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same year received the colonelcy of his regiment, which had returned to West Virginia. He served under Crook, in the movement against the Tennessee railroad in the spring of 1864, and led a brigade with marked success in the battle of Cloyd's Mountain. Afterwards, still in Crook's command, he joined Hunter's army in the march against Lynchburg; was present at the operations in front of that place, and covered the retreat in the difficult and dangerous passage of the Alleghanies.

"He was next ordered to the mouth of the Shenandoah Valley, and took part in several engagements between Early and Sheridan's troops, prior to the battle of Winchester. In that important encounter, he had the right of Crook's command, and it was therefore his troops which, in conjunction with the cavalry, executed the turning manoeuvre that decided the fate of the day. Here he displayed higher qualities than personal gallantry. At one point in the advance, his command came upon a deep slough, fifty yards wide, and stretching across the whole front of his brigade. Beyond was a rebel battery. If the brigade endeavored to .move around the obstruction, it would be exposed to a severe enfilading fire; while if discomfited, the line of advance would be broken in a vital part. Hayes, with the instinct of a soldier, at once gave the word 'Forward,' and spurred his horse into the swamp. Horse and rider plunged at first nearly out of sight, but Hayes struggled on till the beast sank hopelessly into the mire. Then dismounting, he waded to the further bank, climbed to the top, and beckoned with his cap to the men to follow. In the attempt to obey many were shot or drowned, but a sufficient number crossed the ditch to form a nucleus for the brigade; and Hayes still leading, they climbed the bank and charged the battery. The enemy fled in great disorder, and Hayes reformed his men and resumed the advance. The passage of the slough was at the crisis of the fight and the rebels broke on every side in confusion.

"At Fisher's Hill Hayes led a division in the turning movement assigned to Crook's command. Clambering up the steep sides of North Mountain, which was covered with an almost impenetrable entanglement of trees and underbrush, the division gained, unperceived, a position in rear of the enemy's line, and then charged with so much fury that the rebels hardly attempted to resist, but fled in utter rout and dismay. Hayes was at the head of his column throughout this brilliant charge.

"A month later, at Cedar Creek, he was again engaged. His command was a reserve, and therefore did not share in the dis-

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aster of the main line at daybreak; but when the broken regiments at the front were swept hurriedly to the rear, Hayes' division flew to arms, and changing front, advanced in the direction from which the enemy was coming. Successful resistance, however, was impossible. Hayes had not fifteen hundred effective men, and two divisions of the rebels were pouring through the woods to close around him in flank and rear. He withdrew, nevertheless, with steadiness, and maintained his organization unbroken throughout the battle, leading his men from hill-top to hill-top in face of the enemy. While riding at full speed, his horse was shot under him; he was flung violently out of the saddle and his foot and ankle badly wrenched by the fall. Stunned and bruised, he lay for a moment, exposed to a storm of bullets, but soon recovering sprang to his feet, and limped to his command."

"For gallant and meritorious service in the battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek," Colonel Hayes was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and brevetted Major-General for "gallant and distinguished service during the campaign of 1864, in West Virginia, and particularly in the battles of Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek." He had commanded a brigade for more than two years, and at the time of these promotions was in command of the Kanawha division. In the course of his service in the army he was four times wounded, and had four horses shot under him.

The second volume of General Grant's Memoirs : "On more than one occasion in these engagements, Gen. R. B. Hayes, who succeeded me as President of the United States, bore a very honorable part. His conduct on the field was marked by conspicuous gallantry as well as the display of qualities of a higher order than that of mere personal daring. This might well have been expected of one who could write at the time he was said to have done so: 'Any officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer for a seat in Congress, ought to be scalped.' Having entered the army as a major of volunteers at the beginning of the war, General Hayes attained by meritorious service the rank of brevet major-general before its close."

In August, 1864, while General Hayes was in the field, he was nominated by a Republican district convention in Cincinnati as a candidate for Congress. He was elected by a majority of 2,400, and reelected in 1866.

In the House of Representatives he was prominent in the counsels of his party. In 1867 he was the Republican candidate for

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Governor of Ohio, and elected over Judge Thurman. In 1869 he was reelected Governor of Ohio over George H. Pendleton. In 1872, despite his frequently expressed desire to retire from public life, General Hayes was again nominated for Congress by the Republicans of Cincinnati, but was defeated.

In 1873 he returned to Fremont, and the next year inherited the considerable estate of his uncle, Sardis Birchard. In 1875, he was again nominated for Governor of Ohio, and although he at first declined the honor, he was subsequently induced to accept the nomination, and after a hard fought canvas was elected over William Allen by a majority of 5,500. This contest, by reason of the financial issue involved, became a national one, and was watched with interest throughout the country, and as a result he was nominated for the Presidency on the 7th ballot of the National Republican convention, which met at Cincinnati, June 14, 1876.

In the complications that arose as a result of the Presidential election of 1876, his attitude was patriotic and judicious, and is outlined in a letter addressed to John Sherman from Columbus, Ohio, dated November 27, 1876. He says:

"You feel, I am sure, as I do about this whole business. A fair election would have given us about forty more electoral votes—at least that many. But we are not to allow our friends to defeat one outrage and fraud by another. There must be nothing crooked on our part. Let Mr. Tilden have the place by violence, intimidation and fraud, rather than undertake to prevent it by means that will not bear the severest scrutiny."

The canvassing boards of Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina declared Republican electors chosen, and certificates of these results were sent by the governors of those States to Washington. Governor Hayes had a majority of one in the electoral college. But the Democrats charged fraud, and certificates declaring the Democratic electors elected were sent to Washington. The House (Democratic) and the Senate (Republican) then concurred in an Act providing for a commission composed of five representatives, five senators and five judges of the Supreme Court, to have final jurisdiction. The commission refused to go behind the certificates of the governors, and by a vote of eight to seven declared in favor of the Republican electors, and President Hayes was inaugurated March 5, 1877.

The administration of President Hayes, although unsatisfactory to machine politicians, says Howe, was a wise and conser

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vative one, meeting with the approval of the people at large. By the withdrawal of Federal troops and restoration of self-government to the Southern States, it prepared the way for a revival of patriotism and the remarkable material development that has since ensued. The administration began during a period of business depression, but the able management of the finances of the Government and the resumption of specie payments restored commercial activity. This administration laid the foundations for a permanent and thorough civil service reform, notwithstanding strong and influential opposition, including that of a majority of the members of Congress.

Throughout, his administration was intelligently and consistently conducted with but one motive in view, the greatest good of the country, regardless of party affiliations. That he was eminently successful in this, and that the administration was as wise, patriotic, progressive and beneficial in its effects as any the country has enjoyed, is the judgment of every intelligent person who gives it an unbiased study.

"The tree is judged by its fruit." When Mr. Blaine made his Presidential tour in Ohio in 1884, in several of his speeches he spoke of the Hayes' administration as unique in this : It was one of the few and rare cases in our history in which the President entered upon his office with the country depressed and discontented and left it prosperous and happy. In which he found his party broken, divided and on the verge of defeat, and left it strong, united and vigorous. This, he said, was the peculiar felicity of General Hayes' public career.

On the expiration of his term, ex-President Hayes retired to his home in Fremont, Ohio, where he became the recipient of many honors.

General Hayes died at his home, Spiegel Grove, Fremont, January 17, 1893.

Lucy Webb Hayes was one of the most popular mistresses that ever graced the White House; a woman of the highest nobility of character, a typical American mother and wife, who was beloved everywhere. She died at Spiegel Grove in the last days of a beautiful June, 1889.

COL. HENRY S. COMMAGER, Toledo, won distinction as captain, major, and lieutenant-colonel of the Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was colonel of the One Hundred and Eighty-fourth regiment, mustered in at Camp Chase, February 21, 1865. Ezra S. Dodd, afterwards state senator from Lucas County, was

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major. Major Dodd became famous while in the Ohio senate during the county seat fight between Bowling Green and Perrysburg, by "the one thousand from Wood would do much good" dispatch, in an election contest.

From Wyandot County there was Isaac Minor Kirby who after his early enlistment was made a captain in the Fifteenth 0. V. I. when he resigned in 1862 and raised a company for the One Hundred and First 0. V. I. On being chosen captain again he joined the forces of General Buell where he was promoted to a major. In the battle of Stone River the commanding officer ,was killed and Major Kirby was given command of a brigade and later was brevetted a brigadier-general.

At the beginning of his service, Americus V. Rice was made captain of the Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the three-months' service. After the expiration of his term of enlistment, he reenlisted and was commissioned captain of the Fifty-seventh regiment. In 1862 he was promoted to lieutenant-general to date from the 31st of May, 1865. His home was at Ottawa.

Patrick Slevin was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the One Hundredth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, August 8, 1862. In the following year he was promoted to colonel, and at the close of the war was brevetted brigadier-general from March 13, 1865. He was honorably discharged from the service, November 30, 1864. He died in Toledo after a long and useful life.

THE MITCHELL RAIDERS

Due to the fact that many concerned in the daring "Mitchell Raid" were from Northwestern Ohio, reference thereto is appropriate. The raiders were organized in April, 1862, under J. J. Andrews with the approval of Gen. O. M. Mitchell. The plan was to destroy the bridges on the Georgia State Railroad, between Chattanooga and Atlanta. Andrews who was at the time a secret service agent suggested the organization, volunteered to lead the little force of twenty-two selected men at Shelbyville, Tenn., April 7, 1862. These volunteers from Ohio were as follows: From the 21st Ohio Infantry—E. H. Mason (Wood County) Company B; John M. Scott, Company F; Robert Buffum, Company H; William Bensinger, Company G; Wilson W. Brown (Wood County) Company F; Robert F. Bonham, Company F; William Knight, Company E; John R. Porter, Company G; Mark Wood, Company C; John A. Wilson (Wood County) Company C. From the 2nd Ohio Infantry—Marion A. Ross, Company A; Charles Perry

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Shadrick, Company K; George D. Wilson, Company B; William Pittinger, Company G. From the 33rd Ohio Infantry—M. J. Hawkins, Company A; William Riddick, Company B; John Wollam, Company C; Samuel Robinson, Company G; D. A. Dorsey, Company H; with William Campbell, a Kentuckian, Samuel Slayen and J. J. Andrews.

The daring adventurers arrived at Chattanooga April 11, and early on the following morning at Marietta, Georgia, where they represented themselves as Kentuckians, and where they began the work planned by Andrews. On the morning of the 12th, all the men except Hawkins and Porter, boarded the north-bound train for Big Shanty, where a stop was made for breakfast. Andrews knowing that there was no telegraph office there, began the execution of his plans. Believing that the engine and tender with three box-cars would be sufficient to handle, he uncoupled the engine and three cars from the train, and with Brown, Knight and J. A. Wilson jumped on the engine, while the other raiders took their proper places in the box-cars. Knight acted as engineer, while Scott cut the telegraph wires. At the first station out, the "crew" took on wood and water and began tearing up the track behind them. At Marengo, where they met the regular south-bound train, Andrews told that he was in charge of a train of powder for Beauregard's headquarters. His story was credited and he received the switch key and train schedule from the agent. While the timetable showed but one train to be met, the advance of General Mitchell's division to Huntsville, Alabama, compelled the Confederates to prepare for entering Georgia. This necessitated many special trains, therefore the red flag was carried on all new trains, and which was each time an unwelcome sight to the men of the astounding enterprise. They urged the locomotive to its greatest speed, stopped at some places to remove rails and ties and load them on the box-cars, hastening to make up time. Wilson acted as fireman and Brown engineer, as they would halt to destroy a culvert, push forward again, and so on until the crews of passing trains and station agents began to look upon the operators of the so-called powder train as so many fra diavolos gone wild.

Meantime, the railroad authorities at Big Shanty awakened to the fact that a part of the train was stolen, and that the bandits had cut the telegraph lines.

A hand-car crew went in pursuit, took possession of the first locomotive obtainable, and pushed on faster, repairing the track

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as they moved forward. Between Adairsville and Kingston, the Confederate crew gave up hope of repairing the work of the destroyers, abandoned the locomotive and walked until they met a down freight. They related the story to the engineer, urged him to side-track his cars and give them the locomotive. Agreeing, the pursuers jumped aboard. At Calhoun they pressed into service a telegraph operator and soldiers, and then with valve wide open, renewed the race after the dare-devils. Soon, they came in sight of their prey, saw it stop in the distance, as the raiders halted at intervals to remove the track. The raiders were also on the look-out, noted the gaining pursuers with some alarm, but never lost an opportunity of destroying the track, until the smoke of the Confederate locomotive told them that flight was their only hope. Then began that terrible race, through Resaca, Tilton, Dalton and Ringgold. Beyond Dalton, Andrews ordered a halt, reversed the engine to cut the wires, but he was two minutes late, for a message had just passed on to Chattanooga. Fuel and oil were exhausted about the moment Ringgold was passed. Andrews here ordered a halt, reversed the engine so as to wreck the pursuing train, and with his volunteers, fled into the forest, each man seeking his own safety. The troops at Ringgold were put on the qui vive, Confederate infantry and cavalry scoured the country for the fugitives. Within a week, all the daring northerners save Wood and Wilson, were in the hands of implacable enemies ; even Hawkins and Porter who failed to board the train at Marietta, being among the prisoners.

Within three weeks Wood and Wilson were made prisoners. The treatment of these gallant men by the Confederates, is a matter of history. The Confederate officers condoned acts of barbarism, ignored the claims of the men as regular soldiers detached for a service of which they knew nothing; flogged the youngest soldier to near death with the hope of wringing from him information, and then after the leader, Andrews, stepped forward and acknowledged himself as leader, took the gallant fellow and six of his men to the gibbet, at Atlanta, where they were executed. The others, awaiting death in the Atlanta prison, seized their jailer when he brought in their suppers, took the prison keys, overpowered seven armed guards, and made way to liberty. Six of them were recaptured and confined in Libby and Castle Thunder, until March, 1863, when they were exchanged at City Point.

The men executed besides officer Andrews were John M. Scott,

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Marion A. Ross, Charles Perry Shadrick, George C. Wilson, Samuel Robertson, all on June 18, 1862, and Samuel Slavens, William Campbell and J. J. Andrews, June 16. The resolutions of Congress adopted in July, 1862, provided that medals be struck for the survivors of the expedition, which were duly presented. Young Jacob Parrott of Hardin County received the first award and Elisha H. Mason of Pemberville, Wood County, the second medal.

JOHNSON'S ISLAND.

Many operations concerning Johnson's Island read like romance. The famous island lies in the land-locked harbor, Sandusky Bay, in Ottawa County, three miles north of Sandusky City. It is about a mile in length and narrow, and its forest covered acres were in early days the favorite camping place of the Indian in his fishing and hunting expeditions. Its early name was Bull's Island, from E. W. Bull its first owner. The early custom house was located there and an abortive attempt was made to establish a town. In 1852 it was purchased by one L. B. Johnson', when it took the name of Johnson's Island.

In 1861, the island was leased by the government as a place to confine Confederate prisoners. Buildings were provided and the first prisoners were taken there in April, 1862. The place was first guarded by Company A, Koffman Battalion, which was replaced by the 128th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, a full regiment. Of the 15,000 prisoners brought there, some 3,000 Confederates were on occasion confined there at one time. At Camp Chase, Columbus, were some 8,000 prisoners, at Camp Douglas near Chicago, about an equal number and at Camp Morton, near Indianapolis, 4,000 Confederates. A daring conspiracy was planned by enemies of the North to release these prisoners, burn Sandusky, Cleveland and other cities, and lay waste the country. The story is told by Mr. M. M. Quaife in his narrative of the "Iron Ship" in chapter 36, "The Royal Navy." Beall "the pirate of Lake Erie" the instigator of the conspiracy, was captured near Niagara. Charged with being a spy, he was found guilty and hung on Governor's Island, February 24, 1865.

While the "boys were at the front" many at home too old to join them "did what they could." Public meetings were held throughout the Maumee and Sandusky valleys to stabilize public sentiment and to plan and carry out aid to the worthy families whose supporters were fighting to preserve the *Union. The

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women did noble and patriotic work, establishing aid societies and carrying out plans for hospital help and aid for the needy at home.

AT THE CLOSE.

When finally the gladsome news came of the surrender of General Lee's army on April 9, 1865, following the proclamation of Governor Brough to the effect, meetings for thanksgiving were called everywhere. Then, before the day arrived for jollification and rejoicing, there came the saddest news of all, the assassination of President Lincoln.

Of the brave boys who returned home, leaving thousands upon thousands of their comrades behind, there are yet a few left of the Grand Army of the Republic. Their ranks are growing thinner each year. They saved the Union. Their country honors them.

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

The loss to the southern slave owners from fugitive slaves fleeing to the North was, under the conditions of their estimated value, enormous. It was stated that at current prices the loss reached thirty million dollars. For twenty years before the Civil war there was in existence the "Underground Railway," the northern terminus of which was in Canada. Ohio had more such routes than any state in the Union. Along the Ohio River were some twenty stations from which the various routes led to Lake Erie ports. Toledo and Sandusky City were two important depots. One route was from the south crossing the Maumee River at now Grand Rapids and through Maumee and Toledo. On the other side of the river a depot was in the basement of the old Perrysburg Journal office. Another route was from Delaware, Marion and Upper and Lower Sandusky (Fremont) to Sandusky City, or to Oberlin and lake ports.

The late Hon. Rush R. Sloane, in an address before the Fire-lands Historical Society at Milan, Erie County, Ohio, February 22, 1888 (The Firelands Pioneer, July, 1888), gives a very interesting history of the origin of the name. He says, "In the year 1831 a fugitive named Tice Davids came over the line and lived just back of Sandusky. He had come direct from Ripley, Ohio, where he crossed the Ohio River; he remained some time in Sandusky and then went to Canada. It was told of him that he gave the name to the Underground Road in this way : When he was running away, his master, a Kentuckian, was in close

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pursuit and pressing him so hard that when the Ohio River was reached he had no alternative but to jump in and swim across. It took his master some time to secure a skiff, in which he and his aid followed the swimming fugitive, keeping him in sight until he had landed. Once on shore, however, he could not find him. No one had seen him; and after a long and unsuccessful search the disappointed slave master went into Ripley, and when inquired of as to what had become of his slave, said he could not tell, that he had searched all the openings but he could not find him ; that he was close behind him when the boy got on shore, and he thought the nigger must have gone off on an underground road.' This story was repeated with a good deal of amusement, and this incident gave the name to the line. First the 'Underground,' afterward 'Underground Railroad'."

Sloane himself was involved with others in protecting fugitive slaves, and the suit cost him in the end many thousands of dollars.

On one occasion a Kentuckian arrived at Perrysburg and overtook his human chattel. The case was taken before Squire Huntington and the counsel for the negro found a flaw in the information which necessitated the drawing up of new papers. The "Conductors" of the route seeing a chance to save the slave soon had a fleet horse at the door of Huntington's office upon which the negro hastily mounted and fled. The owner of the horse was also a colored man named Langford. As the fugitive disappeared toward Toledo, Langford exclaimed—"There goes a free nigger or there will be a dead horse."

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR

When the American Battleship Maine was blown up in Havana harbor on the evening of February 15, 1898, the report from the explosion caused a rebound from the heart of every patriotic American.

Trouble with Spain had long been smouldering. The inauguration of President McKinley took place March 4, 1897. In May Congress appropriated $50,000 for Cuban relief and adopted a resolution recognizing the rights of the Cuban belligerents. The Madrid Government protested against the United States sending vessels to Cuba with supplies for the reconcentrados and several months passed without any further action being taken by the American Government. In his message to Congress on December 6, 1897, President McKinley said:

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"The present insurrection broke out in February, 1895. The revolt and the efforts to subdue it carried destruction to every quarter of the island, developing wide proportions and defying the efforts of Spain for its suppression. The civilized code of war has been disregarded, no less so by the Spaniards than by the Cubans. * * * There is no desire on the part of our people to profit by the misfortunes of Spain. We have only the desire to see the Cubans prosperous and contented, enjoying that protected in their right to reap the benefits of the exhaustless treasures of their country." measure of self-control which is the inalienable right of man,

Early in 1898 the Atlantic Squadron of the United States Navy was ordered to the Dry Tortugas Islands, within six hours' sail of Havana. On January 25, 1898, the Battleship Maine one of the vessels belonging to the squadron, dropped anchor in the Harbor of Havana. The American consul-general had notified the Spanish authorities the day before the cruiser's expected arrival. The presence of an armed vessel in the harbor was displeasing to the Spanish officials, who construed it as part of a plan on the part of the United States to force supplies through to the reconcentrados. As a measure of retaliation, the Spanish cruiser Vizcaya was ordered to New York Harbor. Thus matters stood until February 9, 1898, when the Spanish minister to the United States resigned his position and asked for his passport. His request was granted and Spain was without a representative in Washington.

It was on April 13, 1898 that the House of Representatives passed a resolution directing the President to intervene immediately in the affairs of Cuba. On April 23rd when President McKinley issued his proclamation calling for 125,000 volunteers Ohio, including the Maumee and Sandusky region responded with more than their full quota. The National Guard of Northwestern Ohio gathered at their various headquarters anxious to organize for duty. Volunteers by the hundreds offered their services and patriotism ran high.

Of the twelve companies of the Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, eleven companies were enlisted from the Maumee and Sandusky valleys. With headquarters at Cincinnati, the regiment was mustered into service May 10, 1898. Its war strength was 50 officers and 1,284 enlisted men. The commander was Col. Julius A. Kuert during war operations. It was stationed at Chickamauga, Georgia; Knoxville, Tennessee, and Macon, Geor-

TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1213

gia. The casualties during the entire campaign were fourteen men. It was mustered out of service at Macon, Georgia, on Feb-10, 1899, without seeing any foreign service. Of this regiment Company A came from Findlay, and the local name was the Findlay Guard. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, it was mustered in at Columbus as Company A, Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Tillman S. Lafferty was the captain. Company B was enlisted at Upper Sandusky, and it entered service with James W. Marston as captain. Company C of the same regiment came from Lima, and was known as the Melancethon Light Guards, and afterwards as the Lima City Guard. Its captain was Frank M. Bell. Company D was organized early in 1898 at Van Wert. Edward S. Mathias was the captain, Robert Webster first lieutenant, and Elias W. March, second lieutenant. Company E was organized in Tiffin. At the time it was mustered into national service, Lorenzo D. Gasser was the captain. Companies G and I were enlisted from Kenton. J, Guy Deming was captain of the former, and Henry J. May of the latter. Captain May was afterwards succeeded by Albert S. Clucker. B loom-dale, Wood County, was the home of Company H, with Archie M. Fassig as the captain. Company K hailed from North Baltimore, the same county, and was under the command of W. J. White. Company L of this regiment was organized at Wapakoneta, and was mustered into service under this designation. John G. Hoegner was its captain, Charles 0. Brokaw the first lieutenant, and Roy E. Layton the second lieutenant. Company M came from Paulding County, with Samuel W. Ennis as its captain.

The headquarters of the Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry was at Toledo. Four companies of this regiment were located in Toledo, and the balance came from other counties in this section of the state. Only one company, B, of Sandusky, was outside this territory. The regiment had heretofore been known as the Sixteenth, Ohio National Guard, but was mustered into service as the Sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, on the 25th of April, 1898, and was mustered into the war with Spain on the 12th of May, following. The strength of the regiment for the war was 49 officers and 1,299 enlisted men. During the entire war operations, it was commanded by Colonel (later general) William V. McMaken. Sanford B. Stanbery, George P. Parker, and William E. Gillett were the majors, and the late Park L. Myers was surgeon, with the rank of major. The late Thomas J. Harbaugh,

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Bowling Green, was the chaplain. The regiment was first stationed at Chickamauga, Georgia, then at Knoxville, Tennessee, and afterwards at Charleston, South Carolina. It was finally dispatched to the district of Santa Clara, Cuba, but did not arrive there until after the proclamation of peace. The casualties during the campaign were twenty-one men. It was mustered out of service at Augusta, Georgia, on the 12th of May, 1899. The companies, their location, and captains were as follows: A of Toledo, Jacob M. Weir; C of Toledo, John A. Gekle ; D of Fostoria, Franklin P. Culp; E of Bryan, Charles L. Langel ; F of Napoleon, Joseph A. Musser; G of Wauseon, John A. Weier ; H of Toledo, Lloyd W. Howard; I of Clyde, William E. Gillett and afterwards Edward W. Rydman ; K of Fremont, Louis E. Foulke; L of Toledo, Frank I. Howells; M of Defiance, James F. Crandall.

Of the Eighth Regiment, Ohio. National Guard, one company was located within Northwest Ohio. This was Company A, of Bucyrus; Marquis A. Charlton was captain. This regiment had its headquarters at Wooster. It was mustered into service for the war, on the 13th of May, 1898, as the Eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Its war strength was 49 officers and 1,288 enlisted men. It was commanded during all the operations by Col. Curtis V. Hard. Edward Vollrath, of Bucyrus, was one of the majors. During the war it was stationed for a time at Camp Alger, Virginia. It was among the regiments dispatched to Cuba, and reached Santiago just too late to take part in the siege, but performed duty at various places in Cuba until its return to Montauk Point, Long Island, in a greatly enfeebled condition on account of disease. During its service four officers and sixty-eight men died. The regiment was mustered out at Wooster, on the 21st of November, 1898.

The headquarters of the Fourth Regiment was at Columbus. It was formerly the Fourteenth Regiment, Ohio National Guard. Its war strength was 49 officers and 1,319 enlisted men. It was commanded by Col. Alonzo B. Coit. It was first stationed at Chickamauga and afterwards at Porto Rico, where it engaged in some of the skirmishes incidental to that invasion. The regiment lost twenty-six men, and was mustered out of service January 20, 1899. Company G, with Fred W. Peters as its captain, came from Marion. Companies D, G, and H, of the Tenth Regiment, came from Toledo. Company D was made up of the First Ohio Light Artillery. Companies G and H formerly were the first and second division of the naval reserves. Finding no op-

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portunity to enter the service either as artillery or in the naval branch, these companies enlisted as infantry. Company D was commanded by Hazen B. Norton, Company G by Myer Geleerd, and Company H by Arthur W. S. Irvine. Arlington U. Betts, of Toledo, was one of the majors. The strength of the regiment was 46 officers and 1,280 enlisted men. It was first stationed at Camp Meade, Pennsylvania, and afterwards at Camp Mackenzie, Georgia. Its casualties were twenty-three men when mustered out at Augusta, Georgia, on the 23rd of March, 1899. Webb C. Hayes served as major in Roosevelt's Regiment of Rough Riders during the entire war with distinction.

George Burton Meek of Clyde was the first American born sailor to lose his life in the Spanish-American conflict. He was a sailor on board the torpedo boat Winslow and was killed in action at Cardenas, Cuba, May 11. 1898. A noted fact is that Meek's remains lie in the McPherson Cemetery, Clyde, not far from where also is buried that noted commander, General McPherson, of the highest northern rank killed during the Rebellion.

Later the father of Sailor Meek received the following letter

Washington, D. C., August 24.

"John Meek, Esq:

"Dear Sir: Some months ago a Cuban gentleman, who signs himself Cambreis, from the City of Mexico, sent General Tomas Estrado Palma, of New York, an order for $100.00 to be given to the wife, children or parents of the first American-born sailor who should die in the war to free Cuba. I have just now been informed that your son, George B. Meek, fireman of the first class on board the torpedo boat Winslow, was the first hero to shed his blood for the independence of ',our unfortunate and downtrodden people.

"I beg to enclose you the check, entrusted to my care, this a proof of the gratitude of the Cubans for their friends and allies, the Americans.

"Please acknowledge receipt of the same in duplicate.

"Yours very respectfully,

"Gonzalo De Quesado,

"Charge d'Affairs of the Republic of Cuba."

On May 11, 1916, upon the eighteenth anniversary of his death, a monument to his memory was unveiled over the burial place of Sailor Meek from an appropriation made by the Ohio

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Legislature. Governor Willis and staff, the Sixth Ohio Infantry and several patriotic organizations took part in the ceremonies.

On the 19th of December, 1899, at the battle of San Mateo, Luzon, of the Philippines, was killed that noble commander, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Lawton. He was born in Lucas County, Ohio, on March 17, 1843, and after serving with credit in the Civil war entered the regular service. In May, 1898, he was commissioned a brigadier-general and placed in command of the Second Division of the Fifth Army Corps in Cuba where he served in the first battle of the Spanish-American war at El Caney. He was made a major-general and after the surrender of Santiago was in command there. In December, 1898, he was placed in command of a corps in the American Army in the Philippines where he highly distinguished himself until his death. As a tribute to his worth and evidence of the esteem in which he was held by his countrymen, the sum of $100,000 was raised by popular subscription and presented to his widow.

NORTHWESTERN OHIO IN THE WORLD WAR

The reader will readily understand that a complete history even of Northwestern Ohio's part in the World war would make in itself a whole library. It will be years before a satisfactory account of that stupendous struggle of 1914-1918 will be written and the brave boys of the Maumee and Sandusky Valleys who offered their all and who survived to read these lines, must take the will to do them justice for the deed.

The German submarine was the direct cause for America's entry into the war. The early English blockade of German ports led the latter nation to inaugurate a submarine warfare for the purpose of cutting off provisions and supplies from Great Britain and her allies. In a short time German submarine attacks became wildly merciless and indiscriminate and ships of neutral nations suspected of carrying supplies to the allies were sunk without warning. "It was not long in fact until vessels were torpedoed and sent to the bottom of the sea, without regard to their nationality or the character of their cargo."

After repeated attempts to secure from the German government a modification of their submarine policy, diplomatic relations were severed by this country February 3, 1917. This act failed to better conditions and February 26, 1917, President Wilson delivered to Congress his "Armed Neutrality Message" in which he asked for authority to adopt such measures as might

TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1217

be considered necessary for the protection of American merchant ships by supplying them "with defensive arms, should that become necessary, and with the means of using them." This authority was granted by Congress and merchant ships entering the war zone were equipped with cannon, manned by detachments of United States marines.

On April 2, 1917, President Wilson delivered his "War Message" to Congress, which contained the following :

"The German government denies the right of neutrals to use arms at all within the areas of the sea which it has proscribed, even in the defense of rights which no modern publicist has ever before questioned their right to defend. The intimation is conveyed that the armed guards which we have placed upon our merchant ships will be treated as beyond the pale of law and subject to be dealt with as pirates would be. Armed neutrality is ineffectual enough at best; in such circumstances and in the face of such pretensions it is worse than ineffectual ; it is likely only to produce what it was meant to prevent; it is practically certain to draw us into war without either the rights or the effectiveness of belligerents. There is one choice we cannot make, we are incapable of making : We will not choose the path of submission and suffer the most sacred rights of our nation and our people to be ignored or violated. The wrongs against which we now array ourselves are no common wrongs; they cut to the very roots of human life.

"I advise that the Congress declare the course of the Imperial German Government to be in fact nothing less than war against the Government and people of the United States; that it formally accepts the status of belligerent which has thus been thrust upon it; and that it take immediate steps not only to put the country in a more thorough state of defense, but also to exert all its powers and employ all its resources to bring the Government of the German Empire to terms and end the war."

On the same day that Wilson presented this message, the following resolution was introduced in both the Senate and House :

"Whereas, the Imperial German Government has committed repeated acts of war against the Government and people of the United States of America; therefore be it

"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the state of war between the United States and the Imperial German Government which has thus been thrust upon the United States is

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hereby formally declared; and that the President be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial German Government; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States."

This resolution, designated as "Public Resolution No. 1," passed the Senate at the evening session on April 4, 1917, by a vote of 82 to 6, and the following morning it passed thee House by vote of 373 to 50. After being signed by Thomas R. Marshall, Vice President of the United States, and Champ Clark, Speaker of the House of Representatives, it was submitted to President Wilson, who gave it his official signature April 6, 1917, which was the date of the entrance of the United States into the great war.

While volunteers were numerous, Congress on May 18, 1917, approved the selective service act which applied to all men between the ages of twenty-one to thirty years of age. What was known as the second draft act was approved August 31, 1918, and applied the provisions of the selective service to all males eighteen to forty-five years old. The first registration was held June 5 1917; and two others on June 5, 1918, and August 24, 1918, for those who had reached their twenty-first birthday in the meantime. Registration under the second draft act was held September 12, 1918. The total registration in the United States was 23,908,576; in Ohio, 1,389,474, being 5.81 per cent of the total. The Northwestern Ohio counties including their towns and cities, furnished their percentage or more, of men for the war, estimated according to report as follows: Lucas County, 13,785 men; Wood, 2,240; Sandusky, 1,855; Seneca, 2,155; Hancock, 1,915; Henry, 1,165; Defiance, 1,225; Fulton, 1,170; Ottawa, 1,005; Paulding, 935; Putnam, 1,385; Williams, 1,230; Wyandot, 970.

Registration boards were appointed in each county, and the board of appeals for this division, to pass upon exception claims carried up from the district boards were : Clarence A. Benedict, Frank A. Baldwin, Emmett Curtin, W. W. Farnsworth and W. A. Held.

To describe the various activities in connection with the numerous organizations, the assembling of the various service units and their departure for assigned quarters and camps, and to do justice to the patriotism of the best blood of the Union is beyond the task of the pen. Volumes should be devoted to the picture.

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The principal and most active division furnished the armies of the United States by Ohio during the World war, was the 37th or "Buckeye" Division. Its personnel was composed entirely of members of the National Guard and other volunteers, commanded by Maj.-Gen. C. S. Farnsworth. It was trained at Camp Sheridan, Alabama, and sailed for France in June, 1918. This division, comprised of the 145th, 146th, 147th, and 148th Infantry Regiments, 134th, 135th and 136th Field Artillery, 134th, 135th and 136th Machine Gun battalions, 112th Engineers and 112th Field Signal Battalion, was credited with two major battle engagements, Meuse Argonne and Ypres-Lys and sustained 5,243 casualties.

Members of the 147th Infantry and the 135th Field Artillery were mostly from Northwestern Ohio.

On August 15th Col. William V. McMaken, who commanded the Sixth Ohio Infantry in the Spanish-American war, was commissioned Brigadier-General in the Federalized militia, but was afterward relieved from military duty on account of physical disability. Three days after he received his commission the Sixth Regiment units, the ambulance company, the hospital corps, Batteries B and E commanded by Lieut.-Col. George P. Greenhalgh, company A of the Signal Corps and an outpost company were mustered into the United States service. The Sixth Regiment was afterward made the One Hundred and Forty-Seventh in the Federal army. During its service in France it was commanded first by Colonel Howard and later by Col. Frederick W. Galbraith.

The Fourth Regiment, Ohio National Guard, was one of the first to report for duty as part of a division composed of National Guard regiments from twenty-six states. There were men from Northwestern Ohio afterward added to the regiment to bring it up to the strength of a French infantry regiment. On September 10, 1917, this regiment, numbering 59 officers and 3,605 enlisted men, constituted the first Ohio contingent to the famous Rainbow Division, and was designated the One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Infantry. Under command of Col. B. W. Hough, it was the first Ohio regiment on the firing line. The Fourth Ohio was ordered to Camp Perry on Lake Erie, August 13, 1917, arrived there the following day and entrained for Camp Mills, September 7, 1917.

The Sixth Infantry, as heretofore noted, remained in federal service following completion of the tour of duty on the Mexican Border. At the time it was called to the colors, the roster of its organization, home stations and officers was as follows :

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In this loan Lucas County raised its quota in seventy-two hours, $1,800,000 having been subscribed by corporations before the formal opening of the drive. The total amount subscribed in the county was $14,114,000. Every county in the district subscribed more than its quota, the total reaching $29,119,500. Both the City of Toledo and the district were the first in the country to get the loan honor flag.

On September 28, 1918, the first day of the Fourth Liberty Loan, Toledo corporations and individual members subscribed a total of $3,635,000, or nearly one-fifth of the entire quota of $18,859,200, but the work went forward until Lucas County had subscribed a total of $19,782,750. In the third loan the number of subscribers in the county was 71,282. In the fourth loan 88,799 persons bought bonds, and again the entire district went over the top, each county exceeding its quota.

While the war really ended with the armistice in November, 1918, the Government still needed vast sums of money for war expenses. Another loan—called the Victory Loan—was therefore launched in the spring of 1919 and carried to a successful conclusion. Lucas County's quota was $14,158,900 and again the subscriptions exceeded the quota. In addition to oversubscribing the five loans, the people of Northwestern Ohio gave liberally to the Red Cross campaign and other drives.

The number of deaths reported in Northwestern Ohio during the World war is as follows : Allen, 84; Crawford, 46; Defiance, 38; Erie, 44; Fulton, 33; Hancock, 46; Hardin, 33; Henry, 27; Mercer, 39 ; Ottawa, 24; Paulding, 26; Putnam, 41; Sandusky, 48; Seneca, 44; Van Wert, 34 ; Williams, 33; Wood, 43 ; Wyandot, 24.

Concerning the early days of the war, as to Northwestern

TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1229

Ohio and Toledo, of the volunteers, in. May, 1917, there was added to the Sixth Ohio Infantry 169 men, and 446 more were added in June. Battery B Second Artillery, was the first organization to report a full war strength. Rolland A. Beard was captain.

On July 14, 1917, Batteries B and E, Second Artillery, the Third Ohio Hospital Corps, an ambulance company, a Brigade Headquarters detachment, a number of men from divisional train service and a base line company, (a total of twenty-two officers and 862 enlisted men) left Toledo for the mobilization camp. They were the first troops from Lucas County and this section, to report for duty. Early in July, the O'Neill Machinery Company and The Toledo Railway & Light Company, raised a truck train unit. About that time the Sixth Ohio Infantry under the command of Col. Lloyd Howard went into camp at Bay View Park.

Of the 148th Field Hospital of the 37th Division, which was originally the Third Field Hospital, O. N. G., a large contingent was from Bowling Green and Wood County. Dr. F. V. Boyle, Bowling Green, was major, Dr. J. W. Rea, Bowling Green, captain, Dr. Eyestone, Toledo, lieutenant.

Of the 84th "Lincoln Division," organized at Camp Taylor, Kentucky, a large number of the 324th and 325th Field Artillery were from Bowling Green and Wood County. Arthur M. Patterson of the Wood County Savings Bank was with the 324th. Capt. Ray D. Avery of Company H., Second Infantry, was transferred overseas to the ambulance train.

Of the 83rd Division trained at Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, in the reassignment orders, a number of Northwestern Ohio and Wood County boys of the 2nd Infantry were with the forces in the campaign in Italy.

CHAPTER LXII

THE BEGINNING OF TOLEDO

FIRST WHITE MAN ON THE GROUND-CONTEST FOR POSSESSION-FIRST LAND SALES-PORT LAWRENCE-VISTULA-TREMAINSVILLE-MANHATTAN-OTHER RIVAL TOWNSITES-EARLY TRADE AND COMMERCE

Toledo, the commercial and industrial base of the lower Great Lakes. Toledo, the gateway to the vast expanse of the Golden West. The historical pathway of this narrative has now reached the beginning and development of this great and rapidly strident metropolis. All along the journey the various mile posts have pointed the way.

The discoveries of Spain, the arrival of the French up the St. Lawrence, the landing of the English on the western shores of the Atlantic; and the various claims of and contests between thes occupants have been set forth. All this including the contest between the French and the English for the possession of the Maumee and the Sandusky regions and the final hopeless struggle of England with new America to hold as a British possessio all the territory north of the Ohio River.

As late as the beginning of the nineteenth century, where now spreads the business, the commerce, the industries, the beautiful estates and contented homes, the beauty spots and recreation centers of this great city, no stroke of the axe, no sound of the hammer, foreshadowed its development. Generally speaking, all the surroundings were ridgelands covered with giant oaks and attendant forest monarchs. These series of ridges were marked between by gullies and edged by low, almost impenetrable marshlands, especially along the river and tributary streams. In season in the bayous, myriads of wild swans, geese and ducks swam and fed; and of animal life, the beaver, otter and muskrat, here sported and established their homes. In the deep surrounding woods the bear, deer and elk roamed in abandon, and in earlie years there were even the buffalo and moose. The French Canadian trappers and the Indians were here, but within the bor

- 1230 -

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ders of now Toledo, in 1800 there were no settlers classed as Americans.

The story of the first white man to tread the soil where Toledo stands and to build his camp fire upon the banks of the lower Maumee, would be most interesting. But history will never record his name. Whoever he was he probably came early in the seventeenth century. A long list of names has been given, of the early French and English who paddled up and down the Mau. mee River. Each and all of them saw Toledo's site. They may have lingered for a time upon the banks within its borders. Nat urally the mouth of the Maumee or the point where enters Swan Creek would have been a convenient resting place ; but the bel ligerent attitude of the "Indians in early times made explore and adventurers wary about entering this territory.

Champlain who was evidently in the vicinity of Lake Erie in 1615, hardly reached the western end of the lake. Etienne Brule, the famous advance representative of that roaming class of adventurers the coureurs de bois, was probably the first whi man to invade now Ohio territory south of Lake Erie. He may his tour early in the seventeenth century even have reached the lower Maumee region. Certain it is that French missionaries and traders passed up and down the Maumee soon after this time and it is more than possible that La Salle on the return from his discovery of the Ohio, 1669-1670, came by way of the Maume and beheld in wonder the miles of the now harbor line of Toledo Then, without repetition, came the list of French and English during their contest for supremacy here. These included th remarkable Celoron expedition, which through its leaders, left most valuable and graphic account of their passage in 1749 down the Maumee and to the lake. The period of the American Re lution followed, with the British and Indians in control of the Maumee, the Sandusky and the Great Lakes, at which time th British Commodore Grant with his ships blockaded the low Maumee against the threatened American attack upon Detroi and the arrogant Hamilton among others, passed this way wi his British and Indian forces on his disastrous campaign to t Wabash and Vincennes. Then came General Wayne's expediti and finally the War of 1812, turning the light of definite kno edge upon all this territory. Up to this time the Swan C region from time immemorial had been a great Indian center rallying point. And it is evident from the most authe accounts, when Commodore Grant blockaded the Maumee p

TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1233

and built in 1781 his British fort "strong enough to be defended by ten men against a hundred" as he reported, that the post he constructed was none other than the one probably later repaired and occupied by a contingent of American troops some time about 1800 and called Fort Industry. This from the fact that it was located at a favorable site for industry and commerce. (See article on Fort Industry.)

With wars and conflicts which had beset the new American nation ever since its birth now over and actual peace realized, the people of the country turned to the development of this then new West. Treaties had been made with the Indians relating to Maumee lands with various reservations, and soon was effected the great treaty of 1817 on the lower Maumee, in which except with reservations named, the tribes made final surrender of the lands in not only the Maumee Valley, but all the regions of the Sandusky. Surveys had been made and resurveys followed and the lands of the Reserve were thrown upon the market, anticipating the Maumee treaty of September 29, 1817, before mentioned, only a few months. It was at this juncture that men of vision turned their eyes upon the section where now spreads the yet comparatively young but rapidly strident City of Toledo.

The sale of lands which opened at Wooster, Ohio, in February, 1817, for the Twelve Miles Square Reserve on the lower Maumee, as has been stated, included the mouth of Swan Creek and a portion of the present city. Perrysburg and Maumee villages had already been established, with thriving and growing settlements scattered along the foot of the rapids. But there had been no developments within Toledo's site as will be seen later, and Fort Industry was unoccupied by troops and in a decadent condition.

Two companies of capitalists, headed by Cincinnati men had been organized to buy lands at the Wooster sale, in the vicinity of the mouth of Swan Creek. One company was made up of Jacob Burnet, Martin Baum, Jesse Hunt, Wm. C. Schenck, William Barr, William Oliver and Andrew Mack. The other organization known as the "Piatt Company," was composed of John H. Piatt, Robert Piatt, William M. Worthington and Graham A. North.

It may be observed that the Burnet of the first company was the well known Judge Jacob Burnet of Cincinnati, who has been mentioned as traveling on many occasions from the Queen City on the Ohio to Detroit to attend court. In passing through the lower Maumee section he no doubt had made observation of the conditions here for the establishment of a city; as had Mr. Oliver

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and others. Both companies were .represented at the Wooster sale, the first known as the "Baum Company," by Oliver and Schenck and the Piatt Company by Robert Piatt. On the opening of the sale it developed that both concerns were after the same lands about the mouth of Swan Creek. In order to avoid competition in bidding, the representatives of each company pooled their interests and purchased in common what was described as River Tracts One, Two, Three and Four in the United States Reserve at the Foot of the Rapids of the Miami (Maumee) ; also River Tracts Eighty-six and Eighty-seven on the other bank of the river opposite the mouth of Swan Creek. Each company held an undivided half interest and made equal payments. Tracts number 86 and 87 were bid off by Oliver and the certificates of purchase were issued in his name. The other tracts were bid in by Robert Piatt and the certificates issued to himself and associates. The total amount purchased was 974 acres at an average of forty-eight dollars and twelve and one-half cents per acre and varying in price from seventy-five dollars per acre down to two dollars and thirteen cents per acre. The total purchase amounted to nearly $37,000. The terms of sale were twenty-five per cent payable in forty days and the balance in three equal annual installments. Piatt for his company independently, purchased a large tract adjacent to the pooled company purchase. Waggoner's early "History of Lucas County", at this point relates the proceedings as follows :

Returning to Cincinnati, the companies were united under the name of the Port Lawrence Company, which at once took steps for laying out a town, to be called Port Lawrence, and appointed Baum as agent for that purpose, for the sale of lots, and for the general management of the property. August 14, 1817, Baum appointed Oliver as his attorney, to attend to the sale of lots, who with Schenck, was authorized to lay out the town. In Baum's letter of instruction to Oliver (August 14, 1817) , he said among other things :

"In running the Streets and the division of lots, it is not the wish of the proprietors that interest or convenience should be sacrificed to form ; that the growth of the place should be retarded by a useless adherence to any particular figure, or to any fanciful uniformity of squares."

The number of lots was to be from 300 to 500; and with th exception of water lots and fractionals, about 60x120 feet in size, "The principal or central Street be at least 160 feet wide; other

1236 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY

from 80 to 100; and Alleys 12 to 15 feet. Let there be three lots each 120 feet square, set off for public uses, Churches, Schools &c; and one, 240 feet square, for Court-House and Jail. There should be one or two suitable lots out of the Town for burying grounds."

The plat laid out, a public sale of the lots was to be provided for, "which, if practicable, should correspond with the time of holding the treaty with the Indians," to be held at Fort Meigs, (Maumee) the month following. The agents proceeded to lay out the town, when a sale was advertised, to take place September 20, 1817, on these terms:

One-fourth down; the balance in three equal annual installments, with interest from date of purchase; if not promptly paid, and if the whole amount of purchase money be not paid when the last installment becomes due, the lots purchased to revert to the proprietors of Port Lawrence. The undersigned reserve the right to one bid on each lot offered. Signed, W. C. Schenck, Wm. Oliver, Agents, and dated Miami Rapids, September 20, 1817.

At that sale 79 lots were sold, of which two (Nos. 223 and 224) were purchased by Oliver, on which, in connection with Baum, he subsequently had erected a warehouse and made other improvements. The house was of logs, and was located near the mouth and on the north side of Swan Creek. The cash proceeds of the sales then made amounted to $855.33. Among the purchasers were Samuel H. Ewing, Aurora Spafford, Seneca Allen, John E. Hunt, Robert A. Forsyth, Almon Reed and Truman Reed, of "Maumee Rapids;" B. F. Stickney, of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Henry I. Hunt and Mary L. Hunt, of Detroit; Moses Wilson, of Huron County, Ohio; and Austin E. Wing, of Monroe Michigan.

In a letter written in 1870 to David E. Merrill, Toledo, Benjamin Rathbun, then proprietor of the Broadway Hotel, New York, but formerly the most prominent business man of Buffalo, made reference to his knowledge of Toledo real estate. He said:

"I was once where Toledo now is. It was in the Spring of 1817, while a portion of it was being surveyed for Village lots. I _then took up the first lot ever sold in Toledo as a Village lot. The title of the Company failing for non-payment of their purchase, of course, I lost my lot. I have never been at Toledo since I left in August, 1818. At that time there was not a dwelling house there. A man by the name of Henderson built a log and stone house on the bank and partly over the water, just below the

TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1237

mouth of what was then known as Swan Creek; and there was a French cabin on the "flats," near Swan Creek, for the Indians to get rum in. These were all the buildings Toledo could boast of in 1818. My own family (consisting of Mrs. Rathbun and one son) and Major Keeler's family, occupied Henderson's log and stone warehouse while we were there."

From this it would appear that Mr. Rathbun made Port Lawrence his home from the Spring of 1817, until August, 1818. Most of the purchasers of lots afterwards compromised their claims against the proprietors. Mr. Wing took a lot in the second Port Lawrence ( 1 833 ) .

When the second payment became due to the Government in 1818, the Port Lawrence Company defaulted, and thus practically surrendered the entire property, with improvements made. In 1821, the Government meantime having reduced the price of its lands from $2.00 on time payments, to $1.25 cash down, the Port Lawrence Company, unable or indisposed to pay a balance of some $20,000 for tracts 1 and 2, asked Congress to take the same back, and apply the payments already made to the full payment of the other tracts purchased by them and the Baum and Piatt Companies, respectively. With this view, the several interests in all the lands then purchased were assigned to Baum, who appointed M. T. Williams as his agent. September 27, 1821, authority therefor having been granted by Congress, Williams relinquished tracts 1 and 2, on which $4,817.55 had been paid. Of this sum $1,372.34 was applied as full payment for tracts 3, 4, 86 and 87, leaving $3,445.21. Of this, one-half belonged to the Piatt Company, and $1,248 having been applied to relieve its five quarter-sections, the Piatt Company still had a balance of $474.60 as its due, but which was applied to the payment of lands of the Baum Company. In August, 1823, Oliver made out a claim against the Port Lawrence Company, amounting to $1,835.47, including money paid to former purchasers ($213.02), and services as Agent, which Baum approved, and as security, gave Oliver a mortgage on tracts 3, 4, 86 and 87, payable January 1, 1824. In October, 1825, Oliver proceeded in a Michigan Court to sell the property under this mortgage, and the same was sold, by order of Court, September 1, 1828, to Oliver, for $618.56. Meantime, three of the five quarter-sections belonging to the Piatt Company had been sold by order of Court, at Oliver's instance, Charles Noble being the purchaser, at $241.60, who soon thereafter conveyed the property to Oliver. Thus Oliver came into possession

1238 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY

of tracts 3, 4, 86 and 87, and three quarter-sections of the lands. In December, 1828, Baum, without consultation with, his associates, transferred to Oliver the Government certificates of tracts 3, 4, 86 and 87. May 20, 1826, Congress authorized the selection of a certain amount of lands for the benefit of the University of Michigan, when Sections 1 and 2, relinquished by the Port Lawrence Company, were selected. Whereupon, Oliver, acting as the Agent of that Company, proposed that said tracts be exchanged by the University for a portion of the lands to which he had obtained title through Baum and the Michigan Court, Such arrangements having been made, Congress authorized the exchange, when Oliver took the title to tracts 1 and 2 in his own name. This done, Baum and Williams each obtained one-third interest in tracts 1, 2, 86 and 87; and upon Baum's death (1832) Oliver purchased his interest of the heirs; and subsequently sold portions of other tracts to Prentice and Tromley. Afterward Oliver purchased of the University the tracts conveyed exchange for 1 and 2.

PORT LAWRENCE RESURRECTED: These arrangements cons mated, steps were taken toward the resurrection of the Tow Port Lawrence. A new plat was prepared, of which record made in Monroe County, Michigan, as follows:

The Territory of Michigan,}

County of Monroe.} ss:

Before me, the subscriber, an acting Justice of the Peace in and for the County of Monroe, aforesaid, personally appeared Stephen B. Comstock authorized agent of Wm. Oliver, of Cin- cinnati, Ohio, who in behalf of the said Oliver, acknowledged the within to be a correct plat and description of all lots numbered in numerical order, which are intended for sale in the Town plat of Port Lawrence, in the County of Monroe, aforesaid, and of the public grounds intended to be given for the uses and purposes therein expressed, in said Town, in conformity to the act entitled "An act to provide for the recording of Town plats and for oth purposes," approved April 12, 1827.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and se at Port Lawrence, on the 20th day of December, A. D. 1832.

John Baldwin, Justice of the Peace.

As seen, the initial of Toledo was made about the mouth Swan Creek; and in extent covered the territory, east and wes from Jefferson to Washington Street; and north and south, fro what is now Superior Street to the river--Erie then occupyin

TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1239

the place of what is Summit, Ontario that of St. Clair, and Huron that of Superior; Water Street having been subsequently made by filling along the river.

The first sale was made July 13, 1833, being lot No. 11 (Gower's map), 40 feet, north side Summit Street, near Monroe, and next to the corner. The price was $25, and the purchaser was John Baldwin, afterwards a leading merchant and one of the first associate judges of the county. The sale was for cash, and was among very few sales made on such terms. In several instances sales were conditioned upon improvements being made by the purchasers, by the erection of buildings on the lots purchased. Thus, one was to erect "a good building, 18x24 feet, to be painted ;" another "a good two-story house ;" and another "two good houses, and paint white." S. B. Comstock acted as agent of the proprietors from July, 1833, to July, 1834; and Andrew Palmer from July, 1834, to July, 1836, when the property was divided among the several owners. The following list of the first sales, with dates, prices and names of purchasers, will show who first indicated their confidence in the then future of that portion of Toledo:

John Baldwin, July, 1833, lot 11; $25.

Philo Bennett, February, 1834, lots 17, 18, 23, 24; $250.

Coleman I. Keeler, February, 1834, lots 33, 34, 40; $50.

John Baldwin, same date, lot 8; $200.

Abram Ritter, same date, lot 46; $125.

George Bennett, same date, lots 22, 51; $75.

Henry W. Goettell, April, 1834, one-half of lot 12; $100.

Augustus Burdenois, same date, lots 67, 68, 272; $250.

W. J. Daniels, May, 1834, six feet of lot 10; $25.

C. I. Keeler, June, 1834, lot 40 and twenty feet of 42; $200.

William Fossey, June, 1834, lots 278, 279 ; $200.

W. J. Daniels & Company, June, 1834, lots 88, 89 and 406, 407; $70.

W. J. Daniels, June, 1834, lot 19; $50.

Platt Card, June, 1834, lots 127, 129, 140, 16, 27, 28, 210, 242, 146, 147, 77, 164, 233, 290, 274, 292, 21; $8,100.

G. W. Rhodes, June, 1834, lot 43; $100.

William Ritter, June, 1834, lot 222 ; $25.

Calvin Comstock, June, 1834, lots 83, 84; $200.

Richard Foster, June, 1834, lot 273 ; $30.

George Simpson, June, 1834, lots 81, 82; $50.

6-VOL. 2

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Job Brandet, July, 1834, lots 412, 413, 414 (120 feet above and adjoining Madison Street) ; $2,400.

T. and S. Darlington, July, 1834, lots 219, 226, 329; $3,000.

Platt Card, July, 1834, lot 334; $100.

Michael Conner, July, 1834, lot 230; $150.

Austin Wing, July, 1834, lot 45; $____

Platt & Miller, July, 1834, lot 4; $100.

Levi S. Humphrey, July, 1834, lot 3; $50.

Ed. Bissell, July, 1834, lot 117; $200.

David B. Mooney, June, 1835, lots 35, 36; $600.

C. I. Keeler, June, 1835, lots 37, 38, 39; $600.

James Rawles, June, 1835, lots 139, 130, 126, 124, 122, Summit Street; and 244, 266, 265, Monroe; $5,400.

Stephen Thorne, June, 1835; lots 127, 129; $400.

Baxter Bowman, June, 1835, 50 by 120 feet, corner Washington and Swan streets; $300.

Jacob Clark and Philo Bennett, June, 1835, lots 151, 153, $1,300.

Oliver Hartwell, June, 1835, lots 28, 140; $1,500.

Abijah Noyes, June, 1835, lots 53, 71; $600.

Philander Raymond, June, 1835, lots 135, 136; $1,000.

Daniel McBain, June, 1834, lot 7; $1,800.

For about three years the Port Lawrence property, as noted was managed as a whole for the proprietors, by an agent, S. B. Comstock and Andrew Palmer, successively, acting in that capacity. All sales prior to July 1, 1835, were made in that way. At that time the proprietors became satisfied that it would be better for them and for the town if the property should be divided among them, that each might have his distinct interest to look after. To this end, a meeting of the owners was held at "the Village of Toledo," July 1-4, 1835, at which were present William Oliver, for himself and for Micajah T. Williams; Philander Raymond and Charles W. Lynde; Isaac S. Smith, for himself and for John B. Macy; Hiram Pratt and William F. Porter Taylor; and Edward Bissell, Andrew Palmer and Stephen B. Comstock, for themselves, respectively. It was voted that William Oliver who then held the legal title to the land, be authorized, as soon as the Village of Toledo should be incorporated, to convey to the same village lots 319 and 198, for public school purposes. Lots 366 and 175 were set apart for the two religious societies which should first complete houses of worship thereon. Land to the amount of five acres was voted for cemetery purposes, not to be

TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1241

nearer than three-fourths of a mile to the mouth of Swan Creek. Lot 335 was voted to Mrs. Harriet Daniels, wife of Munson H. Daniels, "as a complimentary present, on the occasion of hers being the first marriage at Toledo." Lot 215 was voted as a present to Mrs. Vance. Lots 163, 162, 119, 120, 121, 109, 110 and 111 were set apart for a hotel, to be built by the joint proportionate contribution of the proprietors; the grading for the hotel to be done by the proprietors of the same, who were to have a deed of the lots when they had expended $10,000, and to own the dock in front of the lots deeded. These lots are on the east (north) side of Adams Street, including the site (1888) of the Ketcham & Nearing block (189-199, Summit), and extending the same width to the river; Water Street afterwards being made. The property was never used for the purpose named.

Lots equivalent to two-sixteenths of the whole were assigned to S. B. Comstock, when the entire remaining property was divided into sixteen parts of about equal value, and sixteen tickets, corresponding to such numbers, were placed in a hat, and Two Stickney, the second son of B. F. Stickney, took them out, one at a time, and delivered them to the parties in the following order: To William Oliver, the first five tickets, he owning five-sixteenths of the plat; M. T. Williams, four tickets; I. S. Smith, J. B. Macy, Hiram Pratt and W. F. P. Taylor, each one ticket; then Edward Bissell, Andrew Palmer, and the firm of Raymond & Lynde, each one ticket. The total appraised value of the allotments was then $42,265.50, averaging about $2,880 for each share. The division thus made, the first action then taken toward the improvement of their common property consisted of a vote "that if William Oliver and Andrew Palmer will put into meadow, in a farming-like manner, the present season, about forty acres of the company's land, now cleared near Darlington's sawmill (on Swan Creek, near Huron Street), they shall have possession and use of the same for farming purposes until March, 1840." Edward Bissell and Andrew Palmer were appointed a committee to prepare a plan for a hotel, and Andrew Palmer was constituted the agent of the proprietors. At this same session (July 4th), it was resolved, "that, to promote the general prosperity of the town, it is deemed expedient to subscribe to the stock of the Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad Company; and it is hereby agreed, that every proprietor shall take and pay for $1,000 of said stock for each sixteenth of the interest which he holds in the original plat of Port Lawrence, and that the stock so taken

1242 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY

shall be received at par from S. B. Comstock, being part of the stock which he has already subscribed."

During the years 1833-36 many changes had taken place in the ownership of the Port Lawrence property, old proprietors going out and others coming in, until none of the original parties were left. Early in the latter year it was deemed best to close out the affairs of the company by a division of its property then held in common. For this purpose a meeting was held May 17, 1836—present, Edward Bissell and Isaac S. Smith, representing thirty sixty-fourths of the property; James Myers and W. P. Daniels, each representing two sixty-fourths; S. B. Comstock, six sixty-fourths; Daniel Greenvault, four sixty-fourths; Joshua R. Giddings and Richard Mott, three sixty-fourths; and Ashbel Dart, one sixty-fourth. Ed Bissell and I. S. Smith, ,committee, reported a plan for a hotel on lots 119, 120 and 121, which was approved, and they were authorized to proceed to the erection of the building (northeast corner of Adams and Summit). They were also authorized to "grade the eastern half of Adams Street, from the river to St. Clair Street, in front of the hotel lots, so that the surface of Summit Street at the intersection of Adams shall be twenty-three feet above the level of the river; and that they construct a pier in front of the east half of Adams and of the hotel lots." W. P. Daniels, Richard Mott and S. B. Comstock were appointed a committee to grade Summit Street from the level of the hay scales in front of W. J. Daniels & Company's store, so that at its intersection with Jefferson Street it shall be twenty-two feet above the level of the river, the street "from the hay scales to Jefferson to be horizontal," for which purpose subscriptions were to be obtained from individuals, the Port Lawrence proprietors to make good any deficiency in the cost. The same committee was authorized to "open and grade Monroe street at both ends, and to construct culverts or sewers in same." It was understood, in fixing elevations, that "the hay scales were ten feet above the river." The hay scales and store referred to were located on the north (west) side of Summit Street, between Perry and Monroe, adjoining the Indiana House, which cornered with Perry. The contract for the grading was let to a man named Hall, an Irishman, who, with his employees, constituted the vanguard of the large number of the same nationality afterwards so intimately identified with like improvements in Toledo.

A meeting of the proprietors of Port Lawrence was held Sep-

TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1243

tember 8-16, 1837; present, William Oliver, M. T. Williams, S. B. Comstock, Ashbel Dart, Richard Mott, Henry W. Hicks, I. S. Smith, W. F. P. Taylor, John Fitch and Ed. Bissell. Cemetery grounds were set apart on the north side of Wisconsin Street, commencing 410 feet west from Twenty-third Street, along Wisconsin to the west line of Port Lawrence tract No. 1; thence north to the northwest corner of said tract; thence east on said tract line to a point 410 feet west from the middle of Twenty-third Street; and thence south to the place of beginning. A burying ground was started on these premises and a few burials made there; but it was soon abandoned. Lots 484 and 4841/2 were given to the Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad Company for "the purposes of a Car House, &c., &c., conditioned that the same be not used for any other than the legitimate business of said Company; and that said Company shall have the necessary fixtures and a track from the main track to said lots, through Depot Street, completed within 18 months." On these lots were constructed the machine shops and engine house used by the railroad for several years and until the removal of the headquarters of the then Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad to Adrian. At this meeting appraisement was made of lots as designated on the map prepared by Robert Gower, in 1837. Some of the values, as thus fixed, were as follows: Lot 465, corner of Madison and Huron, $600; lot 489, corner Cherry and Superior, $800; lot 713, Washington and Fourteenth streets,. $410 ; lot 744, southeast corner Cherry and Erie, $180; lot 450, Madison and Erie, $600; lots 114, 115, 116, Vine, between Water and Summit, $3,000 each.

The total amount of appraisement of 440 lots in the plat, in September, 1837, was $257,590, being an average of $585 per lot. At this time a second division was made by lot of the property of the company. It was then resolved "that it is expedient to complete the Hotel building," and that the plan be so modified as to bring the cost, in addition to materials on hand, within $10,000 —work on the same to be commenced in the spring of 1838. Provision was then for the first time made for improving the channel of the river opposite the town, and also for dredging the bar at the mouth of Swan Creek, to secure a channel of the depth of ten feet. Benjamin S. Brown was appointed as agent of the proprietors.

A complete list of owners of lots in Port Lawrence Division, prepared in 1836, contained the names of the following persons,

1244 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY

the same being classified, to distinguish those purchasing lots, from the original owners: Purchasers—John Baldwin, S. S. Humphrey, Daniel McBain, William P. Daniels, W. J. Daniels & Company, Charles Noble, Platt Card, Philo Bennett, W. J. Daniels, George Bennett, Platt & Miller, Coleman I. Keeler, D. B. Mooney, G. W. Rhodes, A. E. Wing, A. Ritter, A. Noyes, J. Brandet, A. Bourdenois, G. Simpson, Calvin Comstock, J. Rawles, P. Raymond, J. Clark, Mrs. General Vance (donation), Mrs. Harriet Daniels (donation), T. and S. Darlington, W. Ritter and R. Foster. Proprietors—William Oliver, M. T. Williams, S. B. Comstock, K. S. Smith, J. B. Macy, Ed. Bissell, Raymond & Lynde, Andrew Palmer, H. D. Mason, Hicks & Company, Dart & Mott, James Myers, Charles Butler, J. R. Giddings, Lot Clark, and C. W. Lynde.

In 1836 Robert Piatt filed his bill of complaint in the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Ohio against Oliver and his associates, praying for an injunction, a receiver, etc., in order that his legal rights to the property in question might be investigated and relief granted. In December, 1840, the District Court rendered a decision, which sustained Piatt's claim in behalf of the Piatt Company to an equal interest in the lands in question, and A. F. Perry, as Special Master Commissioner, was directed to examine and report what were the several interests. Subsequently, E. D. Mansfield was appointed for a like purpose. The final decision of the court was, that Oliver and William held the legal title of tracts 1 and 2, 86, 87, and ten acres of tract 3, jointly for themselves and the other members of the Port Lawrence Company, as tenants in common, in the following proportions—dividing the whole into 2,832 parts—to-wit: Alex. H. Ewing, 989.6 parts; John Rowan, 496.6 parts; Robert Piatt, 219.5 parts; John G. Worthington, 219.5 parts; William Oliver, 165.10 parts; M. T. Williams, 82.8 parts; the heirs of William M. Worthington, 219.5 parts ; and the heirs of John H. Piatt, 439 parts. In addition to this, Oliver and Williams were required to make over to the parties named the same relative interests in lots 109, 110, 111, 119, 120, 121, 162 and 163, in Toledo, and other property interests, including debts due, etc., belonging to the Port Lawrence Company, under the decree. Divers other details of the decree, not essential to an understanding of the general purport and effect of the same, are here omitted. Appeal was taken by Oliver and Williams to the United States Supreme Court, where, at the January term, 1845, the decision of the Dis-

TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1245

trict Court was affirmed, with costs. This litigation in no wise affected any rights by purchase of property from the Port Lawrence Company; but only the claims of the parties concerned in that company. The suit was an important one, involving as it did the title to a large portion of the present City of Toledo. And thus has been given in detail the establishment of the first unit of a great city as recorded by Waggoner, thereby perpetuating a record while there is yet opportunity.

Concerning the "warehouse" or first building constructed under the direction of the proprietors and B. F. Stickney on the Port Lawrence purchase spoken of, it was located where is now the yet better known Bostwick-Braun stately hardware block. The structure was two stories high, built of logs. Its construction was the occasion for a grand, old-fashioned "house raising." The attendant ceremonies consisted of a house-warming, with music, dancing, games, an elaborate feast, and all the accompanying thrills. It was the pioneer social event of later established Toledo and was attended by the settlers from all about the Perrysburg, Maumee and the Fort Meigs district. All the participants of course were attired in their best finery; the ladies in their costumes from heirloom silks to linsey-woolsey, and perhaps home-spun. The men, some of them, no doubt wore their coonskin caps and possibly leggins and moccasins ; still others their silk hats, but hardly knee pants and stockings and slippers. Yet who knows now. There were social gallants even in those days on the Maumee.

Among the first settlers to locate at this point were John T. Baldwin and family, consisting of his wife, four sons and one daughter. They came from Palmyra, Portage County, Ohio, in 1823 and took up their quarters in the warehouse built in 1817, where they lived until 1833. In 1822 there was a small frame house on Perry Street, between Summit and St. Clair, owned by Joseph Prentice, father of Frederick Prentice, who later became a large property owner.

In this house Frederick was born, December 22, 1822, and is supposed to be the first white child born in Port Lawrence. His father, above mentioned, was employed by the Port Lawrence proprietors to erect the warehouse previously mentioned, in 1817. Frederick lived to be ninety-three years old and died in New York in 1915. A. log house owned by Joseph Trombley stood on Superior Street, near the old police station, and a hewed log house on Summit Street, near Jefferson, owned and for a time occupied

1246 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY

by William Wilson. A part of Fort Industry, with pickets of the fortification extending to Jefferson Street, was still standing in 1823. This statement is of course confined to Port Lawrence. The settlements at Tremainesville, now a part of Toledo, are stated elsewhere. Down the river, in what was afterwards known as Stickney's Addition, north of Vistula, was a brick residence on Summit Street, between Bush Street and Stickney Avenue, built and occupied by Benjamin F. Stickney. Back from the river on what is now Collingwood Avenue, Noah F. Whitney lived, and Coleman I. Keller, Sr., lived in a house nearby, and lower down

FREDERICK PRENTICE

First white child born in Toledo.

the river, Peter Navarre and his four brothers, Jacob, Francis, Alexis and Antoine, lived on the east side, about where what is known as Ironville.

John Baldwin and Cyrus Fisher opened the first store in Port Lawrence, and John Baldwin & Company sold dry goods there up to about 1829, the first store being in the log warehouse.

The story of the establishment of Vistula, just north of Port Lawrence, is also graphically told by Waggoner :

"In 1832, becoming satisfied that the Port Lawrence enter- prise would not soon be prosecuted with energy, Maj. B. F. Stickney withdrew from that interest and turned his attention toward a new movement on the river below the Port Lawrence

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plat, and on lands owned by him. In October, of that year, he made a contract with Samuel Allen, of Lockport, New York, under which improvements were to be made, Allen to have one-half the land in consideration of specified expenditures to be made by him. Allen failing in his agreements, in January, 1833, Stickney made an arrangement with Otis Hathaway, also from Lockport, when a town plat was laid out and named Vistula. About that time, Lewis Godard of Detroit (father of Alonzo Godard), and formerly of Lockport, made a contract with Major Stickney for certain lots, he (Godard) to establish a store at the place. This he did, occupying for such purpose an old blockhouse built about 1817, by William Wilson (afterward judge) , which had become unfit for use without material repairs, which were made by Philo Bennett, also from Lockport, who settled here, purchasing the tract on the east side of the river, adjoining what became the Yondota plat, and now (1888) within the Sixth Ward, Toledo. The store was in charge of Sanford L. Collins, who had been in Godard's employ at Detroit. These, with other demonstrations of progress on the part of Vistula, were recognized by the few residents as calling for suitable expression of their appreciation. Accordingly, a second grand ball was given in the old log warehouse of the original Port Lawrence Company at the mouth of Swan Creek, that building furnishing the best accommodations for the purpose in the vicinity. It was occupied as a residence by John Baldwin and family, the upper portion being the ballroom of the neighborhood, attracting, by its accommodations, participants again from Maumee, Perrysburg, the Bay Settlement and Monroe.

"The contract of Stickney with Hathaway and Allen did not secure much in the way of improvement, and Allen returned to Lockport, and not long thereafter came back with Edward Bissell, of that place, who entered into an arrangement with Major Stickney similar to the one with Allen. Mr. Bissell went energetically at work, clearing off the plat of timber and brush, putting in docking along the river, from Lagrange to Elm Street, which was constructed on the ice of the stream, and awaited the weakening of the ice to settle to its place. The plan, however, was not as successful as the projectors of the experiment had hoped.

"Mr. Bissell at once gave life to Vistula, by the expenditure of large sums of money for new buildings, for roads, and other improvements necessary to the proper start of an ambitious town.

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Settlers and purchasers began to arrive, and the general prospect to brighten. The sale of lots began December 19, 1833, when lot 958 was sold to Erie Long for $75. But few sales were made in Vistula until April, 1834, when these became more active, and continued so until the fall of 1835, at which time the proprietors deemed it best to close up the affairs of the Vistula Company and divide the remaining lots between them. For such purpose they met at Buffalo, October 2, 1835. There were present, B. F. Stickney, Edward Bissell, Isaac S. Smith, Hiram Pratt, W. F. P. Taylor, Robert Hicks and Henry W. F. Hicks. Full and satisfactory allotments were made to the several parties, according to interest. It was then agreed, that as soon, as the Town of Toledo should be incorporated, lot 509, south (east) side of Huron, between Cherry and Lagrange, and lot 789, should be donated for school purposes. They never were used for such purpose. Lot 580, north (west) side of Huron, between Chestnut and Elm, and lot 605, north (west) side of Huron, between Locust and Walnut, were to be presented to the first two religious societies which should agree within a reasonable time to build houses of worship thereon ; such houses to be of respectable dimensions and in such state of architecture as should meet the approbation of either two of the proprietors, B. F. Stickney, Edward Bissell and I. S. Smith ; it being at the same time understood that B. F. Stickney, from his personal property, would give to the town, lot 435, north (west) side of Superior, between Magnolia and Mulberry, for a public school; and lot 563, north (west) side of Huron, between Magnolia and Mulberry, for a church.

"A meeting of proprietors of undivided interests in Vistula was held in July and September, 1837, when was presented recapitulation of appraisement of such property, amounting to $388,880, which was divided by lot—B. F. Stickney taking three twenty-fourths; Hicks, Taylor and Pratt, seven twenty-fourths; and Ed. Bissell, fourteen twenty-fourths. It was then decided to offer to the Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad Company 'a strip of land under water, on the south (east) side of Water Street, fifty feet wide, extending on a line parallel with Water Street, from Lynn to Cherry Street, for the purpose of erecting thereon a Passenger car-house,' the same to be erected by January 1, 1839."

The matter of transportation has ever been a problem. It was true in the earliest days here, even before Toledo was named In the management of each of the rival towns of Port Lawrence and Vistula, the proprietors had been compelled to expend consid-

TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1249

erable sums of money for incidental objects for common benefits. In the case of Port Lawrence the two leading objects seem to have been the provision of stage and mail connections with the outside world, and the opening of roads to the surrounding country. The first of these was made specially important, from the fact that the mail-stage route then lay direct from Maumee City to Tremainesville, passing something like a mile and a half to the north and west of Port Lawrence, the route lying along what is now Detroit Avenue to Monroe and Detroit City. This arrangement made Port Lawrence dependent for stage and mail accommodations on its more fortunate rival on Ten-Mile Creek, a humiliation as well as a business subordination, not easy to bear. In order to relieve such embarrassment, it was found necessary to subsidize the stage line, by compensation for the extra travel involved in the desired divergence to Toledo from the line between Maumee and Tremainesville. Such arrangement existed in 1835, 1836 and 1837, and resulted in an indebtedness by the proprietors of the town to Willard J. Daniels & Co., through whom the plan was managed, in the sum of $1,943.38—the entire appropriation for such purpose having been $4,122.35. Among other items in the Port Lawrence expenditure were the following : The joint expenditure of the two Towns for stages was $4,123.35. The total Sandusky and Toledo Railroad account was $1,333.33, which was to be divided equally between the Port Lawrence and Vistula proprietors "when the road should be commenced"— a condition which never was reached. Beyond preliminary surveys, nothing was done toward the construction of such railroad.

Concerning Tremainesville, earlier known as the Prairie and later as West Toledo : It is difficult to determine the exact comparative dates of the settlements of Tremainesville and Port Lawrence. Baldwin settled in the old log warehouse in February, 1823, and continued to live there with his family for ten years, and members of his family continued to live in Toledo until their deaths. As already stated, there were other houses and other settlers here at that time. The Wilkinsons arrived and settled in Tremainesville in October, 1823. There were living in the vicinity at that time or an earlier date, Maj. Coleman I. Keeler, Eli Hubbard and William Sebley. Descendants of the Hubbards, and Keeler continued to live here, and Mr. Solomon Wilkinson still lived there when ninety-four years old. There were no doubt many other earlier settlers. The Stickneys and Navarres are