150 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE retreating, immediately advanced upon us with Tecumseh at their head. I distinctly heard his voice, with which I was perfectly familiar. He yelled like a tiger, and urged on his braves to the attack. We were then but a few yards apart. We halted on the hard ground and continued our fire. After a few minutes of very severe fighting I discovered Colonel Johnson lying near, on the ground, with one leg confined by the body of his white mare, which had been killed, and had fallen upon him. My friend, Medard Labadie, was with me. 'We went up to the Colonel, with whom we were previously acquainted, and found him badly wounded, lying on his side, with one of his pistols lying in his hand. I saw Tecumseh at the same time, lying on his face, dead, and about fifteen or twenty feet from the Colonel. He was stretched at full length and was shot through the body, I think near the heart. The ball went out through his back. He held his tomahawk in his right hand (it had a brass pipe on the head of it) , his arm was extended as if striking and the edge of the tomahawk was stuck in the ground. Tecumseh was dressed in red speckled leggings and a fringed hunting shirt. He lay stretched directly toward Colonel Johnson. When we went up to the Colonel we offered to help him. He replied with great animation, 'Knaggs, let me lay here, and push on and take Proctor.' However, we liberated him from his dead horse, took his blanket from his saddle, placed him in it and bore him off the field. "I had known Tecumseh from my boyhood; we were boys together. There was no other Indian killed immediately aroundwhere Colonel Johnson or Tecumseh lay, THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 151 though there were many near the creek, a few rods back of where Tecumseh fell. I had no doubt then, and have none now, that Tecumseh fell by the hand of Colonel Johnson. "The records show that Tecumseh's character was that of a gallant and intrepid warrior, an honest and honorable man, and his memory is respeeted by all who personally knew him." THE BATTLE OF FALLEN TIMBERS Many versions have been given of the battle of Fallen Timbers, and anything relating to it and Mad Anthony Wayne are yet read with interest. The following are recollections of the battle by one of Wayne's cavalrymen to an old pioneer. That which he related of that memorable event in the history of the UnitedStates gives information regarding the fight that has not as yet appeared in history. "It will be seen that the place at which Turkey Foot fell is clearly stated. The Americans, said the informant, were under the command of Wayne, who personally gave orders. While the Indians were led to battle by Turkey Leg, or more properly speaking, Turkey Puersuer, known as Turkey Foot in history. Little Turtle is said to have been in supreme command. On August 16, 1794, Wayne left Fort Adams and on August 19 he camped at Roche-de-Boef, four miles above Fallen Timbers. He was now within eight miles of Fort Miami, which was garrisoned by British troops. Accordingly, on August. 20, Wayne having moved down from Roche-de-Boef to Fallen Timbers, where light log fortifications were built for the purpose of misleading and de- 152 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE coying the Indians. A few men were kept in sight by Wayne inside the fortifications, the main body being concealed. The Indians crossed the prairie by a rapid movement and attempted to carry the fortification by storm, but at the opportune moment Wayne ordered his troops, two thousand in number, to fire upon the Indians, and volley after volley was delivered, the fire from the guns being so withering that the Indians were compelled to break, and were dismayed on observing that Wayne's cavalry, four hundred in number, which he had concealed on his left, had deployed on the prairie in their rear, leaving the only way of escape down the river bottom. The battle was then practically over, and became a rout and slaughter. Wayne's stentorian voice was heard above the din of battle shouting "Charge, bayonet, drive them to h—" The contest was then with the bayonet in the hands of the American soldier on one side and the tomahawk and scalping knife in the hands of the painted savage on the other. How well this scene, placed upon canvas, would portray the character of the Indian battles on the frontier of our country, of which so little is known by the youth of our day; of the struggles for supremacy by the white man contending with the savage. But more thrilling still is that of the fall of the intrepid chief, Turkey Foot, at the battle of the Fallen Timbers. While the great battle was at its height, and the Indian forces were beginning to give way and had retreated to near the foot of the ridge (Presque Isle), the Chief Turkey Foot, who commanded the confederated forces at this time, sprang upon the rock (Turkey Foot) and swung his tomahawk THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 153 above his head, called upon his warriors to drive back the Long Knives and defend their ancient council fires and the graves of their fathers. And when uttering these magic words to his braves, his breast was pierced by a rifle ball and he fell, surrounded by his chiefs and warriors who attempted to carry him from the field, knowing that the day was lost. But returning consciousness warned him of their object, and he commanded them to lay him by the rock, "for the Great Manito has called and I am going." His faithful followers left him, with his head pillowed upon the stone, and his life blood crimsoned its mossy surface, while his brave defenders fought over their fallen chief, contending against bayonet with the knife and tomahawk until outnumbered, they were forced to retire, leaving the body of their chief in the hands of the enemy. The incidents occurring in the very brief reference to the contest, with much more of the details, were given by the ehiefs and warriors who took part in those bloody contests for supremacy on the now quiet banks of the beautiful river. What a scene for the painter's brush: the contest about the rock, the fall of the great chief at the close of the great battle of Fallen Timbers. This was even in after years a memorable spot for all the tribes of the northwest, as no Indian passed this rock without halting, and with a silent, impressive look, depositing a small portion of kinnikanick upon its surface, and then passed on the trail, which led within a few feet of the grave of the chief. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 155 TURKEY FOOT ROCK A large boulder which marks the battle of Fallen Timbers lays on the north side of the road at the foot of Presque Isle Hill, about three miles up the river from the Village of Maumee, where General Wayne achieved his grand victory of the allied Indian tribes of the northwest on August 20, 1794. The Indians were commanded principally by Blue Jacket and Little Turtle. The once powerful tribe of Wyandotts lost all their chiefs, nine in number. It is recorded that one of the bravest of these Indian chiefs, called Turkey Foot, was slain by Wayne's soldiers near this rock, and that after Wayne left the field, a few scattering members of the Wyandott nation made their way back to the spot where their Chief had fallen, and carved what resembles turkey feet with their hatchets. These impressions of the turkey's feet are still to be seen. SPEECH OF THE LITTLE TURTLE, AN INDIAN CHIEF The following specimen of Indian wisdom and pathetic eloquence, was addressed to a committee appointed by the Society of Friends, "For Promoting the Improvement and Civilization of the Indian Natives," at Baltimore, in 1802. It presents a striking mirror to the contemplation_ of their white brethren. The example of the red chiefs of the forest, and the black chiefs of Hayti, in excluding "the poison of the moral world" from their people, deserves approbation and imitation. "Brothers and Friends: When our forefathers first met on this island, your red brethren were very numerous. 156 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE But since the introduction amongst us of what you call spirituous liquors, and what we think may justly be called POISON, our numbers are greatly diminished. It has destroyed a great part of your red brethren. "My Brothers and Friends, we plainly perceive that you see the very evil which destroys your red brethren; it is not an evil of our own making; we have not placed it amongst ourselves; it is evil placed amongst us by the white people; we look to them to remove it out of our country. We tell them, brethren, fetch us useful things; bring goods that will clothe us, our women and our children, and not this evil liquor that destroys our reason, that destroys our health, that destroys our lives. But all we can say on this subject is of no service, nor gives relief to your red brethren. "My Brothers and Friends, I rejoice to find that you agree in opinions with us, and express an anxiety to be, if possible, of service to us in removing this great evil out of our country; an evil which has had so much room in it, and has destroyed so many of our lives, that it causes our young men to say, 'We had better be at war with the white people; this liquor which they introduce into our country, is more to be feared than the gun and the tomahawk. There are more of us dead since the treaty of Greenville, than we lost by the six years' war before. It is all owing to the introduction of this liquor amongst us.' "Brothers, when our young men have been out hunting, and are returning home loaded with skins and furs, on their way, if it happens that they come along where some of this whiskey is deposited, the white man who sells it, tells them to take a little drink; some of them will say no, I do not THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 157 want it; they go on till they come to another house, where they find more of the same kind of drink; it is there offered again; they refuse; and again the third time; but finally, the fourth or fifth time, one accepts of it, and takes a drink, and getting one, he wants another; and then a third and a fourth, till his senses have left him. "After his reason comes back again to him, when he gets up and finds where he is, he asks for his peltry; the answer is, `You have drank them.' 'Where is my gun?' `It is gone.' `Where is my blanket?' `It is gone.' `Where is my shirt?' `You have sold it for whiskey!' Now, Brothers, figure to yourselves what condition this man must be in. He has a family at home, a wife and children who stand in need of the profits of his hunting. What must be their wants, when he, himself, is even without a shirt?" DESCENDANTS OF LITTLE TURTLE Of all the great Indian chiefs known in history the greatest of them all was Little Turtle. In war lie was honorable, and as a statesman he had no equal. He had a keen, penetrating mind, quick to analyze a proposition in diplomacy, and a sturdy defender of his race. Endowed with remarkable gifts in debate, it is a matter of history that he would have been enabled to cope with the most sagacious state minister of a European court. His Indian name was Me-she-kun-nogh-quak for Little Turtle. He was the leader who overthrew the Federal armies in the expeditions of 1790 and 1791, which struck with dismay the white inhabitants of the exposed frontiers. In the third campaign he met defeat at the hands of 158 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE Mad Anthony Wayne, and at the treaty of Granville he proved himself an intellectual giant. Little Turtle was of mixed Indian blood, half Mohican and half Miami, and was chief of the Miami tribe. He commanded the Indians at the battle of Defiance and took an active part in the battle of Fallen Timbers. He represented his people in the negotiations that resulted in a treaty of peace at Granville, while General Wayne represented the United States. He also represented his tribe (the Miamis) in negotiations of the treaty at Fort Wayne in 1803, while Wm. H. Harrison represented the United States. So strong and firm was his friendship for the United States after this treaty that General Harrison, in his order to his troops to destroy Little Turtle's town, gave caution that no buildings erected by the United States for the benefit of Little Turtle should he destroyed. He died at Ft. Wayne, at which place he had great land interests, and was buried there by the commanding officer with all the honors of war due to his high character and rank. It is certainly a proud distinction for anyone to have the blood of Little Turtle permeating through their veins, as he was the greatest aboriginal American. There are people in Maumee and vicinity who can boast of being lineal descendants of the Great Chief. Chief Little Turtle had only one child, a daughter, who married Capt. William Wells. The appellation given him was Black Snake. He was a wily, sagacious and intrepid warrior. He was captured at the age of twelve years when he was an inmate of the family of Hon. Nathaniel Poke of Kentucky,. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 159 being an adopted son. He was adopted by an Indian family, and when he grew to manhood married Little Turtle's daughter. He fought on the side of Little Turtle in the contests with Generals Harmer and St. Clair. At the approach of Wayne's army in 1794 his recollections of early ties of country and kindred became so great that he manfully went to his father-in-law, Little Turtle, and told him he would go over to the whites. He took high rank as captain of the spies in Wayne's army. After the treaty of peace at Granville he was joined by his wife and family. He afterwards was a government Indian agent at Fort Wayne. In 1812 he was in command of Fort Wayne. When he heard of the order of General Hull to evacuate Fort Dearborn, he made a rapid march to reinforce Captain Heald. On his way he and his Miamis were attacked by five hundred Pottawatomies, two-thirds of the white people were slain or wounded, and provisions and baggage lost. He was beside his niece, Mrs. Captain Heald; he bade her good-bye and dashed into the thickest of the fight. In the midst of the fight he saw a young Indian tomahawk twelve white children that were in a wagon. To avenge their murder he rushed into the Indian camp and deliberately shot Indians. His horse was killed and he was severely wounded in the leg. A young Indian warrior tomahawked him, jumped upon him, cut out his heart and ate a portion of it. This was on August 12, 1812. He was buried at Chicago near the spot where he was killed. A costly monument was erected to his memory. He was master of the English language and a valuable interpreter. Captain William Wells has four children: Anna, Re- 160 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE becca, Mary and William Wayne Wells. Mary Wells married James Wolcott. Captain Wells also had an adopted daughter, Jane Wells. James Wolcott settled in Maumee in 1826, having come from Ft. Wayne. He married the granddaughter of Little Turtle, Mary Wells. In 1839 he was elected a Lucas County Common Pleas judge. In 1827 he erected the Wolcott dwelling on River Tract No. 21. In 1839 he built the steamboat "General Harrison," and in 1843 he built the steamboat "James Wolcott." Mrs Mary Wells Wolcott died at Maumee February 9, 1843, at the age of forty-three years. Mr. Wolcott died at Maumee January 5, 1873, at the age of eighty-three years. Judge James Wolcott had five children: William W., Frederick A., Henry C., Mary Ann, who married Smith Gilbert, and James W. Wolcott. Mary Ann was the great granddaughter of Little Turtle. She was educated at Canandaigua Seminary and perfected herself in music. She lived at the old Wolcott homestead in Maumee until her death, which occurred April 30, 1891. She was born June 6, 1827. Mrs. Gilbert had very dark hair, a piercing eye, and her every, movement bespoke the royal blood from which she came. She had a firm, quick step and was very graceful. Little Turtle, the great chief of the Miamis, died on July 14, 1812. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 161 A HEROIC SACRIFICE Do you, an American, love to hear of early days, and of the wonderful courage displayed by those who took part in delivering this Maumee River Valley from the possession of a race, which, according to the laws of nature, have had their time on earth, and that they were to yield unto a populace of a strong and thrifty people, who devote a great part. of their lives to memorialize the good and the brave? Do you, the people of Maumee, today realize at what a sacrifice of life and of suffering, that you are now enjoying in peace and contentment, the privilege of this beautiful situation, and the comforts of magnificent homes? Do you ever stop to consider that you are daily treading over ground that was but a short tinge ago consecrated to civil humanity with the blood of hundreds of American boys, that the highest moral standard of society might prevail? From the year 1774, when Colonel Alexander McKee deserted the American people and allied himself with the renegades, Matthew Elliott and Simon Girty, as an Indian agent for the British and established an agency house in what is now the Village of Maumee, at or near the foot of Ford Street, and there supplied the savages with fire arms, ammunition, knives and tomahawks with which to raid and murder Americans, and whiskey was given as reward, and scalps were bought at stated prices until 1794, when General Anthony Wayne made that grand drive down the north side of the Miami of Lake Erie (Maumee River) and routed an overwhelming army of Indians and British at Fallen Timbers (Turkey Foot Rock) on the 20th day of August, and drove them with great slaughter over the ground now 162 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE occupied by the inhabitants of Maumee, destroyed the British agency house and compelled that traitor Colonel McKee to seek safety with the British at Fort Miami, while General Anthony Wayne made a successful campaign against a horde of Indians with their British allies. But he failed to destroy the British stronghold, Fort Miami, or to create a very great impression in the minds of the enemy as to the danger of their continued aggression; nor was there any cessation of their influence of the savages, and for nineteen years the British succeeded in keeping the savages in a war-like temper. There was no lasting peace established until on that memorable spring morning, the 5th of May, 1813, when all nature spread a beautiful spray of meliorating loveliness over all things; when the illustrious Colonel William Dudley and his brave Kentuckians made the last assault on the British and their Indian allies by attacking their batteries and destroying eleven of the largest cannon, two being twenty-four pounders, two eighteen pounders, and three howitzers, one eight-inch, the other two five-and-a-half inches. But being so hard pressed by the British and Indians pouring a terrific fire into the American ranks from the protection of the adjacent woods, they were unable to complete the destruction of all the battery. This, the brave Kentuckians would not stand without some resistance, being possessed of the spirit of the American patriot, and confidence and courage of a soldier, and it is not presumed that these American boys would pursue the enemy for thirty days, then be lillie-hearted under the fire before their orders THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 163 had been fully carried out, so they proceeded to defend their position. Colonel Dudley was unable to restrain the enthusiasm of his men. The savages were reinforced by the British and the battle raged furiously on all sides. Dudley was severely wounded and afterwards scalped by the Indians, and being without a leader, the brave Kentuckians were made prisoners, at or near where the Public Library now stands. The massacre started with the severest cruelty. They were marched to the British Fort Miami under a guard of fifty British soldiers, where they were maltreated in every conceivable manner known to the savages. The dead and alive, heedless of their wounds, were stripped of their elothing, and those that could walk were taken. Some of the dead were eaten by the savages of the Minoumine tribe, or left for food for the wolf dogs that followed the aborigines. About forty of the Americans were murdered within the confines of Fort Miami, in the way of amusement for the savages, and in the presence of the British guards, General Proctor and the renegade Colonel Elliott and other British officers. This description does not bear out the statement of the British officers that they buried the American dead. Four days after the battle, on the 9th, the British and Indians had left the north side of the river. The fragments of forty-five of Dudley's men were found by the Ameriean soldiers and conveyed across the river and buried near Fort Meigs. Proctor's army consisted of five hundred and twenty-two regulars, four hundred and sixty-one militia, and about 164 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE two thousand Indians on the north side of the river. Dudley had eight hundred and sixty-six men, seven hundred and sixty-one were raw recruits with only thirty days training, and only one hundred and five were trained soldiers. About one hundred and ninety-six were killed in battle, and about the same number were murdered after their capture as were killed in the battle. The commanders of the American army foresaw the disaster that would befall them if the bombardment of Fort Meigs was permitted to continue. With five thousand savages and fifteen hundred British soldiers at the foot of the rapids, it became evident without saying that a grand sally must be executed. The critical moment had arrived in the battle, and the victory of Fort Meigs was of the greatest importance. Had General Harrison been defeated, the battle of the Thames would never have been fought. The whole northwest would have been in the hands of the British and Indians, and the frontiers along the whole continent would not have been safe against the attacks of the savages. The capture of Fort Meigs by General Proctor would have lighted the torch in all of the northwest, and Colonel Dudley, with nearly eight hundred untrained men, was chosen to undertake this hazardous task of destroying the battery. The move was absolutely necessary. The sacrifice must be made, and it was a glorious influence that directed the American soldiers to offer their lives on the altar of American civilization. It was the last stand for Proctor and his army, and Fort. Meigs was saved from capture. But it was a sorrowful conquest which subscribed to the most THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 165 glorious pages. of American history, and there are no grass covered mounds to mark the place of their victory, so tread softly. Somewhere beneath this moss-covered sward in silence sleeps a brave, who in the darkest hour never felt a fear. Tread lightly, this is hallowed ground. We know not where a sacred spot may be, but the spirit of centuries may hear and awaken to the fragments of memories, only the waters as they pass by seem to breathe a solemn dirge. But we commemorate the field with music and song where men laid down their lives for honor or gold, but never a rose for the hero that redeemed the new world. WHITMORE KNAGGS Whitmore Knaggs was the son of George Knaggs and Rachel Sly and was born at Maumee in 1763. It was here where George Knaggs, an Englishman of good family, brought his wife in 1760. George B. Knaggs, the son of Whitmore Knaggs, was born at Detroit, -Mich., January 4th, 1800, and came to the Maumee in 1816 to assist his father to erect the first frame house on the Maumee. This was a two-story house situated on the west bank of the river about four hundred feet west of the Terminal bridge. George Knaggs was at Fort Campbell (Miami) in 1763 at the time the fort was surrendered by the French to the British. He was a noted Indian interpreter and spoke six or seven Indian languages, besides English and French. He was known to have great influence with the Indians. Whitmore Knaggs was adopted by the Ottawa Indians as a 166 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE member of their nation and was held in high esteem by the Indians of the Maumee region. In July, 1784, the head men of the Ottawa nation, in consideration of love and affection, deeded him a tract of land in Maumee, on part of which Fort Miami is situated. This tract of land was equivalent to 3,684 acres. Whitmore Knaggs was appointed a United States Indian Agent when he was 18 years of age and the appointment was made by President Washington. He was official interpreter for the United States Army under General Anthony Wayne and was with Wayne's Army at the battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. He was also at Frenchtown on the River Raisin January 22, 1813, when he acted as guide to General Winchester at the massacre, where he barely escaped death. An Indian warrior, whom Knaggs had befriended, interfered for his protection. About 1819 Whitmore Knaggs gave his son, George B. Knaggs, a farm on the Maumee River just below the site of old Fort Miami, which was a part of the 3,684 acres granted him by the Ottawa Indians in 1784, and gave to his son, John, a farm on the Maumee, below that of George B. Knaggs. In 1819 George B. Knaggs was made an Indian chief. After being elected chief, he signed some important treaties at Saginaw, Mich. Soon after coming to the Maumee to assist his father to erect his house, George B. Knaggs went into partnership with his brother John as Indian traders near Fort Miami, where his father was born. He soon gave up the Indian trade and became a clerk at Maumee for John E. Hunt. In 1825 he built a house on his father's land below Fort Miami. In 1828 he married THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 167 Matilda Lee of Penn Yan, N. Y. Mrs. Knaggs died in 1847. In 1849 he married Miss Laura Bosley of Bosley's Mills, Genesee, Livingston County, N. Y. Among the many distinguished persons who were Mr. Knagg's friends and guests at his Maumee home were General William Henry Harrison, who was entertained during his campaign for the presidency in 1840; Richard M. Johnston, vice-president under President Van Buren; Governor Lewis Cass, Mrs. Cass and their daughter Bell; Mrs. George B. McClellan, wife of General McClellan; Governor Lucas of Ohio (at the time of the Ohio and Michigan War) ; Governor Hull of Michigan and his nephew, Isaac Hull (Isaac lived at Maumee) ; and General George Croghan (the hero of Fort Stephenson at Sandusky) , and many other distinguished persons. Miss Antoinette Knaggs, daughter of George B. Knaggs, granddaughter of Whitmore Knaggs, their only child, is a very superior lady. After her father's death, she was educated at the Ursuline Convent at Toledo. She was elected to the Board of Education for the Third Ward of Maumee and served six years. She still lives in the grand old mansion erected by her father in 1825, where Mr. Knaggs died in 1866 and Mrs. Knaggs followed her partner to life's close in the same old mansion in 1916. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 169 DR. HORATIO CONANT Dr. Horatio Conant was born in Norwich, Ct., Nov. 24, 1785. From there he removed with his parents in 1800 to Middlebury, Vt. He graduated at Middlebury College in 1810; also graduated in medicine at New Haven, Ct., in 1812. He served as assistant surgeon of U. S. Volunteers a short time after the battle of Plattsburgh, War of 1812-13. In 1816 he came to Maumee. where he was associated with Almon Gibbs in the mercantile business. He continued in that business about one year; he also practiced medicine at the same time, and in the winter of 1817 and 1818 he taught the village school. Dr. Conant was one of the earliest schoolmasters in the Maumee Valley and probably the first teacher in Maumee City. He was paid proportionally by the parents of the pupils, and was to be the equivalent to $25.00 per month and board. Although at different periods he held several official positions, collector of customs, justice of the peace for nearly half a century. Dr. Conant acted as clerk of the Court of Common Pleas on the 7th day of September, 1835, in the organization of Lucas County. He was also appointed as the first clerk of the county. He made his profession his chief business. His professional visits extended up the Maumee River to Defiance, and north to the River Raisin (Monroe, Mich.), and the same distance east and south. In one instance in making a horseback trip to Defiance he swam no less than eight streams. At Defiance he left his horse and purchased a canoe in which he floated down to his home. Dec. 17, 1817, he married Mrs. Eliza Forsyth, 170 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE widow of Captain Forsyth. Mrs. Conant died April 4, 1828. On Aug. 3, 1832, he married Mrs. Eunice Upton. In the discharge of his professional duties, in the early settlement of the country, when streams were without bridges and the roads in bad condition, he encountered many exposures and perils. He enjoyed general good health. He witnessed the transformation of the country from a wilderness to a state of high cultivation. Dr. Conant aided in planting white settlements and civilization in this then wilderness country. In 1848 he was elected mayor of Maumee City. He also represented Maumee City at a convention held at Chicago -July 5, 1847, with reference to the improvements of the harbors of Lake Erie, which included also in its aims the navigable rivers. Mrs. Eunice (Upton) Conant died June 8, 1877. Dr. Conant died Dec. 10, 1879, at the age of 94 years. The pages of the Maumee City records afford evidence that Dr. Conant was among the most public spirited citizens, as lie was one of the earliest physicians and also the earliest merchant in the valley. ANDREW COFFINBERRY Andrew Coffinberry acquired the soubriquet of the "Good Count Coffinberry" by reason of his kindly nature, genteel address and extraordinary neatness of dress. He was born in Virginia in 1788 and removed to Mansfield about 1808. After the war he studied law there, and for nearly half a century practiced in many of the counties of northwestern Ohio. He removed to Maumee City in 1841 and practiced his profession until about the time the seat of THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 171 justice was removed from Maumee City to Toledo. He was very much interested in the border controversy between the State of Ohio and the Territory of Michigan, and accompanied Governor Lucas as counsel in his military expedition to the frontier, for the purpose of vindicating the title of the State of Ohio to the harbor of Toledo in 1835. His boyhood was passed upon the extreme verge of western civilization. He was indifferent to the acquisition of wealth, fearless and outspoken in the expression of his convictions on all subjects. He was without malice and there was no taint of bitterness or ill nature in his composition. He was faithful to all his engagements, zealous and efficient in the cause of his client. His habits were always good, his life simple and pure, but amongst all his compeers no one enjoyed social occasions more than he, whilst his quaint wit and pleasant temper contributed largely to the enjoyment of others. Many good stories are told of him. A gentleman related the following anecdote of the count: "The dignity and grace of the count, in addressing a court or jury, were conspicuous, and even his attitude was very marked. In the year 1840 he was the Whig candidate for the state Senate, and Colonel Wm. Sawyer was the Democratic candidate for Congress against Patrick G. Goode. Colonel Sawyer, having been advertised to address a meeting at Maumee City, the friends of Mr. Coffinberry challenged Sawyer to engage in a joint discussion. Colonel Sawyer promptly accepted the challenge. The odds were unequal, as the count, although a lawyer of acknowledged power, possessed none of the elements which form the successful politician; while Sawyer was an old campaigner and 172 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE thoroughly posted on public measures and party issues, and on all the arts and devices of the politician. "Under the arrangement Sawyer made the opening speech. He charged upon the leaders of the Whig party, that they were aristocrats, controlling the banking and moneyed interests of the country, and that their professed sympathy with the real dwellers in log cabins was a sham and a fraud. The wire pullers of the Whig party, he said, occupied the palaces of the land, and were arrayed in purple and fine linen. (Here he gave a significant glance at the count himself, designed to convey the intimation that he was one of 'em.') As to myself,' continued Sawyer, 'I was horn in a log cabin, and I yet reside in a log cabin. My blacksmith shop, where, when at home, my circumstances .compel me to severe toil about twelve hours out of twenty-four, is a log cabin. My associations, sympathies and hopes have ever been and now are, identified with the pioneers of the country, and the occupants of log cabins. Can my highly aristocratic friend, who is to follow me in this discussion, and who resides in a lordly mansion almost within the sight of this audience, say this for himself?' "Slightly embarrassed and vexed, the count arose, struck his characteristic attitude, and commenced by depreciating the personal allusions in which his friend Colonel Sawyer, had thought proper to indulge. To get even with his opponent, lie tossed his head back to a point that looked towards the zenith and exclaimed with great emphasis, `Yes, gentlemen, if there is any merit in having been born in a log cabin, I, too, Mr. Chairman, and ladies and fellow citizens, was horn in a log cabin—in the first instance.' The THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 173 latter part of the sentence being one that he was accustomed to use in his opening addresses before courts and juries. This incident virtually closed the political controversy between Mr. Coffinberry and Colonel Sawyer, and for that campaign, at least, virtually placed the former upon the retired list." Andrew Coffinberry, the good count, died at Findlay, May 12, 1856. at the age of 68 years. JAMES M. COFFINBERRY The following is a sketch of James M. Coffinberry, one of Maumee's distinguished citizens. James M. Coffinberry, son of Andrew Coffinberry, was born in Mansfield, Ohio, in 1818. He studied law with his father, who located in Maumee City in 1841, and opened a law office with his father. He very early gained the public confidence, being esteemed for his personal and professional integrity. He was elected to the Maumee City Council in 1844 and served two years. He took a prominent part in the affairs of the city, and in 1845 was elected and served as prosecuting attorney for Lucas County for several years. In 1855 he removed to Cleveland where he entered very readily into a good practice, and took high rank at the bar, which numbered among its members some of the best lawyers in the state. In 1861 he was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Cuyahoga County and performed the duties of the office for five years. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 175 JOHN ELLIOTT HUNT John Elliott Hunt, was born at Ft. Wayne, Ind., within the fort, April 11, 1798. He was the seventh of a family of eleven children of Thomas and Eunice (Willington) Hunt of Watertown, near Boston, Mass. The father of John Elliott Hunt was Colonel Thomas Hunt of the First regiment of the United States Infantry. He was a volunteer and took part in the battle of Lexington, and also rendered service at the battle of Bunker Hill, where he was wounded. Subsequently, under General Anthony Wayne, at the storming of the British fort at Stoney Point on the Hudson, he received a bayonet wound. In 1793 he received a commission from President Washington as Major. Colonel Hunt was in command of Fort Defiance, eighteen months after the battle of Fallen Timbers. In 1796 he was ordered to the command of Fort Wayne, which post he held until 1798. General John E. Hunt spent his earlier years chiefly with an older brother, Henry Hunt, merchant of Detroit, was married at the house of Governor Lewis Cass, Detroit, on the 29th day of May, 1822, to Miss Sophia Spencer, daughter of Dr. Spencer of Connecticut. In 1816 John E. Hunt came to the town of Maumee where he subsequently resided, and at once started in business, and for many years was in the mercantile trade, which was largely with the Indians with whom his relations were ever friendly. He, in a large measure, possessed their confidence and regard. He was the first senator from this district after the organization of Lucas County in 1835, serving two years, as he also did in that body in 1839 and 1841, where he took a 176 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE prominent position. He was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1850 and 1851. In 1851 he was elected treasurer of Lucas County, serving as such for two years. In 1837 he was elected by the Legislature a Major General of the Eighteenth Division, Ohio Militia. Mr. Hunt resided at Maumee City from 1816 until 1853. On March 25, 1839, he was elected mayor of Maumee City. He at once organized a movement in an effort to remove the county seat from Toledo to Maumee City. On June 17, 1840, the proposals of John E. Hunt and others, with a bond of $10,000.00 for the erection of county buildings at Maumee City were accepted, and for that purpose he donated $3,000.00, and July 2, 1844, his bond was returned as the agreement with the commissioners had been complied with. Mrs. Hunt was born in western Virginia in 1796 and died at Toledo Dec. 25, 1876. Probably among all pioneers of the Maumee Valley, no one brought a higher degree of personal grace than did she. She was eminently a Christian. She was united with the Presbyterian church while quite young. upon coming to Maumee City, there being no church of that denomination, she cast her lot with the Methodist Episcopal church, and ever after retained such connection, in which she was specially active and useful. For fifty-four years she was permitted to walk with the partner of her choice, who followed her to life's close July 22, 1877. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 177 JUDGE JAMES WOLCOTT James Wolcott was born at Torrington, Ct., November 3rd, 1789. He was the son of Guy and Abigail Allyn Wolcott, who migrated to Tallmadge, Summit County, Ohio, from Litchfield, Ct., in 1822. He was one of the early pioneers of the Maumee Valley. He came to Maumee City in 1826 and settled on River Tract No. 21. He was a man of intelligence and being of an enterprising disposition, he soon became interested in several business adventures. He engaged in the forwarding and commission business. He was also a dealer in dry goods, groceries and hardware. In 1839 he built the steamboat "General Harrison" of 250 tons burthen, and in 1843 he built the steamer "James Wolcott'' of 100 tons burthen. In 1838 when Maumee City was incorporated he was elected to the City Council and on the 26th day of March he was chosen the first president to preside over that body. In 1839 he was elected a Lucas County Common Pleas judge. He was also an enthusiastic worker in an effort to remove the Lucas County seat from Toledo to Maumee City and made a very liberal donation toward the erection of the county buildings at Maumee City. In 1827 he erected the Wolcott dwelling on River Tract No. 21, on the bank of the Maumee, overlooking a great amphitheatre of the most beautiful natural scenery in northwestern Ohio. The building is somewhat antiquated in style. It is two stories high and about twenty-eight by forty feet in size with a portico in front with an upper veranda. The structure was built of hewed logs with lap siding on the outside and lathed and plastered on the inside. In this THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 179 mansion Mr. and Mrs. Wolcott resided until the close of life's journey. He was married at St. Louis on the 8th day of March, 1821, to Miss Mary Wells, daughter of Captain William Wells and the granddaughter of the great Miami Chief, Little Turtle. Many a festive gathering has the old mansion witnessed in its palmy days. When the last century was yet young, the society that gathered there was made up of the families of General John F. Hunt, Judge Robert Forsyth, Curtis Hull, Isaac Hull, the Spaffords, the Waites, the Hubbies and many of the most prominent inhabitants of the community. The society of that day was somewhat different from that of today. When the Lucas County Court was in session at Maumee City, many of the prominent members of the bar from all over the state were present and then society was at its gayest. Parties and balls made a continual round of pleasure. One of the rooms in the Wolcott home deserves to be called the Colonial room. The quaint old piano is over one hundred years old and is the first one brought to the northwest. The old-fashioned clock on the mantel is in keeping with the other furniture—even a shelf of books that have some rare old poems; Little Turtle's tomahawk and pipe and many other articles that are now only reminders of early days. Within a few hundred feet of the Wolcott home was the first building ever erected in this section of the country for the Protestant Episcopal Church and Society of Maumee and Miami City—a little building known as the chapel by the Episcopalians. From this humble little church all the other Episcopal churches in the vicinity THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 181 branched out. Later, when St. Paul's was built on Wayne Street, this chapel was used as a school room where children were taught the quaint old manners of the day. Mrs. Wolcott died February 9th, 1843, at the age of 43 years. Mr. Wolcott followed his partner at the age of 83 years. Mrs. Frederika Gilbert Hull, a grand-daughter, widow of William Hull, and a great granddaughter, Rilla Ellen Hull, still occupy the grand old mansion. JOHN CHURCH ALLEN John Church Allen was born in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., January 27, 1809. In 1815 he came with his father and family to Ohio and settled at Zanesville. March 10, 1835, John C. Allen arrived at Maumee City where he soon opened a grocery and provision store, and early the following year he opened a tavern in the Central House. In 1839 he sold his tavern business to Elijah Clark, and continued in the provision business on Erie Street (now Harrison Avenue) in company with a Mr. Gibbons, until lie moved his merchandise to the corner of Wayne and Conant Streets, where he continued in the mercantile trade until 1872, when he retired at the age of 62. Mr. Allen always took a prominent part in the affairs of the city. He was elected a member of the first city Council in 1838. On the 29th day of March, 1847, he was elected mayor of Maumee City, and for twenty years he served the city as treasurer. In 1841, the first year the county seat was established at Maumee City, Mr. Allen was assistant county treasurer, and for many years he was an active member of the Board of Education. 182 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE Throughout a long life of activity lie bore among his fellow citizens the character of a man of strict integrity and usefulness. Mr. Allen was married to Miss Nancy Kirtland of Parkman, Guagua County, September 30, 1839. She was born in Guagua County March 8, 1817. Mr. and Mrs. Allen were members of the Protestant Episcopal Church at Maumee City. Mr. Allen died February 16, 1895. Mrs. Allen followed the partner of her choice to life's close November 30, 1912. REV. MARK RICHARDSON Mark Richardson, an outstanding figure in the history of Maumee City for more than fifty years. Mark Richardson was born in Ireland May 23, 1814, and at the age of 21 he came to the United States and landed at New York in 1835. Through apprenticeship in Ireland he learned the tanner's trade and worked at that business at different places in New York for several years. On the 31st of January, 1838, he was married to Miss Lucinda Meagley at Canajoharie, N. Y., and five years later, in 1843, came to Ohio and settled in Perrysburg for a short time, although his work was in Maumee City. In 1849 he moved his family to Maumee. Shortly after coming west lie was taken into membership of the Methodist church, and in 1846 as a local preacher he began the work in that church which made him so well known all over northwestern Ohio. He has especially attached himself to the people of Maumee City and Lucas County of all classes by the active interest taken by him in the general welfare of the community, as connected THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 183 with the promotion of sound morals and the maintenance of good order. His inborn eloquence and much hard study gave him a standing as a preacher and orator, in his prime, second to none in the Conference of which he was a member. His ability as a public speaker was well displayed in June, 1870, when he with Morrison R. Waite, James Taylor and many other distinguished men, attended a reception held in behalf of the citizens of Maumee to a party of forty of the veterans of the War of 1812 and 1813, who had served in the army with General Harrison at Fort Meigs. Mr. Richardson delivered the address of the clay. Again his ability as an orator was manifested on the occasion of the dedication of the Soldiers' Monument on the High School grounds. The orator of the day having failed to come, Mr. Richardson was called upon to make the address. Without preparation, but full of the inspiration of the moment drawn from the occasion and the cause, lie delivered an address long to be remembered by those in attendance. Mr. Richardson served Maumee City as a member of the Board of Education when the present High School was built, which stands today as a monument to those who were instrumental in providing that grand edifice, and he was ever full of love and loyalty to this home city. Mr. and Mrs. Richardson were permitted to enjoy the companionship of eaeh other for fifty-nine years. Mark Richardson died February 22, 1897, and Mrs. Richardson followed the partner of her choice to life's close on April 11, 1902. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 185 MORRISON REMICK WAITE The Honorable Morrison Resnick Waite was born in Lyme, Ct., Nov. 29, 1816. He was descended from a long line of eminent jurists. His pilgrim ancestor was a son of one of the judges who condemned King Charles I. His father was a justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut. Morrison R. Waite graduated at Yale in 1837. Selecting the profession of the law as his life work, Mr. Waite commenced reading in his father's office, but accepting the view then so prevalent in the east as to wider and more hopeful fields for activity in the then far west, he left Lyme in October, 1838, for the Maumee Valley, settling at Maumee City. He was admitted to the bar in 1839 and formed a partnership with Samuel M. Young. On March 30, 1846, Morrison R. Waite was elected mayor of Maumee City and served one year. He was elected to the Ohio Legislature in the fall of 1849 as a Whig, but on the organization of the Republican party he became a staunch supporter of those principles. The first position in which his abilities attracted the attention of the public was his appointment as one of the council of the United States before the Tribunal of Arbitration at Geneva, Switzerland, in 1871 and 1872, convened to adjust the claims of the United States against Great Britain, known as the Alabama claims. He was associated with Caleb Cushing and Wm. M. Evarts, and their skill terminated the difficulty arising out of the Civil War between the United States and Great Britain. In 1874 while presiding over the Ohio Constitutional Convention he was nominated to the office of Chief Justice of the United States. 186 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE At the announcement of Mr. Waite's appointment the convention burst into great applause. The nomination was unanimously confirmed, and on March 4, 1874, Justice Waite took the oath of office and at once entered upon its duties. Mr. Waite was married Sept. 21, 1840, to Miss Amelia C. Warner of Lyme, Ct., daughter of Samuel Selden Warner of Lyme, a descendant of Colonel Selden of Revolutionary record. Morrison Remick Waite died at Washington, D. C., Nov. 23, 1888, SMITH GILBERT Few names have been more prominently identified with the history of Maumee City than that of Smith Gilbert. He was born in Newtown, Conn., October 29th, 1815, and was the son of Ezra and Sarah K. Gilbert. He was married to Miss Mary Ann Wolcott July 3rd, 1848, at Maumee City, Ohio, by the Rev. Mr. Tompkins. Miss Mary Ann Wolcott was the daughter of the Hon. Judge James Wolcott and Mary Wells Wolcott, the granddaughter of Capt. William Wells, and the great granddaughter of Chief Little Turtle. She was born at Maumee City June 6th, 1827. Smith and Mary Ann Gilbert had three children, Frederika Eliza Gilbert, Albert Wolcott Gilbert, and Smith Wells Gilbert. Smith Gilbert served Maumee City as mayor eight years, having been elected to that office four successive times during the dark days of the Rebellion, from April 4th, 1859, to April 1st, 1867. Smith Gilbert died at the old Wolcott home at Maumee THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 187 City March 30th, 1879. Mary Ann Wolcott Gilbert followed her partner to life's close in 1891 at the same old Wolcott Mansion. Frederika Eliza Gilbert Hull, the widow of William C. Hull, and her only child, a daughter, Rilla Ellen Hull, born Feb. 1st, 1880, at Maumee, still occupy the more than one hundred year old mansion. JUSTICE McDONALD Justice McDonald was born in Chattanooga, N. Y., Nov. 12, 1825, and came to Lucas County in 1853 and settled in Monclova Township. He at once began the active life of a pioneer, meeting the experiences in common to such. From the first he commanded the respect and confidence of his neighbors, as he did of all whose acquaintance he made. He had always taken a prominent part in every enterprise that might be for the best interest of the community in which he resided. He held all the principal township offices. In 1871 Mr. McDonald removed to Maumee City and in 1873 became interested in the Toledo and Maumee Narrow Gauge Railroad and was one of its directors, and the first superintendent. He directed the construction and operation of the road for six years when in 1880 it was consolidated with the Toledo, Delphos and Burlington Railroad. In 1880 he was elected county commissioner of Lucas County, which office he held for three years. July 4, 1857, lie was married to Miss Minervia Luce. Mr. McDonald died in Maumee Nov. 5, 1910. Mrs. McDonald and four children survive, Frederick, Charles, Alice and Dolley. 188 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE MRS. CHLOE HULL, One of the Earliest Settlers of the Maumee Valley Mrs. Chloe Hull was born near Rochester, N. Y., July 7, 1807. Her father, Samuel Spafford, with his wife and six. children, came to the Maumee and settled at Orleans of the North, near Fort Meigs, then in Logan County, in June,. 1818. At that time there were at Orleans of the North two taverns, a school and stores and other appliances necessary for the convenience of that place. Chloe Spafford and Isaac Hull were married at Perrysburg Sept. 19, 1827, and settled at Defiance, where he had a store or Indian trading house. In August, 1834, Mr. and Mrs. Hull removed to Maumee City and in company with Judge R. A. Forsyth for several years carried on an extensive mercantile business. Many and terrible have been the afflictions through which Mrs. Hull has been called to pass during the eighty-one years of her life. Eight children were born to them, four dying in their infancy, and October 30, 1855, their two daughters, aged respectively ten and fifteen years, were drowned in the Maumee River. The remains of the eldest were never found. Isaac Hull was born February 26, 1801, at Derby, Ct., came to the Maumee in 1814 and died December 26, 1864. On February 3, 1888, Mrs. Hull followed the partner of her choice to life's close. Neither Mr. and Mrs. Hull ever recovered from the shock caused by the sudden and awful death of their daughters by drowning. Mrs. Hull was the oldest inhabitant in the Maumee Valley at the time of her death. How wonderful have been the changes that have THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 189 taken place during the time from 1818, when she stepped from the small schooner that brought the family from Buffalo on to the shore of the Maumee amid the great forests filled with Indians. AUGUSTUS W. ECKERT Augustus W. Eckert was born in Butler County, Ohio, in the year 1832. He graduated from the University at Oxford, Ohio, and began the practice of law at Hamilton, Ohio, and continued there until 1873 when he came to Maumee City. For nearly forty years he was a resident of Maumee and one of its most esteemed citizens. Mr. Eckert was elected mayor of Maumee in April, 1895, and served two years; he was the legal advisor of the Village Council It number of years. He was a soldier in the Civil War, having served as first lieutenant in Company 1), 167th Ohio Regiment. He was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth hemp of Middletown, Ohio, in March, 1859. Mr. Eckert was a member of the Protestant. Episcopal church at Maumee. Mr. Eckert died Jan. 7, 1912, and Mrs. Eckert died Aug. 15, 1917. One daughter, Miss Adah, and two sons, L. A. Eckert and E. H. Eckert, survive. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 191 DANIEL F. COOK Few names have been longer identified with the history of Maumee City than has that of Daniel F. Cook, who for more than seventy years resided at Maumee City. Mr. Cook was born in Waterville, Maine, Sept. 5, 1814. He came to Maumee City with his parents in 1834. At that time Maumee City was regarded as the most promising place of all the Maumee Valley. Mr. Cook graduated at Waterville, Maine, entered Harvard Law School and in 1835 was admitted to the bar of Ohio and commenced his professional life at Maumee City. In 1845 he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States. The vigorous period of his practice continued until the removal of the seat of justice from Maumee City to Toledo in 1852, although he pursued the same until 1865. Meanwhile he directed his attention to dealing in real estate and with farming interests, with which he had been for many years largely identified. In 1854 Mr. Cook was appointed a commissioner of Lucas County, and in 1855 was elected to the same office, serving until 1858. He had frequently held local official positions. Mr. Cook was elected mayor of Maumee City on the 2nd day of April, 1855, and was re-elected on April 6, 1857, holding the office four years. He was also elected in 1862 to the office of city solicitor, served as councilman and three times a member of the board of education. In 1866 with Mr. R. B. Mitchell, he formed the banking house of Cook and Mitchell, in which he remained until 1872. The test of character involved in an active life of nearly a century, such as Mr. Cook had been called to meet, is one 192 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE which could be borne by true merit only, so it is safe to say that Daniel F. Cook may justly have a place among the pioneers of Maumeee City. Mr. Cook was married to Mrs. Abby- (Bosworth) Frost at. Maumee City Nov. 10, 1858. Mrs. Cook was born in Genesee County, New York, July 11, 1818, and died Feb. 12, 1888. Mr. Cook died Feb. 9, 1904. GEORGE W. REYNOLDS George W. Reynolds came to Maumee City from Grand Gulf, Miss., on the first day of May, 1841, and at once began the erection of a lumber and flour mill, and rented water from the State of Ohio to propel four run four-and-a half feet mill stones. He soon had the lumber mill cutting timber for the Pearl Mills, which he had up and inclosed before winter. There was at that time no good flour mill nearer than Monroe, Mich., east and north, and none west and south nearer than Ft. Wayne or Dayton. Mr. Reynolds was one of the promoters of the building of theJunctionn Railroad through Maumee City. He was one of the managing directors of that enterprise. He secured the issue of bonds for building the road of Maumee City, Perrysburg, Waynesfield Township and of Williams County. He visited every precinct, and made earnest pleas to persuade the people to vote the bonds.ee put under contract, from twelve miles east of Perrysburg to Swanton, all the work of that road, including the Maumee River bridge, which was fifty feet high and seven hundred and seventy-seven feet long. On May 2, 1851, he was appointed and constituted by the City Council as the agent of Maumee City to appear at. the meeting of the stockholders of the Junction Railroad THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 193 Company at Elyria, and to cast the votes upon all questions which might be taken at such meeting to which said city as a stockholder in said company may be entitled. In 1863 he, with others, built a large passenger steamboat to run between Maumee City, Toledo and Sandusky, and named it the George W. Reynolds. In 1859 he bought the Croton Mills, rebuilt it and renamed it the Reynolds Mills. He also built a steam canal boat and called it the China. He was very much interested in establishing a seminary in Maumee City. This was accomplished when on June 4, 1866, the Maumee City Council transferred the old Lucas County buildings to the Central Ohio Conference for a seminary. Mr. Reynolds was elected mayor ofMaumeec City in 1850 and served two years, and was several times elected to the City Council. He also served as county commissioner of Lucas County, and in every way in his power labored to promote the interests of Maumee City. Mr. Reynolds was born Feb. 2, 1809, on the banks of the Mohawk River, five miles above Rome, N. Y. He was married to Ann Philena Clark Gregory at Maumee City. Mrs. Reynolds was born at Guilford, Vt., Aug. 15, 1820, and died Jan. 16, 1906. Mr. Reynolds died Oct,. 30, 1903, being 94 years of age. DAVID H. PERRIN David H. Perrin was born near Pictou, Nova Scotia, in 1836, a son of David and Elizabeth Perrin. The Perrin family traces its ancestry back to a French count named Perrino, who became aHugenott and who suffered the persecution of that sect during the Sixteenth and seventeenth 194 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE centuries. He, or his descendants, emigrated to America and settled in Nova Scotia. David Perrin Sr., having heard glowing reports of the opportunities in the Maumee Valley, set out for this Maumee country in 1836, when his son David H. was a few months old. He brought his family to the United States and landed at the foot of the Maumee, but soon settled at Maumee City. The senior David Perrin was a ship carpenter and followed that trade for some years. He died at 318 East Dudley Street in 1869. His wife passed away in 1844. Growing up in the old home at Maumee City, David H. Perrin worked two years on the canal, spent three years at Logansport, Ind., and on returning to Maumee City took up carpentry and contracting. Though he made that his regular occupation thereafter, he was also in the hardware business for several years, and for nine years was postmaster of Maumee. David H. Perrin enlisted in the Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861, and after the expiration of his term again volunteered in 1864, and became a member of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Ohio Infantry. In September, 1861, he married Mary Deshanaway, a daughter of Louis and Marie (Mountler) Deshanaway. Louis Deshanaway was born on the banks of the Maumee at a settlement then known as Marengo, between Maumee City and Toledo. His birth occurred there in the year 1818. David H. Perrin is the father of three children: William Wallace, Henry N. and Charles Lewis; the youngest THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 195 was for many years and until his death a deputy collector of the Port of Toledo. Henry N. Perrin married Edith Keeler, a daughter of Coleman Keeler, a prominent citizen of Lucas County, and the grand-daughter of Samuel Isaac Keeler. Mrs. Perrin died May 4, 1907, leaving two daughters, Helen A. and Adeline Mary. Throughout his active career, Henry N. Perrin has been well known for his public spirit and for his business ability. For many years he owned and operated a large farm at Fort Meigs, and deals in buying and selling of real estate. He was the incorporator of the Northern Ohio Telephone Company in 1906. He also has other interests that make him an active business man. He is a Republican and has served on the City Council of Maumee, and has been president of the Board of Education. RUBEN B. MITCHELL Ruben B. Mitchell was born in Winfred, Maine, in 1830. At the age of thirteen he came with his parents to Maumee City, where his father engaged in the foundry business. At the age of seventeen he was associated with his father, who built and operated a foundry and machine shop on Lot 37 on the southeast corner of Cass and Wayne Streets. A few years later he formed a partnership with T. S. Merrel and continued to manufacture agricultural implements. The manufacture of plows being the principal business at that time, he established quite a large plant on Kingsbury Street, between Broadway and Harrison Avenue. In 1866 he formed a partnership with Daniel F. Cook and 196 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE organized the Union Deposit Bank under the name of Cook and Mitchell. In the year 1874 he, with Mr. Thomas Brown, purchased the Reynolds Mill property and successfully operated it until his death. Mr. Mitchell was very active in all public affairs. He was several times elected to the village Council, and also served several terms as member of the Board of Education. Mr. Mitchell in 1860 was married to Miss Ellen A. Frost of Mamnee City, and the result of the union was seven children, four of whom survive: Arnie, Truman, Edward and Abbie, now Mrs. Herbert S. Woodbury. In his early life he became a member of the Presbyterian church of Maumee City, and had always been one of its staunchest supporters. Mr. Mitchell died May 10, 1894. Mrs. Mitchell followed her partner to life's close Jan. 15, 1908. JOHN A. SMITH John A. Smith of Maumee. He has been closely identified with municipal affairs for the past forty years, and much that is progressive and permanent in Maumee's improvement can be credited to his leadership and influence. He was first elected a member of the City Council in 1887, being re-elected and serving until 1891, when he became city marshal and was twice re-elected to that office, serving six years. In 1899 he was elected mayor and was twice given the honor of re-election, serving six years and nine months. In 1909 Mr. Smith was again chosen mayor and filled the office with credit and ability for four more years. In 1917 he was again elected mayor and in 1919 was THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 197 re-elected, as he also was in 1923 and again in 1925, completing eighteen years and nine months. It was the peculiar efficiency and vigor of his public service that called him again and again to such positions of public trust. When he was first elected mayor of Maumee they did not have a foot of stone walks or sewers, and no paved streets, and he brought about the inauguration of that class of public improvements. It was during his term as mayor that the first electric lighting was secured. The first contract called for fifteen street lights. Mr. Smith was a native of Maumee, where he was born July 26, 1855, a son of John and Christina (Burtscher) Smith. His mother was born and reared in Prussia; his father was also born in Prussia October 28, 1816, where the family name was originally spelled Schmidt. John Smith came to America in 1832 and was living in Tiffin,Ohio, where he was married August 15, 1841. His home was in Tiffin until 1848 when he removed to Maumee City, where he lived until his death on April 5, 1903, at the age of eighty-eight years. He was a carpenter by trade and fol- loved that as his regular occupation throughout his active career in Maumee. His wife passedaway March 2, 1880, at the age of fifty-nine, the mother of nine children, three of whom are still living, namely: Catherine, John A. and Phillip. John A. Smith has occupied himself with activity in various lines of business for a number of years. He was in the sawmill and hardwood lumber business. He is now living retired. He is a Republican and a member of the Catholic church. In 1877 at Maumee he married Lydia 198 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE Ann Coder, a. daughter of Levi Coder. Mrs. Smith died October 30, 1910. To their marriage were born five children: William Levi, who died in 1879 at the age of five months; Rosabelle Frances, wife of Frank Bender; Lillian Veronica, wife of Lee Fresgrave; George J., husband of Marie Ilg; and Lawrence, who died in 1898 at the age of six years. SOME INTERESTING FACTS RELATIVE TO THE NEWSPAPER BUSINESS IN MAUMEE CITY The first newspaper published in Maumee City was the Maumee City Express. The first issue appeared March 25, 1837. The editor was Henry Reed, Jr. The firm name of the business was Calvin Frary and Henry Reed, Book and Job Printers, and the office was located on Wolcott Street. The paper was a neat, well printed sheet 22 by 33 inches in size. No neighboring town had a more creditable representative in the press than did Maumee City. After the Express came the Maumee River Times, published weekly by H. T. Smith, which was continued until 1855. During the existance of the Maumee River Times the City of Maumee was prosperous and business was thriving until the early part of 1852, when on the 11th day of October of that year the Lucas County seat was removed from Maumee City to Toledo. This was a great misfortune, but it was only the beginning of the end. The blow that caused the greatest disaster and finished the wreck came unexpectedly and without warning in 1853 when the Junction Railroad, for the building of which the City of Maumee had donated $50,000.00, consolidated with its rival, THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 199 the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad, and abandoned the Junction Railroad. That year, 1853, was the Black Friday for Maumee City. There seemed to be no more use for newspapers, business went to pieces, men of ambition and grit left for other fields. The wreck was complete. Some of the most serviceable property depreciated in value to such an extent that many of the business houses and nearly all of the largest taverns were abandoned and left to decay. Some time after the Maumee River Times followed the Amulet, a weekly newspaper published by Wm. Holt. Then, during the Civil War, and for some time thereafter, the town was without a paper, until November 20, 1871, when P. C. Holt published the Maumee Advertiser, issued weekly. This paper was converted into the New Era in 1876 by John E. Wilcox and published weekly. Then in 1887 J. E. Dudley published a weekly newspaper called the Natural Gas. It lasted less than two years. The Maumee Advance appeared in 1895, published by John A. Smith and 0. J. Graham. In 1902 the New Era plant was destroyed by fire and the Advance and New Era were consolidated by Herbert S. Dickson, and continues to be published as the Advance Era.