EARLY COUNTY HISTORY - 75 enemy, bearing despatches, and guiding detachments of troops through the unbroken forests. While General Harrison was at Fort Meigs he sent Nayarre with a despatch to Fort Stephenson (now Fremont), a journey of over thirty miles through the primeval wilderness. The trip was made at night, in the midst of a terrific thunderstorm, but in the face of all these difficulties the intrepid Frenchman succeeded in carrying out his mission, and the following morning delivered the reply to his commander. Because his name did not appear on a regular muster-roll, he could not receive a pension, as did the other veterans of the War of 1812, but a special act of Congress provided for his comfort in the closing years of his life. For several years prior to his death he served as president of the Maumee Valley Pioneer Association. His death occurred at East Toledo on March 20, 1874. Early in the year 1810 President Madison appointed Amos Spafford collector of customs for the port and district of Miami. Mr. Spafford was the first person to exercise civil authority in the Maumee valley. A few weeks after his appointment, he arrived at Maumee, where he established his office and entered upon his duties. His first report to the government, for the quarter ending June 3o, 1810, showed the exports to have been skins and furs amounting to $5,610.85, and twenty gallons of bear's oil, valued at $30, a total of $5,640.85. Four years later (1814) the total expense to the government of maintaining this office was $28.25, distributed as follows : Fees, $2.50; office rent, $10; fuel and stationery, $15.75. A comparison of these figures with the commerce of Toledo at the present time will give the reader some idea of the great progress that has been made during the century. At the time of Mr. Spafford's arrival at Maumee, the territory from the river Raisin to Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), and from the Maumee bay to Fort Dearborn (now Chicago), was without a postoffice. In June, 181o, a postoffice was established on the left bank of the Maumee, opposite where Fort Meigs was afterward built, and Mr. Spafford was appointed postmaster, his commission being dated June 9, 181o. In 1816 Almon Gibbs was the postmaster there, his remuneration for the year having been $14.28. During the War of 1812 the few settlers in this locality suffered severely from Indian forays, and nearly all of them were driven from their homes. After the war they returned and presented to the government a petition asking indemnity for their losses. A list of those early settlers receiving such indemnity bears the names of Amos Spafford. Samuel H. Ewing, Jesse Skinner, Richard Gifford, William Carter, Ambrose Hickox, David Hull, George Blalock, Thomas Dick, James Slason, William Peters, Andrew Race, Oliver A. Armstrong and James Carlin, most of whom located along the river about 181o. One of the largest individual claims was that of James Carlin— $100 for a cabin or dwelling ; $58 for a blacksmith shop ; and $30 for a colt taken by the Wyandot Indians. In rebuilding their homes after the war, the settlers took a part of their building materials from the hulks of some old government transports lying in the river, and the abandoned stockade and blockhouses of Fort Meigs. The contest for the possession of these became so animated that one night some dis- 76 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY appointed competitor applied the torch, and what was left of the fort was almost destroyed by the flames. The only available material then at hand was in the trees of the adjacent forest, and as no sawmill had yet been built, the hardship of constructing a home from this native material can be better imagined than described. To add to the trials of these worthy pioneers, the title to their lands became a subject of doubt. They had purchased their farms within the twelve miles square ceded by the Greenville treaty, a portion of which was ceded a second time, by mistake, by the treaty of Brownstown, after the settlers had purchased their lands. Hardly had they become settled after the war, than Congress ordered a sale of the lands 'ceded by the Brownstown treaty. In this predicament Amos Spafford wrote to President Madison, asking that the sale be held at such time and place as would give the occupants an opportunity to perfect their title. In the course of his letter he said : "Should the time not be known, or the place of sale be so remote that myself and others cannot attend, all would be lost. First, burned by the enemy ; secondly, destroyed by our own army ; and thirdly, sold out by an act of government, to whom we don't know. This would be the last sacrifice that we could possibly make." This appeal had its effect. The sale was held at Fort Meigs and the settlers obtained title to their lands without competition. From that time on the settlement of the country was more rapid. In Chaper III is given a quotation concerning Fort Industry, from James P. Averill's "Condensed History of the Most Important Military Posts in the Northwest," but this old fortification is deserving of more extended notice. The fort occupied the block bounded by Jefferson, Monroe, Summit and Water streets in the city of Toledo, but there appears to be some question as to the date of its construction, as well as to the identity of its builder. Mr. Averill says the fort was occupied for several years by a small garrison commanded by Lieutenant Rhea, but he does not give his authority for the statement. Wag-goner's "History of Toledo and Lucas Counts'," published in 1888, says (p. 63) : "A question having been raised as to the name of the fortification erected by the United States government at the mouth of Swan creek about the beginning of the present century—whether it was Fort Industry or Fort Lawrence—the writer made inquiry of the war department as to the fact, when Adjt.-Gen. L. C. Drumm replied as follows : "'A stockade fort was erected about the year 1800, near the mouth of Swan creek, on the Maumee river, and as near as can be determined, upon what is now Summit street, in the city of Toledo, to which was given the name of Fort Industry. It was at this fort that a treaty was held with the Indians, July 4, 1805, by which the Indian title to the Fire Lands (Huron and Erie counties) was extinguished, and at which were present Mr. Charles Jouett, United States commissioner, and chiefs of Ottawa, Chippewa, Pottawatomie, Shawanee; Muncie and Delaware Indian tribes. This office has no record of a Fort Lawrence within the limits of the State of Ohio. Fort Laurens —named in honor of the president of the Continental Congress—was built by General McIntosh, in 1778, on the west bank of the Tus- EARLY COUNTY HISTORY - 77 carawas river, now in Tuscarawas county, and near the town of Bolivar. This fort is by some writers spelled Lawrence, but improperly so.' " This letter settles only the question of the name, and from the statement that it "was erected about the year 1800," it would appear that the exact date is unknown to the War Department. S. S. Knabenshue, in an editorial in the Todelo Blade of Jan. 24, 1903, says : "The date of its erection, by whom, and for what purpose, have never been determined. The tablet on the Monroe street side of the Fort Industry block recites the popular legend ; but no historic proof of the statements has ever been found." Such are the various accounts and opinions concerning the fort. The popular belief is that it was erected by a detachment of Wayne's army soon after the battle of Fallen Timbers, which is probably correct, even though the records on the subject are not clear. Shortly after the close of the War of 1812, new settlers began coming into the Maumee valley, a majority of them locating or seeking a location about the foot of the rapids. The preference thus shown for this particular locality made it plain to some persons of a speculative turn of mind that, as population increased, the demand for and value of land would correspondingly increase, and several towns were projected. The town of Orleans was the first to come into prominence. It was located "on the river flats," directly under Fort Meigs, and the early population consisted chiefly of French Canadians. The principal business was the fur trade, which was carried on by Gen. John E. Hunt, Robert A. Forsyth, John and Frank Hollister and Judge Wolcott, who married a daughter of the Miami chief, Little Turtle. Other leading citizens of Orleans were William Ewing, Aurora and Samuel Spafford, James Murray, General Vance, Seneca Allen and the four Wilkisons—Jacob, James, David and Samuel. Jacob Wilkison kept a tavern, which was a sort of forum for the discussion and settlement of questions appertaining to the welfare of the town. In 1816 the United States government sent an agent to select the point best adapted for commercial purposes and lay out a town. After examining and sounding the river from the mouth to the rapids, the agent selected the high ground on the right bank, a short distance below Fort Meigs, and at the head of navigation. Before the close of the year a town was here laid out, and Josiah Meigs, at that time comptroller of the treasury, gave it the name of Perrysburg, in honor of Commodore Perry, the hero of the great naval battle on Lake Erie in the War of 1812. Federal patronage gave Perrysburg a prestige over other settlements which did not enjoy this special favor, and as it waxed, Orleans, its nearest neighbor, waned. The Hollisters transferred their trading house to Perrysburg, and after that place was made the county seat of Wood county, in 1820, Orleans fell into decay. Maumee City was laid out under the name of Maumee in 1817, by Maj. William Oliver and his associates, opposite Perrysburg and Fort Meigs. The site of the town is within the reservation of twelve miles square made by the treaty of Greenville, and only a short distance above the place where the old French fort of 1680 had been located. The fact that this point had always been a favorite spot with 78 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY the Indians led the founders to believe that they could control the fur trade of this section. Maumee contributed in no small degree to the downfall of Orleans. Hunt and Forsyth removed their business to the former place, -and among the pioneers here in 1818 were Jonathan Gibbs, James Carlin, Dr. Horatio Conant and a Frenchman named Pelkee, all of whom were active in promoting the interests of the new town. Despite the fact that Perrysburg was fostered by the national government, Maumee City has held its own, and is still one of the thriving towns of the lower Maumee valley. The United States census report for 1900 gives the population as 1,856, the town being made coextensive with Waynesfield township. In the river between Maumee City and Perrysburg is a beautiful island of some 200 acres. Part of Wayne's battle of Fallen Timbers was fought within the limits of the town, though the action commenced near Presque Isle hill, further up the river. The Greenville treaty reservation of twelve miles square at the foot of the Maumee rapids extended some distance below the mouth of Swan creek. Under an Act of Congress, approved April 27, 1816, the lands of the reservation were sold at public auction at Wooster, Ohio, in February, 1817. Two companies were organized for the purchase of the lands about the mouth of Swan creek. One of these companies, composed of Martin Baum, William C. Schenck, William Oliver, Jacob Burnet and others, was known as the "Baum Company," and the other, consisting of John H. and Robert Piatt, William M. Worthington and Gorham A. North, was called the "Piatt Company." The former was represented at the sale by Schenck and Oliver, and the latter by Robert Piatt. Before the commencement of the sale an agreement was reached by which the two companies, in order to avoid competition, were to purchase in common certain tracts of land. Tracts Nos. I, 2, 3 and 4, on the northwest side of the river, were bid off by Robert Piatt, and tracts Nos. 86 and 87, directly opposite the mouth of Swan creek, went to Oliver, who did the bidding for his company. Soon after the sale the two companies were consolidated under the name of the Port Lawrence Company, of which Martin Baum was made agent and general manager for the purpose of laying out the town of Port Lawrence and disposing of the lots. On Aug. 14, 1817, Baum authorized Oliver and Schenck to lay out the town, and appointed Oliver as his attorney to attend to the sale of lots. Under his instructions the lots were to be 6o by 120 feet in size where practicable ; the main street was to be 160 feet in width ; other streets from 80 to 100 feet wide : three lots, each 120 feet square, were to be set off for public uses, churches, schools, etc., and one lot 24o feet square was to be reserved for a court house and jail. Provisions were also to be made for a cemetery. After the plat was laid out a sale of lots was ordered, "which, if practicable, should correspond with the time of holding the treaty with the Indians," referring to the treaty to be held at Fort Meigs on Sept. 29, 1817. Accordingly a sale was advertised for Sept. 20, 1817, the terms to be as follows : "One-fourth down ; the balance in three equal annual installments, with interest from date of purchase, if not promptly EARLY COUNTY HISTORY - 79 paid ; and if the whole amount of purchase money be not paid when the last installment becomes due, the lots to revert to the proprietors of Port Lawerence." Oliver and Schenck, as agents of the company, reserved the right to make one bid on each lot sold or offered for sale, and under this right lots No. 223 and 224 were purchased by Oliver, on which he and Baum afterward erected a warehouse. Altogether seventy-nine lots were sold, the cash receipts amounting to $855.33. Among the purchasers were Aurora Spafford, .Seneca Allen, Samuel H. Ewing, John E. Hunt, Robert A. Forsyth, B. F. Stickney of Fort Wayne, Ind., Henry I. and Mary L. Hunt of Detroit, Allen and Truman Reed, Moses Wilson of Huron county, Ohio, and Austin E. Wing of Monroe, Mich. This was the beginning of Port Lawrence, now a part of the city of Toledo. The total cost of the 974 acres purchased from the government by the Port Lawrence company was nearly $47,000. Of this amount one-fourth was to be paid within forty days and the remainder was made payable in three equal annual installments. When the second payment fell due, in 1818, the company failed to meet it, and virtually surrendered the entire property, including improvements that had been made. After some negotiations, Congress, in 1821, agreed to take back tracts No. 1 and No. 2, upon which $4,817.55 had been paid, and apply $1,372.34 of that amount as the full payment for tracts No. 3, 4, 86 and 87. Oliver presented a claim for $1,835.47, for services as agent, etc., and was given a mortgage on tracts No. 3, 4, 86 and 87, the mortgage to mature on Jan. I, 1824. As it was not paid when due, Oliver, in October, 1825, instituted foreclosure proceedings in a Michigan court, which issued an order for the sale of the property. It was accordingly sold on Sept. 1, 1828, and was purchased by Oliver for $618.56. Three of the five quarter-sections of the Piatt Company were also sold about this time by order of the court, and were purchased for $241,6o by Charles Noble, who soon afterward conveyed them to Oliver. In December, 1828, Baum transferred the government certificates of tracts No. 3, 4, 86 and 87 to Oliver, who thus acquired a clear and indisputable title to the lands. Tracts No. I and 2, which had been relinquished by the Port Lawrence Company, were selected by the University of Michigan under the act of Congress of May 20, 1826, but at Oliver's suggestion were exchanged for part of the land that had come into his possession by the foreclosure of the mortgage. Subsequently he repurchased these lands from the university, and after some further negotiations with Baum's heirs became the owner of practically all the original holdings of the Port Lawrence Company. In the meantime, on May 27, 1827, the Michigan authorities organized Port Lawrence township as a part of Monroe county. It included about one-half of the present county of Lucas and was divided into two road districts. At the first township election twenty-nine electors voted, viz : Seneca Allen, John Baldwin, John T. Baldwin, Tibbals Baldwin, Amasa Bishop, Alvin Evans, Cyrus Fisher, John G. Forbes, William Holmes, Eli Hubbard, Coleman I. Keeler, Jesse Mills, William Mills, Daniel Murray, Jacob Navarre, Henry Phillips, Joseph 80 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY Prentice, Charles Richards, John Roop, William Sibley, B. F. Stickney, J. V. D. Sutphen, Amos Wait, John Walworth, Ebenezer Ward, Noah A. Whitney, Thomas P. Whitney, William Wilkerson and William Wilson. Old residents will recognize in this list the names of several men who played conspicuous parts in the early history of Lucas county. The .officers elected at this time were Noah A. Whitney, John G. Forbes and Daniel Murray, assessors ; J. V. D. Sutphen, clerk ; John T. Baldwin, supervisor ; Tibbals Baldwin, collector ; John Walworth and Coleman I. Keeler, overseers of the poor ; Eli Baldwin and William Wilson, commissioners of highways ; John Roots and Tibbals Baldwin, constables ; and Benjamin F. Stickney, pound master. Late in the year 1832 an effort was made to revive the town of Port Lawrence. William Oliver, whose home was in Cincinnati, appointed Stephen B. Comstock as his agent, a new plat was filed, and preliminary steps were taken for the sale of lots. A few months before this was done, Maj. B. F. Stickney, one of the first purchasers of lots in Port Lawrence, lost confidence in that enterprise, and being the owner of a tract of land on the river immediately below, determined to start a town of hiS own. He first made an arrangement with Capt. Samuel Allen of Lockport, N. Y., by which Allen was to receive one-half of the land for making certain improvements. Allen failed to carry out his part of the agreement, and Stickney then entered into a similar arrangement with Otis Hathaway, also from Lockport. A town was laid out and named Vistula, and for a time made quite a stir as the future metropolis of the lower Maumee valley. Howe, in his "Historical Collections of Ohio," says : "In Vistula the first store was started by Mr. E. Briggs ; W. J. Daniels, now a leading man, was his clerk. Soon after Flagg and Bissell opened a more extensive store of goods—probably the first good assortment for the use of white people." By an arrangement with the proprietors, Lewis Godard of Detroit also started a store in Vistula, placing it in charge of Sanford L. Collins, who had been employed by Godard in Detroit. Edward Bissell came from Lockport, N. Y., became a part owner of the land upon which Vistula was located, and being a man of great sagacity and energy, gave a great impetus to the growth of the village. He cleared the plat of timber and brush, put in docking along the river from Lagrange to Elm streets, and was otherwise active in promoting the interests of the town. In July, 1834, he began operating a sawmill on what is now Summit street in the city of Toledo. A correspondent in the "Ohio and Michigan Register and Emigrant's Guide," in the latter part of the year 1832, had this to say of Vistula : "The new town * * * attracts much attention from the numerous immigrants who are seeking the most eligible site for a town on the Maumee. A considerable number of lots, according to the information obtained from Maj. B. F. Stickney, one of the proprietors, had been sold in the course of the spring and summer, and improvements of a permanent character and on a large scale engaged to be made. This nascent village is handsomely situated on the left bank of the Maumee river, about three miles from its mouth, and immediately below the site of Port Lawrence. These places will probably grow together and EARLY COUNTY HISTORY - 81 become one, provided my opinion shall turn out to be correct, that the great town of the Maumee shall be situated there." The writer's opinion "turned out to be correct" probably much sooner than he anticipated, for within a very few years after the above was written Port Lawrence and Vistula both disappeared from the map and Toledo took their place. In 1819 Governor Brown first called the attention of the Ohio legislature to the question of constructing a canal to connect Lake Erie with the Ohio river. The next year three commissioners were appointed, with power to employ an engineer and make a survey for a canal, the construction of which was to be dependent upon a grant of land by Congress. In 1822 four routes were surveyed : the first from Sandusky bay ; the second from the mouth of the Maumee ; the third from the mouth of the Cuyahoga or the Black river, in Lorain county, by way of the Muskingum river ; and the fourth from the mouth of the Grand river by way of the Mahoning. James Geddes, a civil engineer of New York, made the survey and reported all four of the routes practicable, but the commissioners, in their final report recommended the "Ohio Canal," from Cleveland to Portsmouth, with a branch to Columbus. Advocates of the other routes protested against this action on the part of the commissioners. Newspapers teemed with editorials and communications on the subject ; public meetings were held, and in some quarters the commissioners were charged with acting in bad faith, if not actually having accepted a bribe to recommend the Cleveland and Portsmouth route. The result of this agitation was that the commissioners, in February, 1824, directed a survey of two other routes—one from the mouth of the Scioto river to Coshocton, whence three branches led to the lake at different points, and the other from Cincinnati to the foot of the Maumee rapids. The all absorbing question now became, "Where will the canal strike the Maumee ?" Perrysburg, Maumee City and Port Lawrence were all laid out before the canal was projected, and Vistula soon became a formidable rival. Other towns that sprung up as candidates for the outlet of the canal, as well as aspirants for metropolitan honors, were Manhattan, Oregon, Austerlitz and Marengo. At first the principal contestants for the outlet were Port Lawrence, Vistula and Maumee. About the time the former two were united under the name of Toledo, some gentlemen owning a tract of land at the mouth of the Maumee river, on the northwest side, conceived the idea of building a town at that point. In October, 1835, they pooled their interests by organizing the "Maumee Land and Railroad Company," with a capital stock of $35o,000. The company was composed of Stephen G. Austin, George P. and Jacob A. Barker, John W. Clark, George Coit, Horatio N. Holt, John T. Hudson, John L. Kimberly, Sheldon Townsend and Sheldon Thompson, all of Buffalo, N. Y. ; George W. Card of Willoughby, Ohio, and Platt Card of Manhattan. Stephen 'G. Austin, John W. Clark and John T. Hudson were appointed trustees for the transaction of all business of the company, all the land lying between Vistula and the mouth of the river was purchased, the town of Manhattan was laid out thereon, and the work of improving was begun. 82 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY By the spring of 1836 docks, warehouses and a commodious hotel were almost completed. As soon as the hotel was finished, it was opened for business under the management of a Mr. Patterson, and Manhattan entered the lists as an active competitor for the canal outlet. As an inducement to the people of the surrounding country to trade with the merchants of Manhattan, the company opened roads in various directions, built bridges over some of the streams, and in other ways invited patronage. When it was finally announced that the main terminus of the canal was to be at Manhattan, with branches to Toledo and Maumee, the joy of the stockholders in the Maumee Land and Railroad Company knew no bounds. On July 1, 1837, the capital stock of the company was increased to $2,000,000, and a few days later the same people organized the "East Maumee Land Company." with a capital stock of $96o,000, for the purpose of controlling and disposing of the land on the opposite side of the river from Manhattan. A bank and a newspaper were established, and for a time it looked as though Manhattan was to be the leading city of the lower Maumee valley. Then the reaction set in. Secure in the assurance that the outlet of the canal was to be at the mouth of the river, the company relaxed its efforts, feeling confident that Manhattan could take care of itself. One reason for this belief lay in the fact that the line of lake steamers, controlled by the Buffalo stockholders, were expected to land at Manhattan and not at Toledo. This arrangement was soon discontinued, as the owners of the vessels discovered that they would suffer greater loss by neglecting the traffic at Toledo than they would by sacrificing their dividends in the Maumee Land and Railroad Company. No sooner did the boats begin stopping at Toledo than some of the merchants at Manhattan removed there, and within a short time a majority of the 50o population followed their example. After a precarious existence as a town for about ten years, the trustees filed in the court of common pleas an application signed by two-thirds of the lot owners, praying for a vacation of the town plat, and on April 24, 1848, the court granted the petition. Thus Manhattan passed into history. In 1836 Isaac Street, Henry W. Hicks and a few others laid out a town on the right bank of the Maumee, about halfway between the mouth and the rapids. The town was named Oregon by Pierre M. Irving, a nephew of the author, Washington Irving, and was doubtless suggested by his uncle's "Astoria," which had just made its appearance and was attracting considerable attention. Like all the other towns along the river at that period, Oregon was a candidate for the canal outlet, and in addition to the advantages claimed by her competitors. added the facilities for the pork-packing business, which her proprietors argued "were even greater than those enjoyed by the city of Cincinnati." But the attractions about the mouth of Swan creek proved too great to be overcome, and Oregon succumbed to the inevitable. Another embryo city was Marengo, located on the left bank of the river at the foot of the rocky bar, ."and therefore at the virtual head of navigation." The site and prospects of the town are thus de-- scribed by an enthusiastic writer, shortly after it was laid out in the spring of 1836: "About ten miles from the mouth of the river lies the EARLY COUNTY HISTORY - 83 military reserve. This is a plat of ground extending up and down the river about a mile and a quarter, and lying on both sides. * * The United States government would never consent to part with this portion of the public domain until this spring. It was advertised and sold at auction at Bucyrus on the 4th of April last, and immense sums of money were on the spot for the purchase. An arrangement was effected between nineteen gentlemen from different parts of the country, and the whole was bid off for their benefit and placed in the hands of trustees. The proprietors selected five directors, and resolved forthwith to lay out a town, which they have named Marengo ; and it is expected early in June the sales will be opened by public auction, and from 300 to 500 lots disposed of in that way. It can scarcely admit of a doubt, that Marengo will in a few years become a large and densely populated city. There, it is believed, the Wabash canal will terminate, as no good reason can be discovered for its extension further down the river ; and all the rich commerce of Western Ohio, the Wabash country, a large portion of Illinois, besides much on the Ohio river, must be poured out here, with all the surplus products of this proverbially luxuriant soil, seeking a northern market. Good building stone can easily be procured, as the rock bar extends into the country on each side of the river. And in conclusion, permit me to say, that I hesitate not to predict, that at no distant day Marengo will be the largest town in Western Ohio." The nineteen men mentioned by the writer were James Q. Adams, Norman C. Baldwin, Henry Bennett, S. B. Campbell, Elnathan Cory, Jedediah D. Cummings, David W. Deshler, Elias H. Haines, David Ladd, Joseph H. Larwell, John E. Lyon, Robert T. Lytle, Daniel B. Miller, William Neil, Christ Neiswanger, John C. Spink, Needham M. Stewart, Jesse Stone and Dwight Woodbury, who paid $4o,000 for tracts No. 17 and 18 of the reservation, containing a fraction over 443 acres. They laid out about 500 lots and started out with buoyant spirits to build up the town. But sales were slow, and in August, 1838, the city of Marengo was closed out by order of the court. Other towns projected were Austerlitz, about a mile above Oregon ; East Marengo, "opposite Delaware island on the north shore ;" Miami City, immediately below and adjoining Maumee City ; and Lucas City. opposite Manhattan at the mouth of the river, all of which presented some claims to future greatness, but all disappointed the hopes and anticipations of their founders. The evolution of Lucas county presents one of the most interesting phases of its history, as it shows the progress of settlement and civilization in their irresistible march westward. Before becoming an independent political organization, Lucas was successively a part of Hamilton, Wayne, Green, Logan and Wood counties. Hamilton county, the second in the Northwest Territory, was created on.. Jan. 2, 1790, by proclamation of Governor St. Clair. Its original boundaries were thus defined : "Beginning on the Ohio river, at the confluence of the Little Miami, and down the Ohio to the mouth of the Big Miami ; and up said Miami to the standing stone forks or branch of said river, and thence with a line to be drawn due east to the Little 84 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY Miami, and down said Little Miami river to the place of beginning." By proclamation of Governor St. Clair, Feb. II, 1792, the eastern boundary was extended to the Scioto river, up that river to the lower Shawanee town, and thence due north to Lake Erie ; and the western boundary was extended due north from the standing stone fork of the Big Miami to the territorial boundary on the shore of Lake Huron. The eastern boundary struck Lake Erie not far from Sandusky, and the western passed through the present counties of Henry and Fulton. On Aug. 15, 1796, St. Clair issued a proclamation establishing Wayne county, with the following boundaries : "Beginning at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, upon Lake Erie, and with the said river to the portage between it and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum ; thence down the said branch to the forks, at the carrying place above Fort Lawrence [Laurens] ; thence by a west line to the eastern boundary. of Hamilton county ( which is a due north line from the lower Shawanese town upon the Scioto river) ; thence by a line, west-northerly, to the southern part of the portage between the Miamis of the Ohio and the St. Mary's river ; thence by a line also west-northerly, to the southwestern part of the portage, between the Wabash and the Miamis of Lake Erie, where Fort Wayne now stands ; thence by a line west-northerly to the most southern part of Lake Michigan ; thence along the western shores of the same to the northwest part thereof (including the lands upon the streams emptying into said lake) ; thence by a due north line to the territorial boundary in Lake Superior, and with the said boundary through Lakes Huron, Sinclair and Erie to the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, the place of beginning." These boundaries embraced about one-third of the present State of Ohio—all the northwestern part—a section of Northeastern Indiana, a little of Northern Illinois, the eastern portion of Wisconsin, and practically all of .the present State of Michigan. The county seat was fixed at Detroit, and Wayne had three representatives in the territorial legislature, elected in 1798. The county was not represented in the convention which framed the constitution of Ohio, in the fall of 1802, for the reason that the greater part of it was outside the lines named in the enabling act. In 1803 Greene county was created, embracing all Northwestern Ohio. Two years later was created a county called Logan, which included the present counties of Lucas, Fulton, Williams, Defiance, Henry, Wood, Sandusky, Seneca, Wyandot, Hancock, Putnam, Paulding, Van Wert, Allen, Auglaize, Hardin and Marion, and parts of Ottawa, Crawford, Logan (i. e. the present county of Logan), Morrow, Union, Shelby and Mercer. Logan was not fully organized until 1817, when the county seat was established at Bellefontaine. On Feb. 12, 1820, the general assembly of Ohio passed an act providing "That all that part of the lands lately ceded by the Indians to the United States, which lies within this State, shall be, and the same is hereby erected into fourteen separate and distinct counties," etc. The. fourteen counties authorized by this act were Allen, Crawford, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Mercer, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Union, Van Wert, Williams and Wood, all of which were EARLY COUNTY HISTORY - 85 formed on April I, 1820, though several years elapsed before all were fully organized. Wood county included within its boundaries the greater part of the present county of Lucas. The first meeting of the board of commissioners of Wood county was held on April 12, 182o, at Almon Gibbs' store in Maumee City, which place was the first county seat. The commissioners were John Pray, Samuel H. Ewing and -David Hubbell. At this first session William Pratt was appointed county treasurer. The second session of the board was held at the same place on May 3, when David Hull filed his bond as sheriff of the county Seneca Allen, then county auditor, was appointed clerk to the board ; and the following allowances were made: C. G. McCurdy, for services as prosecuting attorney, $20 ; Thomas R. McKnight, for services as clerk of the court, $23 ; Almon Gibbs, for use of his building as the courthouse for one year from May 3, 1820, $40; John E. Hunt, for services as assessor, $11.28 ; Hunt & Forsyth, for stationery, etc., $16.12%. At the same time and place was convened the first court in the county, which also was the first ever held in the Maumee valley. The presiding judge was George Tod, whose son David was afterward governor of Ohio, and the associate judges were Dr. Horatio Conant, Samuel Vance and Peter G. Oliver. It should be remembered that the counties of Hamilton, Wayne, Greene and Logan were created while much of the land within their limits was still in the possession of the Indians, and therefore not subject to either the National or State authorities. The first civil organization in the Maumee valley was that of Waynesfield township, which was established in 1816, and comprehended only the reservation at the foot of the rapids. By the treaties of 1817 and 1818, the State of Ohio acquired civil jurisdiction over the former Indian possessions, and upon the creation of the fourteen counties above mentioned Waynesfield township was greatly enlarged, the greater part of it lying in Wood county. At the session of the board of county commissioners of that county, held on March 19, 1823, it was ordered "That so much of the township of Waynesfield as is included in the organized county of Wood, and lying and being on the south of the south channel of the Maumee river, from the west line of the county to the line between the original surveyed township, in Nos. I and 4, in the United States reserve ; thence, the north channel to the State line, be set off and organized into a township. by the name of Perrysburg." The county seat was then established at Perrysburg, and in March,' 1824, the county commissioners allowed the claim of Daniel Hubbell and Guy Nearing for the erection of a courthouse at that point. Lucas county, as a separate political division, was called into existence by the act of June 20, 1835, which was one of the "war measures" enacted by the special session of the general assembly called to consider questions growing out of the boundary dispute. y It was formed of territory, taken from the northern part of Wood county, the disputed strip north of it, a portion of Henry county, and a little of the northwest corner of Sandusky county. The act provided for the immediate organization of the county ; designated Toledo as the county 86 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY seat until some other point should be selected ; attached the county to the Second Judicial district, of which David Higgins was the presiding judge, and directed that a court of common pleas should be held in Toledo on the first Monday in September. The county was named for Hon. Robert Lucas, at that time governor of the State and a hero in the estimation of the people of the Maumee valley because of his firm and consistent attitude in upholding Ohio's rights with regard to the boundary. Governor Lucas was born on April 1, 1781, at Shepherdstown, Jefferson county, Virginia. In 1800 he removed with his parents to Ohio and settled on the bank of the Scioto river. As surveyor of Scioto county he ran the line between Adams and Scioto counties in 1803, and the same year was commissioned by Governor Tiffin to recruit twenty men for the army, it being then thought there would be trouble between the United States and Spain over the Louisiana purchase. About the breaking out of the War of 1812, he received a commission as captain in the Nineteenth United States infantry, but before he was assigned to duty as such he was appointed brigadier-general and assigned to the command of the Second brigade, Second division, Ohio militia, and relinquished his commission in the regular army. He was an ardent Democrat in his political views ; was nominated by his party for governor in 1830, but was defeated by Duncan McArthur ; was elected governor in 1832 and reelected in 1834, the "Boundary War" occurring during his second administration. In 1838 he was appointed governor of Iowa Territory by President Van Buren and served in that capacity until President Harrison was inaugurated, when he was removed and returned to Ohio, where he ran for Congress, but was defeated. He then removed to Iowa, located at Iowa City, and as a member of the Constitutional convention of that State was a member of the committee to consider the question of the boundary line between Iowa and Missouri, again becoming a prominent figure in a boundary dispute. In 1852 he left the Democratic party and joined the Whigs, but lived only a short time after so doing, as his death occurred at Iowa City on Feb. 7, 1853. The first official act of the new county was the holding of the court on the first Monday in September, as provided for in the creative act. This court was held in an old frame school house on the block bounded by Washington, Michigan, Erie and Monroe streets, in the city of Toledo, between midnight and daylight on Sept. 7, in order to avoid a conflict with the Michigan authorities. A full account of its proceedings will be found in the chapter on The Boundary Dispute. Among other things, the court appointed Cyrus Holloway, John Baldwin and Robert Gower, county commissioners, and Dr. Horatio Conant clerk. On Sept. 14, just a week later, Baldwin and Gower, representing a majority of the board of commissioners, met and completed the organization of the county by appointing Samuel M. Young of Maumee as auditor ; Eli Hubbard of Port Lawrence as treasurer ; and Frederick Wright of Port Lawrence as recorder. At the second session of the board, which met on Oct. 12. 1835, a peculiar action was taken. Port Lawrence township had been or- EARLY COUNTY HISTORY - 87 ganized by the Michigan authorities in 1827, but was now a part of Lucas county. The commissioners, deeming it "expedient and absolutely necessary for the well-being and the enjoyment of the rights of citizens of this State, that that part of the county of Lucas known as 'the disputed territory,' and lying north of what is known as the 'Fulton Line,' be annexed for township purposes to the township of Waynesfield." it was ordered that Port Lawrence township be annexed to the township of Waynesfield for all civil purposes, and "that the electors of the same shall have equal rights and privileges at the ensuing election as the other electors of Waynesfield township." It was further ordered that the electors of Port Lawrence township be notified that they should vote at Maumee City, where they would be permitted to exercise their right of suffrage "without the interference of the Michigan authorities." The day following this action was election day. and on that date the commissioners met and ordered "that the object for which such annexation was made having been accomplished. the township of Port Lawrence is hereby restored to its former status." Hence. Port Lawrence township and the city of Toledo were for one (lay a part of the voting precinct of Maumee City. By the Act of March 14, 1836, "the Act to establish the county of Lucas" was amended and its boundaries and domain were definitely defined as follows : "Beginning at a point on Lake Erie, where the line commonly called 'Fulton's line' intersects the. same ; thence due west with said Fulton's line, to the Maumee river ; thence in a southwesterly direction, with the said river, to the east line of the county of Henry ; thence north, on said line, to the northeast corner of township six ( 6 ), in range eight (8) ; thence west, on said township line, to the east line of the county of Williams ; thence north, to the northern boundary of the State, called the 'Harris line ;' thence in an easterly direction. with said line, to Lake Erie ; thence due east, until a line drawn clue north from the place of beginning shall intersect the same." These boundaries included all of the present county of Fulton, except two tiers of sections along the southern border and a strip across the western part, which was taken from the county of Williams when Fulton was organized, in February, 1850, at which time the boundaries of Lucas county were fixed as they are at present. The growth of Lucas county has been steadily onward and upward from the date of its organization. In 1840, the first United States census year after it was established, the population of the county was 9.382. In 1850 the population was 12,363 ; in 1860 it was 25,831 ; in 1870 it was 46,722 ; and in 1880 it was 67,377. During the next decade the 100,000 mark was passed, the population in 1890 being 102,296, and in 1900 it was 153,559. In 1840 there were seventy-nine counties in Ohio. sixty-five of which reported a population larger than that of Lucas. In 1900 Lucas county occupied fourth place, being exceeded in population only by Cuyahoga, Hamilton and Franklin. in the order named. Much of this progress is due to the commercial advantages offered by the harbor and shipping facilities of the Maumee river and the Great Lakes, but a larger part of it is due to the energy, sagacity and enterprising spirit of the people. CHAPTER VI. ROADS, CANAL, AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. FIRST ROADWAYS—INDIAN TRAILS—GOVERNMENT AID e IN ROAD MAKING—STATE ROAD ALONG MAUMEE RIVER—EARLY COUNTY ROADS—ROAD THROUGH THE "BLACK SWAMP"—MACADAMIZING THE ROADS —PRESENT CONDITIONS—CANALS—THE MIAMI AND THE WABASH & ERIE—DIFFICULTIES TO OVERCOME—FIRST CANAL BOAT—PUBLIC BUILDINGS—REMOVALS OF COUNTY SEAT—PRESENT COURT HOUSE -JAIL -COUNTY INFIRMARY—MIAMI CHILDREN'S HOME. The first thought taken by early settlers, when a few homes are once established, is of facilities for communicating with a modest section of the outer world, and the realization of this desire becomes a business and social necessity. Afterward, when the limits of a village are expanded into a city, comes the thought of general means of communication and transportation, not only within the bounds of the corporation, but far beyond into the distant districts of the state and nation. The first roadways leading into and out of Toledo were not public highways. They were adopted by accident ; belonged to nobody in particular, and extended across the country without regard to the cardinal points of the compass, but as irregular as a cow-path. When Americans first visited the present site of Toledo, there were Indian trails centering at the trading posts in the vicinity of the place that was destined to become the metropolis of the Maumee Valley. The wagons of the pioneers usually followed these trails, and as they were found to be the best routes, the principal roads to the interior were established on very nearly the same courses, and in 1835 these were all the roads that led into the settlements of what is now Lucas county. But these roads were mere openings through the timber, with logs laid across some of the streams—and varied occasionally by stumps and hollows. Still the tide of immigration passed through these channels with an unceasing flow, and spread out over the rich country in every direction. As the population increased, however, the demand for more and better highways became constant and imperative. It has been said that "good roads are developed by two great forces—civilization and wealth." The first settlers in the Maumee Valley possessed the full average for their class and time of the former requisite, but their means for the expensive work of making good roads through the - 89 - 90 - MEMOIRS OP LUCAS COUNTY "Black Swamp" region were very limited. The beginnings and the development of this important work is a good part of the story of the remarkable development of this region, but will be touched upon here only as it refers to the opening up and settlement of Lucas county. The States, the General Government, and the early settlers, each and all gave early consideration to the necessity of connecting settlements and markets by public highways. The Enabling Act providing for the admission of Indiana into the Union, granted to the State three per centum of the net proceeds of the sales of the public lands to "be reserved for making public roads and canals" under the direction of the legislature. All parts of this. western country received the like governmental benefaction, but the receipts were very small for the needs and much delay and misdirection of effort attended all movements. The lines of the first surveys were often varied so that the roads might be made along the most convenient or practicable way, in crossing streams and marshy places particularly. In later years they have been much straightened, excepting in occasional places where not practicable, to place the road along land section lines. On Oct. 28, 1822, there were certified to the commissioners of Wood county, of which the present Lucas county was then a part, the field notes and plat of a State road from the village of Maumee up the north side of the Maumee river, along the Military Road to Defiance, thence across the Maumee at Wayne street to Second street and "up the west side of the Auglaize river eight miles, thence up the north bank of Crooked creek to the Indian State line in the direction of Fort Wayne"—distance seventy-seven miles and sixty-three chains. At a meeting of the Wood county commissioners in June, 1823, James H. Slawson presented a petition, asking the appointment of viewers to examine and lay out a county road, commencing at the river in front of Tract No. 28 of the United States Reserve of twelve miles square at the Foot of the Rapids of the Miami of the Lake [Maumee river], in said county, thence on as direct line as the nature of the ground would admit to the sawing mill of Leaming & Stewart, on Swan creek. In the meantime, on Feb. 28, 1823, the State of Ohio was authorized by Congress to lay out, open, and construct a road from the Lower Rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie [Maumee river], to the western boundary of the Connecticut Western Reserve, in such manner as the legislature of said State may by law provide, with the approbation of the President of the United States, said road to forever remain a public highway. To aid the State in this work the 120 feet wide for roadway and one mile in width on each side adjoining, according to the Treaty of Brownstown, were given to the State with power to sell and convey all land not needed for the road at not less than $1.25 per acre. The proceeds were to be applied to making the road, and if in excess it was to be applied to keeping the road in repair. This land was to be bounded by section lines as run by the United States surveyors. The road was to be made within four years of the passage of the Act, from the ford near the foot of the lowest rapids of the Maumee east to Fremont and to the Western Reserve. Congress also authorized the President, May 26, 1824, to appoint three commissioners to explore, ROADS, CANAL, AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS - 91 survey, and mark "in the most eligible course" a road to connect the last named road with Detroit. The President "was authorized to employ the troops of the United States to make or assist in making said road," and the Act also appropriated $20,000 for the work. On May 19, 1828, Congress further appropriated $5,003 to complete the Maumee-Detroit road. The first step toward the construction of a road through the "Black Swamp," in accordance with the Act of Congress heretofore mentioned, was taken in 1825, when a mud-pike was constructed from the Sandusky river at Lower Sandusky to the Maumee river at Perrys- burg. This work, aside from clearing a roadway, was anything but a success ; since in wet seasons and when the frost had left the earth, it was no better, if not worse, than the original surface. This condition continued until 1838. In January of that year, the Ohio State Com- mittee on Canals, etc., made a report, recommending the appropriation of $4o,000 for the improvement, by macadamizing, of the road through the "Black Swamp," between Fremont and Perrysburg. Means therefor were then provided, and the work of macadamizing the road was commenced the following summer, under the superintendency of Gen. John Patterson. previously United States Marshal of Ohio, and subsequently Superintendent of the National Road through Central Ohio, and warden of the Ohio penitentiary. The work was continued for some years. and was extended east to the west line of the Western Reserve, at Bellevue, in 1842. It continued to be the only route for travel between the East and the great Northwest until the opening of the Cleveland and Toledo (now Lake Shore) railroad in 1853. The passenger on either of the railway lines which, diverging from Toledo, pass through portions of the "Black Swamp," can have no adequate conception of what travel over the same route was seventy-five years ago. The first contracts for macadamizing the Western Reserve and Maumee Road were let June 30. 1838, and covered that portion between Perrysburg and Portage River (now Woodville). The section between that river and Lower Sandusky was let in May, 1841. Commencing at the west end, the several sections were taken by the following parties : A. E. Wood, Sidney Phillips, Lewis Jennings, Nicholas Nufer and W. Kier, Jacob Mease, John Moore, Aaron Higgins, W. W. Watson, Robert Seaman, H. and A. Bixler. E. and F. Lemming, James Rose, Jacob Stoner. F. and AI. Wilson, Samuel Overmyer, David Beery, John Mohler, Daniel and I. Kent Seaman, B. P. Van Camp, Jacob Overmyer. and Seth Phelps: The job of the hill at Perrysburg was let to Cyrus Darling, and the one next to it to William P. Reznor. In 1827 the first road was laid out by Michigan authorities in Port Lawrence township, which then included the present city of Toledo and about half of the present Lucas county. The last official act of the Michigan officers of Port Lawrence township, before surrendering to the Ohio officials in 1835, was the laying out of a road from Tremainsville to Toledo, three miles and twenty-three chains in length, which road has developed into the present Cherry street, Toledo. This road connected with the road then recently opened along the river from Vistula and Port Lawrence to Fort Miami, and which was about 92 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY this time extended from Vistula to the village of Manhattan at the mouth of the Maumee river, and by the citizens of the last named place it was continued northward to the Harris line, there connecting with the National Road, which has been heretofore mentioned. All of these roads remain most important thoroughfares. They have been varied somewhat from their original courses, but they were generally wisely located, and the numerous later roads that have been made, intersecting and connecting with them, have but added to their importance. The streams were forded at the most convenient shallow places, and on the more prominent lines of travel primitive ferry boats were in use, particularly in high stages of water. In marshy places in these public roads, teams and wagons were kept from miring by sections of small trees laid across the roadway, often several layers deep. Such corduroy construction, though at best hard to travel over, was the only means at hand until the opening of ditches and the procuring of a smoother hard surface, which required many years of labor in preparation. At a meeting of the Board of County Commissioners of Lucas county, held Dec. 7, 1835, four county roads were established, and the viewers appointed for such roads included William Jones, Elisha Trowbridge, Robert Howard, Hiram Clark, Abram Shepler, James Thrasher, Elijah Clark, Samuel Searing, William P. Homer, Alvin Evans, Amasa Bishop, Baxter Bowman, Fred. A. Rew, Matthias S. Van Fleet, Daniel P. Ketcham, David Clute, John Emery, Philo B. Scott, Chandler L. Wing, Aaron H. Doolittle, Jonathan H. Jerome, John Van Fleet, John Pray, James Atchison, and John Taylor. On June 20, 1836, two appropriations for road improvements were made—one of twenty dollars between Toledo and Tremainsville, and one of $500, between Toledo .and the head of the Rapids—and for road purposes a tax levy was made of three mills on the dollar. On Dec. 5, 1836, county roads numbered 14, 15, 16 and 17 were established, with Wiley Hamilton, Daniel strayer, William Allman, Thomas Gleason, James Wolcott and Oscar White as viewers ; and an appropriation of $100 was made for the road from Upper Toledo to the State line, to be expended by Sanford L. Collins. At the March meeting of 1837 a survey was ordered for a road to extend from the northern termination of Monroe street, Toledo, to the intersection of the Indiana Road with the turnpike leading from Maumee to Monroe, with Coleman I. Keeler, Jr., Mareno Fox and John T. Baldwin as superintendents. On June 4, 1837, roads Nos. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 34, with Eli Hubbard, Marmaduke Bunting, Jacob Hallett, George Black, Jonathan Hampton, David Hubbard, John Wilsey, Thomas Wood, John Harters, Thomas Berry, William Stair, Noah A. Whitney, William Meeker, Nathaniel Leggett and Benjamin G. Lewis as viewers. On Feb. 6, 1838, fifty dollars was appropriated toward the erection of a bridge over Swan creek at its mouth in Toledo. On March 5, 1838, a new road was established from Toledo along the north bank of the Maumee river to the west line of the county. On Dec. 30, 1839, Adolphus Kraemer, of Hartford, Sandusky (now Ottawa) county ; Platt Card, of Toledo, and Isaac Knapp, of Lower Sandusky (now ROADS, CANAL, AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS - 93 Fremont), were appointed to establish a State road from the Maumee river opposite Manhattan to Lower Sandusky, via Hartford (now Oak Harbor). On March 2, 1840, road No. 47, in Sylvania, was established, with Andrew Printup, David Harroun and Hiram Parker as viewers, and William White as surveyor. Road No. 46, with Benjamin Joy, Townsend Ellis and Lyman Morse as viewers, and D. L. Wescott as surveyor ; and road 48, with Daniel Strayer, Harvey Kellogg and Samuel Divine as viewers, and William Martin as surveyor, were also established. On Dec. 8, 1840, Luther Dodge, R. A. Howard and Lyman Parcher were appointed viewers, and Chester Briggs surveyor, for a new road ; as were also Benjamin Joy, Hiram Parker and John Harroun, viewers for another road. On Sept. 4, 1843, A. Ritch was allowed $9.6o for 1,200 feet of oak plank, for bridge over Swan creek. In December, 1843, a road was established to run from the Temperance House in Whiteford township south past the house of Elder Showers, and to the Maumee road that passed Benjamin Joy's dwelling house ; Fred. Leonardson, Isaac Lewis and Eli Hubbard being appointed viewers, and William White surveyor for the same. On July 2, 1844, road No. 128 was established with viewers, James Thrasher, James Trowbridge and M. H. Butler ; road No. 129, with viewers, George Miller, Elijah Royce and Daniel Murphy ; road No. 131, viewers, John Freehart, William Martin and Nehemiah Allen ; road No. 13172, viewers, Edwin Fuller, Abram Shepler and William Allman. Road No. 133, since known as the "River Road," between Toledo and Maumee, was also authorized, with George B. Knaggs, S. B. Comstock and Junius Flagg as viewers. On June II, 1844, Haskell D. Warren; Townsend Ellis and Andrew Printup were appointed viewers for a new road in Sylvania ; Daniel Robbins, Jr., Michael Shields and H. D. Turk, for one in Providence ; E. D. Potter, Lyman Parcher and S. L. Collins, for a road in Oregon ; and Benjamin Joy, Alvah Evans and Henry Mercereau, for a road in Sylvania. At the session of Jan. 12, 1845, a road (No. 124) was established, to run from Springfield to Swanton, with Thomas Dobbins, Jacob Gnaggy and Solomon Salisbury as viewers, and Hiram Davis as surveyor. A new road (No. 126) was authorized from Bean creek, in Waterville, to the Henry county line, and of this road P. B. Scott, Phidias Nearing and David Robbins were viewers, and William Martin surveyor. On March 17, 1846, as viewers for a proposed road in Waterville, Welcome Pray, Lorenzo L. Morehouse and Alfred Eldred were appointed ; and for like purpose in Richfield, Oristen Holloway, Isaac Washburn and D. L. Westcott were appointed. At following sessions of the board of county commissioners appropriate consideration was given to the subject of public highways, and the present network of roads in Lucas county is the result of painstaking and intelligent work of the officials having the matter in charge. It is not possible to give in detail the development of highways, and an effort is made only to mention .a sufficient number to convey to the reader some idea of early days and pioneer conditions. 94 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY PLANK ROADS. Although the subject of railroads had begun to occupy the thoughts of the more sanguine and far-seeing, plank wagon roads were regarded as more practicable and better adapted to the wants of the community in reaching a market for agricultural products, of which at that time wheat was the principal. In common with many other sections of the West, Northwestern Ohio for several years was pervaded by a strong interest in such highways, as that kind of roadway was accepted as promising most for the development and improvement of the country. The -editor of the Toledo Blade thought that, with proper provision of plank roads in Ohio, no other system of improvement would be necessary. A correspondent of that paper, under the nom de plume of "Sylvania," had several articles therein, one of which was devoted to advocating the construction of a plank road from Toledo to Chicago, as preferable to a railroad. His reasons for such choice were : More than half of the first cost of a railroad would be paid out at the East. 2. When built, its track could be used only by the company that owned it. 3. Railroads had a tendency to prevent other good roads from being constructed along their lines, so that teams are prevented from coming in competition with railroads in carrying freight and passengers. 4. Railroads consume no coarse grains ; neither do they wear out any horses. 5. All materials for a plank road would be gathered on its line, and its cost expended there. 6. When finished, it would not be a monopoly, but there would be competition for stages and teamsters. 7. Many horses and wagons would be. worn out in doing the business of the road ; hay and oats would be consumed by said horses, and money paid out the whole length of the road to landlords for accommodations. 8. The country merchant, instead of calling on his customers for money to pay the railroad for taking his flour, pork, etc.. to market and returning his merchandise, would call on them to do his teaming, and thus he would sell more goods, and his customers would pay their store debts without money. It was with ideas similar to these pervading the minds of the people that plank roads were undertaken in Lucas county, as -elsewhere. The first movement here consisted of a meeting at Toledo, Feb. 3, 1848, of which James Myers was the chairman and William Baker the secretary. Delegates were present from Sylvania and other points on the Indiana road. Upon the appointment of a committee on resolutions, the meeting was addressed by H. D. Mason, of Toledo ; William M. White, of Sylvania ; and a Mr. Gay, of Hillsdale county, Michigan. The result of the meeting was an expression favorable to the construction of a plank road from Toledo to the Indiana State line ; and also to the southern portions of Lenawee and Hillsdale counties, Michigan, provided the requisite local aid could be secured ; and that the amount authorized by the legislature ($25,000) in aid of such road be furnished by Toledo. The proper committees were appointed, including T. U. Bradbury, D. O. Morton, Thomas Dunlap, J. H. Whitaker, Simeon Fitch, Jr., E. Haskell and E. B. Brown. Meetings for the promotion of this enterprise were held at differ- ROADS, CANAL, AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS - 95 ent points. At Sylvania, such meeting was participated in by John U. Pease, Horace Green, P. T. Clark, H. D. Warren, James White, C. D. Warren and Erastus Morse. In Royalton township (now Fulton county), Messrs. J. W. Scott and C. A. King, of Toledo, and J. G. Klinck, of Richfield, took part. Meetings were held at West Unity, Williams county ; in Amboy, in Camden, and in Brockville, Hillsdale county, Michigan. On Feb. 8, the citizens of Richfield, Lucas county, met, with Pliny Sanderson as chairman and Oristen Holloway as secretary, when it was resolved to take $3,000 stock in the Toledo & Indiana road, provided it pass through that township, and John G. Klinck was appointed to hold meetings in promotion of the enterprise, while L. B. Lathrop, Isaac Washburn and Henry H. Fuller were appointed a committee on the location of the road. A large meeting, representing several counties, was held at West Unity, Feb. 26, 1848, with M. D. Hibbard president and George Rockwell and Abner Ayres secretaries. A committee, including F. E. Kirtland, R. A. Howard and W. Trowbridge, of Lucas, was appointed to present a synopsis of a charter for the proposed road ; and a committee on resolutions, including Allen White and W. D. Herrick, of Lucas, was also appointed. Among the features of the charter were : Its perpetuity ; capital stock $150,000, "sufficient to build the road, with single or double track" ; width not to exceed sixty-six feet, with a track at least seven feet wide ; the rates of toll not to exceed those charged on the Western Reserve & Maumee road ; five miles of track to entitle to a gate ; Toledo to take the $25,000, and each township through which the road should pass, $3,000. Resolutions were adopted favorable to the enterprise and expressing the belief "that a double track would be necessary, at least seventeen and one-half feet wide, to do the business of the route." A large meeting was held at Toledo, March 1, 1848, with E. D. Potter in the chair and C. M. Dorr as secretary. C. W. Hill, H. D. Mason, W. J. Daniels and T. U. Bradbury constituted a committee on resolutions, whose report fayored a main track, to extend through Tremainsville and Sylvania, and thence westerly on or near the Indiana road, with such branches as might be deemed best ; and that the road enter the city on Adams and terminate at Water street. The meeting was addressed by C. W. Hill, James Myers, D. O. Morton, E. B. Brown, H. D. Mason and Dr. Jacob Clark. The first subscription by the city of Toledo to the capital stock of a corporation was that of $25,000 to the stock of the Toledo Plank Road. Company, authorized by an ordinance passed March 20, 1848 The bonds were to be of fifty dollars each (the same as the stock shares of the Plank Road Company), and it was provided, as an inducement to such subscription by the city, that the bonds should be for the period of three years exchangeable for the stock of the company. Lyman Wheeler, Daniel Swift, David B. Mooney, Charles W. Hill and D. 0. Morton were appointed to represent the city in all meetings of stockholders of the company. Two roads from Toledo were provided for by the charter. The one, known as the South Branch, was to pass through Springfield and 96 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY Swanton and the southern tier of townships now in Fulton county, to West Unity, near the east line of Williams county. The other, the North Branch, leaving Toledo by Cherry street, passed through Tremainsville, crossed Ten-mile creek on the old United States turnpike ; thence through the townships of Washington, Sylvania, Richfield, Amboy, Royalton and Chesterfield, to Morenci, Mich. The charter authorized the townships through which these lines should pass to become stockholders in the company, upon the vote of their electors to that effect ; and with the exception of Swan Creek on the south and of Chesterfield on the north branch, the several townships voted subscriptions of stock, of from '$2,000 to $4,000 each ; while that of Toledo was $25,000. The subscriptions made by individuals, and especially in Toledo, were prompt and liberal, ranging from $i,000 down. A contract was made with Judge A. V. Stebbins and Thomas D. Thomas, for building ten miles of the south branch, extending from Toledo to Thomas Ward's house on the Maumee road in Springfield. Four movable saw mills were purchased by the company for use, one for each branch of the road. The work on the north branch was done by the company, under the direction of a Mr. Collister, from Norwalk. This line lay 'through 'the Cottonwood Swamp, a body of land then supposed to be nearly valueless on account of the low and level surface, which made it very 'wet in ordinary seasons, but which, like the Black Swamp on the east side of the Maumee, has, through drainage and cultivation, come to be highly productive and valuable. The two lines were prosecuted with much energy to completion to the points of destination. Besides the means supplied by stock subscriptions by individuals and townships, bonds were issued, reliance for payment being placed on prospective receipts. Unfortunately, however, the estimates of means from that source were entirely too liberal. These had been based largely upon the traffic of like improvements in older sections in Ohio, Canada, and New York. But small amounts over expenses were realized in the few years when the road was in good condition ; and when, sooner than was expected, heavy repairs were required, the resources were exhausted in that direction. The result was, that after a struggle of ten or twelve years, the company went into the hands of a receiver, when it soon ceased to be. On the organization of the company, Judge James Myers was chosen president, and succeeding him were Henry Bennett, D. 0. Morton, John Fitch, and others. The officers of the company in 1854 were as follows : President and superintendent, Sanford L. Collins treasurer, Simeon Fitch, Jr. ; secretary, Charles O'Hara ; directors : S. L. Collins, William V. Dewey, Elias Richardson, S. H. Cately, J. H. Kennedy, C. B. Phillips, Edward Haskell, Simeon Fitch, Jr., P. H. Shaw, Pat. Carey and Daniel Segur. Besides those already named, there were prominent in the prosecution of the work, John H. Whitaker, William Baker, C. A. King, F. J. King, C. B. Phillips, A. V. Stebbins, and others ; and in the townships : S. L. Collins, of Washington ; L. B. Lathrop, of Richfield ; Elias Richardson, of Royalton ; Alanson Briggs, of Chesterfield ; James Baker, of Gorham ; and Messrs. Cullum, of Morenci, on the north branch, and F. E. Kirtland, of Swanton ; Messrs. Trowbridge, of York; ROADS, CANAL, AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS - 97 Wilden, of German, and Messrs. Borton, of West Unity, on the south branch. Besides these were many also active and helpful in the enterprise, whose names are not remembered in that connection. The chief trouble with the movement, as already stated, consisted in the overestimate of traffic on which its managers rested. The country through which it passed was largely an unbroken wilderness, a fact highly favorable in the supply of material for the road, but fatally unfortunate in the very limited business furnished upon which to rely for receipts. While, however, the enterprise was not a success financially for the company, it was eminently such in the important effect which it had in opening and improving the country through which it passed, giving to it advantages of market which otherwise would have been denied it for a long time. In this way, it was a profitable investment for •the townships through which it passed. The same is true of Toledo, which was made the mart of the increased traffic thus produced. In 1868, what was known as the Tremainsville Plank Road was constructed. It started at the old city line on Cherry street, Toledo, and also at the same time on what is now Collingwood avenue—the two uniting at the junction of those streets ; thence, crossing Ten-mile creek on the old turnpike, and following the line of the old North Branch road for a distance of five miles in the direction of Sylvania. This road was constructed under a law of 1867, authorizing plank or gravel roads to be constructed by county commissioners, upon petition of land-owners on the routes, the cost to be assessed upon the adjoining property, according to benefits, respectively. The cost of the Tremainsville road was nearly $21,000, or over $4,000 per mile. It was soon discovered that without better provision for keeping the road in repair than was furnished by the law, it must soon disappear by decay. To meet this need, the legislature authorized its transfer to the charge of a corporation—the Tremainsville Plank Road Company—in which each land-owner was made a stockholder to the amount of taxes paid for the road. William C. Earl was the first president of this company, Samuel Blanchard treasurer, and John Bladen secretary. Mr. Blanchard succeeded Mr. Earl as president. The company, under careful management, was financially a success, while it furnished an excellent thoroughfare of trade for Toledo. At the time it was forced to surrender its road it had $5,000 in its treasury. Unfortunately for the road, and for all dependent upon the facilities it supplied, it was suddenly closed out by the extension of the Toledo city line so as to include its tollgate and so much of its line as to render the remaining fraction useless to the company. The company asked the city for indemnity for such damage, and in the Court of Common Pleas obtained a judgment for the same, which was overruled by the Supreme Court, causing to the taxpayers on the line of the road a loss of about $21,000. Since the closing out of that plank road, as stated, a large portion of its route has been supplied with a substantial graveled roadway, which furnishes an excellent substitute for the former thoroughfare. That road connected with a like improvement at the Michigan State line, and extended to Monroe. It would be interesting if we were able to give the history of the 98 - MEMOIRS OF LUCAS COUNTY various projects of road building in the early days of Lucas county, but we are unable to do so. The plank roads and all others of like description have long since passed away, having performed their part in the development of the country, and it must be borne in mind that the growth of Lucas county and surrounding territory was by successive if not rapid steps of progress. None of these steps was of more importance than the locating and building of public roads, and it is the duty of the historian to mention these numerous steps, even though they do not possess for the present generation the interest which inspired them. Where, in the early years of the last century, the only evidences of human- occupancy were a few scattered Indian trails, and where the only travel by white persons had been by land-surveying parties, or perhaps an occasional Indian trader, we now find, every mile or so, well traveled roads, interspersed every few miles with school houses and all other evidences of a thickly settled, rich and prosperous community. Such has been the transformation in Lucas county during a period of less than a century. CANALS. From the first, the map of the western country and the position of Toledo thereon constituted the latter's chief strength—it being conceded that she held the key to the traffic of the Maumee river, which question, for a time stoutly disputed, was ere long clearly settled in her behalf. It was Toledo's advantages with reference to an eastern outlet for trade that constituted the chief attractions for the trade seeking such outlet, and the canals had their inception in the great course for trade supplied by Lake Erie and the Erie Canal. At the earliest stage of western settlement, an intelligent person could not survey Toledo's position at the western extremity of Lake Erie, consider the vast territory naturally tributary to her, and fail to be impressed with a sense of what nature had done for her. To such view was Toledo indebted for the great canal improvements which soon followed. Anything like a full history of the construction of the canals which constitute so important a part of Toledo's material growth and prosperity would be excluded here from lack of space, and hence only brief statements of facts can be given. The question of the first suggestion of canal connection of Lake Erie and the Wabash river has been discussed at different times with different claimants for the distinction. The subject was advanced by Washington at different times, and other persons early recognized the utility of such waterway. Generals Wayne and Harrison in their campaigns noted the feasibility of the project, as also did officers in the army of the latter. In 1817, the idea of the canal is said to have been suggested and steps taken in Indiana toward its construction. A book entitled "A History of the Late War in the Western Country," and published in 1816, in a chapter on Fort Wayne, said : "The Miami is navigable for boats from this place to the Lake, and the portage to the nearest navigable branch of the Wabash is but seven or eight miles, through a low, marshy prairie, from which the ROADS, CANAL, AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS - 99 water runs both to the Wabash and the St. Mary's. A canal, at some future day, will unite these rivers. and thus render a town at Fort Wayne, as formerly, the most considerable place in that country." In a letter to the Western Emigration Society, and said to have been written. in 1817 and published in the Western Spy (Cincinnati) in 1818, Maj. Benjamin F. Stickney, then acting as Indian agent at Fort Wayne, made this reference to the same subject : "The Miami River of the Lake is formed by a junction of St. Mary's and St. Joseph's rivers at Fort Wayne pursues a general course northeast, with its meanderings about 170 miles, discharging into Maumee bay. This river is navigable for yessels drawing five to six feet of water to Fort -Meigs, sixteen miles from its mouth, and for smaller craft to its head. Although it is not large, vet, in connection with the Wabash. the importance of its navigation will not be exceeded by any discharging into the northern lakes or the Ohio river. The Wabash pursues a diametrically opposite course to its junction with the Ohio. At the highest waters of those rivers, their waters are united at the dividing ridge, and you may pass with craft from one river to the other. There is a wet prairie or swamp, covered with grass, that extends from the headwaters of the Wabash to the St. Mary's, and discharges its water into both rivers about seven miles from one to the other. At low water this swamp is six to ten feet above the water in the rivers. It is composed of soft mud that can be penetrated twenty feet with a pole. Of course, it would be a small expense of labor to connect the waters of these two rivers by a canal that would he passable at the lowest water. Those rivers will be the great thoroughfare between the lakes and the Mississippi and, of course, will constitute an uninterrupted navigation from the Bay of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, except the short portage at the Falls of Niagara." Major Stickney communicated with Goyernor Clinton, of New York, in 1818, his ideas of a canal to connect the Maumee and Wabash rivers, and the idea so pleased the latter that he replied : " . . . I have found a way to get into Lake Erie and you have shown me how to get out of it. . . . You have extended my project boo miles. . . ." Capt. James Riley, then a surveyor, reported to Edward Tiffin,' surveyor-general, that on Nov. 19, 1820, he went southwest of Fort Wayne about one and one-half miles up the River St. Mary, crossed that stream and measured the distance to Little river, a tributary of the Wabash, "and navigable in times of high water without improvement," the distance being a little less than seyen miles. From the summit leyel in this course back to the River St. Mary he reported a decline of about twenty feet, for which two locks would be sufficient. A canal to connect these rivers, he estimated, "would not be beyond the means of a few individuals of enterprise and ordinary capital." During the season of 1824, a careful and continuous survey of what is now the Miami and the Wabash & Erie canal was made from the Ohio river at Cincinnati through the Miami valley to the Maumee river, at Defiance, and thence along the northwest bank of the river to the head of the bay and an estimate of the cost of the canal on this route was reported to the legislature of Ohio at the session of