growth of timber covers its soil. There are no opening lands in the township. With proper care and protection, Amboy township has sufficient timber for all building purposes for generations to come, and this is one of her internal sources of usefulness as well as wealth. Water Courses.—The main water course of this township rises beyond the western boundaries of the township, in the township of Royalton, and runs a northeasterly direction through the village of Metamora, and thence east, leaving the township near the northeast corner of section twelve, town nine south, range four east, into Lucas county. It is called Ten Mile Creek, and empties into Maumee Bay, on or near the hne between the States of Michigan and Ohio. The summit of this township is on its northwest border. The streams on the north side of Ten Mile Creek have a gentle course to the southeast, while upon the south side they are few, and a short distance south of Ten Mile 436 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES, Creek are gently inclined to the south, and empty into Swan Creek. All the inclinations of this township are very gentle with whatever course the stream- lets take, the slope being gently inclined to the east and south by east. There are no very singular surface depressions in the locality, and but few wet prairies or marshes. Topography.—The highest lands upon the north side of this township are about one hundred and forty feet above Lake Erie, and fall off to the south with a descent of fifteen feet to the mile. At no place within its limits is there arr out-crop of the underlying rock, and there are but few glacial boulders in the soil. The overlying rock on this territory is first the Huron shale ; then the Hamilton group ; next the Corniferous limestone. Its water supply is attained by surface drainage, and fails in severe drouths ; otherwise a good supply can only be obtained by the auger below the clay-drift, where can be found an abundance of good water to be utilized for general purposes by using the wind-mill. This township was among the earliest that began settlement in 1834, and held a scattered population for a long period of time. The settlers endured many hardships and privations, and were poor in purse and household effects while they were clearing away the forest to raise corn and wheat for their bread and fattening a little pork for their families to subsist upon. Cabins had to be raised for shelter, roads opened, bridges built, and many other things were required to be done before any revenue could be returned to replenish an empty purse. There were no laggards here, no idlers ; the crash of falling timber was heard early and late in that busy circle of early pioneers, and afterwards came the burning and logging, and fitting the land for corn, potatoes, and a little garden after other crops had been put in by the ax and hoe. There was but little plowing and the crops were tended by the whole family with the hoe as best they could. Often half of these crops were destroyed by birds and wild animals, so prevalent in those new forest homes, and it is often remarked by these sturdy pioneers that with all their effort to keep soul and body together with sometimes poorly supplied larders, an empty purse, with home-made clothing for their Sunday wear, how well they enjoyed this kind of life; to chop the first tree, to build the log cabin, to move into it, with none other near, was exhilarating. There was no repining. It was a necessity that they should live in this way, and they with joy obeyed this will as though it was the command of God, and in their rehearsals of those days they often manifest a desire to live them over again. The gun was often brought into use to supply food for the families. How anxious these pioneer men and women were to get a little piece of ground and secure themselves a home, and rear their families, and when away at work how cheering the thought as he went from his toil to his cabin and family at the close of day; no loitering places, or modern day fixtures to draw him away from his family. To recall FULTON COUNTY - 437 these days are cheering reflections of an inspiration not possessed by our modern belle and gentleman. It can be well said for these old pioneers that " labor is the life of nature, and to serve all men her highest freedom." Population. —In the last census of 1880 this township had a population of 1,264. The development has been slow, and not until later years did it receive agricultural possibilities that has astonished its people, and in the future is more than likely to keep pace with its sister townships of the county. The first twenty-five years of the settling of Amboy township was slow because of the lack of means of its people, they having come to the territory in very limited circumstances, but through courage and energy they slowly mounted the ladder to success. It was not until the construction of the plank road, in 1850, that a route was opened from the city of Toledo westward, running through this township from east to west, and then did its prosperity begin. Ever since that event the discouragements have been far less than to those who came to possess the country. Roads.—The first road penetrating this township was the territorial road, or known as the Vistula and Indiana road, laid out by the territorial Legislature of Michigan, about 1832. It was opened at a late date, about 1835, and in 1850 became the bed for the plank road, which for many years was the only outlet for Toledo via Sylvania, westward. In the very early history of the township a road was built running from the old Vistula road south on the sand beach through the township towards the Maumee River, which served as a route of travel in getting to Maumee for milling and trade, and by reason of these roads the central and northern part of Amboy was the first settled and earliest developed. The inhabitants in this locality are probably as well situated and as comfortably supplied as anywhere in the county. Agriculture.—In the early days here was found covering the territory a dense forest, which required many years of the ambition of the best blood of the country to remove; and after that a great amount of labor was needed to begin a higher state of cultivation before the development of agriculture became a fixed fact ; for it was found that when the forest was removed the soil was rich in all that develops agricultural powers, and to-day, with the system of drainage which every industrious community has adopted, Amboy is second to none in agricultural possibilities. Its natural advantages in soil are equal to any other township of the county, and its productions to-day confirm every statement herein made, as shown by the reports of productions of this township in 1886, and taken in the spring of 1887. Acres of wheat, 1323; bushels raised, 22,983. Acres of rye, 179; bushels raised 3,331. Acres of buckwheat, 51; bushels raised, 989. Acres of oats, 635; bushels raised, 27,68. Acres barley, 1; bushels raised, 419. Acres of corn, 1,682; bushels raised, 59,613. Acres of meadow, 1,155; tons of hay, 438 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. 1,096. Acres of clover, 294; tons of hay, 335; bushels of seed, 236. Acres of potatoes, 93; bushels harvested, 7,065. Butter manufactured, 26,787 pounds. Cheese manufactured, 141,000 pounds. Sorghum made, 102 gallons; maple syrup, 205 gallons, and 120 pounds of maple sugar. Amount of eggs produced, 33,661 dozens. Wool produced, 5,016 pounds. Cows in township, 543. Orchards, 352 acres; bushels of apples, 21,368; pears, 35 bushels; peaches, 6 bushels; cherries, 25 bushels; plums, 8 bushels. Early Settlers.—Jared Hoadly was, without doubt, the first resident settler of Amboy township. He entered his land in the month of July, 1833, and late in the fall of the same year he moved to Amboy township. It is found that in the early part of January, 1834, he built himself a cabin upon this purchase, on section seven. He lived in Amboy township for many years and in later life, moved into Michigan. He was a very prominent man with the first pioneers, and very influential in all the affairs of the township. He was prosperous in all his business adventures. He bore well the hardships incident to early life in a new country, and his home was the asylum of the distressed and unfortunate. His outlet for trade was at Perrysburgh, and occasionally at Adrian. His milling was mostly done at Tecumseh, which was reached by roads winding about through the woods and swamps, over unbridged creeks, and it often required three or four days with ox teams to make the trip. The most plentiful thing was game, of those days. Indians were by no means scarce, as they liked the idea of being near the first white settlers for the purpose of trade and barter. They were, upon the whole, a benefit to these early fathers and oftentimes company in the lonesome hours of wilderness life; and besides, they kept the settlers informed of all newcomers for many miles around. They were always peaceable; the settlers had nothing to fear from the Indian. They would assist the families in erecting their first cabins, in order, chiefly, to get what whisky they could drink. It may be said of them that they did their part in making the early pioneers and their families more comfortable for their being here, as many of these old settlers can testify. Mr. Hoadly was an active man and performed his full share of labor in the developing of the township in its very primitive days. He held the plow to break the first piece of land plowed in Amboy, and built the first cabin of which we have any record. He has long since passed "over the river" from the toils and scenes of this life. Among the other settlers that came to this township in 1833 that can be found recorded in the memory of the present living generation were Alvah Steadman, Aaron Steadman and David Steadman, father of Aaron and Alvah, Frank O'Neil, Charles Blain, William Blain, John Roop, Joseph Roop and Alfred Gilson. The Blains, originally, were from Lodi, near Syracuse, Onondaga county, N. Y., and first made a halt at Toledo, at a very early day, from whence they came on foot across the country westward, and settled in Amboy, which was then under territorial rule of Michigan, and said to be in the town- FULTON COUNTY - 439 ship of Blissfield. Their advent was late in the fall of 1833. They each have raised large families; all of whom have grown to man and womanhood and are settled around their parents on parts of their father's estate. These pioneers, after subduing an interminable wilderness and enduring their share of the trials and privations incident to a pioneer life, acquired a fair share of this world's goods, and a fine share of lands on sections 18 and 19, which estate is now divided among the children. Charles Blain is living to-day at the advanced age of seventy-five years. His mother, Sarah Blain, died in 1874, at his home in Amboy township, at the age of one hundred and four years. Alvah Steadman is supposed to have been the second settler in the township, but possibly that honor will have to be divided with John and Joseph Roop, yet the best informed of the old pioneers accord that honor to Alvah Steadman. They all came so nearly together that it will be impossible at this late day to settle the question. Joseph Roop made the first brick in the township and carried on that industry for many years. Many of the old settlers show the brick manufactured by Joseph Roop, now used in comfortable dwellings. The footprints and marks of these first settlers are shown and spoken of all over the township. These families, being the advance guard in subduing a wilderness, had a large share of the winter of 1834 in which to arrange for a garden and potato and corn patch, one of the first thoughts of the settlers of that day, and generally planted among the logs with spade, hoe or an ax, and in the fall were prepared to help the coming immigrant with a fair share of their summer's industry, for which they usually obtained a little cash, not greenbacks or gold, but a little silver and the balance in wildcat notes of that period, upon which there was often a large loss to the receiver. On examination it is found many of the homes of these first beginners have passed into the hands of strangers—later immigrants upon the soil, who since have done their part well, and claim some recognition as pioneers of Amboy township or the county of Fulton. From the old tumble-down cabin will be seen fine residences, mammoth barns, good out-houses and well-drained lands, surrounded by good rail fences. It is now fifty-four years since the advent of the first settler, Jared Hoadly. With many of that year's immigrants full a month's work from each was required to cut and clear out roads and make bridges, etc. No turnpike work could be done in those days. Frank O'Neil settled where Metamora is now located. He built the first cabin in that part of the township, and there alone with his family enjoyed the full fruits of a pioneer's life and the honor of being ahead of the other settlers. Since the date of the settlement of 1833, there has been a large acquisition of population. In 1834, David Duncan, from Onondaga county, N. Y. ; also John Blain and Jerry Duncan, from the same place ; Lorenzo Abbott, Seneca Corbin, from New York ; Park White and his son David White, Jonathan Gil- 440 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. son, Clark Gilson, James Hallett, John Labounty, Samuel Purdy, Joseph Richey, Nathaniel Welch and Harry Welch. In the year of 1835 there came Hiram Bartlettl who first emigrated from Cooperstown, Otsego county, State of New York, in 1826, and settled at Port Lawrence (now Toledo). He resided there nine years before he came to Amboy township. Calvin Skinner, Cyrus Fisher, Horatio Stevens and Caleb Remilie came from Niagara county, N. Y. George Barnettl Chapman, Griswold and Koons, whose given names could not be ascertained, were also among the early settlers. Horatio Stevens settled upon section twenty-nine, afterwards owned by Stephen Haughton. Alfred Gilson settled on section nineteen. Samuel Keeler, father of Solomon Keeler, a banker at Toledo, was among the settlers of 1835. Joseph Richey was also a settler of this period ; and Marmaduke Bunting may be placed as among this classl as it is admitted he was a very early settler. The Blains and Duncans were all from Lodi, first lock on the canal east of Syracuse, Onondaga county, N. Y. David White, a son of Park White, became a noted hunter in the wilds of this county, but since the advancement of civilization and the woodman's ax, game in later years has become so scarce as to yield no profit. He sought the wilderness of Northern Michigan, and makes hunting profitable. Lorenzo Abbott came through from Maumee, with nothing but a pocket compass for his guide, and found the land of his choice, and entered the same and lived upon it until he sold it to Sullivan Johnsonl in 1843. When Hiram Bartlett came to this township, July 31, 1835, from Port Lawrence, Lucas county, he had four children, to wit : Elizabeth, who married a son of Deacon Keeler, the banker of Toledo, and now resides at Elkhart, Ind ; Julia Ann, the wife of Norman H. Tripp, of Amboy, now living on section sixteen ; Hannah F., who became the wife of George Gale, and has since died, and Hiram Russell Bartlettl who now occupies the homestead of his father. The father died about 1875 There was one very important incident in the life of Hiram Bartlett, which is worthy of some note. It seems that in early life he learned the hatter's trade, and, on arriving at twenty-one years of age (as it was customary to have birthday parties), he had a party to commemorate the event. Rum was customary at the sideboard, and was drank freely by all members of society in those days. Having seen the iniquity of so free a use of rum and other strong drinks, he was resolved beforehand to total abstinence. On that day, to make strong the vow, he took a bottle, filled it with rum, corked and sealed the same, and then and there declared, before the company present, that he would never taste any alcoholic drinks during his future existence, unless to save his life, and not then until it was decided by a council of five doctors that it was necessary ; if so decided that it was necessary, the bottle was to be opened and the prescription to be made therefrom. Russell Bartlett died in the fall of 1875. The bottle remained unopened at his death; and so still remains. It is now in the possession of his son, Russell Bartlett, a prosperous citizen of Amboy township. FULTON COUNTY - 441 Between 1836 and 1840 came Job Duvall, who settled upon section nine. He came from Erie county, N. Y. He now sleeps with the dead. He was highly respected in the whole township. His widow lives where he first settled. Tunis Lewis, John Lewis and Charles Welch are found to be among the settlers of this period. John Richey settled on section seventeen; William Irwin on section fourteen. Charles C. Tiney was born in Washington county, N. Y., April 26, 1809, and his wife, Electa Whitten, was born in Genesee county, N. Y., December 28, 1813. They settled in Fulton county in 1838, on section thirty. Calvin H. Potter settled in Amboy township in 1842. Since he came to this county he has cut and brushed six miles of road, four rods wide, through heavy timber, and has cleared his farm of one hundred acres. He was born in Herkimer county, N. Y., August 2, 1822. Morey S. Potter and Minerva, his wife, parents of Calvin H. Potter, settled in Fulton county in 1842. They have a numerous following of grand and great-grandchildren, many of them living in Amboy and adjacent townships.. The old people were living on their farm in Amboy but a short time ago, each at a very advanced age. In 1843 came Sullivan Johnson, who has been twice honored with election to the sheriff's office of Fulton county. He has, ever since he came to the township in 1843, been a very active man in all matters that pertain to the development of its resources, and is a leader in his political party. He has been successful in honorably obtaining a fair share of this world's goods, and has seen his children well settled around him. He now resides on the section: formerly owned by Lorenzo Abbott, who first entered the same, and came to reside thereon July 31, 1835. Norman N. Tripp first visited Amboy in 1838. He was then a young manl and stayed here for a short time. He returned in 1847. He married Julia Ann Bartlett, daughter of Hiram Bartlett, and settled upon section sixteen, where he now resides. He has been a life-long Democrat and a man of much influence in the township and the county. Mrs. Tripp has some very interesting relics of her grandparents, such as family apparel, linen, table cloths, and sheets, which were made over one hundred years ago. She shows the work of her grandmother---Hannah Walker Fisher, of Providence, R. I. — a miniature pair of woolen hose and mittens, which Mrs. Tripp wore in her babyhood, sixty-five years ago. Hezekiah Culver, Caleb Satterly, Thomas Cahoe, Daniel L. Bueler, and possibly others whose names cannot be ascertained, came prior to 1850. Present Residents.—In naming the present settlers upon the soil of Amboy, there need only be mentioned those who have become prominently identified in its industries as agriculturists and in other pursuits, to wit : Sullivan Johnson, Norman N. Tripp, Lewis Bueler, James Santee, Miles Kahle, 442 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. George Clark, John Richey, George Johnson, George Duvall, Peter Ottgen, Ira Smedes, Alfred Dennis, Charles Blain, Benjamin Blain, Robert Blain, Fred. Broadbeck, George Robinson, Hubert Robinson, Harvey Gunn, Adam Mohr, Herbert Ottgen, Peter Reis, Wilham Beverly, S. P. Knapp, Smallman, 'Charles Tiney, Albert Allen, G. N. Carter, Thomas Cahoe, McLean Duncan, William Myers, Samuel Duncan, Nathaniel Welch, William Nevitt, Russell Bartlett, Peter Mohr, Peter Shug, Charles Blain, jr., James O'Neil, Daniel Hallett, James Hallett, James Hallett, jr., S. M. Reynolds, John Willey, Joseph Feltz, Christian Ottgen, Christian Ottgen, jr., John Hartell, Peter Kohl, a preacher, Darius Higley, John Reis, E. Bunting, E. F. Bartley, J. L. Molish, S. R. Myers, N. Justicel J. Stillwell, John Broadbeck, George Reis, and many others. Primitive Structures.—The first inhabitants of this township, as did of many others of later settlement, built their first habitations of round logs, generally twelve by sixteen feet in size ; still some were a little larger, and were covered with elm bark when shakes could not be obtained easily. A few others were built of bark. These answered for their immediate necessities until they could secure a harvest for the coming winter. As soon as they saw their families provided with something to eat, they built for themselves an improved structure, which lasted these residents for many years. Some of these primitive structures are still standing as evidence of the truth of what is here said. The more modern log houses were built of larger dimensions and with double roof, and many of them were quite roomy, and were palatial when compared with the first. The logs were often hewed upon the inside and put under a good shingle roof. The cracks were chincked, and then plastered upon the inside and outside, some with clay and others with lime and sand. With these houses the people were well satisfied for many years, or until they got their farms well improved, and not until within the last twenty years have they begun the more modern structure. The fathers and sons in nearly all the first families were good citizens. Many of them were brought up to the German habits of patience, perseverance and industry, and these qualities have accumulated good possessions, and are prepared to lay aside the mantle for their children and journey to another future home—their everlasting home , over the river of death. Metamora.—Frank OlNeal built the first house in Metamora. Hezekiah Culver sold the first goods here in 1848, and possibly the first in the township. This was in a very early day. Culver and Compton & Co. built the first grist-mill, in 1845, and the only one ever built in the township, the latter in 1850. It is now owned and run by Eli Bunting. William Bailey was the first physician in Metamora. He settled near the German church, west some two miles from the town. Jonathan Saunders was one of the original proprietors of the village. His son, Clark Saunders, has FULTON COUNTY - 443 there, at the present time, a drug store. A physician named Pomeroy, used to practice medicine in the village at a very early day. He was a very old man at the time, and, after a few years of practice died, and was buried there. Metamora has had a post-office for many years, and the only one in the township up to about 1880, when Siney post-office was established upon the western line, giving two post-offices in the township. The present industries of the village are, one saw-mill, one hotel, kept by Peter Holben ; four dry good stores, owned by James Gurnsey, Edward Duvall and Fred. Prickett. The town also supports one barber shop. There is being built a large cheese-factory, which oan be well supported by the farming community. The present physicians of the village are Dr. S. M. Clark, Dr. Foster, Dr. Tompkins and Dr. Markham. There is one Methodist Episcopal church, which was built in 1870, and is in a good condition, with a large membership. There is also one United Brethren church, which sustains a fair membership. It was built in 1874. Amboy township, aside from the two church organizations in the village of Metamora, has one Catholic church, called St. Mary's, built in 1864, upon section 26, and connected therewith is a cemetery specially dedicated for Catholic burials. The country here surrounding is Chiefly populated by Irish and some French families, who were originally of that faith when they left their native land and made America their home. They have, in the mainl made good citizens; they have been prosperous, and the township has been benefited by their- settling here. Many have a fair share of this world's goods, acquired by their frugality and industry during the few years they have been upon the soil. The Methodist Episcopal church, upon the town line between Amboy and. Royalton, was built in 1867. It has a small number of worshipers, and has sustained itself under adverse circumstances. The Reformed Church of Zion was built by the German residents, about 1870. This society and the church edifice is due- to the labors of Peter Kohl, who is yet living in the township at the advanced age of seventy-five years. The church building is located upon section 9. Schools.—There are five school districts in the township, located as follows : one upon the south side of section 4 ; one upon section 7 ; one upon section 16; one upon section 29 ; one upon section 26, and a special district at Metamora. All have well-built houses, some of which have been lately built. Industries.—The only industry in the township, outside of the village of Metamora, is agriculture. There is connected with that one cheese-factory, located upon section 7, called the Amboy cheese-factory. Benjamin Davisl of Royalton, is the proprietor. It was opened for business in 1868, and has made the milk production very profitable to the farming community in a large part of the township. The factory is in a flourishing condition at this time. John Reis, upon the eastern part of the township, carries on the tile and 444 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. brick making business to quite a large extent. The brick and tile there manufactured are entirely used by the farmers. There is not any other very prominent industry in the township. Official Roll.-Upon the organization of this township, in 1837, at the first election held, Peter C. Lewis of section 9, and Cyrus Fisher of section 29, were elected justices of the peace. Stephen Haughton was the first county officer from the township, and served as county commissioner three years ; Abram B. Thompson was twice elected county commissioner and served six years ; Sullivan Johnson was twice elected sheriff and served four years, making, for all incumbents, thirteen years of official service for Fulton county from Amboy. CHAPTER XLIII. HISTORY OF CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP. THIS township was organized at a session of the board of commissioners, held at Toledo, June 4, 1837, by taking all of towns nine south, range one and two east, and all of town ten south ; ranges one and two east, excepting a strip one mile wide from the west side of towns nine and ten south, range one east, and embracing all the territory described from the " Harris line " on the north, to the " Fulton line " on the south. The first election under this organization was held at the residence of Chesterfield Clemons, and the officers fully assumed jurisdiction, and held the same until March 6, 1838, when, at a commissioners' meeting held at Toledo, the whole of towns nine and ten south, range one east, was set off and erected into the township of Gorham. Then Chesterfield relinquished her jurisdiction to the territory so set off Again, at a commissioners' session held at the city of Maumee, June 5, 1843, the whole of town ten south, range two east, was taken from Chesterfield, and with other territory south, was organized into the township of Dover. The township of Chesterfield for several years thereafter exercised municipal control over the balance of the territory. At some unknown date since the organization of Fulton county, the commissioners thereof struck off and set to Gorham the west half of fractional section 7, and the west half of section 8, lying west of Bean Creek, leaving the present township of Chesterfield as she exists to-day. Chesterfield, as her boundaries exist at present time, contains a small fraction of sections 1, 2 and 3, south of the " Harris line," and the balance of sections 7, 8 and 9, south of the same line, and all of sections , 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, excepting therefrom the west half of sections 7 and 18 set off FULTON COUNTY - 445 to Gorham, and contains a fraction less than twenty-nine sections of land, or an area of 8,467 acres valued at $334,330. This township with all its alterations was made while under the municipal control of Lucas county, except the west half of sections 7 and 18, which was set off to Gorham by the commissioners of Fulton county since 1850. Boundaries.—This township is bounded on the north by the State of Michigan; on the east by Royalton ; on the south by Dover, and on the west by Gorham township. It is situated between the townships of Gorham and Royalton, and the township of Dover and State line of Michigan, and is wholly upon the disputed territory claimed respectively by Ohio and Michigan, and settled by the Congress of the United States in December, 1836. The same history as expressed in Royalton township applies full web to to the township of Chesterfield. except that, in the last years of this disputed agitation of territorial control by Michigan, these lands were, in the winter of 1834, placed under the township jurisdiction of Seneca and remained so until December, 1836, when to the Harris line it became a part of Ohio, and lost the name of Seneca, and was unorganized territory until 1837, when it was given the name of Chesterfield. First Settlers.—Chesterfield Clemons was the first settler of this township. He and his family, on the 6th day of October, 1834, entered the township and located upon the west part of section 14, town nine south, range two east. He was born in Ontario county, State of New York, in 1797, and in 1821 married Fannie Downing, and soon after emigrated to Paynesville, 0., from whence they came to this county as stated. Six daughters were born to them during their wedded life. Animated by the true pioneer spirit, as he must have been, Chesterfield Clemons and family bravely penetrated into an almost undisturbed wilderness of then southern Lenawee county, and commenced to make a home for himself and family. His faithful and untiring, industry, privations and hardships, have, we doubt not, been instrumental in converting a howling wilderness into a flourishing and enlightened commonwealth. Mr. Clemons came in the morning of life with his children and wife, possessed of little else than willing hands, stout hearts, and sincere and honest desires. This family endured trials and dangers, sorrow and tribulations, unknown to the later settlers, because alone in the wilderness with no thought save to grapple with their immediate necessities. Chesterfield Clemons lived but a short time to see the fruits of his labor, or the wilderness blossom as the rose. He died at his new home in Chesterfield in the year 1842. His widow subsequently married the Hon. Samuel Gillis. She is the mother of Mrs. James S. Dean, Mrs. Delevan C. Gillis, lately deceased ; Mrs. John S. Butler, Mrs. Gideon Clark, and Mrs. James Hough, deceased. Judge Samuel Gillis died about twelve years since, and Mrs. Fannie (Clemons) Gillis died at her son-in-law's residence at Morenci, Mich., about two years ago. She was born May 17, 1803, in the State of New 446 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. York. Among the settlers was Garner Willett, who located on the southeast quarter of section 9, town nine south, range two east. He was born December 20, 1816, in Somerset county, N. J. In 1835 Garner Willett left his home at the age of nineteen years. He had only thirty-five dollars and his gun when he started west visiting Adrian, Mich., and many places in Ohio, viewing the country and killing deer, wandering to Chesterfield in 1837. In 1839 he was joined by his father, David Willett, and family. He was present at the organization of Chesterfield township June 4, 1837. In 1845 he married Harriet Parson, who with her parents, came from Maine and settled in Chesterfield in 1834. Daniel and Esperance Parsons, parents of Garner Willett's wife, came to Chesterfield in the fall of 1834, and lived to prosper and spend their last days in ease. The nearest grist-mill of those days was at Tecumseh, Mich., thirty miles away. George P. Clark and his wife Elizabeth settled in this county in the fall of 1834; they were both born in Rhode Island. He located upon section twenty-three, but some years later he sold out and went to Michigan and there died in 1872. Alanson Briggs and wife, Lucinda (Cadwell) Briggs, came to this county in 1834 and settled upon section twelve. He came from the State of New York, city of Utica. In the fall of 1836 a mail route was established and run from Toledo, 0., to Lima, Ind., over the old territorial road, sometimes called the Vistula road, being the first mail service in the township. The distance was one hundred and ten miles, and the mail was carried twice a week. There was but one post-office between the two terminal points. After passing four miles west of Morenci, Mich., the road lay through a continuous stretch of unbroken forest for thirty-three miles. John S. Butler, then a boy of about eleven years, carried the mail on horseback twice each week for a number of years. Alanson Briggs kept a hotel for several years to accommodate the immigrants, who were rapidly filling up the country. It was located upon the premises now owned by Eleazer Clark. Briggs was a colonel of the State militia of Ohio, which at a later period held general muster at AEtna, in Pike township. Alanson Briggs died in 1879, at the age of eighty-two years. His wife, Lucinda, died in the early days of the township. John S. Butler, a son of Asa H. and Sarah (Daggett) Butler, who first settled in Gorham township in 1835. When about eleven years of age he was indentured to Alanson Briggs until he became twenty-one. While here at Alanson Briggs's he was the post-boy on the route from Toledo to Lima, in the State of Indiana, and for several years ran over the route twice a week, a distance of one hundred and ten miles. He says he fell into the St. Joseph River, which he had to cross, with the United States mail on top of him. Once in carrying the mail, he was chased by wolves several miles, but was FULTON COUNTY - 447 glad to be rid of their company, as he did not like their music. He also helped Alanson Briggs clear up the farm where now lives James H. Turner. He married Lovina, a daughter of Chesterfield and Fannie Clemons, on June 14, 1846. He was born in Wayne county, N. Y., May 18, 1824. He is a successful farmer of Chesterfield township, located on section thirty-two. Harlow Butler, in 1835, came west on a land hunt, and located himself on a farm on section twenty-eight. While on his way through Ohio in the time of the Toledo war, he was seized and taken prisoner, but soon released and went on his way rejoicing. He returned with his family, to Ohio, and settled upon the lands he first located in 1836. Harlow Butler was born in West Bloomfield, Ontario county, N. Y., January 4, 1798, and his wife, Mary (Hickox) Butler, was born at the same place December 28, 1803. It is said that Harlow Butler's was the fourth family in the township. Mr. Butler planted an orchard on his farm from apple seeds washed from the pumice before leaving New York. He lived to see the trees bear fruit and ate their apples and drank their cider for thirty years before his death, which occurred at his home in Chesterfield many years ago. He was one of that class of men who were an honor to the township, and was a very useful man in society. Darwin E. Butler settled in Chesterfield township in 1836. He came from West Bloomfield, Ontario county, N. Y. He was a machinest and music teacher, and was a very useful man to the whole township. He married in Chesterfield, November 12, 1843, Aurelia Hibbard. He died at his home in the township in the spring of 1886. His wife survives him. John B. Roos and Elizabeth (Benner) Roos came to this township in 1836, and settled upon section twenty-four, where John died in 1859, and his wife in 1872. Both were horn in Dutchess county, N. Y. John P. Roos, son of John B. and Elizabeth, came with his parents to this township in 1836. In 1849, January 25, he united in marriage with Emily L. Noble, who came from Genesee county, N. Y. John P. Roos is a man of unblemished character and large influence, and is signally prosperous in all his business relations. Wilham Onweller and his wife, Susannah, came to this county in 1835 and settled upon section twenty-three of Chesterfield township. They came from the State of Maryland. William Onweller was a very industrious citizen, and accumulated quite a property. He died March 20, 1864, at his home in the township, devising his estate to his son William, who is a very prosperous farmer of the township. During the last year he built one of the finest brick houses of the county upon the old homestead of his father. Samuel Stutesman came to this township in 1837. He was born in Washington county, Md., August 29, 1806. He came to this county without much means, but, by industry and steady perseverance as a farmer, acquired a large landed estate, and in his dechning years is able to enjoy life in ease. He settled upon section fourteen. 448 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. Heman A. Canfield, and his wife, Amanda G. Canfield, both of whom were born in New York State, came to this county in 1838, and settled upon the farm now owned by John S. Butler, on sections thirty-two and thirty-three. Mr. Canfield for many years has been one of the foremost citizens of the township in all its business relations ; by his honesty, sobriety, and untiring industry has acquired a fair competence ; has raised a fine family, and has twice been honored by his county with the office of county commissioner. In 1860 Mr. Canfield sold his farm in Chesterfield and removed to Gorham, where he again came in contact with the forest, and had to clear himself a farm, which he has successfully done, and may now, in his advancing years, enjoy the comforts of a well-earned competency. Jacob Boynton came to this county in 1835 and bought of Chesterfield Clemons some thirty acres of land, now owned and possessed by Eleazer Clark. Boynton afterward sold out and moved from the county. Alfred C. Hough was born in Onondaga county, N. Y., and came to Fulton county in 1836. He settled upon section twenty-one. Mr. Hough has held the office of county auditor of this county, serving with satisfaction to the people and credit to himself. He was the first school examiner, while the territory belonged to Lucas county. He has several times been honored by his township to important positions. James M. Hough was born in Onondaga county, N. Y., and came to this territory when a young man, and finally settled upon section twenty-one, w here he raised a fine family, and is now retired from active life. George Patterson and his family came to this county in September, 1838, and settled upon section thirty-one, where he lived many years. In 1849 he sold out and settled in Dover township, where he died many years ago. Lyman L. Beebe and his wife, Julia (Clement) Beebe, were born in Ontario county, N. Y. They came to Fulton county and settled in the township of Chesterfield in 840, and purchased six acres of wild land at three dollars per acre, on section twenty-seven. He built the first steam saw-mill in the township in 1844, and ran the same for nearly twelve years. It was located on what is now the Crittenden farm, on the south side. In 856 he removed his steam-mill and re-erected and remodeled the same and ran it for a number of years, when he abandoned it. It was located upon section thirteen. Mr. Beebe is still living. He is now partially blind. His wife, Julia, died in 1849, in Fulton county. Mr. B. now owns five hundred and eight acres of land, and a fine brick residence. Jeremiah Sheffield and his wife, Sarah, from Newburg, Orange county, N. Y., were married October t0, 1838, at Newburg, and started the same month for Ohio, landing in Chesterfield November I I, 1838, and, with the aid of John P. Roos and Charles Smith, selected the land upon which they lived, and on which she, as his widow, resides to-day. FULTON COUNTY - 449 Nathaniel Parsons and family came to Chesterfield February, 1835. At one time Mr. Parsons went to mill at Tecumseh, thirty miles away, and the mother divided what bread they had in the house, and lived on fractional rations while he was gone. In these very first days there were no schools for a year or two, and the children were taught at home by tie mother or elder daughter until such time as the population would warrant a school-building. James S. Dean, sr., came to this township in October 1838, from Chemung county, N. Y., and settled upon sections twenty-four and twenty-five. Nehemiah Cone came in 1835, and settled on section twenty-four. Gersham Livesay came in 1836 from Elmira, Chemung county, N. Y. David Lee came in 1837. He was the father of Peleg S. Lee, who is, and has been for a long time, engaged in the cheese manufacture, and who, the first year, started with a production of about 4,000 pounds. He now manufactures from 150,000 to 00,000 pounds of cheese per year. In 1834, 1835, 1836, and up to 1840, many came to the township of Chesterfield that have not been heretofore named, who have had much to do in improving the country. Mention of some of these will be madel who have been particularly identified with the township. They are : Nathaniel Butler, Hiram Butler, Darwin Butler, Manley Hawley, Flavel Butler, Daniel Fausey, James Aldrich, Hyson Aldrich, Cidero H. Shaw, James M. Bates, George W. Bates, David L. Beebe, George W. Roos, Thomas Welch, Isaac Stites, Benjamin Stites, William Stites, William Richards, Lothrop Briggs, who first settled what was afterwards known as the Dean farm ; James Livesay, Joel Briggs, son of Lothrop Briggs ; Warren Beebe, George W. Kellogg, Azariah Shapley Daniel F. Turner, Amaziah Turner, Phillip Whitehead, Joseph Thorpe, father of Washington, Lewis, and Jesse Thorpe, who have always been prominent farmers of the township ; Samuel Ranger, who came in 1835 ; Thomas Welch, who came from Stark county in 1835, originally, but direct to this place from Grand Rapids, on the Maumee; George W. Kellogg, from Gorham, and who, a few years thereafter, returned ; Elizur. B. Clark, Mrs. Amy Welch, Gideon Clark, Marietta Turner, and Adaline Whaley. All of the last five named were children of George P. Clark, and his wife, Elizabeth. The mother, at the advanced age of ninety years, is living with her son, Elizur Clark. They were from Orleans county, N. Y., and settled here in the fall of 1836. Amaziah Turner came in 1835, and settled on section sixteen. He died away many years ago. From 1840 until 1850 there came to this county and settled in Chesterfield David Marks, who came from Ashland county, 0. ; William E. Pennington, from Somerset county, N. J., in 1847; Ephraim Pennington came with his son, William. The father was a soldier of the Revolution, and died at his son's residence, aged ninety years; Josiah Lee, in 1845, settled on section twenty- table>

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