(RETURN TO THE HENRY & FULTON COUNTY INDEX) 550 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. bushels harvested, 1,950 ; buckwheat, 30 acres sown, bushels harvested, 480 ; oats, 609 acres sown, bushels harvested, 26,845 ; corn, 1,328 acres planted, bushels harvested, 42,952 ; meadow 1,528 acres, cut and harvested 1,567 tons of hay ; clover, 57 acres, cut and harvested 87 tons of clover hay and 72 bushels of clover seed ; potatoes, 64 acres, number of bushels raised, 5,801 ; butter made, 25,220 pounds. ; cheese manufactured at home 24,000 pounds. In factories supported by milk from the resident farmers, 150,000 pounds; sorghum in syrup, 313 gallons ; eggs, 19,551 dozen ; apple orchards, 273 acres, bushels of apples raised, 23,165 ; number of pounds of wool, 29,071 ; number of cows milked, 736 ; bushels of other fruits : peaches 140 ; pears, 160 ; cherries, 41 ; plums, 9. Now, while the area of this township represents 15,773 acres of land, it is also found that there are nearly 4000 acres yet in a forest and uncleared, and 1581 acres of partially waste land. Present Occupants.—So much attention has been given to the early pioneers it would be a matter of justice to name the present occupants of the soil, of whom some may be the descendants of early pioneers, and others have come at later periods, and in some measure have aided in giving a finishing touch to what was so early begun. They will be named in succession by sections upon which they reside ; section one, south of Harris line, A. Patterson, H. B. Whetter and George Hoadly ; section two, Thomas Richardson, R. Dewey, John Sturtevant and O. S. Sturtevant ; section 3, A. Chandler, S. Green and N. Fay ; section four, G. A. Potes and J. B. Woods ; section five, Moses Jay, Enos C. Daniels, A. C. Daniels ; section seven, including Otis and Walter Smith, James Smith, Jane B. Smith, Aaron Deyo, S. Onweller ; section eight, S. D, Carrol, William Smith, Richard Scott, John Roberts, Dwight Noble, Thomas G. Richardson ; section nine, Ezra B. Mann, D. N. Fenner, William Smalley, Elias Richardson, B. L. Barden; section ten, A. Hindee, J. Cottrell, G. W. Hoadly, Eli Phillips, Alpheus Fenner and T. Welsh ; section eleven, A. Cottrell, George B. Brown, F Ansel H. Henderson J. Budlong, and J. Henderson ; section twelve, Benjamin Davis, G. T. Knight and H. Robb ; section thirteen, W. W, Driscoll, Alvah Steadman, J. R. Dodge, J. P. Holland, C. and S. Buck and J. L. Barden ; section fourteen, G. R. Morey, William Rynd, Wm. Davis and heirs of Ira Hinkle ; section fifteen, V. R. J. Osborn, J. O. Meeker, George W. Welsh, Emeline Ketchum and Butler Richardson ; section sixteen, William Potes, J. C. Fuller, S. H. Camron and heirs of Ephraim Hinkle ; section seventeen, James Briggs, Warren P. Bebee, C. Hilton, Mary Mudge, M. Mann and Jas. B. Carpenter ; section eighteen, A. C. Egnew, Clark Standish and R. Fuller ; section nineteen, E. Mead, P. E. Curtis, Anthony Leonard and F. W. Richardson ; section twenty, Oliver Gilmore, Fred Holt and A. Disbrow ; section twenty-one, Samuel Carpenter, Barney M. Robinson and J. C. Carpenter; section'twenty-two, R. Hinkle, W. S. Edgar, Daniel Wilson, A. Threedouble and Patrick Burroughs ; FULTON COUNTY - 551 section twenty-three, C. Thornton, N. J. Rynd, R. Lawler and H. Heffron ; section twenty-four, R. Sprague, L. H. Morrison, George Robb, N. Robb, P. Forester ; section twenty-five, William Blain, Samuel Gordinear, Benjamin Parent, A. Fisher and J. Tnompson ; section twenty-six, T. 0. Neal, Jinks M. Youngs, J. Burroughs, J. Baker and H. Callehan ; section twenty-seven, Wm. Snyder; section twenty-eight, B, Welsh, S. Spangler and M. Richardson ; section 29, J. W. Vine, Harrison Welsh, T. A. Furgeson and B. Welsh ; section thirty, A. H. Jordan, Tip Southworth and F. De Merritt. CHAPTER LII. HISTORY OF SWAN CREEK TOWNSHIP. SWAN CRFFK township was erected by law in the year 1836. At that time it was a part of Lucas county, and included in the township of York; the same being true as to all of the territory comprising Fulton county, except the portions thereof acquired from Williams and Henry counties. The southern portion of this township, two miles wide and six miles long, its length being of the extent of the township from east to west, or from the western boundary of Lucas county, to the eastern boundary of York township, was taken from Henry county, and contains twelve square miles, or 7680 acres of land. The entire township contains forty-two square miles, or 26,880 acres. But this township, as it stands on the map of Fulton county, is not the same as originally constructed. It formerly extended as far north as the Fulton line, and lacked its present two tiers of sections on the south ; but when Fulton township was erected, in 1843, all that part of this township between the present northern boundary of Swan Creek township and the Fulton line, was taken from Swan Creek township and attached to the new township of Fulton. Here an explanation may very properly be made as to the meaning of the term, Fulton line. It has no reference to any boundary line of Fulton township, but refers to the line of the original survey of the boundary between the States of Ohio and Michigan, and is so called from Fulton, the name of its surveyor. The State of Michigan claimed it as the correct boundary, which was disputed by Ohio, this State insisting that a subsequent survey, made by a man of the name of Harris, was the true one. This dispute gave rise to what is known as the "Toledo war," bloodless, but resulting in favor of Ohio as to the correct boundary on the north and south of the States referred to. The northwestern part of the township was the earliest settled and developed, and is probably, at the present time, the most affluent. The greater 552 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. part of the northern portion of the township was heavily timbered, and contains, naturally, the strongest and readiest soil for agricultural purposes. A great deal of this township is what, in local parlance, is called " openings," or " opening lands,- a designation or qualification as applied to the character of the land the origin of which is somewhat difficult to determine. But it seems to arise out of two facts peculiar to considerable of the soil and its aboriginal treatment in Fulton county ; the first being its composition, largely, and, in some instances, entirely of sand ; and the second, the undoubted circumstance of the Indians yearly burning it over to keep down the timber growth, to facilitate their hunting. It is probable that the true origin of the term is in the last stated fact, although there is a large section of the county, which, in a state of nature, and completely unmolested by any one or anything, would not produce other than scrubby and stunted growths of timber, and almost impervious thickets of hazel, whortleberry, and other brushy kinds of the smallest timber. These thickets furnished a covert or hiding place for game, and their only one; for in all the county there are no rocks, caverns, or deep and stony ravines, as in many parts of Ohio, and the burning of the thickets and undergrowth left no inaccessible hiding place, from the Indians, for the various kinds of game once abounding throughout the county. But this fact of the non-productiveness of heavy timber by much of the soil of Swan Creek township, is by no means conclusive of its lack of fertility. When properly drained, and it is fast becoming so, it is well adapted to gardening, and the production of all kinds of fruit, and if skillfully managed, yields excellent crops of clover, potatoes and oats, and fairly good corn and wheat. Being but a short distance from the enterprising and thriving city of Toledo, and traversed by one of the principal lines of railway leading from that city, it is probable that but a few years will elapse before there will be so great a demand for the productions of the market gardener, that much of the area of this township will be devoted to that kind of farming. Another reason for this prediction lies in the fact that perhaps the poorest and most utterly worthless of all the land in northwestern Ohio, known as " openings," is much of that immediately adjacent to Toledo, on the west. It is very sparsely settled, and with the exception of a strip or belt here and there, seems incapable of productiveness, and a large part of it has not yet been cleared off or drained, and is not likely, for years to come, to be so attended to. The natural drainage of Swan Creek township consists of a small sluggish stream called Blue Creek, a somewhat larger one called Bad Creek, both coursing in a southeasterly direction, and Swan Creek, from which the township was named, running almost due east, and all tributaries of the Maumee River. These streams are the objective points of all the numerous ditches now threading the township, by means of which it has, within the last few years, obtained a very excellent drainage. FULTON COUNTY - 553 For many years most of the people of the southern part of this township were poor. The marshy, sandy soil did not very abundantly repay their labors, and undoubtedly many of them had a hard time to secure a frugal living. Miasmatic troubles also plagued them a good deal ; but marvels have been wrought by ditching, and the land is very rapidly increasing in productiveness and value, and the atmosphere has been purified to such a degree that it now is, perhaps, as healthy a locality as any in the county. Generally speaking, the people are provident and industrious. Churches and good, comfortable school-houses abound, and evidences of material thrift and mental cultivation are rapidly on the increase. Another hopeful indication for the development, prosperity, and increase of wealth of this township is the disappearance of ownership of large tracts of its land by non-residents and speculators. The cost of ditching has caused this class to dispose of their real estate, held only for speculation, in Swan Creek ; it therefore has been divided and subdivided, its owners now live on it and are clearing, ditching, and otherwise improving it. The Air-Line Division of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway penetrates this township about three-fourths of a mile west of the Lucas county line, thereby passing first through the southeast corner of Fulton township, in which township, Swanton, the market town of this section, is mostly situated. Traversing a portion of section 12 north, the road then passes through sections lo, 9 and 8 north, leaving the last named at its southwest corner, and passing through the north part of section 18. The Swanton railway station is in Fulton township. A source of considerable revenue to the people of Swan Creek has been the manufacture and sale of ties to the railway company, the scrubby oak timber being well adapted to that purpose, and the railroad tie seller, here and there, has been something of a terror to the non-resident land owner, for not always did the enterprising axman, who was in the tie business, be scrupulously careful to keep on his own land. But the predatory tie business belongs to a decade gone by, and the epithet " sand-lapper," as applied to the people of southern Swan Creek, is fast losing its appositeness. At the southeast corner of this township the old Toledo, Wabash and Western Railroad, now known in railway nomenclature as the main branch of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific, passes, cutting a few acres of land, triangular in form, from the main body of the township ; but this road, although about cotemporaneous with the Air Line in date of construction, has been of no particular value to the development of the township. The date of the first settlement of Swan Creek township cannot be ascertained with accuracy, but from the most reliable information that can be secured, was about the year 1834. The first road penetrating this section was from Maumee City, which was largely the market and milling place, and also the first !distributing point of those seeking new homes in the extreme northwest of Ohio, and so remained 554 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. until a few years later, when railways began to be built ; the first being the main or old line of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, or as it at, and for many years subsequent to its construction, was called, the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railway. The construction and opening to travel and traffic of this road brought settlers, to some extent, from and by way of Southern Michigan, but did not divert the milling and marketing of the Swan Creek settlers from the immediate margin of the Maumee River and its few scattered towns. The first twenty-five years of the settling and developing of Swan Creek township were marked by but slight progress. Perhaps from 1850 to 186o were its most hopeful years of the period referred to. During the half dozen years just antedating the outbreak of the rebellion, there was an influx of settlers, who seem to have been the most prominent by way of enterprise and thrift, and to have carved out its most marked improvement. They and their children now are the leading citizens. Their discouragements were far less than those who first went in to possess the country, and their vantage ground was secured to them by the patience and persistence of the hardy pioneers who began to pass away with the dawn of a hopeful and promising day. The same spirit that impelled them to seek a primitive locality in which to build their ho tries, caused many of their descendants to do the same ; and but few of their posterity are left, they having, from time to time, joined the restless column seeking homes farther and farther west. The oldest church organization of the township is the Methodist Episcopal, The first place of worship was at Centreville, a small hamlet less than a mile south of Swanton. In 18— the meeting-house was removed to its present site in the southern part of the village of Swanton, and therefore it yet remains in Swan Creek township. In the northwestern part of the township there is a Union Church, so called, belonging to no religious denomination, and under no ecclesiastical control, but intended and used for united services, and where any and all religious bodies or people can meet for worship. It is known as the Viers church. Another church building, erected with the same view, is the Raker Union Church, in the western part of the township. It was dedicated in 1881. n October, 1886, the members of the .United Brethren Church, in the neighborhood of what was formerly known as the Union school-house, in section 31, purchased the school building and removed it two and three-fourths miles east, in section 35, upon land owned by William Phare, and dedicated it to the service of their denomination, making four churches or places of religious worship in the township. Methodism, however, is the prevailing church faith, but there are also some Presbyterians, and a few Catholics and Free Methodists, the last named being an offshoot of the powerful sect founded by John Wesley. Thirteen schoolhouses furnish the facilities for education to the people of FULTON COUNTY - 555 this township and the average yearly attendance for the last ten years has been about three hundred pupils. All these school buildings are frame or brick, the old log school-houses having entirely disappeared. In 1870 Swan Creek township had a population of eleven hundred. By the Federal census of 1880 it was eleven hundred and ninety-six. To the list of Fulton county officials, than which there has not been a cleaner handed or more efficient one in the history of the State, Swan Creek township has contributed Nathaniel Leggett, who was the first treasurer, and filled that office for three terms ; General M. R. Brailey, who was prosecting attorney from 1858 to 1862 ; Caleb M. Keith, probate judge of the county three terms, closing his official career in that capacity in 1878, and immediately thereafter removed to Toledo ; Charles Blake, commissioner from 1879 to 1885 ; Socrates H. Cately, an associate judge of the judicial district of which Fulton county was a part under the State constitution of 1802, and probate judge one term, beginning in 1854; and P. R. Lewis, infirmary director two terms. All that part of the village of Swanton lying south of the railroad is in Swan Creek township, and comprises a population of about two hundred. The houses were mostly built at a comparatively recent date, and are all neat and comfortable, and in some instances elegant and costly. The minor share of the business is on the Swan Creek side, but there are several energetic and enterprising business establishments in that section of the place. The entire village is included in a special school district recently organized, and the schools have been graded and promise a high degree of excellence. Centerville at the first four corners south, as the provincialism would state it, is very old and very sleepy, a mere relic and reminder of the time when travel and transportation were by stage and wagon ; but in its bright and flourishing days it furnished pleasant and bountiful cheer at its old frame tavern on the northwest corner to the tired traveler and his jaded team, forty years ago. While perhaps aside from its beginnings away back in the forties, and its traffic in the necessaries of a homely and somewhat meager subsistence with the inhabitants of its sparsely settled environ before the railroads were built north and south of it, there is nothing in its drowsy annals worth recording; yet in the memory of some to whom its old-fashioned tavern was once the only one for miles of weary, wooded, wet country, and who sat by its big blazing fire, and there made an extended acquaintance, and gossiped and told hunting stories and backwoods legends, or danced away the night in the somewhat rude but innocent revelry of the country ball, in its low-ceilinged, unornamented "ball-room," and ate from its bounteous table, or drank at its bar " when liquor was better than it is now," and a good deal cheaper, the mention of Centerville awakens very pleasant thoughts of the old palmy, boisterous days before the railroads sent it to decay, and put its drowsy denizens who chose still to stay there to sleep. Wesley Knight for years was the landlord. 556 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. A conspicuous figure in the wilderness of Swan Creek was Nathaniel Leggett, the first person buried in Wauseon's beautiful cemetery. Clearing the land and hunting was his occupation for about ten years, and there was no doubt fully as great a fascination in those pursuits as in many of our later day pastimes and vocations. He located in this township about the year 1834, and old citizens who knew him, speak of him as having been a great worker and hunter, and his memory is yet cherished with kindness by the living few who were acquainted with him when he hunted or cleared the forest by day, and read law or history at night out of books from Maumee city by the light of blazing hickory bark on the rude hearth of his cabin home. He encouraged settlers to come to the place of his own choice, and did much toward starting the township on its final prosperous career. In the bench and bar chapter of Fulton county contained in this volume, a slight sketch of his life, and a brief estimate of his character as a lawyer and citizen are given, and mention of him is made in the present connection only for the purpose of perpetuating his memory as a pioneer of Swan Creek township. Others of this township's first settlers were John Witmer, Wells Watkins, Joshua Fassett, Thomas Gleason, David Williams, Eccles Nay, Looman Hall, Sidney Hawley, William Meeker, William Fewless and Jesse Browning. All of these became residents therein prior to 184a, John Witmer settled in the northwestern part, on what is now section seventeen, in 1834. He came from Berne, one of the three leading cantons of Switzerland, and both he and his wife were natives of that country. Their first habitation in the township was built of bark, and at this time they had several children. In due time a portion of land was cleared and planted and a better house erected. Mr. Witmer was the father of three boys, who grew to manhood, two of whom battled for the country and laws of their father's adoption. At terrific battle of Pittsburgh Landing one of them was killed. The father and sons all were good citizens, bred and brought up to the Swiss habits of patience, industry and frugality, and they were and are liberty-loving and patriotic. Wells Watkins, who came to Swan Creek township in 1838, is still living. He is of English ancestry, but his parents were natives of the State of Maryland. He was born in Jefferson county, 0., on the 7th day of April, 1818, and was married on the 5th day of July, 1838, at Wayne county, 0., to Sarah Newhouse. Just a month after his marriage Mr. Watkins and his wife started to seek a home in Fulton county. After a hard journey of nine days they reached and settled in Swan Creek upon section ten. The first winter he relates he did his milling on foot, carrying his grist of corn on his back three miles to a little mill, the motive power of which was furnished by a horse. His marketing was done at Maumee and Perrysburg, what little he had to market, and there were procured the articles of subsistence for his family, he making the expedition alone, winding about through the woods and swamps, and gen- FULTON COUNTY - 557 erally taking nearly a week for the round trip. Wages were very low, the remuneration for a hard day's work to the best of hands from sun-up to sundown, being but fifty cents, and generally paid in some articles of barter instead of money, for money was extremely scarce, and the price of food and clothing correspondingly high. The most plentiful thing was game. Indians also were by no means scarce, but they were peaceable. The first two years flour was worth as much per barrel nearly as oxen per yoke, salt pork was worth as much per pound as the choicest steaks of beef at the city market, and potatoes so scarce and dear that it took three or four day's hard labor with an ax to earn money enough to buy a bushel of them. Clothing was manufactured at home around the cabin hearth, of buckskin, Linsey, and coarse home-made linen. To this hardy pioneer family were born nine children, seven of whom are living. The wife and mother died in the year Mr. Watkins still survives, and is honorably borne on the roll of his country's defenders as a member of Company E, One hundred and Thirty-eighth Ohio Infantry. His son, Vernon C,, was also a member of the same regiment. Eccles Nay came to what is now Fulton county in 1834. He settled in Swan Creek township. His first stopping place in Ohio was in the extreme eastern part, in Jefferson county. Here he was married to Elizabeth Mills, who came with him to northwestern Ohio. Mr. Nay's birthplace is Bristol, Vt., and he was born in 1811. His parents were New Hampshire people, and of Revolutionary stock. When he located in Swan Creek there probably were not ten families in a radius of ten miles ; but in the summer of 1835, some fifteen families moved in. His land was purchased from the government. The first two years all the neighbors, and that term included families several miles away, were kept busy assisting each other in raising log cabins. Put few indeed of such places of habitation exist now, but it is not uncommon to hear an old settler sighing for the days when he was domiciled in a cabin, and sat during the gloomy winter evenings by his big blazing fire-place listening to the dissonant requiem sung by the winds and howled by the wolves, and which soon became entirely too common to be terrifying. Some of them have been known to slip out of their fine farm houses, standing as monuments of their ambition to better their condition and their desire for the comfort of their families, and go to the old half-tumbled down cabin on the corner of the place, and build a fire and sit by it until late at night, doubtless calling up memories and trying to charm back the scenes of hardship, not unmingled with many pleasant things belonging to the days that have passed from them forever. Mr. Nay's first experience in Swan Creek was probably unusually trying and severe, for after paying for his land he had no money left, and no personal property of any kind except an ox team. But the few neighbors were kind and accommodating, and subsistence was partially provided from the abundance of wild game all around. The grandfather of this pioneer lived in the 558 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. city of Boston, and participated in the tea-spilling which was one of the events that provoked the senseless ire of George III, and in the battle of Bunker Hill. The grandson was in no sense unworthy of his patriotic ancestry. In 1834, as nearly as can be ascertained, William Fewless, an Englishman by nativity, came from Long Island to Swan Creek, but the malaria and mosquitoes were so annoying that he became discouraged, and returned to his former home. However he did not remain at Long Island a great while before he returned west and into Swan Creek township once more, remaining for many years, and clearing and improving a farm. Mr. Fewless died in Swan Creek township in 1881. John Watkins, a native of Steubenville, Jefferson county, went into this township about a year later than William Fewless, was a resident there but a few years, for his land on the organization of Fulton township was included therein. Mr. Watkins is still living at the age of seventy-eight years. He was a cousin of Wells Watkins. Jesse Browning, who died in Swan Creek in 1867, went there from Oswego county, N. Y., his native State, in 1835, and about the same time Alexander and: Africa Spalding became settlers ; also William Meeker and John Viers. Mr. Viers was a native of Portage county, 0. In 1836 Ormand Pray settled on land in the neighborhood of the farm now owned by J. D. Lutz, and about this time a man named Crosby, who was a hatter by trade, located about three miles due south of Centerville. Mr. Crosby has been dead many years, and left no descendants. In 1839, Jacob Reighard, a member of that provident class of people known as Pennsylvania Dutch, came from Pennsylvania and settling in section twenty-eight of this township, lived there until his death, which took place in 1866. He was buried in the Raker cemetery. This burial ground was established in 1836. About a year after making his home in Swan Creek, Mr. Reighard was married to Rebecca Crile. All their children, four in number, of whom three are living, were natives of this township. Henry, the eldest, resides at Delta ; Robert and George are farmers and yet live near the spot of their birth. Socrates H. Cately, familiarly known throughout the county of Fulton as Judge Cately, was until quite recently, for about forty-two years, one of Swan Creek's most active and enterprising citizens. He is a native of Cortland county, N. Y., and was born on the 8th day of January, 1815, in the calendar of the Democratic party, known as " St. Jaokson's Day," and the date of the battle of New Orleans. When he attained his majority he started west, stopping at Maumee City, where he lived for a little less than eight years, and then purchased land in Swan Creek township, and established himself on it. He still owns the farm which then was utterly wild, but now is one of the best farms in the township. He was married in 1839 at " Six Mile Woods," near Delta, to Sarah Williams. He was twice married, his last wife being Juliette FULTON COUNTY - 559 Nearing. By his second marriage he was the father of ten children, seven of whom are living. Judge Cately now lives at Delta. He was the first probate judge of the county, and was an associate judge of the judicial district of which Fulton county was a part under the constitution of 1802. Recurring to the settlers of this township to whom vantage ground was given by its first dwellers and workers, this class being mainly the corners from about 1845 to 1860, among the more prominent are to be found the Templetons, Braileys, Bassetts, Blakes, Reighards and Lewises. These families all were people of push, energy and resolute intellectual fibre. The members of some of these have risen to local prominence as business and professional men and teachers. John Templeton, the progenitor of the Templeton family in Swan Creek township, was born in the southwestern part of Pennsylvania in 1807. Early in life he came to Ohio with his parents and settled in the thriving county of Wayne. Here he was married to Susan Watkins. She was a native of Ohio, and born near the western bank of that river in Jefferson county, and was two years older than her husband. They came with their children to Fulton county in 1853 and located in Swan Creek township. The Templetons, as the name would indicate, are of Scotch-Irish origin. They all are men of very large frame and most robust physique. Old John Templeton weighed nearly four hundred and fifty pounds, and it is no extravagant simile to say he was stout as an ox, He was known to lift a dead weight of a thousand pounds, but his splendid gifts of nerve and muscle were never expended in the physical opposition of any one. He had that kind of courage, stopping with the assertion of his own plain rights, asking nothing more and content with nothing less, which is the index of the highest type of manhood. His grandfather participated in much of that long struggle which raged between the Indians and the whites during the closing ten years of the last century for the mastery of the territory west of Ohio. He was with Colonel Crawford and lost his life in the battle of Sail dusky Plains. John Templeton died at his home on section ten in Swan Creek township on the — day of 18—. His wife preceded him to the grave about years. John S., the third son of John and Susan Templeton, was a native of Wayne county, 0. He was born on the 22d day of March, 1833, and died in Swan Creek township on the — day of — 1886. He inherited largely the physique and strength of his father, but was one of the most genial and kind- of men. A considerable portion of his life was spent as a railway conductor, but he always made his home on the old Swan Creek farm. During the war of the Rebellion until January 4, 1864, he was a member of the company that carried the colors of the heroic Thirty-eighth Ohio Infantry, participating in a number of the great battles of the southwest, including the bloody fields of Chickamauga and Stone River, and winning his way by meritorious conduct 560 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. to the first lieutenancy of his company. Because of deafness he was discharged before the war ended. It is no unearned praise of John S. Templeton to say that he was a good man and a valuable citizen. The war was to him all of what it was in small or great degree to every man that participated in it. It was an educator in many ways, but one of its principal personal lessons was to teach men who had been without advantages and possibly without education, the great and true value of mental training as acquired at school. Lieutenant Templeton felt and appreciated this through his army experience, and on his return home he made every sacrifice to educate his family of boys that they might become useful men, and his efforts were not misspent. Frank, James and John W. were sent to college and acquired education fitting them for excellent school teachers. Mrs. Templeton, whose maiden name was Lydia A. Fesler, survives her husband, and resides on the old Templeton farm in section ten. [n 1857 Moses R. Brailey, being then in the prime of a vigorous manhood, came from Huron county, 0., and settled in section twenty-two in Swan Creek. Some years previous Mr. Brailey had acquired considerable landed interests there. Although an attorney, and a successful one, Mr. Brailey could not entirely divert his mind from a love of ownership of the soil. He desired what man always has and always will want, a spot of mother earth to call his own. Though practicing law and engaged in the varied duties of different responsible positions of which mention has been made elsewhere, Mr. Brailey made his borne upon the land, which under his direction was cleared and developed into a broad and productive farm, and upon it most of his children grew up to manhood and womanhood. In 1 869 he built a fine brick residence thereon, but has resided in Wauseon since 1880, where Mrs. Brailey, his faithful wife, died a few years ago. She was a member of the Mason family of Erie county, N. Y. M. R. Brailey is of Irish descent, and though the blood of other lineages commingles considerably with the main current of his Celtic origin, yet its distinguishing characteristics of quickness of mental power and generosity of heart were not extinguished in him. Palmer R. Lewis was born in Seneca county, N. Y., on the 27th day of November, 1821. In 1848 he settled on the farm now owned by him in this township and upon which he still lives. Previous to removing to Fulton county he lived during several years in Erie county, 0., where he was married to Sophronia Blake. They have five children, one of whom, C. F. Lewis, esq., is an attorney of Wood county, 0. Mr. Lewis has been identified with the official affairs of this township as justice of the peace or trustee for the last twenty years. Orra Blake, who was born in 1821, in Allegany county, N. Y., became, with his family, a resident of Swan Creek township in 1852. His wife was Catherine E. Osterhout. Besides clearing and improving the excellent farm FULTON COUNTY - 561 on which he now resides, Mr. Blake has built many farm buildings throughout the township, and has been a prominent and very useful citizen. The same year that Orra Blake settled on his present farm, Wesley Knight, of Middlebury, Vt., bought and took charge of the old tavern at Centerville. Mr. Knight was born in the Green Mountain State in 1808. For nineteen years he kept the public house of Centerville, but never sold any intoxicating liquors of any kind, taking a wide departure from the example of those who preceded him there. Of the others of the Swan Creek pioneers whose names have been given there are no authentic records. Their personal history is not to be found reliably existing in the memory of any one, but it may fairly and justly be summed up by saying that they all did their part in redeeming an inhospitable and unpromising wild section from wilderness and swamp, and in preparing the way for a good living chance for those who came after them. We believe we cannot more appropriately close this narrative by which we have briefly sought to embody in a permanent form an outline of the history of Swan Creek township, than to make some reference to the patriotism of its citizens when that noble element of character was in most stern demand. Full one-third of the men of this township capable of bearing arms were gallant and faithful Union soldiers ; and enlistment to most of them, especially those who had families, was peculiarly trying ; for in the years of the Rebellion but few parts of Ohio could be found inhabited by poorer people. The Swan Creek volunteer went from a poor and often uninviting home, except for the loved ones left there, and from neighbors as poor as himself, and scarcely able except by sore privation to themselves, to provide aid of any kind to those whom they would most gladly have helped and whom they often did assist, but out of no store of abundance. The volunteers of this township participated in many of the bloodiest battles of the war. In the Army of the Potomac they fought through the Wilderness campaign, and were participants in that long list of battles, numbering among others, the dreadful conflicts of Antietam, Spottsylvania, and Chancellorsville. Many of them were in the southwest, and the sanguinary and trying campaigns that finally culminated in Sherman's march to the sea, are a part of their personal experience. Sixty of her veterans belong to the Posts of the Grand Army of the Republic at Swanton, and other contiguous villages, and among them are the usual proportion of the scarred, maimed and broken bodied, the victims of hardships, of prison, pestilence and of battle. 562 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. CHAPTER LIII. HISTORY OF YORK TOWNSHIP. THIS township was originally a part of Wood and Henry counties. These were organized from old Indian territory, by the Legislature of Ohio, in 1820, and named respectively, the first after the brave and chivalrous Colonel Wood, a distinguished officer of engineers in the War of 1812, and the latter after Patrick Henry, the celebrated Virginia orator in the Revolutionary period, In July, 1835, the Legislature organized the county of Lucas from out of Wood, south of the Fulton line, and named the same after Governor Lucas, then chief executive of Ohio. York township was organized June 6, 1836, after the territory came under the control of Lucas county ; yet no record is found in Lucas county of such organization ; we find that the very early settlers went all the way to vote at what is now known as York Center. Its extent was north to the Fulton line, and south to the north line of Henry county, and west to the county of Williams, embracing all the territory of towns 5, 6, 7 and 8 east, and 7 north, and all of town 8 north, ranges 5, 6, 7 and 8 east. That same year the organization of Swan Creek township gave to York its present eastern boundary. On March 5, 1838, the board of commissioners of Lucas county organized Clinton township from the western territory of York, which subdivision defines the present western boundary of York. On March 1, 1841, Pike township was organized by taking from York all of town 8 north, range 7 east, and one tier of sections from the north side of town 7 north, range 7 east, which defined the present northern boundary. As thus formed it remained untouched until the year 1850, when Fulton county was organized by the Legislature of Ohio, which gave to this county a strip two miles wide from Henry county, off of the north side, the length of Henry county. The strip of two sections wide of town 6 north, range 7 east, was attached to and became a part of York township, extending its southern boundary two miles farther south, which has ever since been the southern boundary of this township. All this territory lies wholly within the Maumee Valley. Nothing prominent marks its pre-historic period before the advent of the white race. It is said that the Indian never shed the blood of the white man within the limit of Fulton county. The township first began to settle with people of New England descent, and can be made to be one of the most highly cultivated and thickly populated townships of the county. In 1834 bean the first white settlement of the township as now defined. The operations of the Indians were principally confined to the Maumee River, where the white man first settled, and gave but little attention to the interior. Perrysburg was the center of location for early immigrants, and from there they distributed themselves throughout the valley. FULTON COUNTY - 563 It was founded by the government as a point at the head of ship navigation, and began its existence in 1816. It was named in honor of Commodore Perry. At this time there roamed through the valley powerful tribes of Indians known as the Ottawas and Pottawatamies, but their number was much reduced by government removals to the West at different dates. In 1838 the last remnant of the once powerful Ottawas was removed beyond the Mississippi, at which date they numbered some interesting men. Boundaries. —York township as at present formed, is bounded on the east by Swan Creek, on the north by Pike, on the west by Clinton, and on the south by Liberty township, Henry county. It is composed of sections 7 to 36 inclusive, of town 7 north, range 7 east, and sections I to 12 inclusive, of town 6 north, range 7 east, and contains parts of two Congressional surveys with forty-two full sections of land, or an area of forty-two square miles, embracing 26,880 acres of land. Topography.—The township in general is level. Its surface geology is referable exclusively to the drift. It has a beach of sand and gravel extending across it in a northeasterly course, leaving the township just north of Delta, a town situated on the Lake Shore Railroad, in the northeast corner of the township. South of this ridge the land is purely the black swamp deposit, and no spurs of sand leave the ridge upon its southerly front. Upon the north side a few spurs put out and overlap the lacustrine clays for some distance. In the north part of the township heavy spurs of sand reach southward from the " oak openings" of Dover and Pike townships, overlapping the heavy clays. There are no quarries of stone found in the township, and but few boulders. The depth of the drift forbids the hope that any may be discovered. Any amount of material exists here for tile and brick manufacture, which could be made to "pay" if properly developed. The average depth of the drift in this township is about one hundred and forty feet above the rock or water level of Lake Erie. Timber. —The timber growth of York was dense and very tall, and presented all the varieties common to heavy level soils. Elm is found in abundance, together with basswood, and nearly all the varieties of oak ; black and white ash exist in some parts ; hickory, butternut and black walnut, some hard maple, and, in a few places, the beech may be found and a sprinkling of white- wood. The timber of this whole township, in its primitive days, was of a dense growth, the branches and foliage making it almost impenetrable to the sun, and its gloomy recesses remained unbroken until discovered and settled by the ever restless immigrants of the east and south. Water Supply.—The water supply is derived wholly from rain fall, which is insufficient in times of drouth. This rain fall is held in the quicksands underlying the sand and gravel ridges and sand spurs from the openings, and may be found by shallow diggings, deposited in sand or gravel beds permeating the lacustrine clays, over the blue or Erie clay of the whole valley ; hence, in dry 564 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. weather the streams go dry and afford no water. The only unfailing supply of water is procured by the auger penetrating to the rock below, where an abundance of water is often found, and this, by the wind-mill, is utilized for farm and household purposes. The streams of York township, excepting Bad Creek, have their source in the township on its northern and western border. Those with Bad Creek in the east run in a southerly direction across the township, while the balance run nearly a southeasterly course, and find their way to Maumee River. The course of the streams is marked with a gentle inclination of about three to four feet to the mile. The land of the northwest part is more elevated than in any other section of the township. Bad Creek has its principal source from Chesterfield, Dover and Pike, and affords an extensive drainage for the wet prairie lands lying in the openings and sand areas surrounding them. Soil and Productions.—The black swamp clay predominates to a large extent south of the sand and gravel ridge of this township. It is, with a proper rainfall, very productive for all the general crops of this latitude. North of the ridge spurs put out and overlap the lacustrine deposits in many places, giving a very rich and productive soil, sufficiently mixed with the sand, gravel, and clay to make husbandry easy and profitable. The largest area of the township is of the lacustrine deposit, and gives to the farm lands but one specific soil. When properly managed it is capable of as heavy production as the majority of the soils of the county. These clay soils are homogeneous, with sand and gravel enough to render it arable and permeable. A few patches of unmixed clay may be found, some quite friable, but more commonly very adhesive and difficult of management. Early Settlers.--The first settlement made in York township, as gathered from the recollections of those still living, was made by William Jones and family, in May, 1834. He settled on the northeast quarter of section eighteen. However, we leave the honor of being the first pioneer to be settled by the future historian. It appears that William, John, and James King came to this territory early in May, 1834, and they say, in a little historical sketch of their own, that when they came the only persons known to be in the woods (for then the woods extended north to the Fulton line, and west to Williams county), were Elisha Trowbridge and his brother, Willard, and a Swiss family named Schlappi. As the region was an unbroken and densely wooded forest, and with no roads, it was quite impossible to know the whereabouts and time of all new arrivals until a better acquaintance with the woods and territory was had. Mr. King settled on section twenty-four. John S. Trowbridge settled in Fulton county, in the township, in 1834. He was from Saratoga, N. Y., and was born November 18, 1816. After coming to the valley he married Hannah Hampton. They have nine children. He Its now a merchant of Delta. Cornelius Trowbridge came from Saratoga FULTON COUNTY - 565 in 1834. Alanson Trowbridge also came in 1834. A Mr. Hampton was, in that year, here looking for land. He took an entry of eighty acres made by William King, and moved upon it in 1834, cleared it and made a fine farm. William King and family settled in York township in May, 1834. He had a family—wife, three sons, one daughter, and his aged father and mother. They came from Londonderry, Ireland. On arriving at Manhattan they hired a team which took them to Providence, where they " put up " at the hotel kept by Manor, a Frenchman, with the expectations of going to Defiance, but, through the entreaties of Manor, King was induced to go some twelve miles north, to what was then called the Six Mile Woods, Manor accompanying him. Here they found William Meeker, who had settled in the edge of this woods in 1833, or the year before, now in Swan Creek, where they hired Meeker to show them some of the "bush " which Uncle Sam was selling for $1.50 per acre. They then started from Meeker's cabin, and went on that line due west, to where the village of Delta now stands ; thence they continued as far west as the center of York township. They then turned and went south one mile ; thence east to the " oak openings," and located lands on section twenty-four. They then immediately returned to Providence. From there King went to the land office, then at Waupakcnetta, on foot, which journey required three days travel. He says : " The roads were so bad that a horse could hardly make any headway. Mud and slush was nearly to the top of boots." The way to the land offrce was through a dense, unbroken forest, and in many places not cut out. The trees were blazed to mark the route. On his return he forthwith made the transfer of his family to his purchase on section twenty-four, and erected his cabin which became their home, rude as it was. The Doolittles settled near the center of York township, as also did Uriah Spencer, in 1835. The only mail these early settlers had was at the river, which passed once a week to Fort Wayne, in the State of Indiana, and was carried on horseback. All the settlers, even in the Six Mile Woods, had to go from twelve to twenty miles to the river for their mail. These families named, as far as facts can be gathered, undoubtedly were all that located within the limits of York during the year 1834. The settlement was begun so near the present line of Swan Creek township that, for the purpose of York township history, correct information is impossible, but the chapter devoted to Swan Creek will show the names of early pioneers and pioneer items ; yet, at a very early period, all this section was York township. It is here proper to state that William Meeker was the first settler within the present limits of Swan Creek township, being found here in the woods as early as 1833, and, for authority, we will refer to the reminiscences of the life of Peter Manor, the Frenchman of the Maumee. Settlers from 1835 to 1840.—John Murray and his wife, Mary Huffteller, 566 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. settled in York in the thirties ; came from Pennsylvania and settled upon section twenty-six, cleared and improved a large farm, reared a family and died thereon. Robert McClarren and his wife, Catharine Jones, came from Maryland and sett ed in York township, February 6, 1836; Catharine was a sister to William Jones the first settler. Henry Fluhart located here in the very early days of the settlement of the township upon section seven. He was a zealous Christian and did noble work in aid of early missionary work. His latch string was always out to friend or foe. He, at a later period, moved to Missouri and has since died, but some of his family are residents of York ; one son, James Fluhart, is editor and proprietor of the Delta Avalanche, published at Delta. Abram Cole and family came to York in January, 1835, and settled on section twenty-five, the east half of northeast quarter. Peter Wise, Gillman Cheedle, William Fowler, David Childs, Avery Lamb, John Batdorf, Bethuel Gould, Jefferson Van Vleet, Martin Butler, Donaldson, Thomas Wardly, Charles Gray and William Fowler came in 1835. Gardner Tremain and his wife, Elizabeth, came to York in 1836, the former a native of Cayuga county, and the latter from Dutchess county, N. Y. They settled on section twenty-five and thirty-six. He died many years ago. John Jones came with his father, William Jones, and hence may be considered among the settlers of 1834. He is still living, having attained a good old age. John Batdorf settled upon section twenty-one, the same on which he now resides, and raised a large family. H. E. Whitney came at a very early date, and with his family settled upon section twenty-five. James Trowbridge, wife and two children, left Saratoga, N. Y., July 4, 1837, and landed at Perrysburgh, in the Maumee Valley, July 17, 1837. His route of travel was from Albany to Buffalo, by freight boat on the Frie canal, and from there on Lake Erie to Toledo, 0., on board of the boat, Commodore Perry. He found at Maumee an Indian camp, and government officers were gathering the Indians of the valley at this place, preparatory to moving them west. The Indians were very peaceable and friendly. The same day, on arriving at Perrysburgh, he found a man by the name of Elijah Herrick (now a resident of Fulton township), who took him and family to the "Six Mile Woods," near where Delta now stands. There were no roads and the way lay through what was called wet prairies and sand openings. That night they all stayed at Swanton, fourteen miles from Maumee. In the morning they started for their home eight miles further west. They met with many difficulties in getting across Swan Creek. After crossing and traveling a mile or two they came to a thick wooded country where they found a few inhabitants and before noon got to their future home. This was on July 20, 1837. He says that at that time FULTON COUNTY - 567 it was twenty miles to a postoffice, twenty miles to a doctor and the same distance to a saw or gristmill. The roads were nothing but Indian trails and cow paths. Some of the difficulties they had to encounter were amusing and many times dangerous. One very important undertaking at this time in progress, was the building of the canal up the Maumee, which gave an impetus to immigration that reached this territory and had its influence for the ultimate benefit of all. In the summer of 1838 a dreadful epidemic broke out among the canal diggers and reached all the isolated settlers in the woods, ten or twelve miles away. During this siege of sickness there were not well persons enough to care for the sick. Eight persons died that summer. Catharine Moyer, in her historical reminiscence says, "I landed at the mouth of Swan Creek, May 14, 1838, and, to get to land had to wade through water enough to sail quite a boat. But that was nothing to riding over corduroy roads, and the kind of bridges in use at time, with a six months old baby in my arms. The shaking and rocking did not soothe the child much. So I had to get out and walk when I came to a good place. We stopped on the route out at a cabin for water, and they had to strain it to get the 'wigglers' out of it before offering it to drink. I was thirsty and drank, regardless of the wigglers. I took my supper that night at the cabin of Gardner K. Tremain, and from there, the next morning went to the cabin of Abram Cole and stayed until we built a place of our own. After many trials incident to a pioneer beginning, we cleared our land, got a fair start on the road to a good and easy way of living, when my husband went to Delta and worked as a blacksmith. Again in 1849 he went to California and there died." Mrs. Moyer, in her recollections of those early days, further says : " I do not understand architecture very well ; but our house had a shake roof, boards for floor below, and two boards for chamber floor ; we took one of them for a door in the fall ; a two-legged bedstead, a chest for a table, a log sawed out for windows, a blanket for door, shakes for pantry, and one side of the house for a fire. People said we were quite well off. We lived in hope ; we had to wait until we could prepare grounc. In the spring I hoed up some dirt around the house and planted twelve hills of corn. I never felt so rich in all my life, as I did when the corn came up. have planted and raised bushels, since, yet nothing ever gave me the joy that I experienced in raising that twelve hills. It was my first, and on my own laid. I taught school and took my pay in produce." W. King says : " On the 21st of June, 1834, shortly after I was settled, we were visited by a terrible cyclone, which swept the woods from west to east. Its track was about two miles wide and thirty miles long. Its duration was about twenty minutes, and almost destroyed the forest ; everything was a wreck in its path. It came just at sun setting. The day had been calm and 568 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. sultry. When the storm came it was accompanied with wonderful electrical disturbances, heavy thunder, a great volume of rain and total darkness. The shanty was saved, amid the falling and crashing of timber." Mr. King thought it safer to plant himself at the foot of a patriarchal oak, which was twisted off, a few yards above his head, and carried away. The fallen timber was piled around the shanty, but none fell upon it. A horse that was tied near the shanty, was also saved. It required, of the settlers, eight days of steady work to cut their way out of this windfall. William Fowler, sen., came originally from Cumberland county, Pa., in 1828., to Fairfield county, 0. ; and in August, 1835, with his family, came to Fulton county. With him were three sons, who may be considered pioneers of that age. They were William, Thomas and Robert. William Fowler, sen., located his farm in York township, where he died many years ago. General Remarks.—Many of the old pioneers that first entered York township were obliged to cut and clear away miles of timber, to get to their lands, and each gave to the public from twenty to thirty days hard work, for a few years, to clean and cut out roads. They conquered all obstacles, by their courage and ambition, and by their own steadfast purposes and personal exertions, have finally succeeded in owning a fair property. One of the characteristics of these old-time settlers was, that they generally managed to have enough to eat and wear, such as it was. They liked to hear the trees fall, and see the light from the burning log heaps and brush piles, at night. This was one of their greatest enjoyments, and they always lived as though the life of a pioneer was a glorious one ; and many of them, still living to-day, look back to the old times with longing, and would love to live them over again. Other Settlers.—Stebbins R. Stebbins came to York, in 1844 ; George Wright came in 1847, and settled upon section 7 ; he was a native of England. William Markle and wife, from Pickaway county, came in 1844 ; Elija Smith and his wife, Eliza, came in 1849. Mr. Smith was from the State of New York, and his wife from Seneca county, 0. They settled upon section 26. Alfred B. Gunn settled in York, in 1844. At that time he was in Henry county, and became a resident of Fulton county April 1, 1850, when that part of Henry was made a part of Fulton county. He was one of the delegates to the convention that established the boundary line of Fulton county. He settled upon section 12, town 6 north, range 7 east. He has been twice elected commissioner of this county, and served a period of six years ; was one of the commissioners in locating the court-house at the place where it now stands, in Wauseon. He has long since passed away, but his homestead remains in the family. He was a very influential man and a good neighbor. He lived a life worthy of imitation. Samuel and Elizabeth Biddle settled in York township October 13, 1842. FULTON COUNTY - 569 They came from Pennsylvania, " the land of the Quakers." They raised a family of five girls and three boys. In his lifetime, Mr. Biddle was one of the foremost men of the township ; he settled upon section 17, on lands that were entered and improved by Uriah Spencer, one of the first settlers. Mr. Biddle died February 17, 1867, and his wife in 1877. When Mr. Biddle settled in York, 1842, there were but three school-houses in the whole township, and log buildings at that. The township then was not as large as at present, yet children found their way to what few schools there were. The first school taught in this part of York was by Miss Sophronia Flu- hart. She taught a winter term of six weeks and three days, at a cost of sixty- two and one-half cents per week, and boarded herself at home. This school was kept in a cabin owned by Samuel Biddle, near the York and Clinton line, east of Wauseon. Calvin Biddle, son of Samuel, settled in York in 1842. He came with his parents from Pennsylvania. He has been twice married ; his present wife was Margaret Todd. Mark Berry, from Wooster, settled here in 1843. Stillman C. Biddle settled in York, 1842. He came with his parents when but a small boy, and, undoubtedly, as a barefoot boy, of that period, is able to give a very characteristic description of pioneer days. He now resides upon section 17, and is one of the foremost men of York. Abner P. Brainard settled in York, in 1846. John Harrison came in a very early day and settled upon section 17. The only crops of these days were wheat, oats, corn and potatoes, and in this township a crop of the finest quality was sure to follow. This was a wonderful encouragement to the early settlers. There was no trading point of any account except Maumee, where all business was done. The building of the Air-Line Railroad, in 1854, seemed to change the very face of nature, and was the pivotal point in which pioneer life suddenly vanished, and a general traffic in every product that could be gleaned from the land, jumped into life. The history of these and others, that might be given, serve as a type of a generation who will soon be gone. They are crossing over the river. Many of these old pioneers have lived to see the sunshine of a better Christian civilization ; the forest displaced by wide areas of improvements ; by towns and cities filled with churches, and the whole country dotted over with schoolhouses; and railroads, where was once the Indian trail. It was in these homes that many of the present generation received their early training, by the side and upon the lap of that mother, whose influence was felt and fully appreciated. Roads.—The first road opened in and through York township was laid out by one, Captain Williams, with chainmen and axmen, and Judge Ambrose Rice, of Perrysburgh, as surveyor. The road extended from Maumee, by the way of where Delta now stands, west to West Unity, Williams county. It was surveyed in August and completed about the first of September, 1834, and is now called the State road. 570 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. Post Routes.—The first post route established was from Toledo via Delta, west to West Unity, in 1838, running upon the State road. Post-Offices.—The first post-office in the township was York Center, two and one-half miles west and one mile south of Delta. In 1838 there was a post-office established on what is now the farm of the Hon. S. H. Cately, in Swan Creek, which answered well for York township. William Meeker was the first postmaster, and in naming it, misapprehending its meaning, supposing it signified " fertile valley," gave it the name of Delta. It was in 1842 moved to the village of Delta, and became a post-office of York township, and so remains to this date. Beta, a post-office upon the south side of York, became as such in 1850, by the acquisition of territory from Henry county. Plattstown post office was established in 1886. This comprises the list of offices of the township. York Center was discontinued some years ago. Physicians.—The first physician of the township was Erastus Lathrop, who settled near Delta and died very soon after the village was located. He was a member of the Baptist church and sometimes preached for the society. The medical practitioners of the township have centered in the village of Delta, from which point they practice over a large area of the surrounding county, and are William Ramsey, S. P. Bishop, John Odell, John A. Wilkins, and 0. P. Fletcher. Educational.—The first school-house built in the township stood upon the farm of Willard Trowbridge, one mile west of Delta. There are, at the present time thirteen sub-districts and one graded school for Delta, all in a very flourishing condition. Churches.—The first church built in the township was by the Presbyterian society of Delta, and at date, the township, including Delta, has eight houses for public worship located as follows : Four in Delta, one each on sections eleven, twenty-nine, thirty-one and thirty-four, embodying in faith all the principal denominations of the county. Steam Mills.—Outside of the village of Delta there are four steam sawmills, employed for the use of the lumber-producing interest of the township. No grist-mills were ever run in the township ; the only one erected is at Delta, a roller process mill, doing a large and profitable business, both in home and foreign trade. Some of the Present Inhabitants.—Some of the principal land owners, noted for enterprise, who are likely to lead in the industry of the township, are Frank T. Blair, Daniel Harmon, John McQuillen, William Ramsey, Norman Munger, Silas B. Skeels, Jacob Koos, Matthew Lutton, J. B. Fasbaugh, Daniel Eberly, Phillip Boyce, A. Berkebile, John Harrison, George Seible, Valentine Emerling, William Trowbridge, George Orndorf, Jacob P. Garman, Stillman C. Biddle, Calvin Biddle, Samuel G. Aumind, Frank Briggs, Jacob Huth, Cornelius Trowbridge, Richard E. Terwilliger, C. Harrison, J. Berkebile, John Batdorf, FULTON COUNTY - 571 A. E. Bradley, J. Pontius, Reuben Bond, Samuel McLain, William Struble, J. Leist, N. Biery, George W. Tabor, A. B. Thompson, Charles Cullen, Charles W. Hatton, and J. M. Longnecker. Aside from the agricultural industry of the township, all the competitive industries that once existed therein have taken leave, and now only exist in the villages. Delta, a large village of this township, is endowed with no natural facilities for manufacture or commerce, but simply has a good farming country around it, and is only good for the production of food, and whatever will forward her agricultural interest is of vital consequence to all. As Delta is a rival to the other towns of the county, and possibly the oldest of all, it is one of the very few that has come to us alive from the wrecks of city booms of early days. This village was not planted by some shrewd speculator, nor were its advantages heralded throughout the land by flaming hand bills; it was of spontaneous growth and seemed indigenous to the soil, and grew apace with the improvements of the country. This site was trod over by the white man as early as in 1834, and up to 1838 the land hunters did not seem to have any idea that there would be a town where Delta now stands. Two families then, were living on the bank of the creek : James McQuilling on the south side of the State road, and G. B. Lewis on the north side. Both were farmers. Mc-. Quilling owned and run a saw-mill, a water-mill, and Lewis opened a temperance tavern. He kept a little tea and tobacco for sale, and on Sunday always had preaching in his house, so his was a dwelling, tavern, store and church. This was really the first beginning of business in Delta. A Mr. Kenyon built the first house, a frame, and up to 1839 George Wood and wife composed one fourth of all the residents of the village. This house was afterward sold to Doctor Lathrop, who had just married his second wife, but in a few months from that time they both died. J. T. Gates and George Wood became the owners of the Lathrop property in 1841. In this year the village received an accession to its population in a very old fashioned way. All, its previous increase had been through immigration, but this was by the birth, in October, of Mary Augusta Wood, who made her debut as an actor on the world's great stage, and on which she has continued to act for forty-six years;. during this time she has visited the principal towns in Furope and America,. and has given the former an opportunity of talking with a native American in their own language and on their own soil, and showing to the literary men and women of England, France, Germany and other countries, that a person may be born in the wilds of Ohio and be their equal. The first church in Delta was the Presbyterian of the old school. It was built on Adrian street at a very early date. Since that time the society has built a new one on Main street a fine structure. James Trowbridge kept the first store, but the pioneer store that prepared, 372 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. the way for all the rest since, with no interruption, was opened by Eli Kitts, of the firm of Wisewell & Kitts, of Maumee city, in 1841. At this time Delta contained four families, James McQuilling, McKaskey, the venerable Adam Zedaker and George Woods, and contained at that time only four log dwellings. Kitts lived here about one year and died. A man by the name of Griswold took up the stock in trade and had the whole oversight for a short time. After him came Dan Cummings. The first permanent structure built in Delta was by Dr. Allen White, for a residence, and is now the wing part of the residence of Dr. William Ramsey. The first printing press established in the county was at Delta, Louis Stumm was editor and proprietor. This was very soon after the organization of the county, and after the location of the county seat, the paper was moved to Ottokee. The Avalanche and the Delta Atlas seem to be established on a solid foundation and have passed through several years of life, and from their beginning to this day both are sending out, weekly, a large edition to subscribers. Delta is a very active live town for business ; with its bank, stores, mills and other industries it is a heavy market point for the products of the farm, and distributes as many goods, wares and merchandise to the farmer as any town in the county of its size. It, in 1889, had a population of eight hundred and fifty-eight, and an estimated population at the end of 1887 of twelve hundred. The village is situated upon the Lake Shore Railway, about twenty-three miles west from Toledo. It lies principally on sections twelve and thirteen, upon the east bank of Bad Creek, and in the northeast corner of York township. It has the best of railway accommodations for the traveling public. Surrounding is a rich country of farming lands, north, south, east and west, and it handles largely the products of that region. About the year 1849 or 1850 a company was formed at Toledo, and by certificate of incorporation laid out a plank road from Toledo to West Unity, in Williams county, with the right of way upon the old State Road. The projectors asked for from three to five thousand dollars aid of the township, for which all the townships along the route were bonded. Its construction was completed, or nearly so, as early as 1853, but it was :continued only a few years when the worn out timber bed was removed. It was very expensive to he people and never made a good road. The first marriage was William Spencer to Miss Donaldson. The first death was that of a Mrs. Doolittle, who was laid away in the grave-yard used by the German Baptist society. The first election was at York Center, on the 30th day of June 1816, to select township officers, who then presided over a large territory south of the Fulton line. Official Roll—First, L. H. Upham, one term as representative in the Ohio Legislature; second, L. H. Upham served one month as probate judge. (He BIOGRAPHICAL - 573 was elected but was displaced by the court, John M. Palmer, judge). George Taft was commissioner by appointment ; Octavius Waters was elected representative in the State Legislature one term, two years. John A. Wilkins was elected and served one term as State Senator. Octavius Waters was prosecuting attorney two years; William H. Gavett prosecuting attorney four years, or two terms ; Alfred B. Gunn served two terms, or six years, as commissioner of the county ; Frank T. Blair two terms, or four years, as sheriff; Thomas Kelley five years as county treasurer, and eight months as auditor, by appointment ; Silas B. Skeels one term of three years as infirmary director ; Samuel G. Aumend one term of three years as infirmary director, and in the fall of 1887 was re-elected for a second term ; M. H. Butler was the first school examiner; next, Holmes Smith, by appointment, served several years as school examiner of the county; A. B. Thompson also served as commissioner. Population.—York has shown steady and a very healthy increase in population. In 1840 it had 435 and the last census of the United States had, excluding Delta and corporation, a population of 1,714, but with Delta added it numbered 2,572. CHAPTER LIV BIOGRAPHICAL. ALLEN, HON. CHARLES L. The parents of the subject of this sketch were natives of New England, born in the State of Connecticut, but they, at a very early day, emigrated to Western New York, and were pioneers of Monroe county. The father was Isaac and the mother Mary (Terry) Allen. They never became residents of Ohio, but passed their lives in New York State, where the father died in the year 1884, at the ripe old age of ninety-one, the mother having died in 1876, some eight years before her husband, and aged about seventy-eight. Isaac Allen was a somewhat prominent figure in the early history of the Empire State, and he lived, moreover, in a region that was fruitful of important events during the first score of this century's years. He was an American soldier in the War of 1812, and fought therein to maintain that independence the American colonies had gained during the Revolutionary War ; and in this connection it way it may be stated that during war of 1861-5 his loyalty and patriotism, and devotion to the Union arms were almost remarkable, and he even went so far as to go to the South in the hope that lie, notwithstanding his years, might in some manner assist the Northern army. 574 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. In the family of Isaac Allen were ten children, and of them, all save one are still living. Three of the sons now reside in Gorham township, Fulton county, and are numbered among its highly respected and enterprising citizens. Isaac Allen died at his home in Clarkson, Monroe county, N. Y., in 1884, and at the funeral ceremony each of his living children was present, and six of the sons officiated as bearers of the pall. Charles Luther Allen, one of the sons of Isaac Allen, and the subject of this sketch, was born in the town of Clarkson, N. Y,. on the 16th day of November, in the year 1838. Up to 1859 he lived at his father's home, but in that year he came to Fulton county and took up his abode in Gorham township, where his brother, Dr. Allen, was then a resident. Here Charles taught school for a time, but afterward accepted a position in the store of Thompson & Cadwell, where he remained until August, 1861. He then enlisted in Company K, Thirty-eighth 0. I. V., and, upon the organization of the company, was elected second lieutenant. In this capacity he served for about six months, when, after the battle at Mill Springs, he was assigned to duty on the staff of General Shoeppf, commanding the Ohio Brigade. Some time later Lieutenant Allen was promoted to first lieutenant and made regimental quartermaster, serving as such nearly a year, when he was assigned to duty as regimental adjutant. On January 1, 1864, Lieutenant Allen, on account of disabilities that unfitted him for active field service, resigned, which resignation being accepted, he returned to Fayette the same month. For the succeeding four or five months Mr. Allen acted as enrolling officer at Fayette, and rendered efficient service in that capacity during the latter part of the war. In October, 1865, Charles L. Allen was married to Susan Gamber, the daughter of Henry and Mary Gamber, of Fayette. Of this marriage two children have been born. In this same year Mr. Allen engaged in the mercantile business at Fayette, in partnership with his brother, Joseph 0. Allen, which firm relations were maintained and the business conducted with a fair degree of success for about four years, when our subject became its sole owner and so continued for a period of about ten years, when the mercantile department was disposed of, and he thereafter continued the produce dealing branch until the month of November, 1885, when this department was discontinued. In this year the Bank of Fayette was established, and in it Mr. Allen took an interest ; he was chosen its cashier and has so acted to the present time, having practically the management of its business. The success of this well conducted and growing institution fully attests the business capacity of our subject. During the years 1880-1 Mr. Allen represented Fulton county in the sixty- fourth General Assembly of the State, and upon the expiration of his first term was re-elected to the sixty-fifth General Assembly. BIOGRAPHICAL - 575 Upon the organization of Gorham Lodge, No. 387, F. and A. M., Charles L. Allen was one of its charter members ; he is also a member of Stout Post, G. A. R., and A. D. C. on the staff of the department commander. BARBER, COLONEL E. L. Epaphras Lord Barber is a native of Ohio, and was born at Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, December 16, 1830. Of the five children born to Fpaphras L. and Jerusha T. (Sargent) Barber, he was the third. The days of his boyhood and youth were spent on his father's farm at work, and in attending the district school during the winter terms. At the age of eighteen years young Barber joined an engineer corps and was employed on the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, where he had a practical education in surveying and civil engineering. After a few months engaged in this work he attended a private school for nearly two years, but again returned to engineering and perfected himself in that profession. After leaving the C. C. & C. road he was engaged on other work of the same character, and in 1853 came to Fulton county, being then employed on the Air Line, now the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad. In connection with the work in this county he had headquarters at Delta. Mr. Barber continued his connection with the construction of this road until about 1856, when, having become interested in lands in the vicinity of Wauseon and elsewhere in the county, he severed his connection with the road to give attention to the real estate business. Two years later he was appointed station agent at Wauseon, and held that position for two years, resigning in 1860 to resume his real estate business, but to continue therein for a single year only, when loyalty and patriotism called him into an entirely new field of action. When, in April, 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon, in answer to the president's call for troops, a company was at once raised at Wauseon, and among them Mr. Barber's name was found. At the election of officers he was made captain of Company H, of the Fourteenth Ohio Infantry, and served with that command during the term of their enlistment, and was mustered out at Toledo in August, 1861. Prior to the muster-out, and while awaiting that event Captain Barber re-enlisted and was appointed major in the Thirty-eighth Infantry, which was then forming. With this regiment he served for a period of eight months in Kentucky, when, on account of the death of his business partner, Nathaniel Leggett, he resigned his commission and returned home. Not long, however, was he to remain there, for he was soon called to Columbus by Governor Tod, advanced to the rank of colonel and directed to organize the One Hundredth and the One Hundred and Eleventh Regiments. This he did promptly and well, and was placed in command of the latter and went to Cincinnati with them to repel the threatened invasion of the State by the rebel forces under General Bragg. The duties assigned him by the gov- 576 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. ernor being fulfilled, Colonel Barber returned to his business interests at Wauseon in the fall of 1862. In connection with the military career of our subject it may be remarked that: at the time of his enlistment, in the spring of 1861, he had no special desire for advancement to a position more exalted than that occupied by his comrades; but they made him captain, knowing his capacity as a man of business, and having full confidence in his ability as a commanding officer. As an officer, in preparing his command for the field, Colonel Barber was a strict disciplinarian ; so rigidly, indeed, did he enforce the rules and regulations of tactics, and so thoroughly did he instruct and drill the men, that murmurs of discontent were not infrequent; yet, after the three-months men were discharged and re-enlisted, of those of his company that returned to the service no less than twelve were made commissioned officers, thus reaping direct benefit from the instruction received at his hands. Again, as an organizer he was no less efficient ; insomuch that the governor called him from private life to organize two regiments for the service, besides the other important duties entrusted to his charge. Having returned to Wauseon in the fall of 1862, Colonel Barber resumed his business of dealing in real estate, and to this he has devoted more or less of his time to the present day. In the spring of 1863 he established a banking house at the place, of which he was sole owner and manager until 1865, at which time Naman Merrill became a partner therein. The firm remained unchanged until the month of June, 1879, when E. S. Callendar became a partner. In November following Mr. Merrill died, since which event the bank has been owned and managed under the firm name and style of Barber & Callendlar. In November, 1885, Colonel Barber became interested in a bank established at the village of Fayette, and known as the Bank of Fayette, but his interest therein is, in the main, an investment, the management of the business being in charge of residents of that place. As a man of business Colonel Barber occupies a position in the county second to none ; his integrity, his honesty and his careful business methods are well known, and he enjoys the confidence of the people. His manner of doing business is strict, as it is acknowledged that to be successful, banking must be done on strict business principles; he has been successful and no man has deserved success more than he ; he is public spirited and generously aids every enterprise looking to the. advancement of his town and its people. On the 20th of day of October, 1853, Epaphras L. Barber married Sophia H. Watkins, daughter of Timothy Watkins, of Cleveland. Of this marriage two children, one son and one daughter, have been born. BRIGGS, FRANK, the subject of this sketch, was born in Wayne county, 0., on the 15th of February, 1842, and was the third of seven children, sons and daughters of Francis and Sarah (Cuffie) Briggs. The father, Francis BIOGRAPHICAL - 577 Briggs, was a physician of much repute in Lucas county. As a youth, Frank was about his father's office much of the time when not at school, or at work on the farm, and there he gained a fair knowledge of pharmacy that was of great benefit to him after he came to reside in Fulton county. In April, 1861, young Briggs enlisted in Company I, of the Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for the three months service. This was a Lucas county company, and with it he served until the month of August following, when he was mustered out. He, in October, 1861, re-enlisted in Company K of the Sixty-Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as a private, but was promoted for meritorious service, first to sergeant, then to second lieutenant, and, still later, to first lieutenant, which latter commission he held at the time of his final muster-out. With the Sixty-Seventh regiment Mr. Briggs served three years and six months. Unlike the great majority of the young men that entered the service, Lieutenant Briggs saved the earnings of those years, and upon his coming to Delta, in December, 1864, he had five hundred dollars in cash. With this he purchased the stock of drugs and business formerly conducted by Dr. Young at this prosperous village. After making the purchase, Mr. Briggs added to the stock as the requirements of trade and the rapid growth of the town demanded. About twelve years ago he enlarged his business enterprises by the addition of an extensive hardware stock. These he had in adjoining stores, and were successfully conducted by him until the month of September, 1887, when the drug stock was sold and replaced by a large assortment of crockery, glass, and queensware. Since his residence in Delta, Mr. Briggs has always been in the mercantile business, and, although his beginning was small, it has continued to steadily grow until he is now recognized as one of the leading merchants of the village; nor does his stock in trade represent his whole business, as he is interested in real estate in this vicinity. But whatever of success has attended his efforts, there is no man to say it is undeserved, as his accumulations are the result of his own personal endeavor, and his acknowledged honesty and integrity. This is the common report among the people of the town and locality in which he lives. While Frank Briggs has never been an aspirant for political honors, he has, nevertheless, taken great interest in all that pertains to the political welfare of the county at large, and in the just and economic administration of its affairs. In Delta he has held various town offices—clerk, councilman, and perhaps others of minor importance ; but in the advancement of the educational interests of the town, and in keeping up the high standing of the schools he has been especially prominent. In his political preferences, Mr. Briggs is a staunch, determined Republican. A no less commendable zeal has been shown by our subject in the spiritual welfare of the community. He is prominently connected with the Methodist 73 578 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. Episcopal Church, and is one of the trustees of that society. Of his means he has been a generous contributor to the several funds used for the purpose of maintaining and advancing the strength of this and other church societies. In the Masonic fraternity, Frank Briggs is a member of the lodge and chapter at Delta ; also of the Toledo Commandery. In this ancient order he has advanced step by step until he is now what is termed a thirty-second degree member. While the business and social relations of our subject have been entirely pleasant and successful, and his progress in these have been marred by no untoward event, his home and fireside have been invaded by the Destroyer, and wife and children ahke have been taken from him. Mr. Briggs has been thrice married : First, on March 0, 1864, to Laura Trowbridge, daughter of Elisha. Trowbridge, of Delta. She died October 0, 1871. On the l0th of June, 1872, Mr. Briggs married Mattie Hill, daughter of Robert Hill, of Port Washington, Tuscarawas county. Of this marriage two children were born, neither of whom is living. His wife, Mattie, died February 14, 1878. On the l0th day of July, 1878, Mr. Briggs married Emma, daughter of Jacob Gelzer, of Delta. Of this marriage four children have been born, all of whom are living. HAAG, HON. J. M. For more than twenty-five years has Judge Haag been in active practice at the bar of the courts of Henry county. In the thousand and one details that go to make up the character of a successful lawyer, noticeable in the work of Judge Haag, are industry in collecting facts, sagacity and foresight in collating them, broad and comprehensive views of the legal principles applicable to them, and absolute fearlessness in the presentation of his client's cause. Added to these is a memory that is seldom at fault, either regarding a fact or the law. His knowledge of the statutory code laws of Ohio, even after the codifiers had exhausted their capacity to obscure it, is something unusual. He is rarely mistaken as to the existence or force of any statute. Judge Haag loves the practice of the law, not because he particularly loves litigation of itself, but because it is a profession in which men of erudition, high legal attainments, and honorable feelings, have full scope for all their powers, and yet can aid in the honest and able administration of justice. His clients know that he is incapable of betraying their confidence, his professional associates know that he is incapable of trick, the bench knows that candor and entire fairness are his characteristics. Again, as a lawyer his character is, in many respects, a model for imitation. In the examination and preparation of a cause he exercises the greatest care, especially if the case be one of vital importance. He is careful and conscientious in his conclusions and in his advice to his clients ; determined and unyielding in the vindication of the rights of his client, and in his defense of BIOGRAPHICAL - 579 the principles which he has asserted with the energy of thorough conviction ; properly deferential, but never more than that, to the court ; courteous to his antagonist, and never more so than when deahng his severest blows, and especially always kind and considerate in a marked degree towards the younger and more timid members of the profession. In his practice of the law, according to his impulse, he would rather defend than prosecute even a criminal. There is also another characteristic of the man in his legal work. His mind is studious and practical as well, and in investigating any question, he will search for principles first and expedients afterward. It is natural and fit that such a man should be entrusted with public duties and a brief review of his history will show that, though this is so to a degree, office was not even a secondary pursuit to him, but all that he has filled he has discharged with ability and fidelity. [These expressions are not the sentiments of the Henry county bar alone, but are as well the result of an acquaintance that the writer of this volume has had with Judge Haag of some months' standing.] John Marion Haag was born at Mifflinsburg, Union county, Pa., on the 16th day of August, in the year 1836. During his early childhood his parents moved to York county, where they lived a short time and then moved to Lancaster county, of the same State. At about the age of seventeen years young Haag left home and came to Millersburg, Holmes county, 0., where he entered the Free Press office to learn the printer's trade, and afterward accepted a position on the editorial staff of that paper. After this he went to New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas county, to which place his parents had removed, where his time was employed on the newspaper, The Ohio Democrat, and, in part, in a course of legal study in the office of Belden & Haag, attorneys at that place ; he also received a no small part of his early legal education under the instruction of Judge Mclllvaine. In 1859 Mr. Haag was admitted to practice, and soon afterward established himself in an office at Canal Dover, in Tuscarawas county. Three years later, in 1862, he became a resident of Napoleon, and a member of the Henry county bar. He formed a law partnership with S. R. McBane, esq., which continued until the death of that person in 1863, after which William Sheffield and James G. Haly became partners with our subject, under the firm name of Sheffield, Haly & Haag, but the senior partner soon afterward accepted a government appointment, and Mr. Haag purchased the Democratic Northwest, and became its editor and publisher. This was in June, 1864. In the fall of the same year Mr. Haag was made the nominee of the Henry county Democracy for the office of probate judge, and at the polls in October was elected. He then retired from the law firm. In the succeeding year, 1865, on the 17th of August, Mr. Haag was married to Martha J., the daughter of John M. Meek. Of this marriage five children were born, three of whom are now living. In the fall of the year 1866 580 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. Judge Haag was re-elected to the office of probate judge. In this capacity he served in all five years, still retaining, during the time, his ownership and control of the Northwest, but at the expiration of his second term he sold his interest in the paper and resumed the practice of the law, in partnership with J. L. Robertson, esq., and this relation was maintained until Mr. Robertson's death. In the fall of 1871 Judge Haag was elected to the Legislature of the State, and re-elected in 1873. During his last term in the State Legislature he was chairman of the judiciary committee. After the expiration of his second term Judge Haag returned to his practice at Napoleon, and to this has his time ever since been devoted. His partnership with James P. Ragan was formed in 1880. In the politics of the municipality of Napoleon, Judge Haag has been a somewhat conspicuous figure, and in the selection of its officers he is governed by a desire to secure the best men, and not held strictly by party ties. In 1882 he was elected mayor for the express purpose and with the avowed intention of correcting certain existing evils. Besides this he has held other offices of importance in the village. Judge Haag, during his journalistic experience, contributed his full share to the current anonymous newspaper literature, of which much of the uncredited emanated from his pen. The following stanzas, indited to his two daughters, are worth preserving : MY LITTLE GIRLS’ DISPUTE. To meet me on the way As homeward turned my feet, To be the first with kiss And give me welcome greet, At childhood's greatest speed Two little maidens came— Mary the name of one And Kate the other's name. “O, pa! We had dispute," The eldest called to me, “And you must tell who's right, For we cannot agree ; Which do you like the best, Which prettiest of us ? Now tell us quickly, pa, And still our little fuss." Like birds of plumage same, Or flowers. from one vine. A choice I cannot make ‘Tween little girls of mine ; You must not urge me more, I cannot tell you why One's the morning sunrise And one’s the evening sky! BIOGRAPHICAL - 581 HOWARD, HON. D. W. H. The hazy Indian summer skies, The autumn leaves that strew the way, I've seen for three score years and ten, I'm seventy this November day. My mind goes back to twenty-one (1821 ;) The Maumee pioneer appears ; And I, a boy of but four summers then, Have lived to count my seventy years. I’ve seen the seasons come and go, With plenty and tranquillity ; And thank my God for each and all The seventy years he's given to me. These verses are taken from a poem written upon the occasion of the seventieth birthday of Colonel Howard, and they recall to the biographer the words of a famous writer : " Dear are the days of youth ! Age dwells on their remembrance through the mist of time. In the twilight he recalls the sunny hours of morn." The events of the life of this man have been so many, and are so well known to the people of Northwestern Ohio, especially among the older residents, that, in narrating those events we shall confine all statements strictly to facts, and indulge in no comment and draw no conclusions. But, before entering upon this narrative, we must say, that in the past history of this region there stands out clear and distinct the name and life of this man, and his ancestors. As the narrative will show, it has not been the lot of Colonel How ard to possess an education through the school or the college, but his intelligence and judgment have so matured by observation and reflection and experience, that he has been able to do much good, and set an example in life worthy of praise and imitation. His naturally well balanced mind has never for a moment yielded to the novel vagaries of the day, either in theory or practice, but have led him safely through the windings and turnings of life's path ; but misfortunes unforeseen and insurmountable have come, and through them he has been a sufferer, as have all men. But it is as a citizen, neighbor and friend that Colonel Howard is known and remembered most fondly. His genial and kindly presence, his uprightness and purity of life, his truthfulness and singleness of mind, his liberal hand and free heart, his thorough contempt for all knavery and sham, his unhesitating assertion and support of his honest convictions, in short, his Christian faith, and the Christian morals and Christian life by which that faith is evinced, these form the memories of him which will longest endure in the hearts of his friends. Dresden Winfield Huston Howard was born in the village of Dresden, on the east bank of Seneca Lake, Yates county, N. Y., on the 3d day of November, in the year 1817. In 1821, then being but four years old, with his 582 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. parents, Edward and Nancy (Haight) Howard, his grandfather, Thomas Howard, his two uncles, Richard M. W. and Robert A. Howard, and his aunt, Sidney Nelson Howard, he came to the Maumee country. They came by wagons to Buffalo, where the party divided, a portion taking passage on the thirty ton schooner Eagle, while the balance continued the wagon journey overland. After an unpleasant voyage of eight days, the schooner arrived under the picketed walls of Fort Meigs, on the evening of June 17th. The land party were some weeks on the road before they reached their destination —the Maumee. The scene that was presented to this little party of emigrants upon reaching the mouth of the river was far from inviting or encouraging ; the dark and dreary forest stretched unbroken in every direction ; the habitation of the white man was nowhere seen, save the Indian agency building ; but the wigwams of the savages were in every opening, and the smoke from their campfires curled upward in blue columns above the dark green forest. Even the stoutest heart might fail at such an outlook for the future. Their neighbors were to be the bear and the wolf, and the hardly less savage red man. It was the intention of these families to go to the then new settlement at Ann Arbor (properly written An-aw-ba, the Pottawatomie word for "boy"), but the fatigue of the long journey and the dread on the part of the women to enter the dark and seemingly interminable, forests, changed their plan, and they were easily persuaded by the few white settlers to remain on the murky waters of the " Miami of the Lakes," and they were soon provided with small log cabins and a few acres of cleared land on the river flats, on which they planted corn, potatoes, and other necessary earth products. To this work the attention of our pioneers was given, but in its performance, however slight that labor was, they were much delayed and their work retarded by the ever present and ever ready ague, but with the approach of cold weather the severity of these attacks was much relaxed. During the next summer lands were purchased on the right bank of the river, at the head of the Rapids, or at Grand Rapids, as it is more commonly known. Here three log cabins were built for the accommodation of the families, and to which they moved in March, 1823. To reach their home with wagons new roads were required to be cut through the woods. On the opposite side of the river was the Ottawa Indian village of between one and two thousand people, and these, save one, were the only neighbors of our pioneers. The exception just noted was the kind hearted and ever willing Frenchman, "Uncle" Peter Manor and his good wife. The young Indians of the village were soon the companions and playmates of Dresden Howard, and he soon learned to speak their simple language. His association with them became so friendly and intimate that he as often slept in their wigwams, on their beds of blankets and skins, as in the comfortable cabin of his parents. His good mother was in a state of almost constant BIOGRAPHICAL - 583 anxiety for the safety of her son in the camp of the dreaded Indian—but the free, wild life in the woods, under no restraint—how soon the boy learned to love it ! The Presbytery of Massachusetts had established an Indian mission (church and school) at a point eight miles down the river from Edward Howard's cabin, and here Dresden attended school from the age of six to nine years, and, other than this, the days of youth and boyhood gave him but little chance for an education at school. However, before he was ten years old, young Howard was taken from school and put at work far too important for a child of his years ; but necessity is a hard master. According to his father's idea, the life of an Indian fur trader seemed to be the best for his son ; therefore he was hired out to a merchant in the Indian trade with the limited knowledge of the business that he acquired in his father's little store of Indian goods. The boy soon became expert. He knew the value of all the articles of trade, and could accurately judge the quality and value of skins and furs brought into market by the Indians and the few white hunters of the region. These accomplishments, for such were they then considered, together with his understanding of the Indian languages, made him an exceedingly valuable employee, so that, at the age of fifteen, he had a safe passport into any of the fur trading establishments of the country. In the early summer of 1827 or 1828, young Howard accompanied Benjamin F. Hollister with a pack train of horses loaded with goods for the Indian trade, on a journey to the " treaty grounds," on the shores of Lake Michigan, near the mouth of the Chicago River (now the site of the great western metropolis), where were gathered the various tribes—the Pottawatomies, the Sacs, the Foxes, and the Winnebagoes--who were met in council with agents of the government for the purpose of treating upon various subjects. At the time this journey was made, young Howard remembers not of seeing a single settler's cabin in all that long distance, but there was an occasional trading post. There was maintained, on the site of the treaty ground, or near it, Fort Dearborn, with its little garrison of soldiers, held here, ostensibly, for the purpose of checking any depredations of the Indians, and the protection of the western frontier. The business of trading in furs and peltries was carried on during the fall and winter months ; therefore, during the heated term our subject had but little to occupy his time. His father sent him, during the summer of 1831, on an expedition down the Wabash River, thence through to the Mississippi, for the purpose of locating bounty lands, to which the father was entitled as a veteran of the war of 1812-15. For this purpose our young hero, for such he was, being but fourteen years old at that time, was fully equipped, and fully authorized to act. On this journey his route lay up the Maumee by boat with some French " freighters," thence down the Wabash, on 584 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. the back of an Indian pony purchased at Fort Wayne, to the old trading post at Terre Haute; thence across the prairie to the Mississippi. His trip, he says, was a most enjoyable one ; he was accompanied by young Indians most of the time, and the rifle easily procured an abundance of venison, turkey, and other wild game. He camped wherever night found him. Upon the details of this journey and the successful accomplishment of the duty assigned him, we cannot dwell. The scenes of wild sport and adventure through the unsettled country with companions as wild as the scenes around them, would fill a volume. In the summer and fall of 1832 was commenced the removal of the Indians from this section, and in this work our subject bore an important part ; it was a work of many weeks and many hardships. It was done under the direction of Benjamin F. Hollister, assisted by Dresden Howard (our subject), Duncan Forsythe, and Samuel (Curt) Roby. The Indians were taken in small numbers at each time, a few hundred, as they were very unwilling to leave their old homes and hunting grounds, and depart on a long journey to the Indian Territory, southwest of the Missouri River ; but they must retire before the steady approach of the white man, and their country in all its wild beauty and grandeur soon yielded to the attacks of the ax of the woodman and the plow of the husbandman ; the powerful Shawnees from Wapokoneta, and the Ottawas from the Au Glaize, alike, must leave and make their homes in the far-off west. It will be remembered, too, that this year witnessed the first visitation of cholera in this country, and on the journey several of the Indians were attacked and died of that terrible disease. The last of the Indians were removed from the valley in 1838, and with their departure likewise went the occupation of our subject. He, however, prepared to follow them in 1840, taking a large stock of goods for the fur trade, and acting as agent for W. G. & G. W. Ewing. Mr. Howard ascended the Missouri as far as Fort Leavenworth, where, in consequence of the shallowness of the river, he disembarked, procured freight wagons (San Taffee), with eighty mules and Spanish drivers, and then followed the land trail up the Missouri. The white settlements at that time extended only to the little trading post at St. Joseph, which was laid out by and named for Joseph Rebidue, the old French fur trader for the American Fur Company. Mr. Howard's trade among the Sioux, Blackfeet, Crows, Grosventres and other tribes of Indians, proved quite lucrative. Of the numerous incidents of this visit we will mention but one, and that is of some historic intereSt. It occurred on the day of the presidential election of that year, 1840. There was gathered under a large cottonwood tree a party of ten or twelve traders, trappers, and hunters of the region, among them our subject, for the purpose of holding an election for president. General William Henry Harrison seems to have been the unani- BIOGRAPHICAL - 585 mous choice of this small but patriotic assemblage. The oldest trapper was chosen chairman and the youngest trader secretary of the meeting ; this latter choice called into requisition the services of Mr. Howard, who kept the poll list on a piece of paper torn from a memorandum book. The votes were cast for the candidate direct, and not for electors ; and, after all had voted, the "poll book " was directed and sent to the " President of the Senate of the United States." This was the first vote of our subject for a presidential candidate; and it may be remarked, parenthetically, that the meeting was held near the ruins of old Fort Calhoun, beyond the jurisdiction of State or territorial government ; nevertheless, the hero of Tippecanoe received the undivided support of the whole party. Of these persons all, save Mr. Howard, were past the middle age of life, so it is safe to assume that he alone, of the entire number, is now living. But to return to the scenes of life on the Maumee. Edward Howard, the father of our subject, died in 1841, after which, as soon as it could be done, Dresden closed his business at the various trading posts, and became a permanent resident of the Maumee country. In the subsequent development of this region he has been an active participant, and his progressive nature and public-spiritedness have, in a measure, been rewarded by his being chosen to some of the most responsible public offices in the gift of his fellow people. In 1842, soon after closing the affairs of his former business, Dresden W. H. Howard was married to Mary Blackwood Copeland. Of this marriage two children have been born : 0. E. M. Howard, now a civil engineer and prominent citizen residing at San Diego, Cal., and Miss Mary Agnes Howard, now living with her parents. The first public station to which our subject has been called, was in his appointment by the State Legislature, as commissioner with Elisha Huntington, of Perrysburg, and Orlando Evans, of Defiance, as co-commissioners for the purpose of locating and constructing a turnpike from Fort Meigs to Fort Wayne, or to the Indiana State line. This was about the year 1843. In 1870 he was elected a member of the State Board of Equalization for the real estate of Ohio. Again, in 1871, he was elected to represent his district as senator in the Legislature of the State. In April, 1887, Mr. Howard was appointed by his Excellency, Governor Foraker, to the board of trustees of the Asylum for Insane persons at Toledo. These are the leading positions to which our subject has been called ; but he has been identified as strongly with the growth and development of Fulton county and northwestern Ohio as any resident within its borders ; he is not a man that inclines naturally to political station or to special prominence in any relation, but would rather retire to the quiet of his own home. Mr. Howard loves to dwell upon the memories of the past, and to recall the days and companions of his youth ; his farm home at Winameg, at the Springs, and on the 586 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. site of the village of the old chief, Winameg, is exactly suited to his tastes, for on it are still discernible traces of old Indian mounds, though much disturbed by the plowshare ; and on the trees are still visible bullet holes and Indian marks of various kinds. But, notwithstanding his inclinations and tastes, our subject has been identified with some very prominent measures, among which was that of originating and building the Toledo and Grand Rapids Railroad, in which enterprise his son was also extensively engaged. This road is now a part of the Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City Railway (standard gauge), and extends to the city of St. Louis, Missouri. HAAG, SAMUEL C. In the town of Bainbridge, Lancaster county, Pa., on the 7th day of August, 1841, Samuel Conroth Haag, the youngest, but one, of the seven children of Peter H. and Catharine Haag, was born. When Samuel was eleven years of age the family left the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, crossed over the mountains and took up their residence at New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas county, 0. The boyhood days of our subject were not unlike those common to all youths, attending school and doing such work about home as he could perform ; but, when old enough, Samuel entered the office of the Ohio Democrat, at New Philadelphia, where he learned the printer's trade, and where he was employed until the fall of 1861. On the 19th day of September, of that year, he enlisted in and was made corporal of Company G, Fifty first Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In the performance of his duty at the battle of Stone River, on the 1st of January, 1862, Mr. Haag was severely wounded, being struck in the left arm by a minnie bullet. He was then sent to the hospital and remained there some six months. Upon recovering the use of his arm sufficiently to perform duty Mr. Haag returned to his command and was advanced to the rank of orderly on General Stanley's staff. With this command our subject served with credit, sharing alike the successes and reverses incident to army hfe, performing well each and every duty assigned to him, until, on the 2d day of September, 1864, when, at the battle of Lovejoy, he was again wounded in the left arm, but this time with more serious results, for amputation became necessary. This operation was performed in the field hospital, but he was soon after removed to the regular hospital for the wounded. Mr. Haag was not discharged from the service until March 17, 1865, upon which he returned to his home at New Philadelphia. In October following Mr. Haag became a resident of Henry county, taking up his abode at Texas, and here he continued to live until the year 1871. His chief occupation at this place was teaching school, at which he was remarkably successful ; he was elected clerk of Washington township, and held the position of postmaster at Texas,. his commission bearing date September 19, 1866. In 1871, Mr. Haag, cause to reside in Napoleon t0wnship. He was appointed BIOGRAPHICAL - 587 superintendent of the infirmary farm, assuming that position September 1st, and holding for a period of ten years. He then moved to Freedom township, having purchased a farm therein, but his residence here was of but two years duration, as, in October, 1884, he moved to the village of Napoleon that his children might have the benefits of the excellent schools of that place. Mr. Haag had not been a resident of the county seat a single year before his appointment to the position of postmaster, to succeed Captain Leverett G. Randall, removed. This appointment dated from July 14, 1885. At the expiration of the term, May 27, 1886, he was re-appointed by the president for a full term of four years. There have been no events in the life of Samuel C. Haag that require extended comment in these pages. In his nature and disposition he is quiet and reserved ; a faithful friend and a kind and generous husband and father. He has not been an active partisan in the field of politics, as his nature leads in an opposite channel. He is certainly deserving of credit for his success in life, and that despite the fact that he was wholly unable to work at his trade after the loss of an arm. His marriage event occurred while he was in the Union service, and at a time when he was at home on veteran furlough. On the 21st of February, 1864, in Tuscarawas county, at New Philadelphia, Samuel C. Haag was married to Christina Limestall, who then residing near New Philadelphia. Of this marriage three children have been born, the oldest of whom is dead, the others living with their parents at Napoleon. HANDY, WILLIAM HENRY, the fourth child of Hon. Michael and Mary A. Handy, was born in Pike township, Fulton county, on the 29th day of January, in the year 1847. At the age of sixteen William enlisted in Company H, of the Fighty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served with that regiment until February 10, 1864, when he was discharged. On the 15th of April following he re-enlisted in Company H, of the Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry and served through the remainder of the war, and was mustered out of service and discharged on the 1st of September, 1865. On returning home he entered the office of his father as a student at law, where he remained some time, and afterward further prosecuted his studies in the office of Judge Lemmon, of Toledo. At this city, in the year 1868, he was admitted to the bar. He immediately commenced practice at Ottokee, then the county seat of Fulton county, being associated with his father. This relation was maintained until January I, 1875, when our subject retired from the firm to assume control, as editor and publisher, of the Democratic Expositor. This paper was the only exponent of Democratic principles in the county at the time, nor had there been one for eleven years prior thereto. To Mr. Handy's management is credited the paper's early success, and to his leaders in its editorial columns, was also due the credit of having brought about a more perfect party organization in the county. After two and one-half years in the ed- 588 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. itor's sanctum Mr. Handy sold the paper and resumed the practice of his profession, which he continued up to the time of his advancement to the common pleas bench in February, 1885. The position that Mr. Handy has occupied in the political history of the county is too well known to need any extended comment in this place ; yet, in some respects his position has been somewhat singular. While he is, and for a number of years past has been looked upon and acknowledged as one of the Democratic leaders of the county, and in the councils of the party therein he stands perhaps at the head, yet the turmoil of politics has no special charm for him. Thrice has he been the candidate of his party for the office of prosecuting attorney, but upon a single occasion only can it be said that he was an active, aggressive aspirant for this preferment. Being, as he has been for some years, the only Democratic member of the legal fraternity in his county, and being, moreover, a man of much professional and personal popularity, he could not well avoid entering the arena of politics in answer to the demands of his party, when it was hoped that his strength might turn the scale of doubtful contest ; but the county has generally proven too strongly Republican to admit of such a possibility; yet Mr. Handy has the satisfaction of knowing that to his support has rallied the full strength of his own party, arid that he has also drawn largely from the opposition. At the meeting of the delegates to the Democratic judicial convention of the third sub-division of the third judicial district, on the 27th day of January, 1885, William H. Handy was made the nominee of that body for the office of common pleas judge. Two days later he was appointed by his excellency, Gov. Hoadley, to the office for which he had just been nominated, and entered upon the discharge of his duties on the 7th day of February. In October following he was elected for the unexpired term, there being no candidate nominated to oppose him. As a layman of the legal profession Mr. Handy enjoys the reputation of being a good counselor, and a good trial lawyer, and while he never laid claim to possessing especial brilliancy as an advocate, yet he had a way of presenting a case to the jury that brought him at once into favor with that body, and, in close cases, gave him a fair advantage. As a judge Mr. Handy presides with becoming dignity ; he thoroughly understands the law and interprets and presents it to the jury clearly and with conciseness ; and in reviewing the facts is wholly free from any bias or prejudice. While the public and professional life of our subject have been entirely pleasant, his private life and qualities among friends and within the sacred precincts of home, have been none the less agreeable. Mr. Handy was married on the 16th day of October, 1869, to Isabella J., daughter of John Van Arsdale, of Ottokee, but formerly a resident of Wyandot county. Of this marriage three children have been born : Harry L,, Clive C. and May B., all of whom are living. BIOGRAPHICAL - 589 HOLLISTER, M. D., DE WITT. The residence of this well-known citizen in Wauseon, Fulton county, dates back to about the year 1851. He was born in the town of Fulton, Oswego county, N. Y., on the 8th day of December, 1825. His father, Philarmon Hollister, was a carpenter and joiner by trade, but our subject, at the early age of eighteen years, determined to enter professional life. With this end in view he commenced a course of medical study with Dr. Stephen Pardee, a physician of Oswego county, and continued his reading for a period of about four years ; during this time, however, young Hollister attended the Geneva Medical College, where he perfected himself in the higher branches of the profession, and in surgery, and from which institution he was graduated after two terms' attendance. Dr. Hollister first commenced the practice of his profession at Pierrepont Manor, Jefferson county, N. Y., and remained there about one and one-half years, after which he joined the tide of emigration to this then western country, and took up his abode at Wauseon, in the newly created county of Fulton. At that time Dr. Hollister was the only resident physician in the place, and soon acquired a large practice ; and, being a young man of good education and address, and possessing a thorough understanding of his profession, this practice became so extended as not to be confined to the limits of the county. After a residence here of about two years Dr. De Witt Hollister was united in marriage with Permelia Lamb, daughter of Avery and Sarah Lamb, of York township. Of this marriage three children were horn, all of whom are now living. In connection with his professional life and duties in Fulton county Dr. Hollister has been a very busy man ; too much so, perhaps, to give much attention to public affairs other than as interests every well-disposed and enterprising citizen ; he has never held nor sought public office, yet in the welfare of the county he is much interested, and gives his full share of generous support to every measure for its advantage. Of late years he has given some attention to farming, not, however, as a means of livelihood, but rather as a diversion. When he had been a resident of the county for some years, in connection with his practice, the doctor established a drug store in Wauseon, which he conducted about ten years without a partner, but later he became associated with Dr. William Hyde, under the style of Hollister & Hyde ; but, after about two years, he again became sole proprietor, and so remained for several years, when John A. Reed came into the firm, but he in turn was succeeded by Jacob S. Newcomer, the present partner, under the firm name of Hollister & Newcomer In his business and professional life Dr. Hollister has been rewarded with a good degree of success, and there stands no man to say that he has not deserved it. As a physician and surgeon he stands second to none in the county, and as a friend and adviser his acquaintance and counsel are frequently sought. 590 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. Now having reached the sixty-second year of his life our subject is content to lay aside the more arduous duties of his profession and devote a part, at least, of his time to the care of his lands ; but notwithstanding this, demands for his professional skill and advice are constant, and cannot well be refused. HAMLER, JOHN. It is the purpose of this sketch to record some of the events that have caused John Hamler to be ranked among the prominent men of Henry county ; for it is a well known and well established fact that in the early settlement of the south portion of this county, and its subsequent development, no person has taken a more active part, or rendered more efficient service to that end than the subject of this sketch. Again, John Hamler has a favorable acquaintance throughout the entire county, and will be remembered from the fact of his having served faithfully for a term of six years as one of the county commissioners. The father of our subject was Alexander Hamler, who was born in the old county of Northumberland, in the State of Pennsylvania, on the 11th of August, 1789. His wife was Mary Hamler, a native also of Pennsylvania, born in York county in February, 1792. Their children were Elizabeth, Mary, Sarah, Catharine, Eleanor, Alexander, John, Samuel and James. At the time of the birth of John Hamler the family resided at Marietta, in Lancaster county. John was born April 20, 1817. The father was a carpenter by trade, but, during the youth of our subject, he was occupied, a part of the time at least, as a pilot on the historic Susquehanna River, and to the occupations of the father John was brought up until he was old enough to make his own way in life. But in the year 1834, or thereabouts, the family left Pennsylvania and came to Franklin county, 0., where they lived for about a year and a half, and then moved to Crawford county and occupied a leased farm. John Hamler, at the age of twenty-three years, up to this time having resided at home, decided to started out in search of a fortune, so with but one dollar in his pocket and without a coat to his back, he started for Franklin county, where he found employment with an old friend. While at home his education had been neglected, never having spent a day in school, but after coming to Franklin county he devoted his evenings to study, and by the aid of an old friend, for whom he was working, he succeeded in obtaining for himself a fair business education. In the spring of 1842 he fell sick, and was in so serious a condition that but little hope of his recovery was entertained. By the advice of his physician he went south, working at various places, and traveling over several States. His greatest success in the southern country was the full restoration of health and strength, after which he returned to Franklin county, settled up his affairs there, and then came to the home of his parents in Crawford county, where he engaged in farming and clearing land. It: was while so engaged, and on the 20th of December, 1843, that Mr. BIOGRAPHICAL - 591 Hamler was united in marriage with Miss Mary Ann Hollingshead, the daughter of Richard and Catharine Hollingshead, then residents of Crawford county, but formerly of Morgan county. They too, were native Pennsylvanians, born in Bedford county, Richard on August 21, 1788, and his wife, Catharine, on January I, 1793. Mary Ann, the wife of our subject, was born in Morgan county, 0., December 7, 1827. In the year 1846, with his wife and one child, John Hamler came to the wilderness country of southern Henry county, locating upon land in the present Marion township. They arrived here on the night of September 16, and took up their abode in a cabin built the summer before, and which had neither windows or doors. Mr. Hamler's land comprised a quarter section situate one and three-fourths miles southwest of the present village of Hamler. At that time there were but three other residents of the region. From this time dates the residence of John Hamler in Henry county. He has been, to some extent, a farmer, but his chief occupation has been that of land tracer and agent for land owners. To this has the greater part of his time been devoted for upwards of forty years, and he is now the agent of the Deshler Land Company and for the Deshler heirs. This employment has been the source of a good revenue to Mr. Hamler, and added to it is the result of his own investments, and his own industry in clearing and improving the lands in this vicinity. John Hamler has lived to see this vast country cleared of its forest trees, its great swamp lands thoroughly drained, and where, forty years ago, there seemed but a trackless waste, are now finely cultivated farms, villages springing up here and there, and the whole territory cut by well-kept thoroughfares of travel. And while our subject has lived to see all of this improvement, in its accomplishment he has borne no small part. In him the owners of land have had the fullest confidence, and to every trust reposed in him has he been faithful and true. He has been successful, but that success he has earned. He was chosen, and for twenty-four years held the office of assessor in Marion township ; his acquaintance with the lands in the region especially fitted him for this service ; in fact no man but he could locate them accurately. For several years he served as trustee and clerk of the township, and besides, has held other offices of trust and responsibility ; for thirteen years, in connection with his land operations, he held the office of notary public. About the year 1850 he was elected county commissioner, and served two terms of three years each. Under the administration of Mr. Buchanan he was appointed postmaster at Ridgeland, the first such office in the township, and held four years. During the war Mr. Hamler was active in raising men for service, devoting much of his time, and using his own means for this purpose, asking and seeking no reward therefor. Up to this time he had been actively identified with the Democratic party in the county, but from that to the present time he has 592 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. voted for men, not for party, but according to the dictates of conscience, and regardless and independent of party ties. John Hamler has been a progressive man in the county, and particularly in his own locality ; every measure tending to benefit the township and its people has found in him a hearty supporter, and one not niggardly in his contributions for all substantial benefits and improvements. The growing and pretty little village of Hamler was so named in his honor. At this place is his present comfortable home, and here is he content to pass the remaining years of his life, still possessed of full mental and physical vigor, although now past the allotted three score years and ten of life. By his marriage with Mary Ann Hollingshead there has been born to John Hamler six children, as follows: Mary Catharine, born July 12, 1846, married Jesse NV. Hitt, of Marion township ; Ellen, born March 18, 1849, married George Fredericks, of Hamler ; Angelina, born February 21, 1852, died January 24, 1856; Alice, born June 1, 1854, died November 17, 1855; John Fletcher, born July 28, 1857, died March 16, 1858; Sarah, born August 12, 1859, married Richard H. Ebersol, now living at Lima, 0. KFLLEY, ESQ., WILLIAM C. For but a little more than two score years was Mr. Kelley a resident of Fulton county ; yet, during that time he made a record as a citizen and lawyer second to none within its boundaries. As a lawyer he stood at the head of the bar in the county, and ranked equal with any in Northwestern Ohio. He possessed far more than ordinary legal ability, and was thoroughly successful both in the counsel room, and as an advocate before the court and the jury. In the political history of the county, during the first ten or twelve years of his residence here, Mr. Kelley was a prominent central figure, and one of the recognized leaders of the Republican party. He fully enjoyed the excitement of a political campaign, and lent his every effort for the success of the candidates of his party, but he would never consent to. become its nominee, except for some local office of minor importance. During the latter eight or ten years of his life he cared less for the exciting political issues of parties, but interested himself in the ability, honor, integrity and fitness of the candidate for the office. One reason for this was the fact that his professional duties required his careful attention, for he was as true to his client as he was to his friends. This was one of the marked and striking characteristics of the man, and one that always kept him high in the esteem of his professional associates and fellow-men. In a trial of a case he was entirely devoted to the interests of his client, yet equally watchful and careful of his client's conscience. He had true moral courage, and if at times aggressive, he never carried personal feeling beyond the doors of the court room:. . He could, and he did look an antagonist squarely in the face and express his sentiments, uncomplimentary BIOGRAPHICAL - 593 or otherwise, as forcibly as if out of his presence. He was also singularly free from professional jealousy. He desired consideration for himself, he demanded it, and obtained it too, but he never sought it at the expense of another. He wished his light to flame high, but he never thought it necessary for that end that other lights should be dimmed. He won his position and success by sturdy and sterling qualities of mind, by undaunted courage, by mental readiness, by untiring industry, and unflagging patience, by self-denial, and setting his face against temptations to idleness and frivolity. By nature he was free from cant, and impatient of shams, and always gave more heed and attention to the substance than the form of anything, and thus, though not pretending to be polished in manner, was powerful and thorough in his work, holding with an unyielding grip every step he won in his business or profession. Possessing a thorough understanding of the law, he was not given to misconstruction of doubtful cases, and before the jury he was a logical, influential advocate. William Clay Kelley, of whom these things are said by his associates at the bar, was born in Liberty township, Hancock county, 0., on the 24th day of March, 1838. His father, Daniel R. Kelley, was a carpenter and joiner, but our subject, at an early age, showed a strong inclination for professional life. This was a determination more easy to arrive at than to perform. His father was a man in quite modest circumstances, and whatever young Kelley might accomplish must be the result of his own personal effort and perseverance. He was not wanting in any of the essential elements that make success possible, and he had, moreover, an unusually bright mind and an abundance of perseverance. His early education was received at the Findlay High School, but prior to that time he had attended school only about twenty months. At the age of fifteen years he began teaching. During these years of study, and in those that followed, he supported himself by such work as he could find to do. In the month of December, 1859, he entered the law office of Hon. Henry Brown, of Findlay, for a course of study, having fully determined to enter the legal profession. He continued his studies until the month of July, 1861, when he dropped them for a time, and helped to recruit, and took a commission as second lieutenant of Company D, 99th 0. V. I. With this command he served until November, 1862, when his resignation was accepted because of impaired health. In January, 1863, Mr. Kelley entered the Ohio Union Law College, at Cleveland, and was graduated therefrom in June of the same year, and soon after was admitted to practice in the courts of the State. The next year, in March, 1864, Mr. Kelley came to reside at Wauseon, and became a member of the Fulton county bar. After having been a resident here of some three years, Mr. Kelley was, on the 2d day of November, 1867, married to Minnie L. Ayers, 394 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. daughter of Fli Ayers, of Kossuth, Iowa. At the time their acquaintance was formed Miss Ayers was a teacher in the schools of Wauseon. Her home had been in Gouverneur, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., her parents having recently moved to Des Moines county, Iowa. From 1864 until 1885, William C. Kelley resided and was actively engaged in practice at Wauseon, and during this time his life was one of almost uninterrupted success. But during the latter portion of this period the destroyer was not idle. Mr. Kelley was attacked with a malignant tumor of the throat, which resulted in his death on the 30th day of June, 1885. In his religious views Mr. Kelley was a radical free thinker, although he never forced his theories upon unwilling listeners. At his burial ceremony remarks were made by prominent members of the bar from Fulton and other counties, and while clergymen were present, they took no part in the services. In concluding this sketch, no higher, or more fitting tribute of respect to the memory of this man can be written, than is embodied in the record of the Common Pleas of Fulton county, being the action of the bar upon the occasion of his death. The record is as follows : " The State of Ohio, Fulton county, ss. In the Court of Common Pleas. At a Court of Common Pleas, begun and held at the court-house in the town of Wauseon, in the county of Fulton, and State of Ohio, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five. Present, Hon. William H. Handy, judge of said court. " WHEREAS, It has pleased the Supreme Architect of the universe in His inscrutable wisdom, to remove from earth our esteemed friend and fellow member of the Fulton county bar, the Hon. William C. Kelley; and "WHEREAS, In his untimely death the community has been deprived of the services of one of its most useful citizens, and the bar of this county one of its most faithful representatives, and his friends and relatives of one who was loved for his virtues and respected for his integrity ; therefore be it "Resolved, That we hereby bear testimony to his acknowledged talents, his public and. private worth, uprightness of character, and the many estimable and sterling qualities of mind and heart ; that, feeling our own loss, we deeply sympathize and condole with the relatives of the deceased in their greatest bereavement. "Resolved, That these resolutions be ordered spread upon the journal of the court, and a copy thereof be transmitted to the relatives of the deceased." ROBINSON, ANTHONY B., the subject of this sketch, was born in the valley of Salt Creek, Wayne county, 0., on the 28th day of September, in the year 1825. His parents were George W. and Sarah Robinson, and of their ten children, Anthony was the oldest. The father was a farmer living in Salt Creek valley, and here our subject passed the days of boyhood and youth, BIOGRAPHICAL - 595 working on the farm and attending school. When he was eighteen years old, Anthony attended Edinburg Academy, in Wayne county, intending to prepare himself for teaching and civil engineering. After some four or five terms at the academy, he did commence to teach, and so continued for twenty eight terms, and gradually took rank with the best and most successful instructors of the county. For four years he was one of the principals of the Fredericksburg school, which was a " summer and winter " school. June 17, 1847, then being twenty- two years of age, Mr. Robinson was married to Nancy Hutchinson, daughter of Jimsey Hutchinson, of Wayne county.. From this time down to 1862, our subject was employed as teacher and at work on a farm, devoting, however, his leisure time to the study of civil engineering, intending to emigrate to Iowa and follow surveying, but the unexpected death of his father (September 26, 1846), materially changed his plans for the future, and he then decided to remain in Ohio, but, during the year last above mentioned, 1862, he came to Fulton county and took up his residence on a farm about one and one-half miles southwest from Wauseon, and one-half mile southwest from that on which he now resides. At that time the lands in this vicinity were in a comparatively undeveloped condition, and there appeared nothing in the then future to materially enhance their value except the labor that might be put upon them. A few years later, however, the seat of justice of the county was removed from Ottokee to Wauseon, near which this farm was situate. Being a thrifty, enterprising and industrious farmer (and takes an active interest in the farmer institutes), Mr. Robinson soon possessed as good an agricultural tract as was to be found in the county, and the removal of the county seat greatly increased its- value. To this he subsequently added other lands, until now he is the owner of nearly three hundred acres of as productive farm lands as can be found in. the region, and they have, in the main, been cleared, underdrained and developed by himself. Mr. Robinson is among the staunch, stalwart Republicans of Fulton county, he being one of the delegates at its formation in 1854, at Columbus, 0. Prior to his residence in the county, however, he had held the office of justice of the peace. In 1854, then being a Wayne county citizen, Mr. Robinson, as we said before, helped to organize the Republican party, and in its doctrines,. teachings and policy he has ever since been a firm believer, and to its cause a faithful adherent and an efficient helper. In about the year 1872 he was elected county surveyor and held that office for twelve consecutive years ; in the office of justice of the peace of Clinton township, he served for an unbroken term of eighteen years. And in all measures pertaining to the educational interests of the township and the county, as well, has our subject been especially active and prominent, and, in this branch of the local government, he has represented the township in various capacities. As an early teacher of 596 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. understanding and experience, during his younger life, Mr. Robinson was well fitted to suggest and direct such measures as were of the greatest benefit, both to teachers and scholars. To the marriage of Anthony B. Robinson and Nancy Hutchinson there has been born a family of ten children—five sons and five daughters—and of these all, save two, are still living. Surrounded with family and friends, Mr. Robinson still lives in Clinton township on the farm adjoining that on which he first settled in the full enjoyment of health, although now past his sixty-second year, and possessed of sufficient of this world's goods to keep wife and self in comfort during the remainder of their days, and thereafter to leave a goodly inheritance to their children, all of whom are now married and living in Fulton county near the old home. SCOFIELD, JOHN N. In the year 1855 Mr. Scofield became a resident of Ridgeville township. Four years later he bought the land upon which was afterwards built the little hamlet of Ridgeville, being so named for the township. Perhaps no man has been so instrumental in building up and improving the place as he, and there are few, if any, who have done as much for the welfare of the township at large as has Mr. Scofield. With its civil and political history he has been closely identified for upwards of thirty years, and although his political convictions are not in accord with the majority of the voters of the township, his personal standing has been sufficient to break down party lines, and place him in some of the most important of its offices; still, he has not been, by any means, a politician, nor has he ever sought, while in office, to advance his own or his party's interest at the expense of the opposing party; his efforts, rather, have been directed toward the improvement and development of the locality, thus benefiting the whole people. As is well known, Mr. Scofield holds to the doctrine of Republicanism, and, in the various offices that he has been chosen to fill, he has always been the representative of the Republican party. His candidacy for the county office of probate judge is well remembered by the people of the county, and, although defeated at the polls, he ran ,yell up with the ticket, notwithstanding the fact that he was opposed by one of the strongest Democrats of the county—a person of no less strength than James G. Haly. John Newberry Scofield was born in Seneca county, N. Y., August 3o, 1814. When he was but three years old his parents, Benjamin and Sally (Newberry) Scofield, with their children, left Seneca county and came to Ohio, locating in Strongville township, Cuyahoga county, where the father purchased a tract of wild land, and upon which he commenced an improvement, although his former occupation was that of a carpenter. In the family of Benjamin Scofield was thirteen children, and of these John was the eighth in the order of BIOGRAPHICAL - 597 their birth. John lived with his parents until he became of age, and during these years acquired a very good common school education. At the age of twenty-one he went to Cleveland, where he learned the carpenter trade, and at which he worked some six or seven years continuously thereafter, but he devoted considerable of his time to teaching and farm work in various portions of Cuyahoga oounty; in all his mechanical labors in this county covered a period of something like twenty years. In the year 1837 he went to the town of Independence to teach school, and while so employed, became acquainted with Miss Anna L. Stafford, one of his pupils, to whom, on the 6th of September, 1838, he was married. From this time until 1855, Mr. Scofield was variously employed, part of the time on his father's farm, again at his trade, then he bought and improved a piece of land, but, in the year last named sold out and came to Henry county, locating in Ridgeville township, where he purchased a saw-mill property, completed the mill and set the machinery in motion. This he owned and operated successfully for about twenty-one years. In connection with his business operations in this locahty Mr. Scofield has become possessed of large tracts of wooded land, and many fine farms show the results of his labor. In other branches of business, also, he has been very active, and established and operated them with good success. He built a cheese factory in the township in 1867, but sold it after one season. In January, 1878, he started a general store at Ridgeville, and still owns and conducts it. In 1861, under the administration of President Lincoln, Mr. Scofield was appointed postmaster at this place, the name of the office being Ridgeville Corners, but after about three or four years he resigned ; again, under President Hayes, he was reappointed and held until the year 1887, when, under the new administration, a successor was appointed. In the year following that in which Mr. Scofield became a resident of Henry county, 1856, on the 2d of December, his wife, Anna, was taken away by the hand of death. She bore him six children, hut all of these, save one, are dead. On the 16th of December, 1858, Mr. Scofield married Margaret N. Harring, of Port Byron, N. Y. She died March 26, 1886. Again, on December 30, 1886, he was married to Sarah F. Harris, of Ridgeville. THOMPSON, ABRAHAM B. About half a mile north from the village of Delta, in York township, stands the residence of Abraham B. Thompson. He is not a native of this country, but was born in Lincolnshire, England, on the 5th day of March, 1831. 'When Abraham was but three months old his mother died, and when a little over one year old his father left England and emigrated to the United States, leaving three small children, the oldest being but five years of age, entirely dependent upon the kind charity of relatives. The father did not return to England until the year 1848, and at that time our 598 - HISTORY OF HENRY AND FULTON COUNTIES. subject was seventeen years old. Upon again coming to America Abraham accompanied his father. They came to Royalton township, Fulton county, and here the son lived until he attained his majority, when he started out determined to work his own way in hfe, and, above all other considerations, to acquire, at least, a fair business education. After working out by the month for nearly a year, Mr. Thompson attended school at Maumee city, and here he remained as long as he had money to pay for board and tuition, but was finally obliged to give up further study for want of funds, and, at this time, he never so much realized the need of cash, as when compelled to leave the school before finishing the course he had marked out. About this time there was considerable excitement over the wonderful gold fields of California, and many of the more venturesome young men of the east were going there. In 1854, then being twenty-three years old, young Thompson made the journey by the Nicaragua route. On reaching the Pacific slope small-pox broke out among the passengers, and many died before reaching their destination, while from this and other unfortunate causes, the arrival of all was much delayed. Upon reaching San Francisco our subject was entirely out of money, but by no means was he discouraged. He borrowed $30 from a friend, and started for the mines full of hope and expectation. For about four years he endured the hardships, privations and disappointments of life in the mines, when, in the fall of 1858, he returned to Ohio, having accumulated about $2,000 in money as the result of his toil. With this he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Amboy township, the improvement and cultivation of which he immediately commenced. Having got the farm and its buildings in good condition, our subject realized that it was " not good for man to live alone," for we find that on the 27th of November, 1859, he was married to Susan Ann Powlesland, a native of Devonshire, England, but who came with her parents to this country in the year 1849. Of this marriage five children were born, viz.: Addison Brooks, born October 1, 1860; Cara Dora, born May 18, 1862 ; Evaline Francetta, born June 0, 1864 ; Gertrude H., born June 7, 1867, died April 10, 1869; and Ira J., born May t0, 1868. During his residence in Amboy township Abraham B. Thompson was recognized as one of its most thrifty farmers and enterprising business men. In 1869 he erected a suitable building and commenced the manufacture of cheese, which industry he has ever since continued with most favorable results. In 1875 Mr. Thompson moved to his present home in York township, where, in 1877, he built the elegant residence which he now occupies. At this place, in 1875, he built an extensive cheese factory, and, until 1883, operated both this and that at Amboy, in which year the Amboy factory was sold. It will be seen that in this manufacture Mr. Th0mpson has been engaged for the last eighteen years; in fact, this has been as much, and possibly mote, his occupation as farming, although at both he has been abundantly successful; BIOGRAPHICAL - 599 and accumulated a comfortable fortune, the result of energy, perseverance and straightforward honesty. The cheese that he has produced has always been a standard article in the market, and brings good prices. It is shipped mainly to Toledo and Adrian, although a fair proportion of the output is used to supply a demand in the county. While Mr. Thompson has been a very busy man in conducting his business affairs, he has, nevertheless, found time to show a patriotic interest in the welfare of his township and county ; and in the political history of each he has been a prominent figure as is shown by his various political holdings, and in each of which he has been the nominee of the Republican party. He has filled with entire satisfaction the offices of township road supervisor, school director (fifteen consecutive years), treasurer, trustee, justice of the peace, and in connection with the county's affairs, he filled the important and responsible position of commissioner for nine consecutive years. In the most ancient and honorable order of Masonry has our subject been for many years a faithful craftsman. He joined the order in 1863, and has filled various offices of trust and responsibility in connection therewith ; from master of Fulton Lodge, No. 248, he has advanced and is now acting M, E. H. P., of Octavius Waters Chapter, No. 154, of Delta. In 1881 he became a member of Toledo Commandery, and went into the Scottish rites in 1883. AYERS, ESQ,, DAVID. Among the pioneers of the territory that is now embraced within the boundaries of Fulton county, was the family of Moses Ayers, a former resident of Wayne county, but who came to this locality in the year 1838. To the older residents of this county the name of Mr. Ayers is well known. He was a thorough, honest, intelligent and respected farmer, and one that contributed his full share in the development of Dover township. His wife was Elizabeth (Chrisman) Ayers. They had a family of seven children, five boys and two girls. Moses Ayers built a small tannery and conducted it in connection with his farm work for some time. This event is probably forgotten by many of the old settlers, as it was done some fifty years ago. At that time Dover was a wild and uncultivated country, and Indians were more numerous than whites, but they were quite friendly and peaceable. The old tannery has long since gone to decay, and the farm is now occupied by David Ayers, who was the second child of this pioneer family. David Ayers was born near Shreve, in Wayne county, this State, on the 2d day of April, 1828, and, at the time of his father's settlement in this locality, was but ten years of age. There was no school in Dover at that time, so David, when old enough, was put at work in the tannery, but the damp and unpleasant atmosphere told severely against him, in fact, it was then thought that he had not long to live. At the age of twenty years he went to Adrian, Mich., and attended school for about six months, after which he entered the Bethany